JOURNAL OF FACULTY OF LETTERS AND HUMANITIES (TABRIZ)
Year:2006 | Volume:49 | Issue:198|Papers Count:7

To observe teachers different models have been developed and employed by the observers. Some years ago researchers found teachers resentment towards classroom observation. The reason was that in these observation models teachers' preferences had been totally neglected. The recent studies, done in post method period, consolidate the importance of giving priority to teachers' attitudes in general and their preferences in teacher observation in particular. That was when new models flourished in which observers did their best to enter teachers' attitudes. In order to move along the recent advancements in teacher education and to help improve teacher reflection in Iranian educational system, the researchers did an investigation in this regard; to bring teachers' attitudes as important criteria to the field of classroom observation. To this aim the researchers developed a new classroom observation model totally based on teachers' attitudes. To inquire about teachers' attitude, a two-phase study was conducted. In the first phase an interview survey was conducted with 20 EFL teachers. A content analysis of the transcribed data yielded 26 most frequent items which formed the statements in a yes/no questionnaire. These items were seeking teachers' attitudes about their ideal practice of classroom observation. To check teachers' ideas at large a questionnaire survey was conducted on 161 EFL teachers. The responses were submitted to SPSS to find the frequencies of the positive and the negative answers to each statement. Then a Chi-square analysis was used to check the significance of the differences found between the percentage of the positive and the negative answers. The analysis proved the significance of all the resulting differences. That was the basis for proposing a new model of teacher observation totally based on teachers' priorities.

Regarding the importance of studying various Farsi dialects, specially forgotten ones, and regarding the role of Iranian remained dialects in the area in recognizing the ancient language of Azerbaijan, this paper, introducing the village of Kalāsur and its geographical and human characteristics and its people's lifestyle, tries to study Tati dialect spoken in this village. First part of the paper deals with the term Tat briefly. The main part of the paper is devoted to the analysis of verb and structure according to Farsi syntax rules. Discussing infinitive, tenses of verbs, stems, transitive and intransitive, their constructional rules constitute the most part of the present writing.One of the main points emphasized here is the distinction made between ending in transitive and intransitive verbs, their various aspects, linking verbs as well as agent independent endings in past progressive and indicative present tenses.

This article aims to explore a context-bound and methodologically-oriented metacognitive strategy use (MSU). To this end, two major questions converted into respective null hypotheses were raised. The study was carried out in the Iranian educational context conventionally categorized into three settings of: authoritarian, semi-democratic and democratic, due to the varying existing educational policies and planning. The participants (N=180), homogenized based on their scores on TOEFL, answered the Mastegognitive Strategy Questionnaire by Item Type (MSQIT) (Purpura, 1999) version of the Strategy Inventory of Language Learning (SILL) and Good Language Learner's Questionnaire (GLLQ), and did two language tasks accompanied with a video-taped think-aloud protocol on MSU. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were run. The findings revealed unexpected results in a sense that some underlying aspects attributed to MSU were explored which confirmed the fact that conventional quantitative statistical analysis relying on just statistical significance cannot be convincing enough to explore the construct of metacognition as a subcategory of cognitive phenomena. The study not only showed some statistical significance of MSU in relation to educational setting type but also the qualitative approach led to the exploration of certain sub-strategies and metacognitive processing. The findings also showed that certain subcategories of metacognitive strategies (MS) are more context-bound than the others, confirming the fact that type and degree of MSU are subject to educational setting type. The implications of the study are of both theoretical and practical in nature on: (I) the nature of MS, (2) research methods, (3) curriculum development, (4) classroom management, and (5) individualized instructions.

Ophelia, as the main female character in Hamlet, plays a very important role in the drama. To some extent, however, her part has, hitherto, been ignored. A new approach to the play, aiming at a more meticulous investigation into her mind and her personality would certainly help to restore Ophelia to her proper place as the protagonist of a tragedy as meaningful as Hamlet's. By reconstructing the succeeding scenes of her inner tragedy, this study tries to present a rather full account of Ophelia's story, in general, and her relationship with Hamlet, in particular.

This article reports on an empirical investigation of the teachers' correction of students' spoken errors of linguistic forms in EFL classes, aiming at (a) examining the extent to which teachers' use of different corrective feedback types is related to the immediate types of context in which error correction takes place, and (b) exploring the possibility of integrating form-focused instruction and communicative interaction at the level of error correction. The database is drawn from transcripts of audio-recordings of 25 lessons from five teachers (five lessons from each teacher) totaling 31 hours and including 752 error correction exchanges. Findings indicate that type of context in which error correction takes place affects type of corrective feedback used by L2 teachers for dealing with the students non-target-like forms. The article concludes by arguing that marked recasts' are a good candidate for 'dual focus' strategies for combining focus on form and focus on meaning at the level of error correction.

The present study attempted to investigate the effect of semantic mapping strategy instruction on vocabulary learning of Iranian intermediate students. A further concern of this study was to explore the probable interaction between the effect of teaching semantic mapping strategy and gender. Initially, 134 available male and female EFL students participated in this study. The instruments utilized in the study were a Nelson test and a teacher-made vocabulary test, which were employed at pre-test and post-test phases. Having established the homogeneity of the subjects in terms of general language proficiency, the 120 selected students were divided into four groups: 2 experimental (male-female) and 2 control groups (male-female). Then, in order to ascertain the homogeneity of the subjects in terms of vocabulary knowledge prior to the treatment, the vocabulary test was administered to all the groups. During the eight instructional sessions, the experimental groups received semantic mapping strategy instruction after reading each passage and then did the exercises. In the control groups, students were not taught how to use semantic mapping strategy and they were exposed only to the conventional vocabulary instruction activities. That is, they read the passages, did the exercises and activities, and new words were introduced through contexts and exercises. At the end of the experiment, the post-test was administered the results of which indicated that there was a significant difference among the means of the experimental and control groups. It was also revealed that there was no interaction between the effect of semantic mapping strategy instruction and gender. Hence, it is concluded that semantic mapping strategy instruction has a significant impact on vocabulary learning of Iranian intermediate EFL students regardless of their gender.

The disenchantment with the structural syllabuses instigated both the language teachers and applied linguists to come up with other more potent ways of promoting language learning and teaching. One of the manifestations of this long-cherished inclination was communicative trend towards language acquisition. To that end, tasks are one of the implementation means and realization tools of achieving fluent communication. In recent years task-based language learning and teaching has gained momentum and been widely endorsed because of its influential effect on fostering language acquisition and application.The impetus to task-based tendency originally emanated from Input Hypothesis (Krashen 1981), Interaction Hypothesis (Long 1981), and the sociocultural view of Vygotsky (1978). The first classroom adaptation of task-based approach was realized by Prabhu's (1987) procedural syllabus. His Communicational Teaching Project which was for the first time performed in secondary schools in India was profoundly task-based. Indeed, task-based teaching is deeply concerned with catering for the learners' cognitive and affective domains. It seeks to promote learners' communicative, discoursal, linguistic, strategic, and socio-cultural competence through natural, authentic, genuine, and creative activities (Moskowitz 1977). The foremost aspiration of task-based teaching is to motivate acquisition via meaning-focused and some form-focused activities (Ellis 2004). This paper endeavours to delineate the manifold dimensions of task-based teaching and learning.