University of IsfahanApplied Research on English Language3134-06443120140101Designing reading tasks to maximise vocabulary learning181548110.22108/are.2014.15481ENPaulNationVictoria University of Wellington, New ZealandJournal Article20131031Most vocabulary learning should occur incidentally through listening and reading. This is one of <br />the reasons why a substantial extensive reading program is an important part of an English <br />course. Extensive reading requires the learners to do large quantities of reading using material <br />that is at the right level for them. Vocabulary learning occurs through the conditions of <br />repetition, retrieval, creative use, and deliberate attention. These conditions can be maximized <br />when reading through the use of narrow reading, repeated reading, linked skills reading, reading <br />with discussion, and deliberate learning through reading with exercises. Computer-based <br />activities can be effective in providing opportunities for deliberate learning, but it is important <br />that deliberate learning does not take time away from extensive reading.https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_15481_455aa60c0cbda93a33517647aac5d399.pdfUniversity of IsfahanApplied Research on English Language3134-06443120140101Motivation, amount of interaction, length of residence, and ESL learners’ pragmatic competence9281548210.22108/are.2014.15482ENZohreR EslamiTexas A&M University, USASooJin AhnTexas A&M University, USAJournal Article20131201This study examined how motivation for learning English, the amount of contact with English, <br />and length of residence in the target language area affects Korean graduate students’ English <br />pragmatic skills. The study attempted to account for differential pragmatic development among <br />50 graduate-level Korean students in relation to individual factors mentioned above. The data <br />were collected using three types of elicitation instruments: a written background questionnaire, <br />a discourse completion test, and the mini-Attitude/Motivation Test Battery. Descriptive and <br />inferential statistics (correlation coefficients, and multiple regressions) were used to analyze the <br />data. The findings of the study revealed that (a) the level of motivation had a positive and <br />moderate relationship with the ESL learners’ L2 pragmatic competence; and (b) the amount of <br />L2 contact and length of residence had only a weak and insignificant impact on the participants’ <br />pragmatic competence.https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_15482_524c66043e203c10b6bde947a6fb828e.pdfUniversity of IsfahanApplied Research on English Language3134-06443120140101The relationship between task repetition and language proficiency29401547810.22108/are.2014.15478ENAhmadMojaveziDepartment of English, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, IranJournal Article20130727Task repetition is now considered as an important task-based implementation variable which <br />can affect complexity, accuracy, and fluency of L2 speech. However, in order to move towards <br />theorizing the role of task repetition in second language acquisition, it is necessary that <br />individual variables be taken into account. The present study aimed to investigate the way task <br />repetition correlates with language proficiency and the differential effects that task repetition <br />might have on the complexity, accuracy, and fluency of L2 learners with different levels of <br />proficiency. Fifty language learners of different levels of proficiency, selected from two <br />different language centers, participated in this study. They were asked to perform an oral <br />narrative task twice with a one-week interval. Results revealed that, compared to the <br />participants with lower L2 proficiency, participants with higher levels of L2 proficiency <br />produced more complex, accurate, and fluent speech on the second encounter with the same <br />task.https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_15478_d04596f0938a912b67ebb12bbc851278.pdfUniversity of IsfahanApplied Research on English Language3134-06443120140101The effect of increase in task cognitive complexity on Iranian EFL learners’ accuracy and linguistic complexity: A test of Robinson’s Cognition Hypothesis41541547610.22108/are.2014.15476ENHassanSoleimaniPayame Noor University, Tehran, IranMaryamRezazadehPayame Noor University, Tehran, IranJournal Article20130519Designing a task with a reasonable level of cognitive complexity has always been important for <br />syllabus designers, teachers, as well as researchers. This is because task manipulation may lead <br />to different results in oral production. The present study was an attempt to explore the effect of <br />this manipulation - based on Robinson’s resource-directing model (reasoning demands, <br />number of elements, and here and now versus there and then condition) - on picture narration. <br />The study included 30 Iranian EFL learners at the intermediate level between the ages of 21 <br />and 34. They were all native speakers of Persian. Each participant was required to perform the <br />simple version as well as the complex version of the same picture narration task. The <br />participants’ speechwas audio-recorded and the results revealed that an increase in task <br />cognitive complexity leads to greater accuracy and linguistic complexity.https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_15476_ff30cdc4589cdeadca0b4350635fd4dc.pdfUniversity of IsfahanApplied Research on English Language3134-06443120140101The effect of reading purpose on incidental vocabulary learning and retention among elementary Iranian learners of English55661547710.22108/are.2014.15477ENAhmad RezaEghtesadiAbbaszadegan Institute for Educational Research, Mashhad, IranSakineMomeniHakim Sabzevari University, IranJournal Article20130628This study, situated in an EFL context, aimed at discovering the ways purposes behind reading <br />activities influence vocabulary knowledge gain and retrieval. Seventy five elementary learners <br />of English were randomly assigned to three groups of ‘free reading’, ‘reading comprehension’ <br />and ‘reading to summarize’. A modified text was administered to all the three groups. The data <br />in both immediate and delayed post-test revealed that both vocabulary learning and retention <br />were greatly influenced by the purposeful reading activity. The Scheffe post-hoc test revealed <br />that the mean scores of the ‘summarizing’ and ‘reading comprehension’ groups were <br />significantly different from the mean score of the ‘free reading’ group. But the results did not <br />indicate any significant differences between the mean scores of the two groups of <br />‘summarizing’ and ‘reading comprehension’. However the strength of association for the <br />immediate post-test and the delayed one showed that a large part of the variance between the <br />three groups could be explained by the reading purpose. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_15477_da78563f1b11c68dc9d998ee0618d117.pdfUniversity of IsfahanApplied Research on English Language3134-06443120140101Pragmatic comprehension of apology, request and refusal: An investigation on the effect of consciousness-raising video-driven prompts67861547910.22108/are.2014.15479ENParvizBirjandiAllameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, IranAliDerakhshanAllameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, IranJournal Article20130906Recent research in interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) has substantiated that some aspects of <br />pragmatics are amenable to instruction in the second or foreign language classroom. However, <br />there are still controversies over the most conducive teaching approaches and the required <br />materials. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the relative effectiveness of consciousness-raising video-driven prompts on the comprehension of the three speech acts of apology, request, <br />and refusal on seventy eight (36 male and 42 female) upper-intermediate Persian learners of <br />English who were randomly assigned to four groups (metapragmatic, form-search, role play, <br />and control). The four groups were exposed to 45 video vignettes (15 for each speech act) <br />extracted from different episodes of Flash Forward, Stargate TV Series and Annie Hall Film for <br />nine 60-minute sessions of instruction twice a week. Results of the multiple choice discourse <br />completion test (MDCT) indicated that learners’ awareness of apologies, requests and refusals <br />benefit from all three types of instruction, but the results of the Post hoc test of Tukey (HSD) <br />illustrated that the metapragmatic group outperformed the other treatment groups, and that <br />form-search group had a better performance than role-play and control groups. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_15479_69dfb028345a693cc42be5821f39ade9.pdfUniversity of IsfahanApplied Research on English Language3134-06443120140101Investigating disagreements through a context-specific approach: A case of Iranian L2 speakers871001548010.22108/are.2014.15480ENRezaGhafar SamarTarbiat Modares University, Tehran, IranFatemehPourmohamadiTarbiat Modares University, Tehran, IranAfsanehAbaszadehTarbiat Modares University, Tehran, IranJournal Article20130918The current study investigated the expression of disagreement by Iranian advanced English <br />learners. The data for the study comprised the recorded discussions of 26 male and female <br />interlocutors in three different settings: 1) language institute, 2) home environment, and 3) <br />university setting. Analysis of the arguments pointed to the influence of contextual factors. <br />More precisely, disagreements were found to be complex and multidirectional speech acts and <br />thus various factors, including the interlocutors’ power, relationships, background, and the <br />situational context, influence their realization as face-threatening or face-enhancing speech acts. <br />Therefore, the linguistic markers cannot safely categorize disagreement turns into <br />polite/impolite or preferred/dispreferred acts.https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_15480_bab544147334d2cd54dafb8f7203c35a.pdf