Dept of English Language Studies and Linguistics

The manner temperaments manifested with the semantic domain of eating and food in a certain culture can be understood through a discussion of dietetic and culinary concepts of a particular culture. What people in a society and culture eat or like to eat may become an evaluation of their emotional temperaments and therefore an implication for portrayal of their specific cultural models. Calling into question the strong claims of 'embodiment' as an underlying motivation for emerging specific metaphorical concepts by Conceptual Metaphor Theory , the close investigation of metaphorical uses of food-related concepts in Persian manifests that, in spite of some correspondences to those in English, ANGER metaphorical concepts are distinctive. The conceptual metaphor disparities highlight many vestiges of Galenic Theory, and Iranian Traditional Medicine Theory, suggesting that the cultural model of humoralism and dietetics have mingled in Persians' life style. This is because their effects have been extended into Persian metaphoric language, and cognitive conceptualisations of ANGER emotion.

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the cognitive-semantic content of xordan in Persian, and whether it demarcates similar conceptual domain as the English verb 'to eat'. The verbs related to the bodily experience of eating or consuming food is the source of metaphorical conceptualizations and mappings in various semantic domains rooted in universal experiential realities. Cross linguistic, cross cultural studies have reported both commonalities and variations in the conceptualization of the act of eating. Adopting the basic tenets of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory, proposed by Johnson (1980, 1999), this study is an attempt to delve into the conceptual system of Persian in order to explore its specific cultural embodiment, and socio-cultural influences in the use of metaphorical concepts of xordan. With a focus on the basic syntax and semantic properties of xordan, this study employs a lexical structure, i.e. the radial category in a chaining model to illustrate the complexities of metaphorical extensions of eating in Persian. Our observations reveal that the metaphorical expressions of the verb of xordan 'to eat' occur extensively in Persian, manifesting the Persians' unique way of thinking and mind. These particular em-minded cultural models have widely left their traces in the Persians' belief systems, the effects therefore, have been extended into Persian metaphoric language and cognitive conceptualizations.

Studies concerning the metaphorical use of language deal with metaphorical units from two particular perspectives: a mapping from one cognitive domain to another domain, and a grounding of the mapping as a reflection within image schema. The present study demonstrates the pervasiveness of culinary metaphors in Persian social and cultural interaction hypothesizing that related food metaphors may single out the unique status of eating/food in Persian culture and society. Investigating the metaphorical conceptualization of "THOUGHT AS FOOD", TEMPERAMENT AS FOOD, and LUST AS FOOD within the MIND IS BODY concept is primarily based on the assumption that thought, human disposition, and sexual desires are in fact closely interrelated. Utilizing a particular conceptual metaphor model the image schema and proposition schema of related food metaphors are investigated in order to analyze cultural variations across Persian and English. The researchers suggest that cultural cognition which is distributed across the minds in a cultural group plays a key role as the source of cross-cultural variations.

Among factors that might manipulate translators' mind while producing a text is the notion of ideology transmission through text or talk. Adopting Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) with particular emphasis on the framework of Van Dijk (1999), the present investigation is an attempt to shed light on the relationship between language and ideology involved in translation in general, and more specifically,

Penyelidikan ini merangkumi pemahaman metafora melalui perkaitan objek perwakilan dengan seni untuk meningkatkan nilai dan estetika dalam memahami karya seni. Karya seni dapat didefinisikan dalam dua bentuk format iaitu representasi dan bukan representasi. Kedua-dua bentuk format ini menekankan modenisme. Penyelidikan ini membincangkan objek yang dijumpai mewakili kiasan 'kepercayaan' serta memiliki ciptaan seni sambil mencerminkan sejarah, fungsi dan dikontekstualisasikan dalam Karya Seni 2D. Konsep siap pakai diperkenalkan pada tahun 1917 ketika Marcel Duchamp memperkenalkan idea untuk menjelaskan kemampuan sifat fizikal, refleksi psikologi, dan adanya ideologi untuk meniru simbol, dan metafora sebagai akar dalam paradigma baru dalam praktik konseptual. Bahanbahan 'berbicara' dengan sendirinya dalam mewakili 'realisme' sebagai keputusan untuk memperkuat persepsi objektiviti dan mempersoalkan tradisi praktik perwakilan di era modernisme. Kualiti idea ini mem...

This study examines the effects of formal input exposure and the onset age of exposure on the performance of eleven different morphosyntactic structures in a foreign language setting. It studies whether being exposed to longer hours of formal language classes at a younger age is advantageous for Iranian EFL learners. Some studies have claimed that there is no advantage for early starters and in the field of grammatical learning, later starters perform better. Four groups of Iranian learners with different formal learning times participated in this study: Groups A and B were public and private school students, respectively, whereas Groups C and D had extra supplementary classes at language institutes as well. A Grammaticality Judgement Task (GJT) including some grammatical structures which were claimed to be problematic for EFL learners, was used as a tool to determine the possible differences in the performance of grammatical structures of the four groups. A two-way ANCOVA and a one...

This study evaluates the effects of length of formal learning time on the grammatical performance of English morphosyntactic structures among Iranian foreign language learners. Among different factors affecting language learning, the length of formal language exposure or language input is introduced as an important factor in language learning process. Thus, length of receiving input exposure in the form of formal classroom instruction in the current study is carefully studied by categorizing the participants in four different groups. The participants represented different exposure time groups by having various formal instruction hours at school and/or language center. In order to investigate the role of formal learning time on the performance of the individual morphosyntactic structures, the participants were presented to a timed Grammaticality Judgment Task. The task tested eleven different morphosyntactic structures and contained 132 sentences. The participants were asked to judge the grammaticality of the sentences and do the necessary corrections if needed. Repeated Measures ANOVA and regression analyses were performed to analyse the data. Results revealed the contribution of time on the performance of the individual structures.

The theoretical controversy that surrounds the acquisition of a second or foreign language is seemingly unending. Though there are dissensions in the literature, past studies had indicated that scholars tended to fall into two groups of schools of thought, the usage-based and the universal grammar-based approaches in second language acquisition. This paper reviews the literature of recently published findings in scholarly papers and contrasted the varied views of how second language can be acquired. Empirical evidence of both views are contrasted and discussed. Included in the discussion are environmental variables such as types of input and the length of input and non-environmental variables that are innate in learners.

This qualitative study aimed to identify the revision strategies among learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). It also examined the focus of these strategies and learners’ participation and membership in an online community of practice (CoP). As part of shared practices in this online CoP via a Facebook group, these revision writing activities were carried out among a heterogonous group of 15 EFL learners from different EFL countries. Data was collected from the learners’ original and revised paragraphs, online interactional exchanges and responses to the post-revision discussions. The qualitative analysis of the data revealed that addition, substitution, deletion, permutation (re-organizing elements), consolidation (combining elements), distribution (breaking up combined elements), negotiation and reciprocal scaffolding are the main revision strategies. These revision strategies focused on writing mechanics, language (form and meaning), unity and content of paragraphs. The CoP facilitated students’ revision process by increasing the participation of those peripheral learners (new members) in these activities through social ties and relationship building, a supportive learning environment and developing a sense of autonomy among them. These findings have underlying several theoretical, pedagogical and research implications and have provided a deeper insight into utilization of Facebook groups as CoPs conducive to useful writing revision activities.

This qualitative study investigated peer writing revision among English as foreign language (EFL) Arab students
in a Facebook group. Specifically, it aimed to identify the text revisions made by the learners and to determine
their contributions to the learners’ written texts and sense of online community outside the college classroom
context. Being framed within the situated learning approach (Wenger, 1998), the current study was carried out
among 14 EFL Arab university learners from Yemen, Algeria, Tunisia, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. A purposeful
sampling was perfomed to achieve a heterogeneous group of EFL learners. A qualitative content analysis of the
learners’ written paragraphs (original and revised drafts), online interactional exchanges and responses to the
post-revision reflection discussions was employed in this study. The findings showed that addition, substitution,
deletion, permutation, consolidation, and distribution were identified as the main revision operations made by the
EFL learners. These revisions operations and changes contributed to enhancing learners’ end-products or texts in
terms of content, unity and organization, language and mechanics. The learners’ engagement in the online
revision activities fostered their sense of online learning community by creating an interactive friendly learning
environment, building and nurturing new relationships based on shared interests and developing a sense of
belonging.

As most traditional classroom environments in English as Foreign Language (EFL) still restrict learners’
collaboration and interaction in college writing classes, today, the majority of EFL learners are accessing Social
Networking Sites (SNSs) as online communities of practice (CoPs) for adopting informal collaborative learning
as a way of practicing English beyond the classroom. This study aimed to investigate the opportunities and
challenges of SNSs as learning environment in writing in English. The study was conducted among 24 active
and regular EFL learners joining the Only for English Learning Facebook (FB) CoP – a group developed and
maintained by a few instructors in English – for EFL learners coming from different EFL Arab countries. The
data was collected from the learners’ interactional exchanges in the weekly posted writing activities as well as
their responses to online open questions posted by the instructor. Based on the mixed analysis of the data, the
quantity of the EFL learners’ participation in the writing activities highly increased in the second session.
Moreover, the learners were motivated to generate ideas, write their paragraphs and scaffold each other in
paragraph writing. The findings also revealed that the EFL participants perceived this CoP as an interactive
learning environment that contributed to enhancing their writing by engaging in learner-learner and
learner-instructor interaction, information sharing, communicating and socializing with friends and developing a
sense of belonging. However, a few challenges faced by the participants in such an online CoP were identified by
the participants, and therefore, some valuable assistive features are suggested to be involved in the FB CoP for
achieving further EFL development in the future

This paper, as part of an ongoing study, reports a qualitative case study in investigating pre-writing
activities among three English as Foreign language (EFL) learners in an online community via a facebook
group. The data were collected from the learners’ interactional exchanges, observation notes of their interaction
and responses to online written interview questions. Based on a qualitative analysis of the three sources of data,
the findings showed that the EFL learners followed four major cognitive procedural steps: topic selection, idea
generation, reflection on the ideas produced by them and outlining the persuasive essay. The cognitive
strategies at the micro-level used by the learners are interpretative strategies which reflect their interpretation of
the task and procedural strategies which were used to pursue the pre-writing activities. Based on the
observation notes, the social processing of the learners’ interaction in the four steps tended to be more
collaborative and interactive than individualistic. This made the pre-writing activities more interesting for the
EFL learners. Such findings imply that Social Networks (SNSs) such as Facebook groups can be an interactive
learning environment for EFL learners in pre-writing activities.

This qualitative study investigated peer writing revision among English as foreign language (EFL) Arab students in a Facebook group. Specifically, it aimed to identify the text revisions made by the learners and to determine their contributions to the learners' written texts and sense of online community outside the college classroom context. Being framed within the situated learning approach (Wenger, 1998), the current study was carried out among 14 EFL Arab university learners from Yemen, Algeria, Tunisia, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. A purposeful sampling was performed to achieve a heterogeneous group of EFL learners. A qualitative content analysis of the learners' written paragraphs (original and revised drafts), online interaction exchanges and responses to the post-revision reflection discussions was employed in this study. The findings showed that addition, substitution, deletion, permutation, consolidation, and distribution were identified as the main revision operations made by the EFL learners. These revisions operations and changes contributed to enhancing learners' end-products or texts in terms of content, unity and organization, language and mechanics. The learners' engagement in the online revision activities fostered their sense of online learning community by creating an interactive friendly learning environment, building and nurturing new relationships based on shared interests and developing a sense of belonging.