تحقیق حاضر جهت بررسی ارتباط میان بکارگیری راهکارهای خواندن و درک متون توضیحی و استدلالی میان زبان آموزان در سطوح مختلف زبان صورت گرفته است. هدف محقق از انجام این تحقیق یافتن هر گونه ارتباط قابل توجه بین راهکارهای خواندن و درک متون توضیحی و استدلالی است. شرکت کنندگان این تحقیق 120 نفر از زبان آموزان کانون زبان ایران بودند که بر اساس آزمون تعیین سطح به سه گروه تقسیم شدند. سطح مبتدی شامل 44 نفر و سطوح متوسط و پیشرفته هر کدام بترتیب دارای 51 و 25 نفر بودند. در اولین جلسه، نسخه فارسی پرسشنامه راهکارهای خواندن توسط زبان آموزان تکمیل شد. این پرسشنامه یکی از گسترده ترین ابزار برای سنجش استراتژی های خواندن میباشد که در سال 1990 توسط آکسفوورد اختراع شد. در جلسه دوم، شرکت کنندگان ملزم به انجام یک تست خواندن درک مطلب بودند. این تست شامل چهار درک مطلب بود ( دو متن توضیحی و دو متن استدلالی). در این راستا جهت نیل به هدف تحقیق، محقق از ضریب همبستگی پیرسون وتحلیل رگرسیون چندگانه استفاده نمود. یافته های تحقیق حاضر حاکی از آن بود که رابطه مثبتی میان بکارگیری راهکارهای خواندن و درک متون توضیحی و استدلالی میان زبان آموزان در سطوح مختلف زبان وجود داشته و بدین ترتیب فرضیه های صفر این مطالعه رد شد. همچنین استراتژی های خواندن بعنوان یک عامل مهم در درک متون توضیحی و استدلالی مشخص شد.
ABSTRACT
This study was an ex post facto descriptive attempt to investigate the relationship between EFL learners’ use of reading strategies and comprehension of expository and argumentative text across different proficiency levels. In order to fulfill the purpose of this study, 120 female EFL learners aged within the range of 14 to 30 years participated in the study. The sample was selected from one of the branches of ILI language school. As proficiency levels were considered as a variable in this study, each level namely beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels included 44, 51, and 25 participants. Students were assigned to each level through the International Language Institute’s (ILI) placement test. In the first session, a Persian version of Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) questionnaire was administered to students. The SILL is the most widely used instrument for identifying reading strategies and in was created by Oxford (1990). In the second session, the participants took the reading tests. Each subject was assigned a test booklet which contained four reading passages (two expository and two argumentative passages). The Flesch Reading Ease formula was used in order to determine the suitable level of texts. Flesch Reading Ease Formula is considered one of the oldest and most accurate readability formulas. Finally, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the data. The results of this research revealed that, there is a significant relationship between EFL learners’ use of reading strategies and their comprehension of expository and argumentative texts across different proficiency levels. Also it was shown in the data analysis that EFL learners’ use of reading strategy was a significant predictor of their comprehension of expository and argumentative texts.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER I: Background and Purpose
1.5.3 Proficiency level ……………………………………………………………………………………………13
CHAPTER II: Review of the Related Literature
2.1 What is reading?……………………………………………………………………………………………………19
CHAPTER III: Method
CHAPTER IV: Research and Discussion
CHAPTER V: Conclusion and Pedagogical Implications
Appendices
Lists of Tables
Table 4.6 Descriptive Statistics of the Obtained Scores on expository text comprehension tests …192
Lists of Figures
CHAPTER I
Background and Purpose
1.1 Introduction
Language-teaching methodology has seen a dramatic increase in attention to the strategies investment that learners can make in their own learning process. The learning of any skill involves a certain degree of investment of one’s time and effort. According to brown (2001) A language is probably the most complex set of skills one would ever seek to acquire; therefore, an investment of strategies is necessary in the form of developing multiple layers of strategies for getting that language in to one’s brain.
Reading is a fundamental skill for English foreign/second language (EFL/ESL) learners (Anderson, 2003). Rivers (1981) considers reading as the most significant activity in language classrooms since it acts not only as a source of information and a pleasurable activity, but also as a means of consolidating and extending one’s knowledge of the language. According to Anderson (2003), it is an essential skill for learners of English and for most of learners it is the most important skill to master in order to ensure success in learning. With strengthened reading skill, learners of English tend to make progress in other areas of language learning.
In the last two decades, attention has been paid to understanding what proficient readers typically do while reading, including identifying the strategies they use and how and under what conditions they use those strategies. This line of research has been useful in instructing non-proficient first and second-language readers to increase their awareness and use of reading strategies to improve comprehension (Sheorey & Mokhtari, 2001). For successful reading, students are required to understand the meaning of text, critically evaluate the message, remember the content and apply the new-found knowledge flexibly (Pressley, 2000). In order to reach these objectives, proficient readers use a variety of strategies before, during and after the reading of a text in order to comprehend the text and prevent any problem which may occur during this process. In other words, strategies are considered as the most beneficial tools any reader can use for controlling progress of and for ensuring success in reading. Applying strategic behavior in reading requires that readers intentionally engage in planned actions under their control (Alexander, Graham & Harris, 1998).
Beside the importance of reading strategies, text comprehension is also crucial. Text comprehension is an interactive process in which linguistic elements in a discourse or text interact with each other to create the “texture” of a text (Halliday & Hassan, 1976, de Beaugrande & Dressler, 1981). The second level of interactions is between bottom-up and top-down processing of texts take place in the readers’ minds, or between linguistic knowledge and world knowledge (Eskey, 1988, Grabe & Stoller, 2002). The third level of interaction is an interpretive one between the reader and a text, or between the reader and the writer through a text (Nuttal, 1996, Ozono and Ito, 2003). Lipson and Wixon (1986), among others, claim that research on reading ability as well as reading disability should adopt an interactive view. Such a view takes into account the dynamic process of reading in which the reader, text, process, and the setting conditions of the reading situation interact in an active and flexible manner. This claim should be extended to reading in a foreign language as well. In fact, to understand how foreign language learners comprehend texts, many researchers have emphasized the need to study the differential contribution of text-based characteristics such as genre, text structure parameters, and textual markers (Geva, 1992; Camiciottoli. 2003; Carrel, 1985).
In addition, the readers’ ability to comprehend a text may vary as a function of the text type (Schneuwly, 1997; Alverman, et al., 1995). According to Neubert (1985) text types motivate particular frames and act out certain scenarios. They recast the linguistic material available in the system of a language into socially efficient, effective and appropriate moulds. He believes that texts are various instances clustering around a holistic experience that has been shared over time. This ‘prolonged interactive experience’ takes the shape of prototypical encounters and this empirical prototypicality is then translated into the concept of the prototype text. Other scholars have come up with their own text typologies. More specifically, Werlich (1976) distinguishes between five text types: description, narration, argumentation, instruction, and exposition text types.
In today’s society it is essential to be able to read fluently, particularly, expository and argumentative texts (Chambliss, 1995; Gresten, Fuchs, Williams, & Baker, 2001). Understanding the rhetorical relations of texts is to be at the heart of the comprehension process of the text and of the writers’ intention in the text (Alavi, 2001). It follows that if readers can infer textual relations in less demanding texts, they may not be as successful when they have to read and learn from texts that are more demanding, i.e. when they have to learn from expository text, or pinpoint niches from argumentative texts. This difficulty may further illustrate the challenges facing readers of English as a foreign language as the focus of literacy programs shifts from “learning to read”, a prominent target in the primary grades to “reading to learn” through English at the university (Chall, et al, 1996).
Berman and Katzenberger (2004) suggested that the well-formed expository texts are constructed beginning from high school. Expository texts are written to convey, describe, or explain non-fictional information. It is more difficult for ESL/EFL learners to understand these types of materials than narrative texts because they have specific text structures, contain technical vocabulary, and require readers to have background knowledge. Hatmin and Mason (1990) elaborated the cognitive underpinning of different text types. They argue that expository text type involves analysis and synthesis of concepts; it deals with the mental process of comprehension. Analysis (taking a concept and working out its constituent elements) or synthesis (taking the constituent elements of a complex concept and working out a shorter formulation for it) are the two basic procedures employed in expository texts.
In argumentative texts the need to persuade through evaluation is paramount with a predominance of emotive diction, metaphoric expression and subtle uses of modality (Hatim and Mason, 1990). In other words, various propositions related to the subject of enquiry are put forward and an argument for or against them is constructed (Laser and Slater, 1998). Trikonnen-Condit (1996) views the production of argumentative text as the cognitive process of problem solving. She points out that the process of written argumentation typically has the following structural units: situation, problem, solution, and evaluation. In fact, this text focuses on relations between concepts, where one opinion is upheld and its relation with opposing opinions or solution investigated. They deal with the mental process of judging.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The importance of reading strategies has been recognized by many scholars. According to Block (1986), reading strategies indicate how readers conceive a task, what textual cues they attend to, how they make sense of what they read, and what they do when they do not understand. Nunan (1999) contends that learners are not aware of strategies underlying the learning task in which they are involved. Learners employ a variety of reading strategies to help them when they have to read in that language. They apply some strategies which, it seems, they themselves have discovered, since, they are not taught these strategies explicitly in high schools. Furthermore, Carter and Nunan ( 2001) claimed that many language teachers fall ill-equipped to conduct strategy instruction because they have never had the chance to see or participate in such instructions themselves. So teachers are responsible to instruct students how to use strategies in order to comprehend a text. Oxford (1990) claims that reading strategies are teachable. Various language-learning investigations round the world indicate that strategy instruction leads to greater use, self efficacy, anxiety reduction, increased motivation, higher language proficiency, and positive attitude.
هدف از نگارش این تحقیق بررسی ارتباط بین هوش هیجانی و درک مطلب دانشجویان زبان سال سوم دانشگاه ازاد اسلامی واحد بندرعباس بود. 60 دانشجو در انجام این تحقیق شرکت کردند که لازم به ذکر است جنسیت افراد در آن نقشی نداشت. از شرکت کننده ها درخواست شده بود به دو تست متفاوت پاسخ دهند: اول به فرم خلاصه شده تست هوش هیجانی شامل 90 سوال ودوم به تست درک مطلب تافل، شامل 4 متن و 30 سوال. مقایسه نمره های میانگین هر دو تست نشان دهنده ارتباط ضعیف بین این دو متغیر -هوش هیجانی و درک مطاب- بود. همان طور که نتایج بدست امده نشان داده اند, ارتباط معناداری بین هوش هیجانی شرکت کننده ها وتوانایی انها در درک مطلب وجود داشت ( میزان معناداری=0.29) اما, نه به اندازه ای که از ان انتظار می رفت.
کلمات کلیدی: شورو هیجان, هوش, هوش هیجانی, بهره هوشی, خواندن و درک مطلب
Table of Contents
| Page | Contents |
| 1 | Abstract |
| Chapter One: Introduction | |
| 3 | 1.1 Introduction |
| 3 | 1.2 Background |
| 7 | 1.3 Statement of the problem |
| 8 | 1.4 Significance of the study |
| 8 | 1.5 Objective of the study |
| 9 | 1.6 Research questions and hypotheses |
| 9 | 1.7 Limitations and delimitations of the study |
| 9 | 1.8 Definitions of key terms |
| 9 | 1.8.1 Emotion |
| 9 | 1.8.2 Intelligence |
| 9 | 1.8.3 Emotional Intelligence |
| 11 | 1.8.4 Emotional quotient |
| 11 | 1.8.5 Reading |
| 11 | 1.8.6 Reading Comprehension |
Chapter Two: Review of the Related Literature
|
|
| 14 | 2.1 Introduction |
| 14 | 2.2 Emotional Intelligence |
| 14 | 2.2.1 A Brief History of Emotional Intelligence |
| 24 | 2.3 Models of Emotional Intelligence |
| 24 | 2.3.1 Ability Model |
| 25 | 2.3.2 Mixed Model |
| 26 | 2.3. 3 Trait Model |
| 27 | 2.4 Basic Criteria |
| 28 | 2.5 Theoretical Considerations |
| 28 | 2.5.1 Emotion |
| 29 | 2.5.2 Intelligence |
| 34 | 2.5.3 Definitions of the 5 main categories of EI and their 15 sub-categories based on Bar-on’s classification (1996 |
| 34 | 2.5.3.1 Intra-Personal |
| 34 | 2.5.3.1.a Self-regard |
| 34 | 2.5.3.1.b Emotional self awareness |
| 35 | 2.5.3.1.c Assertiveness |
| 35 | 2.5.3.1.d Independence |
| 35 | 2.5.3.1.e Self-actualization |
| 35 | 2.5.3.2 Inter-Personal |
| 35 | 2.5.3.2.a Empathy |
| 36 | 2.5.3.2.b Social responsibility |
| 36 | 2.5.3.2.c Inter-Personal relationship |
| 36 | 2.5.3.3 Stress-management |
| 36 |
2.5.3.3.a Stress Tolerance |
| 36 | 2.5.3.3.b Impulse control |
| 36 | 2.5.3.4 Adaptability |
| 36 | 2.5.3.4.a Reality Testing |
| 36 | 2.5.3.4.b Flexibility |
| 36 | 2.5.3.4.c Problem solving |
| 37 | 2.5.3.5 General mood |
| 37 | 2.5.3.5.a Optimism |
| 37 | 2.5.3.5.b Happiness |
| 37 | 2.6 Assessment Tools of Emotional Intelligence |
| 40 | 2.7 Reading comprehension |
| 40 | 2.7.1 A Brief History of Reading Comprehension |
| 45 | 2.8 Theories behind Reading Comprehension |
| 45 | 2.8.1 Schema Theory |
| 46 | 2.8.2 Mental Model Theory |
| 46 | 2.8.3 Proposition Theory |
| 47 | 2.9 Strategies of improving reading comprehension based on the mentioned theories |
| 48 | 2.10 Purposes of Reading Comprehension Strategies |
| 48 | 2.11 What is Comprehension? |
| 50 | 2.12 Studies carried out on the relationship between emotional intelligence and reading comprehension |
| Chapter Three: Methodology | |
| 53 | 3.1 Introduction |
| 53 | 3.2 Design |
| 53 | 3.3 Participants |
| 54 | 3.4 Instruments |
| 54 | 3.4.1 Bar-on Emotional Quotient Inventory |
| 55 | 3.4.2 Reading Comprehension Test |
| 56 | 3.5 Data collection procedure |
| 56 | 3.6 Data analysis
|
Chapter 4: Results and Discussion
|
|
| 59 | 4.1 Introduction |
| 59 | 4.2 Descriptive Statistics |
| 59 | 4.2.1 Descriptive statistics for the scores of emotional intelligence test |
| 60 | 4.2.2 Descriptive statistics for the scores of reading comprehension test |
| 61 | 4.3 Inferential Statistics |
| 61 | 4.3.1 Is there any relationship between emotional intelligence and reading comprehension? |
| 70 | 4.4 Discussion |
| Chapter 5: Summary, Conclusion, Implication & Suggestion | |
| 73 | 5.1 Introduction |
| 73 | 5.2 Summary of the study |
| 74 | 5.3 Conclusion |
| 76 | 5.4 Pedagogical Implications |
| 77 | 5.5 Suggestions for further research |
| References | |
| Appendices: | |
| 96 | Appendix I |
| 101 | Appendix II |
| 107 | Appendix III |
| 116 | Appendix IV |
| 121 | Abstract in Persian |
Lists of Tables
| Page | Tables |
| 55 | Table 3.1. Reliability of the EI questionnaire |
| 60 | Table 4.1. Descriptive statistics for the scores of emotional intelligence test |
| 60 | Table 4.2. Descriptive statistics for the scores of reading comprehension test |
| 61 | Table 4.3. correlation between EI and reading comprehension (RC) tests in general |
| 62 | Tables 4.4. The correlation between all the questions of EI, one by one, with the total scores of RC |
| 62 | Table 4.5. Correlation between 1st main category of EI and its sub categories and reading comprehension |
| 62 | Table 4.6. Correlation between 2nd main category of EI and its sub categories and reading comprehension |
| 63 | Table 4.7. Correlation between 3rd main category of EI and its sub categories and reading comprehension |
| 63 | Table 4.8. Correlation between 4th main category of EI and its sub categories and reading comprehension |
| 63 | Table 4.9. Correlation between 5th main category of EI and its sub categories and reading comprehension |
Lists of Graphs
| Page | Graphs |
| 65 | Graph 4.1. It shows the weak relationship between emotional intelligence and reading comprehension |
| 66 | Graph (4.2 &3). They show a big difference between the EI and RC `s mean scores |
| 68 | Graphs 4.4. The frequency graphs of the participants` answers to the 90 items of EI test |
List of Abbreviations
EI Emotional intelligence
EQ Emotional Quotient
EQ-I Bar-On Emotional Intelligence Quotient Inventory
IQ Intelligence Quotient
RC Reading Comprehension
Abstract
The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Reading Comprehension: A Case Study of Junior Students of Bandar Abbas Islamic Azad University
The aim of the present research was to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence and reading comprehension of junior students of Bandar Abbas Islamic Azad University majoring in English. 60 students took part in this research and it is worth mentioning that gender had no role in this study. The participants were asked to answer two different tests: first, a short form of Bar-on`s emotional intelligence test consists of 90 questions and second, a TOEFL reading comprehension test including 4 passages and 30 questions. Comparing the mean scores of the two tests indicated a weak relationship between these two variables. As the obtained results depicted emotional intelligence had significant correlation with the participants’ reading comprehension abilities (r=0.29) but, this relation was not to the extent that is expected to be.
Key terms: emotion, intelligence, emotional intelligence, emotional quotient, reading, and reading comprehension.
Chapter one
Introduction
1.1 Introduction
This chapter presents a brief background to the study of Emotional Intelligence and Reading Comprehension. Then it will be followed by the significance and objective of the study, research question and hypothesis, limitations and delimitations of the study and finally, the definitions of key terms.
1.2 Background
A comprehensive initial theory of emotional intelligence (EI) that could be measured appeared 20 years ago in the scientific literature (Mayer, Salovey, & DiPaolo, 1990; Salovey & Mayer, 1990). Thus, the term emotional intelligence was first introduced by Salovey and Mayer (1990) in the early 1990s and was made popular by Daniel Goleman with the 1995 publication of his book, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. But, the earliest roots of emotional intelligence can be found in Charles Darwin’s work on the importance of emotional expression for survival and, second, adaptation (Bar-On, R., 2006). In 1872, Charles Darwin published the first known work on the importance
of emotional expression for survival and adaptation, a component of emotional-social intelligence (Bar-On, 2005). Then, educators and policy makers have become increasingly aware of the significance of providing students with educational opportunities that enhance their emotional development (Graczyk, Weissberg, & Payton, 2000). In the field of psychology the roots of emotional intelligence can be traced back to the beginnings of the intelligence testing movement when, in 1920, E. L. Thorndike was the first to identify the aspect of emotional intelligence as social intelligence (Goleman, 2001, p. 16). According to Thorndike (1920), the concept of social intelligence refers to the “ability to understand and manage men, women, boys, and girls and to act wisely in human relations” (p. 228). E.L. Thorndike used the term to describe the skill of understanding and managing other people. Goleman (2001) says that Howard Gardner revitalized the concept of emotional intelligence with his model of multiple intelligences. In 1983, Howard Gardner’s Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences introduced the idea of multiple intelligences which included both interpersonal intelligence (the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people) and intrapersonal intelligence (the capacity to understand oneself, to appreciate one’s feelings, fears and motivations). In Gardner’s point of view, traditional types of intelligence, such as IQ, fail to fully explain cognitive ability (Smith, M.K., 2002). Similarly, in 1940 David Wechsler described the influence of non-intellective factors on intelligent behavior, and further argued that his models of intelligence would not be completed until he could adequately describe these factors (Bar-On, R., 2006). However, in 1988, Reuven Bar-On is reported as the first to assess emotional intelligence, it is reported that Bar-On used the term emotional intelligence (EQ) in his doctoral dissertation long before it gained popularity as a name for emotional intelligence and long before Salovey and Mayer published their first model of intelligence (Goleman, 2001). Salovey and Mayer (1990) describe emotional intelligence as “the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions” (p. 189). As they describe emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive emotion, to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought; to understand emotions and emotional knowledge; to reflectively regulate emotions so as to promote emotional and intellectual growth. They also believe that there are four parts to emotional intelligence, which include (a) perceiving emotions, (b) using emotions to assist thought, © understanding emotions, and (d) managing emotions. In order for a person to be emotionally intelligent, they should be skilled in all four of these areas (Salovey & Mayer, 1990). However, in comparison, Goleman (1995) posits that emotional intelligence consists of five components: (a) knowing our emotions (self-awareness), (b) managing them, © motivating ourselves, (d) recognizing emotion in others (empathy), and (e) handling relationships.
Here, is a brief history of Emotional Intelligence by Kendra Cherry as cited in (psychology.about.com):
- 1930s – Edward Thorndike describes the concept of “social intelligence” as the ability to get along with other people.
- 1940s – David Wechsler suggests that affective components of intelligence may be essential to success in life.
- 1950s – Humanistic psychologists such as Abraham Maslow describe how people can build emotional strength.
- 1975 – Howard Gardner publishes The Shattered Mind, which introduces the concept of multiple intelligences.
- 1985 – Wayne Payne introduces the term emotional intelligence in his doctoral dissertation entitled “A study of emotion: developing emotional intelligence; self-integration; relating to fear, pain and desire (theory, structure of reality, problem-solving, contraction/expansion, and tuning in/coming out/letting go).”
- 1987 – In an article published in Mensa Magazine, Keith Beasley uses the term “emotional quotient.” It has been suggested that this is the first published use of the term, although Reuven Bar-On claims to have used the term in an unpublished version of his graduate thesis.
- 1990 – Psychologists Peter Salovey and John Mayer publish their landmark article, “Emotional Intelligence,” in the journal Imagination, Cognition, and Personality.
- 1995 – The concept of emotional intelligence is popularized after publication of psychologist and New York Times science writer Daniel Goleman’s book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.
To comprehend the ideas in the material is the main goal of reading. Thus, without comprehension, reading would be empty and meaningless. Reading comprehension is very crucial to the success of individuals during their education and beyond. To be successful in education, in work and even in hobbies, people must be able to understand the text that is ever present in the environment. Theories of text comprehension contend that as readers process text, they form a mental representation of the text (van den Broek, Young, Tzeng, & Linderholm, 1998; Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994). This mental representation includes information relaing to the people, settings, actions and events either described explicitly or implied by the text (Garnham, 1996). When we are reading a text, we are unable to compute all the information presented to us, mainly because of processing limitations. We therefore construct a model of the situation, what can be referred to as a state of the world (Garnham & Oakhill, 1994), based on some elements presented to us and based on information stored in our long-term memory.
As Vygotsky (1978) suggests, reading is a mode of communication, and it is a social mediated language-learning activity. As a result, reading comprehension involves emotional processing and is essential to life success.
Souvignier & Moklesgerami (2006) defined Reading comprehension as one`s ability to read and remember, reproduce, learn from, and find deeper meaning in text for later use.
In the process of reading comprehension, readers use previous knowledge to handle the text and create new knowledge. The more knowledge a person brings to his or her reading, the more he or she will understand the text (Brandao & Oakhill, 2005; Guterman, 2003). Others say that good reading comprehension requires the reader to be active, and to be able to evaluate the text, preview the text, make predictions, make decisions during reading, review for deeper meaning, find inconsistencies, and evaluate his or her own understanding (Houtveen & van de Grift, 2006; Lau, 2006; Lau & Chan, 2003).
1.3 Statement of the problem
As Gardner (2006) states, in order to understand the complexity of language learning process, attention should be attached to internal mechanisms and social interpersonal interaction involved in this process. Therefore, emotional intelligence can be a great help since, as Coleman (2001) says, it not only serves as an international mechanism, but also interlocks with the external environment. Although variety factors are involved in comprehending a text, it seems that intelligence is an integral part of it. .But, what matter is that we most believe good comprehension of a text is mainly relates to the one`s previous knowledge and experiences not his/her intelligence. The issue is that whether intelligence is an abstract and passive factor in comprehending of a text or really a vital one. Therefore in this study, the relationship between emotional intelligence and reading comprehension is supposed to be investigated to clarify the underlying intelligence areas related to reading comprehension.
هدف از اجرای این تحقیق مقایسه میزان خود کارآمدی میان مدرسین زبان انگلیسی با توجه به تیپ های مختلف شخصیتی است. بدین منطور تعداد 90 مدرس زبان انگلیسی از شعبات مختلف موسسه آموزش زبان کیش در تهران که تمایل به همکاری در این زمینه داشتند به صورت اتفاقی انتخاب و طی آموزشی کوتاه با اهداف تحقیق، پرسشنامه ها و نهایتا نحوه پاسخگویی آشنا شدند. پرسشنامه های به کار گرفته شده در این تحقیق شامل فرمهای شاخص تیپهای شخصیتی مایرز- بریگز( فرم M)[1] و فرم تعیین میزان خودکارآمدی مدرسین[2] (24 سوال) میباشد. بدلیل تعداد اندک مدرسین در بیشتر تیپ های شخصیتی چهارگانه مایرز – بریگز، تیپ های دو گانه شخصیتی از لحاظ آماری با یکد یگر مقایسه شدند. جهت انجام کاهش میزان خطای ناشی از انجام چندین آزمون تی، میزان آلفا با تنظیم بنفرونی به مقدار 125/0 کاهش داده شد. نتایج نشان داد تنها تیپ شخصیتی برونگرا تفاوت معناداری با تیپ شخصیتی درونگرا از نظر خود کارآمدی دارد وتفاوتهای خودکارآمدی مشاهده شده بین سایر تیپ های شخصیتی معنادار نبود. امید است نتایج یادشده در این تحقیق بتواند جهت مسئولین آموزشی و همچنین مدرسین زبان انگلیسی با توجه به در نظر گرفتن تیپهای مختلف شخصیتی و میزان خودکارآمدی مفید واقع گردد.
[1] Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Form M
[2] Megan Tschannen-Moran, College of William and Mary
Anita Wool folk Hoy, the Ohio State University.
ABSTRACT
This study attempted to investigate whether EFL teachers with different personality types significantly differed in their self-efficacy beliefs. To fulfill the purpose of the study a total of 90 EFL teachers from different branches of Kish Language School were selected. Subsequent to a briefing session, they took Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Ohio State Teacher Efficacy Scale known as Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (long form). The data was coded and descriptive statistics were computed. Due to the insufficient number of participants in many of the MBTI personality categories, the researcher was limited to comparing the self-efficacy of the teachers in the binary categories of Extrovert/Introvert, Sensing/iNtuitive, Feeling/Thinking, Perceiving/Judging personality types. Significant differences were only found between the self-efficacy of Extrovert and Introvert EFL teachers, with Extroverts manifesting higher self-efficacy beliefs. The observed differences between other binary categories were not significant. The findings of the study have implications for EFL teachers and teacher educators.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Abstract | iii | |
| TABLE OF CONTENTS | iv | |
| List of Tables | vii | |
| List of Figures | viii | |
| CHAPTER I Background and Purpose | ||
| 1.1 | 1 | |
| 1.2 | 9 | |
| 1.3 | 13 | |
| 1.4 | 13 | |
| 1.5 | 13 | |
| 1.5.1 | 13 | |
| 1.5.2 | 14 | |
| 1.5.3 | 14 | |
| 1.6 | 15 | |
| 1.7 | 16 | |
| 1.7.1 | 16 | |
| 1.7.2 | 18 | |
| CHAPTER II Review of the Related Literature | ||
| 2.1 | 19 | |
| 2.2 | 19 | |
| 2.2.1 | 23 | |
| 2.2.2 | 28 | |
| 2.2.3 | 33 | |
| 2.3 | 34 | |
| CHAPTER III | CHA II Methodology | |
| 3.1 | 45 | |
| 3.2 | 45 | |
| 3.3 | 46 | |
| 3.3.1 | 46 | |
| 3.3.2 | 49 | |
| 3.4 | 50 | |
| 3.5 | 51 | |
| 3.6 | 51 | |
| CHAPTER IV Data Analysis and Discussion | ||
| 4.1 | 53 | |
| 4.2 | 53 | |
| 4.3 | 54 | |
| 4.3.1 | 54 | |
| 4.3.1.1 | 55 | |
| 4.3.1.2 | 56 | |
| 4.3.2 | 59 | |
| 4.4 | 64 | |
| CHAPTER V Conclusions and Pedagogical Implications | ||
| 5.1 | 70 | |
| 5.2 | 71 | |
| 5.3 | 72 | |
| 5.4 | 74 | |
| 5.5 | 76 | |
| 5.6 | 78 | |
| 5.7 | 79 | |
| REFERENCES | REFERE | 80 |
| APPENDICES | Appendices | |
| 90 | ||
| 103 | ||
LIST OF TABLES
LIST OF FIGURES
CHAPTER I
Background and Purpose
1.1Introduction
There is a general concern about the quality of education all over the world and all the countries are looking for qualified educators and effective teachers. Undoubtedly, the impact of education is derived primarily from the quality it owns. Many indicators, namely the quality of the materials, students’ and teachers’ motivation , the educational environment, students’ aptitudes, teaching methods and teachers’ personality types among many other determinants pave the way to better education (Henson & Chambers, 2003 ; Kalayci, 2009; Sadker & Sadker, 2000). This concern is perhaps more central for teachers; “Most teachers do not want to be just good teachers, they want to be great teachers” (Nwrel, 2001; as cited in Strong, 2007, p. 1).
In essence, effective teachers have a constant impact on students’ lives. Teacher effectiveness is a concept which has been defined in terms of high performance based on elements rating from supervisors, comments from students or administrators, students’ achievements, and teachers’ image of themselves. Moreover, teachers are the representative of their subject matters, schools and more importantly the way they view themselves. The way they teach and present themselves make an impression on administrators, parents, and students as well (Strong. 2007). Effective teaching is best accompanied when effective learning occurs (Muijs & Reynolds, 2005).
As Adkins (2006) quotes himself effective teaching has a crucial role in academic achievement. It is difficult to specify exactly what outcomes indicate teacher effectiveness; hence, there are varieties of variables that teachers cannot control (Strong, 2007). Nunn and Jants (2009) noted that successful teachers are those who are proficient and are able to deal with educational and behavioral problems that occur in their classrooms. Moreover, it is the teachers’ job to manage and run the learning environment presented in schools. In fact, a teacher should be knowledgeable, skillful, and competent enough to be able to teach effectively, and at the same time believe in his/her abilities (Fox, 2005).
The most effective teachers, on the other hand, are defined as those who engage students academically while connecting with them emotionally in ways that create remarkable differences in both experience and results for their students (Waddell, 2009). Sadker and Sadker (2000) believe that there is little evidence regarding specific skills that result in good teaching. Hence, there have been some insights into it. They categorize those factors as allocated time on academic content, good classroom management and planning, and the pedagogical cycle that describes the interaction between the teacher and students’ cooperative learning.
Teachers’ achievements, success, and satisfaction in their teaching experiences can result from a variety of factors. Brown (2007) believes that personality factors such as affective indicators (self-esteem, self-efficacy, inhibition, anxiety, empathy, and extroversion), motivation, and personality types play key roles in the process of language learning and teaching.
Teachers, on the whole, attempt to understand and apply a wide range of techniques when teaching their students. Their preferred teaching styles and personality types may influence the techniques they make use of. When teachers challenge to examine and interpret their teaching styles and the dynamism behind it, they explore their inner selves. Their preferences for a given “function” are their characteristics, and so they might be “typed” by these preferences (Jung, 1971, p. 23).
Some scholars such as Cooper (2001), Tschannen-Moran (1998), Zhang (2007), Yilmaz and Çavaş (2008), Rahimi and Nabilou (2010), Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001), and Kennedy (1991) are in the belief that Teachers’ teaching styles are respectively associated with teachers’ personality, their content knowledge, their behavior in the class, how they manage their classes, the context of teaching, self-efficacy and locus of control. Teachers’ confidence in their ability to perform the actions that lead to student learning (i.e., teachers’ self-efficacy) is one of the few individual characteristics that reliably predicts teacher practice and student outcomes (Ross, 1994; Woolfolk & Hoy, 1990).
To assess the personality types, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is known to be amongst the most popular measures. It is the most widely used personality type assessment in organizations (Myers, McCaulley, Quenk, & Hammer, 1998). The aforesaid indicator is utilized to analyze and interpret a wide range of activities incorporating career, counseling, communication and situation in which cooperation and teamwork are taken into consideration. It is to note that the indicator is used in education as well, so as to analyze and compare the education system, teachers, and students.
MBTI was inspired by and devised based on Jung’s theory of personality type, which, in actual fact, introduced four basic psychic functions. The mentioned functions are capable of becoming conscious: Intuition, Sensation, Feeling and Thinking. He maintained that differences found in behaviors were because of inborn tendencies to make use of minds in diverse ways, leading to patterns of behavior (Myers, 1998). The indicator was developed over a 20-year period of research by Isabel Myers and her mother, Katherine Briggs. It is a self-report, paper and pencil assessment of style preferences. It does not measure personality characteristics or pathology, but rather characterizes people by their natural preferences (Myers, McCaulley, Quenk, & Hammer, 1998).
Wheeler (2001) is in the belief that: “MBTI classifies each person into one of the 16 personality types by first identifying each individuals four preferences; i.e., whether the person prefers E or I, S or N, T or F, and J or P”. He then continues: “the four preferences are then combined into the personality type via a four-way interaction. Thus, the test is primarily a sorting indicator that categorizes each participant into a personality type based on the results obtained from four bipolar scales” (p. 7).
Another subject of concern is what Jung (1971) raised as individuation. In actual fact it is the process which differentiates individuals from the general, collective society or group. Accordingly, people come to see their similarities and differences.
Meier (1986) states that, “Jung’s most important contribution to psychology was the discovery and practice of the process of individuation”. He then continues “individuation begins and ends with typology” (p. 242). Jung (1971) held that “It is not a physiognomy and not an anthropological system, but a critical psychology dealing with the organization and delimitation of psychic process that can be shown to be typical” (p. 15). In fact, he aimed at describing individual types of the personality, explaining individual differences of cognition and different ways to express personality through utilization of the psychic functions of intuition, sensation, and thinking, along with the attitudinal types of introversion and extraversion. As Jung (1971) quoted himself, “since every man, as a relatively stable being possesses all the basic psychological functions, it could be a psychological necessity with a view to perfect adaption that he should also employ them in equal measure” (p. 19).
Apparently, through individuation he made an endeavor to differentiate and explain the four functions and the attitudinal types of introversion and extraversion. However, he did not attempt to present a model of how the mentioned functions would appear in the beginning psyche of an individual. Accordingly, such a model would contribute to psychology’s understanding of the individuation process, particularly the beginning of human life.
It has always been of great interest to focus on the ways people behave or think. These items have had direct consequences on those people around them. As a result, there is a general social interest to understand different behaviors, beliefs, and personality types, and to predict them accordingly.
According to Myers (1993), people are born with tendencies that make their behaviors different from one another; subsequently, they use their minds in different ways. At the same time as people act on these tendencies to use their minds, they develop patterns of behavior called personality types. The issue of personality assessment has a long history in different fields.
Thornton, Peltier and Hill (2005) maintain that in case there is an appropriate selection procedure for pre-service teachers, the quality of new teachers could be improved. Bearing personality in mind, more restrictive requirements could be set in the decision made. However, it is difficult to define personality itself. As Allport (as cited in Lanyan & Goodstein, 1999) puts in, “personality is an abstraction for those enduring characteristics of the person that are significant for his or her interpersonal behavior” (p. 45).
According to Thornton, Peltier, and Hill (2005), those people who have a certain personality type seem to have common characteristics similar to the members of their own type and group than another group. People in one group think and act in a similar way while their behavior and way of thinking is different from those in other groups.
What is more, as individuals grow and develop, they also improve certain patterns of behavior and attitudes that indicate their personality type. As noted by Akbari, “while all educators have become conscious of the role personality and affect play in students’ learning outcomes and performance, teachers’ personality is a missing variable in most of the discussions on professional development” (2007, p. 201). He further maintains that, “Like students, teachers can be slaves to their personalities, responding in emotional terms to events that might appear of a cognitive nature” (p.201).
Another subject of great concern, which has always been of obvious interest to researchers, is self-efficacy, specifically teachers’ self-efficacy. It is, in essence, a criterion through which a teacher can measure his or her ability to provide the students with learning (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001). Bandura (1997) is in the belief that self-efficacy is a set of beliefs about one`s ability to “organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainment” (p.3). Tschannen- Moran and Woolfolk (2001) asserted that teaching efficacy was a broad spectrum, which could be divided into efficacy in classroom management, student engagement, and instructional strategies. The aforementioned theory of perceived self-efficacy is grounded in one’s belief of his/her capabilities. That is to mention that it can affect every aspect of one’s life.
As Bandura (1977) quoted himself, “We find that people’s beliefs about their efficacy affect the sorts of choices they make in very significant ways. In particular, it affects their levels of motivation and perseverance in the face of obstacles”. He then continued “Most success requires persistent effort, so low self-efficacy becomes a self-limiting process. In order to succeed, people need a sense of self-efficacy, strung together with resilience to meet the inevitable obstacles and inequities of life” (pp. 191-215).
Those with overall high perceived self-efficacy often think of high goals to achieve and maintain endurance despite challenges. Then, in case of failure recuperate more quickly and attribute failure to lack of skills or knowledge, rather than deficits in personal capabilities. The noted individuals are more successful in life, and at the same time experience lower levels of depression and stress (Bandura, 1994), While Individuals with overall low self-efficacy concentrate more on lack of skills, their personal deficiencies, and self-doubts as well. These individuals are hampered by obstacles, which often lead to higher rates of failure and usually exert less effort, set lower goals and as a result experience less success. Accordingly, they are less likely to recover from setbacks and experience high rates of depression and stress (Bandura, 1994, 1982). Self-efficacy is task specific and as a result differs from one activity to another. According to Pajares (1996), self-efficacy is domain specific. Individuals could have high self-efficacy in some areas and at the same time low one in others. For instance, someone may have high levels of self-efficacy at work and low levels of it in the area of weight management. Self-efficacy has to be measured in individual domains that examine perceived self-efficacy of specific tasks.
To sum up, “Self-efficacy judgments, whether accurate or faulty, influence choice of activities and environmental settings. People avoid activities that they believe exceed their coping capabilities, but they undertake and perform assuredly those that they judge themselves capable of managing” (Bandura, 1997, pp.191-215). The question arises, then, whether personality of teachers is an indicator of their self-efficacy.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
People differ from one another depending on their personalities. According to Lawrence (1993), personality, in essence, refers to the patterns of behaviors, presented by individuals. The subject of personality has been the concern of many researchers (Farely, 1970). Schmeck (1988) points out the importance and usefulness of identification of educationally relevant personal attribute.
Not to mention, personality traits have deep effects on one’s qualification. In the case of teachers, it has assuredly great effects on teaching profession, as well. A rich body of research is indicative of the fact that teachers have the most significant influence on students’ attainments and success (Saha & Dworkin, 2009; Akbari et al., 2008). Accordingly, the qualifications of students are closely related to the qualification of teachers, to the extent that they can directly influence the academic success of students. Meanwhile, teachers’ characteristics can affect their own professional qualification as well. Since teachers play a pivotal role in pedagogical success, knowing their personality factors are known to be of cardinal significance.
It has been revealed by a large body of research that the relationship between personality types and some dependent constructs (learning style, career preference, and academic success) has been of great interest in North America while very limited studies have been done in this regard in educational settings of other parts of the world (Bremer, 2007). The paucity of information in this area was noticeable to the researcher.
It seems that the effective and successful teachers share some common characteristics and those with low efficiency might have certain characteristics in common (Rushton, Morgan, & Richard, 2007).
Camp, Broyles, and Skelton (2002) investigated and discovered that in 2001, 20 percent of the newly qualified agricultural science teachers were not interested in taking a teaching job. Another 20 percent of the aforementioned teachers were interested in teaching, but did not take the job. Finally, 40 percent of the teachers chose not to take teaching positions.
According to Knobloch and Whittington (2003), teaching efficacy is closely related to career commitment. As a result, the need for qualified teachers with a desire to teach is critical and undeniable.
A study carried out by Yeh (2006) indicates that teaching efficacy is a reliable predictor of the improvement of the personality characteristics of teachers. Using multivariate regression analysis, Flores and Clark (2004) claimed that interests, interpersonal style, personality and occupational activity showed effects on teacher efficacy.
In a study conducted by Henson and Chambers (2003), the personality types of emergency certificate teachers were investigated as the predictors of classroom management and self-efficacy beliefs. One hundred and twenty participants were chosen randomly from teachers pursuing secondary teacher certification. Three questionnaires, including MBTI, were presented to be filled out. The results indicated limited relationship between personality, efficacy, and classroom management beliefs. The results were also indicative of the fact that Extravert individuals had higher teacher efficacy
By the same token, affective behaviors were considered to be amongst the most important behavior types. As a result, sense of efficacy and more importantly teachers’ sense of efficacy were the focus of attention in this context, as well. Teachers’ sense of efficacy, in actual fact, refers to the judgments of ones beliefs regarding their ability to achieve critical instructional tasks (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001). In this regard, one’s personal characteristics were supposed to be directly related to their sense of efficacy. Not to mention, most of the research carried out in the United States and other western nations dealing with teachers efficacy have been criticized for their western bias (Correll & Hwang, 1995; Rich et al., 1996; Lin & Correll, 2001).
To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, no similar research has ever been conducted in an EFL context to look for the relations between teacher’s personality types and their self-efficacy. So, the lack of research in this area provides sufficient justification to conduct this investigation.
As stated in the theory of personality types, people do not change their personality types; nevertheless, they can adopt certain characteristics that the circumstances require them through careful training (Myers, Mccaulley, Quenk, & Hammer, 1998). Based on this theory, the researcher attempted to address the problem and investigate whether EFL teachers with different personality types significantly differ in their self-efficacy beliefs.
U.S. POLICIES TOWARD IRAN AND IMPLICATIONS FOR REGIONAL SECURITY IN THE PERSIAN GULF FROM 1979 – 2008
Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, in Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
December 2012
Abstract of thesis presented to the Senate of Universiti Putra Malaysia in fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
U.S. POLICIES TOWARD IRAN AND IMPLICATIONS FOR REGIONAL SECURITY IN THE PERSIAN GULF FROM 1979 – 2008
December 2012
(در فایل دانلودی نام نویسنده موجود است)
تکه هایی از متن پایان نامه به عنوان نمونه :
(ممکن است هنگام انتقال از فایل اصلی به داخل سایت بعضی متون به هم بریزد یا بعضی نمادها و اشکال درج نشود ولی در فایل دانلودی همه چیز مرتب و کامل است)
This research examined the US policies toward Iran and its implications on regional security in the Persian Gulf during the period from 1979 – 2008. In addition, the study also evaluated the U.S. policies toward Iran in relations to the Persian Gulf during the presidencies of Carter, Reagan, George HW Bush, Clinton, and George Bush during this period of time. The objectives of the research were achieved by seeking answers to the two research questions: 1) What were the evolutions of the U.S. regional security policies regarding Iran in the Persian Gulf from 1979 to 2008?; 2) What were the influences of the U.S. regional security policies on the regional peace and stability regarding Iran in the Persian Gulf?
Based on the research questions, the goals of this study were to examine and analyze the security policies of different US administrations from the time of the Islamic revolution in 1979 until the end of the George W. Bush presidency in 2008. In other words, the main focus of the study was to understand the security policies of the US administrations during the period from 1979 to 2008 toward Iran in the Persian Gulf region. Therefore, the study attempted to evaluate these security policies to identify and explain the factors of success or failure of these policies in the Persian Gulf region and to finally determine the security status of the Persian Gulf. As such, evaluating the thrust of various US policies toward Iran in the Persian Gulf region will show the success or failure of the US to create peace and security in the region.
For this purpose, the qualitative approach was selected and applied to the study and the data were collected from official websites available on the internet. Such data comprised the speeches of the Iranian and American administrations, official records and documents on security policies of the US toward Iran in the Persian Gulf region including the Arms Export Control Act, U.S. Congress negotiations, US Department of State annual reports, Country Reports on Terrorism, Peterson Institute Documents, and Middle East policy council documents. Thus, the goal of using the qualitative approach was to obtain an in-depth understanding of the security policies of the US toward Iran in the Persian Gulf region during the specified period. The analysis of the data revealed that the unilateral security policies of different US administrations toward Iran in the Persian Gulf did not succeed in establishing stability and peace for the region. Based on the conclusions of the research, the three main findings are outlined as follows:
Firstly, the findings of the current study about the U.S. policies toward Iran in relation to the Persian Gulf region since the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979 show that these policies were always confronted by challenges from local states such as Iran and Iraq and in some cases, a few regional conservative Arab states such as Saudi Arabia. This implies the failure of the unilateral U.S. security policies in the Persian Gulf region.
Secondly, the analysis of the “Regional Security Complex Theory” proves that according to the “Regional Security Complex Theory”, there were significant relationships between the rivalries of the regional states in the Persian Gulf and external interventions. The results revealed that local rivalries led to the interference by external powers in the region. In the case of Iran, the rivalries inside the Gulf Cooperation Council states and between them and Iran and Iraq led to U.S. intervention in the region. Moreover, the results obtained from application of the theory to the realities of the region revealed that the only reasonable solution for the security problems of the Persian gulf region is a collective security forum that involves all the states of this important area including the GCC states, Iran and Iraq (6+2 arrangement).
Finally, the findings of this study have important implications for the promotion of peace and security in the Persian Gulf region. As the results showed, the various direct and indirect U.S policies toward Iran related to the Persian Gulf were unable to enhance American demands for a stable condition to maintain their interest in the region. Furthermore, the U.S. policies could not stop Iran’s ambitions to have a collective security policy that involved all the Persian Gulf states in a forum. So the findings of this study suggest that to stabilize the region, there should be multilateral relations between Iran, Iraq, the GCC and U.S. that consider the concerns of all parties and the participation of all local states for peace and security to be achievable in the region.
TABLE OF CONTENT
Page
ABSTRACT iii
ABSTRAK vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS x
APPROVAL xi
DECLARATION xiii
TABLE OF CONTENT xiv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xxi
CHAPTER
1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Background of the Study 2
1.2.1 The Importance of the Persian Gulf Geopolitics 3
1.2.2 U.S. attempts to build a security system for the Persian Gulf 8 8
1.2.3 Feature of the region after U.S. attack of Iraq 10
1.3 Problem statement 12
1.4 Research aims and Objectives 13
1.5 Research questions 14
1.6 Significance of the study 14
1.7 Scope and limitation of the study 18
1.8 Theoretical Framework 19
1.9 Definition of Terms 24
1.9.1 Regional security 24
1.9.2 Regional Security Complex (RSC) 25
1.9.3 Balance of Power 26
1.9.4 Persian Gulf 27
1.9.5 Arab Gulf 27
1.9.6 Unofficial policy 28
1.9.7 Regime 29
1.10 Methodology 29
1.10.1 Research data collection methods 30
1.10.2 Research Designs and Methods 31
1.10.3 Sources of available Data 31
1.10.4 Techniques for collecting and analyzing data 32
2 LITERATURE REVIEW 34
2.1 Introduction 34
2.2 Regional security 36
2.3 Evolving of the Persian Gulf Security Regimes 47
2.4 Alternative Security Frameworks for the Persian Gulf 56
2.5 Iran’s Persian Gulf policy 64
2.6 Conclusion 67
3 THE EVOLUTION OF THE U.S. POLICIES TOWARDS IRAN 69
3.1 Introduction 69
3.2 Background 70
3.3 The Geography and Geopolitics of the Persian Gulf 71
3.3.1 The Persian Gulf Geographic Confines 73
3.3.2 Geopolitics of the Persian Gulf 75
3.3.3 Local Geography 76
3.3.4 Classification of the Persian Gulf states 79
3.4 Great Britain’s presence in the Persian Gulf 80
3.5 British withdrawal from Persian Gulf 81
3.5.1 The American reactions to British withdrawal 83
3.5.2 Regional states reactions regarding British withdrawal 84
3.6 American arrival in the Persian Gulf 85
3.6.1 American policy objectives in Iran 86
3.6.2 The U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf 88
3.6.3 Reasons of American indirect presence after Britain withdrawal 90
3.7 The policy of Twin pillar by Nixon administration 92
3.7.1 Areas of cooperation between Iran and US 99
3.7.2 US military assistance to Iran 101
3.8 Carter Doctrine 104
3.8.1 USCENTCOM in the Persian Gulf region 109
3.9 The policy of Dual containment (the policy of Clinton’s administration – Clinton’s Doctrine) 111
3.9.1 Basic codes of the dual containment policy 114
3.9.2 Factors of supporting Dual Containment Policy 115
3.9.3 Implementation of the Dual containment policy toward Iran 117
3.9.4 Implementation of the Dual containment policy toward Iraq 119
3.10 Establishment of the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) 121
3.10.1 Introduction 121
3.10.2 Previous Efforts for cooperation and alliance 121
3.10.3 Declared and undeclared objectives of the GCC 123
3.10.4 The main concerns of GCC states regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran 125
3.10.5 Interaction between the GCC states and the U.S. 127
3.10.7 Military abilities of the GCC state 130
3.10.8 A turning point at Doha summit 133
3.11 Conclusion 135
4 EVALUATION OF THE U.S. POLICIES IN PERSIAN GULF 136
4.1 Introduction 136
4.2 Evaluation of the “Twin Pillars Policy” 137
4.3 Evaluation of the “Carter Doctrine” 139
4.4 Evaluation of the Regan Doctrine 143
4.5 Evaluation of the “George Herbert Walker Bush” Policy 146
4.6 Evaluation of the “Dual Containment Policy” 149
4.6.1Evaluating the methods of containment 158
4.7 Evaluation of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) policy 159
4.8 evaluation of George W. Bush Policy 165
4.9 Islamic Republic of Iran’s Policies towards the United States 174
4.9.1 The Khatami phenomenon and Iran’s foreign policy 177
4.10 Conclusion 180
5 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 182
5.1 Introduction 182
5.2 Securing the Persian Gulf as a neo-conservative thought 183
5.3 Schools of Thought about Iran 184
5.4 The Persian Gulf Remains as the World’s Energy Supply 185
5.5 Dilemmas in U.S. Persian Gulf Policies 187
5.6 Regional Security Structures as Possible Options 192
5.6.1 Potential Models (samples) for the Persian Gulf 195
5.6.2 Parameters of Formulating a New Security Structure for the Region 197
5.6.3 Essential pre-structure for Security building in the Persian Gulf region 198
5.7 Interaction of the GCC Regarding Iran 199
5.7.1 GCC and the Iran-Iraq War 203
5.7.2 The difficulties facing GCC states 204
5.7.3 The American Congress and weapons sales to the GCC 205
5.8 Sources of Conflict in the Persian Gulf Region: Penetration and Resistance 207
5.9 Oil is the main interest but not the unique interest 208
5.10 Major Problem Regarding the U.S. in the Persian Gulf 209
5.11 Conclusion 214
6 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS 215
6.1 Introduction 215
6.2 Summary 215
6.3 Conclusion 219
6.3.1 GCC needs a new security arrangement 220
6.3.2 Mutual understanding of the U.S. and Iran 223
6.3.3 Disengaging from the region 225
6.3.4 The New Regional Security Arrangement 227
6.4 Implications (theory and practice) 232
6.5 Recommendation for future research 234
REFERENCES 236
BIODATA OF STUDENT 254
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS 255
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1: World Conventional Oil Production 6
2: the United States oil imports 76
3: Past Challenges to U.S. Interests in the Gulf 89
4:U.S. MilitaryAssistance to Iran, 1965-1973 101
5: GNP & military expenditures of Iran (1968-1980) 102
6: NATO Contribution of Air forces in Desert Storm 213
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1: The Middle East & Persian Gulf region 2
5
3: Regional Security Complex Theory 23
4: Allied Participation in Coalition Operations 213
5: Sorties Flown in Operation Allied Force and Operation Deliberate Force 214
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ASEAN: the Association of Southeast Asian Nation
ARF: ASEAN Regional Forum
BMDS: Ballistic Missile Defense System
CENTO: Central Treaty Organization
DOD: Department of Defense (America)
EIA: Energy Information Administration
G6: Group six including five permanent members of the United Nation’s Security Council (America, Russia China, Britain, France) plus Germany
GCC: Gulf Cooperation Council
GOIC: Gulf Organization for Industrial Consultancy
GRSF: [Persian] Gulf Regional Security Forum
I.R.IRAN: the Islamic Republic of Iran
IAEA: the International Atomic Energy Agency
ILSA: the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996
INP: Iran’s Nuclear Program
ICO: Islamic Conference Organization
ISA: Iran Sanctions Act
NAM: Non Aligned Movement
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NPT: treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
NW: Nuclear Weapon
OPEC: the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
OSCE: the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
PA: Palestinian Authority
PLO: Palestinian Liberation Organization
RDJTF: Rapid Deployment Joint Task Forces.
RSCT: Regional Security Complex Theory
UAE: United Arab Emirates
UN: the United Nations
UNSC: the United Nations Security Council
UK: United Kingdom
USA: the United States of America
USCENTCOM: the U.S. Central Command
USSR: the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
WMD: Weapons of Mass Destruction
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
Since the withdrawal of United Kingdom forces from east of Suez and the Persian Gulf region in 1971, the security system of this region has been confronted with many challenges and the concerns about security have been reintroduced into the debate on the world order and enhanced the previous efforts of the United States of America to establish a balance of power security system against the Soviet Union. Furthermore, the end of formal domination of the United Kingdom since 1971 brought to the debate the issue of security studies and related questions in the Persian Gulf region.
The milestone of the Persian Gulf security developments is occurrence of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 that challenged the US interests in the Persian Gulf. In this regard, as the Persian Gulf had an important role to the U.S. economy and industry the U.S. policymakers took different policies toward Iran and Persian Gulf region but these policies have always been faced with serious challenges from Iran and other countries in the region. This study seeks to evaluate the influences of the US security regional policies toward the Persian Gulf after the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Also it evaluates the influences of the struggle between the U.S. and Iran in the Persian Gulf. This chapter will develop a definition of regional security and the vital role of peace and security among regions and nations. In addition, it will present a brief history of the US regional security policies in the Persian Gulf region. Finally, it will discuss the statement of the problem, research questions, research objectives and the significance of the study.
Figure 1: The Middle East & Persian Gulf region
Source: indymedia.org.uk (2012)
1.2 Background of the Study
Regional security and the interdependence of security have always been at the core of security studies by scholars in this field. In security systems studies, states are the basic units in the international system and their autonomy is affected by the regional sub-systems. In the state-centric view, the basic assumption is that states are the primary actors in the international system and are also the legitimate providers of security. In a region like the Persian Gulf, regional states of the Persian Gulf area (Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman), have a vital role in security policies of the region.
On the other hand, super powers and external powers in important regions of the world including Persian Gulf region have their benefits and interests. In this regard, they want to create a balance of power in favor of themselves and in this process, they attempt to maintain or change the security systems of such regions. Logic of balance of power is penetration of external powers in these regions and penetration is caused by indigenous regional rivalry among local states in the regions. So securization and desecurization of each state in the region is in interaction with other states of the region and finally this interaction leads to national security of all regional states.
The background of the study will be discussed in three parts: the importance of the Persian Gulf geopolitics, US past attempts for building security system in the Persian Gulf region and today’s feature of the Persian Gulf region.
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CHAPTER I.
Introduction
1.1. Introduction
EFL learners’ interlanguage can be distinguished from the native speakers’ language by the fact that their interlanguage consists of features which show the incomplete mastery of the language. It is characterized by deviations called ‘errors’. As they go through the process of language learning, they make a lot of mistakes in their speech and writings. One of their areas of difficulty relates to ‘collocations’, a concept which was first put forth by J. R. Firth in 1957 who defined them as “actual words in habitual company” (Firth, 1957, p. 183).
EFL learners do not seem to pay attention to collocations; they usually focus on the individual words, disregarding sets of other words with which these individual words co-occur (Mirsalari and Shokouhi, 2010). Bahns (1993) sees the notion of collocation as an ignored element in syllabus design which results in learners’ deficiency of the knowledge of collocations.
1.2. Statement of the problem
L2 learners often have particular problems with word combinations, even at a relatively advanced level (Brown,
1974; Channell, 1981; Cowie, 1978b). Most students would, for example, have no difficulty producing the word diary when the meaning they wish to express requires it. They, however, have considerable difficulty in trying to figure out whether they should say *maintain a diary, *conduct a diary, or keep a diary?
This deficiency seems to be, to some extent, due to the lack of collocational knowledge among EFL learners, and to a large extent, the inadequate emphasis given to collocational patterns in their textbooks, and the type of instruction they receive. Bahns (1993) believes that when learners lack collocational knowledge, they resort to the L1 as the only resource, and thus perform well on those collocations that have L1 equals than on others. Lewis (2000) contends that EFL learners not only need to know what is right to say, but also what is wrong to say. Finding out the learners’ collocation errors and informing them of their errors by their teachers can raise their awareness of collocations and thus improve their knowledge of collocations. Therefore, the present study investigated English majors’ grammatical collocation errors and explored types of grammatical collocation errors which appear to be more persistent in their performance as EFL learners.
1.3. Purpose and scope of the study
The importance of collocations and the difficulty they pose on EFL learners has been the center of attention by several researchers in the field of EFL/ESL. They believe that the knowledge of collocations is essential for EFL learners in order to have a mastery of the language (Brown, 1974; Channell, 1981, Howarth, 1998; Nattinger, 1980). Accordingly, they have argued that teaching collocations has an important role in helping EFL learners improve their level of mastery in English. However, few studies have been conducted in Iran about errors in the performance of Iranian EFL learners on different types of grammatical collocations. Thus, the present study was planned to investigate the distribution of 6 types of grammatical collocation errors in Iranian EFL learners’ performance, to find the most frequent types of grammatical collocation errors, and to see how their knowledge of grammatical collocations develops as they advance to higher levels of proficiency so that practical solutions can be offered to minimize the types of grammatical collocation errors which are persistent in EFL learners’ interlanguage.
1.4. Research questions
The present study was an attempt to find possible answers to the following interrelated questions:
- What is the distribution of grammatical collocation errors in Iranian EFL learners’ performance by their level of proficiency?
- Which types of grammatical collocation errors are more persistent in Iranian EFL learners’ performance?
- How does Iranian EFL learners’ knowledge of grammatical collocations improve with their level of proficiency?
1.5. Significance of the study
Learning the grammar of a language in general, and the grammatical collocations of that language in particular, is one of the most important aspects of learning a foreign language. According to Shokouhi and Mirsalari (2010), if collocational associations are not properly taught and learned, the resulting irregularities may mark the learners’ language problematic and non-native like. Most Iranian EFL learners seem to have good knowledge of English grammar, but they have many problems with production of grammatical collocations. They need to know which words co-occur and how we can use them in our actual communication. Nattinger and DeCarrico (1992) emphasize the importance of collocations for language acquisition and use. They believe that learners’ attention should be drawn to word combinations from the beginning stages of learning.
Those who doubt the value of teaching collocations might argue that collocations need not be explicitly taught as learners will simply acquire them along with relevant vocabulary (Mackin, 1978). However, many studies, such as that of Bahns and Eldaw (1993), have responded to this argument by showing that learners’ knowledge of collocations lags far behind their knowledge of vocabulary in general.
Iranian EFL learners commit errors when producing English collocations, especially grammatical ones. Their errors show that they tend to depend on their personal language strategies which facilitate their learning. Their problems seem to be in part due to their lack of knowledge of grammatical collocations and, to a greater extent, to insufficient emphasis given to collocations in their textbooks as well as the kind of instruction they receive. Therefore, grammatical collocations must be given sufficient pedagogical significance in Iranian EFL/ESL programs (Shokouhi & Mirsalari, 2010)
