PAZHUHESH-E ZABANHA-YE KHAREJI
Year:2007 | Volume:- | Issue:32 (Special Issue) English|Papers Count:17

The main concern of the present study was to probe the probable differences between Iranian bilingual/monolingual learners of English regarding their lexical and syntactic knowledge. It was an attempt to investigate whether bilingual/monolingual learners of English differ significantly in learning lexical and syntactic knowledge. To achieve this end, an ex post facto design was employed. A total of 150 female subjects at three pre-university centers of Tehran were randomly selected from among two groups of Turkish-Persian bilinguals and Persian monolinguals. One general English proficiency test, two questionnaires, and a grammaticality judgment test along with a correction task were administered to both groups. The results revealed significant differences between the two groups; that is, monolinguals outperformed bilinguals in both areas: vocabulary and syntax. The findings have some implications for teacher training centers, methodologists, syllabus designers and curriculum developers.

This study attempted to investigate the effect of the reader's awareness of the cohesion elements simultaneously with his/her reading task, labeled as metacohesive awareness in this study, on the reading comprehension performance of the reader for different text types (i.e., academic, literary, and general English texts) across different proficiency levels. ANOVA analyses indicated that the subjects' language proficiency level had a significant effect on the subjects' performance. T-test results revealed that metacohesive awareness had a significant direct effect on the subjects' reading comprehension of the texts across lower language proficiency levels and that this effect was, however, reversed for the higher proficiency levels, especially for the proficient subjects. Interaction analyses disclosed no interaction effects, the only main effect belonging to language proficiency. Finally, the regression results indicated that the language proficiency level was a very good predictor of the subjects' scores on cohesion performance and text type performance.

In this paper the syntactic properties of negation in English and Persian are compared and contrasted. It continues the debates concerning the availability of Universal Grammar (UG) to L1 and L2 acquirers. We argue that a VG-based analysis for the stages of NEG-placement is not only possible but in fact provides independent support for VG-based analyses. Evidence is provided that Persian negation is just checked in NegP and there is no need for finite and non-finite verbs to move to IP. To provide the evidence, the progressive construction 'dashtæn' "to have" with and without negation marker is studied. In English however finite verbs need to move to IP to get negated.

Highly sensitive and quite aware of the corruption of the world, many romantic thinkers and writers, however, did not lose their hope for regaining what human beings had lost by the Fall in religious terms or by leaving "the state of nature" behind and making social contracts to live in "the state of civil society" in Rousseau's words. Romantics' deep disillusionment with the French Revolution made them come to the conclusion that no actual Utopias would be constructed in a corrupted world, thus they became set on making some spiritual Utopias within themselves. In doing so they created their redemption myths which were somehow molded under the influence of Platonic notions and also, in the case of English romantics, the myth Milton had created in Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. Those myths, however, did not embrace all human beings. Rousseau's "solitary walker," Blake's "Albion," Novalis's Ofterdingen and Wordsworth's "philosophic mind" are particular, exceptional humans among the whole human race who can gain a spiritual "holy grail" in their quest for self-fulfillment: they find it in their own soul, thereby attaining peace of mind after a life-long search. Hence the internalization of the paradise lost by Adam and Eve.

Given the fact that teachers are now expected to be informed enough to be able to gear their teaching towards the varying requirements of different classroom settings, this study was designed to shed light on what it takes to be an effective teacher. To this end, the characteristics or major teaching functions of good language teachers often alluded to in the literature as those of effective language teaching practices were subjected to the judgment of English language learners, English, language teachers, and language institute managers. The data so obtained through a questionnaire and several classroom observations was then statistically analyzed. The findings of the research carried out indicated that of the seven major teaching functions that language teachers are expected to perform, that is, (1) management of student behavior, (2) instructional presentation, (3) instructional monitoring, (4) instructional feedback, (5) facilitating instruction, (6) communicating within the educational environment, and (7) performing non-instructional duties, functions 6 and 7 were considered by all the three groups and the observers as well to be of more significance compared with the other five functions. This is ,of course, in step with today's trend in teacher development programs in which a high premium is placed on establishing rapport (function 6) and sharpening teachers' sensitivity to self development.

The present study is an attempt to investigate the relationship between creativity, language learning strategies and language proficiency. To measure these three variables, Nelson Quick Check Test, Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), and Creative Personality Measurement Questionnaire (CPM) were administered. These tests measure language proficiency, learning strategies, and creativity respectively. The results showed that creativity and degree of strategy use and also creativity and language proficiency were significantly correlated; but the degree of strategy use and language proficiency did not show any relationship. As far as the participants' strategy use scores were concerned, no particular difference among high and low creativity subjects was discovered. But they were significantly different with respect to their language proficiency. The preferred strategy type for both high and low creativity groups was the metacognitive strategies and the least preferred strategy type for both groups turned out to be affective ones. The subjects were also divided into two groups of high and low proficiency. The favorite strategy type for the high proficiency group was the compensation strategies and the favorite strategy type for the low proficiency group was the metacognitive strategies. Both high and low proficiency groups preferred the affective strategies least of all.

Postmodernism criticizes metanarratives. Modern metanarratives including Enlightenment, Hegelianism, and Marxism present general claims about knowledge and truth. Under postmodern condition metanarratives are damageable, criticizable, and finally negligible. In this essay metanarratives are explained and the incredulity towards them is traced. In Finnegans Wake, which is under postmodern condition, metanarratives are targets of Joyce's parody. In this novel, religion is bitterly criticized, Enlightenment is mocked and, Hegelianism and Marxism are disfigured. Joyce shows his incredulity towards metanarratives and employs postmodernist techniques. Finnegans Wake's world is postmodern.

The present paper investigates the role of three syntactic modifications in the performances of EFL test takers on vocabulary measures across proficiency levels. It also addresses the relationship between syntactic awareness and performance on syntactically modified vocabulary tests. A proficiency test, three syntactically modified vocabulary tests, and a syntactic awareness test were administered to participants (N=112). The analyses of the results revealed that syntactic modification of vocabulary tests and level of language ability influence participants' ability to restore the words that best complete the test. Moreover, it was found that syntactic awareness is positively correlated with performance on different versions of syntactically modified vocabulary tests. On the basis of the findings language teachers are advised to raise students' syntactic awareness in order to help them use sentence context more effectively to Understand the meaning of new words.

Multiple intelligences (MI) theory, as proposed by Gardner (1983, 1999), claims that there are at least nine different human intelligences. Knowing our multiple intelligences is meant to empower each one of us to learn and to act (Christison, 1998; Larsen-Freeman, 2000; Mckenzie, 1999). Any attempt thus to characterize learner's personal MI profile is worth making. This piece of research, accordingly, aims at discovering whether there is any relationship between students' MI Profile and their writing product. Seventy-two EFL students taking their writing course with the researcher participated in the study. The instrument used was Mckenzie (1999)'s MI Inventory. The participants' average scores on three essays were used as an index of writing product. Regression analysis made it clear that kinesthetic, existential, and interpersonal intelligences are making the greatest contribution toward predicting writing score.

While fiction and reality are delicately interrelated in literature, reality plays a special role in the final impression the reader gets after studying Kipling's Kim. India's image is drawn against an imperial background with well-defined designs. In other words, an India is created imaginatively which fits in with the framework of the British Empire. "Orientalisation was the result of this effort to conceive of Indian society as devoid of elements hostile to the perpetualization of British rule..." This article is an attempt to study the ways and techniques exploited in this popular novel to postulate that he has not maintained an open mind on this subject. Textual reference, like the Mutiny of 1857, reinforces and documents the theoretical discussion. Such highlights in the novel provide evidence to show the role of literary imagination in maintainingthe imperial system.

Writing, in the academic realm, is ubiquitous and thus of paramount importance. Nevertheless, assessing writing suffers from lack of objectivity which warrants further studies to find some more objective way for evaluating this skill. The present study is an attempt to investigate the probable links between the words used in a text and the mastery of its writer. Three criteria i.e. the verb to be, monosyllabic words and easy words were examined in this regard. Except for the latter for which just a trend was observed, the other two criteria showed statistically significant negative correlation coefficients with the quality of texts.

This study is an attempt to investigate the issue of failure in second language acquisition syntax. The Failed Functional Feature Hypothesis (FFFH) proposed by Hawkins and Chan (1997) claims that parametric options not instantiated in L1 feature system of functional categories would lead to persistent difficulty even after a long time of exposure to L2 input and at very advanced levels of proficiency. This paper has focused on the acquisition of English interrogative clauses by adult Persian speakers. Based on the analysis of the elicited data, I argue that failure occurs where an L2 structure (trigger) is compatible with both L1 and L2 representations; however, where such compatibility does not exist L2 learners have a chance to acquire the new option.