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List of Articles
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Open Access Article
1 - Selecting the Best Fit Model in Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment: Differential Item Functioning Detection in the Reading Comprehension of the PhD Nationwide Admission Test
Niloufar Shahmirzadi Masood Siyyari Hamid Marashi Masoud GeramipourThis study was an attemptto provide detailed information of the strengths and weaknesses of test takers‟ real ability through cognitive diagnostic assessment, and to detect differential item functioning in each test item. The rationale for using CDA was that it estimate MoreThis study was an attemptto provide detailed information of the strengths and weaknesses of test takers‟ real ability through cognitive diagnostic assessment, and to detect differential item functioning in each test item. The rationale for using CDA was that it estimates an item‟s discrimination power, whereas clas- sical test theory or item response theory depicts between rather within item multi-dimensionality. To ful- fill the purpose of this study, latent attributes are shown in a Q-matrix and 4200 participants who sought to pursue their studies at the PhD level at state universities were randomly selected. The test used for the present research consisted of two different reading passages with 10 multiple-choice items consisting of four options. The data were analyzed with the application of R studio package, GDINA, and DINA mod- els. Item and model fit indices were estimated and the Wald test was run. The result of the study revealed that some items flagged DIF. The study further concluded that CDA can provide pedagogically useful diagnostic information for test designers, teachers, syllabus and materials developers, and policymakers as a proficiency test needs to be valid, reliable, and fair in the context of high-stakes tests so that it im- proves the knowledge of test takers. Manuscript profile -
Open Access Article
2 - Metadiscourse Markers in a Corpus of Learner Language: The Case of Iranian EFL Learners
Hossein khazaee Parviz Maftoon Parviz Birjandi Ghafour Rezaie GolandouzDifferent issues have been probed in learner corpus research since the late 1980s.However, taking the im- portance of meta discourse markers (MDMs) in signposting academic discourse, their use in Iranian EFL learners‟ academic essays is an area of research in need of a MoreDifferent issues have been probed in learner corpus research since the late 1980s.However, taking the im- portance of meta discourse markers (MDMs) in signposting academic discourse, their use in Iranian EFL learners‟ academic essays is an area of research in need of a more serious analysis. Contributing to this line of investigation, this paper reports a corpus-based study of the use of MDMs in the academic essays of Iranian EFL learners who have majored in English-related fields in Iran. For this, based on Hyland‟s (2005)model of MDMs, the recently-compiled Iranian corpus of learner English was analyzed for in- stances of MDMs and compared with a sub-corpus of the British academic written English. The findings indicated overuse in categories (interactional and interactive) and overuse and underuse in types of MDMs (hedges, transitions, etc.) in Iranian EFL learners‟ essays relative to the English-natives‟ essays, with more instances of interactional MDMs in the former compared with more uses of interactive MDMs in the latter. Suggestions have been proposed for such profiling of MDMs among Iranians as rooted indif- ferences between Iranian and English cultures, previous instruction, and so forth. Implications of the re- sults for English language teaching including explicit teaching of MDMs have been considered. Manuscript profile -
Open Access Article
3 - Exploring the Effects of Incorporated Personal Response System (PRS) on Iranian Learners’ Motivation and Participation
Samad Oliaei Mostafa Zamanian Samad Mirza Suzani Shahram AfrazThis study aimed at investigating the effect of Personal Response System (PRS) on Iranian EFL learners’ motivation and participation. A mixed-methods design was selected to investigate this matter. Participants of this study included 60 Iranian (eighth grade stude MoreThis study aimed at investigating the effect of Personal Response System (PRS) on Iranian EFL learners’ motivation and participation. A mixed-methods design was selected to investigate this matter. Participants of this study included 60 Iranian (eighth grade students studying at Bahonar secondary school, Kazeroon in Fars, Iran) and were recruited based on convenience sampling in the form of two intact classes. The researchers implemented the following instruments for the purpose of data collection: Oxford Placement Test (OPT), Motivation Questionnaire, Observation Checklist, and PRS. Both groups of participants took part in 12 English language sessions (each session lasted about 90 minutes) in their high school once a week. The only difference between the two groups was that during the class sessions, the experimental group benefited from PRS. However, in the other group, no use of PRS was made. Data analysis was conducted through descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test and qualitative content analysis of the observed data. The results showed that PRS had a statistically significant effect on the motivation of Ira- nian EFL learners. Moreover, it was indicated that PRS significantly impacted Iranian EFL learners' par- ticipation. Accordingly, EFL teachers are recommended to use this tool in an attempt to increase EFL learners' motivation and participation. Manuscript profile -
Open Access Article
4 - Educating the Future Workforce: Soft Skills Development in Undergraduate Translation Programs in Iran
Sajedeh Sadat Hosseini Gholam-Reza Tajvidi Koen KerremansThe present study set out to investigate the concept of soft skills in academic translator education in Iran. To this aim, a needs assessment was conducted with two groups of stakeholders: i.e. translation professionals and translation students. The professionals were a MoreThe present study set out to investigate the concept of soft skills in academic translator education in Iran. To this aim, a needs assessment was conducted with two groups of stakeholders: i.e. translation professionals and translation students. The professionals were asked to indicate the importance of a set of soft skills in the context of the translation profession. Next, we examined through the basis of a self-assessment survey for students to what degree these skills are felt to be acquired by the transla- tion students. Our comparative study revealed that four soft skills pairs that professionals consider important for the translation profession seem to be lacking among students of translation in Iran: i.e. „critical thinking and rational inquiry‟, „problem-solving and creativity‟, „motivation and satisfaction‟, and „responsibility and autonomy‟. This study produced results that corroborate the findings of a great deal of previous research into the shortage of soft skills highly demanded by the professional market among university students and graduates. The article concludes with suggested instructional methods to develop soft skills among undergraduate translation students. This provides valuable guidelines for translation educators in their decisions on the whats and hows of course design and the evaluation of current courses to identify the shortcomings and refine them to meet the needs of the stakeholders. Manuscript profile -
Open Access Article
5 - How does Explicit and Implicit Instruction of Formal Meta-discourse Markers Affect Learners’ Writing Skills?
محمد مقدسی محمد بوالی Fatemeh BehjatDiscourse markers improve both the quality and comprehension of a written text. This study aimed at investigating the effect of explicit and implicit instruction of formal meta-discourse markers on writ- ing skills. The quantitative data were collected from 90 upper-int MoreDiscourse markers improve both the quality and comprehension of a written text. This study aimed at investigating the effect of explicit and implicit instruction of formal meta-discourse markers on writ- ing skills. The quantitative data were collected from 90 upper-intermediate students at Shiraz Univer- sity Language Center. Two experimental groups went through an instruction, while the control group did not receive any instruction on formal meta-discourse markers. A pretest-posttest method of as- sessment was employed. After an eight-session treatment, a posttest was administered to compare the participants‟ performances. The results revealed that the instruction of formal meta-discourse markers had a positive effect on the learners‟ writing skills. Moreover, the results showed that learners who received explicit instruction of meta-discourse markers could perform better in writing than learners who received implicit instruction. The findings can have pedagogical implications for EFL educators and materials developers to enhance learners‟ writing skill. Furthermore, the findings provide impor- tant insight into the impact of teaching discourse markers and raising learners‟ awareness through ex- plicit instruction in order to make pupils produce more cohesive and coherent written texts. Besides, it sheds light on the effect of different types of instruction on learning metadiscourse markers and its application in writing skills. Manuscript profile -
Open Access Article
6 - Collocational Clashes in the Persian Translations of Tuesdays with Morrie
Roghieh Asgari Hajar KhanmohammadThis study aimed at finding features of collocational deviations in the translations of Tuesdays with Mor- rie. In this direction, categories of collocations and collocational clashes, as well as causes of collocation- al clashes were explored. The present work investig MoreThis study aimed at finding features of collocational deviations in the translations of Tuesdays with Mor- rie. In this direction, categories of collocations and collocational clashes, as well as causes of collocation- al clashes were explored. The present work investigated five Persian translations of the novel. All the books were examined completely and all possible collocational clashes were extracted. After checking with an educated native speaker and Persian dictionaries of collocations, they were categorized and tabu- lated according to the taxonomy proposed by Benson (1985). Two general conclusions were deducted at the macrostructural level: Benson‘s taxonomy could not meet all requirements and categories concerning comparison of collcational clashes in English-Persian pair; thus, the researchers added some new catego- ries to Benson‘s taxonomy. The second conclusion was that the translators after the first translator, pro- duced more collocational clashes. At the microstructural level, 249 instances of collocational clashes were extracted from the translations. The most frequent patterns of collocational clashes belonged to ―Verb + Noun‖ and ―Adjective + Noun‖ patterns, and the least frequent patterns belonged to ―Adverb + Adjec- tive‖, ―Noun + Verb (Names of Sounds)‖, ―Adverb + Adverb‖ with no examples in the corpus. The re- sults of this study could confirm the universality of collocational clashes among translations and they may be applied for pedagogical purposes in teaching the pitfalls of rendering collocations. Manuscript profile -
Open Access Article
7 - Investigating the Social Practice of Persian Translations of ‘The Girl You Left Behind’ through Translators’ Lexical and Grammatical Strategies
Zeinab Zargari Ali RabiThe present study aimed to shed light upon the differences of social practice of Persian translations of The Girl You Left Behind written by Jojo Moyes (2012) with original text in English based on Fairclough's (1995) model. In this regard, through a careful analysis of MoreThe present study aimed to shed light upon the differences of social practice of Persian translations of The Girl You Left Behind written by Jojo Moyes (2012) with original text in English based on Fairclough's (1995) model. In this regard, through a careful analysis of the source and target texts, English social prac- tice instances were selected along with their Persian equivalents as the corpora of the study to investigate the differences between the grammatical and lexical features of the social practices. The English and Per- sian social practices were analyzed and compared in accordance with Fairclough's (1995) framework. The results showed that the translators manipulated the social practice of the target texts by exercising their ideologies through applying their grammatical and lexical choices that led to ideological manipulation in the translations. In addition, the results revealed that autonomous creation has been the most frequently observed strategy, which can be interpreted as the common tendency among translators to resort to creat- ing an equivalent. Manuscript profile -
Open Access Article
8 - Translation Strategies in English to Persian Translation of Children's Literature based on Klingberg's Model
Alireza BahremandThis research sought to identify the translation strategies adopted by the translator in Persian translation of 'whatever after, Fairest of all' written by 'Sarah Mlynowski' based on Klingberg's model (1986). To achieve the objectives of the study, a qualitative content MoreThis research sought to identify the translation strategies adopted by the translator in Persian translation of 'whatever after, Fairest of all' written by 'Sarah Mlynowski' based on Klingberg's model (1986). To achieve the objectives of the study, a qualitative content analysis design was selected for it. The corpus of the study consisted of 60 pages of the novel 'whatever after, Fairest of all' written by 'Sarah Mlynowski' and its Persian translation by Sara Farazi (2019). This work was representative of children's literature. The pages were randomly selected as the corpus of the study. For data collection purposes, after the selec- tion of the English novel and its Persian translation, the researcher and an expert in translation qualitative- ly analyzed the English texts and translations to identify the strategies used in the Persian translations of the selected pages. They did this by comparing the English and Persian texts based on Klingberg‟s model (1986). Finally, they identified the most frequent translation strategy used in the English to Persian trans- lation of the novel by calculating the frequency and percentages of the identified translation strategies. Having analyzed the data, the researcher found that the following strategies were used in the Persian translation of “Whatever after, Fairest of all” written by 'Sarah Mlynowski' based on Klingberg‟s model (1986): added explanation, deletion, localization, and substitution. Moreover, it was found that the most frequent strategy used in the Persian translation of 'whatever after, Fairest of all' written by 'Sarah Mly- nowski' based on Klingberg‟s model (1986) was substitution. The main implication of the study is that translators use different strategies when translating children's literature, as an attempt to convey the cor- rect meaning of the source text through adapting source culture with target culture. Manuscript profile
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