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...

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...

feminine voice and narratology in wuthering heights wuthering heights as a general "bronte" work has extraordinary dimensions to it which can make it focal to different ways of interpretation. among other differences the issue of narrative voice is essential in understanding the ultimate purpose of wuthering heights. emily bronte uses different narrators from various focal points speaking of m...

the purpose of this study was to examine the english language needs of medical students at tehran university of medical sciences . analysis of the needs took place for three groups: 320 undergraduate students, 30 postgraduate students and 20 university instructors. a triangulation approach to collect data was used in which a combination of the quantitative (using the questionnaires) and qualita...

recent studies in scientific education as well as foreign and second language instruction suggest that thinking has rarely been an integral part of education and training in classroom. some scholars decried the lack of emphasis on thinking in the institutes and schools. they noted that memorization and drills were rewarded,while inquiry, reflection, and consideration of alternatives were frowne...

in one pole of the continuum of language learning, theoreticians and practitioners traditionally consider english as english as a second language or english as a foreign language. however, in the other pole of this continuum where english is thought of as the most effective tool for international communication, it is referred to as a lingua franca. those who favor an approach to english growing...

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...

abstract i the purpose of this study was to launch a thorough investigation concerning the possibility of differing orientations to the writing proficiency construct by native and non-native english speaking teacher raters. it mainly revolved around the international english language testing system (ielts) that is widely administered and employed as a measure of general proficiency in englis...

deposite the different criticisms on contrastive analysis it has been proved that the results of it(when processed)can be usuful in a tefl environment,specially at the level of phonology.this study is an attempt to compare and contrast the sound systems of kurdish and english for pedagogical aims. the consonants,vowels,stress and intonation of the twolanguages are described by the same model-ta...

there has been a gradual shift of focus from the study of rule systems, which have increasingly been regarded as impoverished, … to the study of systems of principles, which appear to occupy a much more central position in determining the character and variety of possible human languages. there is a set of absolute universals, notions and principles existing in ug which do not vary from one ...