The Effect of Dogme Language Teaching (Dogme ELT) on L2 Speaking and Willingness to Communicate (WTC)

Dogme Language Teaching (Dogme ELT) is an innovative learner-centered methodology and a movement for teaching English (or any other L2) that primarily focuses on face-to-face interaction between teacher and learners and among the learners themselves (Thornbury, 2009) without using any preplanned and established instructional materials, syllabuses, or preset activities. Despite many claims by the proponents, research evidence for Dogme ELT is very limited; accordingly, this sequential explanatory mixed-method study sought to examine the effect of Dogme ELT on L2 speaking andwillingness to communicate (WTC)across different proficiency levels among Iranian EFL learners at a private language institute. Participants included 14 intermediate, 12 upper-intermediate, and 12 advanced level learners from both genders in three intact classes as the experimental groups. Three other intact classes comprising 13 intermediate, 13 upper-intermediate, and 11 advanced level learners, respectively were selected as control groups who received the mainstream communicative language teaching (CLT) for their L2 instruction. The treatments continued for two subsequent semesters including thirty 1.5-hour sessions. Quantitative data analysis using two-way ANCOVA revealed that Dogme ELT was more effective than CLT only for the advanced but not for the intermediate and upper-intermediate learners’ speaking and WTC. Qualitative data analysis revealed that most advanced and only some upper-intermediate learners had positive attitudes about Dogme ELT.  The findings of the current investigation suggest that Dogme ELT should be used for advanced EFL levels and its application should be done with more caution

Restaurant wastewater treatment technologies and potential of biofringe fibre

Restaurant industries are one of the pollution sources in the environment, due to the huge quantities of wastewater that was discharged into the public sewers and drains. However, the discharge of this untreated restaurant wastewater into the environment is considered one of the main issues. Nevertheless, other methods can be employed to safely discharge this contaminated wastewater into the environment

Epidemiology, risk factors, and co-infection of vector-borne pathogens in goats from Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran

Several vector-borne pathogens restrict livestock farming and have significant economic impact worldwide. In endemic areas livestock are exposed to different tick species carrying various pathogens which could result in co-infection with several tick-borne pathogens in a single host. Although the co-infection of and the interaction among pathogens are criticalfactors to determine the disease outcome, pathogen interactions in the vector and the host are poorly understood. In this study, we surveyed the presence of Babesia ovis, Theileria ovis, Theileria lestoquardi, Anaplasma ovis, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and Anaplasma marginale in 200 goats from 3 different districts in Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran.Species-specific diagnostic PCRs and sequence analysis revealed that 1.5%, 12.5%, and 80% of samples were positive for T. lestoquardi, T. ovis, and A. ovis, respectively. Co-infections of goats with up to 3 pathogens were seen in 22% of the samples. We detected a significant association between T. ovis infection and age, T. ovis infection and location (Zabol), and A. ovis infection and location (Sarbaz) by multivariate logistic regression analysis. In addition, by analyzing the data with respect to Plasmodium caprae infection in these goats,a negative correlation was found between P. caprae and A. ovis infection. This study contributes to understanding the epidemiology of vector-borne pathogens and their interplay in goats

A Symbiosis of Contingent Models to Scaffold EFL Learners towards Self-regulation and Willingness to Communicate

Scaffolding entails contingency, denoting teachers’ level adaptation in providing transient support. In this study, a symbiosis of the model of contingent teaching (MCT) and the contingent shift framework (CSF) was utilized. Therefore, 360 elementary and advanced EFL learners took a course and filled out two sets of related questionnaires twice, administered at the outset and the end of the course. The transcribed data including the class interactions and intervention strategies were organized into contingent or non-contingent fragments based on models’ criteria. According to the results of the Wilcoxon rank test and the Paired Sample t-test, there was a significant difference between the results of the pre and post-tests in the two mentioned levels for the two constructs. Furthermore, the results of the Single Sample t-test showed that the CSF was more utilized than the MCT in both levels. Moreover, the intervention strategies of the MCT significantly differed in the two levels. Questioning was a highly used strategy at both levels. Hints and modeling were the least utilized strategies in elementary and advanced levels, respectively. Therefore, such contingent symbiosis could have prolific results in self-regulation and gaining willingness to communicat

Effect of catalysts on biopolymer phenolic resin by liquefaction process of soda lignin

Liquefaction of soda lignin was carried using phenol with 1:3 ratio. The reaction time was 90 minutes at 130oC in the reflux system. The main product of liquefaction, phenolated lignin (PL), was analyzed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR), rheometer and thermalgravimetri analyzer (TGA). The sample synthesized from hydrochloric acid as catalyst gave excellent characteristics. FTIR spectrum consists of essential functional groups such as aromatic ring, alcohol and carbonyl. All samples obeyed the Arhenius equation and showed pseudo-plastic properties. The percentage weight loss and degradation of PL samples were affected by the type of catalysts used. The synthesized PL was classified as biopolymer resin phenolic

Explanation of personality factors affecting oniomania with an emphasis on moderator role of keeping up with the Joneses

One dark side of customer’s conducts, roughly unattended, is his obsessive shopping, trying not to be outdone and thus addiction to shopping. This research aims to study the effects of personality traits on obsessive shopping and its effect on oniomania with adjusting effects of keeping up with the Joneses. This is an applied research with descriptive method. Statistical population consists of Semnan university students and sampling method was cluster sampling. According to Morgan's table, a sample of 377 or more was appropriate. We analyzed data from 380 questionnaires that were completely answered. The research reliability was measured and verified by inspecting internal consistency and its validity was determined by convergent and divergent validity. To study the research hypotheses, structural equations modeling was used. In significance level of 0.05, results revealed that there was a positive and significant correlation between personality traits and obsessive shopping. Obsessive shopping, on the other hand, has positive and significant effect on oniomania. Furthermore, keeping up with the Joneses increasingly adjusts the effect of obsessive shopping on oniomania

Investigation of equine herpesvirus-1 and 4 infections in equine population of iran by real-time PCR

Objective: To detect the presence or absence of EHV-1 and EHV-4 in North-East equine population of Iran. Material and methods: Blood samples of 200 adult horses located in 80 different rural areas of North-East of Iran, were examined for Equine herpesvirus-1 and 4 presences. Absolute quantitation of EHV-4 target molecules was performed using standard curves and thedetection limit of the assay was shown to be six copies per reaction. Results: Our study showed a high prevalence of EHV-4 (88%) in these regions. EHV-1 DNA was not detected in any sample.Conclusion: In addition to previous serological study, our report is the first to detect the EHVs in blood samples of Iran\u27s equine population by using a high sensitive real-time PCR diagnostic assay and it provides new information for the virus distribution map