The Efficacy of Novel Pre-activity Tasks on Macroskills: The Case of Group Discussion on Reading Comprehension

The main concern of most researchers in the field of second and foreign language teaching is lessening the problems and eliminating the hinders on the way of learning a language. The importance of reading skill in the process of teaching and learning different languages is undeniable for everyone. The main aim of this study was to examine the effects of group discussion strategy as a pre- activity task on reading ability. To this aim, 27 Iranian EFL learners, who were at the same level –intermediate- studying at Shokuh and Safir Institutes, Birjand, Iran were chosen. Two groups- one control and one experimental group- were studied. In control group the conventional method was used in teaching reading, while in experimental group, group discussion pre-activity task was administered. Both groups met the same level -Intermediate. At the end, the obtained data of the tests was analyzed by SPSS software. According to the obtained data, it can be strongly concluded that group discussion has no significant effect on reading comprehension. This study can help teachers and syllabus designers in choosing and applying an effective pre-activity task which really help the learners in reading classes

The spiritual experiences of students of Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2020

Background: Psychologists consider the acceptance of spirituality as a cultural reality and by acknowledging the positive effects of spirituality on mental health, the World Health Organization also considers the spiritual dimension as the physical, social and emotional dimensions of human existence. Spirituality is a genuine and inner experience that It lies in the nature of every human being. The purpose of this study was to investigate the spiritual experiences of students of Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2020. Methods: The present study was descriptive-analytical. The sample size of 500 students of Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2020 was estimated. For sampling, a list of students was prepared from the faculty education and the sample was selected by regular random sampling method through random number generation software. The data collection tool was a questionnaire with demographic questions and spiritual experiences. The collected data were analyzed after completion with SPSS 20 software. A significance level of 0.05 was considered. Results: The mean score of the meaning-finding component in life was obtained at 57.98. There was a significant relationship between spiritual experiences and gender, age and educational level of students, while no significant relationship was found between spiritual experiences and marital status and residence. Conclusion: In order to ensure the spiritual health of students, it is necessary to plan properly to create a meaningful atmosphere in universities for different age and gender groups

A CALL-based Lesson Plan for Teaching Reading Comprehension to Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners

The main purpose of this descriptive research is to provide a CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning)-based lesson plan for teaching reading comprehension to Iranian intermediate EFL learners. CALL is a new way of learning and teaching language. It is proved that CALL mainly has positive effects on educational contexts. Although teachers believe that CALL will have positive effect in the process of learning a language, they prefer the traditional methods. The reason is that they do not have a guide to work based on it. As a result, this study tries to design a CALL-based lesson plan to suggest not only the teachers, but also the students to examine the benefits of the method

Examining the Impact of Novel Pre-activity Tasks on Macroskills: The Case of Group Discussion on Writing Ability

The main concern of most researchers in the field of second and foreign language teaching is lessening the problems and eliminating the hinders on the way of learning a language. Writing is considered as one of the most challenging and complicated tasks for learners to perform particularly when they have to write in a second or foreign language. Numerous studies were done on the importance of the pre-writing stage and activities which are directly and indirectly related to the theme of the writing. Accordingly, the main aim of this study was to examine the effects of group discussion as a pre- activity task on writing ability. To this aim, 27 Iranian EFL learners, who were at the same level –intermediate- studying at Shokuh and Safir Institutes, Birjand, Iran were chosen randomly. Two groups- one control and one experimental group- were studied. In control group the conventional method was used in teaching writing, while in experimental group, group discussion pre-activity task was administered. After 16 sessions, the obtained data of the pretests and posttests was analyzed by SPSS software. According to the results, researcher strongly concluded that group discussion has no significant effect on writing ability of Iranian intermediate learners. This study can help teachers and syllabus designers in choosing and applying an effective pre-activity task.Keywords: writing ability, pre-activity task, group discussion, EFL learner

Correlation of Moral Courage and Organizational Commitment in Operating Room Nurses

Objective: Moral courage distinguishes real moralists from hypocrites and indicates the commitment of nurses to their patients. Organizational commitment can also influence this commitment. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the correlation between moral courage and organizational commitment of operating room nurses working in the teaching hospitals of Arak University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This cross-sectional correlational study was conducted on 136 operating room nurses who were selected using the convenience sampling method. The required data were collected through demographic information form, the organizational commitment questionnaire of Allen and Myer, and the professional moral courage scale by Sekerka and colleagues. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 21) for descriptive and correlational analyses. Results: The mean scores of moral courage and organizational commitment of operating room nurses were 62.5±6.5 and 101.86±13.7, respectively. Moreover, moral courage did not have a statistically significant relationship with organizational commitment (P>0.05). The moral courage and organizational commitment of the participants differed significantly in terms of their type of employment (P<0.05) and age (P<0.05), respectively. Conclusion: Given the high mean score of moral courage and organizational commitment in operating room nurses, it can be said that nurses tend to show moral behaviors. On the other hand, the low score of the endurance of threat indicates that operating room nurses do not receive the necessary support from the organization for their courageous behavior. Therefore, the support of senior managers is essential for the occurrence of such behaviors