Shiraz UniversityJournal of Teaching Language Skills2008-819130220110701An Acoustic Study of Emotivity-Prosody Interface in Persian Speech Using the Tilt Modelتحلیل اکوستیکی تعامل و همبستگی مشخصههای نوائی گفتار و بیان احساس در زبان فارسی با تکیه بر مدل شیب12738210.22099/jtls.2012.382ENBatoolAlinezhadAssistant Professor
Isfahan University, IsfahanElkhasVaysiPh.D Student, linguistics
Ferdowsi University, MashhadJournal Article20120930This paper aims to explore some acoustic properties (i.e. duration and pitch amplitude of speech) associated with three different emotions: anger, sadness and joy against neutrality as a reference point, all being intentionally expressed by six Persian speakers. The primary purpose of this study is to find out if there is any correspondence between the given emotions and prosody patterning in Persian. Such a study considers articulation and perception in the context of spoken communication. For this purpose, the Tilt Model (Taylor 1998, 2000 and 2009) is used to describe the detailed acoustic knowledge of how an utterance is modulated when a Persian speaker’s emotion deviates from neutral to certain emotional and attitudinal states. The results of our statistical analysis indicate that there exists a rather strict acoustic correlation between sadness and neutrality on the one hand, and between anger and joy, on the other. The noticeable acoustic feature which changes as a function of emotion is pitch amplitude, while duration is involved to a lesser degree.https://jtls.shirazu.ac.ir/article_382_5909faebce4e2cb062eb6737704466ff.pdfShiraz UniversityJournal of Teaching Language Skills2008-819130220110701The Role of Ethnicity in Integrative Tests Performances of Male/ Female Iranian English Learners of Different Language Proficiency Levelsنقش قومیت (تفاوتهای فرهنگی/ زبانشناختی) بر عملکرد زبانآموزان پسر و دختر ایرانی در آزمونهای کلینگر زبان انگلیسی295638310.22099/jtls.2012.383ENAzarHosseini FatemiAssistant Professor
Ferdowsi University, MashhadMohammad SaberKhaghaninezhadPh.D Student, TEFL
Ferdowsi University, MashhadJournal Article20120930Linguistic/cultural differences of learners’ native language with English as a foreign language, gender and English proficiency level are among those numerous variables which affect English learning and its quality in Iranian context. The present study was an attempt to illuminate the effects of these variables on performing integrative approach of general English tests (cloze test and recall task, in particular). Hence, participants who were 162 Persian/Arab English learners (students of Abadan Institute of Technology in Khozestan, a province in which Arabic and Persian ethnicities live together) of both genders and were at different levels of proficiency were categorized into two categories of 82 Persian and 80 Arab English learners, as the basic categories of the study. Then, subjects were exposed to the study’s instruments:clozed and recall tasks made out of culture-based texts. The obtained results of an independent samples t-tests implied that Persian English learners performed remarkably better than their Arab peers. This over-performance may be because of linguistic/cultural characteristics of Persian which is more analogous with English (structurally and phonologically speaking) compared with Arabic. With the aid of a three-way ANOVA, gender and language proficiency level were also found to be effective variables for successful performance of integrative tests. In better words, as students' proficiency level decreases, cultural parameters play more significant roles in their recall task performances. It was also found that, subjects’ performances on cloze and recall tasks as two manifestations of integrative tests were highly correlated.https://jtls.shirazu.ac.ir/article_383_92237ca7b22828a6f884ed2fc0cb3dca.pdfShiraz UniversityJournal of Teaching Language Skills2008-819130220110701Postmodern Orientalized Terrorism: Don DeLillo’s The Namesتروریسم شرقشناسانهی پسانوگرا: نامها اثر دان دلیلو578438410.22099/jtls.2012.384ENHosseinPirnajmuddinAssistant Professor
Isfahan University, IsfahanAbbas AliBorhanM. A., TEFL
Isfahan University, IsfahanJournal Article20120930The terrorism of obscurantism is one of the hallmarks of Don DeLillo’s <em>The Names</em> (1982), distinguishing it as one of the "difficult writings" in his canon. Terrorism, however, is not confined to the novel’s poetics of writing, it constitutes, as the arch-motif of the novel, its politics as well. Relying on the Orientalist bulk of knowledge about the Orient, DeLillo, in this novel, inaugurates a Neo-orientalist trend in American postmodern fiction: generalizing the images of "Arab" terrorists to Iranians, paving the way for further Orientalist (mis)representations in future American fictions. DeLillo’s narrative, however, is by no means all-inclusive; rather, it is marked with some discursive gaps which destabilize the novel’s political claims on the "truth" of <em>the</em> terrorism under discussion. In this paper, first, through an intertextual reading, the novel’s ambiguous re-enactment of and departure from Orientalist discourse is explored, and then, it is argued that by making Iranians the objects of Orientalist representation, the writer expands the horizons of the discourse of terrorism. Besides, DeLillo’s anti-totalizing totalizational gesture in both undermining the Orientalist discourse and at the same time legitimizing it —what makes the novel thematically, or precisely saying politically, postmodern— is brought to light.https://jtls.shirazu.ac.ir/article_384_bcf92dbb4860e7f4a4bb3be197846e13.pdfShiraz UniversityJournal of Teaching Language Skills2008-819130220110701An Investigation into Bilingual Dictionary Use: Do the Frequency of Use and Type of Dictionary Make a Difference in L2 Writing Performance?بررسی کاربرد فرهنگهای لغت دو زبانه: آیا میزان کاربرد و نوع فرهنگ لغت باعث تفاوت در عملکرد نگارش به زبان دوم می گردد؟8510638510.22099/jtls.2012.385ENAliRoohaniAssistant Professor
Shahrekord University, ShahrekordAmineKhosraviM. A., TEFL
Islamic Azad University, NajafabadJournal Article20120930Bilingual dictionary use in L2 writing test performance has recently been the subject of debate. Opinions differ according to how the trait is understood and whether the system favors the process-oriented or product-oriented views towards the assessment and writing skill. Given the need for more empirical support, this study is aimed at investigating the availability of bilingual dictionary use, frequency of use and type of bilingual dictionary (Persian-to-English and/or English-to-Persian) in L2 writing tests. To these ends, 60 Iranian EFL learners, in a counterbalancing procedure, were asked to write 2 timed essays in 2 test conditions: with and without a dictionary. The frequency of use in this study was defined in terms of number of look-ups in the bilingual dictionaries. The t-test between writing mean scores in the 2 test conditions revealed that using a bilingual dictionary made a significant difference in the writing test scores. The results of ANOVA also showed that frequency of dictionary use made a significant difference, but the high frequency of use was not found to be positive. Furthermore, the type of bilingual dictionary was found to be a significant variable, with the highest writing mean score for those who used English-to-Persian dictionaries in writing the essays. Finally, pedagogical implications for L2 learners and teachers are presented.https://jtls.shirazu.ac.ir/article_385_74dbffd2508b219778dfba42a3269959.pdfShiraz UniversityJournal of Teaching Language Skills2008-819130220110701Iranian EFL Teachers' Views on Measuring Reading Comprehensionبررسی کاربرد فرهنگهای لغت دو زبانه: آیا میزان کاربرد و نوع فرهنگ لغت باعث تفاوت در عملکرد نگارش به زبان دوم می گردد؟10713438610.22099/jtls.2012.386ENKarimSadeghiAssistant Professor
Urmia University, UrmiaJournal Article20120930Understanding the opinions of major role players in education (i.e. teachers, students, and policy makers) on all aspects of learning and teaching is influential to the success of the educational process. The purpose of this study was to investigate EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers' views on measuring reading comprehension. A cohort of 50 Iranian EFL teachers teaching at university, school and institute levels were invited to fill out a tailor-made questionnaire. Based on the analysis of 23 returned questionnaires, it was revealed that in most cases teachers did not have the freedom to make their own tests, or had to follow out-dated guidelines by relevant authorities.https://jtls.shirazu.ac.ir/article_386_5852c3a6a2764e936ebe6805390ceb33.pdfShiraz UniversityJournal of Teaching Language Skills2008-819130220110701The Power of Fiction: How Literature Educated and Reformed American Societyبررسی کاربرد فرهنگهای لغت دو زبانه: آیا میزان کاربرد و نوع فرهنگ لغت باعث تفاوت در عملکرد نگارش به زبان دوم می گردد؟13515438710.22099/jtls.2012.387ENGholam RezaSamiAssistant Professor
English Literature
The University of Kashan, KashanJournal Article20120930This paper focuses on a number of American stories which helped educate people and bring about legal or social change. There are many stories which caused major or minor legal and political change, particularly, in the United States. Some of them are written by Herman Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Upton Sinclair and Sidney Kingsley. After the publication of <em>White Jacket</em> by Melville the novel was distributed to the U.S. Senate which consequently outlawed flogging on naval vessels. Stowe’s <em>Uncle Tom’s Cabin</em> is another notable example of a literary text which triggered an enormous social change in America; in this case, the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. Sinclair’s <em>The Jungle</em> was influential in obtaining passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act. Kingsley’s play, <em>Dead End </em>raised awareness about poverty and the inadequacy of housing in the slums of New York City and was responsible for the Wagner Housing Bill which was passed by the U.S. Congress to provide financial assistance to the States and political subdivisions for the elimination of unsafe and unsanitary housing conditions. There are many such stories which helped ameliorate American society and this paper will discuss these works and their social and political backgrounds.https://jtls.shirazu.ac.ir/article_387_6b786b9824d2502c3c8a4a3ff15f6c1d.pdfShiraz UniversityJournal of Teaching Language Skills2008-819130220110701Effect of Gender – Oriented Content Familiarity and Test Type on Reading Comprehensionتأثیر آشنایی با موضوع در متون جنسیت - محور و نوع آزمون بر درک مطلب خواندن15517838810.22099/jtls.2012.388ENElaheSotoudehnamaAssistant Professor
Alzahra University, TehranMarjanAsadianM. A., TEFL
Alzahra University, TehranJournal Article20120930One important issue that any material or test designer should bear in mind is to be careful about developing teaching and testing reading materials which would not be to the benefit of a group of readers or examinees and to the detriment of some others. One of the factors which may cause difference between the performances of English learners or test takers is the selection of reading tests with which some learners have familiarity and others not. This study sets forth to analyze whether gender and topic-familiarity can be determining factors in the differences among the performances of foreign language learners on reading comprehension tests. For this purpose, 64 (34 females and 30 males) intermediate students of the Bayane Salees Institute in Tehran completed a topic-familiarity questionnaire and took three tests of reading, composed of one male-oriented text (Car Maintenance), one female-oriented text (Women’s Shoes) and one neutral text (Beliefs about Numbers). Two different measures were used to assess comprehension: multiple-choice and free recall. Findings revealed that males had better performance on the male-oriented text and females did better on the female-oriented text. The performances of males and females on the neutral text were seen to be the same as expected. It was also evidenced that males did better on the male-oriented and females did better on the female-oriented test on multiple choice tasks; on the neutral test, both genders performed the same. However, interestingly, in the free recall tasks, the males outperformed females in all three tests. This result brings about the assumption that males might be better at free recall kind of reading measurement, though this conclusion requires more investigation.https://jtls.shirazu.ac.ir/article_388_0624837880eb77a9d1354a1964fc1ade.pdfShiraz UniversityJournal of Teaching Language Skills2008-819130220110701Rhetorical Structure Analysis of EFLs’ Written Narratives of a Picture Storyتحلیل متون روایی مکتوب زبانآموزان ایرانی با استفاده از نظریه ساختار معانی- بلاغی17920838910.22099/jtls.2012.389ENHosseinShokouhiAssociate Professor
Shahid Chamran University, AhvazFaribaShiraliM. A., TEFL
Shahid Chamran University, AhvazJournal Article20120930This study was set to reveal how second language learners use rhetorical relations in their written narratives in terms of Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST) primarily proposed by Mann & Thompson (1987) and developed by Mann, Matthiessen & Thompson (1992). To this end, sixty written narratives based on the picture story book ‘Frog, where are you?’ were collected from EFL learners and were put to the RST for analysis. The results overall indicate that among the 25 rhetorical relations under investigation, <em>sequence</em>, <em>cause</em> <em>cluster</em>, <em>elaboration</em>, <em>circumstance</em>, and <em>concession</em> were the most common relations in the texts. Close scrutiny of the sample RST trees manifests remarkable resemblances at the two upper levels of hierarchical structure and considerable difference at the lower ones. This confirms the crucial importance of temporality, among other things, in sequential events of narrative. Sparse distribution of ‘orientation’ at certain points and their displacement are other interesting cases which could be attributed to the L1 effect.https://jtls.shirazu.ac.ir/article_389_0b8420165353de4c3bc22b89f98eaa54.pdfShiraz UniversityJournal of Teaching Language Skills2008-819130220110701The Effects of Glossing Conventions on L2 Vocabulary Recognition and Productionتأثیر نوع شرح معنی بر درک و تولید واژگانی زبان دوم20923339010.22099/jtls.2012.390ENAbbas AliZareiAssistant Professor
Imam Khomeini University, QazvinMaryamHasaniM. A., TEFL
Islamic Azad University, TakestanJournal Article20120930To investigate the effects of different glossing conventions on vocabulary recognition and recall, 158 participants were given a pre-test to make sure that they did not have any prior knowledge of the target words. Reading passages with four different glossing conventions (interlinear, marginal, pre-text, and post-text) were given to eight groups. Four groups received interlingual glosses and four groups were given intralingual glosses. Receptive and productive post-tests were administered to measure vocabulary recognition and recall. The collected data were analyzed using two one-way ANOVA procedures. The results showed that there were no significant differences among the effects of different types of intralingual glosses on vocabulary recognition and recall. As to the affect of the interlingual glosses on vocabulary recognition, the post-text group performed significantly worse than both the pre-text and the marginal groups. Moreover, the interlinear gloss was shown to be more effective than the post-text gloss in vocabulary recall.https://jtls.shirazu.ac.ir/article_390_e97f0a9ac5e7cc4fbb9765bb516647f9.pdf