An Investigation into Rohani’s Meeting Coverage in Two English Daily Newspapers with a Critical Discourse Analysis Perspective: Tehran Times vs. Los Angeles Times

This study was an attempt to investigate the ideological differences between the discourse of Los Angeles Times and Tehran Times in representing Iran's Rouhani meeting at the U.N. To this end, 4 reports in relation to the Iran's Rouhani meeting at the U.N. were collected from the websites of two newspapers of Los Angeles Times and Tehran Times. The reports were grouped and analyzed. The articles were analyzed in terms of the utilized discursive strategies. Hence, the similarities and differences between the two newspapers in representing Iran's Rouhani meeting at the U.N. were discussed.  It was shown that the Los Angeles Times heavily relied on Authoritative, Explanation, Evidentiality and Counterfactual discursive strategies and Tehran Times on Actor Description, Hyperbole, Lexicalization, Repetition and Situation Description discursive strategies

Examining the Role of Language, Emotion, and Culture as Three Basic Needs in Intercultural Communication Based on Iranian Language Teachers' Viewpoints

Pinpointing the role of language, emotion, and culture in intercultural interactions as the three basic needs of intercultural interactions is one of the most important problems in the intercultural field. Therefore, this paper probed the role of language, emotion, and culture simultaneously in intercultural communication in Iran. By using convenience sampling, one hundred Iranian language teachers were chosen and their language proficiency and ICC levels were specified by using Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and intercultural communicative competence (ICC) questionnaire. Then, the researchers used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to classify ICC questions under language, emotion, and culture categories.  After classifying the questions, the researchers used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), standard solution coefficient, standard path coefficient, T value, and Sobel formula to analyze the collected data from the ICC questionnaire based on participants' answers. The results revealed that language, culture, and emotion were the main macro-elements of intercultural communication. Also, it was shown that language was the most important need and macro-element in intercultural communication and then the second and third place went to culture and emotion respectively.  It was found that emotion acted as a mediator variable between language and culture and there was a relationship among language, culture, and emotion, too. This study was of high importance for language teachers, curriculum designers, textbook writers, intercultural experts, and cultural psychologist

Authorial Stance in Academic Writing: Issues and Implications for Research in English Language Teaching

Writers can start a dialogue with the reader to produce more engaging and persuasive texts and to comply with their own disciplinary practices by employing interaction features effectively. In this paper, first, interaction as a significant part of the rhetorical structure of academic discourse is presented and then, major approaches to this function of language are reviewed and clarified. Next, Hyland's 2005 model of academic interaction as a comprehensive and practical model for conducting research on stance in academic discourse is discussed. Finally, a number of recent studies on authorial stance in academic discourse along with their strong and weak points are presented and discussed to pinpoint gaps and to recommend new research areas in the field of English language teaching (ELT)