Pragmatics
Massoumeh Khodaei Moghaddam; Atiyeh Kamyabi Gol; Shahla Sharifi
Volume 14, Issue 4 , March 2023, , Pages 126-152
Abstract
Textbook content evaluation based on a checklist is a widely common method for evaluating textbooks. This type of evaluation plays an effective role on preserving textbook quality. In this study, by applying a validated checklist- including 4 main categories of “physical features, design and layout”, ...
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Textbook content evaluation based on a checklist is a widely common method for evaluating textbooks. This type of evaluation plays an effective role on preserving textbook quality. In this study, by applying a validated checklist- including 4 main categories of “physical features, design and layout”, “skills and sub-skills”, “subject and content”, and “practical consideration”- two textbook series, namely, Amouzesh-e-novin-e zaban-e-Farsi (ANZF) and Amouzesh-e-Farsi-be-Farsi (AFBF) were analyzed and compared qualitatively. Based on the results, these textbooks were evaluated as ‘good’ and ‘very good’ in their physical features, design and layout, according to the instructors’ viewpoints, however the researchers evaluated them as partly-good due to some shortcomings such as lack of workbooks and teacher’s manuals. In the skills and sub-skills category, both series had fundamental problems; and to sum up, the ANZF series seem to be partly-weak and AFBF series seem to be highly-weak. In the category of ‘subject and content’, the ANZF series is evaluated as partly-good, and the AFBF series is evaluated as weak. In the category of ‘practical considerations’, the ANZF is evaluated as partly-good, and the AFBF is evaluated as partly-weak. Generally, the ANZF series was evaluated as partly good and AFBF was evaluated as weak.
Hamed Mowlaei kuhbanani; Ali Alizade; Shahla Sharifi
Volume 14, Issue 1 , April 2022, , Pages 1-27
Abstract
This study wants to present a new approach to clausal constituent ordering of Persian. Functional Discourse Grammar as the latest Functional Grammar (2008) is selected as the framework, for this sake. Unlike Greenberg’s typological view (1963), FDG has a dynamic approach for constituent ordering. ...
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This study wants to present a new approach to clausal constituent ordering of Persian. Functional Discourse Grammar as the latest Functional Grammar (2008) is selected as the framework, for this sake. Unlike Greenberg’s typological view (1963), FDG has a dynamic approach for constituent ordering. In this way, there is not any fixed position in clause for language elements already determined; instead, element’s position is determined by its original layer, pragmatic and semantic functions and its superordinated elements in the hierarchy of Interpersonal and Representational levels. Furthermore, FDG rules in this respect are proper for the ordering of phrase and word elements too. However, this study aims to focus only on clausal constituent ordering of Persian. FDG considers four Absolute positions (PI,P2,PM,PF) and unlimited number of Relative position for clausal elements. In its top-down fashion, whenever one of these four Absolute positions are occupied by an element, its Relative ones will be available. In this case there will be 14 logically possible word order correspondences to any of Greenberg’s word order patterns. In other word, FDG introduces 84 word order patterns for Greenberg’s six word order SOV, SVO, OVS, OSV, VOS, and VSO. The results of study show that FDG’s proposals for word order can be applied on Persian as a fairly free ordered language. Furthermore, it is possible to justify Persian scrambling (as the pragmatic intention of speaker) in a based-generated way because FDG does not consider movement. For this sake, Persian short-distance leftward scrambling as a frequent phenomenon is investigated on the basis of pragmatic (not syntactic) considerations in the last part of study.
Elnaz Eghbali; Shahla Sharifi
Volume 11, Issue 2 , June 2020, , Pages 55-84
Abstract
Auditory memory plays an important role in developing language skills. The aim of the present study was to assess auditory verbal memory performance of 25-30 year old educated men and women using the Persian version of the Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). This descriptive, cross-sectional study ...
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Auditory memory plays an important role in developing language skills. The aim of the present study was to assess auditory verbal memory performance of 25-30 year old educated men and women using the Persian version of the Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on sixty 25-30 year old healthy adults (30 men and 30 women) and different aspects of memory, like immediate recall, delayed recall, recognition, learning rate, forgetting rate, proactive and retroactive interference and primacy and recency effects, were assessed. Results indicated that the women's performance was generally higher than that of the men in first, third, fourth and sixth of RAVLT and also total learning. In other trials and composite scores, gender was not a significant factor. In addition, findings showed that the auditory-verbal memory performance and learning of both groups was similar to the performance of the same population in other countries.
Shahla Sharifi; Narjes Sabouri
Volume 10, Issue 18 , August 2018, , Pages 151-169
Abstract
Extended abstract Introduction This study is an attempt to overview the focus marker in some Persian dialects of Khorasan (including the three Khorasan provinces). As it is known, there are different ways of focalization in various languages including syntactical, morphological, and phonetic strategies. ...
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Extended abstract Introduction This study is an attempt to overview the focus marker in some Persian dialects of Khorasan (including the three Khorasan provinces). As it is known, there are different ways of focalization in various languages including syntactical, morphological, and phonetic strategies. One of the morphological tools that is used in Persian language is /ke/ that appears after the constituent under emphasis. In modern Persian, /ke/ can make any constituent focalized. This study intends to discover whether there is any similar focus tool in Persian dialects of Khorasan. In case the answer would be positive, the research will investigate whether there are any other functions along with the focus markers or not. Theoretical Framework “Focus” has been either considered as an instrument to signify or emphasize something or used as an informative focus being assumed as the equivalent of "rheme" and it is defined as “a part of a theorem that cannot be assumed at the time of speech .The focus is that portion of a proposition which cannot be taken for granted at the time of speech. It is the unpredictable or pragmatically non-recoverable element in an utterance” (Lambrecht, 1994, p. 207). Jackendoff (1972, p. 16) believed that “focus is the information in the sentence that is assumed by the speaker not to be the same for him and the hearer". Various categories of focus have been offered. For instance, argument focus, predicate focus and sentence focus are some categories that have been offered in the scope of focalization. The first one indicates that each argument in a sentence including subject, object, or oblique can be under focus, in the second one, the predicate is under focus and this type is claimed to be a universally unmarked type of focus correlating with the topic-comment structure as the unmarked pragmatic articulation (Lambrecht, 1994( while in the latter, the whole clause is emphasized. Contrastive and informative focuses are presented in terms of communication. The first one is marked, has a particular nature, and is not necessarily present in each sentence while the second one contains new information. By new, it does not mean that it has not been indicated before, but the speaker present it in a way that is not retrievable out of the context or situation (Halliday, 1967, p. 204). Methodology The study investigated the Persian dialects of Khorasan within descriptive-analytic methodology, also the history of Persian language was sought to find out the etymology of these markers. In order to check the similarity of the Persian dialects of Khorasan with other Iranian dialects, the data drawn from the Khorasani dialects were compared with other Iranian dialects. The data gathering process was carried out via the students’ theses investigating these dialects and the speakers of these dialects who were the university students studying linguistics. Results and Discussion In this part, the data were collected from these dialects including Raghei, Geziki, Birjandi, Bejestani, Gonabadi, Sabzevari, Adkani, Tabasi, Taibadi, Sedeh, Kakhki, and Khafi and then they were analyzed. The dialects of Sabzevari, Taibadi, Adkani, and Khafi showed that only one marker is used in all these functions that is /ke/ even though the focus /ke/ in khafi is different from the non-focus /ke/ in terms of phonology. These are the first category of dialects. Research on Raghei, Kakhki, Tabasi, Bejestani, Geziki, and Sedeh showed that there are two different markers for focus and non-focus functions. The focus marker is derived from “xwad” (self) while /ke/ is used in relative and complementary pronouns. These are the second category of dialects. Comparing these data with the other ones collected from the other Iranian dialects such as Hawrami, Laki, Ilami Kurdish, Kalhuri, Lori Salas, Lori Khoram Abad showed that there are focus and non-focus marker differences in the same way as the second type of Khorasani dialects. Although in some of these dialects, there is no marker for non-focus functions, such as relative pronoun and complementizer, but the absence of these markers is again a sign of distinction if to be compared with the presence of it. The Ilami Kurdish dialect was the only one different from others. Although it has two focus markers of /ke/ and /xu/ but in some focus positions, both of them were legible to be used and in non-focus functions, only /ke/ can be used. Conclusion By studying the Iranian dialects, we can come to this conclusion that these dialects such as the second category of Khorasani dialects employ /xwad/ “self” (that used to be the focus pronoun and adverb of middle age) as a focus marker after undergoing grammaticalization and /ke/ preserved its function of middle age. On the other hand, the dialects of first category like standard Persian probably under the influence of colloquial Persian use /ke/ in all different functions. That is, the function of /ke/ has been extended and turned into a focus marker. There are some samples in Sedeh that shows the intermediate stage of these changes because /xo/ was used both as focus pronoun and focus marker (instead of /ke/). Also, Ilami Kurdish could be an indication of the middle stage because /ke/ and /xu/ were both used as a focus marker in most cases and /xu/ were used just in a few parts; there were also no focus marker as /ke/. In addition, as relative pronoun and other functions, just /ke/ is used. It seems that the situations observed in sedeh and Ilami Kurdish confirms the assumption of historical change. This also proves the assumption of the effect of the standard language on Khorsani dialects that /xo/x/ were put aside as focus markers and /ke/ was used like the standard Persian. In terms of geography, the second category of dialects was seen in south Khorsan as well as the cities or the suburbs of Tabas, Gonabad, Bejestan, Birjand, Ghayen, and Ferdows. Thus, the distribution is meaningful in terms of geography.
Sara Yazdani; Shahla Sharifi; Mahmoud Elyasi
Volume 8, Issue 15 , January 2017, , Pages 27-51
Abstract
1. Introduction
Hyland (2005) defines metadiscourse as a “cover term for the self-reflective expression used to negotiate interactional meanings in a text, assisting the writer (or speaker) to express a viewpoint and engage with reader as members of a particular community” (p. 37). Hyland has admitted ...
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1. Introduction
Hyland (2005) defines metadiscourse as a “cover term for the self-reflective expression used to negotiate interactional meanings in a text, assisting the writer (or speaker) to express a viewpoint and engage with reader as members of a particular community” (p. 37). Hyland has admitted that these rhetorical features convey the relation between the writer, text and reader which is more than a pure exchange of information. In this vein, newspapers are important means of information exchange. Readers of any social level in communities have access to it and on the other hand, unlike TV and radio, it would not oblige its users to confine themselves to a specific time or place. Therefore, the role of newspapers in reflecting the news is really significant. In spite of the importance of newspaper discourse, it has not been successful in absorbing researchers’ attention to study on language devices like metadiscourse markers in this type of texts.
2. Theoretical Framework
In analyzing the data of this study, Hyland’s (2005, p. 49) framework was utilized since it is a more elaborated and convincing model for metadiscourse categorization and it has been used in most of the recent studies. Hyland (2005) divided the metadiscourse markers into two broad categories: interactive and interactional, each of which is divided into five sub-categories. The interactive metadiscourse group contains: (1) Transition: expresses relations between main clauses, e.g. in addition, thus, and, (2) Frame marker: refers to discourse acts, sequences or stages, e.g. finally, my purpose is, (3) Endophoric markers: refers to information in the parts of the text, e.g. noted above, see figure, (4) Evidential: refers to information from other text, e.g. according to X, Z states, (5) Code gloss: elaborates propositional meanings, e.g. e.g. such as. The second group of metadiscourse markers includes: (1) Hedge: expresses writer’s uncertainty, e.g. might, perhaps, (2) Booster: expresses writer’s certainty, e.g. in fact, definitely, (3) Attitude marker: expresses writer’s attitude, e.g. unfortunately, surprisingly, (4) Self-mention: Explicit reference to author(s), e.g. I, we, (5) Engagement marker: explicitly build relation with a reader, e.g. consider, note.
3. Methodology
The data of the present study were collected from the leading and most widely read newspapers in the U.S. and Iran by means of random sampling. Random sampling is a contributing factor to overcome the diversity of writers’ styles. The English news articles were retrieved from an online newspaper archive, while the Persian ones were collected from Astan-e-Qods- Razavi library archive. The data sampling was based on easy accessibility, popularity and mass circulation of news articles. To normalize the present study to a common basis to compare the frequency of occurrence, this research employed 100 words approach. In fact, all of these articles were published on 12 September in 2001. All news articles were examined to determine and classify metadiscourse markers manually. Furthermore, to analyze the data statistically, SPSS 18 software was applied. To find out whether there is any difference between the metadiscourse distribution in both English and Persian news and to explore the meaning beyond this difference, the chi-square test was employed.
4. Results and Discussion
The findings revealed that all types of metadiscourse markers were present in both sets of data, but that there were similarities and differences between the two groups regarding their distribution and frequency. In general, interactive metadiscourse markers were employed the most in news reports, in comparison to interactional metadiscourse markers, according to chi- square test results. As for the subcategories of interactive metadiscourse, transitions and evidentials were meaningfully the most frequent markers in English and Persian news reports. Regarding the subtypes of interactional metadiscourse, hedges, attitude markers and boosters were statistically employed the most in both sets of data in terms of frequency of occurrence. Moreover, attitude markers, hedges, boosters and evidentials were used in both groups of news articles to display the hidden ideology for achieving power, but engagement markers and self-mentions were only present in English news reports to show the totalitarian ideology.
5. Conclusion
This study tried to investigate the role of metadiscourse markers about 9/11 news articles published in 2001 in the U.S. and Iran. This comparative study might provide pedagogical implications. It would be practical to train journalism students about using metadiscourse markers appropriately in order to achieve more success in reporting the world’s events. Hence, journalists by exerting metadiscourse markers not only would be able to deepen their readers’ understanding, but also might ensure to conduct them to grasp the content completely and ideally.
Amir Mohammadian; Azam Estaji; Shahla Sharifi; Mohammadreza Pahlevannezhad
Volume 6, Issue 10 , July 2014, , Pages 145-166
Abstract
Pain is a phenomenon experienced more or less by all people during their lives. Since sufferers usually use language as the most important human communication tool to inform others about their pains, sentences describing pain and studying them linguistically may reveal some points. In this paper, after ...
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Pain is a phenomenon experienced more or less by all people during their lives. Since sufferers usually use language as the most important human communication tool to inform others about their pains, sentences describing pain and studying them linguistically may reveal some points. In this paper, after a short introduction to the subject and reviewing the literature, we take one of the systematic methods for analyzing the language of pain presented by M. K. Halliday as the basis of our analysis. In this approach, pain is expressedthrough a process, a noun phrase or an adjective phrase. Then, the data comprised of conversations between a doctor and 80 patients in Mashhad will be analyzed according to Halliday’s method. The analysis shows that some of the introduced processes have not been used by the Persian speaking patients to describe their pains; moreover, an additional form for pain description is observed in the data, namely pain description using an adverb phrase.
