phatic communion is a cultural concept which differs across cultures. according to hofstede (2001), the u.s. tends to have individualistic culture; however, asian countries tend to have collectivistic cultures. these cultures view phatic communion differently. in individualistic cultures like u.s., phatic communion reflects speakers’ socio-cultural relationships in conversations. to see whether...

abstract type-ii fuzzy logic has shown its superiority over traditional fuzzy logic when dealing with uncertainty. type-ii fuzzy logic controllers are however newer and more promising approaches that have been recently applied to various fields due to their significant contribution especially when the noise (as an important instance of uncertainty) emerges. during the design of type- i fuz...

this study aimed at examining the effects of iranian efl learners’ anxiety, ambiguity tolerance, and gender on their preferences for corrective feedback (cf, henceforth). the effects were sought with regard to the necessity, frequency, and timing of cf, types of errors that need to be treated, types of cf, and choice of correctors. seventy-five iranian efl students, twenty-eight males and forty...

Since cucumber is one of the most economically important horticultural crops, production of hybrid seeds is very important for obtaining a profitable fruit yield. Detecting the best combination of the parents is one of the most important stages in each breeding program. By selecting parents with high heterosis in their progenies, breeders will be able to generate hybrids with high yield. This s...

according to cheng (1999), in recent esl/efl literature, asian (especially east asian) learners of english as a foreign/second language have been arguably reported as reticent and passive learners. the most common allegations are that these students are reluctant to participate in classroom discourse; they are unwilling to give responses; they do not ask questions; and they are passive and over...