The relationship between first and second language composition writing

This paper explores the ways in which the transfer of assumptions from L1 writing can sometimes help the process of writing in L2. In learning a second language writing skill,learners have two primary sources to construct a second language system: knowledge and skills from the first language and input from the second language. The present study was conducted to investigate the relative impact of first language literacy skills on second language writing ability. To carry out the research, sixty EFL students from Tabriz Islamic Azad University were chosen and divided into two groups. After being sure about the groups’ homogeneity, they were given two topics to write about: the first group wrote in English about the topics, the second group was asked to write in Persian about the same topics and then translate their writing into English. The data were analyzed by using a t-test and other subsequent analysis. The results may help the teachers to reevaluate their views about the role of first language in second language teaching and they must consider both inter-lingual transfer and intra-lingual input in their analysis of second language literacy development

The Metalinguistic and Linguistic Knowledge Tests and Their Relationship between Non-native In-service and Pre-service Teachers

Fairly recently, the construct of metalinguistic knowledge and its relation to L2 learners’ language proficiency have been the focus of numerous theoreticians, researchers, and the educators in the field. With respect to second language teachers assessment, however, little attempt has been made to explore the metalinguistic knowledge and its relationship between serving and non-serving teachers. The current study, accordingly, was designed to investigate whether there is a relationship between non-native in-service and pre-service teachers performing the metalinguistic and linguistic knowledge tests and if there is a difference between the two groups of teachers’ performance on these two tests. To collect the data on the two constructs of linguistic and metalinguistic knowledge, 80 non-native teachers performed on the Cloze Test and untimed Grammaticality Judgment Test from an English language institute. Following a range of statistical analyses, the findings revealed no positive correlation between the Linguistic and Metalinguistic tests both in the in-service and pre-service teachers of English language. It was also found that the two groups of teachers did not differ significantly with respect to their performance on the Linguistic test while the in-service teachers outperformed their counterpart in the Metalinguistic knowledge test

Um estudo comparativo de introdução de artigos de pesquisa escritos por falantes nativos e não nativos de inglês, com base em pesquisas sobre gênero textual

This study aims to compare the Introduction section of a number of medical research articles written by non-native speakers of English (Iranian) and English native speakers in terms of their rhetorical structures. The articles published in ISI-indexed journals have been investigated using the models presented by Nwogu and Halliday. The models are related to Moves/Sub-moves and grammatical metaphors, respectively. Using statistical tests such as chi-square tests for goodness of fit and Mann-Whitney U tests, the authors have found that the Iranians used fewer Moves/Sub-moves and grammatical metaphors compared to native speakers. Awareness of this academic writing practice may contribute to pave the ground for Iranian researchers to publish their articles in world-known journals.Keywords: genre, writing, research articles, SFL, ESP, ESL, grammatical metaphors.Este estudo tem como objetivo comparar a seção Introdução de um número de artigos de pesquisa médica escritos por falantes não-nativos de Inglês (que são iranianos) e por falantes nativos de Inglês em termos de suas estruturas retóricas. Os artigos publicados em revistas indexadas ISI foram investigados usando os modelos apresentados por Nwogu e por Halliday. Os modelos estão relacionados a movimentos/ sub-movimentos e metáforas gramaticais, respectivamente. Usando testes estatísticos como os testes de qui-quadrado e U Mann-Whitney, os autores descobriram que os iranianos usaram menos movimentos/ submovimentos retóricos e metáforas gramaticais em comparação com falantes nativos. Uma conscientização desta prática de escrita acadêmica pode apontar um caminho para que pesquisadores iranianos possam publicar seus artigos em revistas mundialmente conhecidas.Palavras-chave: gênero, redação, artigos de pesquisa, SFL, ESP, ESL, gramaticais metáforas

Learning English Vocabulary through VOA News Lessons: Being Exposed to Authentic Material or Electronic Colonialism

Teaching and learning languages via the Internet is becoming increasingly common all over the world and therefore, the experts growingly debate around the positive or negative effects of online education. The present study aimed to critically investigate into science and technology lessons of the VOA English Learning Website in a two-year interval, which claims to teach new words and phrases through the authentic VOA world news. Applying van Dijk’s (1998) Ideological Square Model of CDA, the researchers attempted to critically analyze the representation of the key term the United States within the collected VOA news story transcripts in order to observe whether the Website was trying to manipulate the learners’ minds through in-group favoritism and out-group derogation. The findings revealed that the VOA online lessons promoted certain American political, economic, cultural, social, and ideological values through particular discursive structures that tend to describe in-group members in a positive or at least neutral manner. Thus, as McPhail’s (2006) Electronic Colonialism Theory assumes such free online lessons on the VOA Website, which is a core country multimedia giant, struggle to convert and capture the attitudes, desires, beliefs, faiths, lifestyles, and consumer behavior of the other countries. Therefore, it is highly recommended that English teachers and learners try to inspect the content, reflect on the purposes, and evaluate the merits of similar online authentic materials before and while applying them to facilitate the language learning process

A comparative genre-based study of research articles’ introductions written by English native/non native speakers

This study aims to compare the Introduction section of a number of medical research articles written by non-native speakers of English (Iranian) and English native speakers in terms of their rhetorical structures. The articles published in ISI-indexed journals have been investigated using the models presented by Nwogu and Halliday. The models are related to Moves/Sub-moves and grammatical metaphors, respectively. Using statistical tests such as chi-square tests for goodness of fit and Mann-Whitney U tests, the authors have found that the Iranians used fewer Moves/Sub-moves and grammatical metaphors compared to native speakers. Awareness of this academic writing practice may contribute to pave the ground for Iranian researchers to publish their articles in world-known journals.Keywords: genre, writing, research articles, SFL, ESP, ESL, grammatical metaphors.</p

Causes of EFL Learners’ Procrastination: A Classical Grounded Theory

In the long process of learning English as a foreign language, learners may become exhausted and, if not treated properly, decide to give up learning temporarily and even permanently. Therefore, it seems necessary to explore the reasons for their temporal delays and consider them appropriately to avoid permanent give-ups. As an attempt to determine the reasons for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ delays, the researchers in the present study explored their contributing factors through application of a classical grounded theory approach which led to the development of Language Learning Procrastination (LLP) theory. The research data were collected through semi-structured interviews from 43 EFL learners in Tabriz, Iran, and were coded in open, selective, and theoretical coding stages through a Constant Comparative Method. The emerged theory involved a core category (i.e., Dilatory Behavior) indicating that EFL learners mostly procrastinate in five domains of doing exercises, preparation for exam, submitting projects, starting up speaking, and learning spelling. Furthermore, three major categories of Learners’ Characteristics, Environmental Conditions, and Task Features as the causes of Dilatory Behavior emerged during the iterative data collection and analysis procedures. The results of the study indicated that both EFL learners’ own characteristics and external factors related to the learning environment and language tasks are significant in shaping the EFL learners’ procrastination. The theory of LLP can be applied in EFL settings to recognize the learners’ sources of Dilatory Behavior and devise appropriate solutions for them

Holistic Identity of Language Teachers: A Grounded Theory Study

It is one of the major areas of interest within the field of educational research to examine the role of teachers, their professional accomplishment and influential factors affecting or inhibiting the practice; of which, the study of teacher identity has taken on fundamental property. Thus, the present study explored different aspects of a language teacher identity which led to the development of the theoretical framework of Holistic Identity of Language Teachers (HILT) based on the grounded theory. The data were collected in semi-structured individual interviews from 64 teachers in Iran. Employing a version of Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) coding paradigm, emerged a framework of a set of categories in terms of ‘process’ (i.e., becoming a teacher) as well as the grounding categories of ‘Persona Grata’ and ‘Public Persona’, resulted in the core category of ‘Teacherality’, along with three categories of ‘Navigating Strategies’, ‘Conditional Contributors’, and ‘Contextual Patterns’. The final consequence of the framework is ‘Actual Teaching Approach’, referring to the eventual phenomenon of the evolutionary continuum of being a holistic language teacher. The most obvious finding of the study refers to the emergent as well as evolutionary nature of HILT. Following the interplay between self and society in emergence of HILT, the schema was proposed to round up all revealed and unnoticed aspects of language teacher identity which can be implemented operationally to redefine, highlight, and activate its unprecedented role in an Iranian context

Um estudo comparativo de introdução de artigos de pesquisa escritos por falantes nativos e não nativos de inglês, com base em pesquisas sobre gênero textual

This study aims to compare the Introduction section of a number of medical research articles written by non-native speakers of English (Iranian) and English native speakers in terms of their rhetorical structures. The articles published in ISI-indexed journals have been investigated using the models presented by Nwogu and Halliday. The models are related to Moves/Sub-moves and grammatical metaphors, respectively. Using statistical tests such as chi-square tests for goodness of fit and Mann-Whitney U tests, the authors have found that the Iranians used fewer Moves/Sub-moves and grammatical metaphors compared to native speakers. Awareness of this academic writing practice may contribute to pave the ground for Iranian researchers to publish their articles in world-known journals.Keywords: genre, writing, research articles, SFL, ESP, ESL, grammatical metaphors.Este estudo tem como objetivo comparar a seção Introdução de um número de artigos de pesquisa médica escritos por falantes não-nativos de Inglês (que são iranianos) e por falantes nativos de Inglês em termos de suas estruturas retóricas. Os artigos publicados em revistas indexadas ISI foram investigados usando os modelos apresentados por Nwogu e por Halliday. Os modelos estão relacionados a movimentos/ sub-movimentos e metáforas gramaticais, respectivamente. Usando testes estatísticos como os testes de qui-quadrado e U Mann-Whitney, os autores descobriram que os iranianos usaram menos movimentos/ submovimentos retóricos e metáforas gramaticais em comparação com falantes nativos. Uma conscientização desta prática de escrita acadêmica pode apontar um caminho para que pesquisadores iranianos possam publicar seus artigos em revistas mundialmente conhecidas.Palavras-chave: gênero, redação, artigos de pesquisa, SFL, ESP, ESL, gramaticais metáforas

The Relationship between First and Second Language Literacy in Writing

This paper explores the ways in which the transfer of assumptions from first language (L1) writing can help the process of writing in second language (L2). In learning second language writing skills, learners have two primary sources from which they construct a second language system: knowledge and skills from first language and input from second language. To investigate the relative impact of first language literacy skills on second language writing ability, 60 EFL students from Tabriz Islamic Azad University were chosen as participants of this study, based on their language proficiency scores. The subjects were given two topics to write about: the experimental group subjects were asked to write in Persian and then translate their writing into English. The control group wrote in English. The results obtained in this study indicate that the content and vocabulary components of the compositions were mostly affected by the use of first language

The Effect of Self, Peer and Teacher Correction on the Pronunciation Improvement of Iranian EFL Learners

The concept of self correction and peer correction in foreign language teaching has been an important consideration in the past decades due to the increased attention to learner centered curricula. The researchers have concluded that active engagement happens when the students have to think and correct themselves. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of teacher, self and peer correction on the pronunciation improvement of Iranian EFL learners in oral productions. To do this, 45 participants were selected from among 60 English language learning students by assigning a PET test and they were divided into three groups. Some picture series were given to the participants to make and then tell a story based on the scripts. In the self correction group every participant had to correct her pronunciation errors individually, in the peer correction group the participants in pairs corrected each others’ pronunciation errors and for the third group their errors were corrected by the teacher. This process continued for 15 sessions. A pre-test and post-test were administered. The results showed that the pronunciation of the self correction group improved more than the other two groups and peer correction group outperformed the teacher correction group