فصلنامه مطالعات زبان و ترجمه
سال پنجاه و یکم شماره 4 (زمستان 1397)

The present study sought to implement the idea of ELT for life among language education practitioners by challenging and materializing the notion of Applied ELT. In so doing, constructing some novel scales seemed inevitable. Highlighting the premises of Life Syllabus, this study devised and validated a TPCS-ELLTs (Teachers’ Perceptions of Creativity Scale for English Language Learning Textbooks) with 45 items to evaluate the current English language textbooks regarding the level they increase the creativity of language learners. The TPCS-ELLTs was validated through statistical procedures like Rasch rating model and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) which at last provided a model with a 6-point Likert scale. This scale was administered to a group of 164 EFL teachers at private language institutes. After more investigation, it was clear through Rasch model that, those items having infit MNSQ greater than 1.4 deviate from the expected model and degrade the analysis. Therefore, after changing some items, it was concluded that this scale as a unidimensional model, contains a high reliability and also a correct 6-point Likert. In other words, this scale is a precise measurement of the construct and therefore well-targeted for the sample. Furthermore, some recommendations regarding the implication and conclusions of this study in other fields of language teaching have been pointed out.

A speaker’s view towards a specific matter such as ‘doubt’, ’obligation’, etc., is expressed through different ways; one of these ways is through using modal auxiliary verbs as well as their verb phrase structures. This study is to compare the presentation of nine central modal auxiliaries and their related verb phrase structures in pedagogical English textbooks of Iran and Malaysia. For this purpose, all three grades of lower secondary level English textbooks in Iran and Malaysia were used. Also, the British National Corpus was used in order to compare the use of such verbs in English textbooks with their use in the Standard English. The results indicated that there were similarities in the frequency distribution of these verbs between pedagogical textbooks of Iran and Malaysia. But, such verbs are generally more frequent in Malaysian textbooks in comparison with the Iranian ones. In addition, there were some differences regarding their frequency distribution between the textbooks and the Standard English in BNC. The results could have some implications for effective material development in future.

Although translation is of a historical nature, research on its historical aspects, or the "historiography" of translation, is a relatively new debate, and so far, there has been little research in this regard compared to other areas of research. Therefore, it can be said that the state of translation history is not comparable with historiography in other disciplines. This research was conducted based on descriptive translation studies including norms and rules of translation, cultural repertoire, and corpus-based studies in translation. The purpose of this study was to describe the linguistic norms of three generations of literary translators in Iran. To this end, seven linguistic norms - intensifiers, Arabic vocabulary, syntactic calque, variety of adverbs describing reporting verbs, variety of reporting verbs, semicolon, and dash- in three corpora from three generations of literary translators after the constitutional revolution in Iran were investigated. The findings of this study showed that, over time, frequency of intensifiers, Arabic vocabulary, adverbs describing reporting verbs, reporting verbs other than "say", syntactic calque, semicolon, and dash have increased. The findings were analyzed based on the translation tradition, the repertoire of the Persian language, and capabilities of the three generations of literary translators.

Representational studies of the body in literature are not new phenomena; however, the concerns of a new field of body studies, formed in the 1980s in sociology and becoming interdisciplinary soon after, transformed the concept of the body and the meaning of body studies. There are few studies which sketch this paradigm shift for literary researchers and consequently a great many are still confused about what is the body in "body studies". The present research maps out the assemblages which paved the way for this new definition of the body and tries to figure out the sociological studies' line of flight from the previous approaches to the body and also from the present understanding of the body in literary studies. At the end, the present problematics of body studies in literature are briefly analyzed within this framework.

The major aim of this study was to construct a Narrative Writing Intelligence Scale (NWIS). To this end, the scale was designed by picking up the narrative intelligence factors proposed by Randall (1999). The designed NWIS, composed of 13 items, was used to score 200 pieces of writing of FCE students. These students were asked to watch a short animation and narrate it in written form, while they were not allowed to consult their teachers, classmates, or any English resources for vocabulary or grammar. They were not allowed to take any notes while the movie was being played either, since the power of memory and the range of vocabulary and grammar are constituents of narrative intelligence. Then, the writings were scored by the newly-developed 5-point Likert type scale. The scores were transferred to SPSS 18 and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was employed to determine the underlying factors in the designed scale. At the end, three items were removed and the final scale came out to be a 10-item scale. The results revealed that the scale can be explained by a 3-factor solution with a good level of reliability. The three-factor model accounted for 57.47% of the variance and the factors were named as Unity of the plot, Identification (of characters, objects and ideas), and Voice and Rhetoric. The variables which comprise the three factors, based on Randall (1999)’s definition are related to emplotment, characterization, narration, Genre-ation, and thematization.

Research has consistently revealed that the employment of language learning strategies (LLSs) produces a significant share of variance in language achievement in general and writing strategy training on L2 writing performance, in particular. However, very few studies have been conducted in the Iranian context, so the present study aimed to investigate the effects of strategy-based instruction (SBI) in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing course on enhancing writing self-efficacy and writing anxiety. In so doing, a sample of 49 Iranian EFL students were recruited. The participants were the students of two intact classes doing their BA in the field of English Language Literature. For the purpose of the current study, a twelve-week metacognition training program was integrated into the writing course of the experimental group (n=26). The students in the control group (n=23) received the regular, traditional writing instruction. The data were collected through administration of the two scales measuring second language writing self-efficacy, and anxiety. The findings indicated significant differences in favor of the experimental students in the writing self-efficacy. Besides, it was revealed that writing strategy instruction significantly reduced the writing anxiety of the participants. The findings offer significant implications for both EFL researchers and practitioners.