this study investigated how group formation method, namely student-selected vs. teacher-assigned, influences the results of the community model of teaching creative writing; i.e., group dynamics and group outcome (the quality of performance). the study adopted an experimental comparison group and microgenetic research design to observe the change process over a relatively short period of time. ...

hedging is a multi-purpose rhetorical strategy which is usually used in scientific arguments to secure ratification of claims, reduce the risk of negation, avoid conflict, manage disagreement and leave room for the audience to assess presented information. hedges are frequently used in research articles to mitigate the findings of research endeavors. the present research aims to investigate the...

this study investigates the strategies native english and persian speakers employ for expressing gratitude in different situations. the strategies of persian efl learners are also compared with english strategies in order to find the differences that may exist between these two languages. social status and size of imposition of the favor are social variables which are investigated in detail for...

as far as bandura’s (1977) conceptualization of the sense of self-efficacy is concerned, it is argued to be context- and even task-specific, compared to other concepts like self-esteem (brown, 2000); therefore, upon the previous research studies, related theories and definitions, and the ideas and views obtained from the interviews conducted with the scholars, the current research study aimed a...

the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of task repetition on accuracy of iranian efl learners ’speaking ability. in order to achieve this purpose, a null hypothesis was developed: there is no statistically significant difference between accuracy speaking ability in iranian efl learners by use of task repetition. ; of course i should mention that, beside this null hypothesis, an...

insurers have in the past few decades faced longevity risks - the risk that annuitants survive more than expected - and therefore need a new approach to manage this new risk. in this dissertation we survey methods that hedge longevity risks. these methods use securitization to manage risk, so using modern financial and insurance pricing models, especially wang transform and actuarial concepts, ...

abstract this study aimed at investigating the impact of etymology strategy instruction on the development of vocabulary of iranian intermediate efl learners. etymology, knowledge of origin of words, roots, and affixes, has proved to be a controversial issue and a question of long debate with regard to its impact on the process of vocabulary learning. this study employed etymology strategy in ...

the history of plant’s used for mankind is as old as the start of humankind. initially, people used plants for their nutritional proposes but after the discovery of medicinal properties, this natural ?ora became a useful source of disease cure and health improvement across various human communities. berberis vulgaris is one of the medicinal plants used in iranian traditional medicine. berberis ...

abstract the current research tried to examine the impact of multiple intelligence (mi) and its components on multiple choice (mc) and open ended (oe) reading comprehension tests. ninety six students of high school in grade four took part in this study. to collect data, participants completed multiple intelligence (mi) questionnaires along with a multiple choice (mc) and open ended (oe) forms ...

this study focuses on tracing the clearly defined elements of magic realism in toni morrison’s song of solomon as an illustrious african american example of the mode. magic realism is a fictional technique that combines fantasy with raw physical reality in a search for truth beyond that available from the surface of everyday life. toni morrison, as a distinguished african-american practitioner ...