UNIVERSITY TEXTBOOKS, RESEARCH AND WRITING
Year:2018 | Volume:22 | Issue:42 |Papers Count:7

This paper is based on a problem centered research on problematization of academic literacy and writing in Iran. It is based on a Secondary Analysis and Systematic Literature review method. I have formulated and distinguished two theories of academic writing consisting of a 'cognitive positivist theory' and a 'theory of academic literacy'. Through critical examination of the positivist cognitive theory, I will show this theory's weaknesses and limitations. Then I will introduce the academic literacy theory as an alternative theory to examine and promote academic writing in Iran. Finally I will suggest some strategies for improving academic writing in Iran. This paper consists of the following parts: 1) Problematization of academic writing; 2) Iranian academic writing challenges; 3) Explanation of the academic writing challenges; 4) Introducing the academic literacy as a new theory of academic writing in Iran. In the Conclusion, I will explain policy complications of the academic literacy theory for Iranian higher education system.

This research is aimed to design and validate a measurement scale for academic textbooks using technical text mining process and organizing software algorithms. Using word co-occurrence (dependency) and text clustering methods, a checklist is provided for evaluation of academic textbooks. Word co-occurrence and text clustering analysis methods create the possibility to understand the structure of thematic relations in one single area and its visualization would help us understand the general schema of the area. The research was an applied research and used content analysis approach. For gathering data, it used documentary-library method, and a checklist as data gathering tool. The research uses analytical processing level, specifically vocabulary content analysis (word co-occurrence method) and hierarchical clustering method. Sample in this research is equal to the statistical society and includes English research articles published in Scopus, EBSCO and Science Direct in the subject area of compilation of Academic Books. Total amount of 10000 articles were investigated and a co-occurrence network of their words is drawn using VOS Viewer, SPSS, and Pajak softwares. Four indicators were set to design the model of validation software system for academic books based on text mining using word co-occurrence and text analysis: scientific discourse, evaluation of compilation, academic writing, and academic writing principles. Fourteen components are identified using word co-occurrence and text clustering: academic literacy, written phrases in discourse, written phrases instructions in scientific discourse, elements of the instruction of written phrases in the scientific discourse, academic writing assessment tools, learning writing skills, assessment of writing skills, review, academic writing skills, demographic features of academic writing, physical features of writing assessment, principles of academic writing, assessment of academic writing principles, the result of the evaluation of academic writing principles, the impact of academic writing principles assessment. Based on scientific map drawing, the relationship between concepts of a text can be discovered and new basis can be extracted. By drawing the scientific map of the papers in the field of academic writing, this research determined indicators and components of this area.

Efficacy of textbooks is in strong correlation with the focus put on their technical and methodological criteria. Attaining this objective is only possible with group work in compilation of the books as well as their continuous revision and evaluation and trying to obviate their obvious and obscure shortcomings post-publishing revisions. These criteria are diverse and numerous and experts have explicated many of them briefly or in detail. This study is an assessment of Dr. Saeed Rahimian’ s Principles of Theoretical Mysticism which has been published as a textbook by SAMT organization. It is being evaluated against contextual and methodological criteria. Assessment of this textbook against these criteria reveals many shortcomings and proves it cannot be emotionally, cognitively and skill-wise satisfactory for students with different knowledge, mindset, character, and personality, and it is way behind the educational objectives.

The present paper attempts to elaborate on some deficiencies in interpreting courses in B. A. English translation and suggests an instructional plan for teaching preliminary stages of interpreting courses through applying sight translation and its corresponding strategies. Since task-based teaching approach is leaner-centered and provides opportunities for interaction between teacher and learners, it seems to be promising in interpreting training. Hence, the researchers of the present study utilized this approach and integrated it with theory and practice of interpreting as well as course requirements to suggest a way out of the problems in interpreting courses. Accordingly, various strategies along with different tasks in sight translation were presented which result in successful performance in both sight translation and consecutive and simultaneous interpreting. The present study may serve as an instructional package for local instructors, curriculum designers and policy-makers in the English translation undergraduate level and particularly in the interpreting courses.

With regard to the fact that literary criticism is one of the most important courses in the field of Arabic Language and Literature, and many books have been written in this regard that perhaps could be a proper road map for teaching literary criticism, in this article, the author aims to review a book entitled Approaches in Contemporary Arabic Literary Criticism(applied-comparative), written by Mr. Hamid Ahmadian and published by SAMT Organization. The author intends to review subjects such as the book’ s title, structure, introduction, division of chapters, coherence and references, and in reviewing the context, addresses the methods of literary criticism mentioned in the book such as historical, sociological, psychological, formalistic, and structuralist methods. In many of literary criticism methods mentioned by the author, there is rarely consistency and uniformity in representing the ideas, thoughts, and introducing famous critics of each method; in addition, there is an insufficiency in explaining many of the concepts and subjects of literary criticism methods in this book.

Reading skill is one of the most important language skills that play a special role in learning a second language. Success in learning reading skill depends on proper teaching strategies and methods being used by professors. Since this skill does not have a specific course in Arabic Language and Literature program, it is often seen that teaching reading skill is neglected and the students do not acquire this skill well. Therefore, the present study uses a descriptive-analytical method and a survey method to study teaching reading skills in the Arabic language and literature departments of Iranian state universities at M. A. level. The statistical sample of this study is composed of 22 teachers (classes) of literary texts and 124 undergraduate students in the Arabic Language and Literature Department of 12 Iranian State universities. The data gathering tools used in this study are observation, interview and test. The results show that the teachers pay "little" attention to teaching reading skills and using modern strategies for teaching, and often use conference strategy to teach.

If we accept this relatively well-known and to some extent Justified metaphor that "philosophy is the mother of sciences", and sciences, in their historical expansion, have been slowly separated from philosophy and specialized, one can say that philosophy has a kind of epistemic, historical, value-oriented and even policy-making primacy over other modern Human sciences. It seems that the special approach of the pioneers of Western philosophy teaching in Iran to this epistemic field and their different and sometimes conflicting expectations and perceptions about the nature and function of the epistemic and discursive scientific function of Western philosophy, in some areas such as policy-making in this field, its influence in shaping the intellectual, cultural, and even the socio-political trends of contemporary Iran has been serious. Although in the early entrance of Western philosophy (through Faculty of Literature and Theology) to Tehran University, there was no critical self-awareness in our relationship with this epistemic field, but this situation developed slowly, especially in the late 1960s, with the formation of the grounds of Islamic revolution of Iran, and especially after the Islamic revolution. This paper, while emphasizing the developments in the planning of philosophy education in Iran, provides a critical analysis of the evolution of philosophical teaching planning curriculum developments.