Research
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
Moussa Ahmadian; Ehsan Mehri
Abstract
Chomsky’s innate theory of language has had a significant impact on first language acquisition studies, and it focused on child language in order to recognize the stages of development, and proposed new theories for better understanding of first language acquisition. The current study aims ...
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Chomsky’s innate theory of language has had a significant impact on first language acquisition studies, and it focused on child language in order to recognize the stages of development, and proposed new theories for better understanding of first language acquisition. The current study aims to: 1. review the first language acquisition and development theories in general, and 2. review and analyze the previous studies on the acquisition and development of Persian language as a first language in particular to reveal the current status of research findings in the field. To these aims, the related studies were referred to in three indexing resources: Magiran, Noormags, SID from 1365 to 1394. Seventy-six articles were found and put into five categories: causal-correlational, descriptive, review, comparative, and reliability and validity studies. The analysis of the findings indicated that most of the studies have been conducted in the field of rehabilitation, considering variables relating to language acquisition and development impairment. There were a few descriptive studies investigating the development of Persian language as a first language. Finally, the research designs seem to be ignorant of Tomasello’s usage-based theory, Bruner’s pragmatic theory, Halliday’s functional theory, and Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of learning.
Research
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
Reza Amini
Abstract
In this article, Richard A. Spears’ Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Words and Expressions is reviewed. This dictionary has been translated into Persian as FARHANG-E MARDOM by Babak Mohaghegh and Masoud Ghasemian. The bilingual English – Persian version of this dictionary ...
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In this article, Richard A. Spears’ Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Words and Expressions is reviewed. This dictionary has been translated into Persian as FARHANG-E MARDOM by Babak Mohaghegh and Masoud Ghasemian. The bilingual English – Persian version of this dictionary is useful since it has recorded a large number of slangs, colloquial expressions, taboo words, euphemistic, and dysphemistic expressions of Persian. On the other hand, it is also really useful, and at the same time surely helpful, for those who translate from English into Persian, in finding the exact meaning/s or equivalent/s of slang and colloquial idiomatic expressions of English. In addition, the English – Persian version of the dictionary includes a long forward titled “an investigation into the nature of slang” that come like a good introduction to the field full of useful points for people eager to know more about ‘’slang’’. However, there are a number of shortcomings in the bilingual English – Persian version of the dictionary including unclear system of referencing in the forward, unsuitable equivalents in some of the entries, and lack of necessary footnotes for some of the unknown equivalents provided for English utterances.
Research
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
Mozafar Amini; Hossein Mohammadi
Abstract
Many linguistic studies are the result of individual field research or a group of researchers in different language communities. The book entitled, Language, Status and Power in Iran, written by William O. Beeman, is also amongst those field studies which is based on language and especially Persian ...
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Many linguistic studies are the result of individual field research or a group of researchers in different language communities. The book entitled, Language, Status and Power in Iran, written by William O. Beeman, is also amongst those field studies which is based on language and especially Persian language. The scope of the writer’s study is broaden to cultural, social, anthropological issues and different parts of Iranian life. Beeman’s book has some interpretations, and ideas of the Iranian society on scientific principles and in a specific framework; however, it is based on a small language community and it may have some problems. A number of issues and analyses of Iranian customs, culture, and language are examined. An important critique of this book is the generalization of Beeman’s book to the whole of Iran. Regarding the translation of the book, it should be mentioned that it was vital to be done.
Research
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
Morteza Taghavi
Abstract
Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach is one of the most outstanding attempts at contemporary semantics to analyze and describe meaning cross-culturally, originated by Anna Wierzbicka. This approach claims that there are a number of universal concepts, called ‘semantic primitives’, ...
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Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach is one of the most outstanding attempts at contemporary semantics to analyze and describe meaning cross-culturally, originated by Anna Wierzbicka. This approach claims that there are a number of universal concepts, called ‘semantic primitives’, through which any simple or complex meaning in any language can be described. It may further act as a tool for cutting across the differentiating borders of various cultures with the aim of semantic description and cross-cultural semantics. Moreover, many works have applied this approach to more than 30 languages, adding to the list of semantic primes. The present paper intends to review Wierzbicka’s book entitled “Cross-Cultural Pragmatics: The Semantics of Human Interaction” (2003), aiming at presenting her framework, looking through chapters and discussing the pros and cons and basic tenets of her approach. Finally, the paper concludes that the NSM approach is certainly promising and valuable for cross-linguistic and cross-cultural descriptions; however, a number of groundless claims should be avoided.
Research
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
Reza Kheirabadi; ferdows Aghagolzade
Abstract
The key research question of this study is to determine the most prevalent trends in Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and how to apply them in Iranian research context. Therefore, this study makes a major contribution to research on modern CDA trends by demonstrating the newest research approaches in ...
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The key research question of this study is to determine the most prevalent trends in Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and how to apply them in Iranian research context. Therefore, this study makes a major contribution to research on modern CDA trends by demonstrating the newest research approaches in this area. The significance of this study is most remarkable bearing in mind that the scope of CDA studies is mainly restricted to a limited number of approaches and models, ignoring the modern interdisciplinary ones. The findings of this study represent Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA), Positive Discourse Analysis and Cognitive Discourse Analysis as the most flourishing trends within CDA framework and introduce a broader perspective in CDA studies to Iranian researchers. The findings can extend the realm of research in (Critical) Discourse studies in Iran.
Research
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
Maryam Dānāye Tous
Abstract
Visual word recognition is one of the most important sub-skills of reading that people learn during the elementary school years. However, reading comprehension that constitutes the basis of learning all academic and non-academic subjects, and the ultimate goal of reading, gradually could be mastered ...
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Visual word recognition is one of the most important sub-skills of reading that people learn during the elementary school years. However, reading comprehension that constitutes the basis of learning all academic and non-academic subjects, and the ultimate goal of reading, gradually could be mastered during the next years along with increase in their knowledge and experience. Linguistics and Reading, written by Shimā Nabifar, is a book through which the author has tried to clarify this skill along with its sub-skills. In this paper, this book has been criticized and some of its strengths and weaknesses have been mentioned. Based on the findings of this study, this book has some positive points such as dealing with the reading skill, its sub-skills and cognitive pre-requisites with a focus on linguistics. However, not paying enough attention to some of the principles of writing and editing, the author’s misunderstanding of some of the terms, and carelessness in using some technical terms are among the negative points which could prevent the readers of the book to get the essence of the material and to benefit of it, that much.
Research
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
Zahra Roohi bygi; gholamreza karimidoostan
Abstract
This article reviews and criticizes The Generative Lexicon by James Pustejovsky. Generative Lexicon (GL) is a linguistic semantic theory that proposes a framework for representing lexical knowledge. The lexical semantic representations as introduced in GL are, in fact, part of the information stored ...
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This article reviews and criticizes The Generative Lexicon by James Pustejovsky. Generative Lexicon (GL) is a linguistic semantic theory that proposes a framework for representing lexical knowledge. The lexical semantic representations as introduced in GL are, in fact, part of the information stored in the lexicon. GL is concerned with explaining the creative use of language. By taking this into account the structure and multiple representational levels for different types of lexical information, GL provides a new way for creating multiple meanings through a process of combining. This article firstly provides a short introduction about the book and then in the second part, Generative Lexicon theory is introduced, and then the structure and content of the book is mentioned in the third part. In the rest of the paper, the criticisms and evaluation of the book are presented in two sub-sections (a) appearance, form, and structure, and (b) evaluation of content. In the final section of the paper, the conclusion and concluding remarks on the book are presented.
Research
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
Abdolrasoul Shakeri; Masoud Farahmandfar
Abstract
A Persian translation of the book The Politics of Writing in Iran: A History of Modern Persian Literature, written by Dr. Kamran Talattof from Arizona University, has recently been published in Iran, and is currently a textbook in some Iranian universities and is taught for the courses of ‘Contemporary ...
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A Persian translation of the book The Politics of Writing in Iran: A History of Modern Persian Literature, written by Dr. Kamran Talattof from Arizona University, has recently been published in Iran, and is currently a textbook in some Iranian universities and is taught for the courses of ‘Contemporary Persian Poetry’ and ‘Contemporary Persian Prose’ at the undergraduate level and also for the course of ‘Contemporary Persian Poetry’ at the postgraduate level. In addition to analyzing the form and content of the book, the writers of the present article try to examine the new theory that Talattof has proposed through integrating contemporary Western theoretical approaches and specific features of contemporary Iranian society and literature. His book sheds light on the mutual relationship between politics and contemporary literature and society of Iran. The Politics of Writing in Iran examines methodically and unprecedentedly the impact of different ideologies on literary movements, and accordingly arranges the literary products of the last one hundred years into several movements, arguing that each of these movements is an ‘episode’ and thus the whole modern Persian literature is ‘episodic’. The theoretical approach of Talattof’s book rests on this premise that ideological paradigms have determined the manner of writing literary works in Iran in the past hundred years. The present article offers not only a short overview of the literary historiographic attempts in Iran in the last one hundred years, but also a brief account of the Western theories of literary historiography in the last few decades. In the end, the relation and correspondence of the book’s theory of ‘episodic literary movements’ and the theory of ‘Iran as a short-term society’ is highlighted.
Research
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
kamran shakiba
Abstract
Critical analysis of metaphor aims to study and analyze discourse to show how covert power is enacted, practiced, and reproduced in text and talk through metaphors in the social and political contexts. In the present research, instances of discourse metaphors extracted from opposing wing’s newspapers ...
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Critical analysis of metaphor aims to study and analyze discourse to show how covert power is enacted, practiced, and reproduced in text and talk through metaphors in the social and political contexts. In the present research, instances of discourse metaphors extracted from opposing wing’s newspapers such as Keyhan and MardomSalari in Iran and Telegraph and Mirror in England were analyzed based on Charteris-black’s integrative critical metaphor research. The aim was to investigate the similarities and differences between metaphors and conceptual metaphors in each discourse and subsequently in each language. The results shows the metaphorical features of the discourses in terms of source domains. Furthermore, this study shows how identical facts are demonstrated differently by opposing ideologies and how metaphors are used for persuasion. This method was an effective approach in demonstrating hidden power relations and considered as a relatively new and integrative view to the usage of metaphors in discourse.
Research
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
Irandokht Tuluie Heris; Hossein Sarkar Hassan Khan
Abstract
Master’s degree examination is a life-changing exam in Iran by which candidates are evaluated based on their qualifications. In fact, the exam must be regarded as a touchstone of quality for students who will be permitted to further their studies in their fields only when they can pass it; therefore, ...
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Master’s degree examination is a life-changing exam in Iran by which candidates are evaluated based on their qualifications. In fact, the exam must be regarded as a touchstone of quality for students who will be permitted to further their studies in their fields only when they can pass it; therefore, the exam must follow certain standards so that equity is ensured for all participants and objectivity is reduced to minimum. The present paper defines factors of objectivity, reliability and validity of Master's degree entrance exam for German-to-Persian translation students. Studying these factors shows that translation questions, given their subjective nature, are not suitable for Master’s degree exam and often degraded to evaluate just participants’ vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension skills. More importantly, translation questions must be used for testing one’s translation skills and consequently cannot be used to evaluate language knowledge.
Research
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
Bohloul Alaei
Abstract
This article is a critical analysis of William G. Lycan's Philosophy of Language: a Contemporary Introduction (2nd ed.) that is translated to Persian by Meysam Mohammadamini. "Language Philosophy" is one of the courses in the field of Linguistics which is offered by the Ministry of Education to be taught. ...
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This article is a critical analysis of William G. Lycan's Philosophy of Language: a Contemporary Introduction (2nd ed.) that is translated to Persian by Meysam Mohammadamini. "Language Philosophy" is one of the courses in the field of Linguistics which is offered by the Ministry of Education to be taught. The author tries to rely on the first-hand sources and report the disputes of the language philosophers on the nature of the meaning and the related theories without bias. He tries to avoid falling into the complexities of philosophy and discuss the issues with a rational order. Since Persian texts are rare and mostly out of date, this translation becomes of particular importance. Moreover, language philosophers are not supposed to be the only readers of the book. Scholars of linguistics, also deal with the issues of language philosophy in recent years. The book has a rich and well-engineered content. This article gives a brief introduction of the book, provides a preview of the philosophy of language. Then, the structure of the book is introduced regarding all its components. The evaluation and analysis of the book in terms of both form and content constitutes the center of the discussion, during which the weaknesses and strengths of the translation are emphasized, especially in terms of comprehensibility and readability of the text, the choice of technical terminology and proper rendering of the author's concepts.
Research
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
Aliyeh Kord-e Zafaranlu Kambuziya
Abstract
The aim of this article is a critical review of the book “Phonetics: The Scientific Study of Speech” written by Dr. Golnaz Modarresi Ghavami, Associate Professor in Linguistics Department in Allameh Tabataba’i University. Therefore, the three main criteria have been considered in this ...
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The aim of this article is a critical review of the book “Phonetics: The Scientific Study of Speech” written by Dr. Golnaz Modarresi Ghavami, Associate Professor in Linguistics Department in Allameh Tabataba’i University. Therefore, the three main criteria have been considered in this critical review: a) introducing the book and evaluating its form, including the number of chapters, technical properties of the book, literature editing, scientific principles and observing the references; b) containing analysis and evaluation of the book, including: teaching dimensions of the book regarding the instruction aims, mapping with the last approved linguistics syllabus, proportion of scientific subjects or topics with the addressees, scientific level, the use of the scientific devices such as exercises, figures, tables, and pictures, as well as replying to the applied and scientific requirements or necessities of the country, rational order and internal fluency and cohesion of the different sections of the book, paying enough attention to the application of technical words and special idioms, making Persian equivalent words for foreign ones, and using the update references; c) final evaluating of the work, including: talking about the strong and weak points of the book. At the end, a number of recommendations such as Persian equivalencies, completing the related diphthong subject, as well as the addition of co-articulation and sequences and different kinds of them have been suggested.
Research
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
janolah karimi Motahhar; Ahmad Ramezani
Abstract
Teaching different foreign languages and related literature has nearly started since establishing universities in Iran, but Linguistics Departments were developed nearly half a century ago. After a while, the syllabi were reviewed; new fields have been started, and a lot of works were published and thus ...
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Teaching different foreign languages and related literature has nearly started since establishing universities in Iran, but Linguistics Departments were developed nearly half a century ago. After a while, the syllabi were reviewed; new fields have been started, and a lot of works were published and thus the development of the studies happened. It is clear that due to the increase of the number of students (admission rate) and adding up the number of related works, reviewing and criticizing them could be useful. In this article, the ratio of the students in Linguistics and all foreign language studies to all other students was estimated. Then, the importance of reviewing the references in the fields of study was highlighted. Finally, some suggestions for a better academic development of Linguistics and foreign language studies will be mentioned.
Research
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
Mojtaba Maghsoudi; Abolfazl Khodamoradi
Abstract
As the suitability of any educational system depends on its teachers’ competencies, it seems necessary to pay enough attention to the educational curriculum of the student- teachers of the Farhangian University. Hence, a reliable and valid researcher-made questionnaire including three components ...
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As the suitability of any educational system depends on its teachers’ competencies, it seems necessary to pay enough attention to the educational curriculum of the student- teachers of the Farhangian University. Hence, a reliable and valid researcher-made questionnaire including three components as skill, knowledge, and attitude developed for assessing the latest and the old English language teacher curriculums of Farhangian University was distributed among 87 English professors. The results of this study showed that from the English professors of Farhangian University’s point of view, there was a significant difference between the old and the latest English language teacher curricula in increasing the professional competencies of student-teachers of Farhangian University. This means that the latest curriculum as compared to the old one will considerably be more successful in increasing the skills and attitudes of the student-teachers. Furthermore, the results of the current research also indicated that the latest curriculum will be more successful in increasing the student-teachers’ PCK (Pedagogical Content Knowledge), CK (Content Knowledge) and PK (Pedagogical Knowledge).
Research
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
Leila Makvandi
Abstract
This paper is a review of the second volume of Persepolis Fortification Tablets. The book is an English-Persian translation of the unpublished Elamite Persepolis Fortification Tablets, transliterated by Richard Hallock, edited and translated by Abdolmajid Arfaee and published by Research Institute of ...
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This paper is a review of the second volume of Persepolis Fortification Tablets. The book is an English-Persian translation of the unpublished Elamite Persepolis Fortification Tablets, transliterated by Richard Hallock, edited and translated by Abdolmajid Arfaee and published by Research Institute of Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization and the Centre for the great Islamic Encyclopedia. In the following words, translation of the book is evaluated and criticized. But apart from this, the main challenge is to publish tablets despite the official announcement of the disagreement of the Oriental Institute of Chicago as scientific concessioner of the project to the “Editor and translator” and Publisher. This means that research ethics are not being followed by a major scientific Centre in the field of humanities in Iran, and it makes it difficult for international researchers to cite the book.
Research
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
Changiz Mowlaee
Abstract
“Zaraθuštra and Gāθās” is the title of a book written by Mahshid Mirfakhraee in commentary and explanation of the both Avestan and Zend texts of the two songs (Yasna 47 and 48) from the Gāθās (a collection containing seventeen songs composed by Zaraθuštra ...
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“Zaraθuštra and Gāθās” is the title of a book written by Mahshid Mirfakhraee in commentary and explanation of the both Avestan and Zend texts of the two songs (Yasna 47 and 48) from the Gāθās (a collection containing seventeen songs composed by Zaraθuštra himself) which has been published by Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies in 2017. Consisting of an introduction and three chapters, this book in its introduction deals with an overview of the Old Avestan issues and poetic structure of the Gāθās. In the two first chapters, the Avestan and the Zend texts of the two above-mentioned songs have been translated into Persian and studied in terms of contextual and grammatical issues. Finally, the third chapter involves a glossary of Avestan words with their meaning and grammatical descriptions. The present study reviews and evaluates this work in four sections in accordance with the four sections of the book. These sections were reviewed as they were named in the book itself.
Research
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
cyrus nasrolahzade; Fariba Naseri Kouhbanani
Abstract
The present text is a critical review on the Persian translation of Dieter Weber’s valuable book entitled Ostraca, Papyri und Pergamente written in 1992. In his work, Weber has brought out and studied numerous Sassanid Papyri and Ostraca, and translated them into German language. This is the first ...
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The present text is a critical review on the Persian translation of Dieter Weber’s valuable book entitled Ostraca, Papyri und Pergamente written in 1992. In his work, Weber has brought out and studied numerous Sassanid Papyri and Ostraca, and translated them into German language. This is the first time the book is translated into Persian and above all, the first translation of a work concerning Papyrus and Ostraca. Despite its benefits, this translation bears some problems, which are going to be mentioned now. This translation covers a number of major topics including the translation of technical terms, which is related to the writing of historical texts, the general translation of sentences, and the way sources are cited the correct translation of proper names, such as the names of contemporary scholars and researchers and all need to be revised. These points are listed in various sections, each followed by some examples. This criticism is for the purpose of preventing readers from misinterpretation of the work.
Research
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
Amirreza Vakilifard; Roqayeh Habibi
Abstract
Following the theories and achievements of language didactics and also with the emphasis on form and meaning, there are several approaches in a syllabus on its compiling methods, content selection and organizing the selected elements. Such an approach which is task-based curriculum development has focused ...
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Following the theories and achievements of language didactics and also with the emphasis on form and meaning, there are several approaches in a syllabus on its compiling methods, content selection and organizing the selected elements. Such an approach which is task-based curriculum development has focused on the semantic and communicative dimension rather than the grammatical one fundamentally and has attracted the attention of language educators since the last decade of the previous century. In teaching Persian language to non-Persian, this approach has not been accomplished deeply in any field of studies or analytical ones. Owing to the importance of syllabus content in language teaching, this research, whilst introducing the task-oriented approach, examines the effectiveness of the tasks in the second and the third volume from the 7-volume textbook series, "Teaching the Persian Language in Persian", from the point of analyzing the implementation of principles for the task-oriented approach. A questionnaire, with subscales of the task definitions, task components, task framework, task difficulty, and the empirical basis for task-based language teaching which focuses on form in task-based language teaching, is used to explore the evaluation of the two mentioned volumes. The results deduced from the survey of these two volumes, among 40 Iranian instructors and 40 non-Iranian students from two high educational institutions show that the implementation of curriculum design principles based on task-orientated approach is average in those volumes, on both quantitative and qualitative scale and it is still far from a satisfactory level. The results of this study help the educational syllabus designers to design and create curriculums for teaching Persian to non-Persian speakers more efficiently, as well the instructors to teach communicative competence in classrooms.
