Metadiscourse markers (MDMs) are rhetorical devices used to enhance audience comprehension (interactive MDMs) and engage authors and audiences within a text (interactional MDMs). This study examines diachronic variation in the use of interactive and interactional MDMs across 240 research articles (RAs) from soft-pure (English literature), soft-applied (applied linguistics), hard-applied (pharmacology), and hard-pure (mathematics) disciplines, published in two periods (1994–1998 and 2019–2023). Using descriptive and inferential statistics, along with commentary on corpus excerpts, the results revealed distinct patterns of diachronic changes in MDM use, confirming temporal and disciplinary variations. Based on the findings, the study provides recommendations for English for academic purposes (EAP) and reading and writing courses. Additionally, suggestions for future research on this underexplored variation are offered.

The present study was aimed at a diachronic investigation of conjunction as a grammatical cohesive device in ELT research articles. A total number of 100 research articles concentrating on teaching writing skills in the EFL context, and were released in two extremes of 1980-82 and 2020-22 were selected. The caution was taken to choose the papers which were written by expert English writers. Working within a descriptive-analytical framework, the type and frequency of conjunctions used in the articles were examined. The results depicted that the frequency of conjunctions increased at the expense of dropping in their variation. Having looked more closely, we found that particular conjunctions grew in use while the others fell out of the writers' favor. This pattern was also visible in the studies in which non-English writers' research articles were examined. This change, therefore, is attributed to the development of the speech community and the rise of non-English writers. Eventually, we concluded that it might be better to revise our material in ESP classes to adapt to the changes in a speech community.

Crafting good essays and articles is regarded as a key segment of written discourse and often creates problems for students and EFL learners as well. Writing essays, meanwhile, forms a substantial component of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), which is one of the most accredited English language tests employed to assess the linguistic ability of those planning to work or study in an environment where the medium of communication is English. Working within the framework of Appraisal Theory, one hundred IELTS essays written by native and nonnative male and female writers were analyzed. It was found that nonnative writers employed more appraisal resources, male writers excelled female writers, and the resources used, in terms of frequency, were: Attitude, Graduation, and Engagement. The findings have theoretical and pedagogical implications for teachers, learners, material developers, and syllabus designers.

The abstract which complements proposals, articles, and dissertations, is a remarkable convention in scientific studies since it creates access for readers and authors to read or publish studies or articles. Research abstracts (RA) function as the gateway to view an article, journals' selection for contributions, and for conferences to accept or reject articles (Lores, 2004) In this study, we aimed to investigate the preferences of writers in 160 PhD dissertation abstracts, encompassing both male and female native and non-native authors, across various fields of study, both in the hard and soft sciences. Our primary objective was to discern the writers' inclinations towards utilizing specific linguistic resources, as proposed by Martin and White's Appraisal theory (2005), to convey their positions and engage with the perspectives articulated by their peers. The analysis of the data, conducted using statistical methods, unveiled a pervasive utilization of appraisal resources by the writers, enabling them to articulate their viewpoints, prospects, perceptions, and evaluations concerning diverse subjects. Among these resources, Attitude resources stood out prominently, constituting a substantial 84% of the total Appraisal resources employed in all the abstracts. Graduation resources held an intermediate position, while Engagement resources were the least utilized. Within the realm of Attitude subcategories, Appreciation resources emerged as the most prevalent. Remarkably, female authors specializing in the soft sciences displayed a higher degree of proficiency in the use of these resources, surpassing their counterparts in other categories. This finding suggests that female writers in the soft sciences possess exceptional interpersonal communication skills, making them particularly persuasive and inspirational. The implications of this study extend to the domains of language teaching and learning, material development, and syllabus design. It sheds light on how writers employ linguistic resources to convey their positions effectively, offering valuable insights for educational practices and curriculum enhancement.

The preface which initiates textbooks is a significant convention in writing academic textbooks as it introduces the book, explains assumptions, clarifies expectations, and convinces the readers to read on. In the present study, using Martin and White’s (2005) Appraisal framework, ninety textbook prefaces written by both native and nonnative writers, in both hard and soft sciences, were selected and analyzed aiming at exploring writers’ preferences for the type and frequency of appraisal resources. The statistical analysis of the data revealed that the writers plentifully used appraisal resources in the prefaces to express their attitudes, positions, and goals of the inclusion of various sections in the book. Attitude resources, in terms of frequency, are the most frequent, and Engagement elements are the least with Graduation items coming in the middle position. This is quite natural as all academic writing is to express opinions and positions, and prefaces, specifically, are less probable to indicate others’ attitudes and stances, but the authors’ positions and purposes behind the book. Based on the findings, it is concluded that native textbook writers are superior to nonnative writers in terms of communication power, establishing solidarity, and a convincing and forceful voice. The frequency of the subsystem of the main appraisals is also detailed in the article. This study can have implications for textbook writers, teachers, EFL learners, and materials developers.

Expressing doubt and certainty is a significant feature of academic writing where the authors have to distinguish opinion from factual information and evaluate the force of their statements in an acceptable and persuasive way. Hedging and boosting markers are two interactional metadiscourse strategies employed for this purpose. The present cross-cultural study aimed therefore at analysing the type and frequency of hedges and boosters in English research articles by native (Anglo-American) and non-native (Iranian and Burundi) authors in the field of Applied Linguistics. Based on a corpus of thirty research articles and adopting the taxonomies of Hyland (1998a, 2005a) and Hinkel (2005), the overall rhetorical and categorical distribution of hedges and boosters were analysed across two rhetorical sections (Introduction and Discussion) of the texts under investigation. To calculate their frequencies, AntConc, a concordance programme was used. Moreover, using SPSS version 22, chi-square tests were run to check whether there were statistically significant differences in the use of hedges and boosters in the three sub-corpora. The results of data analysis showed statistically significant differences in the use of both hedges and boosters and their types throughout the two rhetorical sections among the three groups of authors. In the light of the results, pedagogical implications are provided and discussed in detail.

The current study aimed to investigate listening comprehension problems and strategies used among Iranian advance EFL learners. Furthermore, this study tried to find the relationship between the participants' listening problems and strategy usage. Listening problems included input, context, listener, process, affect, and task problems while the listening strategies consisted of cognitive, meta-cognitive, and socio-affective strategies. A questionnaire was administered to collect data from 60 randomly selected Iranian advance EFL learners in a private language institute in Ahvaz, Iran. The outcomes demonstrated that the learners suffered from input and affect listening comprehension problems. Meta-cognitive strategy was the chief listening strategy used by the learners. The relationship between listening problems and strategy usage among the learners was statistically significant and negative. Results suggest that it is important for second language teachers to be aware of the different listening comprehension problems so as to enable listeners to use the appropriate strategies.

The present study aimed to examine the editorials of Iranian vs. Western media coverage of Syria crisis in order to reveal how the writers of journalistic texts employ various discoursal strategies to produce or reproduce the same issue differently and consequently manipulate the thoughts of the readers. Working within the framework of van Dijk (2000) and concentrating on two prominent newspapers, namely, Tehran Times Daily and New York Times, representing the Iranian and American media discourse, respectively, the present study investigated a set of editorials developed to discuss different aspects of Syria crisis. The critical analysis of the texts under investigation indicated a close relationship between language and ideology and the findings revealed that different discoursal strategies, including compassion, disclaimer, implication, national self-glorification, polarization, vagueness, and negative lexicalization are employed differently by editors to create or recreate specific ideologies in diverse sociopolitical settings. The implications of the study for language teaching and learning, and the applications of the findings in journalism studies are explained.

Received: September 24, 2019 Accepted: October 27, 2019 Published: November 30, 2019 Volume: 2 Issue: 6 DOI: 10.32996/ijllt.2019.2.6.17 The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between learner factors and critical reading ability. The participants of the study were fifty Iranian EFL learners. They answered to a questionnaire on critical thinking ability and took a critical reading test. Their scores were compared and contrasted with regard to the three variables under investigation, namely, proficiency level, gender, and topic knowledge. The results of the study revealed that while proficiency level has a positive effect on the enhancement of critical reading ability of the learners, gender and topic knowledge do not have a significant contribution to the development of this skill. The findings suggested important implications for EFL teachers and materials developers. KEYWORDS

The purpose of the present paper was to examine EFL learners' perceptions of affective variables in performing oral tasks with varying degrees of complexity. The data for the study were collected via a post-task questionnaire from a total of 20 upper-intermediate learners after they performed a set of twelve oral narrative tasks which differed along with the six complexity dimensions of number of elements, contextual support, reasoning demand, planning time, task demand, and topic familiarity. The overall results of data analysis revealed that learners’ affective factors including motivation, difficulty, stress, ability, and interest were affected by task complexity variables. This was reflected by the highest rates of difficulty and stress for the task without reasoning demand and the highest rates of perceived ability to complete the task, interest, and motivation in the tasks with contextual support. A combination of contextual support, prior knowledge, and planning time was found to have greater benefits on motivation levels, interest and perceived ability to complete tasks. The findings highlight the need to consider learners’ features, beliefs, and attitudes as a complexity variable for task grading and sequencing in syllabus design and materials development.

The present study aimed to examine EFL teachers' perceptions of task-based language teaching (TBLT) in Iranian context. The data for the study were collected through questionnaires from a total of 160 teachers at 20 different language institutes in Iran. The data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings of the study showed that the majority of Iranian EFL teachers have a clear understanding about TBLT concepts. However, there exist some negative views about implementing TBLT with regard to its classroom practice. Based on the findings, some pedagogical suggestions have been offered which can help teachers and teacher-trainers to design and implement TBLT more effectively in Iranian context.

Regarding the role of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) in discovering the way ideology is crystalized through the prevalence of various discourses, the present study is an attempt to examine how the journalistic personal and institutional ideologies and political positions are realized through certain textual and intertextual features. Using Perrin’s (2012) progression model, journalistic stancing with regard to the Iranian nuclear issue at three levels of micro, meso, and macro was investigated. The study of claims of unpeacefulness in the Western media texts under investigation reveals a systematic ideological bias towards portraying a negative presentation of Iranian nuclear policy. The Iranian journalists, however, tend to highlight the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program and the West’s double standards as well as Iran’s efforts in order to come to a mutual agreement. Implications of the insights provided by the study for confirming the premises of CDA and applications of the findings for teaching are explained in brief.

Working within the appraisal framework (Martin & White, 2005), an attempt has been made to identify the dialogic positioning, by which texts can favor particular value positions while pretending to be sharing their readers’ views through employment of certain lexical choices, hence stance markers. A set of Iranian and Western journalistic texts have been compared and contrasted to explore the ways Iranian and Western journalists employ such devices in the texts they develop for reporting the negotiations between Iran and 5+1 countries concerning the nuclear energy issues. Holding opposite positions regarding the Iranian nuclear issue, and employing different linguistic devices, both sides seem to have the same tendencies in this regard and made use of the contractively dialogic positioning more than the expansive one. The findings of the research indicate that media are a means in the hands of the powers in order to steer the public mind towards their favorite directions. In other words, events are not represented in the media as they are in reality, but go through journalistic practices.

The present study is an attempt to investigate the effect of form-focused guided strategic planning on lexical complexity of learners’ performance in writing tasks. The twenty intermediate level participants of the study performed an unplanned and then a planned decision-making task. In the planned task condition, the participants were provided with form-focused guided strategic planning which contained detailed instructions about how to plan, by being instructed to focus on form. The guidance included an explanation of the necessary structural and lexical patterns employed to express the learners’ views while developing a comparison-and-contrast paragraph in each task. The results of the statistical analysis indicated that the participants produced a written product with a greater lexical complexity in their performance of the task in the form-focused strategic planning condition. The findings emphasize the importance of guided strategic planning as a task condition in syllabus design for task-based language teaching and the necessity of incorporating this task feature for accomplishing lexical complexity in decision-making writing tasks.

Employing the appraisal framework in discovering the way ideology is crystalized through discourse, the present study attempts to investigate how journalistic ideologies and political positions are manifested through attitudinal terms. Referring to White’s (2012) distinction of attitude types, inscribed vs. invoked, based on Martin and White’s (2005) appraisal theory, journalistic ideology together with the positivity and negativity they offer with regard to the Iranian nuclear issue was investigated. The study also refers to the selection and omission of certain aspects in this regard by the media. The study reveals an ideological bias towards portraying a negative presentation of Iranian nuclear policy in the western media. Iranian journalists, however, tend to highlight the positive dimension of the Iranian nuclear program.

The aim of the current study was to examine conjunctions in academic texts. The corpus included 200 conference abstracts, of which 100 were written by Iranian novice writers and 100 by English native speakers. Each group of texts consisted of 50 abstracts from soft sciences and 50 from hard sciences. Following Liu's (2008) taxonomy, the frequency and type of conjunctions were examined. The results revealed that non-native writers use more conjunctions in their conference abstracts. Furthermore, it was found that compared to hard sciences, more conjunctions are employed in soft sciences. Regarding the role of L1, the results showed that non-native writers in soft sciences are more likely to use conjunctions. Moreover, the findings indicated that the most frequent conjunction type used by both native and nonnative writers are adversatives and additives in soft sciences, and additives and adversatives in hard sciences, respectively. The findings of the study have implications for teaching academic writing and material development for writing courses.