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Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
Abstract
Examining the meaning of a word with the approach of cognitive semantics, through the radial network, analyzes the change of the meaning of the word in different contexts in the form of a systematic pattern. In this view, the word has a central meaning, which is also seen in the secondary concepts. Based on this, the secondary meanings that are proposed for the word are somehow tied with the central meaning and a semantic network is formed. Due to the fact that this theory can explain the semantic development of the word and clarify how they came about, we decided to use it to explain the semantic network of zikr in the Qur'an with a descriptive and analytical method. Dealing with the word zikr according to this theory leads us to the following conclusions: The linguistic remembrance of Allah along with the presence of the heart is the central meaning of the word zikr. This meaning is the central core of the coherent semantic network, which consists of six radial meanings based on the first meaning.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
The present study aims to investigate the distribution of meaning in the narrative space of Abu Torab Khosravi's novel "Rood Ravi" drawing on the views of Yuri Lotman (1922-1993), a prominent semiotician and founder of the Tartu-Moscow School of Semiotics. Lotman posits that active sign systems within specific social and geographical contexts derive their significative power from their interaction with a large body of signs present in the collective memory of the people of that context. In his book “Universe of the Mind” (Lotman, 1990), he refers to this conglomeration of signs as the "semiosphere," which he characterizes by features such as boundary, heterogeneity, and centrality. According to Lotman, significative density within the semiosphere is not uniform, and the density of meaning increases as one moves from peripheral regions to the center with cultural meta-structures charging more elements with meanings in the central regions. The study adopts a descriptive-analytical approach to investigate how temporal-spatial elements and character actions acquire meaning in the narrative space as the story progresses towards the center of Dar al-Miftah. The findings suggest that cultural meta-structures load more elements with signification in the central regions, resulting in a higher concentration of meanings in these areas.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
The need to address reading skills in language teaching is important because it is related to the other three skills (listening, speaking and writing) and ultimately affects the main goal of language teaching, which is the ability to create effective communication. Now, given the presence of all mobile phones and laptops, questions arise, to what extent are electronic opportunities included in the educational content of the Russian language in Iran? Аanswering this question, as well as analyzing questionnaires with eleven main questions regarding the inclusion of new technologies, cultural topics, playing with proverbs and other issues raised in the teaching content of the reading lesson, as well as questions about whether such materials are included in the reading textbook or not, we came to the conclusion that there is an acute lack of new technologies and other things in the educational content of reading. Therefore, the authors of this study propose new ideas in the educational content of reading to solve existing problems and improve the educational process of teaching reading in Russian at the undergraduate level.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
I aim to explore whether there are similarities and differences between the ethical virtues and vices in Nahj al-Balāghah in terms of cognitive-linguistics and based on the image schemas of Evans and Green's Model piety, perseverance, expenditure are the ethical teachings, described in Nahj al-Balāghah, chosen and analyzed based on image schemas. And the vices described in Nahj al-Balāghah are Secularism, greed, and jealousy. Studying the descriptive-analytical approach, I investigate and compare the virtues and vices discussed in sermons and short sayings of Nahj al-Balāghah in terms of cognitive semantics. Finally, the findings reveal that the general types of image schemas of Evans and Green’s model (schemas of Force, Balance, Unity/ Multiplcity, Existence, Identity, Locomotion, Containment, Space) have almost similar frequencies for both the virtues and vices. Among all, the schemas of force are the most repetitive in virtues and vices. And the balance is on the second level. The research finding is significant because it shows the similarity of the virtues and vices in using the different types of schemas in Nahj al-Balāghah. Their main difference lies in the way of using the subsets of the general concepts.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
The present article aims to analyze six contemporary short stories based on Halliday and Matthiesen's systemic functional grammar framework (2014). In functional grammar, the message and textual meaning of clauses will not be revealed to the reader without identifying the topical themes and the discourse factors influencing to highlight them. Thus a perfect interpretation of the message will not be obtained. The study answers the question how the thematic structure in clauses helps highlight and convey the author's messages. The study hypothesis is: the thematic structure conveys the author's message by highlighting the topical themes by means of syntactic tools. the study corpus contains six contemporary short stories, comprising 3736 clauses. The descriptive- analytic method were used to analyze all the 3736 clauses based on thematic structure in textual metafunction. The data analysis showed that in unmarked clauses the topical themes were used in their natural place as subjects, mostly being participants to preserve and maintain the topic. However, when there were good discourse reasons such as new events, topic change and certain meaning, mostly preposed adjuncts were used as topical themes in marked declarative clauses. while the process was used as topical theme in imperatives to show the participants social status. Therefore, the readers by using the thematic structure and identifying the topical themes can understand the author's intended textual meaning and his message in unmarked and marked clauses.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
Distributional semantics is a neo-constructuralist method that focuses on the use of words in real texts to understand the approximate meaning of a word, compared to other words. Since one of the goals of applying semantics in Quran, is to know the meaning of words according to practical context, the use of this method in Quran becomes important. In this research, in order to introduce the application of distributional semantics in the Qur'an, with the descriptive-analytical method, the steps of implementing, the challenges and solutions to overcome it, have been explained by examining a case study.The steps are: determining some words to compare with the main word, determining distributional features (surah, equivalent to document, and phrase), linguistic pre-processing of the Qur'anic text and removal of stopwords, forming context vector and co-occurrence matrix and weighting its elements, finding semantic similarity of words and its analysis. The most important challenges of using this method in Qur'an are the small volume of the Qur'anic text, the lack of suitable software for calculations in Quran, and the great difference in the length of surahs in the word-document pattern. Paying more attention to the basis of the distributional method (distributional hypothesis), not using this method for very low-frequency words, and comparing the results obtained from the word-document and word-phrase patterns are solutions to overcome some challenges. For the root-word Farah, it is obtained that the meaning from the Qur'anic context (close to the meaning of pride) is different from the meaning mentioned in dictionaries (joy).
Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
Urban landscape, as a narrative text, seeks to link social history to the arena of the city in urban open spaces. The interventions made in the environments over many years, which are manifested in the form of urban landscapes, etc., are actually new textual layers, that are the result of a relationships chain of companionship and succession in the primary text's narration. In all, there are traces of various signs related to different epochs related to the memories of the site, as well as, reception and understanding the narrative language of any urban landscape. The main question of this research is to discover the relationship between collective and individual memories with the reception of the urban landscape layers as a narrative text; and how to use these relationships in renovating the landscape in the historical urban sites.
This paper pursues the achievement of process in the reconstruction and reception of landscape in the historical sites based on the preservation of collective memories, and the Intertextuality theory as the main goal.
This qualitative research used the method of field study and semi-structured interviews with 32 citizens in the age range of 30 to 70 years of Isfahan city, and the results were analyzed with interpretative content analysis.
This study shows that in order to protect and strengthen the possibility of reception and understanding the narrative urbabn landscape as a text and the continuity of collective memories in historical sites, conserving and renovating strategies based on intertextual relations should be considered together.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
One of the challenges and important dimensions of assessment and evaluation in language teaching is test fairness, a broad concept that includes several factors and components. In the standards of educational and psychological assessment, test fairness means that there is no bias and advocacy and the same treatment with all subjects regardless of their race, religion, gender and age. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perception and attitude of Persian language instructors to non-Persian speakers about the definition of the concept of test fairness, essential components for a fair test and the general concept of test fairness. This research has been done by field and combined methods (quantitative and qualitative). 58 Persian language instructors for non-Persian speakers were selected by available sampling and participated as a statistical sample from the Persian language instructor’s community. Homayouni standard questionnaire (2015) was used to collect data, and SPSS version 23 were used for analysis of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. In the qualitative part of the research, 9 semi-structured interviews were conducted with the instructors and the opinions of the instructors were extracted based on the content analysis of Krippendorff (2004). The analysis of descriptive statistics findings showed that experienced instructors have a better and deeper understanding of the general concept of test fairness, the definition of the concept of test fairness and the components necessary to conduct
Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
The present study aimed to investigate the effect of gender on the L1-L2 syntactic processing in balanced bilinguals who learned their L2 at the age of seven. Using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (ER-fMRI), Turkish-Persian balanced bilinguals (15 women and 15 men) performed an auditory grammaticality judgment task with an alternating language switching paradigm. Based on the Bilingual Dominance Scale, no significant difference was observed between the participants' proficiency in their L1 (Turkish) and L2 (Persian). Imaging results demonstrated strong neural similarity between men and women in two left-lateralized syntax-specific ROIs (Pars opercularis and posterior superior temporal gyrus), supporting the indistinguishable gender performance during L1-L2 syntactic processing. In addition, in EF-specific areas in right-hemisphere (planum temporale, supplementary motor area, superior parietal lobule and superior frontal gyrus), we did not observe differences in hemispheric recruitment by men and women, evidencing empirically for gender sameness in lateralization. Therefore, the present task and sample are not consistent with the previous claims that women show (a) superior language performance and (b) less lateralization. In general, our findings suggest that L1 and L2 syntactic processing in balanced bilinguals is not affected by the gender parameter.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
The historical novels The Golden Falcon and The Flares of the City of Otrar narrate the life of Jalal al-Din Khwarazmshah. Unlike ancient historical texts in which the simple and predictable process of action by the central actor of the hero takes place, in these works, by creating active and anti-active characters, the actions deviated from their main stream, leading to the actions of deviation, substitution, action error and ... have become. The purpose of this research is to investigate how actions deviate within the narrative and damage such as action error, action change or even action collapse. For this purpose, the theory of action-discourse system of Greimas has been used to examine the action narratives related to the character of Jalal al-Din in the two historical novels The Golden Falcon and The Flares of the City of Otrar. In The Golden Falcon's novel, the deviation of action is seen as the transformation of action and the destruction of action by actors; A place where efforts have been made to reach Jalal al-Din's valuable object and save his life. In this novel, according to the value object "Beloved" and "Homeland" Jalal al-Din is depicted as a "lover" and "patriot". In The Flares of the City of Otrar, deviation of action can be seen as transformation of action and replacement of action. Most of the characters in the story and Jalal al-Din himself play the role of antagonists and try to distance Jalal al-Din from his valuable object and destroy him.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
In this study, 30 mental states were suggested to 50 theatre actors. They designed a specific physical form for each mental state. In this process, 2000 images from actors’ gestures were collected. Images was surveyed by 321 accidental audiences; and among all images, images achieving the highest rate were selected. Reliability and validity of selected images were evaluated by a software designing for mind-reading's test though body. This study achieved its results mentioned below through preparation, design, implementation, analysis, record of results of a mind-reading’s test.
According to statistical results, the body has an ability to convey the mental state. We can figure out individuals’ mental states through body forms. Based on Baron-Cohen’s study, 30 body forms were determined. The relation between mind-reading through body and eyes was analyzed. Selected images for designing a mind-reading’s test through body were identified, and its reliability and validity were confirmed.
In this study, the first archive of images representing mental states through actors’ bodies has been designed and prepared. In comparison to men, women have a better function in understanding of mental states. Furthermore, bodies can represent mental states better than eyes.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
The Quranic word "raht" is associated with two semantic domains: kinship and community, and it encompasses various meanings. The present study seeks to address the issue of why the word "raht" has multiple meanings and what its primary meaning is. Commentators and linguists have not provided any answer to this issue. These meanings are believed to have originated from potential twin roots in the Afroasiatic language family and the reasons behind the polysemy of this word by examining the processes of semantic construction of the word, along with its usages in Arab culture. This will be achieved by utilizing historical sources and then analyzing the word in the context of relevant Quranic verses, using a descriptive-analytical method. In the end, it has been established that the origins of this word can be traced back to two possible root meanings in ancient languages, one related to "combining" and "hand" and the other associated with "digging." These meanings have evolved over time and have shaped the various interpretations of the word. The association of common concepts of "group" and "collective" in classical Arabic and genealogy texts is derived from the concurrent meanings of "combination" and "symbol of the hand" in one branch of the word's historical roots and Considering the historical and cultural context of this word and its usage in the context of Quranic verses, it becomes clear that "Raht" is the smallest group within a tribe, often associated with unity and cooperation in facing or dealing with turmoil and challenges.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
The turning increasingly of educational centers to Virtual and online classes shows necessity of paying attention to the quality of training and deep and meaningful learning using modern educational methods in this type of training.This study aims to investigate the effect of k.w.l strategy, which is one of the educational metacognitive strategies and was introduced based on the constructivism theory for deep and meaningful learning by Ogel, in the onlin class of teaching Arabic grammar,to asses the effectiveness of this strategy in meaningful and deep learning of Arabic grammar.The study used Quasi-experimental method with pre and post test on the control and experimental groups who were trained virtually. statistical population included 34 students in the first semester of the bachelor at Khwarizmi public University in(1400). The sample was selected by the available method and then randomly divided into two groups .Data analysis was done by(spss). In order to determine the presence or absence of influence between variables and to estimate and generalize the results obtained from the sample size to the statistical population,the combined analysis of covariance or repeated measures test(GLMRM)was used to assess and evaluate the research data. According to results, average of pre-test scores of the Arabic grammar variables in the control and experimental groups are 2.40 and 2.04,respectively, and these averages in the post-test of these groups are reported 2.55 and 3.01 respectively,so there is a significant difference betyeen pre-test and post-test.so we see a significant increase in the grammar average in the experimental groupʼs post-test.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
Defined as a direct, non-conventional link between sound and meaning, the linguistic phenomenon of sound symbolism has empirically been studied for nearly 100 years, and multiple studies have been conducted to reveal the various aspects of the phenomenon. However, no significant studies have done to explain exactly why the phenomenon transpires. That is partly because it has not been studied on the basis of any semantic analysis and/or theory. Nevertheless, the American linguist Edward Sapir first pinpointed the two likely factors that can both or separately be involved in the phenomenon: the acoustic factor, or the articulatory factor (or a combination of both). On the basis of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) in Cognitive Semantics, the current paper attempts to explain for the first time how either of the factors or both of them can contribute to the occurrence of the phenomenon. Thus, the question why sound symbolism happens may find a satisfactory answer. Moreover, the answer may pave the way for further theoretical considerations on the potential development of "cognitive" phonology.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
In the Persian language, which follows the SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) word order, the interrogative complement or prepositional object usually appears after the object in the focal position. However, it is possible to move this phrase to other positions within the sentence. The aim of this study is to investigate the processing of interrogative complement displacement in Persian using Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) based on Friederici's syntactic processing model. This study focuses on the central-parietal region of the brain, specifically the N400 and P600 components, which, according to Friederici's language processing model (1995), examine the filler-gap dependency structure and the mental representation of these phrases. Four different positions of the interrogative complement in Persian were examined, and 50 sentences were constructed for each condition.. The results indicate that the displacement of the interrogative complement leads to different brain responses, with an increase in N400 amplitude in the central-parietal region when the interrogative complement follows the subject, and an increase in P600 amplitude in the initial or focal position of the interrogative complement. These findings suggest that the displacement of the wh-complement in Persian, according to Friederici's model, has a neurophysiological basis and may represent a filler-gap dependency structure in mental representation.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
Among the challenges of language acquisition, developing writing proficiency is widely acknowledged as particularly demanding. Learners must not only select appropriate vocabulary but also use it effectively within a specific context. However, the emphasis on writing skill development should not solely lie in memorizing grammatical rules. Rather, grammar should serve as a tool to facilitate clear and effective communication of ideas. Consequently, prioritizing and strategically selecting essential grammar rules for instruction can significantly enhance and expedite the acquisition of writing skills. This research employs a descriptive-analytical method and utilizes a questionnaire to investigate the potential effects of streamlining Arabic grammar instruction on facilitating and accelerating the development of writing skills in Arabic among Persian undergraduate students majoring in Arabic Language and Literature. To achieve this objective, the study employed a researcher-designed questionnaire distributed among a sample of 16 Arabic language teachers and experts. This instrument aimed to identify the relative importance of Arabic grammar components across three proficiency levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Informed by expert opinion, the research proposes a tiered approach to Arabic grammar instruction. At the beginner level, priority is given to mastering structural order and interrogative particles. The intermediate level focuses on relative nouns, causative constructions, and the mood system. Finally, advanced learners concentrate on verbal mode and aspects. Additionally, the findings highlight the experts' emphasis on introducing similar Arabic and Persian grammar rules in the early stages of education, and Arabic-specific rules at higher levels.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
Despite the ever-growing demand for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) provision within universities around the globe and the impressive growth EAP has experienced throughout the last decades, very little attention has been paid to EAP teacher education and professional development. The present study is part of a research project that examined the existing requirement for a teacher education program for English for Medical Purposes (EMP) within the Iranian higher education system and developed a program, titled Teaching English for Medical Purposes (TEMP), and its accompanying curriculum drawing on a systematic process through a four-round Delphi study using the collective opinion of a panel of 22 EAP and EMP experts. In so doing, it employed a written interview, three questionnaires, and a comprehensive data analysis approach, incorporating a combination of inductive thematic analysis based on Braun and Clarke’s (2022) model, descriptive statistics, paired samples T-test, and Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance. The current paper focuses on the modalities and structure of the program developed. At the final round of the study, the panelists came to the consensus that a flexible pre-service graduate program can be the best alternative for EMP teacher education. This program is modular and hybrid in nature and offers benefits such as flexibility, cost-effectiveness, access to resources, targeted education, in-depth knowledge, and practical experience. Short-natured in-service instruction in the form of seminars or workshops was also recommended for ongoing professional development of the EMP teachers to stay updated with the latest research trends.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
The relationship between words and their concepts is investigated in the "Semantics". "Statistical Semantics" is a sub-branch of "Computational Semantics" and in fact, a sub-branch of NLP. Determining the keywords and main concepts of a text requires time and specialized knowledge about the text, in the traditional ways. “Lexical Chains” is one of the newest branches of statistical semantics that presents the main concepts of the text based on the semantic relationships between words. In this research, we aim to determine the lexical chains of the sermons No. 111 and 221 of Nahj al-Balaghah, based on the theory of "Barzilay" and "Elhadad", using the descriptive-analytical and statistical method. The results indicate that there is 78 lexical chains in the sermon No. 111, and the semantic relationship of antonymy (50%) is more used in it, and the sermon No. 221 has 87 lexical chains, which the semantic relationship of antonymy (38%), and synonymy (34%) are more used in it. In the sermon No. 111, the chain No. 53, which its words indicate leaving this world and choosing the Hereafter, and in the sermon No. 221, chains No. 31, 62, and 8, whose words, respectively, indicate silence after the ability to speak, the importance of using wisdom, fear of the Judgment Day, are the strongest chains. Also, the results show that the topic of the sermon No. 221 is "ethical, religious, scientific, intellectual", but the main concepts of the sermon No. 111 are matched by the "ethical" topic mentioned by "Dashti".
Volume 0, Issue 0 (Articles accepted at the time of publication 2024)
Abstract
Metaverse is a space that includes the real world and virtual worlds in which people use a digital and virtual representation called an avatar to be present. Metaverse is considered as the major media of commercial advertising in the future and it will play a fundamental role in terms of audience attraction and society awareness. By adopting semiotics approach, this research analyzes the preparation of the subject and the formation of the avatar in Metaverse commercials. Ten commercial advertisements of prominent brands are chosen as statistical sample, and the virtual world of Hyundai brand on Roblox is examined as the case study because of its diverse activities. Descriptive-analytical method is carried out relying on participatory observation, in a way that the researcher experiences the field, and seeks to answer two questions: 1) What kind of discourse is applied to Subject and Object interactions? 2) What is the procedure of conversion of real body to ideal body? Results show that Subject of Metaverse should be considered as a Being-actor who continuously finds itself in a lack of meaning due to Becoming-centered situation and is called to action and achieves meaning as a result of the action. Besides, the avatar could be considered as Ideal-otherness while the dialogue between physical and virtual body is possible through the third body, which is the Imaginary body, which is the main base of sensory-perceptual receptions and leads the actions of the subject.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (ARTICLES IN PRESS 2024)
Abstract
This research aimed to explain and validate the green curriculum’s (GC) characteristics based on the critical competencies of education for the 21st century. Hence, a mixed research method was used. In the qualitative section, being used for identifying characteristics of GC, experts who have scientific experience(s) related to sustainability in Iran's higher education system were selected using snowball sampling, data were collected and analyzed through semi-structured interviews and content analysis, respectively. The validity of the identified GC characteristics was examined quantitatively based on the Lawshe method. In this section, based on the Lawshe method, 40 faculty members and doctoral students in educational sciences were selected using simple random sampling to evaluate the characteristics’ appropriateness by a three-level scale. Based on the results, 50 characteristics were extracted from the interviews and the documents. However, two of them were not acceptable based on the Lawshe method. Moreover, results revealed that each of the five competencies defined for education in the 21st century (including learning to know, learning to be, learning to do, learning to live together, and learning to transform oneself and society) is aligned with several characteristics of the green curriculum. Finally, some of our suggestions to operationalize the mentioned competencies in the format of GC can be offered as follow; considering environmental management in academic curricula in various fields, defining practical projects for students to apply whatever they have learned, encouraging students to communicate with environmental organizations, and also global research communities to widen their horizons toward environmental issues.