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Although critical views of language education have redefined teacher roles, teachers' understanding of their own position within the ideological contestations surrounding language teaching is not widely investigated. This narrative study explores the perspectives of three Iranian English language teachers on the sociocultural roles and responsibilities that they may assume for themselves and examines how such perspectives are shaped. In extensive multi‐session narrative interviews, the participants shared their stories of becoming a teacher, starting from their retrospection on teacher roles during their language learning. Our narrative analysis depicts their different trajectories of shaping conceptions of language teachers' sociocultural roles in three stages: as a language learner, as a student teacher, and as a beginner teacher. On this basis, their narrative accounts of becoming English teachers appear to indicate that critical sociocultural views still play a marginal role in actual teacher preparation processes and the field needs to further embrace critical approaches to language teacher education aimed at raising English language teachers' awareness of their sociocultural responsibility. Moreover, our participants' narratives illustrate that understanding the genesis of language teachers' teaching philosophies requires a wide perspective of their long‐term background of learning (to teach) the language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotion labor is expecting individuals to display institutionally‐accepted emotional behaviors. This study examined the role of school assessment policies in 13 Iranian English language teachers' emotion labor in a private language school. To this end, data were collected from semi‐structured interviews and narrative frames. Data analyses revealed three major themes in relation to the teachers' assessment‐related emotion labor: Constrained assessment agency, resilience in assessment, and the significance of heeding assessment emotions. The study shows that top‐down policies of the school created emotional conflicts for the teachers, yet such policies in turn motivated the teachers to invest more in implementing assessment techniques that respond to their own and students' needs. The findings are discussed in light of contextual particularities of assessment, which are linked to power and dominant discourses shaping teachers' assessment‐related emotion labor. Based on the findings, we provide implications for policymakers and teacher educators to pay more focal attention to teachers' assessment emotions and emotion labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, considerable material has been accumulated in the field of experimental studies of Iranian languages, including the works by Soviet and Russian scholars, enabling us to make new generalizations regarding the acoustic characteristics of word stress as part of the problem of speech recognition. The study of Iranian languages has been rather uneven: most of the acoustic studies focused on Persian, and only a few covered other 11 languages described in this article. In addition, most of these studies have been published in Russian and therefore remain unknown to the wide international linguistic community. The purpose of the article is to sum up the achievements of Soviet and Russian scholars regarding the acoustic properties of the stressed syllable in Iranian languages. Different views of Soviet, Russian and foreign authors were compared. A number of positions with weak points in reasoning were screened out, and the most well-reasoned ones adopted as the most probable traits of word stress in Iranian languages. Tonal stress was found in Mazandarani, Persian and Tajik; quantitative - in Dari (Afghanistan), Sarikoli and theoretically in Rushani; multicomponental - in Abyanei, Gavruni, Gilaki, Pashto, and Wakhi. Ossetic is likely to have quantitative stress, but statistical proof hasn’t been found yet. Apparently, the overall situation reveals that tonal and quantitative stress types are typical for many Iranian languages. Dynamic stress is found in several languages, but only as a part of multicomponental one; and spectral stress is the rarest feature. The results achieved could be used in automated transcription and speech recognition services.

This paper examines alignment in Literary Gorani by analysing an unknown Gorani manuscript titled 'Dīwān-i Mawlawī' (Manuscript 11092), which is housed at the Āstān-e Qods-e Raḍavī library. The paper has two main objectives. Following Haig (2017) regarding the extent of the micro-variation of ergativity within Iranian languages, the paper explores strategies of interrelated subsystems such as case, indexation, verbal suffixes, and pronominal clitic systems to discover whether Gorani manifests an accusative or an ergative pattern. This helps us to answer the second more general question in this study: is it even possible to consider Literary Gorani as a written form of Hawrami? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pinpointing the role of language, emotion, and culture in intercultural interactions as the three basic needs of intercultural interactions is one of the most important problems in the intercultural field. Therefore, this paper probed the role of language, emotion, and culture simultaneously in intercultural communication in Iran. By using convenience sampling, one hundred Iranian language teachers were chosen and their language proficiency and ICC levels were specified by using Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and intercultural communicative competence (ICC) questionnaire. Then, the researchers used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to classify ICC questions under language, emotion, and culture categories. After classifying the questions, the researchers used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), standard solution coefficient, standard path coefficient, T value, and Sobel formula to analyze the collected data from the ICC questionnaire based on participants' answers. The results revealed that language, culture, and emotion were the main macro-elements of intercultural communication. Also, it was shown that language was the most important need and macro-element in intercultural communication and then the second and third place went to culture and emotion respectively. It was found that emotion acted as a mediator variable between language and culture and there was a relationship among language, culture, and emotion, too. This study was of high importance for language teachers, curriculum designers, textbook writers, intercultural experts, and cultural psychologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Katarina Katavić's book, "Povijest romskoga jezika i suvremeni ustroj" (History and Contemporary Structure of the Romani Language), offers a comprehensive historical grammar of the Romani language and its dialects. It combines information from various sources and introduces a new systematization and terminology for describing the structure of the language. The book covers phonetics, morphology, syntax, and lexicon, and includes original observations and interpretations. Although written in Croatian, it is a valuable contribution to Romani studies and would benefit from being translated into a more widely accessible language in the future. This report by Ivan Andrijanić highlights the book's innovative synthesis of Romani's historical grammar, along with a practical descriptive grammar. It would be of interest to library patrons researching the Romani language and its historical grammar. [Extracted from the article]

Turks and Iranians have interacted in different geographies for centuries. Although the traces of this interaction can be detected in various Iranian and Turkic languages, the obvious examples are presented in Khalaj. Although many archaic features are preserved today, numerous linguistic copies made from Persian are also used in Khalaj. This article focuses on the texts collected from the village of Talkhab, where the majority of the Khalaj population is located. In the texts, it is seen that the features of Persian such as sound, form, syntax etc. are copied into Khalaj as a result of intense language relations. Global lexical and global grammatical copies in these texts are discussed. The use of these units, which can have simple and complex structures, differs according to age groups. When the data collected from different age groups are examined, it has been detected that while the number of lexical copies is higher in the middle (35-60) and upper middle (60-...) age groups, both lexical and grammatical copies are often used in the young population (15-35). However, this article highlights the large number of people fluent in the Khalaj language in the village of Talkhab, which has a multilingual language ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tajikistan, at the heart of Central Eurasia, had a population of 7,563,687 in 2010, estimated recently to be almost 10,084,935. Named for its majority nationality, Tajikistan has many other nationalities, most with their own language. This article explores what is known about the historical, development and current status of multiple languages in Tajikistan's linguistic tapestry. We provide a tentative overview of Tajikistan's evolving language ecology from earliest times when a range of Eastern Iranian languages were dominant, to the reduced use of Eastern Iranian languages following the entry of Arabic and New Persian (a western Iranian language) into the ecology with the Arab conquest, and the subsequent entry of Turkic languages, and more recently the entry of Russian under the late Russian empire and its spread under the Soviet Union. Following independence in 1991, a shift in balance among domains of use of Tajik and Russian has been ongoing at the same time as international languages, especially English, have entered Tajikistan's language ecology. We review the current state of knowledge about contemporary sociolinguistic dynamics, monolingualism and plurilingualism in society, where the titular language, Tajik/Persian, is in interaction with local, regional and global languages. Against the background of changing post-independence language and language-in-education policies, we discuss the prospects for monolingual, multilingual and plurilingual education in Tajikistan among efforts to promote the official language, Tajik, and to provide minority language education, while also developing proficiency in foreign languages in Tajikistan, through initiatives such as English-medium instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several dozen inscriptions in an unknown writing system have been discovered in an area stretching geographically from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to southern Afghanistan. Most inscriptions can be dated to the period from the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd century CE, yet all attempts at decipherment have so far been unsuccessful. The recent discovery of previously unknown inscriptions near the Almosi gorge, Tajikistan, however, allows for a renewed attempt at decipherment. Drawing upon a catalogue of characters and a distributional analysis, we report two identical sequences in the newly found Almosi inscriptions and in the Dašt‐i Nāwur trilingual. Based on parallel texts in Bactrian, we suggest to read the name of the Kushan emperor Vema Takhtu in these sequences, accompanied by the title 'king of kings' and several epithets. This allows for the deduction of probable phonetic values of 15 different consonantal signs and four vocalic diacritics and the inference that the inscriptions record a previously unknown Middle Iranian language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an obituary for Philippe Gignoux, a prominent scholar in the field of Syriac and Iranian studies. Gignoux's work greatly influenced research on late antique Middle Eastern studies for over sixty years. He was known for his extensive knowledge of languages and writings, particularly in Semitic and Iranian studies. Gignoux's contributions to Syriac studies were highly regarded for their wide range of topics and innovative approaches, opening up new areas of investigation. He was also involved in the development of Iranian studies and played a significant role in the creation of the international journal Studia iranica. Gignoux's dedication to his research and his empathy for the plight of Christians in the Middle East were notable aspects of his career. [Extracted from the article]

Despite the recent growth of attention to English for research publication purposes, little is known about how researchers view the role of peer review in their success of publication. In light of this gap, the present study investigated Iranian surgeons' attitudes towards peer review and the challenges they face in getting their papers published. To this end, 26 Iranian surgeons were interviewed, and the transcribed data were analyzed through thematic analysis. The results revealed that firstly the surgeons attested to the positive and negative contributions of peer review in terms of changing or unchanging their attitudes, respectively. Secondly, the authors faced a myriad of challenges related to editors, reviewers, and socio-political-linguistic factors in getting their papers published. Moreover, they associated these challenges with positive and negative effects in being connected to their career-stage development and motivating them to conduct and submit more papers. The study concludes with implications for research and practice in how researchers can craft more quality papers to enhance their chance of publication in high-quality journals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the dynamic nature of second language willingness to communicate (L2WTC) exploring the numerous factors that contribute to the construct. Drawing upon the sociocognitive perspective, we analyzed the environmental, individual, and linguistic factors that influence the development of L2WTC in an Iranian language learning context. Data were collected through interviews, stimulated-recall sessions, journal keeping, and observations from an intact class of five students. The environmental factors identified throughout the analysis stage were interlocutor familiarity, topic, teacher influence, task type, discussion dynamics, and family dynamics. The individual factors that were found to play a role in the development of L2WTC included anxiety, motivation, self-confidence, security, shyness, perfectionism, perceived need for the target language use, cultural identity, personality, interest in the topic, fear of failure, seeking validation, cultural adaptation, and emotional state. Finally, perceived and actual linguistic competence were among the linguistic factors that influenced L2WTC. Overall, the findings of this study confirmed that L2WTC is a multifaceted complex system that is constantly reacting to environmental changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern Western Aramaic is presently spoken in two villages in the Syrian Arab Republic, as well as a small but growing diaspora. All its speakers are bilingual in Arabic, and its phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon bear the hallmarks of this longstanding contact situation. These characteristics distinguish Modern Western Aramaic from all other surviving Aramaic languages, most of which evolved to their present forms in a similarly bilingual situation with Iranian languages such as Kurdish and Persian. Scholars have characterized these hallmarks as "corrupt," "deep," and even so numerous as to be "pointless to list," but the degree of their influence has never truly been quantified. While no scholar has yet understated the degree of Arabic influence upon Modern Western Aramaic, evidence suggests that prior scholarship may have overstated it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explored the effect of instruction on the intercultural communicative competence (ICC) level of Iranian language teachers in four dimensions: skills, attitude, knowledge, and awareness. One hundred language teachers were chosen through convenience sampling and divided into two groups of experienced and novice teachers based on their teaching experience. All participants were chosen from state schools in Golestan province and they all taught English at English institutes and high schools. Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and ICC questionnaire were used to find the language proficiency level and ICC level of language teachers respectively. ICC questionnaire was carried out before and after instruction to determine the effect of instruction on ICC. The instruction lasted for 20 hours across ten sessions. The results of the study disclosed that the teachers' level of language proficiency was upper-intermediate. Also, it was revealed that instruction was effective as the ICC level of the teachers was below average before instruction and was improved after instruction. Therefore, the results of this study showed that instruction had an eye-catching effect on improving four dimensions of intercultural communicative competence of language teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acknowledging that hidden constructs underlying teachers' professional identity at a given point of teaching life are presumed to account for their practical qualities, the current study explored the cognitive variations among three groups of Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers with low, moderate, and high degrees of teaching experience. To this end, a convenience sample, including 382 Iranian EFL teachers from 660 branches of five countrywide English language institutions, participated in a sequential explanatory mixedmethod study. In the quantitative phase, the three groups were compared in terms of a linear combination of nine subscales representing teachers' pedagogical knowledge base, using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). As shown by the results, the between-group differences in four of the nine sub-domains yielded a significant between-group gap in the overall level of teacher cognition. These differentiating knowledge areas included knowledge of learning, teaching, classroom management, and professional self. A qualitative follow-up phase was then launched in which a 95-member sample of the participants attended a retrospective interview to delve deeply into the nature of the four differentiating subdomains. The thematic analysis of the interview data divulged the processes and reasons underlying the four differentiating knowledge areas. The differences in knowledge of learning facilitator processes, digital literacy, preferences for classroom management policies, and views on professional relations use were some of the reasons for the quantitative between-group gaps. The findings may have new insights into the exact nature of Iranian EFL teachers' intellectual peculiarities at different stages of a teaching career. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although several studies have been carried out after the approval of the Fundamental Reform Document of Education (FRDE) in 2011, a small number of studies have reviewed the textbooks of Iranian schools in the light of this document, and unfortunately, English language textbooks have almost been ignored. Accordingly, the present study sought to answer the questions of what objectives are included in this document regarding English language teaching at schools, and to what extent the English language textbooks for Iranian Junior High Schools are based on these objectives. Therefore, the text of the document was first analyzed using directional content analysis. Then, based on the objectives extracted from the FRDE, the content of English language textbooks were reviewed. The results showed that the objectives of teaching English in accordance with this document should be (1) critical understanding and analysis of non-Iranian culture, (2) responsible interaction to introduce Iranian-Islamic culture and civilization, as well as dissemination of local findings and achievements and (3) establishing effective interaction and communication with non-Iranian parties, which is specifically explained in the form of two micro-goals (a) knowledge and mastery of local issues and (b) knowledge and awareness of global issues. Then, using deductive content analysis, English textbooks were analyzed. The results showed that these textbooks deal mainly with Iranian culture, and the balance between Iranian and "non-Iranian" culture, which is clearly defined in the document in three regional, Islamic and global forms but is not noticed. Accordingly, the findings of this study implied that it is essential that prospect series be revised to include non-Iranian cultural issues, especially those from Islamic countries and nations. In addition, there is a need to include global issues while domesticating them moderately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sign language is a non-verbal communication tool used by the deaf. A robust sign language recognition framework is needed to develop Human–Robot Interaction (HRI) platforms that are able to interact with humans via sign language. Iranian sign language (ISL) is composed of both static postures and dynamic gestures of the hand and fingers. In this paper, we present a robust framework using a Deep Neural Network (DNN) to recognize dynamic ISL gestures captured by motion capture gloves in Real-Time. To this end, first, a dataset of fifteen ISL classes was collected in time series; then, this dataset was virtually augmented and pre-processed using the "state-image" method to produce a unique collection of images, each image corresponding to a specific set of sequential data representing a class. Next, by implementing a continuous Genetic algorithm, an optimal deep neural network with the minimum number of weights (trainable parameters) and the maximum overall accuracy was found. Finally, the dataset was fed to the DNN to train the model. The results showed that the optimization process was successful at finding a DNN structure highly suitable for this application, with 99.7% accuracy on the verification (test) data. Then, after implementing the module in a robotic architecture, an HRI experiment was conducted to assess the system's performance in real-time applications. Preliminary statistical analysis on the standard UTAUT model for eight participants showed that the system can recognize ISL signs quickly and accurately during human–robot interaction. The proposed methodology can be used for other sign languages as no specific characteristics of ISL were used in the preprocessing or training stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The northwestern branch is one of the important branches of Iranian languages, which has many subcategories. This branch has many speakers in large areas of Iran and outside Iran. Among the sub-branches of that language, we can mention Tati, Talshi, Semnani, etc. In recent decades, a lot of research has been done on Iranian languages and dialects and they are being completed every day. Henning, Yarshater, Lecoq, and Stillo have expressed good opinions about the classification of the North, North-West, and Central Iranian languages. researchers inside Iran have also published useful data about the common language in their regions in recent decades. Yarshater and Stillo have made significant classifications about the Tati family. In this article, while stating those categories, several Tati dialects that are not included in the categories of Yarshater and Stilo will be mentioned. The purpose of this research is to read the texts to identify all the dialects of the Tati language family. The main question of this research is that "the languages of the north, northwest and some of the central languages of Iran are the natural continuations of which of the languages of the ancient period of Iranian languages? The research results show that the Parthian language can be assumed as the ancestor of the Tati languages and Madi can be the ancestor of the Kurdish language. What is in this article is just a hypothesis. Of course, by examining all the species known as "Tati", a more complete opinion and classification can be reached. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the researcher has examined the language varieties of Shahroud district in Khalkhal county in Ardebil province. The varieties are spoken in villages of Askestan, Shal, Derav, Kareen, kolour, Gilavan and Lerd, and locally are known as Tati. Also, he has compared these varieties, synchronically, with the three main dialects of Taleshi at phonological, morphological and syntactic levels. These villages are located to the west of Guilan, exactly beyond the Talesh Mountains. The survey is based on studying phonetic, morphological, syntactic, and lexical features of the language varieties in question. Data are obtained through library and fieldwork studies. Tati dialects, in spite of their similarities in vocabulary, are so diverse and scattered that cannot all be defined under a specific language group. Because of this, linguists have classified them differently, and in some cases, have added Taleshi dialects to them. The purpose of the article is to answer the question whether the language varieties spoken in Shahroud district of Khalkhal can be categorized as varieties of Taleshi, or are they independent varieties? Based on the data of this article, the language varieties of five villages out of seven villages in question, i.e. Askestan, Shal, Derav, Kolour, and Gilavan, can be placed with Southern Taleshi in the same category, but the language varieties of the two villages of Kerin and Lerd have differences with the varieties of the other five villages, and are different from the Southern Taleshi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jowsheqani is a central Iranian language, spoken in the city of Jowsheqan in the northern Isfahan. Jowsheqani is ergative with respect to verb-agreement since the past transitive verb agrees with object in person, number and gender. The purpose of this article is to investigate how past transitive verbs agree with object in ergative construction, and how the split ergative is conditioned. The findings of this article show that the past transitive verb in the ergative construction agrees with object in gender when object occurs as a noun or pronoun. With respect to person and number, it agrees with the object that occur as independent or enclitic pronoun. But also the past verb can mark an object that has not a reference in the sentence. Jowshaqani, generally, exhibit what is known as split ergativity, since the ergative construction is found only in clauses using tenses based on the past stem of the verb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years, in order to assess the quality of education various measures including high stakes tests have been employed. The validity of these measures has always been a matter of discussion. Thus, the present study addresses the concerns deal with the validity issues of the most important Iranian high-stake test known as Konkur measuring English language proficiency of the participants. In the present study, by taking into account the scores of 5000 high school students who sat for Konkur examination, the dimensionality and factorial structure of the test was examined through running generalizability and IRT analyses; At the first stage, in order to check the data standards along with the descriptive statistics a generalizability analysis was run; it was found that the reliability of the data equals.92 and the generalizability coefficient is 0.9 showing a high dependability for the analysis. In the second stage, the item statistics and parameter measures were analyzed and the misfit items were investigated. Next, the data was checked in terms of dimensionality and three IRT models namely unidimensional, bifactor and testlet model were run and compared. Findings showed that in terms of fit indices (M2, AIC, BIC) testlet model has the best model fit, followed by bifactor and unidimensional respectively, in determining variance of the responses to test and functions well for assessing language proficiency of the EFL leaners. The findings also showed that the variance of the factor structure of language proficiency is best explained when it is assessed through examination of several language sub-skills(i.e. testlet) rather than being measured through a number of items directly (i.e. bifactor). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enclitic pronouns are used in most of New West Iranian languages. They are mainly used for marking the possessor, as well as objects, besides, those Iranian languages and dialects, which show ergative patterns, make use of enclitic pronouns for marking the agent in erga-tive constructions. This paper deals with the enclitic pronouns and their functions in Anbarāni, one of the Northern Talyshi dialects, spoken in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Where it is possible the features of Anbarāni enclitics will be compared with some other West Iranian languages.

The letter to the editor discusses the tensions between accountability and learner agency in multipurpose portfolios in medical education. It suggests that institutional culture, student feedback, practical applications of systems thinking, and the role of technology should be considered to enhance the discussion. The article calls for a more comprehensive approach to portfolio management to address these crucial issues effectively in diverse educational settings. [Extracted from the article]

As an innovative approach to language pedagogy, Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) research has been gaining traction in recent decades. However, the novel incorporation of technology in the classroom context presents some unique challenges unprecedented in conventional language learning contexts. The present study is an attempt at identifying the factors prohibiting the successful implementation of CALL, with particular attention on the context of Iran. To this end, an exploratory mixed-methods sequential design was adopted. Fifteen Iranian EFL instructors were interviewed and the data were analyzed through thematic analysis. Built upon the findings of the interviews, a questionnaire was developed to assess the generalizability of the interview findings. The 33-item questionnaire was developed and distributed online among 200 EFL teachers. It was revealed that certain factors, including EFL teachers and learners' knowledge of computers, cultural and religious background, institutional support policy, and human factors such as learners' learning style and age could hinder the successful incorporation of CALL in language learning contexts. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) confirmed the generalizability of the identified prohibitive factors. The findings are discussed under the light of Rogers' (2003) Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DIT) to further contextualize the implications of the study for macro- and micro-level policymakers, curriculum developers, and language teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article intends to focus on the concept of linguistic border in the verbal system of contemporary Pashto, an Iranian language mainly spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A careful, systematic, and detailed analysis of used radical simple verbs in different Pashto dialects draws attention to a certain degree of variation in one third of these verbs, which are switching from one category to another. Thanks to our research on Pashto verbs, we could identify four main trends of change, displaying as morphologic regularization, syntactic simplification, morphologic differentiation, and semantic clarification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the results of a sequential explanatory mixed-method approach to investigate the Iranian English language non-gainers of a computerized dynamic reading comprehension test (CDRT) by utilizing a learning style survey. Using an interventionist approach, the researchers used the CDRT software to explore English learners' perceptual learning-style preferences of non-gainers in CDRT. The study participants were selected from among 24 advanced English language learners attending a reading course at a language institute in Iran. The results of Learning Potential Score (LPS) formula categorized six of the participants as non-gainers of CDRT. They were asked to fill out a learning style survey individually and participate in an interview to express their attitudes toward using the software. The findings revealed some common tendencies regarding field-independency, impulsivity/reflectivity, and metaphoric/literal style preferences supported in learners' interviews. In this study, learners' style preferences potentially played an important role in reporting learners' performance; therefore, it is suggested to consider students' learning styles in making decisions about their abilities and disabilities in CDRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Prace Jezykoznawcze is the property of University of Warmia & Mazury in Olsztyn and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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The thrust of this study was to investigate the impact of learning styles in general and Field dependence/Independence (FD/I) in particular on the receptive/productive lexical performance of language learners. It aimed to check whether FD/I learners perform differently on receptive and productive vocabulary tests. To achieve this, first, 94 Iranian language learners were given the Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT) to determine their learning style; and second, they were put into two groups and were asked to take a receptive and a productive vocabulary test. Having collected and analyzed the data, the study revealed that first, with regard to the receptive test, although FI learners outperformed the FD ones, this outperformance was not significant statistically. Second, for the productive test, a significant difference was found between FIs and FDs with FI learners having a better performance. Third, FI learners acted significantly better in the productive test compared with receptive test. Finally, FD learners performed almost similarly in both receptive and productive tests. The pertinent implications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lexical bundles, as fixed-form recurrent word combinations of multiple words, constitute a significant portion of academic writing and play a pivotal role in producing fluent texts. Extant studies on lexical bundles have documented difficulties that second language learners, and particularly writers experience in producing these bundles in their academic writing. However, despite an extensive existing body of research on the use of lexical bundles in various fields, the use of such linguistic devices across various disciplines, particularly in the Iranian context is an under-researched area. Thus, this study examined the frequency, functions and structure of 4-word lexical bundle use in master theses of native English-speaking writers and Iranian second language (L2) writers across four different disciplines. For this purpose, two corpora, each containing 60 master theses, 120 theses in total, were selected and analyzed following a corpus-based approach. The findings of the study revealed that, overall, Iranian writers incorporated more lexical bundles in their texts than their native English counterparts and that their use varied functionally and structurally across not only native and nonnative corpora but also across disciplines. The study has important implications for Iranian L2 writers of the respective disciplines as well as genre-based instruction in English for both academic and specific purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Talyshi, classified as belonging to the Northwestern Iranian group of languages, includes a wide range of dialects, which, based on phonological, grammatical and lexical factors, are traditionally divided into three main clusters: Northern, Central and Southern (see Bazin 1980; Stilo 1981; Yarshater 1996). Anbarāni is a Northern Talyshi dialect spoken in Anbarān district (baxš) of Namin sub-provincial district (šahrestān) (Ardabil province) of Iran, in the city of Anbarān and adjacent villages. Relatively a large number of studies deal with the Northern Talyshi dialects spoken in the Republic of Azerbaijan. For example, “The Talyshi Texts” by Professor of Iranian Studies Boris Miller, includes short stories, anecdotes, conversations, poetic verses (see Miller 1930) written down in these dialects. Unlike the Northern Talyshi dialects spoken in the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Anbarāni dialect is little known and less studied therefore the number of texts, published in this dialect, is quite limited. The aim of this paper is to broaden the scope of knowledge on Anbarāni by introducing a short story of Mullah Nasreddin and analyzing a number of morphological, syntactical and lexical dialectal features based on the text.

Given the significant role of studying history in casting light on the past and present of events and providing future insight, the present study aimed to investigate the history of English teacher preparation programs offered in five famous private language institutes established in the second post-revolutionary decade (about thirty years ago) in Iran. Precisely, the study investigated the past and present of the programs in terms of their internal aspects as well as their response to external or sociopolitical associations of English language teaching (ELT) from their establishment. Two administrators, nine TPP (teacher preparation program) designers who were also teacher instructors, and two teachers were purposefully sampled. Data was gathered through conducting semi-structured interviews, in addition to analyzing documents available on the website of the institutes and those provided by the participants. Analyzing data through phronetic iterative approach manifested the related history in terms of five constant features, including methodological directions as content, transmission approach in teacher preparation, providing teachers with external opportunities for professional development, insisting on monolingualism in ELT, and disregard for bringing the inclusion of local culture in ELT to the attention of prospective teachers, as well as three major changes comprising inclusion of teaching practice (TP), the inclusion of technology education for ELT purposes following the outbreak of The COVID-19 pandemic, and enhancement of TPP duration. Specifically, the constant features disclosed a lack of attention to the external association of ELT in designing the programs, while the major changes exhibited their internal development. Findings have implications for developing teacher preparation programs based on postmethod pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iranian deaf people use sign language in their interactions. It is a natural language with its own grammar independent from language itself. The purpose of this research was to investigate the construction of negation in Iranian sign language (Tehrani variety). The research method was taken from the cross-linguistic researches done by Zashen et al. (2004 & 2006), which were conducted on 38 sign languages. 7 profound deaf adults that were fluent in Iranian sign language (Tehrani variety) were selected by using a purposive sampling method. An interpreter and a sign language consultant were present at all stages of the research. To collect the data, video recording and observation of the signers’ language behaviors during the presentation of linguistic stimuli, as well as targeted observation of some films in Iranian sign language (Tehrani variety), were done. The data were entered into the ELAN software program for analysis. The data analysis showed that in Iranian sign language (Tehrani variety), negation marking could be seen in different forms both manually and non-manually. Non-manual negation was not mandatory and could include the whole clause (minus any topicalised constituents) or part/parts of a clause. The basic negators of the clause (manual negative particle) were NOT, NO, NONE, NEVER, and NOT-EXIST. A lot of negation cliticisation were observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While most new Iranian languages do not have a separate construction to express the future time, Jowshaqani a central Iranian language in northern Isfahan shows a triple construction for future time: a near future referring to immediate future and future certainty, a distant future referring to remote future and future possibility, which is also used for optative and irrealis, as well as a construction for a future imperative. Apart from describing the forms and uses of the future, this article also examines the historical evolution of the future construction in Jowshaqani, and how the new uses are developed for the older ones. The study of the form and function of the future tense in Jowshaqani shows that the new uses of the future tense has as optative, irrealis, and imperative meanings which can be analyzedin terms of the relation of the future tense with modality. For expressing near future, the aspect has been an important factor in the development of such a near future construction.IntroductionFuture tense is defined as locating a situation at a time subsequent to the present moment. The focal use of future is regarded as a prediction referring to an event taking place after the moment of speech. In languages which distinguish different degrees of remoteness in the future, there is a near and a distant future. Some languages have a basic modal distinction between realis and irrealis, where realis refers to situations that are actually taking place, while irrealis is used for more hypothetical situations, including predictions about the future. There are pairs of future forms which, in addition to expressing prediction, bear an indication of how convinced the speaker is that the event will come about; these uses are defined as future certainty and future possibility. Two other commonly occurring modal uses of futures develop out of the prediction sense. One of these is the imperative use of futures in which a prediction is used in an indirect speech act with the force of an imperative, the second is often referred to as expressing probability. This use is also a prediction, though it is a prediction about a state of affairs at present time. The major lexical sources for future are the following: 1. An auxiliary verb with the original meaning of 'want' or 'desire', 2. A construction meaning 'movement towards a goal' (such as English be going to), which contains a movement verb in a progressive or imperfective aspect, 3. A verb meaning 'to owe' or 'to be obliged', or more commonly a construction with a copula or possession verb, and a non- finite main verb, such as English to have to or to be to. In addition to describing the forms and uses of the future in Jowshaqani, this article examines the historical evolution of the future, and how the new uses are developed for the future. Materials and MethodsThis article examines the functions and expression properties of future tense forms in the Jowshaqani, a central Iranian language spoken in the small town of Jowshaqan, 100 km north of Isfahan city. The data used in this article are taken from the corpus of Jowshaqani provided as a project of documentation of the language (Taheri, 2017) and has been archived in the Endangered Languages Documentation Program (ELDP) at the SOAS, University of London. The corpus contains audio and video recordings of Jowshaqani, some of which have been transcribed and have a Persian translation. The audio, video and text files of the corpus are numbered from 0001 to 0082 and the references given to this corpus in the article refer to the number of these files.Discussion of results and ConclusionWhile most New Iranian languages do not have a specific structure for the future and in the past-nonpast system, but they mostly use the imperfect present to express the future. In a group of the central Iranian languages, we notice that either the old form of the future has been retained or new constructions have been formed to express the future. Jowshaqani is a central Iranian language that has a triple construction for the future, also seen in a number of other central languages of Iran, such as Abyanai: near future, far future, and imperative future. The near future is formed by adding the prefix ba- to the imperfect present of the verb, itself is formed by a- (att- in verbs beginning with the vowel): ba-attam ‘I will come’. The main use of the near future is to express an event that will take place in the immediate or near future, and the speaker is confident in predicting what will happen. It is also used to denote the narrative future. The far future is a periphrastic construction formed by komi or kom before the past stem of the main verb: komi šoam ‘I will go’, but inflected ergatively in transitive verbs: kom-ešun pâ ‘they will cook’. The most common use of the far future is to express the distant and generally uncertain events in the future. It is also used to express irrealis and optative modality. komi or kom is a remnant of Middle Persian and Parthian kām that was used as an auxiliary verb to express the intention. The development of kām shows grammaticalization of a word which originally meant ‘desire’, then becomes an auxiliary verb in Parthian and Middle Persian to express the intention. This step is the most important step in the process of creating the future from the words meaning ‘desire’. The imperative future is formed by infixing -ešâ- between the present stem and the ending. It is used only for the second person singular and plural. The main use of the future tense is to command or order something to be done in the future. The study of the form and function of the future tense in Jowshaqani shows that the new uses that future tense has as optative, irrealis, and Imperative, can be analyzed based on the relation of the future tense with modality.

The present study employed a qualitative research design to investigate possible differences between L2 master's and doctoral students' preferences for supervisor written feedback. Although the role of learners' preferences, as a part of attitudinal engagement, has been emphasized in the literature on feedback, there are still niches in the literature that need to be occupied. One of these gaps is the examination of L2 master's and doctoral students' preferences for supervisor written feedback on their theses/dissertations. To bridge this research gap, the researcher interviewed 52 master's and 21 doctoral Iranian English Language Teaching students. Thematic analysis of the interview data identified five main preferences: feedback that is clear, specific, encouraging, dialogic, and non-appropriative. The examination of interview data showed that both master's and doctoral students expressed high levels of preference for receiving clear and encouraging feedback. A significantly higher percentage of master's students expressed their preference for specific comments. In contrast, doctoral students exhibited heightened preferences for non-appropriative and dialogic feedback. The findings also provided insights into the underlying factors that can shape master's and doctoral students' preferences. Several practical implications and suggestions for further research are also discussed in this study. • MA and PhD students' preferences for supervisor feedback were examined. • Both master's and doctoral students expressed their preference for clear and encouraging feedback. • Significantly more master's students expressed their preference for specific comments. • Doctoral students exhibited heightened preferences for non-appropriative and dialogic feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, it is argued that in certain areas of pre-Islamic Eastern Iran the common lunar deity was not the male * māh - like in most regions of Western Iran, Bactria, and Sogdiana, but instead the feminine * māsti - with a prominent epithet, which may go back to * uxšma-kā-/*uxšma-kī - 'the waxing one' or, alternatively, * us-šma-kā-/*us-šma-kī - 'the one who shines up'. In some parts of Badakhshan, her epithet even turned into the primary name of the goddess and the moon. This claim can be substantiated by the various names for 'moon' and 'moonlight' in Eastern Iranian languages for which I want to lay out a detailed historical development, as well as the Bactrian and Sogdian theophoric personal name ϸομογοβανδαγο/ʾxšwmβntk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: The Lumbar Spine Instability Questionnaire (LSIQ) is a self-reported measure of clinical instability of the lumbar spine. This study aimed to translate and culturally adapt the LSIQ into Persian language (LSIQ-P) and to evaluate its reliability and validity in a sample of patients with chronic non-specific low back pain (LBP). Methods: In a cross-sectional study, the LSIQ was translated using guidelines. Participants with chronic non-specific LBP, aged ≥ 18 years old, answered an online survey consisting of LSIQ-P, the Persian Functional Rating Index (FRI), and the pain Numeric Rating Scale (NRS). Construct validity, internal consistency reliability, test–retest reliability, standard error of measurement (SEM), smallest detectable change (SDC), discriminant validity, and factor analysis were evaluated. Results: The LSIQ was successfully adapted into Persian. A sample of 100 participants with LBP and 100 healthy subjects completed the survey. Floor and ceiling effects were not observed. Cronbach's alpha = 0.767 and ICCagreement = 0.78 indicated good internal consistency and test–retest reliability. The SEM and SDC were 1.53 and 4.24, respectively. Construct validity of LSIQ-P was confirmed with significant correlation with Persian FRI (r = 0.44, p < 0.001) and pain NRS (r = 0.30, p = 0.003). An evidence of discriminant validity was demonstrated by significant difference in LSIQ-P total scores between the patients with LBP and healthy subjects, and between the patients with high total score ≥ 9 and those with low total score < 9 on the LSIQ-P. The LSIQ-P was found a multidimensional instrument with eight items appeared being redundant. Conclusions: The Persian LSIQ showed satisfactory metric characteristics of reliability and validity. Further studies are required to elucidate the internal structure of the LSIQ-P. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research aims to investigate the place of noun in Persian language based on cognitive approach by relying on the framework of Lanckager’s cognitive grammar (2008). To achieve this goal, authors have selected 150 Persian simple nouns from Sokhan Dictionary (1382) accidentally. The method of the present research is descriptive-analytical and data collecting is based on library studies. After the study of collected data of research, authors concluded that in Persian language, the discussion on being countable or noncountable of noun doesn’t make much sense and unlike cognitive approach mass nouns are the same as countable nouns, which receive plural –s morpheme and together with proper nouns, they constitute a different class of nouns. Also in Persian language as well as cognitive approach, pronouns can replace nouns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the Mongol invasion of Iran, many of their words entered the Persian language. One of these words or compounds is "Teb tengri" which has been used in various texts as Bot Tengri. In this study, we use the descriptive-analytical method and corpus stylistics (especially in the analysis of mentioned narration) to analyze “tengri” and “teb/bot tengri” especially in Mongolian and Chinese languages and the narrations related to these words. Then, we show that the first part of this word combination should be read as "teb", which in the Mongolian language is a prefix that means exaggeration and it can be seen in other words. The combination of "teb Tangri" is known as the special title of one of the Shamans with whom Genghis Khan strengthened the foundations of his power. When he seeks his share of power, he was killed by Genghis Khan. It can be said that among the Persian historical texts, the Vassaf’s history has presented a narration with the most elements related to the beliefs of the Shamans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Tātic, a modern Northwest Iranian language group, =rā is a polysemous postposition which has not evolved into an accusative marker, unlike what happened in Modern Persian. Tātic varieties, which include all Tāti, Tālyshi and Tātoid dialects spoken in northwest Iran, exploit the postposition =rā to mark many different case roles. This paper studies the various functions of the postposition =rā and its variants in this language group. The data for the study have been gathered through fieldwork and interviews with Tāti native speakers as well as through available descriptive grammars. Using the dative semantic-map approach, we show that the main functions that =rā marks in all Tātic dialects are 'beneficiary', 'reason' and 'purpose'. We conclude that because some of the functions of =rā are not among the semantic roles in the conventional dative semantic map, this needs to be expanded in order to account for the polysemy patterns of =rā in the Tātic language group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike hitherto conducted onomastic studies on the Old Turkic and Middle Iranian languages of historic period, this study includes a comparative semantic field analysis of the vocabulary attributed to shahs and qagans in Rabatak and Orkhon inscriptions. In the “Introduction” section of the study, the term “semantic field”, which outlines the theoretical framework of the study, has been described, and the attention drawn to the early period interactions between the Bactrians and the Turks. In the “Analysis” section, the words and phrases defining the shahs and qagans have been collected under the title of the semantic fields of “abstract concepts”, “connection” and “management qualifications”. It has been determined that there is a vocabulary that associates the shahs and the qagans with a divine power in the semantic field of “abstract concepts”. In the semantic field of “connection”, it has been determined that there is a vocabulary that gives information about the society and family members. Also, in the semantic field of “management qualifications”, a vocabulary that articulates the positive characteristics of the shahs and qagans has been determined to function. In the last part of the study, a comparison has been made between vocabulary of the Rabatak and Orkhon inscriptions. Based on the comparison, it has been observed that the vocabulary in the Rabatak inscription defines “the shah Kanishka” with his self-characteristics whereas the vocabulary in Orkhon inscriptions defines Turkish qagans in terms of the opportunities provided to the public. In addition to this, different from the Rabatak inscription, it has been noted that the Orkhon inscription includes the vocabulary that defines women rulers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses a series of complex and unresolved issues in the historical phonology of West Iranian languages, (Persian, Kurdish, Balochi, and other languages), which display a high degree of irregular, non‐Lautgesetzlich behaviour. Most of this irregularity is undoubtedly due to language contact; I argue, however, that an oversimplified view of the processes at work has prevailed in the literature on West Iranian dialectology, with specialists assuming that deviations from an expected outcome in a given non‐Persian language are due to lexical borrowing from some chronological stage of Persian. It is demonstrated that this qualitative approach yields at times problematic conclusions stemming from the lack of explicit probabilistic inferences regarding the distribution of the data: Persian may not be the sole donor language; additionally, borrowing at the lexical level is not always the mechanism that introduces irregularity. In many cases, the possibility that West Iranian languages show different reflexes in different conditioning environments remains under‐explored. I employ a novel Bayesian approach designed to overcome these problems and tease apart the different determinants of irregularity in patterns of West Iranian sound change. This methodology helps to provisionally resolve a number of outstanding questions in the literature on West Iranian dialectology concerning the dialectal affiliation of certain sound changes. I outline future directions for work of this sort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]