Versatility in Cross-Cultural Variations of Personification

Literature was first structured by great figures’ literary and non-literary works that gave birth to the metaphorical conceptualization. The personalities like Dante and Rumi who developed the first social-cultural universality by using personifications – though from two different parts of the world. The power of poetry which can be created in personification is one of the different ways to bring universality of the metaphorical expressions into literature. Although personification is the important part of metaphorical poetry, very few researchers analyzed it. To this end, inspired form Kovecses (2007) classification of metaphoric expressions, it was attempted to analyze Rumi’s Masnavi Ma?navi’s (Spiritual Couplets) first (4003 verses) and second books (3822 verses) in terms of personification along with Dante’s Devine comedy including Inferno and Paradise. Chi-square test was run to find the type, the frequency and significance of the personification’s application in these two poets’ works. Findings revealed significant differences namely, nature and animate personifications in these great works. Finally, it was revealed that poetry could manifest different socio-cultural and religious bonds between different societies.Key words: Personification; Conceptualization; Metaphorical expression

The Relationship Between Cognitive Style of Impulsivity and Display, Referential, and Inferential Reading Comprehension Questions Among Iranian EFL University Students

The present study was an attempt to study the relationship between cognitive style of impulsivity and performance of the intermediate EFL university students on display, referential and inferential reading comprehension questions. The participants in this study were 100 sophomore students. They were given a reading comprehension test battery containing six passages and Eysenck Impulsiveness questionnaire. The results revealed that there was no significant difference between Low, Medium and High impulsives with respect to their performance in Display, Referential, and Inferential reading comprehension questions.Key words: Cognitive style; Impulsivity; EFL students; Reading comprehension questionsRésumé La présente étude visait à étudier la relation entre le style cognitif de l'impulsivité et la performance des étudiants de niveau intermédiaire universitaires EFL sur l'écran, référentielles et inférentielles des questions de compréhension de lecture. Les participants à cette étude étaient de 100 élèves étudiant en deuxième année. Ils ont reçu une batterie de test de compréhension en lecture contenant six passages et le questionnaire d'Eysenck impulsivité. Les résultats ont révélé qu'il n'y avait pas de différence significative entre impulsives Low, Medium et High à l'égard de leurs performances en affichage, référentielle et inférentielle des questions de compréhension de lecture.Mots clés: Style cognitif; Impulsivité; Etudiants d’EFL; Questions de compréhension de lectur

L2 Motivation and Personality as Predictors of the Second Language Proficiency: Role of the Big Five Traits and L2 Motivational Self System

This study examined the predictability of the L2 proficiency by personality and L2 motivational self system variables among 141 Iranian EFL university students. Participants completed Transparent Bipolar Inventory (Goldberg, 1992) as a personality measure, L2 motivational self system (Papi, 2010), and a self-rated measure of second language proficiency. Regression analyses showed that extroversion and openness to experience accounted for 13% of the variance in L2 proficiency; and ideal L2 self and L2 learning experience accounted for 35% of the variance in L2 proficiency. Further, extroversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and openness explained 25% of the variance of in ideal L2 self; neuroticism and conscientiousness explained 24% of the variance in ought-to L2 self; and conscientiousness and extroversion explained 26% of the variance in L2 learning experience. Hierarchical regressions also showed that L2 motivation is a more powerful predictor of L2 proficiency.Key words: Second language proficiency; Big Five traits; Ideal L2 self; Ought to L2 self; L2 learning experience; Motivatio

Relationship between Students’ Gender and their Use of Politeness Strategies in the “Results and Discussions Section” of PhD Dissertations

The researcher analyzed the Result and Discussion Sections of 10 dissertations of Iranian PhD students and 10 British PhD students by aiming to investigate their use of politeness strategies using Brown and Levinson’s (1987) taxonomy and its relationship with the gender of the authors. The results proved that Iranian writers most frequently used negative politeness strategies, followed by positive politeness strategies. British writers, like Iranians, used negative politeness strategies more than the others. The next frequent strategy was positive politeness strategies. Moreover, there was a significant difference between the frequency of politeness strategies used by Persian and British writers. Considering the gender, there is a significant difference between the positive strategies used by male and female Iranians. In fact, unlike the Male Iranian authors who used more positive strategies, the female Iranian authors used fewer strategies and this difference was significant. However, that there was no significant difference between the positive strategies used by British male and female participants. Also, there was a significant difference between the negative strategies used by male and female Iranians. In fact, the results show that the female Iranian authors used fewer strategies and this difference was significant. Moreover, there was a significant difference between the negative strategies used by British male and female participants

Quantifying Investment in Language Learning: Model and Questionnaire Development and Validation in the Iranian Context

The present exploratory study aimed to provide a more tangible and comprehensive picture of the construct of investment in language learning through investigating the issue from a quantitative perspective. To this end, the present researchers followed three main phases. First, a hypothesized model of investment in language learning with six components was developed for the Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) learners based on the extensive readings of the literature on investment, consultations with a panel of experts, three university professors in the relevant fields, and interviews with 20 language learners. Second, a questionnaire was developed and validated based on the proposed model to represent its components. Finally, the data collected through this questionnaire were fed into the model to see to what extent the model fitted the data. The participants were male and female English language learners belonging to different age groups and English language proficiency levels.The initial results showed poor values; however, the model was trimmed by removing one item from the questionnaire, and final statistical indices showed that the model fitted the data

Scaffolding EFL Oral Performance through Story Maps and Podcasts and Students’ Attitudes toward it

The present study sought to explore the impact of story maps and audio podcasts as scaffolds on oral proficiency of Iranian EFL learners. The quasi-experimental study was launched with 36 EFL undergraduates in three groups by adopting a counterbalanced 3  3 Latin squared design. All participants were indiscriminately, but in a specified order, exposed to the three treatment conditions of story retelling, story retelling plus story map, and story retelling plus podcast, and post-tested sequentially. The Latin square analysis of the oral assessment scale showed statistically meaningful differences under the treatment conditions for the groups. The post-hoc test also showed overachievements of the participants under the treatment conditions of story retelling plus story map and story retelling plus podcasts. The performance under podcast condition was significantly better than performances under the story map and short story conditions. The post-experiment opinion survey showed the learners’ preferences for and positive attitudes towards podcast and story map as scaffolds in developing EFL oral proficiency. The participants welcomed integration of the scaffolds into EFL speaking courses

Language Learners' Imagined Communities: Model and Questionnaire Development in the Iranian Context

This study aimed to overcome the researchers' extreme attention to essentially qualitative methods in research on language learners' imagined communities and move towards quantification in order to achieve a more tangible image of this construct. To do so, the present researchers followed three main phases. First, a hypothesized model of language learners' imagined communities with eight components was developed for the Iranian context based on the wide-ranging readings of the literature on imagined communities, consultations with experts and interviews with language learners. Second, a questionnaire was developed and validated based on the model to represent its components. Finally, the data collected through the questionnaire were fed into the model to see to what extent the model fit the data. The initial results showed poor values; however, the model was trimmed by removing one item from the questionnaire, and final statistical indices showed that the model was fit

Validation of Attributional Complexity Scale in Iranian Context and an Investigation into the Effect of Knowing Another Language on Social Perception Validation of Attributional Complexity Scale in Iranian Context and an Investigation into the Effect of K

Abstract: The present study attempted to validate Attributional Complexity Scale (ACS) in Iranian context. Fletcher et al. (1986