scholarly journals Influence of the NAO robot as a teaching assistant on university students’ vocabulary learning and attitudes

2021 ◽  
pp. 71-87
Author(s):  
Hossein Banaeian ◽  
Ilkay Gilanlioglu
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Teaching Assistant ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Nao Robot ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Impact

This study investigated how the NAO robot as a teaching assistant affects the way university students learn vocabulary and their attitudes towards it. A mixed method approach was followed to gather both quantitative and qualitative data. A quasi-experimental design, including a pre-test and a post-test, was employed to explore the impact of the NAO robot on students’ vocabulary learning. Moreover, a questionnaire and an interview were used to identify the attitudes of the participants towards the NAO robot. The participants, who were taking a vocabulary course for language improvement as part of the regular curriculum of the program during the experiment, were freshman students of the English language teaching undergraduate program at a higher education institution in North Cyprus. Of the two groups, the control group performed slightly better than the experimental group even though the analyses did not show any statistically significant difference between them. Descriptive data analysis showed that most of the students liked the NAO robot and its abilities. However, related findings from the qualitative data were mixed. Most participants liked the NAO robot and thought that the robot helped them to learn the new words, while some thought that the technology needed to be improved.

The Influence of Challenge Course Participation on Moral and Ethical Reasoning

2002 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 278-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol A. Smith ◽  
Sharon E. Strand ◽  
Camille J. Bunting
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
University Students ◽  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Ethical Reasoning ◽  
Defining Issues Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Challenge Course ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Impact

This study investigated the impact of a 15-week outdoor experiential program on the moral reasoning of college students. One hundred and ninety-six university students volunteered to participate in this study, which utilized Rest's (1979) Defining Issues Test (DIT). The DIT investigates how individuals arrive at making decisions, and formulates a “P” (Principled moral reasoning) score for each subject. The groups were found to be homogeneous in moral reasoning at the pretest (outdoor experiential x = 36.07; control x = 33.08; F = 0.05). There was a statistically significant difference on the posttest scores of the outdoor experiential program participants (x = 40.98) in relation to the control group (x = 34.14) (F = 3.84). The results of this study demonstrated that the outdoor experiential program participants were significantly different from the control group at posttest. It is postulated that even though improved moral reasoning was not a stated objective, the outdoor experiential students, through front-loading, reflection, critical thinking, problem solving, and adherence to the full value contract, did enhance their level of moral reasoning. Through the combined modeling of behavior and discussion, changes in behavior can occur. The nature of outdoor experiential programs seems well suited to positively influence moral and ethical reasoning.

scholarly journals Explicit Instruction of Memory vs Cognitive Strategies and Reading Comprehension: An Empirical Study with IELTS Candidates

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 134
Author(s):  
Jahanbakhsh Nikoopour ◽  
Roozbeh Kargar ◽  
Nadimeh Esfandiari
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
English Language ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Moderator Variable ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Memory Strategies ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
English Language Institute ◽  
The Impact

<p><em>Research in reading comprehension associates the assumption that readers’ attributes may influence reading comprehension; different readers may process the same text in different ways, depending on their purposes, motivation, attitudes, interests, background knowledge, and the strategies they use. The present study attempted to investigate the impact of teaching cognitive and memory strategies on male and female IELTS candidates’ reading comprehension. To carry out the study, the researcher selected a sample of 88 male and female EFL learners, who attended IELTS preparation classes in Afarinesh English Language Institute regularly. The participants were randomly assigned into three groups; namely, two experimental groups and a control group. Eight memory and cognitive strategies were taught explicitly in the two experimental groups respectively during the treatment, whereas the current usual techniques were being used in the control group. The results showed that the experimental groups outperformed the control group in reading comprehension. The difference between the mean scores of the two experimental groups was not statistically significant. That is, instructing cognitive and memory strategies have had somehow similar impact on the IELTS candidates’ reading comprehension. Finally, the participants’ gender as a moderator variable did not make a significant difference in their reading comprehension.</em></p>

scholarly journals The Impact of Incidental and Intentional L2 Vocabulary Learning on Depths and Breadth Dimensions of Vocabulary Knowledge

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Seyyed Rasool Mirghasempoor Ahmadi
Keyword(s):  
Learning Style ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
English Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Reading Program ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
The Impact

Through the introduction of different dimensions of vocabulary knowledge, various studies attempted to examinenumerous effective factors on these dimensions. The present study aimed to show the effects of different vocabularylearning styles through extensive and intensive reading programs on depth and breadth aspects of vocabularyknowledge. To achieve this goal, 45 sophomore undergraduate students of English language teaching and translationin Payam-e-Noor University participated in this study. Initially, in order to homogenize the learners based on theirlevel of language proficiency, MEPT was administered. Then, by measuring the mean and standard deviation ofparticipants’ scores, the number of participants reduced to 35. The ultimate subjects’ scores on the readingcomprehension items of MEPT show that they are all at the intermediate level of reading ability. Participantsdivided into three experimental groups randomly: two groups were in the extensive reading program with differentform-focused and meaning-focused tasks as incidental vocabulary learning style. And the third group was in theintensive reading program as intentional vocabulary learning style. Participants in these experimental groups readlong stories or passages per week with ten goal-oriented words. After 8 weeks, Word Associates Test (WAT) andVocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) were administered to measure the acquired knowledge of new words and also,determining the effects of various learning styles on different dimensions of vocabulary knowledge. The results ofPaired-samples and Independent T-tests revealed that both incidental and intentional groups developed in the periodbetween the pre- and post-test, but, there was a significant difference between the effects of incidental vocabularylearning in the form of ER program and intentional vocabulary learning in the form of IR program. Moreover, therewas a significant difference between the effects of the form-focused and meaning-focused task.

The Impact of Portfolios and Journals on Iranian Pre-university Students’ Vocabulary Learning

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 1403
Author(s):  
Abdolhossein Omidi ◽  
Nahid Yarahmadzehi
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Alternative Assessment ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Sampling Procedure ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Strong Positive Correlation ◽  
Traditional Assessment ◽  
University Center ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

This study was conducted to investigate the impact of portfolios and journals on Iranian Pre-university students’ vocabulary learning. Fifty female pre-university students who were studying General English as a part of their course syllabus at Tooba Pre-university Center of Tang Eram, Bushehr, Iran comprised the participants in the main phase of the study. This study adopted a convenience sampling procedure, since the real act of randomization was not feasible. The participants of the study were divided into two groups. The experimental group (N=25) received the treatment i.e. portfolios and journals, while the control group (N=25) underwent the traditional assessment. The results of data analyses indicated that the students in experimental group outperformed the students in control group in terms of their lexical knowledge. Moreover, the results of correlational analyses revealed that there was a strong positive correlation between the students’ lexical scores and their scores on motivation to alternative assessment in the experimental group. The results have some implications for EFL teachers, learners, and parents as well as for curriculum developers and syllabus designers.

The impact of computer-assisted language learning on Iranian EFL students’ vocabulary learning

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 210-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Rahimi ◽  
Samira Mouri
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Computer Assisted Language Learning ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

This study aimed to explore the impact of computer-assisted language learning on Iranian EFL students’ vocabulary learning. Participants of the study were 76 students – 29 males and 47 females – learning English as a foreign language in Parto, Sadr, Poyesh and Andishe Institutes in Ahvaz who were selected after taking the Nelson English Language Test as a proficiency test. They were randomly divided into two groups. One group was taken as control and the other as experimental group. Both groups participated in the teacher-made test of vocabulary, Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT), and Word-Associates Test (WAT) as pre-test. During class sessions the control group was taught the vocabulary, in the conventional way, through the printed textbook while the experimental group taught by the software version of the same book. Three ANCOVAs were run to compare the performance of experimental and control groups after the treatment period. The results of the ANCOVAs revealed that using vocabulary learning software was more effective than using printed book on vocabulary learning, vocabulary breadth, and vocabulary depth of the participants. The results of the present study could help EFL course book designers, foreign language institutes, educational planners, material developers, teachers, and learners to provide a better context for EFL learning. Keywords: computer-assisted instruction, computer-assisted language learning, information communication technology, vocabulary breadth, vocabulary teaching software.  

scholarly journals The Impact of Text-Messaging on EFL Freshmen's Vocabulary Learning

2011 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Ali Derakhshan
Keyword(s):  
Text Messaging ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Text Message ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Original Sentence ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Post Test ◽  
The Impact

<p>The present research investigates the effectiveness of text-message vocabulary learning on EFL freshmen. The results of the pretreatment interview with EFL learners showed that many of them have difficulty learning vocabulary through the traditional paperand-pencil way; therefore, text-message vocabulary learning was hypothesized to be a potential way to help EFL learners consolidate their vocabulary knowledge. To this end, 43 participants from among 85 freshmen studying in Torbat-e-Heydarieh Azad University participated in the study. The participants were divided into two groups of 21 and 22 on the basis of their proficiency. The book Check Your Vocabulary for Academic English by David Porter (2001) was taught to both groups, and they were told to make some sentences in the class to become familiar with these words; they were requested to work cooperatively in small groups of 3 or 4 in order to have the opportunity to talk more about these words. Fifteen to 20 words were introduced and taught to these students on each session. Then, the participants in the experimental group sent the researcher one text-message containing an original sentence for each word covered in the class. They were also asked to send a text-message containing a sentence to their three predetermined partners. The participants in the control group wrote one sentence using each covered word, and they were also asked to write one sentence to exchange with their three partners and bring their assignments to the class next session. The results of independent samples t-test for the post-test and the delayed post-test showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the initial vocabulary learning and the retention of the vocabulary between the two groups.</p>

scholarly journals The Impact of the Semantic Maps Strategy on the Development of English Vocabulary and its Survival among the Sixth Primary Students in Buraidah, Qassim Region

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah bin Ali Alnghimshi
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Sixth Grade ◽  
Primary Students ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Semantic Maps ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

The study was based on a semi-experimental approach. The study sample consisted of two groups (experimental and control) of 49 students of sixth grade in the primary school of Omar bin Sulayem (3 weeks later) to measure the survival of the learning effect, and it was also applied as a measure of the level of achievement of the vocabulary of the English language. The results were statistically analyzed by calculating the arithmetic averages, standard deviations, Ancova and T-test. The results of the study showed a statistically significant difference between the average scores of the control group and the experimental group in the post- (20.62). The experimental average was 25.56, an increase of (4.94) for the experimental group. The results also showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the average scores of the experimental group in the post- The average test was Achievement posttest (25.56), while the average achievement test posttest deferred (25.48); therefore these results have confirmed the effectiveness of the use of maps in the collection strategy Tagged English vocabulary material and the survival of the students of the sixth primary development.

scholarly journals Efficacy of Role-Play in Teaching and Formative Assessment for Undergraduate English- Major Students in Saudi Arabia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammed Salim Keezhatta
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Formative Assessment ◽  
English Language ◽  
Role Play ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Knowledge Level ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
English Major ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

This study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the role-play as the teaching and formative assessment strategy for the undergraduate English major students from the Riyadh region of Saudi Arabia. To find the effectiveness and the impact of role-play as a teaching strategy, a quasi-experimental method was employed by using a pretest-posttest design wherein the pre and posttest results of 70 EFL students from experimental and the control groups were compared. The experimental group was taught some new areas of grammar, functions and vocabulary using role-play; simultaneously, the control group was taught the same items using the traditional method of teaching. The pretest revealed no significant difference in the knowledge level of the students between the two groups. On the other hand, the posttest results showed that there was a significant difference in the knowledge level of the students in favour of the experimental group. Further, a structured questionnaire was used to understand the perspective of the teachers on the efficacy of role-play in the assessment of students in the English language classes. A sample size of 20 teachers was used where it was found that role-play had a significant impact on the formative assessment. The findings of the study suggested role-play as an effective technique for the undergraduate English-major students in Saudi Arabia to solve the classroom interpersonal troubles, and it would help the students to imbibe the human-relation along with increasing their proficiency in the English language.

scholarly journals The Effect of Text-Generation on Incidental Vocabulary Learning in Iranian Efl Learners

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 99-106
Author(s):  
Mojgan Yarahmadi
Keyword(s):  
Null Hypothesis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Multiple Choice ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Text Generation ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary Learning

The present study was undertaken to demonstrate the effect of text-generation on incidental vocabulary learning in Iranian EFL learners. To test the null hypothesis (i.e. there is no significant difference between the vocabulary average performance of the group undergone text-generation processing and the group undergone traditional vocabulary learning processes), two intact classes containing 70 sophomore female and male students of English Translation at Arak State University, Iran participated. A Nelson test of English Language Proficiency (test 250 A) was conducted at the beginning of the study to make sure that the two intact classes did belong to the same population. A multiple choice pre-test was administered at this stage to ensure the insignificant difference between the two groups. The students in the control group were advised to read the texts, whereas the subjects in the experimental group were supposed to use text-generation (reordering the texts) technique while reading the texts. It is worth mentioning that, both groups were provided with the texts in which target vocabulary items were highlighted. At the end of twelve-week period of treatment a multiple choice post-test of vocabulary(the same as pre-test)was administered in both experimental and control groups to compare the subjects' vocabulary achievement. Adopting a quasi-experimental design, the null hypothesis was rejected at 0.05 and (even at 0.01) level of significance for 68 degrees of freedom. Key words: text-generation, incidental vocabulary learning, EFL

scholarly journals The Effect of Strategy Training on Vocabulary Learning of EFL University Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 284-295
Author(s):  
Salma Seffar
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
English Language ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Vocabulary Learning Strategies ◽  
Language Courses ◽  
Experimental Group

This study investigated the effect of training in five vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) on the vocabulary learning of EFL university students. The five vocabulary learning strategies were ‘Dictionary Work’, ‘Word Cards’, ‘Semantic Mapping’, ‘Word Parts’, and ‘Guessing from Context’. Forty-eight first year university students, in both the control group (24 students receiving English language courses) and the experimental group (24 students receiving English language courses besides VLS training) belonging to similar proficiency and vocabulary size levels, participated in the study. Data were collected utilizing two research instruments namely a vocabulary learning strategy questionnaire, pre-and post-tests of vocabulary learning ability. The vocabulary learning strategy questionnaire was used to elicit what types of vocabulary learning strategies the subjects employed while they learned and memorized the vocabulary taught independently outside and inside the class. The pre-test was employed to determine pre-existing knowledge of the participants. The posttest was administered to identify the impact of vocabulary learning strategy instruction on the students’ vocabulary knowledge. Descriptive statistics and t-test showed that after introducing vocabulary learning strategies training (VLST) in class, subjects from the experimental group used more VLS and significantly outperformed subjects of the control group in their ability to learn new words.

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