Ebrahim Samani

Subtitling is a common way of breaking language barriers for audiovisual materials. A notable portion of subtitles are distributed on the internet by non-professional translators. The existing literature has demonstrated that non-professional translators try unconventional and innovative procedures in their tasks. Following this rather recent trend, via a corpus-based approach, this study aimed to find out whether non-professional subtitles come up with creative solutions for the problems of rarity and non-equivalence in the case of hapax legomena (i.e., words with only one occurrence through the entire corpus). The corpus in this study included English and non-professionally translated Persian subtitles of comedy movies released in the 21st century, analyzed by means of AntConc, a corpus analysis toolkit. Although it was initially assumed that amateur subtitlers and fansubbers would resort to imaginative equivalents, results revealed that these subtitlers preferred non-creative strategies to creative ones due to not being trained and/or experienced in alternative translation solutions when facing troublesome items in the process of translation.

The number of online users has unprecedentedly increased in recent years. The rapid advancement of technology has seen the growth of social media usage and this has made a huge impact on today’s educational system. However, to what extent has social media played an important role in the teaching and learning process particularly in the English Language Teaching (ELT) is still unclear. This is due to the fact that in most cases, social media is used for the purpose of entertainment and personal usage. The current study attempted to explore the nature of communications via social media and how they can be used in improving students’ language skills. Participants in this study consisted of fifteen undergraduate students who were into their second year of the TESL program. They were involved in completing a grammatical task through the use of Facebook Messenger, an online platform where they engaged in chat activities. The discussion which was moderated by the researcher lasted 45 minut...

The concept of literacy has undergone a conceptual leap due to the constant growth of technology and the introduction of digital tools. Often-cited as an important component of modern literacy, digital literacy has received significant attention. Since the role of socio-demographic characteristics like gender, place of residence, access to digital tools, fields of study, level of university and previous experience with these tools is very decisive in digital literacy. The current study aimed at filling the gap that exists in the literature in this regard by examining the existence of any relationship between digital literacy level and the mentioned variables in the context of Iran. The study utilized quota sampling to select the respondents. The sample consisted of the undergraduate students of level 1 to level 4 universities. Two public universities from each level 1 to 4 and 8 in total contributed to the sample. The results indicated that all of the selected socio-demographic vari...

Taking into consideration the importance of using negotiated interaction over grammatical structures through computer-mediated communication (CMC), conflicting results of attitude toward CMC, and the nature of CMC environments, the current study attempted to examine immediate and long-time effect of negotiated interaction on students’ achievement in grammar in Malaysian context. The study also sought to evaluate opinions of participants in this study regarding CMC. Furthermore, it focused on gaining more in-depth and detailed picture of learners’ beliefs and experiences of their interaction over grammatical structures in written synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC). Finally, the aim of this study was also to analyze the discourse patterns of text-based CMC in terms of negotiation functions. These aims were addressed using an experimental research design. Fifteen students from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) participated in the study. All of these students were undertak...

Research indicates that children can comprehend information texts better when they use an overall structure to organize the material (McNeil, 1992; Mayer, 2004). Drawing on the implications of L1, it is argued that ESL/EFL learners would experience fewer problems comprehending texts if they employed an organizing structure (Ref). The present study examined the effect of two organizing structure techniques, i.e., flowcharting and concept mapping on expository text comprehension of university students in Iranian context. The research concentrated on 90 male, science majors selected based on a Nelson-Denny proficiency test administration. Participants were randomly assigned to three groups, with two of them being the experimental groups and one being the intact group. Each experimental group was taught employing only one technique but the intact group was taught with traditional technique. The data were gathered through reading comprehension tests which were obtained before and after t...

The purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing on repayment behavior of loans by farmers who received loans from rural branches of Agricultural Bank in Meshkinshahr. Data for this study was obtained from a sample of one- hundred- and -fifty farmers who defaulted in paying their loans to Agricultural Bank. Logistic regression through strata software was used to analyze data. According to the results, the variables of supervision, occupation, other credit received, and education were found to be significant predictors of repayment in Agricultural Bank of Meshginshahr. Findings of this study will give valuable insights to policy makers and planners in the bank in terms of awarding micro loans which can be used in credit policies of the bank.

Perceptions of corrective feedback (CF) and different forms of giving these kinds of feedback have been on constant change throughout the history of second language acquisition (SLA). According to [1], grammar instruction can be effectively materialized by giving corrective feedback on learner's errors while performing some communicative task. The current study was a new endeavor in revisiting the question of comparative effectiveness of two kinds of corrective feedback, recasts and prompts, with targeting new grammatical forms and using the affordances of computer-mediated communication (CMC). Thirty postgraduate students from Iran studying in non-English majors at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) were involved in this study. They were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions (corrective feedback in the form of recasts and corrective feedback in the form of prompts) and the control group. During 4 online one-hour text-based chat sessions through Yahoo messenger, participants were given corrective feedback (recasts and prompts) while control group did not receive any kind of feedback. Findings of the study indicated that using both recasts and prompts through computer-mediated communication was effective for learning grammar. Results also showed that groups receiving feedback in the form of prompts outperformed their counterparts in the recast group. Findings of the study bear implications for different lines of research and practice in ESL/ EFL.

Problem Statement: The Internet as a tool that presents many challenges has drawn the attention of researchers in the field of education and especially foreign language teaching. However, there has been a lack of information about the true nature of these environments. In recent years, determination of the patterns of negotiation of meaning as a way to delve in these environments has grown in popularity. Purpose of the Study: The current study was an effort to determine the types and frequencies of negotiation of meaning in the interaction of Malaysian students as English as a second language learners and, furthermore, to compare findings of this study with correspondent previous studies. To this end, two research questions were posed for this study: (a) what types of negotiation of meaning emerge in text-based synchronous CMC environments? and (b) Are there any differences between findings of this study and previous studies in terms of negotiation of meaning functions in this environment? Method: Participants of this study were fourteen English as second language learners at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). They were involved in a series of discussions over selected short stories. Analysis of students' chat logs was carried out through computer-mediated discourse analysis (CMDA). Findings and Results: This study yielded 10 types of functions in negotiation of meaning, which are clarification request, confirmation, confirmation check, correction or self correction, elaboration, elaboration request, reply clarification or definition, reply confirmation, reply elaboration, and vocabulary check. Furthermore, findings of this study indicated that students negotiated with an average of 2.10 per 100 words. According to the findings of this study, the most-frequently used functions were confirmation, elaboration, and elaboration request and the least frequently used functions were vocabulary check, reply confirmation, and reply clarification. The findings of this study were in line with the findings of previous studies in that the proficiency of the participants influences the amount of negotiation for meaning strategies that occur. Conclusions and Recommendations: Findings of this study will give insight to teachers, learners, and researchers in the field of SLA and will help to sustain their liveliness and curiosity. Taking into account the current situation of Malaysia as the country that host so many international students from all over the world, future studies of these kinds can focus on examining the factor of proficiency in different dyads and its effect on students' interactions in terms of negotiation of meaning.

The concept of literacy has undergone a conceptual leap due to the constant growth of technology and the introduction of digital tools. Often-cited as an important component of modern literacy, digital literacy has received significant attention. Since the role of socio-demographic characteristics like gender, place of residence, access to digital tools, fields of study, level of university and previous experience with these tools is very decisive in digital literacy. The current study aimed at filling the gap that exists in the literature in this regard by examining the existence of any relationship between digital literacy level and the mentioned variables in the context of Iran. The study utilized quota sampling to select the respondents. The sample consisted of the undergraduate students of level 1 to level 4 universities. Two public universities from each level 1 to 4 and 8 in total contributed to the sample. The results indicated that all of the selected sociodemographic variables were significantly effective in digital literacy of students. The findings of this study, it is hoped, to provide insights to the education system of our country to recognize the areas of problem and introduce necessary programs in our education system either curricular or extracurricular to meet the required standards.

The number of online users has unprecedentedly increased in recent years. The rapid advancement of technology has seen the growth of social media usage and this has made a huge impact on today's educational system. However, to what extent has the social media played an important role in the teaching and learning process particularly in the English Language Teaching (ELT) is still unclear. This is due to the fact that in most cases, social media is used for the purpose of entertainment and personal usage. There was an attempt in current study to examine the nature of communications via social media and how they can be used in improving students' language skills. The participants in this study consisted of fifteen undergraduate students who were into their second year of TESL program. They were involved in completing a grammatical task through the use of Facebook Messenger, an online platform where they engaged in chat activities. The discussion which was moderated by the researchers lasted 45 minutes for each session and five sessions were conducted where sentence combining activities were also done using the Facebook Messenger. Results obtained from the discourse analysis done which examined the participants' accounts of their experiences as well as the pedagogical features of the online platform clearly shows that this platform can be used as a pedagogical tool in improving language skills.

This paper aimed at evaluating the effect of a course on educational tools on the participants' digital literacy and collecting information on their attitude toward these tools and their pedagogical use as the result of attendance in this course. There were 15 participants in this study who attended the one-month course in one of the charity summer schools in Bam, Iran. The content of the course included topics like tagging, cyber threats, presentation tools, back up, creating video clips and so forth. Analysis of the results showed that there was a significant difference in digital literacy scores and attitudes of students between pre and posttests. A review of the participants' projects and activities in Edublogs demonstrated that the participants were able to easily adapt technologies in creating different artifacts. The findings of this study provide insight to educators in their task of increasing digital literacy in not only society but also among students.

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has been more considered in these years. English for Medical Purposes (EMP) as one of its types plays a vital role for medical students. This study was conducted to evaluate the textbooks taught in teaching English in different programs of medical universities. The study focused on six textbooks widely used in medical universities. The method for the analysis was corpus linguistics. The researchers of the study compiled the English for Medical Programs (EMP) corpus as well as a corpus from the videos of YouTube with medical content. They compared the corpus of the textbook with the YouTube corpus as well as an already available corpus known as the Medical Web Corpus. Sketch Engine was used for the analysis. According to the findings, the YouTube corpus was somewhat consistent with the Medical Web Corpus and there was an overlap of 69.67%. Also, a 58.53% consistency was obtained between the two corpora of YouTube and EMP. According to further analysis, a Compact Medical Word List (CMWL) was selected according to its coverage in the Youtube and Web corpora. The CMWL which was of zero coverage in EMP corpus is useful to medical learners and professionals as a compact medicine-specific list as well as researchers who may use the new low-frequency lists in corpus studies.

The outbreak of the Covid virus imposed a change in different walks of life including Education. In search of an ad hoc replacement to perform their daily activities in the confinement period, people considered online platforms as a blessing. There was a diversity in adopting the new trend and as was expected, the millennials had an edge in this change. In education, primary and secondary education in Iran lagged behind tertiary Education. It was partly due to the nature of human resources in the Ministry of Education in Iran which recruits its personnel through different means of hiring (Farhangian University, national selection exam, recruiting from other organizations like Nehzate Savad Amooozi, hiring part-time teachers or promoting part-time to full-time teachers, etc.). In this study, the focus was on examining how the confinement period contributed to the digital literacy of the primary and secondary teachers. To achieve this end, two teachers were observed for one year. The results indicated that change in the medium of teaching indeed offered a basic knowledge of educational technology to teachers and furthermore personal traits like dedication, interest, etc. seem to affect the mindset and then motivation and interest which results in the adoption of new technology.

The purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing on repayment behavior of loans by farmers who received loans from rural branches of Agricultural Bank in Meshkinshahr. Data for this study was obtained from a sample of one- hundred- and -fifty farmers who defaulted in paying their loans to Agricultural Bank. Logistic regression through strata software was used to analyze data. According to the results, the variables of supervision, occupation, other credit received, and education were found to be significant predictors of repayment in Agricultural Bank of Meshginshahr. Findings of this study will give valuable insights to policy makers and planners in the bank in terms of awarding micro loans which can be used in credit policies of the bank.

One of the internal conflicts in diasporic writers, manifested in their textual and linguistic practices, is their experience of "double consciousness." This conflict which is parallel to their external dialectic in identifying with either motherland or the host country, gives form and content to their linguistic identity. To put it in other words, these diasporic subjects sometimes identify with their homeland, sometimes with the host land, and sometimes with both. This study shows how diasporic writers produce hybrid, and accented texts. Because these texts are two-layered, we term them as palimpsest texts, arguing that the multi-layered and hybrid nature of these texts implies the double consciousness of their producers. The study explored the linguistic mechanisms diasporic writers use to represent their double consciousness.

Discourse analysis (DA), or discourse studies, is a general term for a number of approaches to analyze written, spoken, signed language use or any significant semiotic event. A topic or a theme is what discourse, a discourse fragment or a sentence is about. It is the shortest summary of a discourse. This article reports on a part of a large-scale study on discourse focusing on how students identify a topic for a passage through familiarity with its discourse. To conduct the research a paragraph was given to 15 female students, and they were asked to complete the paragraph with choosing an English topic from among the given options. The students described the process of completing the task by expressing their reasons in their mother language. At the end their reasons were analyzed and the most important reasons were described. The findings of the study emphasize the importance of discourse knowledge in understanding a text.

Research indicates that children can comprehend information texts better when they use an overall structure to organize the material (McNeil, 1992; Mayer, 2004). Drawing on the implications of L1, it is argued that ESL/EFL learners would experience fewer problems comprehending texts if they employed an organizing structure. (Graves and Cook, 1980; Graves, Cook, & LaBerge,1983). The present study examined the effect of two organizing structure techniques, i.e., flowcharting and concept mapping on expository text comprehension of university students in Iranian context. The research concentrated on 90 male, science majors selected based on a Nelson-Denny proficiency test administration. Participants were randomly assigned to three groups, with two of them being the experimental groups and one being the intact group. Each experimental group was taught employing only one technique but the intact group was taught with traditional technique. The data were gathered through reading comprehension tests which were obtained before and after treatment and were analyzed through ANOVA. Results confirmed the significant effect of both techniques on reading comprehension. Further analyses of the data indicated that learners instructed through concept mapping outperformed those who received flowcharting instructions. Findings of the study bear implications for different lines of research and practice in ESL/EFL.

The fast-growing requirement for great communication abilities in English has provoked an enormous interest in English learning and teaching all over the world. A huge number of individuals today need to improve their English or to make sure that their kids can communicate in English. In addition, opportunities to learn English are provided in various ways, such as through the media, tutorial packages, study abroad, social networks, the Internet, etc. Communicative Teaching is a method which is proposed by some methodologists to fulfill these requests (Richards, 2006). The aim of this paper was to survey the opinion of some EFL teachers toward this ongoing strategy. The collection of the data in this study was through administrating a questionnaire and conducting semi-structured interviews. Analysis of the data indicated that three major inhibitors of facilities, lack of proficiency, and educational administration may interfere with the full implementation of CLT. The findings of this study will provide sufficient and conclusive information on Communicative Language Teaching and its adaptation in learning and teaching of English.