فهرست مطالب احسان قبول

The aim of this essay is to study the relation of French and American theories of comparative literature in researches conducted on the effect of Qur’an and Hadith on the Persian Literature. For this purpose first we proposed a new classification for researches conducted on the effect of Qur’an and Hadith on the Persian Literature and types of such effects on this literature; then we provided instances of the effects of Qur’an and Hadith on the Persian Literature for the research areas of French and American theories of comparative literature and clarified the capacities of each area. Finally we studied the limitations of each theory for conducting researches in this field. Explaining the wide scope of research in the area of the effects of Qur’an and Hadith on Persian Literature form the viewpoint of French and American theories is the conclusion of this research. The French theory is based on text and the American theory generally includes literature and other sciences.

In their poems, Sanaei and Saadi have repeatedly talked about Shariah and jurisprudential issues and have explained part of their approaches in various fields by relying on these issues and their broad semantic dimensions. Based on this, in the forward research, the aim is to deal with the two sharia categories of theft and drinking alcohol and related rulings in the poetry of these poets, and finally, examine Islamic jurisprudence from a new perspective and with a poetic attitude. put The main question of the research is, what concepts have Sanai and Saadi explained and made available to the audience by using the mentioned jurisprudential terms?

This research was done based on library sources and descriptive-analytical method.

The words of Sana"i and Saadi are full of direct and indirect references to Shari"a boundaries, and they have used every expression, including Shari"a terms, to express their opinions. As a result, all the examples used in their poems, which contain concepts related to theft and drinking alcohol, do not have a jurisprudential function and have a multifaceted aspect.

The mentioned poets have tried to provide their mystical and moral messages to their audience by using the capacities of the concepts and terms related to the Shariah limits, and therefore, their poems in most cases are not through the gate of jurisprudence. It can be analyzed and analyzed from a literary and mystical perspective.

Online second language courses are experiencing significant growth worldwide, with the teacher being widely recognized as the key determinant of success in these courses. Given the absence of physical presence in virtual environments, it is essential to employ strategies that enhance the perception of teaching presence (TP) in virtual courses. The objective of this study is to explore TP based on Anderson et al.'s (2001) conceptual framework as a crucial element in online Persian courses for non-Persian speakers at the International Center for Teaching Persian Language to non-Persian Speakers (ICTPL), Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM). This research adopts a descriptive-analytical methodology, employing a questionnaire based on Anderson's TP framework as its primary instrument. The study incorporates both qualitative and quantitative analyses to offer a comprehensive examination of the data. The data were collected from questionnaires completed by these 30 instructors involved in various Persian online language courses at FUM. The findings showed that among the three indicators of TP, including instructional design and organization, facilitating discourse and direct instruction, the most agreement and application was with facilitating discourse. Among the components of the first category “designing methods" and “establishing netiquette”, and in the indicator of facilitating discourse, “encouraging student contributions” and “drawing in participants to prompt discussion” show the highest percentage of agreement and application. Additionally, in the indicator of direct instruction, the lowest percentage among all components was dedicated to the “present content and questions”, which suggests the acceptance of new educational approaches among the teachers at ICTPL.

Imageology is a branch of comparative literature that studies how one's culture is portrayed in the culture and literature of another. The images that belletrists of a nation present as a result of communicating with the people of another nation can represent the attitude of their people towards another nation. Jahiz, known as the father of Arab writers in the Abbasid era, presented numerous images of different nations in his writings, with a deep attitude and vast knowledge gained from the sciences of his time and before. Iranians, with a large population in Jahiz's era and living environment (Basra), are among the nations that Jahiz knew well, as well as their history and culture. Therefore, in his various and numerous writings, he describes some of Iranian characteristics according to the context. In his book, "Al-Taj fi Akhlaq al-Muluk", Jahiz brings in different political, cultural, and social aspects of ancient Iranians. In this research, we classified different images of ancient Iran in this book of Jahiz, based on imagology, and analyzed the reasons for Jahiz's attitude towards Iranians. The results show that Jahiz values the ancient Iranian civilization and the sultans of this land, and by presenting images of the ancient Iranian civilization to the Abbasid rulers, he tries to encourage them to imitate the behavior and performance of the Iranian kings in political, cultural, and social issues.

This paper aims to study the image of Iranian women in the Safavid era within the work of French priest Raphael Du Mans entitled the Status of Iran in 1660 . This book is one of the first works written in French about Safavid Iran and its author is unique among European tourists who traveled to Iran due to the length of his stay in Iran (more than half a century) and is also more famous than many other French  tourists like Jean Chardin or Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. The present research seeks to first thematically classify the descriptions that Du Mans presents of Iranian women, based on the knowledge and method of imagology and then analyze his evaluative attitude towards Iranian women in each of these themes. Then, the reasons for this attitude are investigated based on intra-textual and extra -textual components. For this purpose the images of women within his book are extracted and classified. These images include women of religious minorities, the position of women inside and outside the house, dancing women, issues related to women's marriage and divorce, and polygamy. Then, by referring to historical resources and also checking the intratextual signs based on imagology the positive or negative evaluation of the images and the context of their formation are analyzed and identified. The result of the research is that most of the images that Du Mans presents of Iranian women have a negative connotation; the reason for which can be found in the purpose of his trip his European sense of superiority and also his ideas about women as a Catholic priest. Most of the images presented in Raphael Du Mans 's book can be considered direct images, because the author has lived in Iran for many years and has made numerous observations

Academic writing is a basic skill for non-Persian speaker students, and the task-based method is one of the up-to-date and efficient methods in language teaching. Therefore, in order to improve this skill, it is necessary to examine its teaching status. An important measure for the critical survey of teaching academic skills is to examine source books. Despite its importance, no independent review has been devoted to study and critically analyze the academic writing teaching sources, so far; Therefore, the purpose of this research is to develop a review to evaluate these sources for which the fifth volume of Modern Persian Language Teaching book series was selected. After explaining academic writing and the principles of the task-based method, a multi-index review was designed; Then, all types of tasks in the above said book were analyzed into three categories: direct writing tasks, indirect writing tasks, and non-related writing tasks. Its direct and indirect writing tasks were analyzed using the innovative review indexes. The result of this research is a review, designed and invented to analyze academic writing education according to the task-based method based on the main and up-to-date sources of the field of language teaching knowledge, as well as criticism and evaluation of one of the common books in teaching Persian. We can generalize the intended review and the mentioned course criticism method to other language teaching books. The findings of this research show that the studied source is at an average level in terms of compliance with the task-based method.

The acquisition of academic writing skills is crucial for Persian university students, particularly for non-Persian speaking individuals and the task-based method is one of the efficient methods in language teaching. Consequently, duo to the necessity and importance of academic writing it becomes imperative to analyze and investigate educational resources catering to this essential skill as a key aspect of the educational process. This study undertakes an in-depth examination and critical survey of the current teaching practices of Persian academic writing to non-Persian speakers, with a specific focus on evaluating the available educational resources. Drawing upon the effectiveness and efficiency of the task-based method in language teaching, a dual approach is recommended. First, the pedagogical principles and strategies of the task-based method should be integrated into educational resources. Second, educational content producers and instructors should apply appropriate methods derived from task-based method to enhance the quality of language education. Continuous evaluation and review of educational resources and teaching methods, utilizing reviews derived from efficiency methods like task-based method, are essential for identifying and rectifying potential deficiencies.
Academic writing is one of the seven elements of academic literacy (reading, writing, listening, speaking, critical thinking, use of technology and habits of mind) that fosters academic success, primarily due to its emphasis on accuracy and impartiality, setting it apart from general writing. task-based method, supported by Prabhu, emerges as an efficient approach for teaching academic writing, relying on four fundamental language assumptions: (1) language as a medium for conveying meaning, (2) utilization of multiple language patterns (structural, role-based, and interactive) in task-based teaching, (3) vocabulary's fundamental role in language use and acquisition, and (4) conversation as the central focus and basis for language learning. Within this language teaching approach, language learning is primarily facilitated through communicative and meaningful tasks, prioritizing the accurate and fluent use of language rather than solely focusing on grammatical correctness. Central to this approach is the fundamental premise that language acquisition is enhanced when learners engage with real-life contexts, as opposed to adhering solely to the principles of formal grammar rules within the classroom. The task-based method, at the core of this approach, places emphasis on the subject matter of the task itself. A task is defined as a structured plan wherein learners practically engage with language to achieve measurable outcomes that assess the conveyance of accurate and appropriate content. Furthermore, these tasks aim to elicit language usage resembling that of real-world situations, encompassing diverse standards, frameworks, and language varieties.
Despite the significance and necessity of compiling reviews based on up-to-date and reliable sources of task-based teaching which has the capacity to criticize and assess, no comprehensive review has been conducted regarding the teaching of Persian academic writing to non-Persian speakers. This article fills this research gap by presenting a review of language teaching books focusing on academic writing skills, employing the principles and techniques of task-based method. The evaluation and criticism specifically target the fifth volume of Modern Persian Language Teaching book series. The research questions guiding this study encompass: (1) the characteristics of academic writing skill review in language teaching texts according to the task-based approach, and (2) the extent to which the selected educational resource aligns with the principles and techniques of TBA applying the aforementioned review.

To address the first question, a questionnaire encompassing six indicators is developed based on available sources and various expert perspectives on task-based method. The indicators and characteristics are then validated through a questionnaire administered to 20 (more than two years) experienced Persian language teaching lecturers from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad's Persian language teaching center for non-Persian speakers. The final stage involves seeking approval from seven experts.
To address the second question, the book's tasks are categorized into three types: direct writing tasks, directly related to writing skills (summary, essay and story writing), indirect tasks, indirectly related to writing skills (reading a text and answering questions or reading a text and writing answers to its grammar exercises), and tasks unrelated to writing skills (pronunciation exercises et.). After excluding tasks from the third category, the direct and indirect writing tasks from the fifth book are individually collected and analyzed based on the review's criteria and data. The data related to direct and indirect writing tasks are subsequently compared using a chi-square test.

In this research study, a novel approach was taken to assess the effectiveness of Persian language teaching textbooks in academic writing using the task-based approach. Specifically, the fifth book of Modern Persian Language Learning was chosen as the subject of analysis and review. To address the first research question, an innovative comprehensive review, developed by the researchers, drew upon theoretical sources and expert opinions was designed in six key areas: general principles of task-based method, task cycle, focus on grammar, task dimensions and characteristics, task types, and utilization of written tasks. This reviewer then evaluated and analyzed the book's direct and indirect writing tasks based on this research design.
For the second research question, the fifth book was examined in detail. Initially, all the components within each of the six indices were recorded for frequency analysis. Averaging these frequencies yielded the percentage representation of each index within the total number of direct and indirect writing tasks. An aggregated number was then calculated by summing up the averages for each indicator within the direct tasks, as well as for the indirect tasks. Subsequently, the frequency percentage of these indicators was determined by considering the proportion of direct or indirect tasks in relation to the entire book. This analysis resulted in the overall frequency of these indicators within both categories of tasks across the entire book.

The findings reveal that the fifth volume of Modern Persian Language Learning book series demonstrates a 47.68% conformity with task-based method (direct tasks: 23.20%, indirect tasks: 45.27%). Overall, the book performs at an average level in terms of quality, considering its alignment with task-based method 's components and principles for teaching academic writing. However, deficiencies are observed, particularly in direct writing tasks, which are crucial for enhancing writing skills. It is important to note that the fifth book serves as a general Persian learning resource, encompassing various aspects beyond solely writing instruction. Therefore, the observed level of conformity in the writing section with task-based method can be reasonably justified and appropriate.

No conflicts of interest are disclosed by the authors.

We would like to express our gratitude to Imam Khomeini International University for providing financial support for this study.

Rafael Du Mans is one of the first Frenchmen who traveled to Iran during the Safavid era and wrote the results of his long-term stay in Isfahan in his work entitled Iran's Situation in 1660 by French language. This work became the source of many images of Iranians in other French travelogues, so it is necessary to analyze and study the images of Iranians from various points of view. In this research, we have identified and classified the Persian proverbs and idioms mentioned by Du Mans in his work, and based on the knowledge of imagology and by referring to historical sources and examining intertextual signs, we have explained the reasons for emergence and spread among Iranians in order to to gain information about the people and society of Safavid Iran, on the one hand, and to clarify the reasons for Du Mans 's attitude towards Iranians on the other hand. Based on this, a total number of 6 proverbs and 11 idioms in Persian were identified in Du Mans’ Travelogue consisting of 12 direct and 5 indirect imaging. Among these 17 proverbs and idioms, 12 are negative which expresses Du Mans’ negative view of Iranians. The reasons for this view can first be traced to the purpose of Du Man's trip and his European arrogance. Also, after classifying the genesis of proverbs and idioms, it was found that most of them have a cultural background that expresses the priority of this issue for the author.

In Ibn Fadlan's travelogue, cultural-ideological images of Iranian, Turkish, Saqaliba, and Russian people are prominent and can be analyzed and studied from the perspective of imagology. Imagology is a branch of comparative literature concerned with the study of cross-national images of countries and personalities expressed in literary works, periods, or schools. Imagology believes that image is the outcome of the difference between "I" and " the other" and between "here" and "there". Despite the importance of Ibn Fadlan's travelogue - as the first travelogue of a Muslim to European countries consisting of descriptions of Iranian and the Turks, - and the significant role of imagology as an interdisciplinary field of study in literary studies, no research has been conducted on this travelogue concerning the imagology of nations. In this research, for the first time, the images of the four mentioned nations are presented based on the method of imagology from the perspective of cultural-ideological images. 

To compare Ibn Fadlan’s views on different nations, we first examined and classified the presented cultural-ideological images of the nations. On this basis, thirteen cultural-ideological images that had the highest frequency among different nations were identified. Then, we compared the images related to each subject in different nations and analyzed the reasons for presenting positive, negative, or neutral images about each nation. Accordingly, the purpose of the trip, religious relations and historical background of the nations in question, and the cultural and religious status of the author and his country were identified as the main reasons for his view. 

Cultural-ideological images refer to those images about a nation’s religious or folk beliefs, as well as their manner of thinking, customs, and behaviors. These items generally include differences between own and other cultures and issues such as hospitality customs, male-female relationships, kinship customs, and the manner of guest reception and marriage. 1. HospitalityIn general, all the images of Iranians and Saqalibas about hospitality are positive, and most of the images of Turks are negative, the main reason being the higher cultural and social level of Iranians and Bulgarians compared with the Turks; This, is related to the dependence of the Samanid and Saqaliba governments at that time on the Abbasid caliph and the religious commonalities of the two nations with Ibn Fadlan. 2. Manner of paying respectThe way two peoples of Turk and Saqaliba respected others can indicate the higher level of civilization of Saqalibas compared to Turks. The prestige of Turks in giving a gift is greatly degraded to the level of prostration; but even in the face of their king, Saqalibas considered it sufficient to take off their hats. 3. Dealing with the patientsIbn Fadlan portrays a cruel and violent image of Turks and Russians when encountering the sick.   4. PunishmentsOne of the cases to which Ibn Fadlan paid special attention is the punishment of various crimes among different nations. One reason for that is his religious status. As a religious scholar, he paid special attention to these matters and mentioned the punishment of adultery, sodomy, and theft. The most severe punishment applied by Turks and Saqalibas was for adultery. 5. HealthPresenting some images of not observing the health issues and the filthiness of Russians and Turks in Ibn Fadlan's travelogue, on the one hand, indicates his cleanliness and observance of public health by his place of residence, and on the other hand, shows cultural and civic backwardness of Russians and Turks. 6. Food and housingIdentifying the food habits of different nations, also inferred Ibn Fadlan’s taste for food. 7. Description of appearance, jewelry, and clothingThe clothing of each nation has a direct relationship with their type of climate. Also, some cultural and ideological aspects can be understood from the appearance and clothing of nations. 8. Islamic beliefs and idolatryIbn Fadlan has pointed out the great interest of Saqalibas and Iranians in caliphs and Islam. On the contrary, what he says about Russians and Turks shows their idolatry and polytheism. The images related to their beliefs are presented negatively and accompanied by insulting words. 9. Funeral and mourning ceremoniesOne of the rituals Ibn Fadlan described in full detail is the strange method of burial among Turks and Russians. But the burial rites of Bulgarians are similar to those of dead Muslims. 10. Superstitious beliefsImages of superstitions, especially among Turks and Saqalibas, attracted the attention of Ibn Fadlan. 11. Manner of dividing the inheritanceThe division of inheritance among Saqalibas was different from the Islamic rules, so Ibn Fadlan tried to correct it; But in the case of the Russians, he merely reported images.   12. TempersIbn Fadlan also gave information about the temper of Turks. These images are generally negative and show the savagery of these tribes. 13. Rituals of kinshipThe images of Saqalibas show the privileged place of grandfather in the family. 

A total of 46 minor images can be derived from the 13 mentioned major images. The frequency of images is as follows: Turks with 14 images, Saqalibas with 13 images, Russians with 11 images, and Iranians with 8 images. The main reason for this frequency is the profound differences in cultural and ideological assumptions of Ibn Fadlan especially with Turks and Russians, which made him express those images. The fact that the second rank belongs to Saqalibas can be rooted in Ibn Fadlan's mission to teach Islamic rules to those people, so he focused more on images related to their cultural and religious affairs. Due to the great similarity between Ibn Fadlan's ecosystem and Iranian cities, the least amount of images is assigned to this nation.From Ibn Fadlan’s evaluative point of view, the highest level of negative images is attributed to the Turks (10 images), which is due to their primitive and superstitious customs and beliefs and its contradiction with the brilliant culture of Islam in Baghdad at that time. The next rank belongs to Russians, who in addition to previous reason had geographical and human differences with Ibn Fadlan’s ecosystem. This difference attracted his attention especially because of his religious mentality. He negatively evaluated any discrepancy between the images and Islamic norms. This is also true for Saqalibas, where the four negative images presenting them are inconsistent with Islamic norms and customs. Presenting only one negative image of Iran, which is about the cold climate and type of thick clothes that Iranians wore, indicates that he did not have a negative view of this nation. In contrast, the expression of three positive images of Iranians, three positive images of Saqalibas, and only one positive image of each of the Turkish and Russian nations shows his positive view of Iran, which can be due to Iran’s cultural, ideological, and political alignment with the Caliphate of Baghdad. Saqalibas’ being Muslim and receiving him with hospitality, had also a positive impact on Ibn Fadlan's evaluation of this nation. The positive image of Turks was due to their alignment with Islamic rules, and the positive image of Russians was due to the good economy of the region, like that of Baghdad’s. The expression of 16 neutral images also indicates the descriptive attitude of Ibn Fadlan in many cases and that he tried to show his objective point of view in those cases.

The main goal of imagology is to represent the images of ethnic groups and nations in the literary works of another nation, and travelogues are among the important texts in which the travel writer pictures his views through his travels to other countries. These images, on the one hand, reflect the characteristics of the people of those countries and, on the other hand, reveal the individual and ethnic characteristics of the travel writer. This study sought to identify the images of different types of eastern and western cities of eighth century Iran by identifying and analyzing Ibn Battuta's travelogue, as one of the important works of travel literature in Arabic literature, and to analyze and interpret the reasons for this attitude of Ibn Battuta and to know him to some extent. In this regard, with a descriptive-comparative method, we divided the image of Iranians in the two areas of eastern and western cities into three types of positive, negative and neutral images and based on economic, social, cultural, religious and political characteristics. The this research is important because for the first time the eastern and western cities of eighth century Iran are compared and the view of a Moroccan tourist on Iranians is analyzed. The results show that out of a total of 51 images extracted, the opinion of Ibn Battuta about 80% of the images of Iranians is positive and 20% is negative. The reasons for this positive attitude are rooted in the social and cultural similarities between Iran and Tangier, as well as the well-being of the situation in Iran compared to other countries and territories. Also, in general, we see the better economic situation of the western cities of Iran compared to the eastern cities, which was due to the widespread destruction of the economic infrastructure of the eastern cities of Iran, including markets and caravanserais, caused by the Mongol invasion.

Sheikh Farīd ud-Dīn Attar Neishabouri is well known as one of the great Persian poets. Due to the importance of his works and poems, many studies have been conducted on his works, circumstances, and thoughts. In this regard, the introduction and the critical review of those studies seem to be fundamental in the field of Attar studies. In this paper, an attempt has been made to critically investigate the studies conducted on Attar and his works from a comparative viewpoint, and then the strengths and weaknesses of these studies are determined. The research is based on thirty-four studies related to Attar studies in the field of comparative literature. Some important shortcomings are detected such as the lack of methodology in research and scientific structure of studies, the lack of scientific care and details, existence of repetitive issues, no attention to similarities, no attention to their motives, ignoring differences, no specification of the exact impacts on one another, ignoring new theories and incomplete familiarity with them.

There is no doubt that listening ability is very important in an academic environment. This ability is needed in most of students’ daily activities. That is why assessing listening constitutes a major part of Language proficiency tests such as Ferdowsi University. This exam is held in Iran and Iraq to assess language knowledge of non-Persian speaker who want to enter Iranian Universities. In this research we analyzed the listening part of this exam with Rasch model. The result show that the reliability is 0.66 which is low for a high stake test. Also the wright map indicated the exam items are mostly appropriate for elementary or intermediate students. As most of test items’ type of match are locating and cycling, it is suggested to include more integrative and generative items which can make the test more difficult. Generally speaking the exam mostly assess the ability to detect key vocabulary and understanding details while understanding communicative function of utterances, making inferences about relationship among ideas, integrating information from listening and reading texts are abilities that can improve test difficulty.

The ability to speak is an important part of every body’s language proficiency. This ability plays an important role in the academic life of students. But scoring and assessing speaking is not easy. In this research, we try to study the validity of Ferdowsi University’s Persian proficiency test. We know that every test has a certain amount of error; but in scoring speaking ability if the scoring rubric is designed in a scientific way, the score attributed to the speakerschr('39') speech ability is likely to be very similar to their actual language ability. In other words, the appropriate scoring rubric can have a significant effect on reducing the error rate of the test. In norm-reference tests, this can be achieved only when test designers can say what scoring constructs they intend to measure and how successful they are in achieving that goal. Also, it should be clear whether the scoring scale can distinguish weak, medium, and strong test takers. On the other hand, in applying the scoring rubric , the level of consensus of the scorers should be clear. In order to see how successful is the scoring rubric in Ferdowsi Persian proficiency test, in measuring the test taker’s speaking ability, the authors analyzed the result of one of the proficiency tests administered at Ferdowsi University with Rasch model and factor analysis. The result showed that scorer reliability is 0.97 which is so high. It showed that scorers have the same understanding of the scoring rubric. This means that the scorers have given the test takers a relatively stable score, which is a strong point for the test. Also, the scores have used the scoring rubric properly because the cut score goes up in an organized way as the ability of test-takers increase. Each of the four thresholds obtained by the Rash statistical model differs by approximately 5 degrees, respectively. A regular increase in thresholds is commensurate with the ability of the test takers. This indicates a correct understanding of the scorers of the 5 grades specified in the scoring rubric; in other words, scorers have a good understanding of the level of competence of test takers and its relationship with the grades in the scoring rubric. The Wright map shoes that the scoring rubric can differentiate basic, intermediate and advanced test-takers well. Although on the top of the map there are 8 test-takers which there is no score for them that means the needs some higher scores for them. On the other hand, factor load for three constructs, delivery, language use and topic development are 0.74, 0.78 and 0.76. This shows that dividing speaking ability into these three constructs is proper while language use has the highest factor load and topic development has the lowest factor load.

Literary texts can be used in language teaching/learning programs as a means of teaching the language. Moreover, potent language learners consider reading literature as a language-learning goal. In this regard, it is of utmost importance to design, develop, and re-evaluate language learning materials with regard to the literature. The present study was thus motivated to evaluate the literary texts in teaching Persian to non-Persian books in order to help the improvement of Persian teaching programs. To this end, an integrated approach was employed to investigate different aspects of the mentioned books in terms of language skills, cultural concepts, communicative functions, type and genre of the texts, type of homework, grammatical structures, and presentation of literary texts. The obtained results indicated that the perceptual-motor speaking skills were ignored in most cases. Moreover, most literary texts were indicative of intercultural aspects rather than cross-cultural or intercultural ones. In addition, most literary texts were not related to the the grammatical point raised in the unit, and the communication functions in literary texts were presented at a low level. Therefore, there were some weaknesses in the presentation of literary texts, especially communicative functions, perceptual motor speaking practices, and intracultural concepts. Moreover, all language skills were not equally presented in the investigated books.

Language assessment is an essential part of each Language teaching syllabus.The effectiveness of language educational systems highly depends on the validity of language assessment methods. This research tries to study the construct validity of the writing scoring rubric in the Ferdowsi University’s Persian Proficiency test. For this purpose the results from one of the official tests performed in the Ferdowsi international center for teaching Persian to non-Persian speakers was analyzed with Rasch and factor analysis models. The results showed that the three constructs which are topic development, quality of Language and organization, all have high factor loads. While organization has the highest loads with 0.98 this amount for the two other constructs are 0.97. In order to score each construct, the writing rubric in this test has a six grades’ scale. The Rasch models showed that all raters used this scale in an appropriate way because the order of the thresholds are well organized and match with order of the scores. Also the Write map indicates that this scale can differentiate well elementary, intermediate and advanced examinees and the grades cover all students with different levels of abilities. The rater reliability for this test is 0.98 which is highly acceptable.

Different types of commentary can be classified based on the commentator and the literary text, and the audience.  One type of commentary is comparative commentary. The aim of comparative commentary is to explain and interpret a literary text based on the literature of one nation in the language of another nation. The applied method of comparative commentary has three stages. The first stage is an introduction in order to study the historical relation and linguistic differences between two literary works. The second stage is comparative commentary in order to analyze linguistic-structural and semantic-thematic indexes. The last stage is conclusion in order to study how much the source text has influenced the target text. Mathnavi Sharif Commentary written by Foroozanfar can be considered as a comparative commentary as the commentator has a comparative approach in many of verses and stories of his book.

There is a twofold relationship between the literature and language learning. On one hand, one of the ultimate goals of language teaching is enabling learners to comprehend a literary text independently. On the other hand, literature is a means of teaching languages and improving linguistic skills.  This aspect of language teaching has attracted a scant attention in Iran, which motivated the current study to address this issue. In this regard, 13 literary approaches to language teaching were collected from reliable sources and then theoretical aspect of each approach was elaborated and analyzed using relevant examples from Novin Persian Teaching book series (one of the main sources of teaching Persian language to non-Persian speakers in reliable language centers). The obtained results of the current study were indicative of the influential role of literature in teaching Persian language, which can open new horizon in this regard.

Literary and historical texts can be considered as the most important tool in recognizing the image of women from different ethnic groups in the past, and the knowledge which can classify and analyze the image of women in these texts on a systematic and scientific basis is imagology . Within the literary texts, which represents a fairly realistic image of women , are travelogues; and one of the most comprehensive travelogues in the eighth century is Ibn Battutah's travelogue . In this article, we are going to identify and classify a variety of women's images in this travelogue . Accordingly , at first images of the women from Turkic , Mongolian , Iranian , Chinese and Indian countries has been classified and analyzed from four perspectives of appearance, marriage, covering and attendance in social activities , and then the valuation attitude of Ibn Battutah has been reviewed for each image. The result of this study, while introducing new images of the women of these nations in Ibn Battutah's travelogue, confirms the hypothesis that Ibn Battutah's religious presuppositions have influenced his valuation attitude toward women of different ethnic groups, respectively representing itself in Turkic tribes and Mogul, Iran, India and China .

People are not born with reading ability and it is a new phenomenon in human history. You can still find some people who cannot read. But these days weakness in reading ability can cause serious problems for us. Also Reading ability and academic life are indispensable and many of the students activities are interweaved with reading. Books, essays, instructions, research reports are just a few examples of the activities in academic environment which need reading ability.Because of the importance of reading ability most of Persian proficiency tests include a reading section. Ferdowsi University’s Persian proficiency test which is designed to test the language proficiency of non-Persian students, include reading assessment. This test is official test of Ferdowsi University and it is held twice a year in Iran and some cities of Iraq. In this research we try to study the reading part of this test. We actually try to answer two questions:
1- What is the reliability of the reading section of this test?
2- What is the relation between test items and test takers abilities?
At the end we try to give some recommendation to improve this test’s reliability. We will do this by trying to define the reading skill’s construct and we also use language task framework which is a powerful tool to study reading activities in academic environment.

Review of Literature

The history of testing can be divided into three periods: the pre-academic period, the psychometric period; the structuralism and the psychology-sociology of language (Sposlky, 1977, cited in Davis, 2008). The first period goes back to more than two thousand years ago, when the empires used the test to select new members. The second period is related to the time when psychometrists devised new statistical tools for measuring test reliability which coincided with the constructivist flow in linguistics and led to the development of a discrete point measurement approach. However, in the late twentieth century, we see another approach, called integrated measurement, which emphasized language assessment in context, and, unlike the structuralists, did not consider language division into smaller and discrete points as efficient methods of testing.In the second half of the twentieth century, with the development of scientific tools, companies emerged that produced mass-scale testing, thereby transforming testing into an industry (Spolsky, 2008). One of these companies is ETS. In 1964, on the basis of a discrete point assessment approach, the company designed the first proficiency test and little by little made changes to its test structure. However, in a project called TOEFL 2000, ETS decided to make major changes to this proficiency test. Reading Skills Assessment was also a part of the TOEFL 2000 project, which resulted in Assessing Second Language Academic Reading from a Communicative Perspective: Relevance for TOEFL 2000 (Hudson, 1996) and the Reading Skills Framework (Enright et al., 2000).Attempts have been made in Farsi to design a sufficiency test (Mousavi, 1999; Ghonsooli, 2010; Mamghmani, 2010; Jalili, 2011; Golpour, 2015). These studies devote part of their test to reading skills. Although what distinguishes the present study from all the research done is the precise definition of reading skill constructs, providing a model for measuring this skill, as well as a task-based view of the test design.

First in order to understand what reading ability is we tried to define its constructs. Based on the latest model we found that reading consists of lower level processes and higher level processes. Lower level processes include word recognition, syntax parsing and meaning proposition encoding which are mainly automatic. On the other hand, the higher level processes consist of text model, situational model and executive control mechanism. In order to understand a text, the reader use higher level processes and lower level processes interchangeably.Also a framework was introduced to analyze the language tasks in an academic environment. This framework helps us to understand and simulate language tasks. It has three different parts called situation, text content and test features. This framework is designed based on communicative perspectives in language learning and assessment. The situation explains the context of the task in which it is performed. Its participents, purpose, content, setting and register. The text content include grammatical, functional and discourse features of the text and test features section describes the factors such as type of questions, type of response and scoring procedures.The data in this research was gathered by a test which was held in Ferdowsi International center for teaching Persian to nonnative speakers. This test was performed to see to what extent test takers, have the ability to cope with academic activities. The cut score for this test is 60 out of 100. The test has five section including reading, listening, writing, speaking and structures.90 test takers took part in the test. 33 of them were female and 57 were male. Most of the participants were Iraqi (63) and the rest of them were from Indonesia, Lebanon, Syria, Australia, South Korea, Pakistan, and Yemen. 38 of the examinees were studying in different field of engineering, 17 of them were studying humanities, 13 sciences and 7 of them were students of medical sciences. The field of studying for the rest of the examinees was not known.The Persian proficiency test was held in Mordad 25th, 1996 at 8 o’clock and it took about 3 and half an hour. As the reading section was the second part of the test it started at half past eight. This part of the test took 60 minutes and the students answered 25 questions. Students were in 10 different rooms and there were 9 students in each class.After the test was performed the papers were marked the data was ready for Rasch analysis. The step was done with the help of WINSTEPS software.

The analysis showed that all the questions except item number 21 has appropriate infit and outfit amount. It shows that the test is unidimensional and it is possible to be analyzed by Rasch model. The outfit for item number 21 is 1.53 which is more than the standard amount. This question is multiple choice and it is also so simple. It seems that the item is ambiguous. The results also showed that the test reliability is 76%. We know that reading test reliability should be more than 90%. So the test needs to improve its reliability.Also the Write map showed that the test need some more difficult items because for the 14 top students in the exam there are only two items. And also there are just 4 items appropriate for the 36 top students of the test. The exam cannot differentiate between intermediate and advanced students.

The results showed that the test reliability is not high so the test designers should improve their reliability for example by adding more question and items. On the other hand the item- examinee map showed that the test assess elementary or advanced students reading ability it means that this test is not appropriate to assess advanced student’s reading skill.The test includes three texts and 25 items. Compared to TOEFL exam which has about 40 items, the test needs more questions. In order to improve its reliability, more items can be added to the test. But considering type of information requested the test covers different levels. Which is a good aspect of this test. Also each text has about 500 words which is somehow appropriate for assessing academic reading skill.The results showed that the test is easy. The reason for this is the matching type of the questions. For fourteen questions of the test the students should locate and cycle the answers. We know that usually these type of questions are not so difficult. So in order to improve the test difficulty other matching types such as integrative and productive questions should be added.From the reading purpose perspective, the test questions mainly follow two purposes, reading to find information and reading for general information. The test needs items with other types of purposes such as reading to learn and reading to integrate information.

Imagology is one of the branches of comparative literature which identifies the features and attitudes of other nations through literary works. The identification of women’s image in other countries and nations from the viewpoint of a foreign poet or author is a topic of the knowledge imagology which has an important role in understanding the position, interests and attitudes of women in those societies. In this essay the images of women in Ibn -e Fazlan Travelogues is studied. This travelogue is one of the oldest survived literary works about the lands located in the basin of Volga river and Central Asia whose author also passed Iran and Turkan region. In Ibn -e Fazlan travelogues valuable and exclusive information and images of Turkish, Bulgarian, Iranian and Russian women are given which are studied and classified in this essay within the four perspectives of marriage, clothes, jewelries and bondwomen based on the methodology of imagology approch. This essay concluded that those images of Turkish, Bulgarian, Iranian and Russian women which were strange and odd to Ibn -e Fazlan based on his beliefs and the environment he lived in, presented in Russian, Turkish, Bulgarian and Iranian nations respectively, are specially marked in his travelogue

The critical thinking is the integration of the knowledge attitude and practical skill. Today the scholars of Education believe that one of the most important aims of academic learning is critical thinking. At the present essay after an introduction about this subject, a short history of critical thinking with review of its concepts and definitions has been considered. Then the five principal parts of the critical thinking that consist: 1) Inference 2) Recognition of assumption 3) Deduction 4) Interpretation 5) Evaluation of argument has been explained. Thus, the inefficient educational systems – among them educational systems of Persian language and literature – that only transfer the information has been proved, the methodology of this hypothesis is evolution of the student of 1386 – 1389 language and Persian literature with Watson – Glaiser questionnaire. The result of this research is that the ability of critical thinking of 1382 has not improved .At the end , the manner of presenting credits has been suggested for the Persian language and literature for three Periods: B.A , M.A and PhD.

Ferdowsi, has beautifully described the important characters of Shahnameh. With the help of psychological analysis, one can reach the hidden layers of their personality. This shows Ferdowsi’s intelligence and his awareness in characterization. One of the negative and unaccepted characters of Shahnameh is called Shaghaad, who is Rostam’s stepbrother. In his exact description of this character, Ferdowsi presents him as a character that has inferiority complex. The writers of this article study different reasons that have resulted to such a characterization and his inferiority complex

Literature, for the reason of its nature as well as its broad domain, is in thematic correlation and symmetry with other areas of human science. This characteristic gives way to carrying out interdisciplinary researches such as psycho-literary studies. Tārikh-e Beyhaghi is one of the works of Persian literature, authentic because of the picture it draws of the figures of the Ghaznavid court. Boosahl Zoozani, as the most negative character, is studied here, for his "Inferiority Complex". The very existence of the traits such as vanity, jealousy, envy, hatred, ambition, vengeance, contradictory behaviors, dreadfulness, prudent flexibility, and instrumental use of religious beliefs, in Boosahl -- partly or totally diagnosed in those suffering from "Inferiority Complex"-- proves the hypothesis of this research.

Today in the age of knowledge, those studies are considered scientific and worthwhile which precede analysis and result in new knowledge. In this essay, by investigating more than 3450 Persian language and literature theses, it is suggested that they are mostly descriptive in nature and are limited to tabulating and classifying information. Some of the observed problems are: nonexistence of scientific and literary universalism centralization on presenting literary information nonexistence of an appropriate research proposal, design and methodology working on general subjects and finally repeating previous studies.