Hadi Salehi

Does criticisms overcome the praises of Journal Impact Factor

Journal impact factor (IF) as a gauge of influence and impact of a particular journal comparing with other journals in the same area of research, reports the mean number of citations to the published articles in particular journal. Although, IF attracts more attention and being used more frequently than other measures, it has been subjected to criticisms, which overcome the advantages of IF. Critically, extensive use of IF may result in destroying editorial and researchers’ behaviour, which could compromise the quality of scientific articles. Therefore, it is the time of the timeliness and importance of a new invention of journal ranking techniques beyond the journal impact factor.

Ethical and Unethical Methods of Plagiarism Prevention in Academic Writing

This paper discusses plagiarism origins, and the ethical solutions to prevent it. It also reviews some unethical approaches, which may be used to decrease the plagiarism rate in academic writings. We propose eight ethical techniques to avoid unconscious and accidental plagiarism in manuscripts without using online systems such as Turnitin and/or iThenticate for cross checking and plagiarism detection. The efficiency of the proposed techniques is evaluated on five different texts using students individually. After application of the techniques on the texts, they were checked by Turnitin to produce the plagiarism and similarity report. At the end, the “effective factor” of each method has been compared with each other; and the best result went to a hybrid combination of all techniques to avoid plagiarism. The hybrid of ethical methods decreased the plagiarism rate reported by Turnitin from nearly 100% to the average of 8.4% on 5 manuscripts.

Relationship of Google Scholar Versions and Paper Citations

1 Department of Industrial Engineering, Kerman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kerman, Iran 2 Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Isfahan, Iran 3 Department of Computer & Cognitive Science, Facultyof Engineering, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg 47057, Germany 4 Department of Electrical, Electronics and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Malaysia 5 Centre of Research Services, Institute of Research Management and Monitoring (IPPP), University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; aleebrahim@um.edu.my 6 Academic Enhancement and Leadership Development Centre (ADeC), University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 7 Manukau Institute of Technology, Auckland 2023, New Zealand 8 Perdana School of Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, Universiti Teknologi, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia 9 Center for Software Technology and Management, Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

The effects of rehearsal and strategic task planning on L2 Willingness to Communicate

ABSTRACT The present study utilised a sequential explanatory mixed methods design to explore the impact of rehearsal and strategic task planning on Iranian EFL students’ L2 Willingness to Communicate (WTC) in English. Rehearsal and strategic task planning were introduced to groups of intermediate English students to examine their efficiency for enhancing L2 WTC. The results of the quantitative phase were complemented by interview data to further clarify the obtained results. The obtained results showed that strategic task planning did not exert an influence on L2 WTC, while rehearsal task planning was found to significantly improve L2 WTC. Qualitative data analyses indicated that rehearsal task planning improved WTC in L2 by enhancing linguistic self-confidence. Finally, the implications of this research study for research and practice in the field were presented.

Spacing effects in vocabulary learning: Young EFL learners in focus

Abstract This study used a novel method to explore different schedules of spacing in young EFL learners. In doing so, we taught young EFL learners English–Farsi word pairs using different spacing schedules (massed vs. spaced). In the massed condition, learners studied five-word pairs in session one and five-other word pairs one week later. In the spaced condition, the learners studied 10-word pairs in session one and restudied them one week later. To amplify the benefits of spacing, we incorporated tests (with corrective feedback) into different schedules of spacing. In other words, EFL learners were instructed to test each other on their knowledge of the vocabulary and to give each other feedback. One week and five weeks later learners’ recall was assessed. The results showed that spaced practice produced better long-term retention than massed practice. To summarize, this study used spacing and retrieval practice techniques (with corrective feedback) to offer a pedagogically powerful approach for learning vocabulary.

Learners’ Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Spaced Learning Schedule in L2 Vocabulary Learning

The spacing effect is a ubiquitous phenomenon, whereby memory is enhanced for the information that is learned across different points in time rather than being learned at once. A considerable amount of research has focused on the nature of the spacing effect, and there is general acceptance that spacing learning events out in time promotes learning. However, fewer studies have been conducted in educational settings. The aim of this study is to explore learners’ perceptions of different spacing schedules (massed vs. spaced). To achieve the purpose of the study, we taught 30 children 24 English–Farsi word pairs utilizing different spacing schedules. Later, we administered a questionnaire to explore leaarners’ perceptions of both massed and spaced schedules. The results revealed that the children percieved spaced practice to be more effective than massed practice.