ناصر رنجبر

Needs analysis can be regarded as the cornerstone of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) since designing courses based on the wants and wishes of different stakeholders addresses their needs and considers time and resources constraints. Moreover, paying close attention to EAP assessment in general, and EAP assessment needs in particular, sounds vital since they have not been considered sufficiently. The present study, thus, scrutinized Iranian university students’ and teachers’ needs in EAP classes. Additionally, it sought the learners’ satisfaction degree toward EAP teaching and assessment. Moreover, the study investigated the materials and teaching and assessment methods employed in Iranian EAP classes. To this end, 436 university students and 50 EAP teachers were selected according to convenience sampling. Needs analysis questionnaires and observations were used to collect the data. The collected data were subjected to frequency and Chi-square analyses, the results of which showed that there were significant differences between the students’ and the teachers’ needs mostly in listening and grammar and that they had fairly similar perceptions of needs in reading, speaking, and writing. Nearly half of the students were not satisfied with the teaching and assessment methods. Besides, 50% of the students used SAMT (Saazman-e-Motale'e va Tadvin-e-kotob oloum-e-ensani-e-daneshgah ha in Persian) books, while 35.7% of them used handouts. Furthermore, 93% of the EAP teachers employed the principles of the Grammar-Translation Method (GTM) in their instruction. The findings of the present study can bring the Iranian EAP students’ perceptions of needs into focus and help the teachers incorporate them into their syllabus. Moreover, taking students' and teachers' viewpoints of needs into account and considering the results obtained from the observations can help the EAP education improve.

Ligula intestinalis worm is the cause of ligolosis. It is the most common parasitic infection of freshwater fish in most parts of the world and causes many economic losses including weight loss, fertility decline and mortality in baby fish. Therefore, taking measures to diagnose and control it become very important, in breeding pools and fish farms management. The adult Ligula intestinalis worm can be found in the small intestine of the angry birds and the larva stage of the worm (plerocercoid) in the abdominal cavity of fish. The aim of this study was to detect Ligula intestinalis parasitic infection in river whitefish in Alborz dam, Mazandaran Province. To this end, in September 2016, 60 fish of the species were captured randomly and referred to the laboratory for morphometric and parasitic examination. The results showed that all fish caught were infected. Since Ligula intestinalis plerocercoid can reduce or not fertilize young fish, it is essential. to consider strategies to combat this parasite.

The architecture of the Orchin Dome was one of the hallmarks of the tombs in the southern and southwestern parts of Iran, Which has been less studied in scientific research. The main purpose of this study is to identify the factors influencing the formation of the dome of Imamzadeh Seyed Salahuddin Mohammad in the city of Abdanan. In this regard, the influence of historical, geometric (physical) and structural factors on the formation of the dome of this shrine has been discussed. This research has been done by descriptive-analytical research in the form of qualitative studies and its information has been collected based on library studies and field observations. According to field studies and observations, the study of the damaged dome was multi-faceted. One of the main indicators of this dome is the simplification of polygons in its corners. The dome architect seems to have used a semicircle to increase the height of the dome and to align the spiers. Other research findings show historical factors such as geographical location, historical background of Abdanan city, proximity to Elamite civilization, ziggurats and other historical tombs of Khuzestan plain (tomb of Daniel Nabi in Shush and tomb of Imamzadeh Rudband and Yaqub Laith Saffari in Dezful) as well as the physical shape of Seljuk tombs in the region, they have affected the physical shape of the study dome. Structurally, the dome of this building is mostly made of local materials and efforts have been made with the help of appropriate geometry. Prevent asymmetric and tensile forces. Therefore, numerical relationships in the proportions of their similar shapes in the floors and the proportions of the components of the dome, including the height of the floors, openings and other components of each with special relationships, create a transcendental (fractal) pattern. Also,The use of this unique geometry in the dome has prevented the absorption of sunlight into the dome. On the other hand, the height, shape and color of the dome affect the landscape and visual appearance and make the building stand out.

The Black Chad is a four-season residence, slightly adjusting to the changing seasons and climates of the region, in addition to observing the living conditions, taking into account the cultural and artistic aspects and adopting some form of original indigenous technology and innovation displays. Accordingly, to what extent did the most important research question, the cultural and social differences between the Kurdish nomadic and Bakhtiari tribes, have influenced the black shade of the tent? This study was conducted to identify the factors that make up this residential unit, the commonality and differences in morphology of the Black Tent between the two Kurdish tribes and Bakhtiari in the south of Ilam province and north of Khuzestan province and its impact on housing pattern and architectural structure. The data collection was based on library studies and field studies and the research method was classified and content analysis. The results show that black tents in the study area were influenced by climate factors, hospitality, happiness, protection and security, art and beauty. This difference in black hat shape is more influenced by the culture and geography of the area, although the cultural area is very close among the tribes, but there are differences in interior space divisions and in the size and structure of the black hat and the use of ornamentation and a black tribal view, Bakhtiari is more than Kurdish tribe.

With the central role of textbooks, particularly, in centralized educational systems such as that of Iran where a single textbook is recommended for nation-wide use, evaluation textbooks, esp. whilst-use evaluation, can highlight points of strength and weakness in a book and pave the way for its improvement in later editions. The present study set to evaluate Vision 1, English textbook for year 10 in the new Iranian educational system. To this end, a questionnaire taken from Ahmadisafa et al. (1396) was distributed among 150 English teachers (selected from different provinces of the country through convenience sampling). Furthermore, 20 of the above teachers responded to a researcher-designed semi-structured interview involving: 1) general evaluation of the book, 2) advantages of the book over those previously used, 3) viewpoints of the teachers' over realization of the aims of the book, 4) its points of weakness, and 5) the teachers' suggestions for improvements in its later editions. The results indicated that the teachers were relatively satisfied with: 1) supplementary materials and teacher's book, 2) grammar, vocabulary and language functions, 3) content and language skills, 4) tasks and exercises, 5) design and layout, and 6) teaching methodology. However, the interview revealed the teachers' relative dissatisfaction with the book, with most of them considering the book unsuccessful in fulfilling the set objectives.

Although the concept of ‘face’ has recently been the focus of attention in language pragmatics, face theory and research have dealt with individual rather than social aspects of human interactions (Arundale, 2013). In order to assess the epistemological and methodological dimensions of face in recent literature, this qualitative meta-synthetic study examines the concept of face in intercultural and multicultural communicative interactions. A total of 13 intercultural face studies published in two leading journals, Journal of Pragmatics and Intercultural Pragmatics, were identified and a thorough qualitative content analysis was conducted to identify the core themes and commonalities. The emerging themes portrayed the concept of face as culture and language specific, relational, interactional, and location-specific, co-constructed and negotiated by the participants in the ongoing discourse activities. Concerning the methodology adopted by researchers in the realms of pragmatics in general and face studies in particular, it is noted that most of intercultural face studies employed mainly audio and video interaction recordings, observations, interviews, and field notes and procedures like including linguistic ethnography, conversation analysis, and interactional sociolinguistic procedures were not used while it seems a more comprehensive understanding of face is achieved through ethnographic, conversation analytic, and interactional sociolinguistic studies in a range of different communicative contexts. The study nominates some methodological aspects of face for further studies in the intercultural pragmatics research area.

This article evaluates Prospect series (1, 2, 3) and Vision 1, newly developed local textbooks used for teaching English as a foreign language in the Iranian junior and senior secondary schools. Liddicoat’s (2002) metacultural and Byram’s (1997, 2009) intercultural communicative competence models were adopted as the theoretical framework guiding the study. First, the textbooks were subjectively analyzed according to the models to see how metacultuural and intercultural knowledge are included. Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 teachers of the books (both male and female) to get a better understanding of the issue. The data were audio-recorded, transcribed, and subjected to content analysis. The accuracy and the internal validity of the interviews were ensured using member checking (Bazeley, 2013; Flick, 2014b). The results revealed that some local aspects of the Iranian culture were incorporated in the books, but the major focus was still on grammar and teaching functions. The books, however, were found not to sufficiently deal with metacultural and intercultural knowledge development. Considering teachers’ accounts, two major themes were identified in the interview data: disassociation of culture from language and Iranianization of the discourse and contents of the textbooks. The article argues that these shortcomings can result in loss of allegiance to the principles of “active and self-reliant communicative approach” as the foundation of the textbook. The article concludes with some suggestions for revisions for forthcoming revisions of the textbooks.

Vygotsky's writings on Sociocultural Theory (SCT) of mind, his concept of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and its related metaphor, scaffolding, serve as the theoretical basis for the study of peer collaboration. This paper aimed at examining the effects of peer-scaffolding on EFL writing ability and finding out how revising techniques are constructed and expanded when two learners are working in their ZPDs. Two intermediate EFL university students (a "reader" and a "writer") collaboratively revised a cause and effect composition written by one of them. A microgenetic approach was applied for analyzing the interactions. Results showed that even though the role of the reader was more significant as mediator at first, both reader and writer actively took part in revising the text with assistance transferring mutually between them at the end of the session. Results also indicated that peer scaffolding could be reciprocal rather than unidirectional. As a concluding remark, it was noted that teachers can enhance the quality of collaborative writing processes by helping students to work together and take into account joint efforts in the writing tasks. Learners can also take more participation, learn evaluative feedback strategies, and benefit from their co-mediators.