Mehdi Riazi

Iranian EFL learners' pattern of language learning strategy use

The Journal of Asia TEFL, 2005

This article reports the results of an investigation into Iranian EFL learners' perceived us... more

TEFL Program Evaluation at Master's Level in Iran

Teaching English Language, Aug 1, 2007

This paper reports part of a large-scale study designed based on Stufflebeam's CIPP Model (2002) ... more This paper reports part of a large-scale study designed based on Stufflebeam's CIPP Model (2002) to evaluate the TEFL curriculum in MA program implemented at nine major universities in Iran with regard to the Official Curriculum developed in 1987. Participants included 68 MA students, 34 instructors, and nine generally felt the need for (a) the official curriculum's revision, (b) reform in program delivery, and (c) reconsidering the screening system.

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Article Title The Impact of Text Length on EFL Students' Reading Comprehension

6. The Four Language Stages in the History of Iran

Decolonisation, Globalisation, 2005

Medical sciences in the third millennium: An Avicennian approach

This paper sets off with an argument that as an outcome of modernism, medical sciences excluded h... more This paper sets off with an argument that as an outcome of modernism, medical sciences excluded human soul and spirit and followed a more, if not mere, mechanico-chemical approach in treating patients. It then discusses alternative approaches to medicine and that models of medicine and health care are looking into not only the fundamental spiritual dimension of care, but also the significance of spiritual development of the individual towards healing. The paper presents Avicenna as a forerunner in medical sciences with a (w) holistic view while his contribution to cure and healing will be highlighted. The paper will end with some concluding remarks.

Lexis in English textbooks in Iran: Analysis of exercises and proposals for consciousness-raising activities

18 page(s

Lexis in English Textbooks in Iran: Analysis of Exercises and Proposals for Consciousness-raising Activities

18 page(s

The impact of text length on reading comprehension in English as a second language

Asian EFL Journal, 2004

14 page(s

Sentence Combing Plus (SC+): Its Effects on Students' Writing Quality and Strategy Use. (On-Going Topics)

Academic exchange quarterly, Mar 22, 2002

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to check, on the one hand, whether or not Sentence ... more Abstract The purpose of the present study was to check, on the one hand, whether or not Sentence Combining Plus (SC+) can affect L2 learners' writing performance, and on the other hand, in what type of strategies are learners involved when doing SC+ exercises. Two homogenous groups of sophomore students were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The study consisted of two parts. In the first part, the experimental group was exposed to SC+ exercises as treatment and the control group practiced SC (Sentence Combining) only. The results of t-tests revealed that the practice of SC+ caused a significant improvement on the students' writing performance. This improvement was, in particular, evident in the areas of content, organization, and language use. In the second part of the study, ten students--five from the experimental and five from the control group--were randomly selected and studied for the type of strategies they used through introspective interviews. Results of the quantitative and qualitative analyses of the introspective interviews showed that students who had practiced SC+ used more effective strategies. Moreover, they paid more attention to aspects of cohesion and evaluation than did the students from the control group. Based on the findings of the study, we can safely state that the practice of SC+ in intermediate writing courses will improve students' writing skill. An evidence for this, besides students' well performance on a posttest writing task, has been an enhancement of effective strategy use by them. ********** Sentence Combining (SC) and Writing Quality Different techniques have been innovated to help L2 learners to improve their overall writing ability and quality. Sentence combining (SC) is one of these activities. By definition, SC is a technique in which the learner combines basic sentences to produce longer and more complex sentences. Several pieces of research have been done into the effects of SC on L2 learners' writing ability and quality. The results obtained from these bodies of research show that this technique can enhance the quality of learners' writing (see, for example, Miller and Ney, 1967; Combs, 1975; Cooper, 1977, 1981; Klassen, 1977; Daiker et al., 1978; Swan, 1979; Kerek et al., 1980). While these pieces of research show the usefulness of SC technique, other investigations have criticized SC as a legitimate practice in writing classes (see, for example, Zamel, 1980; Crowhurst and Klein, 1983; Holzman, 1983; Enginarlar, 1994). Enginarlar (1994: 217) states the weaknesses of SC as following: Firstly, although they involve some meaning negotiation and composing at sentence level, they are in fact non-rhetorical exercises, removed from the realities of real composing processes. Secondly, in the absence of a context beyond sentence level, as is often the case, the class discussion of various solutions created by students is doomed to be ineffectual. As such, Enginarlar (1994) presents a new form of the older technique. This is Sentence Combining Plus (SC+), which involves not only sentence combining but also ordering jumbled sentences to make meaningful texts. With regard to the type of strategies second language writers use at the time of writing, Johnson (1992) conducted a study on the learning strategies L2 writers used when doing SC tasks. The strategies reported to include: questioning, planning, restating content, constructing meaning, constructing cohesion, and evaluation. The present study intended firstly to investigate whether or not SC+ exercises have any effects on the overall writing ability and quality of L2 learners by testing the following null hypothesis: H0: There is no significant difference between students' quality of writing whether taught by SC+ or SC. The study also attempted to investigate the type of learning strategies the participants used during the completion of SC+ and SC exercises. …

TEFL Program Evaluation at Master's Level in Iran

DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), Aug 1, 2007

This paper reports part of a large-scale study designed based on Stufflebeam's CIPP Model (2002) ... more This paper reports part of a large-scale study designed based on Stufflebeam's CIPP Model (2002) to evaluate the TEFL curriculum in MA program implemented at nine major universities in Iran with regard to the Official Curriculum developed in 1987. Participants included 68 MA students, 34 instructors, and nine generally felt the need for (a) the official curriculum's revision, (b) reform in program delivery, and (c) reconsidering the screening system.

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Strategy Inventory for Listening Comprehension (SILC)

Research methods in applied linguistics

Given the increased modes of investigation that are now possible, it is unlikely that any single ... more Given the increased modes of investigation that are now possible, it is unlikely that any single book on research methods can give readers enough to initiate, much less complete, an empirical study. Nevertheless, in Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, Dö rnyei attempts the almost impossible task of summarizing, explaining, and offering procedural steps for various research methods. An important question is, does this text help researchers, especially novice researchers, get started? To answer this question, Dö rnyei offers readers 316 pages, 271 references, and 14 chapters divided into five sections. The first section discusses key issues in research methodology, one being the idea that data is important. This assumption will probably appeal to novice researchers because data is concrete and therefore easier to grasp than design, the abstract but equally important way research is conceived of and arranged to establish internal causality and external generalizability. This concern with data leads Dö rnyei to a discussion of quantitative and qualitative data, which in turn leads to consideration of different approaches to research. This section closes with an appeal to researchers to employ mixed methods (i.e., research using quantitative as well as qualitative data). The second section focuses on data collection and accounts for roughly 100 of the book's pages. It is by far the longest section in the book, a fact that points to how important data is for Dornyei. Chapter 5 covers quantitative data, questionnaires, and experimental design. Chapter 6 deals with qualitative data, ethnography, interviews, case study design, and diary research. Chapter 7 is devoted to mixed methods and the gathering, analysis, and interpretation of quantitative and qualitative data.

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The Effect of Efl Student'S' Level of Proficiency and Gender on Their Use of Speaking Strategies

19 page(s

An Investigation into the Factors Affecting the Use of Language Learning Strategies by Persian EFL Learners

Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, Aug 1, 2008

As part of a larger study (Rahimi, 2004), this study investigates the use of language learning st... more As part of a larger study (Rahimi, 2004), this study investigates the use of language learning strategies by post-secondary level Persian EFL learners. Particular attention is paid to the variables affecting learners' choice of strategies, and the relationship, if any, between these variables and learners' patterns of strategy use. Data were gathered from 196 low-, mid-and highproficiency learners using such instruments as the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL; Oxford, 1990), and two questionnaires of attitude and motivation (adapted from Laine, 1988) and learning style (Soloman and Felder, 2001). The results of the study point to proficiency level and motivation as major predictors of the use of language learning strategies among this group of learners. Gender, on the other hand, is not found to have any effect while years of language study appear to negatively predict strategy use. The difference between learners' use of the SILL's six major strategy categories is found to be significant and indicates learners' preference for metacognitive strategies. Cette étude, qui s'inscrit dans le cadre d'une étude plus vaste (Rahimi, 2004), porte sur l'usage de stratégies d'apprentissage des langues par des étudiants de niveau post-secondaire de langue persane apprenant l'anglais comme langue étrangère. En particulier, on étudie chez ces apprenants les variables affectant le choix de stratégies et la relation possible entre de telles variables et les patrons d'utilisation de stratégies d'apprentissage. Les données de l'étude ont été recueillies auprès de 196 étudiants de compétence faible, moyenne et élevée, à l'aide du SILL (Oxford, 1990)-Strategy Inventory for Language Learning-et de deux questionnaires, l'un portant sur les attitudes et la motivation (adapté du questionnaire de Laine, 1988), et l'autre sur les styles d'apprentissage (Soloman et Felder, 2001). Les résultats de l'étude révèlent

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Translation Quality Assessment: Assessing Concept or Construct?

Translation Studies Quarterly, May 31, 2011

The practice of translation quality assessment is intimately tied to and framed by the theoretica... more The practice of translation quality assessment is intimately tied to and framed by the theoretical assumptions and beliefs about quality translation and translation quality, regardless of whether they are explicitly articulated or tacitly fostered. Thinking through these theoretical quality assessment underpinnings can aid assessment researchers and practitioners to develop deeper understanding of translation quality and hence its assessment. While translation assessment literature abounds with traditional, narrow approach of forcing translation quality into artificially neat dichotomous or polytomous divisions, we tend to argue that this approach is unhelpful as it proved to be unable to engender a common shared platform of discourse among assessment theorists and practitioners, particularly when it comes to translation assessment in education. It also appears that the concept of translation quality has been confused for the construct of translation ability. Maintaining that quality impinges on quality performance which, itself, is underlied by the construct of translation ability, we argue that we need to turn the debate on and the quest for the hardly practically applicable polar divisions to more theoretical and empirical characterization of what quality generates from. As a step forward, we further suggest that translation researchers and testers address the relationship between translation competence and translation performance in the context of translation assessment research and practice.

Beliefs and autonomy: a case of Iranian students

European journal of social sciences, Mar 1, 2011

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 20, Number 3 (2011) ... Beliefs and Autonomy: A Case... more

The invisible in translation: The role of text structure in translation

Journal of translation, 2003

8 page(s

Language Learning Style Preferences: A Students Case Study of Shiraz EFL

Asian EFL Journal, 2007

Abstract This study aimed at investigating the language learning style preferences of Iranian EFL... more

Iranian EFL Learners' Pattern of Language Learning Strategy Use

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Medical sciences in the third millennium: an avicennian approach

Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal, Mar 31, 2009

This paper sets off with an argument that as an outcome of modernism, medical sciences excluded h... more This paper sets off with an argument that as an outcome of modernism, medical sciences excluded human soul and spirit and followed a more, if not mere, mechanico-chemical approach in treating patients. It then discusses alternative approaches to medicine and that models of medicine and health care are looking into not only the fundamental spiritual dimension of care, but also the significance of spiritual development of the individual towards healing. The paper presents Avicenna as a forerunner in medical sciences with a (w) holistic view while his contribution to cure and healing will be highlighted. The paper will end with some concluding remarks.

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