Teaching English as a Second Language Quarterly (Formerly Journal of Teaching Language Skills)

Editorial

Motivational and Learning Strategies of Iranian EFL Learners Exposed to an E-Learning Program

Mohammad Sadegh Bagheri; Morteza Yamini; A. Mehdi Riazi

Volume 28, Issue 1 , July 2009, Pages 1-35

https://doi.org/10.22099/jtls.2012.199

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to expose a group of Iranian students to an e-Learning program and find out the effects of this exposure on their learning and motivation strategies. This ... Read More

Editorial

Teaching Literary Criticism to Iranian University Students: Some Cultural Obstacles

Hossein Payandeh

Volume 28, Issue 1 , July 2009, Pages 37-48

https://doi.org/10.22099/jtls.2012.200

Abstract

Literary criticism is one of the most challenging courses, if not the most problematic course, to teach on the curriculum of Literature in Iranian universities. This course has in fact ... Read More

Editorial

Paranoia vs. Anti-paranoia in Gravity's Rainbow

Farideh Pourgiv; Pavin Ghasemi; Mahsa Hashemi

Volume 28, Issue 1 , July 2009, Pages 49-60

https://doi.org/10.22099/jtls.2012.201

Abstract

Gravity's Rainbow is among the “most widely celebrated, unread novels” of American literature and already “a piece of minor folklore.” Pynchon's genius manifests ... Read More

Editorial

Lord Byron’s Allusions to Persia

G. Reza Sami Gorgan Roodi

Volume 28, Issue 1 , July 2009, Pages 61-73

https://doi.org/10.22099/jtls.2012.202

Abstract

This article examines Lord Byron’s allusions to Persian literature, history, culture and its ancient religion. The influence of Persia on Byron is considerable. Byron was greatly ... Read More

Editorial

Anaphors in Casual and Controlled Talk groups of Iranian EFL Learners

Hossein Shokouhi; Iman Imari

Volume 28, Issue 1 , July 2009, Pages 75-97

https://doi.org/10.22099/jtls.2012.203

Abstract

By relying mainly on the accessibility approach to anaphora, this article intends to analyze the types, distributions and retrieval of anaphors in two forms of spoken discourse: casual ... Read More

Research Paper

The Rabatak Inscription

Mahmood Jaafari-Dehaghi

Volume 28, Issue 1 , July 2009, Pages 1-20

https://doi.org/10.22099/jtls.2012.255

Abstract

Introduction The inscription of Rabatak was found in 1993 near an ancient hill in the north part of Baghlan in Afghanistan. The village of Rabatak ... Read More Introduction The inscription of Rabatak was found in 1993 near an ancient hill in the north part of Baghlan in Afghanistan. The village of Rabatak is situated at the kilometer forty in the north-western part of the ancient province of Sorkh-Kotal near the border between Baghlan and Samangan provinces. The Rabatak inscription includes 23 lines in Bactrian language and a Greco-Bactrian script. The Bactrian language is one of the Eastern Middle Iranian Languages. It was spoken by the people of northern part of Afghanistan. It is noteworthy that Bactrian is the only Middle Iranian language whose writing system is based on the Greek alphabet, a fact ultimately attributable to Alexander’s conquest of Bactria and to maintenance of Greek rule for some 200 years after his death (323B.C.). In spite of the invasion of Bacteria by Alexander of Macedonia and his successors the Bactrian language continued to be in use. Around the Middle of the second century B.C. Bactria was overrun by nomads from the north called Tokharoi. They settled in northern part of Afghanistan and later gave their name to the area (Tokharistan). The Kushan Empire was founded early in the Christian era by Kujula Kadphises whose tribe obtained supremacy over the Tokharoi. With the collapse of the Kushan dynasty their lands fell into the hand of the Sasanians, under whom the administration of these provinces was entrusted to a governor styled Kušānšāh. From the middle of the fourth century Bactria and northwestern India were overrun by Hunnish tribes, of whom the Hephtahalites proved the most durable, maintaining their rule in parts of Afghanistan up to the Arab conquest in the seventh century. The aim of this article is to throw a new light both an the Bactrian history and language through Rabatak inscription by presenting its transliteration, transcription and translation into Persian language following with a commentary and an etymological word list. It is worth mentioning that in this study the historical and linguistic points are examined. Method of Research I have examined the Bactrian inscription of Rabatak according to the reading and interpreting of Nicholas Sims-Williams from University of London whose reading is based on the original copies and the photograph prepared by British Museum. I have used the method of translation and transcription used by him in his several editions of Bactrian documents as well as his edition of Bactrian Legal and Economical Documents. Result The result of studying Rabatak inscription indicates that Kanishka the great, who was the ruler of Kushan Empire, obtained his kingship from Nana and from all the gods. He discontinued the use of Greek language to be replaced by the Aryan language. In fact, any of the Indo-European languages of Iran or India could be called “Aryan”; but we are now sure that when he mentions the Aryan language, he means Bactrian, the language of his inscription, just as Darius meant Old Persian, the language of his inscription, when he wrote: “By the favor of Ahuramazda, I made another text in Aryan”. He also announced the beginning of a new era starting with the year 1 of his reign. Kanishka’s era was used as a calendar reference by the Kushans for about a century, until the decline of the Kushan dynasty. The inscription mentions the chief cities of north India which were controled by Kanishka. Conclusion The Rabatak inscription is written on a rock in the Bactrian language and the Greek script. It was found in 1993 at the site of Rabatak, in Afghanistan. According to this inscription Kanishka the great was a righteous and just king who was worthy of divine worship. It seems that the Aryan was a language used by the most Iranian people as a formal language of communication. The Rabatak inscription describes events of the first year of Kanishka in words strikingly similar to those used by Dariuš the Great in the inscription of Bisotun. The inscription also names the cities which were under the rule of Kanishka (lines 4-7). It is significant in implying the actual extent of Kushan rule under Kanishka. The inscription will therefore lead to a fundamental reassessment of our understanding of the Kushan kings who ruled an ancient empire centered on the territory now known as Afghanistan and Pakistan. Finally, it is very informative and important that Kanishka mentions the name of the kings who ruled up to his time. They were Kujula Kadphises as his great grandfather, Vima Taktu as his grandfather, Vima Kadphises as his father.

Research Paper

A Historical and Comparative Study of the Ergative Verb Structure in Ardakani, Dashti, Dashtaki, Yazdi Jewish and Lari Dialects

Farokh Hajiani

Volume 28, Issue 1 , July 2009, Pages 21-40

https://doi.org/10.22099/jtls.2012.256

Abstract

Introduction A dialect is a variety of a language used by group of people whose lexicon, syntax, phonetics and phonology are different from those ... Read More Introduction A dialect is a variety of a language used by group of people whose lexicon, syntax, phonetics and phonology are different from those of other people. The existence of many geographical, economic and social barriers among the speakers of a language cause the emergence of many dialects. As such, each language has many dialects and accents and each dialect has many different accents.(Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol, 2: P.1237) Many of the dialects in the Fars and Bushehr provinces belong to the languages on the south western part of Iran. In some of these dialects, a distinctive and important feature such as ergative structure in the transitive verbs still exists which contrasts with the intransitive verbs which remained in the modern Persian from the middle era. Method In this study, five dialects of the regions of fars, Bushehr and Yazd provinces including “Ardakani”, Dashtaki” and “Lari” belonging to Fars, “Dashti” and “Yazdi Jewish” belonging to Bushehr and Yazd provinces, respectively, have been investigated and analyzed extensively from the ergative structure point of view. As such, regarding the investigation of these five dialects of the three provinces, two research methods have been utilized. The first one concerns the empirical research based on which the data heve been collected from interviews done with the speakers of the mentioned dialects ranging in age from 50 to 70, both illiterate and literate benefiting from the tape-recorders. Accordingly, the data were recorded on some tapes. The second research method relates to library research based on which the researcher took notes through referring to the sources including books, article, theses and dissertations. As such the comparative and historical investigation of the ergative verbs had been done in the Iranian languages and dialects of different regions of the three mentioned provinces; namely, Fars, Bushehr and Yazd. Discussion and Conclusion Ergative as a technical expression has been used in the modern linguistics especially the typology of languages. The etymology of it goes back to Greeke which means “to cause, to make something happen, to create”. This feature is a grammatical marker which is related to the subject of transitive verbs. Moreover, it is one the features of ancient languages which have not been changed greatly; that is, those languages which are conservative and tend to maintain its ancient origins. Many samples of ergative structure can be found in languages such as ancient Sumerian, Tabati, Barmei, Borouvshaski, Eskimo, Bask and other languages such as Australian, Ghafghazian and Indian. (Kalbasi, Iran: P.70-87). The results of the study showed that ergative in Ancient Persian which is a totally inflectionl language has a dark manfestaion and is used only in a passive voice. Ergative in middle Persian which is a continuation of ancient Persian and where the eight inflectional cases have been disappeared has a dominat manifestation. In the development of the Iranian languages from middle Persian to the modern one, the ergative structure has not been applied in modern Persian due to the fact that the modern Persian has been modified and developed in the east of Iran and the feature of ergative structure has a very dark manifestation in the eastern Iranian languages. The ergative structure in the dialects such as Ardakani, Dashti, Dashtaki, Yazdi Jewish and Lari which belong to the dialects in the south western part of Iran has a wide and extensive application. Moreover, due to the existence of ergative structure in these dialects, they belong to the absolute and complete ergative.

Research Paper

Socio-cultural Patterns in Iranian High School Textbooks from the View point of Motivation for Research

Saeed Ketabi; Mohammad Reza Talebinezhad

Volume 28, Issue 1 , July 2009, Pages 41-69

https://doi.org/10.22099/jtls.2012.257

Abstract

Introduction One very important aspect of any textbook is its content in terms of the motivation it creates in the readers. This is specifically true in EFL textbooks where the learners ... Read More Introduction One very important aspect of any textbook is its content in terms of the motivation it creates in the readers. This is specifically true in EFL textbooks where the learners need more than just content since content-wise, such books are not very much different from the learners’ world knowledge level. That is why material developers working in this area are usually consciously choosing content which interests the users of the texts more than just the ordinary content they design for the level of proficiency they presuppose in developing the texts. High school texts developed in Iran seem to fail to meet the standards normally used in the preparation of materials of this type. The reason for this drawback might be cultural in that the socio-cultural patterns observed tend to be those dictated by the authorities not very much aware of standards universally observed in the development of ELT materials. Incorporating the cultural and social aspects of language based on a sound basis in such texts is an important issue which seems to have been neglected. The present paper, therefore, investigates some cultural and social patterns in Iranian high school textbooks from the view point of motivation for research. The major question in this study is the following: Do socio-cultural patterns incorporated in ELT books used in high schools in Iran motivate the learners for research on their own in their area of study? Method This study is post-facto in nature since we compare two types of texts prepared diachronically, i.e. texts prepared before the Islamic Revolution and those prepared in the past 30 years. The rationale for the selection of these two groups of texts is that the authors had a hunch and the situation was not very much different in the two periods of time in question, i.e. in terms of the type of materials prepared, despite the significant changes both in the academic study of English as a foreign or second language and also in terms of the objectives of ELT in Iran. The model for analysis was that proposed by Talebinezhad & Aliakbari (2001). In their model, they take EIL in the sense Crystal (1997) suggests to be the paradigm we need to shift to. As Mackay (2002:1) says: “the teaching and learning of an international language must be based on an entirely different set of assumptions than the teaching and learning of any other second or foreign language.” The purpose of any material developed to teach English should therefore be to clarify these assumptions and advocate that they be considered in the design of English as an international language (EIL) teaching methods and materials. After reviewing some methods of teaching cultural and social aspects of language, three high school English textbooks in the two different periods mentioned are surveyed. The following three books were selected from the period before the Islamic Revolution for investigation: Manoochehri, P., Pazargadi, A., and Strin, J.(1354/1973). Graded English Book (1). Tehran: Iranian Educational Textbooks Organization. Manoochehri, P., Pazargadi, A., and Strin, J.(1354/1973). Graded English Book (2). Tehran: Iranian Educational Textbooks Organization. Manoochehri, P., Pazargadi, A., and Strin, J.(1355/1974). Graded English Book (3). Tehran: Iranian Educational Textbooks Organization. As from the time after the Islamic Revolution, the following three books were selected for analysis: Birjandi, P., Norouzi, M. and Mahmoodi, G. (1376/1997). English Book (1). Tehran: Iranian Educational Textbooks Printing and Publishing Company. Birjandi, P., Norouzi, M. and Mahmoodi, G. (1373/1994). English Book (2). Tehran: Iranian Educational Textbooks Printing and Publishing Company. Birjandi, P., Norouzi, M. and Mahmoodi, G. (1376/1997). English Book (3). Tehran: Iranian Educational Textbooks Printing and Publishing Company. Discussion and conclusion The findings show that the texts create very little motivation in the learners for research in general. One obvious reason statistically shown is the low number of passages on scientific issues as compared with ideological issues. Descriptive statistics are also presented to show how each text analyzed treats the issue of motivating the young learners who are in need of models for their education. Based on the analysis of the data and the findings, some suggestions are made as how to tackle the problem, among which the most important are the following: the necessity of paying special attention to the required framework for the present day Iranian society; incorporating cultural differences and an awareness of these differences for motivating learners to do research on their own; giving the learners models for their future research careers; and above all, providing a more constructive environment for ELT by increasing the number of hours students are exposed to English, either in the classroom or outside. This, however, does not seem to be possible without the help of the authorities interested in the development of educational interest in the pupils.

Research Paper

Literary Figures in Gāthic Texts

Katayon Namiranian

Volume 28, Issue 1 , July 2009, Pages 71-83

https://doi.org/10.22099/jtls.2012.258

Abstract

Introduction Gāthic texts are a collection of religious songs of Zarothustra who lived about 1200 BC. Of the seventy two hāts (stanzas) of Yasna ... Read More

Volume & Issue: Volume 28, Issue 1, July 2009

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