while performance-based language assessment has led to an increased authenticity and content validity in the practice of writing assessment, the reliability of ratings has become a major issue. research findings have shown different reactions by native english speaker (nes) and non-native english speaker (nns) teachers to students’ writings. the focus of this study is on investigating whether i...

dynamic assessment according to vygotskys sociocultural theory, states that instruction and assessment are interrelated. using static forms of assessment with second and foreign language students could do more harm than good. many teachers neglect to take account of the complexity involved in learning a second or foreign language and often wonder why learning of a language take so long. thi...

abstract the main purpose of this study was to investigate whether there was any significant difference between the speaking achievement of learners who were trained by means of consciousness raising of sociolinguistic skills and that of learners who were trained without the above mentioned task. the participants of this study consist of 60 intermediate level students participating languag...

?it is of utmost priority for an experienced teacher to train the mind of the students, and enable them to think critically and correctly. the most important question here is that how to develop such a crucial ability? this study examines a new way to the development of critical thinking utilizing critical discourse analytical tools. to attain this goal, two classes of senior english la...

abstract this study evaluates the iranian pre-university english textbook in terms of needs, objectives, content, and methodology. the study was designed on the qualitative- quantitative survey basis using interviews and questionnaires, a researcher-made textbook evaluation checklist and a needs analysis questionnaire. the textbook evaluation questionnaire was used in this study to elicit the ...

abstract while task-based instruction is considered as the most effective way to learn a language in the related literature, it is oversimplified on various grounds. different variables may affect how students are engaged with not only the language but also with the task itself. the present study was conducted to investigate language and task related engagement on the basis of the task typolog...

in this investigation the effect of external field on the electron density of nanostructures of cds, cdse, cdte, gaas and polymeric structure of three, four, five and six units of cds as a kind of nanosolar cells has been studied theoretically. as modeling this system in nanodimension, molecular structures has used. specific properties of molecular structures permit us to consider different sym...

in this research we have studied the effect of some transition-metals (cu, ag and au) substitutions on two-electron reduction potential of flavins by application of dft method. all geometries have been optimized at blyp level of theory and “6-31+g** + lanl2dz” mixed basis set. the frequency job at the same method and basis sets has been performed to obtain gibbs free energy of compounds. it h...

this study was conducted to investigate the impact of podcasts as a learning and teaching tool on iranian efl learners’ motivation for listening as well as on their listening comprehension ability. the study also investigated the learners’ perception towards listening to podcasts and examined whether the learners were likely to accept podcasts. out of fifty-five intermediate learners studying e...

abstract cooperative learning refers to small groups of learners working together as a team to solve a problem, complete a task, or accomplish a common goal. in a cooperative environment one’s success is directly related to the success of other members because the focus on the individual shifts towards the group. to test the effectiveness of the method, using jigsaw technique, a study was cond...