mansoor ganji

Research article (RA) titles are one of the most important elements of a manuscript, influencing the reviewers’ decision and editors’ judgment, attracting the readers, and conveying the main idea of the article. Investigating 3197 RA titles published in 16 approved Iranian linguistic journals, this study aimed to map their pattern and portray their features of form and content. To this end, all the RA titles of the 16 Iranian journals publishing articles in applied linguistics up to 2022 (3197 titles) were collected. Then, they were analyzed for their length, presence of non-alphanumeric characters, syntactic structure, lexical diversity, as well as type and trend of information encoded.  Results show that RA titles in Iranian linguistic journals tend to be pretty long (average of 13.88) but mostly consist of non-repetitive words with high lexical diversity (.94). Authors mainly used colons (average of 82), hyphens (average of 79), and commas (average of 37) to form titles by nominal (average of 94) and compound (average of 82) grammatical structures. These titles mostly tended to embed information about the method, data, and results of the works and appeared to be highly informative. Interrelationships between features resulted in a checklist for RA title features that can be used by prospective researchers, academic writing instructors, and reviewers.

This study examines the frequency and pedagogical approaches of transition markers in three Iranian and three corresponding foreign English for Academic Purposes (EAP) grammar textbooks. Employing Hyland's (2005) interpersonal metadiscourse model, this research discerns the prevalence of transition markers, specifically focusing on indicators of addition, comparison and contrast, and consequence. A close analysis of the pedagogical dimension of transitions is conducted through the application of Walkova's (2020) ten principles. The findings showed that transitions of addition manifest the highest prevalence, while those of consequence emerge as the least prevalent category in both Iranian and foreign textbooks. Moreover, transitions appeared more significantly in Iranian textbooks than in foreign textbooks. However, the textbooks examined universally display a dearth of demonstrable commitment toward effective principles for instructing transitions. In spite of less frequent usage of transitions within their context, foreign textbooks evince a comparatively higher propensity for implementing the principles of effective instruction of transition than Iranian textbooks. The results of Chi-square tests indicate statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) across all three categories. The findings of this study strongly advocate that material developers and curriculum designers embrace the recommended principles for teaching transition markers.

Research has shown that classroom management plays a critical role in facilitating effective learning, making it a permanent concern for teachers as well as researchers. In the related literature, one area which needs further consideration is to explore the effect of different personal and contextual factors on the way teachers choose to manage their classrooms. Therefore, the present study aimed at exploring the effects of age, gender, teaching experience, teaching context, and academic degree on Iranian English teachers’ classroom management behaviors. To achieve this, a researcher-made questionnaire based on four classroom management questionnaires was developed. The questionnaire was distributed among 152 EFL teachers teaching in different settings in Iran. To analyze the obtained data, Point-Biserial correlation followed by an independent samples t-test, and one-way ANOVA were used. The results revealed that men and women were quite different with regard to the classroom management behaviors they showed. However, age, teaching context, teaching experience, and academic degree did not significantly affect teachers’ classroom management behaviors. Possible explanations of the results in light of the previous literature are further discussed.

New generation of English textbooks, Vision Series, has been introduced and taught in Iranian high schools since 2017. This study aimed to scrutinize the correspondence between the recommendations suggested in the English teachers’ guides (TGs) of Vision Series and the actual teaching practices of Iranian high school English teachers. It follows a descriptive and correlational design, enjoying both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Participants of the present study included three groups: English teachers, high school students, and supervisors of English teachers in Iranian Ministry of Education. A total number of 100 high school English teachers, teaching in Sistan and Balouchestan Province, filled out a researcher-made piloted questionnaire. Out of them, 3 male and 3 female English teachers were later invited for an oral semi-structured interview. The second group of participants were 48 high school students. The last group of participants were 2 supervisors of English teachers in Iranian Ministry of Education. The researchers also participated in and observed two female teachers' English classes. By and large, the results of supervisors’ interviews and class observations were negative about the correspondence between actual teaching of Vision Series and recommendations of TG for most sections of the book. By contrast, the results of teachers' and students' questionnaires demonstrated that English teachers' teaching was perceived to be consistent with the recommendations of TG in more than half of the cases. The interviews with teachers indicated that half of the interviewees believed that they followed the suggestions of the TG. The implications of findings, especially for English teachers, are also discussed.

There is growing agreement among researchers on the advantages of using automated feedback programs (AFPs), but most of the previous studies have evaluated more well-known AFPs like Grammarly, Ginger, etc. in English writing classes. None of the previous studies on AFPs evaluated the effectiveness of and users' perception of InstaText. Thus, this study was aimed at examining the effects of InstaText on improving the language quality (i.e., grammar, spelling, and style) of Persian-English freelance translators using InstaText for editing their English translations of Persian academic papers, which are considered technical translations. In addition, it was conducted to investigate how the said users perceived this InstaText. This quantitative study was conducted in two phases: a one-group pretest-posttest phase, where the effect of using InstaText on improving the language quality of translated technical texts was examined with 75 participants; and a survey phase, where the participants' perception toward InstaText was measured using Usefulness, Satisfaction, and Ease of Use (USE) questionnaire. InstaText did not help the participants make significant progress in grammar and spelling, but its effect on improving their style was significant. Further, the participants perceived the tool as intuitive, user-friendly, efficient, time-saving, and satisfactory.

Limiting the scope of Maritime English (ME) courses to nautical subject matters, due to the conventional views who define ME as the global language used at sea, may not be based on a real needs analysis of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses in ports and maritime related organizations. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, this study aimed to challenge this traditional perception through conducting an ESP needs analysis in Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) of Iran. All the 17 departments’ managers and/or their delegates were interviewed, then a researcher-made questionnaire which was developed according to the interviews was distributed among the experts (70 respondents). The deductive content analysis was used for analyzing the qualitative part, and the quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics. It was revealed that the overall needs of PMO in terms of ESP does not concord with conventional nautical-based Maritime English courses, and it in fact encompasses a much wider variety of content areas such as “port economic, marketing and investment, legal, tariffs, agreements and contracts, education, research, strategic port administration, logistics” etc.

It is evident that the most important competence emphasized by any translation competence model (TCM) is mastery of source and target languages and cultures. On the other hand, languages and cultures are always closely tied, a fact highlighted more than ever by Agar’s (1994) proposed concept of ‘languaculture’. The present two-phase qualitative study was conducted with the purpose of investigating how the curricula of B.A. and M.A. English translation programs offered by Iranian state universities cover language and culture competence as compared to overseas peer programs and how they can be improved in terms of the said competence. To this end, content analysis of the relevant curricula as well as semi-structured interviews with Iranian experts were used to gather the required data. The principal finding of the present research is that it emphasizes the necessity of revising the current curricula in line with the maximum coverage of topics contained in a proposed list of Persian language and culture topics, English language and culture topics, and joint language and culture topics. The said list of language and culture topics, being another valuable finding of the study, may also be used for designing new autonomous translator, interpreter, and audiovisual translator training programs, or at least concentrations with specialized tracks and strands. Further, the detailed findings of the study, gained through an atomistic approach to language and culture competence, may be availed of by researchers who intend to conduct further studies on each and every element of this competence.

This quasi-experimental research aimed at investigating the effects of two different modes of worksheets on the vocabulary learning of Iranian young EFL learners. Some 20 male and female learners enrolled in a language institute in Chabahar agreed to participate in this study. Then, they were randomly divided into two experimental groups, and a vocabulary test was administered before the treatment as the pre-test. This pre-test was administered to determine the learners’ vocabulary knowledge and check their homogeneity. During the treatment, learners in Paper Worksheet Group (PWG) learned new words via paper worksheets, while the learners in Online Worksheet Group (OWG) learned vocabulary items via online worksheets. At the end, all the participants took a vocabulary post-test, which was the same as the pre-test. A paired sample t-test and an independent sample t-test were run, the results of which revealed that the PWG outperformed the OWG. More precisely, paper worksheets had a significant impact on young EFL learners’ vocabulary learning. Using worksheets, teachers can create a relaxed, challenging, and fun atmosphere so that young EFL learners can learn complex vocabulary items through active and multi-dimensional learning.

Millions of users worldwide nowadays use Machine Translation (MT) systems such as Google Translate (GT). The present study aimed at investigating the effects of using GT in class activities on the vocabulary development and phraseology of Iranian ESP learners. To this end, after assuring the homogeneity of the students, 60 ESP learners majoring in Persian Language and Literature and Physical Education and Sports Sciences were selected and randomly assigned to two experimental groups. After administering the pretest, the students in the first experimental group (Only-Dictionary) used available dictionaries but those in the second experimental group (Dictionary plus Google Translate) employed both GT and available dictionaries. As for homework, the participants were asked to translate a passage from their textbook for the following session. The students were given feedback on their translations so that they could understand their weaknesses and strong points. Ultimately, the posttest was administered which indicated that both groups improved in their vocabulary knowledge and equivalent-finding skill. However, the mean score for the Dictionary plus Google Translate group students was significantly higher than that of the Only-Dictionary group. As for phraseology, there was not a significant difference between the two groups.

Textbook is an essential element of teaching and learning materials. After the teacher, textbooks are the most important factor in learning. Since textbooks act as an important material in teaching and learning, they need to be evaluated regularly. In the light of the foregoing, this study aimed to evaluate “Active Skills for Reading” using a researcher-made checklist and a structured interview. This book was being taught in six classes of Chabahar Maritime University as a general English coursebook. The goal of this study was to determine the suitability of the book as a general English course from the students’ and teachers’ perspectives. To this end, 150 students and 4 teachers were selected, and data were collected during two semesters in 2020. The quantitative data of the checklist were analyzed by calculating descriptive statistics using SPSS version 26, and qualitative data was analyzed through deductive content analysis. It was shown that the teachers and students believed that the appearance of the book is attractive, the content of the book is up-to-date and practical, and the goals are well defined. It was also revealed that although the textbook had some shortcomings such as lack of enough grammar sections in each unit, teachers felt the book was still appropriate for general English courses, especially for developing the reading skills. Generally, it was indicated that the textbook had met students’ needs for a general English course. The study ends with suggestions for general English teachers and materials designers.

This study compared the use of lexical bundles in authentic spoken language data with those of two English learning textbooks developed for IELTS preparation courses in Iran. The aim was to see if the language chunks available in the said textbooks were representative of the real-life language for which learners need to prepare. To achieve this aim, firstly, a list of lexical bundles was compiled based on Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English (MICASE) and British Academic Spoken English (BASE). Further, the list was used as a reference tool to analyze the language data of two IELTS preparation books published and widely used in Iran. The results highlighted some considerable differences between MICASE and BASE with regard to the use of lexical bundles in terms of their frequency, structure, and function. Moreover, it was revealed that the books under investigation shared only a scarce number of similar lexical bundles with MICASE and BASE as a whole. Therefore, they failed to be representative of the authentic language that people use in real world. Finally, the implications of the study are discussed, and several practical suggestions are made in order to inform teachers, material developers, and syllabus designers of the importance of related corpus linguistic studies.

Method section constitutes the key element of Research Articles (RAs) since it gives the readers sufficient information on the steps taken, instruments used, and the reliability and validity of the study, thus most editors and reviewers pay a great deal of attention to this section. This study investigates the method section of all the 141 RAs published between 2012 and 2020 in the Journal of Teaching Persian to Speakers of Other Languages (TPSOL). To be more exact, it is a content analysis of the research approaches and designs, data collection tools and data sources, number of participants, statistical tests and techniques used in data analysis, and the missing elements of the method section of the said RAs. Analyzing the data through inductive content analysis revealed that almost 57% of the papers followed quantitative approach, followed by 31% mixed-methods approach. Descriptive, comparative, and correlational studies were the most frequent research designs, while case study was the least frequent one. Researchers collected the needed data mostly through questionnaires, achievement tests, pre-test and post-tests, and documents. The number of participants varied according to the research designs and purposes, with few studies employing sample sizes smaller than the standard size. The data of RAs were analyzed through descriptive statistics, content analysis, and t-test. It was also revealed that data analysis section, participants, and instruments were the most problematic sub-sections in the method section. The study ends with several practical suggestions for future researchers, present reviewers, and editors of the journal.   

Although researchers, postgraduate students, and university professors are under tremendous pressure to publish or perish, there exist few widely acknowledged rating scales or checklists for evaluating manuscripts submitted to journals in applied linguistics. To top it all, the existent peer-reviewing criteria are typically not publicly shared; thus, peer-reviewing is a closed, occluded genre. To fill this lacuna in applied linguistics, this research critically analyzed the evaluation scales, existing review criteria, and available documents from 18 journals, two publishing institutions, and APA guidelines in order to come up with a comprehensive checklist for evaluating research articles in applied linguistics. The analysis of the data through inductive content analysis revealed 43 categories, which were later classified under six main themes. It was found that researchers must be aware of the practicalities of research, include the essentials in their manuscript, and appeal to editors by adding elements of face validity. Having met these requirements, researchers must enjoy excellent composition skills and adhere to the fundamental principles in research ethics in order to be able to write a research paper having high overall value. The paper concludes with several implications for researchers and opens up some avenues for future research.

Student Question Generation (SQG) is one of the learner-centered constructive learning techniques which might be a helpful too for engaging students in the learning and assessment processes and increase their interest in the learning materials. This study attempted to investigate the effect of this technique on ESP learners’ achievement in an English course and to study the learners' views on the efficacy of using this technique in teaching English. To reach the said aims, a mixed-method research design was employed to answer the questions. The research was conducted at Islamic Azad University in Hidaj with 60 participants (male and female) who were majoring at accounting and civil engineering and were divided into experimental and control groups. Data were collected through an achievement test which was administered at the end of the course and a focus-group interview held in experimental group class. Independent samples t-test was used to analyze the quantitative data, while the learners' responses were analyzed through content analysis. The results revealed that using SQG helped the students in learning the course materials significantly. The analysis of the qualitative data revealed seven themes related to the effectiveness of using SGQ, of which the most important ones were usefulness of the technique, creating a relaxed and cooperative atmosphere, and increased motivation. They further reported that their interest in the course increased, and the quality of their learning increased. Based on the results, some instructional implications are provided for the teachers, syllabus designers and researchers.

Due to the rapid expansion of knowledge and ever-increasing growth of international communication, the need to highly qualified translators is felt more than ever before. Not being satisfied with the traditional approaches to teaching translation, translation experts, practitioners, and researchers argue for a move to a more team-based, experiential, and cooperative approach. This study aimed to investigate if teaching translation through cooperative learning improved university students’ class-engagement, self-esteem, and self-confidence. Having administered the class-engagement, self-esteem, and self-confidence questionnaires, the control and experimental groups, with 15 students in each, received the treatment for 10 sessions. The experimental group did the translation tasks through cooperative method in groups of 2 or 3. However, the control group was taught through traditional method, and students translated the text individually. Once the treatment was over, the questionnaires were distributed again, and responses were recorded. Employing one-way ANCOVA, the data were analyzed. The results revealed that cooperative learning improved students’ self-confidence, self-esteem, and class-engagement. Using this technique, teachers can create a more relaxed, competitive, and stress-free atmosphere, where students are keen to participate in the class discussions and enjoy the cognitive and affective benefits. The results are discussed with regard to self-efficacy theory, attribution theory, and self-worth theory.

This study investigated the effect of transcribing group-discussion tasks on the development of university students' autonomy and oral proficiency. A quasi-experimental research design was followed to compare the performances of four groups: two experimental groups and two control groups (each group divided into low and high proficiency students). The study lasted for 12 weeks, and the teacher assigned a classroom oral discussion task in each session. The students were divided into discussion groups of three or four students, with low and high proficiency learners in different groups. The participants had to record their group discussion tasks. Control groups’ students had to submit their recorded conversations to their instructor, but they did not do any post-task activity. However, the experimental groups’ students had to transcribe their recorded speaking tasks, to find their own and their peers' grammatical mistakes, and to correct them. Finally, while working in groups, students discussed the texts and reformulated their mistakes. Employing ANCOVA to analyze the results, researchers found that experimental groups significantly outperformed the students of the control groups on post-tests of oral proficiency and learner autonomy. Thus, transcription followed by reflection on inaccurate production contributed to the superior performance of participants in the experimental groups.

Dynamic assessment is a new approach toward testing which is deeply rooted in a variety of theories and therefore attracted researchers in recent decades. However, most of the researches conducted in the field have been in experimental settings and few of them, if at all, have studied its applications in real educational setting.Thus,aimed at diagnosing and removing learning difficulties of Iranian high school students in productive skills of English, the current research was an attempt to present and explain a local model of dynamic assessment and then compare its results against a standard model. The findings showed that the local model is not only able to prognosticate language problems but also to propose a local inventory of mediation for removing them. Besides, the results of a post test only control group design through analysis of variance showed that the participants which used the model outperformed both control group and the one in standard dynamic assessment approach. These findings have implications for teachers, syllabus designers and educational decision makers.

The use of collaborative classroom interactional tasks is on the rise recently since they incorporate the negotiation of meaning and thus they may be regarded as one of the most efficient ways to ease a learner’s focus on form. This study investigated the immediate and long-term effects of reconstruction editing task on the learning of 20 academic vocabulary items through using five reconstruction editing tasks. Of interest was whether the number of students in the interaction groups made any considerable difference in the gains of vocabulary knowledge in the groups under study. Based on convenience sampling, some 30 teenage students of two intermediate level classes studying Top Notch course at a language institute in Isfahan volunteered to participate in the study. Having taken a teacher-made pretest, group A with 14 students did the reconstruction editing task in pairs, but the 16 students of group B did the task in groups of four. Then, they took an immediate and a delayed posttest. Comparing the performance of each group before and after the treatment through paired samples t-test, it was revealed that both methods led to a big increase in the knowledge of vocabulary items, but no significant difference was found between the effects of these two methods as demonstrated by the immediate posttest. However, the group which did the tasks in groups outperformed the pair group in the delayed posttest which was administered one month after the immediate posttest. Thus, output tasks are advised to be utilized in reading-oriented courses such as English for Specific Purposes (ESP) to involve the learners more in the learning process and create a more learner-centered atmosphere.

Metacognitive reading strategies play a significant role in reading comprehension and educational success. Being noticeably absent from many Iranian classrooms and largely unaware of by many language learners and teachers, metacognitive reading strategies have fallen into oblivion in English language teaching, research, learning, and assessment. The present study was an attempt to measure the metacognitive reading strategy (MRS) awareness among Iranian university students majoring in English Translation Studies. It also aimed at determining whether gender and learners’ different academic levels would make any difference in using various types of MRS. Furthermore, it investigated the relationship between Iranian EFL learners’ awareness of MRS and their reading comprehension performance. A sample of 45 EFL university students majoring in English Translation at Chabahar Maritime University participated in this study. They were asked to complete the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) questionnaire adapted from Tavakoli (2014) and to take a TOEFL Junior Standard Reading Comprehension Test. The results revealed that although the overall strategy use among these students was low (M=2.42), support reading strategies were used the most and problem-solving strategies were the least frequently used ones. Additionally, no significant difference was found between males and females as well as different academic levels in the use of MRS. No significant relationship was found between students’ overall use of metacognitive reading strategies and their reading comprehension achievement. The study concludes with a number of pedagogical implications and lists several guidelines for future research.

Research findings in the last decades have shown that anxiety and its debilitative consequences exert damaging effect on learning. Enjoying a profound theoretical foundation in Vygotskian theories of cognitive development and psychological therapy, dynamic assessment and interventions propose a framework for promoting student’s learning through mediation and support in the zone of proximal development of mind. The present study was an attempt to use this framework to remove anxiety and psychological barriers to mastering speaking in English classes. To this aim foreign language classroom anxiety scale (FLCAS) was adopted and administered to 250 first grade high school students in Qom and the researcher selected 10 students with highest anxiety score, serving as experimental group (n=10). The research used an experimental design, in which experimental group’s anxiety scores in pre-test (before dynamic intervention) and post-test (after dynamic intervention) was calculated. Also, the group was given a speaking exam in pre-test and post-test conditions to trace learning after dynamic intervention. Data were analyzed through paired t-test procedure. the findings of the study showed that the intervention significantly relieved anxiety symptoms (t (9) =18.974, p =0.000) and promoted learning speaking (t (9) =-8.508, p =0.000). Furthermore, descriptions of treatment showed the way the intervention treated anxiety symptoms and resulted in internalization of learning. In sum, the current study identified major anxiety symptoms and introduced a fast, non-obtrusive, and time and money saving method for treating anxiety. Findings have implications for psychologists, counselors, teachers and health and education decision makers.

Initial teacher training courses are of utmost importance because they are the first entry point to the teacher professional career and determine the quality and quantity of teachers. Despite the importance of initial teacher training courses and their influence on the professional lives of teacher applicants, English teachers, and language learners, there is a dearth of research evaluating these courses in Iranian private language institutes. This paper reports on a mixed-methods study that utilized questionnaires with open-ended and Likert-scale items and available documents to evaluate the English Teacher Training Course(ETTC) held in an Iranian private language institute. Data were gathered from 60 teacher applicants applying for this ETTC and 94 English teachers who took this ETTC in 2016. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were employed to analyze the data. The findings indicate that while teacher applicants needed training most in teaching language skills and components, general teaching skills, and classroom management, the institute focused on the first area at the cost of second and third areas. Furthermore, it was found that the ETTC focused on received versus experiential knowledge, offered scant opportunity for teaching practice and classroom observation, and providedlittle training in classroom management skills. The article concludes by outlining the pedagogical implications of the findings for English teachers, trainers, and course designers.