|
|
|
 |
Search published articles |
 |
|
Showing 4 results for Pragmatics
Mohammad Khatib, Mohammad Ahmadi Safa,
Volume 14, Issue 1 (3-2011)
Abstract
Socioculturally oriented developmental Interlanguage Pragmatics (ILP) studies have just recently drawn the Second Language Acquisition (SLA) researchers' attention, and the role of concepts like peer scaffolding, and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) in ILP development are among rich areas in need of attention. The present study investigates the significance of the effect of expert peers' ZPD-wise, co-equal peers' ZPD-insensitive and teacher fronted ZPD-insensitive scaffolding on EFL learners' pragmatic development. The number of students who participated in this study was 85 of which 27 were male and the rest were female. They were organized into three experimental and one control groups. The subjects in the experimental groups were given either explicit ZPD-wise or implicit ZPD-
wise scaffolding by the expert peers, or ZPD-insensitive scaffolding by their co-equals, while the subjects of the control group received ZPD-insensitive teacher scaffolding. The study reveals that the expert peers' ZPD-wise explicit and implicit scaffolding are more effective than the other two intervention types for the ILP development, however, the co-equals' scaffolding proved to be the third effective procedure for the subjects' co-construction of ZPD and ILP development. An implication of the study is that different forms of peer scaffolding are relatively effective for the EFL learners' ILP development.
Abdolhossein Ahmadi, Reza Ghafar Samar, Massood Yazdanimoghaddam,
Volume 14, Issue 2 (9-2011)
Abstract
The present study examines the impact of focused tasks on the development of Iranian EFL learners’ pragmatic competence. To this end, we compared the effectiveness of the dictogloss (DIG) as an output-based task and the consciousness raising (CR) as an input-based task in teaching English requestive downgraders. Prior to the experiment, 147 Iranian EFL learners participated in the study to develop the instruments. Also, 43 American native English speakers provided the baseline data for the construction of the recognition test and the instructional treatment. We matched 60 Iranian EFL learners in two groups based on their scores on the Oxford Placement Test (2004). The groups were then randomly assigned to instructional conditions namely, the DIG and CR tasks. The instructional treatment continued for 8 sessions. The results revealed that neither the effects of instructional treatment nor the effects of time were significant between the groups on pragmatic measures. The findings also demonstrated that participants in both tasks preformed significantly better in the immediate and delayed posttests than in the pretest. Similarly, participants in both groups maintained the positive effects of the treatment in the delayed posttest on the production and perception measures. For the recognition measure, however, the participants in the DIG condition significantly fell to a lower level in the delayed posttest.
Hamidreza Abdi,
Volume 22, Issue 1 (3-2019)
Abstract
| The present study aimed to examine the translator's solutions to the translation of conversational implicatures from English into Persian. To do so, 120 conversational implicatures were extracted from the novel the Lord of the Rings (Tolkien, 1954) and classified based on Grice's (1975) categorization of Maxims, including quality, quantity, relevance, and manner. Mur Duenas's (2003) taxonomy of translation strategies was used as a valid framework to find out the translation strategies the translator employed to transfer the 120 conversational implicatures. Furthermore, the most /least frequent translation strategies applied by the translator were investigated. At the end, the effectiveness of the source text (ST)-and target text (TT)-oriented strategies in transferring the same meaning of implicatures to the target text was determined. As the results indicate, the translator employed five out of six of Mur Duenas's translation strategies, namely TL cultural cognate, SL cultural and linguistic borrowing, replacement of the SL cultural reference by explanation, TL cultural reference suppression, and TL cultural reference literal translation, of which SL cultural and linguistic borrowing and replacement of the SL cultural reference by explanation were the most/least frequently-used strategies. Moreover, the translator preferred to employ the ST-oriented strategies rather than the TT-oriented ones that referred to the employment of the ST-oriented strategy for the whole text. Based on Grice's theory, the researcher concluded that the ST-oriented strategies were more effective than the TT-oriented ones and helped the translator to produce comprehensible translations and convey the meaning of implicatures to the target readers. |
Mozhgan Younesi , Hossein Talebzadeh,
Volume 25, Issue 1 (3-2022)
Abstract
|
Many studies on L1 and/or L2 pragmatic competence are constrained by universalist orientations towards sociopragmatics and overlook the idiosyncratic cultural scripts and schemas of underexplored languages and cultures. Particularly neglected is the complicating role of Iranian cultural schema of a (dis-)belief in the evil eye with regards to the speech act of complimenting (and responding to it); actually, the schema is hypothesized (Talebzadeh & Rajabi, in preparation; Younesi & Talebzadeh, 202) to pose intricate interactional challenges for both parties due to the possible interpretations of and (non-)verbal responses to compliments (as predominantly Face-Saving Acts versus potentially Face-Threatening Acts). Moreover, still unknown is the way these could confound EFL learners’ cross-cultural communications. To address these gaps, we present the second phase of a more comprehensive study of compliment response (CR) behaviors of Iranian respondents while checking the adequacy of our proposed model (inspired by Herber’s taxonomy). To qualitatively and quantitatively examine the CRs of fifteen proficient Iranian female learners of English, we initially collected the data using two sets of Discourse Completion Tasks (DCT) (in Persian and English) consisting of a variety of situations and variables (e.g., social distance and compliment topics). Then, follow-up semi-structured interviews were conducted to tap into the participants’ (non-)beliefs in the evil eye and its presupposed effects on their compliment exchanges. The findings underscore the adequacy of our modified model and the particularities of Iranian cultural schemas. Specifically, being a widespread belief, evil-eye is shown to play a pivotal role in formulating the responses to compliments through the selective application of CR types such as Cheshm-Zadan and Taarof in reaction to the compliments given (particularly those on family members or beloved ones) across both languages. The study concludes with a discussion of the findings with reference to the relevant literature and implications for intercultural communication, language education, and sociopragmatic research and practice.
|
|
|
