Classroom Observation: A Factor for Iranian EFL Teachers’ Professional Development and Their Students' Achievements

The present paper describes the processes used to examine the effectiveness of less experienced teachers' participation in experienced teachers' classes on students' achievements in terms of their proficiency levels in both Elementary and Pre-intermediate levels. This quasi-experimental design study was conducted In KISH Language School in Bojnurd, a city in the Northeast of Iran. Between July 2011 and October 2011. Twenty-one EFL teachers were selected as experienced and less experienced ones. Also 169 male and female students (age range 15_45 years) taking Elementary and Pre-intermediate courses formed the participants of this study. The participants assigned into experimental and control group. In order to test students' performance in English before the treatment, a Key English Test (KET) and a Preliminary English Test (PET) were employed to check students' English proficiency. There was a statistically significant increase in KET experimental group' final scores before (M=53.87, SD= 2.822), and after treatment (M=70.81, SD=3.113), p-value=.000 which is < .05. The mean increased with 95% confidence interval from 15.81863 to 18.06599. Also there was a statistically significant increase in PET scores before (M=44.36, SD= 2.114), and after treatment (M=59.27, SD=1.835), p-value=.000 which is < .05. The mean increased with 95% confidence interval from 14.233 to 15767. Data analysis and statistical calculations through T-TEST and one way ANOVA revealed that, although both control and experimental group students' proficiency in English enhanced, there was a significant difference in experimental group students' final scores before and after treatment

Classroom Observation: A Factor for Iranian EFL Teachers’ Professional Development and Their Students' Achievements

The present paper describes the processes used to examine the effectiveness of less experienced teachers' participation in experienced teachers' classes on students' achievements in terms of their proficiency levels in both Elementary and Pre-intermediate levels. This quasi-experimental design study was conducted In KISH Language School in Bojnurd, a city in the Northeast of Iran. Between July 2011 and October 2011. Twenty-one EFL teachers were selected as experienced and less experienced ones. Also 169 male and female students (age range 15_45 years) taking Elementary and Pre-intermediate courses formed the participants of this study. The participants assigned into experimental and control group. In order to test students' performance in English before the treatment, a Key English Test (KET) and a Preliminary English Test (PET) were employed to check students' English proficiency. There was a statistically significant increase in KET experimental group' final scores before (M=53.87, SD= 2.822), and after treatment (M=70.81, SD=3.113), p-value=.000 which is < .05. The mean increased with 95% confidence interval from 15.81863 to 18.06599. Also there was a statistically significant increase in PET scores before (M=44.36, SD= 2.114), and after treatment (M=59.27, SD=1.835), p-value=.000 which is < .05. The mean increased with 95% confidence interval from 14.233 to 15767. Data analysis and statistical calculations through T-TEST and one way ANOVA revealed that, although both control and experimental group students' proficiency in English enhanced, there was a significant difference in experimental group students' final scores before and after treatment

The Effect of Using Online Collaborative Tasks on Incidental Vocabulary Learning of Impulsive vs. Reflective Iranian EFL Learners

Incidental vocabulary learning is one of the most significant sources of learning vocabulary for language learners )Laufer  & Hulstjin, 2001). This study endeavored to investigate the effect of using online collaborative tasks on incidental vocabulary learning of impulsive vs. reflective Iranian EFL learners. To this end, Nelson vocabulary proficiency test was administered to 100 Iranian EFL learners as the homogeneity test and the pretest. Using random sampling procedure, 75 learners were selected as the main participants for this study. Kember, McKay, Sinclair and Wong (2008) reflective thinking questionnaire was administered to these learners, based on which they were distinguished based on their cognitive thinking styles, i.e., impulsivity and reflectivity. The participants were homogenously distributed into 3 main groups (impulsive experimental group, reflective experimental group, and the control group). All participants went through 4 weeks of treatment. Experimental groups were conducted using Telegram software and the control group was conducted in a classroom. The results of t-test after 4 weeks of treatment revealed that reflective learners benefited from online collaborative groups with regard to incidental vocabulary learning. The findings of the study are discussed in light of previous research

A Space for Oneself: Comparative Spatial Analysis of Gender-Identity in Sylvia Plath and Forough Farrokhzad

Since the twentieth century onward, women studies have gained undeniable significance in revealing gender issues. In this way the significance of space for women”s lives began to gain importance by Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own (1929) and Guilbert and Gubar’s Madwoman in the Attic (1979). Indeed, space in general (domestic, public, private, and physical) has been influential in shaping gender identities. Some feminist theorists have theorized the inter-play of gender and other identities in place, over space, and in shaping the production of space and power. This essay aims to analyze the role of space in identity construction of the outstanding American poet, Sylvia Plath and Forough Farrokhzad, one of the greatest Iranian poets of  the twentieth century

Humoral autoimmunity after solid organ transplantation: Germinal ideas may not be natural

Non-HLA antibody responses following solid organ transplantation have become increasingly emphasised, with several large clinical series suggesting that such responses contribute to late graft failure. Many of the responses described recognise both recipient and donor moieties of the target antigen and thus represent auto-, rather than allo-immunity. Within this rapidly evolving field, many questions remain unanswered: what triggers the response; how innate and adaptive humoral autoimmunity integrate; and most pressingly, how autoimmunity contributes to graft damage and its relationship to other effector mechanisms of graft rejection. This review summarises recent clinical and experimental studies of humoral autoimmunity in transplant rejection, and considers some of the answers to these questions

Strah od premještanja: Narušena pripadnost mjestu u romanu White Noise Dona DeLilla

Spatial criticism is an attempt to study environmental literature to demonstrate relationships between physical spaces and identity. Place attachment is a concept of environmental psychology that deals with the emotional bonds between individuals and the environment in which they feel secure. It is through the concepts of place identity and sense of place that scholars bring to the fore the concept of place attachment. Extending this thinking, the present paper seeks to propose place attachment and fear of disruption in attachment as the main reason for Jack Gladney’s fear of death. The protagonist of Don DeLillo’s White Noise (1985) has developed a strong sense of place, identity and belonging to the space of town, supermarket, and his house. Jack’s obsession with the cyberspace of TV and its psychic data is also examined in this paper. The aim of this paper is thus to study the formulation of the sense of place in Gladney. His place attachment and the fear of disruption are also studied at the crossroad of spatial criticism and trauma theory. The paper concludes by demonstrating how the fear of displacement causes haunting fear and anxiety in Jack Gladney.Prostorna kritika nastojanje je ekokritičkoga čitanja tekstova s ciljem prikazivanja odnosa fizičkih prostora i identiteta. Privrženost mjestu pojam je ekopsihologije koji proučava emocionalne veze pojedinaca s okolinom u kojoj se osjećaju sigurno. Kroz pojmove identiteta mjesta te osjećaja mjesta, pojam privrženosti mjestu poprima značaj teme vrijedne znanstvenoga istraživanja. Nastavno na to razmišljanje, rad iščitava privrženost mjestu i strah od narušene privrženosti mjestu kao glavni razlog za strah od smrti glavnoga lika DeLilove Bijele buke (1985.). Jacka Gladneya karakterizira snažan osjećaj mjesta, identiteta i pripadnosti prostoru grada, supermarketa i njegove kuće. U radu se isto tako propituje Jackova opsjednutost televizijskim cyberprostorom te njegovim nematerijalnim podacima. Shodno tomu, cilj je proučiti oblikovanje Gladneyjeva osjećaja mjesta, kao i njegovu privrženost mjestu i strah od njezine narušenosti na presjeku prostorne kritike i teorije traume. Rad će u zaključku slikovito prikazati kako strah od narušene privrženosti u Jacku Gladneyju izaziva neprestani strah i tjeskobu