Shahla Tavanapour & Dr. Azizeh Chalak
Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Iran
Culture and language are inseparable, they have an intertwined relationship, and affect each other. Knowing different aspects of cultures and their comparisons are always interesting topics in EFL contexts. The present study was an attempt to compare greeting gesture patterns by Arabic and Persian speaking EFL students in academic contexts and their attitudes towards learning English. To this end, 60 students studying nursing at Islamic Azad University, Abadan Branch were selected based on available sampling. All of them were females and their ages ranged 20 to 30. A researcher-made checklist was used to investigate if there were any similarities or differences in greeting gesture patterns between the two cultures. Additionally, the Attitude and Motivational Test Battery (AMTB) was given to the participants to measure their attitudes toward learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The participants were required to answer all 30 items completely and honestly. The collected data were analyzed and frequencies and percentages of occurrence of each pattern were counted and tabulated. The results indicated that Arabic and Persian speaking EFL students behaved differently when they were greeting in academic contexts. Moreover, the participants showed positive attitudes towards learning English regarding cognitive, behavioral, and emotional aspects. The findings of this study may help language developers, syllabus designers, and teachers to develop programs and creat books based on studentsʼ cultures and attitudes.
The above abstract is a part of the article which was accepted at The Third International Conference on Current Issues of Languages, Dialects and Linguistics (WWW.TLLL.IR), 31 January-1February 2019 , Ahwaz.
