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Showing 6 results for Rahimi
Mohammad Rahimi, Ehya Amal Saleh, Mahbubeh Saadat,
Volume 11, Issue 1 (3-2008)
Abstract
Communicating ideas/news is the primary function of language. However, language does not usually fulfill this as it is expected to. To Dellinger (1995, p. 3) language, “can never appear by itself-it always appears as the representative of a system of linguistic terms, which themselves realize discursive and ideological system.” The present study, analyzing sports articles, aims at investigating the nature and importance of discourse in representing the desired players/ or teams. In other words, it is to examine the ways in which different teams are discursively constructed. More specifically, it shows how ‘our’ team versus ‘other’ (rival) team is shaped discursively. To do this, Hodge and Kress' (1996) model for Critical Discourse Analysis provides the framework with which the following texts have been approached. Four sport extracts, selected from two different issues of two different sport editorials, comprised the corpus of the study. The texts are analyzed with regard to three important properties of texts, i.e., grammar (with regard to two properties: syntagmatic models and transformations), vocabulary (functioning as adjectives, adverbs, and verbs, with their ideological significance), and modality (the degree of authority and certainty of an utterance). The study has revealed how the reporters, while apparently providing the readers with the information about the matches and important events, represent ‘ours’ and ‘others’ in the selected texts the way they like and, thereby, influence the ideology of the reader.
Mohammad Rahimi, Ehya Amal Saleh, Sanaz Deghat,
Volume 13, Issue 2 (9-2010)
Abstract
Critical discourse analysis (CDA) provides an analytical and political approach to language in context and it concerns with manifestations of ideology and power/dominance relations in society, manifestations of social asymmetry via discourse, racism, sexism and in general segregation and discrimination (Wodak and Meyer, 2001). The present study, applying some of the most agreed upon guidelines of critical discourse analysis, aimed at analyzing the discursive structures of the 2008 presidential campaign speeches of democratic candidates--Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama--to see if they carry and enforce certain ideologies. The methodology used in this study was generally based upon Hodge and Kress’s (1996) framework and the texts were compared and contrasted to find the traces of gender and/or race of the candidates. From among a hundred tapescripts, fifty were randomly selected. The results of the study showed the discoursal features used in the speeches made by the two candidates were significantly influenced by their race and gender.
Ali Rahimi, Ali Soltani,
Volume 14, Issue 1 (3-2011)
Abstract
This study investigated the probable relationship between Iranian EFL learners' language proficiency and intercultural sensitivity. It also looked into the feasibility of enhancing their intercultural sensitivity through actual classroom training. To this end, 36 male and female college seniors were randomly selected from two classes after being homogenized. The participants were required, initially, to complete an Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS).They, then, attended a half-a-semester-long intercultural sensitivity training course and completed the same scale once again at the end of the semester. The data obtained through pre-test and post-test were subjected to some statistical techniques such as the Wilcoxon Signed-rank test and the Chi-square test. The results of data analysis indicated that intercultural sensitivity training promoted Iranian EFL students’ intercultural sensitivity level significantly and that there exists a statistically significant relationship between students’ language proficiency and intercultural sensitivity. This study in turn confirms the possibility of teaching intercultural sensitivity and is hoped, if generalized nationwide, to enrich foreign language teaching. It can also encourage ELT practitioners to give due weight to intercultural competence as a crucial component of modern language education.
Azizullah Mirzaei, Masoud Rahimi Domakani, Zari Shakerian,
Volume 14, Issue 2 (9-2011)
Abstract
Considering the future of the application of a dual explicit-implicit learning system to the L2 theory and research, Ellis (2006) argues that further investigation of the distinction is useful for modeling, understanding, and measuring second language proficiency. This study explored the differential accessibility of EFL learners' explicit and implicit grammatical knowledge to their language proficiency. The participants were 160 EFL graduate and undergraduate students at Shahrekord University (Iran). A test battery including a timed grammaticality judgment test (GJT), an untimed GJT, and a TOEFL was used to gather the data. A set of correlation coefficients was computed to explore the contributions of implicit and explicit grammatical knowledge to the TOEFL and its sub-components. The results showed that there was no statistically significant correlation between the EFL learners' implicit grammatical knowledge and their TOEFL (sub-components) scores, but there was a strong relationship between the EFL learners' explicit grammatical knowledge and their general proficiency. A medium relationship also existed between the explicit knowledge and the TOEFL sub-components. Then, a Standard Multiple Regression demonstrated that explicit knowledge better predicted the EFL learners' general L2 proficiency. The results suggest that learning explicit grammatical knowledge is necessary in EFL contexts and needs much more consideration when the primary focus is on the cognitive academic language proficiency or skills.
Muhamad Alii Rahimi, Javad Gholami, Zhila Mohammadnia,
Volume 21, Issue 2 (9-2018)
Abstract
| The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of varying frequency patterns (FPs) of words on the productive acquisition of a young EFL learner in a home setting. Target words were presented to the learner using games and role plays. They were subsequently traced for their frequencies in input and output. Eighteen immediate tests and delayed tests were administered to measure the oral production following the treatments. To examine the efficacy of varying FPs, target words were grouped into four sets: High Input/High Output (HIHO), Low Input/Low Output (LILO), High Input/Low Output (HILO), and Low Input/High Output (LIHO). The findings revealed that the differences among the FPs were statistically significant. Meanwhile, Wilcoxon signed-rank test identified a significant discrepancy between the words with LILO and HIHO frequency patterns. The findings demonstrated that the differences in FPs led to different productive gains, and higher word production cropped up when words occurred very frequently both in input and output. This study shows that higher teacher talk in tandem with higher learner talk could boost lexical production by a young learner in meaning-focused instructions. |
Seyyed Mahdi Modarres Mosadegh, Mohammad Rahimi,
Volume 24, Issue 1 (3-2021)
Abstract
IELTS preparation courses have gained significant popularity in Iran in the past decade. Although teachers in such an exam-oriented context have started to use formative assessment to improve their writing instruction, their knowledge and beliefs about assessment for learning are still a myth. This mixed-methods study investigated Iranian IELTS teachers’ beliefs and knowledge about the four main aspects of formative assessment of writing in preparation courses for IELTS Writing task 2. Thirty-nine IELTS teachers provided answers to a 23-item questionnaire focusing on four areas: feedback, self-assessment, peer-assessment, and using assessment results for day-to-day classes, to illustrate how frequently they use such techniques. In the next stage, six of the teachers sat for an interview to provide their reasons for using/not using such techniques. The results showed that the teachers have good feedback literacy and make use of some self-assessment techniques such as rubric orientation while they did not value or know enough about how they can involve their students in their own learning process. The teachers seemed to overestimate their role in their students’ learning process while considering the students as somewhat incapable of monitoring their own progress and achievement, which is a crucial aspect of formative assessment. These findings have implications for teacher professional development and further formative assessment programs to be conducted in Iran.
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