This study sought to examine the type and frequency of tasks in the Iranian high school English course books (Prospect 1, 2, 3 & English Book 1, 2, 3). The corpus was analyzed based on Nunan’s (1999) framework composed of five main task types, namely cognitive, interpersonal, linguistics, affective, and creative. To this end, the whole content of the aforementioned course books went through con...

From applied linguistic point of view, the fundamental question facing the language teachers, methodologists and course designers is which procedure is more effective in FL/SL: learning to use or using to learn? Definitely, in order to be a competent language user, knowledge of language system is necessary, but it is not sufficient to be a successful language user. That is why there was a gradu...

In traditional generative phonology, there is no role for the mechanism of lexical access as a part of linguistic competence. Lexical access is assumed to be relevant only to aspects of linguistic performance such as speech production and perception. In fact, much of what is known about lexical access comes from the study of errors in production and perception. Errors are traditionally consider...

The present paper discusses the possible role of linguistic competence in determining the manifest psychopathology of schizophrenia. It is hypothesised that the linguistic competence may be a significant determinant of psychopathology and may explain the differences in the manifest signs and symptoms, course and prognosis between the various sub-types of schizophrenia and may explain the cross-...

This paper discusses the development of writing skills of Dutch students of English and Spanish as foreign languages. Essays written in three consecutive years were analyzed for essay length, word length, and type/token ratio — reflecting linguistic competence. A selection of essays was analyzed for argument structure and the use of cohesive devices. These same essays were ranked holistically b...

The present study was carried out to test our hypothesis that linguistic competence may importantly determine the manifest symptomatology as well as type of schizophrenia and neurosis. A test of linguistic competence constructed by us after two tryouts and consisting of eight subtests, namely colour naming, naming filial relationships and household objects, TAT (mean lengh of utterance and tota...

Interlanguage pragmatics, as an inseparable part of communicative competence, has been emphasized as an ultimate objective in language learning. This study explored the perceptions of Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) students regarding interlanguage pragmatics and the impact of textbooks tasks on shaping their pragmatic competence. To accomplish this objective, 137 senior EFL student...

Basic Assumptions and Purpose On a theoretical level, this presentation – which is based on my 2004 monograph Selfish Sounds and Linguistic Evolution – sketches and defends an approach to human linguistic competence that views it as a system of neural link patterns embodying schematic instructions for communicative behavior that are transmitted faithfully enough to qualify as mental or cultural...

Speaking is deemed by many scholars as a fundamental skill in second language (L2) learning. From the myriad of factors playing a role in willingness to communicate (WTC) in a foreign language, communication apprehension and self-perceived competence have attracted a good deal of interest in recent decades. Furthermore, it is generally agreed that cooperative teaching can enhance learners' ling...

Speaking is deemed by many scholars as a fundamental skill in second language (L2) learning. From the myriad of factors playing a role in willingness to communicate (WTC) in a foreign language, communication apprehension and self-perceived competence have attracted a good deal of interest in recent decades. Furthermore, it is generally agreed that cooperative teaching can enhance learners' ling...