Professor Sam Roodi - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Professor Sam Roodi

Journal of Critical Studies in Language and Literature, 2020

One of the major areas of interest in SLA research is the study of the ways in which expert and n... more One of the major areas of interest in SLA research is the study of the ways in which expert and non-expert readers respond to L2 texts and the fundamental changes that can be brought about in their L2 reading processes through formal instruction. In line with this research tradition, the present quasi-experimental study investigated the effects of formal training in figures of speech on university EFL learners' appreciation of an unseen literary text, Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" in the case of this study. Understanding literature requires knowledge of figures of speech. An experimental group (n=29) and a control group (n=26) of intermediate 3 rd year EFL learners, studying English for a B.A. degree at Kashan University, Iran, participated in the study. The participants were first pre-tested and matched for their level of proficiency in English and their initial reading comprehension ability. In addition to the normal curriculum content, the experimental group received instruction in figures of speech through a course called "Fonun va Sana'at" (Figures of Speech). The control group did not receive this instruction. Both groups were post-tested on their ability to read a literary passage and to appreciate it. The results of t-test analysis of the resulting data revealed significant differences between the means of the two groups. The experimental group that had received instruction in figures of speech significantly outperformed the control group. The findings of the study have practical implications for material development, curriculum planning, teaching English through literature, and second language acquisition.

This study examines Maxwell Anderson's play High Tor that is an aesthetic engagement with nature ... more This study examines Maxwell Anderson's play High Tor that is an aesthetic engagement with nature and dramatizes Anderson's environmental sensibilities. The play is a satirical fantasy in verse loaded with allusions, symbolism and philosophical meditation, dramatizing the end of America's pioneering tradition. High Tor refers to a mountain overlooking the Hudson River, only a few miles away from Anderson's home in New City in the district of New York. The name derives from Celtic lore and means a sacred and holy place where people commune with the gods. The area where High Tor stands is steeped in history, legend and the supernatural. There are many accounts of ghosts haunting this historical mountain and the surrounding areas. In this play, Anderson makes use of the aura of mystery surrounding this region to dramatize the story of the protagonist, Van Dorn, and his struggle against the advancing forces of industrialism and materialism that threaten his independence and the pioneering values, pastoral tradition and the Arcadian beauty of the American wilderness.

This study seeks to examine the nexus between the perceptions of 202 adolescent Iranian tradition... more This study seeks to examine the nexus between the perceptions of 202 adolescent Iranian traditional classroom‐based college students of their classroom learning environments conceived as autonomy‐supportive and their self‐regulated learning. Data were gathered through hand‐out questionnaires and passed through Pearson product‐moment correlation and linear stepwise regression analysis. The autonomy supportive classroom perception was found to be positively correlated with self‐ regulated learning strategy use. The results provide corroboration for erstwhile research in traditional classrooms signifying that use of Self‐Regulated Learning (SRL) strategies and motivational beliefs of students about a learning task are associated. Additionally, the findings obtained via regression analyses unveiled that teachers' answering of students' questions and acknowledging confidence were significant positive predictors of students' use of various self‐regulated learning strategies. Further regression analysis unveiled teachers' answering of students' questions as the stronger predictor of self‐regulated learning. Keywords: Classroom learning environment, self‐regulated learning, autonomy support, self‐efficacy, control of learning beliefs Introduction Social cognitive theorists postulate that social experiences of students in learning milieu, particularly their interactions with teachers, can affect their self‐regulated learning (Zimmerman, 1989). Paris and Paris (2001) maintain that the concurrence of a bolstering context and experience, which spontaneously galvanizes autonomy, broadens self‐regulated learning. They identify self‐regulated learning in the triad of the words: the mobilization of autonomy and control by the individuals, steering and regulating their actions toward attainment of the goals.

James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans can be read as an outline for the contact (or cl... more James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans can be read as an outline for the contact (or clash) of many
diverse cultures. This novel may also be seen as a story of the development of American national-racial identity. The
present paper aims at examining Cooper’s classic novel in order to reveal the underlying discourse of race and
nationhood. The paper will discuss Cooper’s idea of historical change and human progress, and will show how the
teleological, stage-by-stage passage of history from savagery to civilization, from tribal communities to a unified
nation, empowered by cultural appropriation, resulted in the formation of a fresh and inevitably hybrid American
national identity

This research was an attempt to address the question how important communication skills are from ... more This research was an attempt to address the question how important communication skills are from the view point of employers and managers. We interviewed many managers in our city, London, Ontario, to find out what managers and employers think about good and poor communication skills. The results show that, according to the managers and employers who took part in this study, both written and oral communication skills are of fundamental importance in the workplace. The ability to communicate well in both written and oral form was said to be an essential skills sought by employers in the hiring process. The employers who were interviewed unanimously agreed that good written and oral communication skills are a great asset and a quality that all their candidates who apply for a job in their companies should possess.

This article is an attempt to examine Nadine Gordimer's The Pickup (2001) using Homi K. Bhabha's ... more This article is an attempt to examine Nadine Gordimer's The Pickup (2001) using Homi K. Bhabha's ideas in the main. It takes upon itself to discuss the issues of hybridity, identity, nation, globalization and migration. Nadine Gordimer's The Pickup is a scrupulous study of the life in exile. We might dissociate this particular novel from her earlier work, in that it goes beyond the matters of local politics and nationhood and paints a truthful picture of migration and alienation, which are global issues. In fact, the subject Gordimer picks up is a universal topos (that of migration and identity in exile). We will focus on the idea that identity is liminal; it is neither one nor the other, but a negotiation of the both. The migrant/exile/diasporan has to translate differing cultures in order to sur-vive.

This article aims at exploring the key concepts of Existential thought in two masterpieces of the... more This article aims at exploring the key concepts of Existential thought in two masterpieces of the world literature, namely, William Shakespeare's Hamlet and Sadeq Hedayat's The Blind Owl ( Buf-e Kur). Freedom, free will, authenticity, self-realization, self-becoming, and awareness of death are among the main concerns of both writers. Shakespeare depicts authenticity in the character of Hamlet, and it is in contrast to him that the reader finds many instances of inauthenticity. The Danish prince has no tolerance whatsoever for inauthentic or self-deceiving. The same thing is visible in The Blind Owl in which the narrator-protagonist feels himself above all the low, petty desires of mankind. All in all, both characters' main challenge is to live authentically.

This paper focuses on a number of American stories which helped educate people and bring about le... more This paper focuses on a number of American stories which helped educate people and bring about legal or social change. There are many stories which caused major or minor legal and political change, particularly, in the United States. Some of them are written

Persia, one realizes that Byron's attitude with regard to Persia appears to be ambivalent. Byron ... more Persia, one realizes that Byron's attitude with regard to Persia appears to be ambivalent. Byron dismisses the Persian king, Nader, as the "costive sophy", but reveres the Persian poet, Hafiz and mentions other Persian poets such as Ferdowsi with great respect. Sometimes he refers to Zoroaster's religion as "devilish" and sometimes Zoroaster figures as a good person in his work. Byron makes use of the Zoroastrian Janus-like philosophy in explaining some of the predicaments that his characters face in life. Zoroastrianism provides Byron with a metaphor for the two confused sides of his characters' nature, the one which struggles towards the light, and the one which, at the same time, involves characters in darkness and destroys them.

The present study delves deep into Iranian EFL teachers' and students' beliefs and cognition at t... more The present study delves deep into Iranian EFL teachers' and students' beliefs and cognition at the tertiary levels on the non/existence of gender partiality towards the opposite/same sex teachers and students. Conducting a survey method, two samples were singled out: 1) students (N=219); and 2) teachers (N= 30) who consented to fill in two separate piloted questionnaires. It was explored that both the teachers and the students believed in the existence of the gender partiality towards the opposite sex in Iranian EFL contexts at tertiary levels. The results of the study also evinced that most of the teachers believed in 'instinct tendency to opposite sex' as the reason behind the gender partiality on teachers' behavior towards the opposite-sex students while students believed that the reason for teachers' gender partiality toward their opposite-sex students is the students' appearance and behavior. The study demonstrated that 62.1 percent of the students consented that students have tendencies toward their opposite-sex teachers. It was also ascertained that teachers' cognition affects the way they behaved in their assessments and it has impacts on the way teachers make instructional decisions.

The significant role of the media, in general, and the movies, in particular, in disseminating in... more The significant role of the media, in general, and the movies, in particular, in disseminating information and creating images of the real life by use of the language as a powerful social tool is totally irrefutable. Although critical analysis of the movie discourse is a fashionable trend among the critical discourse analysts, there is a paucity of research on movie discourse in Iran. Besides, the increasing number of the anti-Iranian movies produced in the last decade and the growing tendency among the English students to watch American movies, have established the need for conducting a research to investigate the images of Iranians represented in the Western movies. Thus, in this article an anti-Iranian movie called Iranium, allegedly labeled as documentary, has been critically analyzed using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). For this purpose, Van Dijk's framework (2004) has been utilized to uncover the ideological manipulations and misrepresentations of this movie. The analysis revealed that the dichotomy of in-group favoritism vs. out-group derogation is a very effective discursive strategy at the disposal of the movie makers who have used language as a weapon to attack Iran by representing a distorted and unrealistic image of the Iranians' history, culture and ideologies. The findings of the present study imply that adopting a critical discourse analysis perspective in the EFL classes is a necessity which needs the development of the required materials, by the curriculum developers, that raise the students' critical awareness as well as their language skills and proficiency.

The concept of "absence" in literary works.

Published in Shabaab Literary Magazine, August 1998

Journal of Critical Studies in Language and Literature, 2020

The concept of "absence" in literary works.

Published in Shabaab Literary Magazine, August 1998

A poem about teaching in the digital age

WHY DO THE CLOUDS DARKEN THE EARTH?

Published in Northwest Ethnic Voice, Jan. 2002

In 2022, in my course Global Citizenship, my students and I collaborated with CityStudio and Lond... more In 2022, in my course Global Citizenship, my students and I collaborated with CityStudio and London Environmental Network to promote pollinator gardens in industrial areas in London, Ontario, through publication of pollinator garden guidebooks.

Teacher Course Sam Samigorganroodi INDS-1119-40 Global Citizenship Overall Mean Score Competency ... more Teacher Course Sam Samigorganroodi INDS-1119-40 Global Citizenship Overall Mean Score Competency Your Score INDS-1119-40 Global Citizenship (Sam Samigorganroodi) 4.75 Individual Teacher Report for INDS-1119-40 Global Citizenship (Sam Samigorganroodi)

Please keep the response rate in mind when interpreting the SFS results. If only a small proporti... more Please keep the response rate in mind when interpreting the SFS results. If only a small proportion of students in your course completed the survey, the feedback might not represent the viewpoint of an entire class. Please note: If a survey form is completed for a course that is team taught by multiple instructors a report will generate if 4 or more students complete the survey, regardless of whether or not the individual response threshold was met (Threshold = 4 or more responses). Teacher Course Sam Samigorganroodi COMM-6026-61 Language of Hosp. Management in Canada Overall Mean Score Competency Your Score COMM-6026-61 Language of Hosp. Management in Canada (Sam Samigorganroodi) 4.98 Individual Teacher Report for COMM-6026-61 Language of Hosp. Management in Canada (Sam Samigorganroodi) Copyright Fanshawe College 2/7 College Mean Mean Mean Overall, the effectiveness of the professor/instructor Sam Samigorganroodi in this course. 5.00 4.42 4.37 Individual Teacher Report for COMM-6026-61 Language of Hosp. Management in Canada (Sam Samigorganroodi)

My students' poster presentation on Martin Luther King, Jr.

Course Professor: Dr. Sam Roodi -Look at the following personality types. Try to understand the p... more Course Professor: Dr. Sam Roodi -Look at the following personality types. Try to understand the premise or motivation behind their type. Then work in pairs and use a strategy from the list at the end of each section (italicized sentences) to find a solution for dealing with each personality type. The first one has been done for you as an example.

Activities for teachers who teach fiction.

Student Writing

Ghasaq Mi'mar was my student in 1995. She wrote this true story about how Saddam forced her famil... more Ghasaq Mi'mar was my student in 1995. She wrote this true story about how Saddam forced her family into exile and arrested her dad.

Teaching Anne of Green Gables in language classroom

Hemingway's short stories

Teaching literature in language classroom

TO TEACH OR NOT TO TEACH LITERATURE!

University of Sussex, 2004

Where Are You Going in Such a Hurry? A Poem by Shafiee Kadkani

Translation of Hamid Mossadegh's poem.

It's disheartening, to say the least, when I open a student's assignment and find untouched AI-ge... more It's disheartening, to say the least, when I open a student's assignment and find untouched AI-generated placeholders such as "[Company Name]" or "[Name of the Receiver]." It signals something far deeper than laziness; it shows a detachment from the writing process itself. I recently came across a student's draft that began: "Dear [Company Name] Team, I hope this message finds you well." Not only was the bracket left as is, but the student didn't even personalize the greeting. It's one thing to use AI as a starting point; it's another to disengage entirely from one's writing. Worse yet, a research report I received ended with a sentence so out of place that it could only be the result of AI hallucination: "I spoke the words: 'My kitchen is in a mess.'" This was tacked on right after a professional-sounding conclusion about hotel sustainability. Another student's email concluded with: "Green ideas that seem colourless in fact move very fast." A sentence so absurd, so out of context, that one can only wonder whether the student even read it.

In today’s world, education transcends the traditional boundaries of literacy, such as the abilit... more In today’s world, education transcends the traditional boundaries of literacy, such as the ability to read and write or master a second language and basic computer skills. Literacy now means the ability to bring about change. Therefore, an educated person is someone who can transform their life and the lives of other people through what they learn and read. An educated person is someone who can make the world a better place; in other words, a world that is more sustainable, fair, and just; a world in which people are valued and are treated with respect and compassion; a world in which conflicts are resolved through dialogue and negotiations rather than hostility.

A reflection on the concept of Global Citizenship

Monograph, 1996

Edward Albee, a towering figure in 20th-century American drama, is often associated with the Thea... more Edward Albee, a towering figure in 20th-century American drama, is often associated with the Theatre of the Absurd. Yet, his body of work demonstrates a unique departure from the existential despair of absurdist playwrights like Samuel Beckett. Instead, Albee employs his theatre as a weapon of social critique, tackling the hypocrisy, materialism, and moral decay of contemporary society. His plays are not resigned to cosmic futility but are deeply committed to the cause of human dignity and the possibility of change. The American Dream (1960) epitomizes Albee's unique voice, blending biting satire with a sharp examination of social ills.

Global Citizenship and Conflict Management, 2024

We live in an era where our lives, economies, and futures are intricately intertwined on a global... more We live in an era where our lives, economies, and futures are intricately intertwined on a global scale. The challenges we face-from climate change to economic disparities-transcend national boundaries, demanding solutions that are equally expansive in scope. As inhabitants of this interconnected world, we bear a shared responsibility to foster peace, uphold human rights, and address the pressing issues that affect us all.

Navigating the Seas of Media, 2024

In the fast-paced, interconnected world of our century, media saturates every aspect of our lives... more In the fast-paced, interconnected world of our century, media saturates every aspect of our lives. From traditional outlets like newspapers and television to the digital realms of social media and online streaming platforms, we are bombarded with messages and information at every turn. In this ocean of media, the ability to navigate and critically analyze the messages we encounter becomes paramount. Welcome to the realm of critical media literacy. Critical media literacy extends beyond traditional notions of literacy, encompassing the ability to evaluate and critique various forms of mass communication and popular culture. It empowers individuals to dissect the relationships between media, audiences, information, and power. As global citizens striving for a more equitable, just, and sustainable world, developing critical media literacy skills is essential. Let's break down the essence of critical media literacy into its core components: critical thinking, media analysis, and global citizenship.

The exploration of untranslatable phrases in English, exemplified by idioms like "It's raining ca... more The exploration of untranslatable phrases in English, exemplified by idioms like "It's raining cats and dogs," offers a fascinating journey into the intricacies of language and culture. As a professor, it becomes imperative to guide students through the challenging yet enriching terrain of idiomatic expressions, where literal translations often lead to absurdities. Idiomatic expressions, deeply rooted in culture and often violating syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic norms, demand a nuanced approach to translation. Recognizing these expressions is

Reflections, 2021

During the past few months, I have been trying to understand and address some of the challenges t... more During the past few months, I have been trying to understand and address some of the challenges that our students are facing in remote contexts because of online learning, and I have concluded that there is one persistent challenge in online learning, and it is learner loneliness. As we get better and better every day at engaging our students, giving them hands-on activities and finding ways to build peer-to-peer relationships, I have been thinking about how to help my students overcome this sense of loneliness and help reduce student dissatisfaction with online learning. Most students have no real face-to-face connection and live between four walls alone, and some are having a difficult time adjusting. Today, I had a class with my students in my Global Citizenship course and wanted to share this experience with you. In our virtual class, we had a break out session, and students introduced themselves, chatted with their peers and me, asked questions, and expressed concerns. The students were very grateful for this opportunity. Despite the fact that we have limited time to deliver course content, I believe these little moments can have a positive impact on our students.

As more and more people from diverse cultural backgrounds are coming to Canada as immigrants and ... more As more and more people from diverse cultural backgrounds are coming to Canada as immigrants and are populating ESL classrooms, the need to educate both ESL teachers and

Personal reflection on stereotyping and cross-cultural issues in ESL classrooms.

Imtiaz Dharker's poem, "Blessing" annotated and explained!

The combination of an ancient tale and a warning about pride and the impermanence of power makes ... more The combination of an ancient tale and a warning about pride and the impermanence of power makes the poem, “Ozymandias”, a timeless meditation on human history and ambition.

The following essay explores the hardships and social challenges faced by individuals who are wit... more The following essay explores the hardships and social challenges faced by individuals who are without money, illustrating how financial insecurity affects various aspects of life, such as social status, opportunities, and personal well-being. It employs a series of vivid metaphors and concrete examples to emphasize the gravity of living without wealth.

Annotated play by George Bernard Shaw

Annotations, 2024

In this poem, Thomas Hardy poignantly critiques the senselessness of war by capturing the reflect... more In this poem, Thomas Hardy poignantly critiques the senselessness of war by capturing the reflections of an ordinary soldier grappling with the arbitrary nature of his actions. Through the speaker’s casual, repetitive language, Hardy reveals the strained justifications soldiers use to rationalize violence against people they have no personal grievance with. By contrasting the hypothetical friendliness of an inn with the grim reality of the battlefield, Hardy exposes the absurdity of war, where men who could be friends are forced into fatal confrontations. The poem ultimately underscores the tragedy and irony inherent in war, where human connection is eclipsed by duty and ideology, leaving individuals to confront the uncomfortable truths behind their actions.