Applied Linguistics
Maryam Moazzeni Limoudehi; Omid Mazandarani; Behzad Ghonsooly; Jila Naeini
Abstract
Much uncertainty still exists about the possible role of myriads external and internal mediating variables such as language backgrounds and ethnicities in the process of corrective feedback (CF). To address the issue, 79 monolingual Persians and 79 bilingual Turkmens aged between 13 and 18 from two language ...
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Much uncertainty still exists about the possible role of myriads external and internal mediating variables such as language backgrounds and ethnicities in the process of corrective feedback (CF). To address the issue, 79 monolingual Persians and 79 bilingual Turkmens aged between 13 and 18 from two language institutes in Golestan Province, Iran participated in the study comprising three experimental and a control group each. Pretests revealed the learners’ grammatical errors based on which the experimental groups were provided with different strategies of metalinguistic CF, namely mid-focused oral metalinguistic CF (OMCF), written metalinguistic CF (WMCF), and oral/written metalinguistic CF (OWMCF) on their five most recurrent grammatical errors while the control groups received none. Following significant Kruskal-Wallis test results, the Conover’s pairwise comparison test was employed to exhibit differences among CF strategies. In monolingual Persians and bilingual Turkmens, all the experimental groups significantly outperformed the control groups. Mid-focused OMCF and OWMCF had significant effects on the reduction of Persians’ errors, but for Turkmens, all the CF strategies exerted a significant reduction of errors. The effectiveness rank of the CF strategies investigated through Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) selected OMCF as the best strategy for monolingual Persians while for bilingual Turkmens, WMCF ranked first. This ranking was highly stable for 10000 iterations changing the weights up to 50%. The outcomes of the research might be of help to EFL learners, EFL teachers of bilingual learners, syllabus designers, and materials developers, while opening doors to further pertinent studies.
Applied Linguistics
Sima Ziaei; Behzad Ghonsooly; Zargham Ghabanchi; Hesamoddin Shahriari
Abstract
The aim of this paper was to investigate the role of two cognitive factors, namely, personality traits and narrative writing intelligence (NWI) in L2 writing. The total of 416 English learners participated in this study in two different phases. For the purpose of this study, a narrative writing intelligence ...
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The aim of this paper was to investigate the role of two cognitive factors, namely, personality traits and narrative writing intelligence (NWI) in L2 writing. The total of 416 English learners participated in this study in two different phases. For the purpose of this study, a narrative writing intelligence scale (NWIS) was designed and used to score the writings of the first group of participants which included 200 Iranian learners of English in an EFL institute. The first writing task, which was a film recounting, contributed to designing this scale. Randall’s (1999) definition of narrative intelligence was the guideline to design the primary draft of NWIS. All 200 written film recounting were scored by this scale. The scores were transferred to SPSS 18.0. and Exploratory Factor Analysis was run. NWIS’ construct validity and reliability were confirmed. Moreover, the underlying dimensions causing correlation among the observed variables were reduced in three factors which account for 57.47% of the variance of the scale. The factors were named as Unity of the plot, Identification (of characters, objects, and ideas), and Voice and Rhetoric. The second group, who were female university students of EFL, were given two tasks, namely, writing a memory and filling Big-Five Personality test. Their writings were evaluated twice; once by employing the NWIS and once by a tailor-made writing scoring guide taken from Weigle’s (2002) guideline. Transferring all scores to Amos. 20, a SEM model was proposed by the researchers. The result shows the proposed model has good fit indices.
Fahime Saboori; Reza Pishghadam; Azar Hosseini Fatemi; Behzad Ghonsooley
Abstract
Iranian identity cannot be conceived of as a uniform monolithic concept. But, thanks to certain upheavals in the history of the country, it has turned into the triple concept of national/Islamic/modern. Hofstede’s (2001) cultural framework represents a well-validated operationalization of culture ...
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Iranian identity cannot be conceived of as a uniform monolithic concept. But, thanks to certain upheavals in the history of the country, it has turned into the triple concept of national/Islamic/modern. Hofstede’s (2001) cultural framework represents a well-validated operationalization of culture based on six cultural dimensions (power distance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance, short-term/long-term orientation, and indulgence/restraint) and this study explores the association between these dimensions and the three components of Iranian identity. To this end, the Cultural Dimensions Scale (CDS) along with the Cultural Attachment Scale (CAS) were administered to a sample of Iranian university students. Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Multiple Regression Analysis were employed for data analysis. The results revealed a significant relationship between cultural dimensions and the identity components. It was also found that indulgence is the sole predictor of National Identity, whereas Religious Identity has four predictors, namely, power distance, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and short-term orientation. And, Western Identity is predicted by power distance and individualism. Finally, the results were discussed and implications for soothing Iranian identity crisis through cultural interventions were provided.