Papers by Amin Davoodi
Around the world, language teachers are shifting to content-based instruction (CBI) as a way to t... more Around the world, language teachers are shifting to content-based instruction (CBI) as a way to teach English, most commonly in the form of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) or English-Medium Instruction (EMI). With the spread of CBI around the world, it is important to understand how this shift in teaching has affected student outcomes. Using a systematic literature review approach, this study examines current literature on the effect of CBI on language and content outcomes. Twenty-five articles met the inclusion criteria for this study and were examined. The results show mixed findings on the effectiveness of CBI on student outcomes, with the majority of studies showing either positive or neutral effects for CBI when compared with non-CBI classrooms. However, the study also reveals multiple methodological issues that cause difficulties for any strong conclusions about CBI to be made. In addition, while CLIL in Spain has received a lot of research attention, other countries remain understudied. Therefore, this study concludes with a call for future research of CBI outcomes that examine a variety of countries and account for the methodological flaws identified.
Henrik Ibsen's " An Enemy of the People " centers on two important concepts: " Responsibility " a... more Henrik Ibsen's " An Enemy of the People " centers on two important concepts: " Responsibility " and " Manipulation ". Sense of responsibility is portrayed in Dr. Stockmann's character and the ability to manipulate the truth is vivid in the Mayor's character. The whole play is like a battle between the two concepts. No one stops fighting. " Responsibility " and " Manipulation " are the real protagonists and the antagonists of the play. This study is an attempt to bring into picture the nature of responsibility and manipulation and their ceaseless battle, which leads to un-called for and untoward repercussions in the play in hand.
Canadian Social Science, 2011
In this study, we look at Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts through a postmodernist window. In addition, a mo... more In this study, we look at Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts through a postmodernist window. In addition, a modest attempt has been made to analyze the theories of postmodernist literature in the play. In Ghosts there are both modern and postmodern characters as well as those oscillating between them. Using Derrida's Deconstruction, religious ideas, dead beliefs and old traditions Ghosts can profit new looks from different angles. Sense of non-ending and sense of displacement are also spread all over the play. By the same token, fall of the grand-narratives, as an important postmodern element, is very tangible in the play. The importance of fall of the grand-narratives as a bump key, which opens the complicated locks of the play, persuades us to delve into Ghosts within postmodern bedrock.
Conference Presentations by Amin Davoodi
Due to the growing number of English Language Learners (ELLs) in the US, many states require teac... more Due to the growing number of English Language Learners (ELLs) in the US, many states require teachers to take ESL certifications. Even in those states in which ESL certification is not required for teachers, like Texas, many pre-service teachers prefer to take the ESL certification so that they would have better chances of employment in more popular districts. Therefore, many universities offer ESL certification courses for pre-service teachers so that they can qualify to take the ESL certification exam. However, universities have different approaches in training such pre-service teachers. Some only focus on SLA theories but others provide opportunities, e.g., field experiences, for pre-service teachers to observe real ESL classes so that they can see how SLA
principles work in practice. Thus, this study tries to provide an overview of such ESL classes designed for pre-service teachers in Texas and discuss the existing challenges as well the possible solutions.
The art and the conception of good language teaching have been argued in recent years from differ... more The art and the conception of good language teaching have been argued in recent years from different perspectives. By the same token, this study aims to delve into different aspects of good language teaching from the learners' perspectives. To this end, 184 Iranian EFL students at the Iran Language Institute (ILI) participated in the study by filling a questionnaire on the nature of good language teaching. Also, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 of the participants. The interviews were thematically coded using " analytic induction " and " constant comparison " procedures. Then, based on the results and the features that the participants seek to find in good teachers in the first phase of the research, a second questionnaire was developed and filled out by 50 male and 50 female EFL learners. Consequently, running a T-test, the data was statistically analyzed using SPSS. The results of the study revealed that the female participants were participants were more interested in having a " nice " teacher i.e., someone who is easygoing, kind, humorous and leniency is foregrounded in his teaching. On the other hand, the male participants were eager to have a " good " teacher i.e. someone who is knowledgeable and discipline is foregrounded in his classes. Thereupon, as the concept of good language teaching from the students' perceptions is too broad to be defined, the researcher argues that good language teaching is a context based phenomenon which should be analyzed by considering cultural norms, educational backgrounds, age and gender of the students.
Translation assists people of the globe to exchange their opinions and thoughts irrespective of t... more Translation assists people of the globe to exchange their opinions and thoughts irrespective of the different mother tongues they use. Although every translation activity has one or more specific purposes, its main aim is to serve as a cross-cultural bilingual communication tool among people. It is obvious that appropriate use of translation in an EFL context like Iran can serve both teachers and students; however, this study was an effort to substantiate that teachers' inappropriate and undue use of translation impedes learners' communication ability. To this end, 90 intermediate EFL students were randomly chosen to participate in a reading class for a period of 3 months. They were divided into control and experimental groups. The control group was taught using translation of texts in Farsi (the case that usually happens in our state schools). The same teacher taught the experimental group the same texts using simple English definitions of the new words and asking students to have short discussions on each paragraph. In this group, a meager amount of translation of texts was used by the teacher only when it seemed indispensable. The data were gathered through an oral interview with students on the subjects of the texts. An independent sample T-test ran on the data revealed that experimental group was more adroit at the interview. Accordingly, the researcher argues that the teachers' excessive use of translation is of no use for students' communication ability.
As shifting identity and target cultural attachment act as important factors in the language lear... more As shifting identity and target cultural attachment act as important factors in the language learning process, this study aims to analyze the effects of learning English on the culture and identity change among Iranian EFL learners. To this end, 50 BA and 50 MA students majoring in TEFL and 10 EFL instructors participated in this study. To control the factor of gender, all the participants were male. The data comes from two questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The data was analyzed using SPSS. The interviews were analyzed based on " analytic induction " and " content comparison " procedures. The results of the study revealed that the younger the participants were the more they were interested in shifting their identities and attaching to the target culture. The results further indicated that MA students had more information about both their native and the target culture and they could manage their shifting identities better than the BA students. Thus, the authors argue that having more knowledge about the target culture can help Iranian students to have better understanding of both the target and their native culture.
This study tends to delve into the relationships between language and art and their effects on ea... more This study tends to delve into the relationships between language and art and their effects on each other. Regarding " language of art " , language is considered as a medium for art to be presented; however, the concept of " art of language " tries to justify that language itself can be referred to as the most widespread art as almost all people have the ability to use it. Language has the role of carrying over the intentions of the artist to represent his artistic works. Nonetheless, the way that an artist uses language can enrich or impoverish his artistic work. Although language and art are interrelated, and even interconnected in most cases, the nature of their use is totally different in the two contexts. The nature of language for art is that of paint for painter, sounds for musician, and words for poet, and so on. Each artist applies a kind of " artistic idiosyncratic language " to change his abstract concepts into concrete and tangible ones. Rather, the nature of art for language can be referred to as the art of manipulation, i.e., to say things in accordance with personal needs and desires with a strong persuasive power. In this study a modest attempt has been made to look at the two concepts using a comparative approach.
Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) deals with the idea that language is more than a simple means o... more Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) deals with the idea that language is more than a simple means of communication and tries to analyze language as a social behavior to see how social/political power can be conveyed through language. Utilizing CDA as an approach for literary criticism can help researchers to look at literary texts from a new angle which provides opportunities for understanding the hidden layers of the texts regarding social and political aspects. To apply CDA to literary texts, the concept of 'manipulation' should be unpacked. Manipulation, in a social hierarchy, refers to the idea that people who are in a higher power position can easily exert some illegitimate influences through language on those in a lower power position. Consequently, this study aims at providing a practical framework for choosing appropriate literary texts for analyzing from a CDA perspective. To this end, a novel by Stephen King, Rita Heyworth and the Shawshank Redemption (1982) was analyzed. The results of the study reveal that the more manipulation is practiced by characters in the stories, the better CDA can be applied to literary texts. Therefore, manipulation can be considered as a precondition for applying CDA to literary texts. It is also argued that manipulation, discrimination in social hierarchies, and power struggle can be the three 'corners' of a triangular framework for applying CDA to literary texts. The critical discourse study of the novel reveals that both the officials and the prisoners in the novel were deceived by the character Warden Norton as he delivered manipulative lectures and imposed his ideas using his high social power position. It is also argued that how the existing power struggle in the novel leads to social discriminations among people with lower power position.
The present study is divided into two parts: the relationship between structural linguistics and ... more The present study is divided into two parts: the relationship between structural linguistics and literature (Habib, 2005), which is then followed by utilizing Roland Barthes' famous borrowing from Saussure known as S/Z or minimal pair theory (Bressler, 2007), in achieving meaning in one of the most touchstone novels in Iranian Universities by Emily Bronte called Wuthering Heights (Irwine, 2000). The authors have conducted the term binary oppositions, a methodology of structural linguistics, as a primary signifying system that most of the Iranian students recognize, value and can use to find the meaning not only in Bronte's novel, but in most literary texts. By mapping out all the binary-oppositions, throughout literary texts, students would be able to enjoy different levels of meaning without being opaciously disturbed by the dexterity of literary devices and tropes. However, the only pitfall in this method of teaching, as Derrida (Bressler, 2007) claims is its confinement to being objective.
This study aims to analyze the nature of “hope” in Stephen King’s “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshan... more This study aims to analyze the nature of “hope” in Stephen King’s “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”. Throughout the novella “hope” acts as a key to open the “redemption” lock. Characters of the story could be divided into two groups: redeemed and unredeemed. Those who really believed in the role of hope finally achieved redemption and salvation while the other characters remained in jail as they were hopeless and pessimistic. Redemption can be considered as an “island”
where peace and quiet can be found. The vehicle to arrive there is nothing but a real strong hope in God, future, and destiny. This paper attempts to focus on the nature of “hope” and its salient link with “redemption” in the novella.
CDA is a popular interdisciplinary approach to analyze language as a social practice which
focuse... more CDA is a popular interdisciplinary approach to analyze language as a social practice which
focuses on the various ways that sociopolitical dominance is represented in text and talk.
Although a lot of papers have been published to delve into the basics of CDA, there is still
a myth about the function of CDA as a research method. Such a misunderstanding can
mislead researchers, in general, and applied linguists, in particular, about the critical nature
of CDA, as they may utilize CDA frameworks to just describe some phenomena from such
standpoints. Unfortunately, this kind of CDA research has been recently done a lot, and
articles have been easily published in predatory journals. Thus, in this workshop, I try to
argue why CDA is not a research method and further support the idea of van Dijk (2013)
that CDA should be considered as a sociopolitical movement. By the same token, the main
CDA Frameworks will be introduced; then, some most-cited scholarly papers will be
analyzed to see how the principles of each framework can be utilized in practice. Finally,
some new research areas, which have the potentiality to be interpreted, criticized, and
analyzed with the CDA approach, will be introduced.
This paper is an attempt to delve into different facets of using Critical Discourse Analysis (CCD... more This paper is an attempt to delve into different facets of using Critical Discourse Analysis (CCDA) for interaction analysis in EFL classes. To this end, the paper starts with a critique on the existing interaction analysis frameworks which are mostly based on linguistic and sociocultural paradigms. Later, the authors argue how sociopolitical issues should be taken into consideration for interaction analysis in general and teacher-student interactions in particular. Therefore, new horizons of socio political discourse are dealt with within a conversation analysis framework. To analyze, the practical nature of the new framework, examples of a new teacher-student interactions in an Iranian context were analyzed. The results of the study reveal that within the new framework, socio political issues which are directly affecting the teacher-student interactions can be easily seen. Finally, the authors recommend some new areas for further research.
The concept of " good " language teachers has been argued during recent years in different contex... more The concept of " good " language teachers has been argued during recent years in different contexts to help language teachers to modify their behaviors and methodologies in language classes. Similarly, this study attempts to comparatively analyze the views of Iranian EFL learners and EFL instructors on the concept of " good " teachers. The data comes from 20 semistructured interviews with 10 EFL learners and their instructors to investigate how they define a " good " language teacher. Also, the participants expressed their ideas regarding the necessary criteria for being a " good " teacher. By the same token, 50 EFL learners and 50 EFL instructors expressed their ideas regarding the issue by filling out a questionnaire consisting of both multiple choice and essay type questions. Then, the interviews, as well as the answers of the participants to the questionnaire, were thematically coded to investigate the key features dominated in the two groups (i.e. EFL learners and instructors). To analyze the interviews, " analytic induction " and " constant comparison " procedures were utilized. The results of the study reveal that EFL students believe that a " good " teacher should have enough kindness, humor, leniency and knowledge, respectively. However, EFL instructors believe that a " good " English teacher, first, should have enough knowledge. They also put emphases on the role of having high communication skills, management techniques and fairness in evaluation. Consequently, the researcher argues that Iranian EFL students, in contrast to the instructors, seek more emotional features and prefer to have a " nice " teacher i.e., someone who is kind and easy going. Therefore, the paper tries to delve into some cultural and educational norms and paradigms in an Iranian context to come up with a just model by balancing the outwardly contradictory features that both students and instructors seek.
This study aimed to analyze 7 press conferences. of the manager of Brazil's national football tea... more This study aimed to analyze 7 press conferences. of the manager of Brazil's national football team (Luiz Felipe Scolari) in the World Cup 2014 to see how the power position changes after wins and losses in football discourse. All the 7 press conferences were transcribed and analyzed using analytic induction and constant comparisons procedures. Data were thematically coded. Results revealed that the journalists and reporters seemed to have a lower power position in the press conferences followed by Brazil's wins. This can be easily supported by referring to the number of hedging devices used by the journalists and reporters as well as their use of polite terms. The story changed dramatically as Brazil lost the last 2 matches in the tournament, resulting in a shift of power position. Therefore, the members of the media asked more challenging questions without hedging devices. Some of them even used taboo terms instead of polite ones. Such a harsh change can justify the idea of dynamic power position in football discourse in which the results of the matches can change the hierarchical position. Finally, the researcher argues how intonation patterns, hedging devices, choice of words and polite/taboo terms can show who belongs to a more powerful social position.
This paper is an attempt to analyze the role of learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in m... more This paper is an attempt to analyze the role of learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in motivating people to be " globalized citizens ". The data comes from 10 semi-structured interviews with Advanced Iranian EFL learners in the Iran Language Institute, Kermanshah, Iran. The participants were asked to express their ideas on three issues: (1) the relationship between EFL learning and globalization, (2) whether learning English has changed their ideas about globalization and (3) the advantages and disadvantages of being a " globalized citizen " in the 21 st century. Then, the interviews were thematically coded and analyzed using the " analytic induction " and " constant comparison " procedures. The results of the study show that most of the participants believe in the close relationship between EFL learning and globalization and their important interactions. They also believe that English indirectly imposes some " global norms " which motivates them to be " globalized citizens ". Thus, the researcher argues how EFL learning acts as a facilitator in motivating people towards getting involved in the globalization process.
This study explores different spoken strategies for transferring thoughts into speech through the... more This study explores different spoken strategies for transferring thoughts into speech through the use of various " manipulative " strategies to fulfill certain purposes. The data comes from 20 semi-structured interviews by two different interviews with the same participants in Kermanshah, Iran. The first interviewer, affiliated with the Ministry of Education, asked some questions regarding the quality of education in Iranian public schools. He informed the participants that the results of the interviews would be addressed to committee in the Ministry of Education. Secondly, they were asked similar questions about the same topic while being interviewed by a university student. In the second part of the interview, they got aware that the results of the interviews would be used for a university based research. Then, the interviews were transcribed and thematically coded. Also the " manipulative " strategies used in the interviews were analyzed using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) approaches to manipulation. The results of the study reveal that people express the same ideas based on the same thoughts in different forms for different purposes. They used various " manipulative " strategies and hedging devices while being interviewed with the first interviewer (for the Ministry of Education) not in the second part of the interview (for the university-based research). This indicates that people feel more comfortable and speak more to the point when they are dealing with academicians rather than authorities and officials. Consequently, the researchers argue how cognitive strategies (like a director) control the discourse (like an actor) to achieve certain linguistic purposes.
This study delved into different functions of Critical Classrooms Discourse Analysis (CCDA) to an... more This study delved into different functions of Critical Classrooms Discourse Analysis (CCDA) to analyze the interactions, in general, and the conversation, in particular, among Iranian EFL teachers and students. Using a mixed method, data came from observations, semi-structured interviews and two well-developed questionnaires, validated and proved to be reliable in the literature. The study further aimed to conceptualize a new framework to conduct CCDA, as the scope and methods of the current models of classroom interaction analysis and classroom discourse analysis offer only a limited perspective on classroom discourse. The proposed CCDA model built upon the concept of discourse enunciated in Faucauldian poststructuralism, Saidian postcolonialism, and Wodak's sociopolitical version of CDA that can be employed to understand what actually transpires in L2 classroom. Drawing insights from these three discourse traditions, a modest attempt was made to construct a conceptual framework for CCDA and present basic principles and procedures that might make CCDA possible. Then, the new model was in analyzing the interactions between English teachers and students in Iranian context.
This study uses a corpus-based approach to do a name entity recognition and collocational based s... more This study uses a corpus-based approach to do a name entity recognition and collocational based sentiment analysis of a selected list of country names mentioned in the debate of the presidential candidates in the U.S. It investigates the recurrent patterns of collocates associated with the distinct country names that the candidates specifically call out. The presidential candidates usually act differently in their choice of collocates when they make an overt deliberate mention of country names. Historically, some countries are repeatedly mentioned by the presidential candidates due to the socio-political context of the period. Given that, the frequency of some name entities may be high in special years and low in the others. A quantitative corpus-based analysis is provided to compare the frequency of the name entities while on a qualitative basis, the discourse of the collocations is investigated into illuminate the shaping of the rhetoric and collocational shift over time. The study tries to uncover whether the candidates call out a country name to remark positive reference or a negative one. It concentrates on the polarity toward the country names based on the collocates of the names of the locations to see how many times the
There has always been a lot of controversy over the concept of good language teaching. By the sam... more There has always been a lot of controversy over the concept of good language teaching. By the same token, the available definitions for good language teachers in the literature propose different, if not contradictory, characteristics for language teachers. Therefore, we aimed to comparatively analyze the perceptions of undergraduate and postgraduate students on the concept of good language teaching. Participants were 20 undergraduate and 20 postgraduate students whose university majors were not English, but they were learning English in a private language institute in Iran. Participants were male and intermediate students. Data were gathered by 2 reliable questionnaires. Also, semistructured interviews were conducted with 5 undergraduate and 5 postgraduate students. Interviews were thematically codded and analyzed, using the analytic induction and constant comparison procedures. The results revealed that a distinction should be made between good and nice language teachers. The undergraduate students preferred to have a nice English teacher, that is, someone who is easygoing and kind, and humor and leniency are foregrounded in his or her class. However, the postgraduate students emphasized the benefits of having a good teacher, that is, someone who is knowledgeable and strict, and discipline is highlighted in his or her classes. Therefore, we argue that the available definitions for good language teachers are not one-size-fits-all as students with different proficiency levels, cultural backgrounds, and academic degrees need different kinds of teachers.
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Papers by Amin Davoodi
Conference Presentations by Amin Davoodi
principles work in practice. Thus, this study tries to provide an overview of such ESL classes designed for pre-service teachers in Texas and discuss the existing challenges as well the possible solutions.
where peace and quiet can be found. The vehicle to arrive there is nothing but a real strong hope in God, future, and destiny. This paper attempts to focus on the nature of “hope” and its salient link with “redemption” in the novella.
focuses on the various ways that sociopolitical dominance is represented in text and talk.
Although a lot of papers have been published to delve into the basics of CDA, there is still
a myth about the function of CDA as a research method. Such a misunderstanding can
mislead researchers, in general, and applied linguists, in particular, about the critical nature
of CDA, as they may utilize CDA frameworks to just describe some phenomena from such
standpoints. Unfortunately, this kind of CDA research has been recently done a lot, and
articles have been easily published in predatory journals. Thus, in this workshop, I try to
argue why CDA is not a research method and further support the idea of van Dijk (2013)
that CDA should be considered as a sociopolitical movement. By the same token, the main
CDA Frameworks will be introduced; then, some most-cited scholarly papers will be
analyzed to see how the principles of each framework can be utilized in practice. Finally,
some new research areas, which have the potentiality to be interpreted, criticized, and
analyzed with the CDA approach, will be introduced.
principles work in practice. Thus, this study tries to provide an overview of such ESL classes designed for pre-service teachers in Texas and discuss the existing challenges as well the possible solutions.
where peace and quiet can be found. The vehicle to arrive there is nothing but a real strong hope in God, future, and destiny. This paper attempts to focus on the nature of “hope” and its salient link with “redemption” in the novella.
focuses on the various ways that sociopolitical dominance is represented in text and talk.
Although a lot of papers have been published to delve into the basics of CDA, there is still
a myth about the function of CDA as a research method. Such a misunderstanding can
mislead researchers, in general, and applied linguists, in particular, about the critical nature
of CDA, as they may utilize CDA frameworks to just describe some phenomena from such
standpoints. Unfortunately, this kind of CDA research has been recently done a lot, and
articles have been easily published in predatory journals. Thus, in this workshop, I try to
argue why CDA is not a research method and further support the idea of van Dijk (2013)
that CDA should be considered as a sociopolitical movement. By the same token, the main
CDA Frameworks will be introduced; then, some most-cited scholarly papers will be
analyzed to see how the principles of each framework can be utilized in practice. Finally,
some new research areas, which have the potentiality to be interpreted, criticized, and
analyzed with the CDA approach, will be introduced.
to understand how this shift in teaching has affected student outcomes. Using a systematic literature review approach, this study examines current literature on the effect of CBI on language and content outcomes. Twenty-five articles met the inclusion criteria for this study and were examined. The results show mixed findings on the effectiveness of CBI on student outcomes, with the majority of studies showing either positive or neutral effects for CBI when compared with non-CBI classrooms. However, the study also reveals multiple methodological issues that cause difficulties for any strong conclusions about CBI to be made. In addition, while CLIL in Spain has received a lot
of research attention, other countries remain understudied. Therefore, this study concludes with a call for future research of CBI outcomes that examine a variety of countries and account for the methodological flaws identified.