This paper seeks to analyze the research article abstracts among native English speakers and non-native (Iranian) speakers in the field of Electronic engineering. The analysis mainly focuses on the rhetorical structure, i.e. the constituent Moves/Sub-Moves. In addition, Verb choices and the voice and tense of the verbs in Move 2 and Move 4 respectively were examined. To this end, 25 published abstracts from each field (a total of 50 abstracts), all appearing in established, ISI journals, were selected. The model proposed by Santos (1996), composed of 5 moves along AntMover software was employed as a general guideline in order to identify Moves/SubMoves. The results compared and contrasted the dominant move patterns of each field, their unique Move/SubMoves, and the typical voice and tense of verbs employed in Move 4. It was also found that there were some variations between the abstracts written by native English speakers and nonnative speakers of English. It is hoped that with detailed analyses of abstracts, the results of this study may serve as a complement to the guidelines for novice writers to construct a proper research article abstract in electronic engineering.

The present study was conducted to examine the effect of explicit teaching of the speech act of apology on learning and recognition of Persian EFL learners with the help of e-communication through exchange of e-mails. The participants of the study consisted of 60 upper-intermediate EFL learners majoring in English Literature and Translation who were divided into two groups: a) the explicit teaching group and b) the implicit teaching group. Accordingly, instruction on various apology situations was provided and the experimental group was asked to have e-communication through e-mail exchanges with their instructor during the semester. The study consisted of a pretest and a posttest which was considered to be quasi-experimental. The independent variable was the explicit teaching of speech acts and the dependent variable was learning success of the participants. After the treatment, the participants were given a posttest. The Analysis of the results revealed that the learners in the explicit teaching group who participated in e-mail exchanges gained significantly in terms of pragmatic proficiency required for strategies of apology. And the use of explicit teaching of apology involving them in e-communication exchanges significantly enhanced the pragmatic awareness of Persian EFL learners.

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This study was an attempt to investigate the effects of Instagram application on learning grammatical accuracy of word classes of Iranian undergraduate TEFL students as well as to find out Iranian undergraduate TEFL students' perceptions of using Instagram application for learning grammatical accuracy of word classes. In doing so, an Oxford Placement Test was administered among 120 TEFL students, and based on the results, 92 students, studying in Islamic Azad University of Najafabad, Isfahan, Iran, were randomly selected. Then they were divided into two equal experimental and control groups (N=46).Their age ranged between 19 and 26 years old. Gender of participants was not considered as a variable in the study. The experimental group was taught grammatical accuracy of word classes via Instagram application, whereas the control group only followed conventional treatment. Analyzing the data through the independent sample t-test revealed that with the help of Instagram application, the experimental group outperformed the control group in terms of learning grammatical accuracy of word classes. Furthermore, Iranian TEFL undergraduate students had a positive attitude toward utilization of Instagram application.

The aim of this study is to seek two types of interpersonal model of Hyland (2005) used in conclusion sections of 30 Master Theses of English Teaching, English Literature, and English Translation written by male and female graduate students. These conclusion sections were categorized into two groups of male and female writers: 15 conclusion sections belonged to male writers and other 15 conclusion sections belonged to female writers. The interactive and interactional metadiscourse markers were counted and analyzed to find if male or female writers utilize these metadiscourse markers differently or similarly in conclusion sections of English disciplines (Translation, Teaching, and Literature). These metadiscourse markers were analyzed descriptively and referentially. The descriptive analysis show that both male and female writers in Translation, Teaching and Literature applied more interactional markers than interactive ones. In Translation and Teaching, female writers used more interactional resources comparing to male writers. But, in Literature, male writers employed more interactional markers than female writers. The referential statistics indicate that in English Translation and English Literature, there are significant differences between male and female writers concerning use of Interactive and Interactional metadiscourse Markers, while in English Teaching, there are not any significant differences between male and female writers regarding use of these metadiscourse Markers.