Sharif Digital Repository

Among different subfields of pragmatics some have been analyzed meticulously and some seem to be in a more stringent need of investigation. ILP rating is a novel branch of pragmatics studies through which various aspects and process of rating the L2 learners’ pragmatics knowledge are analyzed. Unfortunately, despite its great impact on learning and teaching second language, investigation of L2 raters’ behaviors and criteria has not been explored much. Problems in the process of ILP rating are very critical, as they can easily undermine the fairness of the test. Therefore, this study attempted to analyze overall 100 EFL teachers’ rating criteria (50 Iranian nonnative and 50 American native)... 

Conveying a successful message within a language profoundly stems from not only a linguistically appropriate utterance, but also a pragmatically appropriate discourse too. Broadly considering various facets of pragmatics, pragmatic assessment has not been potentially brought into perspective, and, as a result, the literature deserves more comprehensive attention. This study, guided by the principles of mixed methods design, pursued three purposes: to inspect the matches and mismatches, to explore rating variations, and to assess the rater consistency between the holistic and analytic rating methods of agreement and disagreement speech acts in L2 by non-native English teachers. To address... 

Vocabulary knowledge is one of the main building blocks in the process of learning a new language and presents many challenges to language learners. Using computer software and online programs is suggested as possible approaches for overcoming some of these challenges. In the present study, the researcher attempted to study the effect of creating and sharing different sets of online flash cards on the use of vocabulary items among Iranian English for Academic Purposes (EAP) students. Thirty-nine university students in two groups participated in this study (29 males, 10 females). One group were instructed to create online flash cards containing the definitions of words and their synonyms and... 

In the past few decades the use of textbooks has increased dramatically in ELT due to the growing need for English both as a foreign and second language all over the world. Along with this growth in textbook application in ELT, textbook evaluation as a comparably new line of esearch has gained significant attention from both researchers and ELT specialists. As an attempt to contribute to this growing body of research, the present study was conducted to evaluate eight most popular global and local textbooks which are taught in Iranian ELT institutes in order to investigate the realization of environmental and human rights issues as well as other various topics in ELT textbooks in Iranian... 

In this millennium there has been a thought-provoking dispute over the inclusion of Critical Thinking (CT) programs into teaching syllabi; this inspiring challenge of change has led researcher to investigate the teachability and transferability of Critical Thinking. Thus, this study investigated whether explicit critical thinking instruction can foster critical thinking skills of in-service EFL teachers and enhance their disposition, perception and attitude. To fulfill the purposes of this study, California Critical Thinking Skill Tests (CCTST), EMI Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory, as well as perception and attitude questionnaires were utilized. The participants of this research were... 

Developing ESP knowledge of a specific academic discipline is not only a privilege but a prerequisite for successful performance in related academic and occupational settings. English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses at undergraduate level in Iranian universities are designed to serve this purpose. Needs analysis is the foremost step to design relevant and useful ESP courses, but how to approach needs in a motivating and interesting way is still a question pending further research. Accordingly, focusing on engineering fields in three Iranian state universities, this study aimed at identifying factors that affect engineering students’ motivation for learning technical English in ESP... 

It is generally observed that the textbooks employed in the classrooms play a crucial role in the process of teaching and learning a second/foreign language. As a result, a number of studies have been carried out to evaluate English Language Teaching (ELT) materials. Trying to contribute to this growing body of literature, the present study was conducted to evaluate the eight most popular global textbooks which are taught in Iranian ELT institutes in terms of their task types according to Nunan’s (1999) classification of the tasks. Nunan (1999) classified tasks into different groups according to the strategies underpinning them. He divided tasks into five major groups each one consisting... 

No-one likes being confined to a hospital bed. Children particularly can feel lonely, bored or frightened in these conditions. Hours feel like days, and they may not be able to fully comprehend why they are there. Among kids hospitalized because of distinct diseases, children with cancer have incomparable status and needs. They experience physical and mental problems caused by cancer and medications. Cancer treatment may cause distress which can lessen the effectiveness of the treatment. Utilizing social robots to interact with children in clinical environments has been verified to both diminish their distress level and enhance the effectiveness of the treatment process. To improve the... 

In this thesis, the purpose of the research was to develop a four-wheeled Mobile platform (Lower body) with three degrees of freedom for a humanoid robot upper body which is called RASA. RASA robot was designed and constructed for helping kids who have speech and hearing impairments. The objective was to develop a low-cost and affordable robot as compared to its international models to be used at home or school as a teacher assistant. RASA can help kids to learn signs as fast as possible due to the game-based and entertaining education system. The wheeled base platform consists of a new mechanism with 6 bar linkage for bending robot from the hip to about 60 degrees from a vertical position... 

The statistics show that around 5% of the world's population suffers from deafness. For these people, the most comprehensive way of communicating with the world around them is using sign language. These facts will clarify the need for review in design practices, especially in designing user interfaces, in order to make technology usable for people with disabilities. The present study wants to design a sign language-based user interface for the RASA robot. The goal is to enable the robot to interact with deaf users. In the first step, a cognitive architecture developed, to enable the robot to interact by sign language in specific working conditions. The second step was the implementation of a... 

Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) is regarded as one of the most significant advances in robotics in recent decades. It enables robots to map their surrounding environments without the need for external equipment and simultaneously determine their position on this map. In the present study, this technique was implemented on Arash social robot to enable it to estimate its position in the environment with decent accuracy and potentially be able to automatically move towards the targets determined on the map using a path planning algorithm. At first, Arash robot mechanically was redesigned for this technique, and then the hardware and software needed to high-level and low-level... 

The purpose of this research is the design and fabrication of a mobile social robot for children with cancer. This robot is named Arash. Interaction with the robot can improve children's education, as well as their mental condition. Design and development of Arash robot project have been carried out in a number of M.Sc. projects. In the present study, it is specifically focused on three areas of activity:
1. Design and fabrication of the robot head (and the overall appearance of the robot)
2. Design and development of human-robot interactions
3. Social and educational interactions/interventions of the robot with children
In this study, with the cooperation of child... 

Nowadays children’s toys and educational stuff, have been enhanced by technology and they have found capabilities like intelligence. It is obvious that after the period of using smart devices such as phones and tablets, robots and smart robotic tools will be popular. On the other hand, children are willing to use such smart devices. Social robots are smart ones that interact with humans and are not necessarily humanoid. One of the social robots applications is for educational purposes. Many studies have shown that teaching by means of robots has good effects on learning. For example robots have been used for educating autistic children. Moreover, robots have been used for rehabilitation and... 

Understanding teachers’ conceptualization of different aspects of their professional life is of great importance in the field of teacher education. Besides, given the significance of intercultural dimension of language education, characterization of teachers’ lay theories and self-perceptions in this regard could be of much help to teachers and teacher educators as one of the elements affecting professional development. Therefore, the present study was aimed at scrutinizing various facets of Iranian EFL teachers’ intercultural and professional identities in order to provide a clear image of (1) teachers’ evaluation of their cultural knowledge, skills, and attitudes, (2) the role of teachers’... 

Willingness to communicate (WTC) has recently received great attention in the area of second language learning. Thus, the concept of willingness to communicate and what would influence the students' willingness to communicate gain importance. The current study employed a hybrid design to probe Iranian students' willingness to communicate. First, self-report questionnaires were administered to 431 language learners to collect quantitative data. Then, interviews were conducted with 41 randomly selected learners who had already completed the questionnaires. Pearson correlation coefficient, one-way ANOVA, independent t-test through SPSS .16 and the Structural Equation Model (SEM) analyses... 

Since speaking seems to be the foremost skill in language learning, the evaluation of speaking ability has become increasingly important in recent years. Moreover, research on rater effect in speaking performance assessment has provided evidence for a considerable degree of variability among raters. This study investigated the use of holistic vs. nalytic rating scales in rating Iranian EFL learners‟ speaking performance. Moreover, the current study explored the effects of gender and experience on raters‟ rating in rating Iranian EFL learners‟ speaking performance applying holistic vs. analytic rating scales. The effects of ater variables (gender and experience) on weighing components of... 

The present study, examined native English speakers and nonnative English learners in terms of Interlanguage Pragmatics (ILP), more specifically intercultural variations in performing the two speech acts of compliments and compliment responses. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative analysis with regard to the research questions. First, the data was collected from 50 Americans and 50 Iranians through compliment and compliment response Discourse Completion Tests (DCTs). Then, patterns of strategies from natives and nonnatives productions, were extracted. Regarding compliments, 8 strategies were found including Appreciation or Admiration followed by Explicitness, Acknowledgement... 

Understanding others has long been a goal of language teaching yet remaining in the background of educational practices (Liddicoat, 2012). However, the recognition of importance of intercultural competence and its integration into language teaching and learning has grown due to globalization, increased mobility, and technological development. The existing challenge in the language-teaching domain is the integration of culture and language. The benefits and significance of developing interculturally competent learners are not covert to anybody; however, the important consideration of teaching culture is the necessity of amalgamating language and culture in an interculturally oriented language...