abstract the present study was conducted to examine the effect of proficiency on students interaction while carrying out the grammar-based task(s) in collaboration. in particular, the study examines whether the level of proficiency affects the learners’ focus of attention to grammatical and lexical features. the study takes a further step and examines whether there is any difference in the use...

there are two major theories of measurement in psychometrics: classical test theory (ctt) and item-response theory (irt). despite its widespread and long use, ctt has a number of shortcomings, which make it problematic to be used for practical and theoretical purposes. irt tries to solve these shortcomings, and provide better and more dependable answers. one of the applications of irt is the as...

asymmetric membranes are widely used in many industrial membrane separation processes. the major advantage of membrane filtration over the conventional process is its ability to remove a wider spectrum of particles without using any chemicals. hollow fiber configuration offer many advantages over flat-sheet or tubular membranes. the spinning process of hollow fiber may look simple, yet it is te...

testing plays a vital role in any language teaching program. it allows teachers and stakeholders, including program administrators, parents, admissions officers and prospective employers to be assured that the learners are progressing according to an accepted standard (douglas, 2010). the problems currently facing language testers have both practical and theoretical implications but the first i...

abstract the variables affecting the nature of reading comprehension can be classified into two general categories: reader’s variables, and text variables (alderson, 2000). despite the wave of research on vocabulary knowledge as reader’s variable, the role of this knowledge in c-test as a text-dependent test and its interaction with lexical cohesion of the test as a text feature has remained a...

based on the latest records of typhlops vermicularis merrem, 1820 from iran, this species is distributed in the northern and southern regions of the country. in this study, new records of typhlops vermicularis are presented and it is shown that distribution range of this species is extended towards the eastern and western iran, and according to the new distribution map, it can be assumed that t...

abstract sensitive and precise voltammetric methods for the determination of trace amounts of furaldehydes, mainly as furfural (f) and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (hmf), in waste waters and other matrices is described. determination of total furaldehyde at < ?g g-1 levels in alkaline buffered aqueous media was individually investigated. by the use of ordinary swv and adsorptive square wave ...

hedging is a multi-purpose rhetorical strategy which is usually used in scientific arguments to secure ratification of claims, reduce the risk of negation, avoid conflict, manage disagreement and leave room for the audience to assess presented information. hedges are frequently used in research articles to mitigate the findings of research endeavors. the present research aims to investigate the...

this study investigated the effects of manipulating the cognitive complexity of tasks along +/- few elements and the time limits on l2 learners writing performance. to conduct the study, 60 iranian efl learners with two levels of proficiency, low and high intermediate, were selected and assigned to three groups based on the time devoted to task completion. the participants performed both a simp...

abstract although music possesses some kind of power and using it has been welcome by many students in language classrooms, it seems that they take a non-serious image of the lesson while listening to songs and they may think that it is a matter of fun. the main objective of the present study was to investigate whether learning a foreign language through musical texts (songs) can have an impac...