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This article explores the effect of iconicity and textual cohesion on processing causal relations in Persian discourse using an experimental method. A reading-time task with a within-subject design was set up. Twelve 3-sentence experimental scenarios and 12 filler scenarios were constructed. Iconicity and cohesion were the independent variables and participants’ reaction time (RT) was the dependent variable. The cohesion variable manipulated the degree of cohesion between the first and second sentences of scenarios. The iconicity variable manipulated the order of the second and third (cause and effect) sentences of scenarios. Forty-eight participants read the scenarios and verified if the target sentence, which asserted the implicit causal relation between the second and third sentences of scenarios, was correct. The RTs of the participants were collected using DMDX program. The data were then submitted to a mixed-model analysis in R. The main effect of iconicity and cohesion on participants’ RTs was found. There was no interaction effect between iconicity and cohesion. The target sentence had the shortest RT in the condition with iconic and high-cohesion scenarios. Also, the target sentence in the condition with iconic but low-cohesion scenarios was processed as fast as the target sentence in the condition with non-iconic but high-cohesion scenarios. The findings confirm the facilitatory effect of iconicity on understanding causal sequences. The results also show that if, for discourse reasons, information is provided non-iconically, the existence of highly cohesive relations between the causal sequences and the previous context can compensate the non-facilitatory effect of non-iconic sequences.

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This paper criticize the adopting a uniform approach in translation of the Qur'an to deal with different verses with different subjects, objectives and modes of expression. The important issue is that to adopt a uniform approach in translations of the different verses to how much different verses can be translated offer,and which method can apply a procedure that can fit the theme and purpose and style of verses in translation?The method of research will be analytical -comparative. It is referred to two theories in the analysis section.1- Function of language translation theory which argues roles to achieve balance in the translation and the translation method should be chosen according to the function of language. 2- Coherence theory argues that the Quran while having the consistency overall, the signs are looking at a variety of objectives and tailored to the variety of methods with using different methods of expression.The two arguments for the translation of the Quran have concluded that the type of language function in the production of each verse should fit the themeand target accuracy and mutually of the verses.In comparison method, four samples from four different translation methods are selected and in these four verses will be analyzed with different expression of the comparative analysis.This analysis show that each of the methods encountering a verse,in reaching equilibrium in translation from the perspective of language function has been more successful than other methods.

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The role of sports sociology is to explain and better understand the phenomenon of sports and its function. There are many researches in the field of sports sociology in Iran. But, a general look at these researches' status, findings, and approaches is needed. This study was conducted with the aim of a systematic review of sports sociology research in Iran. The research method was qualitative and developmental. This research, as a secondary study, has been done with a systematic review approach. The research sample consisted of 19 articles published in domestic scientific research journals between 1390 and 1400, which were extracted from "Noormags," "Magiran," "SID," and "Ensani" databases. The research results showed that the conducted studies can be categorized in the two general categories of social function of sports in 28 subcategories and social participation of sports in 119 subcategories. The subcategories such as social order, social cohesion, aggression, abnormal behavior, moral behavior, social policy, social trust, and hooliganism can be classified under a more general category called the social function of sports. Also, subcategories such as culturing sports for all, sports participation of women based on gender norms, sports participation of the disabled, participation in sports activities of women and men, social consequences of participation in sports, sports participation of the elderlies are categorized in the concept of "social participation in sports." The most important research gap observed in the studies of the sociology of sports is related to the field of cultural behaviors, including the cultural behaviors of spectators, such as slogans and activities of spectators in sports venues.
 

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Abstract
Cohesion is a term used in the field of functional linguistics that analyzes the relationships between different constructive elements of that text in both text grammatical (structural and non-structural) and vocabulary levels. In discussing the cohesion of non-structural grammar, the four dimensions: references, relevance, substitution and elimination are considered as factors integrating text, each, among other cohesive factors, can lead to cohesion and integration of text. With regard to necessity of the principle of balance and equality in the process of translation, the reflection of each of mentioned factors in the translations, along with aligned progress with the original text, is very important. Since Nahj al-Balagha, as a coherent text, includes different cohesive kinds, it is expected that its final translations reflect these integrating elements in itself. This article, with a descriptive-analytic approach, deals with the studying and accommodating the non-structural components of grammatical cohesion in the first sermon of Nahj al-Balagha and its five selected translation. In this way, the level of translators' loyalty to the reflections of these cohesive elements was examined and finally, it was concluded that some of the translators, in the light of equivalent progress and having equality with the original text and additionally, through the selection of suitable subjects among many other elements, fully reflected the existing cohesion in the original text into their translations. There were some cases of translators who have neglected this principle; this neglect may be due to factors such as translator's style and language capacity of the destination text.

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Q. Qolam Hosseinzadeh.PH.D.
Hamed Norouzi
 
Abstract
The relation existing among the sentences of any text has a vital role in its final perception. Due to this reason a number of linguistics have devoted a large share of their theoretical discussion to the analysis of this relation. One of these theories is Holiday’s ‘Role Tendency’, in which he has made cohesion among the conceptual, verbal, syntactic and the rational sentences of any individual text. Through this attitude, coherence has factors such as; 1. reference. 2. subordination and omission. 3. vocabulary cohesion. and 4. Connection.
Since this discussion covers a wide domain, the writers of this essay chose to survey one of these factors; which is reference. By reference, as a relation, the interpretation of one of the partners of reference, in other words the presupposing element, does not actually take place based on its conceptual characteristics. Instead, for doing this process, it is referred to the other party of this relation; in other words the referent. Reference has three kinds; personal, allusive, and comparative. This research only discusses the personal and allusive ones. The personal reference is concerned about the person, while the allusive one points to the place and the extent of its distance; whether far or close. In the Persian language personal reference is comprised of personal pronouns and reflexive pronouns, while the allusive reference includes demonstrative pronoun and demonstrative adverbs.
 
 

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The present paper studies the method referential categories and their distribution and their types in two translated texts from Dubliners written by Jamez Joyce within the framework of Holliday’s coherence theory and also analyses the book itself and compares the source text and the target texts. The method for analyzing this data is statistical analysis method. The sample of this study is five stories from the Dubliners series which were selected randomly and 135 sentences were selected from the main text. As these sentences were analyzed in their two translations the total number of analyzed sentences is 405 in three books. Reference in Holliday’s theory is a subcategory of grammatical cohesion. This study tries to explain differences in translation methods of two Persian translations by analyzing reference. Results show that method of using reference in these three texts is different and depending on the author and story different types of reference were used. At the end different methods of reference in translation of two translators were considered reflecting their different point of view about story.

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  Text linguistics and the related areas of studies including the knowledge of cohesion is a recent branch of study in linguistics and literary criticism. Like many other linguistic and literary theories, this field has emanated from the western thoughts. Theories of the western society have caused different reactions among the Arab scholars in linguistics and literature. Some insist that such theories and ideas as intersexuality, perception, interpretation, and structuralism originate from Arab societies as part of the Arab heritage as they have already been developed by Arab scholars. Indeed, they are right to some extent. On the other hand, some consider them as totally new and unprecedented. Still there are others who take a more moderate stance, believing that they belong to the west, but trying to accommodate the theories to Arabic distinct features and its rich lexical and literary resources. This article sets out to examine the theories of contemporary Arab scholars in Arabic text linguistics, and suggests that many of them believe that the model of cohesion developed by Haliday cannot account for the Arabic language, attempting to accommodate the model by the deletion or addition of some factors  

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In this study, based on Halliday and Hasan's (1976) description of cohesion in English, the ability of Persian- speaker children to organize a narrative discourse has been investigated, applying an experimental method. For this purpose, fifteen children, eight boys and seven girls, four to seven years old, have been selected in a crèche in the West of Tehran. Afterwards, in order to investigate their performance in organizing discourse by applying lexical cohesive devices, two tests, story retelling and story production based on two pictorial books, have been performed and then investigated. The main objective of this study has been to evaluate their discourse competence through their narrative discourse organizing ability. Based on the findings of this research, it can be said that children in all age groups are able to apply the correct lexical cohesive devices in order to organize their stories. The other result is that all age groups tend to apply "repetition" rather than “collocation" in both tests. Finally, the children's performance in story retelling test comparing with story production test was different, in terms of the number of utterances and lexical cohesive devices used.
 

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Gholam-Hossein Gholamhosseinzadeh, Ph.D.
Hamed Norouzi
 
Abstract
In Holiday’s linguistic theory, one of the factors which lead to the conjunction of a text’s sentences is comparison. This factor, in addition to personal and allusive reference, forms three types of references in this theory; since according to Holiday when two things are compared with each other, they are actually referred to each other. Comparative reference is an indirect reference to alikeness, difference or the similarity of the referential factors. This type of reference is divided into two parts; common and particular. The common comparative reference is divided into three parts; alikeness, similarity and difference. Due to the high significance and precise survey of simile in the Persian language, an attempt has been made to mention the common points of this issue in the Persian literature and the Holiday theory. Holiday has also divided particular comparative reference into two parts; counting ones and descriptive ones. But in here the authors have added the comparative one to it too as a result of common comparison and the potential and possibility of comparison through simile in the Persian language. Based on Holiday’s theory, cohesion has other factors besides reference; 1) substitution and omission, 2) vocabulary coherence 3) relevance.
Since the author is studying the Persian language, he has added other factors which have a role in equilibrium of syntactical cohesion. As this discussion has a high scope, only one of the factors is discussed in here; comparative reference.
 
            

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One of the prevalent questions in the realm of Persian sonnet is related to its cohesion. The present article, using Halliday and Hassan's systemic-functional approach to cohesion, tries to analyze and describe the presence of cohesion in Persian sonnet. Henceforth, after using their proposed model in cohesion, defining the principles of non-structural cohesion and differentiating it from the structural cohesion, this article takes on a descriptive approach towards the analysis of a sonnet by Hafiz. Accordingly, this article tries to analyze the ways in which cohesion comes to existence in a sonnet by Hafiz, and at the same time provide the reader with a methodology for analyzing non-structural cohesion in Persian sonnets. However, the author proposes three new-found principles which could be of high importance in such a model, that is, epithet, and figurative connectedness in contiguity axis as well as similarity axis.   

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Functional linguistics is regarded as one of the dominant approaches in contemporary linguistics that focuses on the functions of language. The greatest theoretician of functional linguistics Michael Halliday, in cooperation with Roqaye Hassan, have investigated the unity and coherence of text and have categorized its elements in Cohesion in English. The theory of the unity and coherence of text, which is based on the relations of sense and text, is considered as a branch of discourse analysis that investigates text. Coherence has an important and significant role in the structure of a text. The author reflects his real and surreal world in the text. Though time coherence is subverted in this reflection, he conveys meaning and creates text through language and maintaining lexical and syntactic relations.
Surrealist writers attempt to create imaginary and unreal milieus by means of free imagination and the unconscious to reach at a world beyond reality and away from preoccupations of contemporary culture. Since the surreal text is a reflection of surreal world free from limitations of language (automatism), it is assumed that such texts possess no unity and coherence and semantic relations in them is chaotic. Accordingly, this study investigates lexical cohesion of Blind Owl, in a descriptive-analytic method, based on Halliday and Hassan’s theory. The present research seeks answers to the following questions: Does the overflow of lexicons, originating from automatic writing out of the hallucinations of surrealist writer, create an incoherent text or not? Does the surrealist text take distance from language standards and their lexicons and their sentences have no unity and coherence as surrealists do in their real life? At last, it is argued whether Halliday’s linguistic theory can be useful in the analysis of surrealist texts in order to understand writer’s mentality and spirit.

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One of the prevalent questions in the realm of Persian sonnet is related to its cohesion. In this respect, using a functional linguistics approach, as well as the model of structural cohesion, the present article is to analyze the thematic structure of a sonnet by Hafiz. The aim of the present article is therefore to discuss the textual structure of a Persian sonnet through analyzing the thematic structure of the clause and the organization of its internal elements. Accordingly, a brief explanation about meta-functions is firstly provided, and afterwards the organization of the thematic structure in Persian language, along with the analysis of marked and unmarked types of Theme-Rheme is discussed. Next, using a descriptive-analytic approach in analyzing the structural cohesion, a poem by Hafiz is accordingly described. This analysis not only reveals some important points about the structural cohesion of the sonnet and its thematic structure, but also explains some of the poet's latent beliefs. In the end, it is claimed that on the basis of such an approach, one can analyze the cohesion of Hafiz's other sonnets according to the organization of Theme-Rheme.
   

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This study aims to investigate and analyze the realization of grounding in the form of foregrounding and back grounding in Persian-children’s narratives according to linguistic devices of aspect (perfective/imperfective) and voice of verb (active/passive) and also the effect of age on using these devices.
To investigate how foregrounding and back grounding are accomplished in Persian-speaking children’s narratives by linguistic devices of aspect (perfective/imperfective) and voice of verb (active/passive) two Hickmann’s (2004) pictorial stories were used. Three groups of school monolingual Persian-speaking children of age 7, 9, 11 and a control group of adults, at age 30 (each group consisting of 10 female subjects) took part in this study. The subjects were tested individually. They were asked to narrate two pictorial stories for one of the researchers. All the narratives (80 narratives, from two pictorial stories) were recorded by a voice recorder. Then, they were transcribed, described and analyzed by SPSS software.
Results showed that the use of perfective and imperfective aspects had a meaningful relationship in the three groups of children, that is, the use of perfect aspect in foreground decreased while that of imperfect aspect increased with an increase in the age. On the contrary, in adult group, the use of perfect aspect in foreground increased but that of imperfect aspect decreased. The same relationship was observed in background. Moreover, the use of active voice of verb was more dominant than that of passive voice of verb in the narratives. No meaningful relationship was observed between the use of passive voice of verb in foreground and background on one hand, and the participants’ age, on the other hand. Based on the results of Chi-square test, there was a significant relationship between perfective and imperfective aspects in foreground and also in background and the age of the narrators (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant relationship between the use of passive voice of verb in foreground and background and the age of the narrators (p < 0.05). Thus, the first two null hypotheses of the study were rejected, and the third one was accepted.

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This research aims at analyzing and comparing the development of lexical cohesive devices (repetition, collocation, synonymy, hyponymy, meronymy) in Persian-Speaking students’ written discourse at primary level (9 to 12 years old) according to logical meta-function introduced in Halliday and Mathiessen’s systemic functional grammar (2004). Descriptive analytical method is used in this study. 45 students (boys) studying at primary school (4^th, 5^th and 6^th grades) in 1393-94 have been selected through random-sampling. Two written tests in the form of picture stories were administered for gathering the written data. Frequency, percentage and pattern of development of using lexical cohesive devices were compared and analyzed. The frequency of lexical cohesive devices in 4^th, 5^th and 6^th grades were, 862, 967, and 1119. Repetition and collocation in all grades are the most frequent and hyponymy and meronymy are the least frequent devices. The percentage of repetition decreases from 4^th grade to 6^th grade while in hyponymy and meronymy it is increased. According to Kruskal–Wallis test the differences of using synonymy and repetition are not significant although differences of using collocation, hyponymy and meronymy are significant (p≤ 0/05). It seems that not only the frequency of different lexical cohesive devices in students’ written discourse increases as the grades increase, but also more sophisticated  lexical cohesive devices are found in writings of the students in higher grades.

 Keywords: Lexical cohesion, written discourse, Functional grammar, Students.

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This study aims to investigate cohesion, cohesive elements, and the plausible cohesive role of rhetorics in Persian esoteric prose literature. The cohesion of a given text depends on some factors within the text that use structural and semantic links to create text integrity. It seems that rhetorical devices, like simile and metaphor, along with linguistic factors, affect the cohesion of the esoteric prose texts.In the study of the sample esoteric prose texts that have been chosen randomly, the number of the existing cohesive devices, their distribution and the role of each structural cohesive device in maintaining links among the parts of the text were analyzed on the basis ofHalliday and Hasan’s approach. Then the role of rhetorical devices, like simile and metaphor, in creating semantic links, and consequently in giving cohesion to the texts,was studied.The results show that in esoteric prose texts, besides the structural cohesive elements, rhetorical devices,such as simile, metaphor, and especially allegory and compound metaphor that are manifested at the discursive level, i.e. beyond the level of sentence, also play a role in maintaining links among the parts of the texts and hence in the cohesion of the texts.

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Heritage is one of the most famous poem of Mehdi Akhavān-Sāles where the poet has tried to establish a coherent relationship between form and content. In this study, using an analytic –descriptive research methodology, the author has investigated the elements of repetition, cohesion and narration in order to explain the functions of existent relations on structural elements which construct overall signification of this poem. This study shows the structural elements of this poem and its aesthetic aspects. According to results, in this poem, poet has paid special attention to structure, what makes the poem formally coherent. The use of structural relationships like repetition, cohesion and narration besides magnificent lexical selection at both levels of syntagmatic and paradigmatic axis makes this poem a successful examples of contemporary poem. 

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Physical and mechanical properties of alfalfa (Medicago sativa, L.) grind are required for optimum design of equipment used in transporting, processing and storage of the material. This study was conducted to determine the effect of particle size (2.38, 3.36 and 4.76 mm) and moisture content (8, 9.3 and 11% wb) on some physical and mechanical properties of alfalfa grind. These properties include: geometric mean diameter, bulk density, coefficient of static friction (on galvanized iron, Plexiglass, rubber and polished steel surfaces), filling angle of repose, coefficient of internal friction, cohesion, and adhesion to polished steel plate. The bulk density varied from 161.6 to 202.2 kg m-3. The coefficient of static friction changed from 0.26 on polished steel plate to 0.87 on rubber surface. Larger particles with higher moisture content had the highest filling angle of repose (54.5°). The coefficient of internal friction varied from 0.64 to 0.88. The 2.38-mm alfalfa grind at moisture content of 11% (wb), and the 4.76-mm at moisture content of 8% (wb) had the highest and lowest cohesion (7.65 and 4.80 kPa), respectively. The adhesion on polished steel plate varied from 0.19 to 1.54 kPa.

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The effect of matric suction on shear strength of soil, because of its dominant role in geotechnical modelling, has received the attention of researchers in this filed. This research is focused in investigating the effect of matric suction on shear strength of a fine soil. The physical properties of the soil are determined. All samples are passed through No. 200 sieve. The soil is a high plasticity soil which is classified CH according to the unified classification system. The filter paper method is performed to extract the soil water characteristic curve. In addition to its simplicity, one of the major advantages of this method is the vast range of suctions can be measured by it. Specimens were compacted at identical void ratio with different water contents. Suctions are inferred from empirical relations that relate the suction to the measured moisture content of filter paper which has been in contact with soil sample. Air entry suction is determined 140 kPa from SWCC curve. In order to examine moisture content effects on shear strength parameters (cohesion and friction angle) of the clay, soil samples are prepared with different moisture content and consequently different matric suctions with respect to soil water characteristic curve. The specimens with different initial moisture contents are statically compacted at dry density of 1.3 gr/cm3into direct shear test mould. The moisture contents of samples are in the range of 10 to 28 precent. Hence, according to soil water characteristic curve the initial matric suctions are between 42 to 25238 kPa. Direct shear tests are conducted in unsaturated state. After applying vertical stress the samples are left at least for 48 hours to allow the equalization of internal stresses. Based on experimental data the shear stress is plotted against horizontal displacement in different vertical stresses and moisture contents and the results and analysed and discussed. The effective stress equation proposed by Bishop (1959) is used to interpret the results. The effective stress parameter χ in each moisture content is calculated bythe equation suggested by Khalili & Khabbaz (1998) using the air entry suction extracted from SWCC curve. The results reveal that strength parameters do not substantially change at different moisture contents. The negligible changes in strength parameters may be attributed to slight changes in pore water pressure during shearing experiment. Such changes in pore pressure during shearing would be eliminated in constant suction consolidated drained experiments. The results of this paper support the validity of effective stress concept in unsaturated soils. In other words, with a proper estimate of effective stress, the saturated parameters are valid in unsaturated state and it is not necessary to measure strength parameters in unsaturated state. The unsaturated geotechnical experiments are time consuming and expensive and need special equipment and skills. The method proposed in this paper has a good degree of accuracy. Therefore it can decrease the costs of geotechnical investigation projects in arid lands.

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The increasing demand for engineered cut and fill slopes on construction goals has increased the need of understanding of analytical methods, investigation tools and the most important stabilization methods to solve slope stability problems. The first step to maintain the stability of an earth slope is performing excavation in the slope crest or/and filling in the slope toe. This is the cheapest way (model) for stabilization of earth slopes. If the model cannot provide the required factor of safety, it is necessary to use other stabilization methods. Numerical and laboratory methods are useful for modeling earth slopes stabilization. Modeling the stability of earth slopes using numerical methods is a common practice in geotechnical engineering. Moreover , stabilization of earth slopes using piles has been practiced by many researchers by using numerical and analytical methods. Application of numerical and analytical methods to stabilization of earth slopes using piles is an issue commonly discussed by various researchers. Although , numerical and analytical methods have special capabilities, laboratory modeling is more reliable. Stability slope analysis has attract lots of researchers attention all across the world and it shows the significance of this matter. When we are suspicious about stability of earth slopes, immediate actions and preventative steps should be used for suppression of instability occurrence. Many projects intersect in valleys and rides , which can be prone to slope stability problems. Natural slopes that have been stable for many years may suddenly fail because of many reasons, therefore finding useful techniques for these matters now days are a great concern for geotechnical engineers. In all earth slopes the primary way for stabilization is the excavation in slope crest and/or filling slope toes , if this action would not increase safety factor enough , other procedures should be applied. Three common styles of stabilization methods are ; vertical reinforcement (such as stone columns and piles) , horizontal reinforcement (like Geo - grids) , oblique reinforcement (such as nailing). Stability of natural slopes is one of important issues in Geotechnical engineering. using easy and economical methods for improving stability of slopes are one of the greatest challenges that face engineers. One of the common methods that is use for increasing the safety factor of slopes is stone columns. All of the experimental tests were modeled and compared using the limit equilibrium (LE) and finite element (FE) methods, which are compliant with each other. Understanding of soil property is crucial for analysis of earth slopes, in this study effect of cohesion in embankment is considered, and based on exact understanding of this property and performing laboratory modeling and by using finite element method software (PLAXIS2D) and finite difference method software (FLAC3D), results are achieved. The sand slope is saturated through precipitation and failure after loading by installing the stone column at the middle of slope. Experimental studies in this article have the potential to give valuable information about effects of embankment cohesion and penetration depth of stone column into the stiffer layer, in stability of stone column reinforced earth slopes.