Search published articles
Showing 19 results for Curriculum
Volume 0, Issue 0 (2-2024)
Abstract
Pre-service teacher education programs play a pivotal role in the formation and evolution of teachers' identities, wherein both formal and hidden curriculums exert significant influences (Beauchamp and Thomas, 2009). This qualitative study delves into the development of Language Teacher Identities (LTIs) among student teachers at Farhangian University, with a particular focus on the reformed curriculum.A qualitative research method was used. A total of 27 female student teachers shared their experiences through individual and focus group interviews. Thematic analysis was used for analyzing the interviews. The findings revealed mismatches between the student teachers’ envisioned identities and the curriculum’s expected identity, leading to feelings of cognitive unpreparedness. The study also highlighted the significant roles of both formal and hidden curriculums in shaping teacher identity, with both positive and negative changes observed in cognitive, social, and emotional aspects. The implications drawn from the study’s findings provide insights into curriculum design and teacher education programs, offering guidance on how to effectively support the construction of teacher identity and raise student teachers’ awareness of this transformative process.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (2-2024)
Abstract
The efficient and systematic design of language education programs through deploying instructional strategies and techniques and with the knowledge of learners’ cognitive make-up and their environment helps develop increasingly effective and capable language learners. Effective instruction begins with effective educational design which involves a wide range of practices, the most important of which is informed and structured material development. In line with these, the present study was carried out to analyze exercises in Arabic textbooks for public junior high schools in Iran based on Nation and McAllister’s (2010) principles of format and presentation of learning materials and activities. The research employed a descriptive design using qualitative content analysis and to achieve more valid and reliable results, Shannon’s entropy for weighting codes and statistical tests of homogeneity of variance, univariate analysis, and Kruskal-Wallis were used. The population and the statistical sample of activities considered in the study were the same and included all the exercises in the selected Arabic textbooks for the 1401-1402 AH / 2022-2023 academic year. Content analysis was done following a researcher-made scheme based on the layers proposed in Nation and McAllister’s (2010) principles, i.e., meaning-oriented input, form-oriented input, meaning-oriented output, and form-oriented output. The validity of the scheme was verified through expert opinion and its reliability was calculated using Pearson correlation. The results of the research showed that in these textbooks, there is no four-way balance in the activities and no harmony between the expected four types of activities on form, meaning, input, and output.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (2-2024)
Abstract
The aim of this research was to identify the challenges and requirements of teaching English in the curriculum system of Iran. The research questions focused on English language education in upstream national documents, the current state of English language teaching, the challenges facing learning, and the requirements for teaching English in schools. The study area was the city of Sarayan in the academic year 2022-2023. To conduct the research, document analysis, surveys, phenomenology, comparative studies, and focused discussion group were used. To examine the experiences of subject experts and English language teachers and students from interviews and to benefit from the experiences of other countries, the teaching methodology and learning outcomes of the four countries were meticulously examined. Changing the teaching method, increasing the teaching time, teaching from a younger age, retraining teachers, reviewing assessment techniques, redesigning the physical space, and revising the content and methods of retraining and empowering teachers are among the requirements set for effective English language teaching in the official curriculum.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (1-2024)
Abstract
This research aimed to explain and validate the green curriculum’s (GC) characteristics based on the critical competencies of education for the 21st century. Hence, a mixed research method was used. In the qualitative section, being used for identifying characteristics of GC, experts who have scientific experience(s) related to sustainability in Iran's higher education system were selected using snowball sampling, data were collected and analyzed through semi-structured interviews and content analysis, respectively. The validity of the identified GC characteristics was examined quantitatively based on the Lawshe method. In this section, based on the Lawshe method, 40 faculty members and doctoral students in educational sciences were selected using simple random sampling to evaluate the characteristics’ appropriateness by a three-level scale. Based on the results, 50 characteristics were extracted from the interviews and the documents. However, two of them were not acceptable based on the Lawshe method. Moreover, results revealed that each of the five competencies defined for education in the 21st century (including learning to know, learning to be, learning to do, learning to live together, and learning to transform oneself and society) is aligned with several characteristics of the green curriculum. Finally, some of our suggestions to operationalize the mentioned competencies in the format of GC can be offered as follow; considering environmental management in academic curricula in various fields, defining practical projects for students to apply whatever they have learned, encouraging students to communicate with environmental organizations, and also global research communities to widen their horizons toward environmental issues.
Volume 2, Issue 2 (7-2011)
Abstract
Acknowledging the strengths of the national curriculum, the present study aimed at evaluating its approach towards foreign language education from three perspectives: (1) analyzing the foreign language section of the national curriculum based on the methodological and theoretical underpinnings, and its internal consistency; (2) examining its content based on the basic assumptions mentioned in the literature for setting foreign language policies and (3) evaluating its content based on the macro-documents of the country. In so doing, first, the relevant sections of the national curriculum were analyzed. The results indicated that, although the foreign language section of the national curriculum has some strengths such as a move toward decentralization and increase in hours of instruction, it suffers from some weaknesses such as vagueness of the content and lack of consistency and connection among the aims of the instruction. In order to examine the document from the second perspective, 6 criteria that foreign language education policies should follow were extracted from the relevant literature, and the document was evaluated based on these criteria. The results indicated both consistencies and inconsistencies between the content of the document with these principles. The national curriculum, then, was evaluated to find its matches and mismatches with the policies and orientations of macro-documents. The results indicated that the foreign language section of the national curriculum cannot set the ground for achieving the goals proposed in the macro-documents of the country. Finally, the paper offers some guidelines for developing national English language curriculum.
Volume 4, Issue 1 (1-2024)
Abstract
I first described philosophers' metaphors for "mind", then classified and critically examined them, and finally deduced their educational implications. The results indicate that nine metaphors were used about the mind, based on which I divided the mind into passive and active. Among the mentioned metaphors, the metaphor of the fertile earth and the metaphor of the glasses are active metaphors according to which, unlike other metaphors, every student is a unique and thinking creature with freedom of choice and individuality. This perspective has a fluid view of the man who believes in free will and does not view him as a machine. The implications of the mentioned attitude in the curriculum elements are presented in a table. Since each teacher has a personal philosophy, his attitude toward students' minds can guide how he teaches and treats them.
Volume 6, Issue 2 (5-2015)
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to study the efficiency of general Arabic language teaching program in Kerman high schools based on the students’ and teachers’ viewpoints. This study is an applied quantitative method research. The research instruments are two researcher-made questionnaires for measuring the teachers’ and students’ viewpoints. The population involves all male and female Arabic teachers of Kerman city, as well as male and female Mathematics and Science junior high school students of all public high schools of Kerman city. The research sample was selected through stratified random sampling method, and amounted to 30 female Arabic teachers, 30 male Arabic teachers and 236 students. The findings revealed that Arabic language teaching goal is not consistent with the learners’ and society’s needs; Arabic textbooks’ content does not meet the content selection standards set in curriculum planning; Arabic teachers are not well prepared for Arabic language teaching; Arabic curriculum goals are not met; students’ proficiency in Arabic language skills is disappointing; students’ interest in Arabic language and learning, is moderately low; and finally, students’ acquaintance with Arabic language learning strategies is low. Accordingly, we can conclude that the increase in Arabic language teaching efficiency in schools needs more efforts to prepare the society with positive attitude towards Arabic language and Arab people, and also to change the educational approach to Arabic language teaching/learning in our school system.
Volume 6, Issue 4 (10-2015)
Abstract
Need analysis (NA) is one the important elements of the curriculum that tries to detect lacks, wants, necessities and the gap between the existing curriculum and developed curriculum. NA is a powerful tool that helps clarify and validate true needs. It enables educators and practitioners to shape the curriculum development that bases the content of language courses on the communication needs. This work analyzes the language lacks of the Arabic language and literature students of Iranian universities. The method of study is survey, and the research tool is questionnaire. The study sample is consisted of two groups of students and teachers. The method of data analysis is quantitative. The main question of this study is: “To what extend do students have problems in language skills” and “To what competence does problems belong?” The results showed that the students' language skills are above the average difficulty, and they have linguistic problems arising from the lack of communicative competence.
Volume 8, Issue 1 (3-2020)
Abstract
Aims: Health promotion competencies were defined as a combination of the essential knowledge, abilities, skills and values necessary for the practice of health promotion. The aim of this study was to assess the extent to which health promotion core competencies has been integrated in higher education (undergraduate and postgraduate) curricula of ministry of health and medical education in Iran.
Participants & Methods: In this qualitative content analysis, all the curricula of ministry of health and medical education of Iran were checked for the presence of courses such as health education, promotion, communication, consultation and planning, etc. through a summative approach.
Findings: Totally 241 curricula were checked. In the most of study fields, there were not the courses improving their competencies that constitute a common baseline for their health promotion roles especially in professional doctorate (medicine, pharmacy and dentistry) degrees.
Conclusion: Health promotion core competencies should be identified and considered in developing educational curricula for all health practitioners as an essential component of developing and strengthening workforce capacity to ensure quality health promotion practice.
Participants & Methods: In this qualitative content analysis, all the curricula of ministry of health and medical education of Iran were checked for the presence of courses such as health education, promotion, communication, consultation and planning, etc. through a summative approach.
Findings: Totally 241 curricula were checked. In the most of study fields, there were not the courses improving their competencies that constitute a common baseline for their health promotion roles especially in professional doctorate (medicine, pharmacy and dentistry) degrees.
Conclusion: Health promotion core competencies should be identified and considered in developing educational curricula for all health practitioners as an essential component of developing and strengthening workforce capacity to ensure quality health promotion practice.
Ehsan Ghabool, , ,
Volume 9, Issue 33 (5-2016)
Volume 9, Issue 33 (5-2016)
Abstract
Critical thinking is the integration of knowledge, attitude, and practical skill. Today the scholars of education believe that one of the most important aims of academic learning is critical thinking. After an introduction on this subject, our study presents a short history of the scholarship on critical thinking along with the five principals of any act of critical thinking, namely: (1) Inference, (2) Recognition of assumption, (3) Deduction (4) Interpretation, and finally (5) Evaluation of argument. Critical thinking, unfortunately, has no place in the educational system for Persian. Using Watson-Glaser’s questionnaire, we have evaluated the evolution of critical thinking amongst the students of Persian (2009-2013) at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Based on our statistics, we have concluded that the critical thinking has not improved in those years.
Volume 11, Issue 4 (10-2020)
Abstract
After the approval of the Document on the Fundamental Transformation of Education and the implementation of the National Curriculum, we have witnessed the implementation of a new curriculum on English in the education system. The program, with a change in the teaching approach, as well as the preparation and compilation of newly developed textbooks, has had a major difference with the previous traditional and inefficient program. Due to the fact that practically all first and second levels of high school textbooks have been developed and taught, the necessity of critical analysis and evaluation of the program, with due attention to its strengths and weaknesses from different perspectives is inevitable. To achieve this, the present paper, using the language-in-education policy and planning framework and through a qualitative analysis has attempted to assess and analyze the new English language program, through delving into attitudes of five experts in the field of English language planning. The findings indicate that the new program, along with its strengths, suffers from deficiencies in teacher education, curriculum period, and especially student evaluation; such ignorance leaves of the new program with serious challenges. In the end, based on the findings of the research, suggestions are made to reduce potential and actual weaknesses of the program as well as strategies are introduced to improve it.
1. Introduction
The post-revolutionary system of English language education in Iran has undergone various changes; the last one dates back to 2013. Following the approval of two significant higher-level educational documents known as the Document on the Fundamental Transformation of Education and the Document of the National Curriculum, the English language education in the Iranian formal system has experienced its most fundamental, and of course, controversial reform (Alavi-Moghaddam & Kheirabadi, 2013). In fact, the program, with a change in its approach, as well as reform in the preparation and compilation of new textbooks, has experienced a major difference with the previous traditional and inefficient program (Davari et al., 2018).
Conceiving the importance of this reform and the necessity of its evaluation at this stage, which has been mostly neglected in the available research on the topic, the researchers attempted to critically evaluate the program. In a more precise word, using the language-in-education policy and planning framework, they attempted to assess and analyze the new English language program.
2. Literature Review
The story of English education in Iran has been described and documented in a grwing number of works including Farhady et al. (2010), Borjian (2013), Atai and Mazlum (2013), Davari and Aghagolzadeh (2015), Aghagolzadeh and Davari (2017) and Iranmehr and Davari (2018).
Despite the difference in their points of view, the point in common in these works is the belief that English education in Iran suffers from serious shortcomings for which the necessity of a thorogh evaluation is perceived. Despite this fact, reviewing such works reveals that the English curriculum in Iranian education system, especially the new curriculum, intending to reform the education of this language in schools, has not been studied and analyzed from a policy and planning framework of evaluation. In doing so, this study is an attempt to critically evaluate the new program of English education through integrating an efficient policy and planning-based framework.
To serve this purpose, Kaplan and Baldauf's (1997) language-in-education planning (LEP) framework was adopted as the point of movement. Their framework presents a rather comprehensive platform for evaluating educational programs through five dimensions (curriculum policy, personnel policy, methods and materials policy, community policy, and evaluation policy). The study would try to keep a critical eye on the evaluation of the new Iranian program of English language education with respect to these five dimensions so that the shortcomings and limitations of the policies and practices could be highlighted.
3. Methodology
The sampling method used in this study was that of criterion-based selection. In this form of sampling, the researcher creates a list of attributes essential to the study and then seeks out participants to match these criteria. The criteria in this research were: a) Having PhD in applied linguistics; b) Having expertise in ELT curriculum development and evaluation; c) Being familiar with the English language education in schools. Then, eight specialists with such criteria were contacted, out of which five accepted to take part as participants in the research. Among the different types of the interviews, the semi-structured one was selected (Dörnyei, 2007) and the findings were thematically analyzed.
4. Results
Regarding the first policy, namely the curriculum policy, findings revealed that the new program suffers from two serious shortcomings. First, the reduction of seven years of English education in the previous program to six years in the new program is in contrast with the essence of the communicative approach. Second, the crowded classes, leading to less exposure of students to English, cannot meet the curriculum objectives. Such findings are in line with Aghagolzadeh and Davari (2017).
Concerning the second policy, i.e. the personnel policy, findings showed that setting new criteria in teacher selection and holding teacher education courses seem necessary. In specialists' views, due to differences in teachers' abilities and skills as well as tangible lack of professional knowledge among them, the implementation of the new program is faced with challenges. In their attitudes, the teachers' awareness of such changes in the curriculum is of upmost importance, though its absence is quite evident. Such findings are in line with Alavi-Moghaddam et al. (2018).
With regard to the third policy, namely methods and materials policy, the specialists' attitudes were positive. In their views, this reform in approach, teaching method and especially textbook development has been essential. However, they clearly asserted that due to the significant position of textbooks in Iran, as the main source of input in education system, their constant revision and update are necessary. In doing so, considering the views of materials developers as well as paying attention to teachers' feedback were emphasized.
Concerning the fourth policy, namely community policy, findings revealed that they had two concerns. At first, the reconstruction of the society’s view toward English language is necessary. Secondly, supplying the financial needs of implementing a nationwide program like this must be considered. In their views, the accompaniment of students along with their families with the new program can guarantee its success.
Regarding the last policy, i.e. evaluation policy, the participants had a negative attitude. In their views, the current university entrance exam imposes heavy burden on the new program. In a more precise word, in their views the successful assessment of learners' knowledge and skills cannot be achieved by the current exams.
5. Conclusion
In all, the findings indicate that the new program, along with its strengths, suffers from deficiencies in teacher education, curriculum period, and especially student evaluation; such ignorance leaves the new program with serious challenges.
The findings also promise some principal implications. First, they will redound to the benefit of language planners integrating the latest innovations in the field of curriculum development as well as considering the specialists' attitudes with regard to the program. Since the ever developing world of educational arena calls for a curriculum which meets the objectives, the findings of the present research can provide the language planners and material developers with an approach in which a thorough evaluation of the new program can be achieved.
Another possible line of research is investigating the teachers' attitudes and perceptions about the recent reform in the Iranian ELT program and the above-mentioned policies. Through such research, undoubtedly a more comprehensive evaluation of the program is provided.
Volume 11, Issue 4 (10-2020)
Abstract
The present study lies within the framework of university education policy in Iran. The main purpose of this comparative study is the necessity to review the quantitative and qualitative content of the headlines of drama at the French language and literature program. What is presented in this study consists of three sections: in the first section, we will reconsider the theoretical bases of overviewing educational content. In the second section, a comparison is made between the current situation of teaching drama of the French language and literature groups in Iran and three credible foreign universities, and in the final section, we will evaluate and present principles for the revision process for this course. In this study, the main hypothesis is whether the drama course needs change in terms of goals, content, style and opportunity of learning and evaluation in Iran. And if so, what changes should be made and in what areas and how? Consequently, after reviewing the curriculum, the change seems necessary. This change should be made through the participation of universities, professors and curriculum specialists. The author’s suggestions are also provided on how to present the course and the changes to be made in this regard. Finally, what we believe has been overlooked in today's drama course, which is in dire need of overhaul, is the issue of fostering student creativity and critical thinking. It should be noted that purely written or purely oral content, in the case of this particular course, cannot meet the needs listed above. Attractiveness is also one of the elements included in our proposed program, because attractiveness motivates. To this end, in the proposed lesson plan, a mixed method has been envisaged to stimulate the interest of the students by making use of new techniques. In this regard, in the proposed lesson plan, one or more plays have been suggested for each lesson
Volume 12, Issue 6 (3-2021)
Abstract
In recent years, the development of sociolinguistics basis along with the effective role of contextual features in didactics, have led language teaching policy makers to “localization of language teaching” approach all over the world. The attempt to resolve the educational deficiencies and shortcomings in the current methods of language teaching such as ignoring the language learners’ needs and context, led to development of theoretical basis and practical strategies in localization. This research, following an intercultural approach, intends to study the localization concept in French language teaching in Iran and to suggest a theoretical and practical framework for localization of foreign language teaching according to social, cultural, educational and political contexts in our country. In this research we aim to answer the two following questions: what are the mechanism and necessities of French language teaching localization in Iran, and, how is teaching culture in existing French textbooks and how far is it applicable .The present research is applicatory in nature and in terms of methodology, it is descriptive analytics, answering the main questions by means of content qualitative evaluation techniques. Our findings confirm the fact that French teaching in Iran is applicable in three levels, macro (educational localization), medium (curriculum localization) and micro (manual localization). On the other hand, content analyses of seven French teaching textbooks reveal unequal and unbalanced application of national identity factors versus French culture factors, ignoring intercultural approaches.
1. Introduction
The educational system, as a main pillar of the identity of countries, has a unique role in shaping national identity and keeping cultural values. In recent years, this issue has been considered by policy makers and those involved in education in our country, and they have struggled for a program-oriented policy for educational programs including foreign language education. The most recent of these efforts are the approval of the comprehensive scientific plan of the country (December 2010), the approval of the national education document (March 2010) and the compilation of the national curriculum (May 2010) (Kiabi et al., 2011, p. 188). Due to changes in the country's lagunage policies and based on the approvals of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution and the High Council of Education (in 1993, 2002 and 2015) teaching five foreign languages (German, French, Russian, Italian and Spanish) along with English in schools were recognized on the basis of respect for students' right to choose, with the aim of breaking the monopoly and breaking the dominance of the English language. Based on the history of teaching and translating French in Iran (since the Safavid era) (Moallemi, 2018,) this language has a special position among Iranian language learners and its textbook is the first book compiled by the Ministry of Education among foreign languages Other than English. According to the mentioned cases, the aim of the present study, on the one hand, is to investigate the mechanism of localization of French language teaching in schools appropriate to the social, cultural and educational context of Iran through critical and pathological examination of the current situation at the macro level (policies), medium level (National Curriculum), and micro level (French language textbooks) and on the other hand, a critical and pathological look at the existing French language textbooks in terms of intercultural issues to analyze the existing books, appropriate solutions to achieve the desired status of French language teaching in Iranian schools should be offered in accordance with the context and needs of Iranian students. Therefore, this study seeks to answer two basic questions: one is the need for localization of French language teaching in Iranian schools and in what stages and by what mechanism this process should be done and the other is how and to what extent cultural education in these books are included.
The results of this study can be summarized as follows: In order to answer the first question of research on the need to localize French language teaching in Iranian schools, it can be stated that based on the analysis of the content of the National Curriculum Document and the Fundamental Transformation Document of Education, attention to context components (social, political, cultural and educational) Emphasis on strengthening the components of Iranian culture and national identity, paying attention to the needs of Iranian language learners and their related components in the educational process, as well as the legal prohibition of using imported public textbooks in education in the country, "Localization of foreign language teaching" For example, it makes the French language a necessity in education. It should be mentioned that the steps and mechanism of localization of French language teaching in Iranian schools are classified into three levels: macro level (educational localization), medium level (curriculum localization) and micro level (textbook localization), the actions of which were described in detail. In order to answer the second question of this research, a researcher-made table of localization criteria in the field of culture education (components of national identity, French culture, French language and intercultural culture) was presented, which was the basis for content analysis of 7 French language textbooks.According to these analyzes, 208 cases of using national identity components (79 cases in middle school - 129 cases in high school and pre-university), 91 cases in French culture (5 cases in middle school - 86 cases in middle school and high school), 6 cases in intercultural approach (high school And pre-university) was identified, while no reference to French-language culture was found. It should be noted that the focus on teaching culture and national identity has been more than teaching French culture, but there is no balance for teaching these two cultures in textbooks of two levels of education and sometimes we see the complete elimination of one component in one year or one level of education. On the other hand, adopting an intercultural approach, in order to balance and synchronize the themes of Iranian culture and French culture (or more generally, French language culture) is very weak and is observed in only 6 cases among all textbooks, which indicates the authors' inattention to books. This shows the aouthers’ ignorance about this important issue.It is worth mentioning that the lack of attention to the intercultural approach leads to the adoption of defense policies and extremes in educational localization, which leads to the lack of public awareness of new methods of education and communication and deprivation of the indigenous community of most knowledge in other countries. It should be noted that applying the criteria in this table, along with identifying and considering the needs of Iranian language learners, can be a useful and effective solution in arranging future French language textbooks
1. Introduction
The educational system, as a main pillar of the identity of countries, has a unique role in shaping national identity and keeping cultural values. In recent years, this issue has been considered by policy makers and those involved in education in our country, and they have struggled for a program-oriented policy for educational programs including foreign language education. The most recent of these efforts are the approval of the comprehensive scientific plan of the country (December 2010), the approval of the national education document (March 2010) and the compilation of the national curriculum (May 2010) (Kiabi et al., 2011, p. 188). Due to changes in the country's lagunage policies and based on the approvals of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution and the High Council of Education (in 1993, 2002 and 2015) teaching five foreign languages (German, French, Russian, Italian and Spanish) along with English in schools were recognized on the basis of respect for students' right to choose, with the aim of breaking the monopoly and breaking the dominance of the English language. Based on the history of teaching and translating French in Iran (since the Safavid era) (Moallemi, 2018,) this language has a special position among Iranian language learners and its textbook is the first book compiled by the Ministry of Education among foreign languages Other than English. According to the mentioned cases, the aim of the present study, on the one hand, is to investigate the mechanism of localization of French language teaching in schools appropriate to the social, cultural and educational context of Iran through critical and pathological examination of the current situation at the macro level (policies), medium level (National Curriculum), and micro level (French language textbooks) and on the other hand, a critical and pathological look at the existing French language textbooks in terms of intercultural issues to analyze the existing books, appropriate solutions to achieve the desired status of French language teaching in Iranian schools should be offered in accordance with the context and needs of Iranian students. Therefore, this study seeks to answer two basic questions: one is the need for localization of French language teaching in Iranian schools and in what stages and by what mechanism this process should be done and the other is how and to what extent cultural education in these books are included.
The results of this study can be summarized as follows: In order to answer the first question of research on the need to localize French language teaching in Iranian schools, it can be stated that based on the analysis of the content of the National Curriculum Document and the Fundamental Transformation Document of Education, attention to context components (social, political, cultural and educational) Emphasis on strengthening the components of Iranian culture and national identity, paying attention to the needs of Iranian language learners and their related components in the educational process, as well as the legal prohibition of using imported public textbooks in education in the country, "Localization of foreign language teaching" For example, it makes the French language a necessity in education. It should be mentioned that the steps and mechanism of localization of French language teaching in Iranian schools are classified into three levels: macro level (educational localization), medium level (curriculum localization) and micro level (textbook localization), the actions of which were described in detail. In order to answer the second question of this research, a researcher-made table of localization criteria in the field of culture education (components of national identity, French culture, French language and intercultural culture) was presented, which was the basis for content analysis of 7 French language textbooks.According to these analyzes, 208 cases of using national identity components (79 cases in middle school - 129 cases in high school and pre-university), 91 cases in French culture (5 cases in middle school - 86 cases in middle school and high school), 6 cases in intercultural approach (high school And pre-university) was identified, while no reference to French-language culture was found. It should be noted that the focus on teaching culture and national identity has been more than teaching French culture, but there is no balance for teaching these two cultures in textbooks of two levels of education and sometimes we see the complete elimination of one component in one year or one level of education. On the other hand, adopting an intercultural approach, in order to balance and synchronize the themes of Iranian culture and French culture (or more generally, French language culture) is very weak and is observed in only 6 cases among all textbooks, which indicates the authors' inattention to books. This shows the aouthers’ ignorance about this important issue.It is worth mentioning that the lack of attention to the intercultural approach leads to the adoption of defense policies and extremes in educational localization, which leads to the lack of public awareness of new methods of education and communication and deprivation of the indigenous community of most knowledge in other countries. It should be noted that applying the criteria in this table, along with identifying and considering the needs of Iranian language learners, can be a useful and effective solution in arranging future French language textbooks
Volume 13, Issue 4 (10-2022)
Abstract
It is evident that the most important competence emphasized by any translation competence model (TCM) is mastery of source and target languages and cultures. On the other hand, languages and cultures are always closely tied, a fact highlighted more than ever by Agar’s (1994) proposed concept of ‘languaculture’. The present two-phase qualitative study was conducted with the purpose of investigating how the curricula of B.A. and M.A. English translation programs offered by Iranian state universities cover language and culture competence as compared to overseas peer programs and how they can be improved in terms of the said competence. To this end, content analysis of the relevant curricula as well as semi-structured interviews with Iranian experts were used to gather the required data. The principal finding of the present research is that it emphasizes the necessity of revising the current curricula in line with the maximum coverage of topics contained in a proposed list of Persian language and culture topics, English language and culture topics, and joint language and culture topics. The said list of language and culture topics, being another valuable finding of the study, may also be used for designing new autonomous translator, interpreter, and audiovisual translator training programs, or at least concentrations with specialized tracks and strands. Further, the detailed findings of the study, gained through an atomistic approach to language and culture competence, may be availed of by researchers who intend to conduct further studies on each and every element of this competence.
1. Introduction
A close look at various translation competence models (TCMs) shows that they all cover languaculture (LC) competence one way or another. As regards the language side of the coin, knowledge of two languages has been pinpointed using different terms, including ‘linguistic competence’ by Bausch (as cited in Rothe-Neves, 2007), ‘source and target language competences at discourse and style levels’ (Honig, 1991), ‘source and target texts processing’ (Hatim & Mason, 1997; Stolze, 1997), ‘source and target language knowledge’ (Bell, 1991; Kastberg, 2007; Kiraly, 2000; Russo, 2000; Schäffner, 2000; Sim, 2000), ‘grammatical competence’ (Beeby, 1996), ‘language competence’ (EMT Expert Group, 2009; Neubert, 2000), ‘language awareness’ (Fox, 2000), ‘proficiency, being related to certain special bilingual skills’ (Campbell, 1991), ‘communicative and textual sub-competence’ by Kelly (as cited in Brala-Vukanovic, 2016, p. 226), ‘bilingual sub-competence’ (PACTE, 2005, p. 611), ‘communicative competence in at least two languages’ (Göpferich, 2009), ‘comprehension and production strategies’ (Forte, 2012), ‘listening and analysis of source speech and production of target speech’ (Gile, 2009), ‘absolute command of the source and target languages’ (Gouadec, 2007, p. 150), ‘language skills’ (Pöchhacker, 2000), ‘pre-process competence, including language proficiency and terminology management’ (Albl-Mikasa, 2013), ‘perception, decoding, recoding, encoding, and expressing skills’ (Ma, 2013), and more recently ‘language and culture competence’ (Beikian, 2020; EMT, 2017).
Along the same vein, culture sub-competence, albeit variously termed again, goes hand in hand with language sub-competence in most of the models having been examined in the course of the present study. Some terms used by scholars to mention culture sub-competence in their proposed TCMs include ‘communicative competence in source and target language cultures’ (Bell, 1991), ‘cultural knowledge’ by Stolze (1992), ‘cultural knowledge of the source and target language’ (Kiraly, 1995), ‘sociolinguistic and discourse competence’ (Beeby, 1996), ‘cultural competence’ (Kastberg, 2007; Neubert, 2000; Pöchhacker (2000), ‘cultural competence, including knowledge about cultural, historical, political, economic, etc. aspects in the respective countries’ (Schäffner, 2000), ‘sociocultural competence’ (Fox, 2000), ‘source and target culture controls’ (Sim, 2000), ‘cultural sub-competence’ by Kelly (as cited in Brala-Vukanovic, 2016, p. 226), ‘extra-linguistic sub-competence, made up of encyclopedic, thematic and bicultural knowledge’ (PACTE, 2005, p. 611), ‘intercultural competence, consisting of sociolinguistic and textual dimensions’ (EMT Expert Group, 2009, pp. 4-7), ‘multi-cultural competence’ (Gouadec, 2007), and finally ‘language and culture competence’ (Beikian, 2020; EMT, 2017).
2. Purpose
One of the most apparent applications of some of the given TCMs is as valid frameworks, the aim of which is to shape curriculum proposals in higher education (Campbell, 1998; Schäffner, 2000; Kelly, 2002; Pym, 2003; Colina, 2003; Kearns, 2006; Morón, 2009, Beikian, 2020). The present two-phase qualitative study was conducted with the purpose of investigating how the curricula of B.A. and M.A English translation programs offered by Iranian state universities cover LC competence as compared to overseas peer programs and how the said national programs can be improved in terms of covering this pivotal competence.
3. Research Method
The first phase of the study aimed at finding how LC competence is covered by Iranian state universities offering B.A. and M.A. translation programs in English and their overseas peer programs. Since Iranian state universities are not ranked officially, all 23 B.A. translator training programs and 8 M.A. translation studies programs offered in English by Iranian state universities were included in the study. As regards overseas peer programs, based on U21 Ranking of National Higher Education Systems in 2020, translation programs offered in 49 countries enjoying top systems of higher education were included in the study, which resulted in examining 20 B.A. programs and 73 M.A. programs. In order to access the curriculum of each program, first we consulted the program website; and if the required data were not found, we used personal communication with the program contact person. Then the contents of the national and overseas curricula were analyzed and all language and culture courses were extracted. Afterward, the said courses were categorized based on the themes which the researchers had extracted from the relevant literature. In addition, the courses extracted from the national and overseas curricula were further compared and contrasted for the purpose of finding the similarities and differences among them.
In the second phase, we interviewed 55 Iranian experts who had been defined to be either university teachers having taught translation and/or interpreting courses at Iranian state universities for at least 3 years or translation studies Ph.D. candidates being graduates of both B.A. and M.A. translation programs offered in English by Iranian state universities. Then semi-structured interviews were transcribed and analyzed using the ‘structuring’ form of qualitative content analysis method. To this end, first of all, tentative categories were defined and explained in the coding agenda; and for the purpose of differentiating the categories, coding rules were defined. Subsequently, the transcript of each interview was read and every statement seeming relevant at a first glance was underlined. After reconsidering the developed categories, the content of each transcript was structured using a color scheme. Then statements, opinions, and quotes were taken out by order of their color and summarized into the category system, although some were quoted directly. In the end, the categories and subcategories were analyzed by tallying their frequencies, which were then represented using tables.
4. Findings and Discussion
As regards language sub-competence, while Iranian programs mostly focus on receptive and productive skills as well as such components as grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation, foreign peer programs offer quite variegated courses such as etymology, text analysis, appreciating written texts, language consolidation for translation and interpreting purposes, business communication, communication skills, language and communication studies, health communication, characteristics of specialized texts, text analysis for translation, creative writing, intensive writing, advanced native language, native language skills for translation, multilingual debate, conversation analysis, analysis of persuasive texts, language fluency for interpreters, native language for conference interpreters, native language fluency enhancement, editing in native language writing, native language in audio-visual translation, documentation and terminology for translation, lexicology, applied terminology, and foreign language semantic factoring.
When it comes to culture sub-competence, there are only a total number of 6 culture courses contained in the curricula of Iranian B.A and M.A. programs. What adds fuel to this flame of failure to cover culture adequately is that some of the courses (e.g., ‘cultural elements in two languages’ and ‘culture and sociology in translation) are electives, allowing Iranian universities either not to offer them at all or, in the best scenario, suffice to offering only one (Rezvani &Vakilinejad, 2012). This is while foreign peer programs offer a multitude of various courses intended to form students’ cultural competence, such as communication across cultures, subjects in culture and communication, variation and change, discourse analysis, discourse and power, language and power, language and culture, culture and conflict, intercultural studies, intercultural communication, cross-cultural perspectives on society, representation of cultures, intercultural perspectives on sustainable development, institutional discourse, changing topics from the intercultural communication area, culture and business, advanced intercultural communication/negotiations, advanced political and legal communication, and advanced health communication.
According to the Iranian experts, national B.A. programs are afflicted with such problems as applicants’ not having good commands of English language proficiency (agreeing with Behafarin, 2015; Hadipour, 2017; Riazi & Razmjou, 2004; Yousefi, 2014; Ziahosseiny, 2003) and Persian language proficiency (consistent with Behafarin, 2015; Miremadi, 2003; Riazi & Razmjou, 2004) and their ill-informedness about the nature and requirements of the program. The said experts argued that Iranian M.A. programs suffer from such deficiencies as admission of applicants who are mostly ill-informed about the nature and requirements of the program (consistent with Birjandi & Nosratinia, 2009), unsatisfactory admission system, applicants’ not having good commands of Persian and English proficiency (compatible with Miremadi, 2003), and inadequate prerequisite courses for the students not having done their B.A. in translation. Added to these are out-of-date curricula and departments’ lack of adequate autonomy to determine admission criteria.
When asked about how the B.A. situation could be improved, the interviewees suggested that admission criteria be made stricter (confirming Hadipour, 2017; Khazaee Farid & Khoshsaligheh, 2010) by adding independent English and Persian proficiency tests to the current entrance exam and including English and Persian writing competence tests in the same; departments be given autonomy on admitting applicants using admission interviews; applicants be required to provide an acceptable TOEFL or IELTS score; an English proficiency placement test be given to newly admitted students (compatible with Ziahosseiny, 2003); courses on Persian language reading, writing, and editing (consistent with Khoshsaligheh, 2014; Miremadi, 2003; Riazi & Razmjou, 2004; Sohrabi, Rahimi & Arjmandi, 2015) as well as courses on English and Persian cultures (in agreement with Behafarin, 2015; Khoshsaligheh, 2010; Salari & Khazaee Farid, 2015) be added to the curricula; the present curricula be revised by modeling successful leading programs worldwide (agreeing with Heydarian, 2003; Khazaee Farid, 2001; Miremadi, 2003); and textbooks be localized.
As a way out of the current M.A. situation, the Iranian experts proposed that the current entrance exam be made stricter by adding an admission interview and a practical translation aptitude test in the form of essay questions; stricter language proficiency criteria be established by requiring applicants to provide an acceptable TOEFL or IELTS score; applicants not having done their B.A. in translation either not be admitted or be required to provide an English proficiency certificate; courses directed at training political and journalistic text translators and localization experts be included in the curriculum; courses be directed at training specialized translators and interpreters; courses such as Localization, Foundations of History, Editing and Proofreading, CDA and Translation, and Foundations of Culture and Sociology be included in the curriculum; the course Sociocultural Studies in Translation be offered as a compulsory course; and the present curricula be revised by modeling successful leading programs worldwide (confirming Heydarian, 2003; Khazaee Farid, 2001; Miremadi, 2003).
5. Innovation and Contribution
Upon integrating the findings of the two phases of the study, we prepared a list of course topics jointly recommended by the interviewees and extracted from the curricula of peer overseas programs. The principal contribution of the present research is that it emphasizes the necessity of revising the current curricula in line with maximum coverage of topics proposed as a list of Persian LC topics, English LC topics, and Joint LC topics. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that this list is based both on Iranian experts’ views and the insights gained from the curricula of a total of 93 foreign peer programs offered by leading universities worldwide. The said list can prove very useful for both revising the current curricula and devising new ones. It is axiomatic that the proposed LC course topics are too many to be assigned individual courses. This is why they have been labeled ‘course topics’, which implies that when revising the exiting curricula or devising new ones, curriculum designers need to merge several related course topics in one single course. In addition, these course topics have been proposed with an eye to designing autonomous translation, interpreting, and audiovisual translation programs, concentrations, and specialized tracks.
Volume 13, Issue 5 (12-2022)
Abstract
The present study explored the Ecuadorian secondary school teachers' beliefs about teaching EFL in the context of national curriculum reform. The data comprised in-depth interviews with 16 teachers from 14 public secondary schools in Ecuador. The interviews were semi-structured, and they were guided by a set of questions probing into the teachers’ beliefs about instructional design, assessment, teaching materials, and learning activities. Qualitative analysis of the interview transcripts revealed some interesting insights into the Ecuadorian teachers' beliefs and reported practice. The findings showed that the teachers were positive about the principles and innovation in the new curriculum designed by the Ministry of Education. However, various contextual and practical constraints hindered the teachers from implementing the intended curriculum. These factors included large class size, a lack of teacher training and professional development, and the heavy load caused by compulsory extra-curriculum activities. Implications for EFL pedagogy and teacher professional development are discussed.
Alireza Mohammadi Kalesar,
Volume 15, Issue 58 (8-2022)
Volume 15, Issue 58 (8-2022)
Abstract
The new fields of Persian language and literature have fundamental drawbacks besides their benefits. The lack of theoretical foundations in defining these fields is the most important drawback. The lack of specific, methodical theoretical foundations has caused the involvement of some unconscious presuppositions in the targeting and definition of these fields and their curriculums. In this article, by reviewing some of the subfields, these non-methodical foundations and their blind spots have been discussed. The most important of these items are (1) traditional and theme-oriented view of classification and definitions, (2) lack of problematic and methodical view in the definition of subfields and curricula, (3) reductionism in selecting the texts and subjects because of superficial focusing on localization, and (4) lack of interdisciplinary approach. These drawbacks are in close relation to each other. The greatest impact of these drawbacks is the lack of research findings in the academic literature. In this paper, we have focused attention on the interdisciplinary approach for methodological and research expansion of the field of Persian language and literature.
Extended Abstract
The most important of these blind spots are: traditional and theme-oriented view of classification and definitions; lack of problematic and methodical view in the definition of subfields and curricula; reductionism in selecting the texts and subjects because of superficial focusing on localization; lack of interdisciplinary approach. The view based on a common and conventional understanding of literature, literary works, the meaning of texts, genre classifications, and the like has determined the formation of most of these areas. It has also influenced the definition of teaching. In addition, the tendency toward localization has, first, made it difficult to use the critical view, and second, with directional and non-academic definitions, has removed many texts from the topics covered in postgraduate courses.
By marginalizing the importance of theoretical foundations, problem thinking, and the critical view, these features have led to a shift away from research-based approaches in new fields. The explicit or implicit avoidance of addressing new topics in courses and curricula has resulted in papers and dissertations that benefit from new approaches being written independently of course topics, without taking advantage of the courses passed and official intentions of the field. The lack of theoretical foundations in the definition of these areas and the recourse to some non-specialized foundations and presuppositions has led to the fact that the objectives introduced in the formation of most of these areas have non-literary motives (ideological, social, religious, mystical, etc.).
Some of the aspects of non-methodological planning and lack of theoretical and problem-oriented foundations in the course headings: a topic-oriented approach (in the traditional sense) to texts, a non-methodological approach to theories and their transformation into fixed patterns for implementation and adaptation to texts, a non-methodological approach to research methods and their transformation into historiography, literary history, and bibliography. However, an important point overlooked by planners is to use the capacity of interdisciplinarity to develop the field of literature instead of using intradisciplinary, text- and topic-oriented divisions based on the conventional criteria of literary types. Because of its problem-oriented and innovative nature, interdisciplinarity helps to open new perspectives on academic literature. By highlighting new topics, interdisciplinarians also contribute their methodology. For this reason, they contribute to the development of literary research without analyzing and categorizing literary texts by drawing perspectives and approaches.
The purpose of this article is to remind that there is a lack of adequate theoretical foundations in new areas of Persian language and literature and that the presentation of corrective proposals requires a separate article as an independent writing topic. It seems that in order to solve the existing problems, instead of relying on the current criteria, one can rely on criteria such as interdisciplinarity, diversity of approaches (instead of diversity of texts and conventional genres) and even historical divisions related to intellectual and linguistic developments in defining new areas and literary topics in class preparation. All this will lead to the desired result if any action towards introducing the subjects of literature or attempting to design new areas is based on firm and sound theoretical foundations and far from conventional understanding.
Using the experience of other countries' in developing academic literature is also a measure to revise and reform the fields of Persian language and literature. These reforms will help expand the frontiers of literary knowledge and strengthen research and critical faculties rather than relying on local, political and ideological affiliations.
Volume 19, Issue 76 (4-2022)
Abstract
The purpose of present study is to investigate and compare elementary school teachers' awareness of national curriculum in Tehran and Khuzestan and to investigate their opinions about national curriculum content, the effects of Persian instructional resources in Arab zones on education, and elementary school teachers' issues and challenges respect to it and their classroom practices. Data are gathered by researcher-made and research-derived questionnaires. The sample included 160 teachers from first grade of elementary school in Tehran and Khuzestan. Comparison of the mean scores of the questions about the curriculum information in teachers in Tehran and Khuzestan showed that although teachers in Tehran and Khuzestan do not have enough information and knowledge about the national curriculum document and its content, but comparing the two groups shows that teachers in Tehran are more familiar with the national curriculum document and its content than teachers in Khuzestan province. The results of comparing teachers' opinions on the content of the National Curriculum Document were also presented in detail. Khuzestan primary school teachers assessed the effect of Persian language content on education as unfavorable and inefficient. They considered the Persian language skill level of teachers and students to be insufficient for knowledge transfer and teaching. They found the effect of Persian language on education and problems in Khuzestan teachers above average. Moreover, according to teachers of Khuzestan, Persian language book are not only effective, but they also increase instructional problems and they do various practices in class in order to solve these problems.
Volume 21, Issue 2 (10-2015)
Abstract
In the opinion of many specialists and teachers, there is lack of enough attention to the needs of the students and their learning styles in the Arabic language curriculum. Learning styles are important factors in the success of teaching. This study aimed at determining the learning styles of Arabic language and literature students in Iranian Universities. The method of study is survey, and the research tool is questionnaire. The study sample consists of two students in Arabic language and literature. The method of data analysis is quantitative. The main questions of this study are: A: What are the common learning styles of learners? and B: What are the preferred learning styles of learners?? The results indicate that analytical learning and authority-oriented learning are common learning styles of learners and communicative Learning and concrete learning are their favorite styles.
Volume 30, Issue 3 (3-2024)
Abstract
The present study mainly aims at "identifying the characteristics of environmental curriculum elements in the higher education system based on the Acker's approach". The research method was qualitative and based on phenomenological strategy. The statistical population of this study included experts and professors in the field of curriculum and environmental education who were selected through purposive sampling using the snowball method. The selection of sample continued until the theoretical data saturation, and finally 22 people were interviewed, including 9 curriculum specialists and 13 environmental education specialists. The necessary data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Nvivo software version 8 by "themes network" thematic analysis technique and analyzed during open, pivotal and selective coding steps. Also, in this study, Lincoln and Guba (1985) evaluation method was used to ensure the validity and reliability of the information. To this aim, the reliability, credibility, verifiability and transferability criteria were considered. The results indicated that the ten elements of the environmental curriculum (including logic, objectives, content, teaching-learning activities, the role of professors, educational resources, grouping, place, time and method of evaluation) for higher education have features that if used can increase students' environmental capabilities.
| Page 1 from 1 |