scholarly journals The Impact of Authentic Materials and Tasks on Students’ Communicative Competence at a Colombian Language School

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 89 ◽  
Author(s):  
César Augusto Castillo Losada ◽  
Edgar Alirio Insuasty ◽  
María Fernanda Jaime Osorio
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Authentic Materials ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
Language School ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

This article reports on a study carried out in a foreign language school at a Colombian public university. Its main purpose was to analyze the extent to which the use of authentic materials and tasks contributes to the enhancement of the communicative competence on an A2 level English course. A mixed study composed of a quasi-experimental and a descriptive-qualitative research design was implemented by means of a pre-test, a post-test, observations, semi-structured interviews, surveys, and diaries. The findings showed that the use of authentic materials and tasks, within the framework of a pedagogical project, had an impact on students’ communicative competence progress and on the teaching practices of the experimental group teacher.

scholarly journals Is it Worth Flipping? The Impact of Flipped Classroom on EFL Students’ Grammar

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ishaq Salim Al-Naabi
Keyword(s):  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Flipped Learning ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Intact Group ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
The Impact

In light of contemporary pedagogical methods, the flipped classroom has been recognised as an effective pedagogy in English as a Foreign Language (EFL). This study employed a quasi-experimental one-group research design to investigate the impact of flipped learning on Omani EFL learners’ grammar and to examine students’ perceptions on the flipped classroom. An intact group of students (n=28) enrolled at the foundation programme in Arab Open University-Oman was randomly selected. Seven videos on English grammar were developed and shared with the students prior to the class. A varaiety of activities were conducted in the class following task-based language teaching. Students met for 8 lessons over the period of 8 weeks. Pre-test, post-test and semi-structured interviews were used in the study. The findings indicated that flipped learning had a positive impact on students’ understanding and usage of English grammar. Students’ perceptions on the flipped approach were positive. The study also provided pedagogical insights for the flipped classroom and recommendations for future research. 

scholarly journals The Impact of Using the Station Rotation Model on Saudi EFL Learners’ Descriptive Writing Skills

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-114
Author(s):  
Alanoud Ahmed Aldukhi
Keyword(s):  
Writing Skills ◽  
Intermediate School ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Descriptive Writing ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
Rotation Model

The present study investigated the impact of the station rotation model (SRM) on enhancing students’ descriptive writing skills. It adopted the quasi-experimental pre-post test control/ experimental group design. The tools of the study included a pre/post- descriptive writing skills test, and open-ended questionnaire. The participants of the study were selected randomly, 40 female students enrolled in the twelfth intermediate school in Riyadh. Students of the experimental group received the descriptive writing skills instructions in nine sessions based on the SRM, two of them were for training. The study results revealed statistically significant differences at 0.05 level between the mean scores of the control and the experimental groups on the post test in favor of the experimental group in overall descriptive writing skills as well as in each descriptive writing skill. The researcher recommended that there is a real necessity from educators and teachers to prepare appropriate curriculums that involve implementing the station rotation model inside the classrooms, in a way that corresponds with teachers’ ability and students’ need, aiming to gain the mentioned advantages.

The effects of problem-based learning (PBL) on the academic achievement of students studying ‘Electrochemistry’

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuğçe Günter ◽  
Sibel Kılınç Alpat
Keyword(s):  
Problem Based Learning ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Chemistry Teaching ◽  
Academic Achievements ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Experimental Group

This study investigates the effects of problem-based learning (PBL) on students' academic achievements in studying ‘Electrochemistry’ within a course on Analytical Chemistry. The research was of a pretest–posttest control group quasi-experimental design and it was conducted with second year students in the Chemistry Teaching Program at the Faculty of Education at Dokuz Eylul University. The topic was taught with PBL in the experimental group and with expository teaching strategies in the control group. The ‘Chemistry achievement test (CAT)’ was applied as the pre-test and post-test in both groups. Post-test scores from the CAT demonstrated that there was a significant difference between the academic achievements of the two groups in favour of the experimental group (U= 8.500,p< 0.05). After using PBL for a period, eleven open-ended questions related to the topic were asked to both groups. The results of these questions were categorized and the scores obtained from the categories were evaluated using content analysis. The results of the scores obtained from the open-ended questions showed that the students in the experimental group were able to make statements containing fewer misconceptions and also had a better understanding of this topic when compared to the students in the control group (U= 2.500,p< 0.05). The correlation between the scores in the CAT post-test and the scores obtained from the open-ended questions of the experimental and control groups was also examined. The Spearman correlation coefficients were found to be 0.907 and 0.595 for the experimental and the control group, respectively. This finding indicated that there was a positive and very high level of statistically significant correlation between the scores in the CAT post-test and the scores obtained from the open-ended questions of the students in the experimental group. Therefore this finding also supports the conclusion that the students in the experimental group were better able to understand the topic and its structure compared to the students in the control group. At the end of the application, the results of semi-structured interviews carried out showed that students in the experimental group had positive opinions regarding PBL.

scholarly journals Improving Upper-intermediate EFL Learners’ Communicative Competence through Authentic Materials

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 956
Author(s):  
Mohammad Hossein Keshmirshekan
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Authentic Materials ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Experimental Group

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of authentic materials on enhancing Iranian English as a foreign language learners' communicative competence. To this end, 106 upper-intermediate participants out of 136 were selected based on their performance an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and randomly assigned to two equal groups- one experimental group and one control group. Then a pre-test was administered to assess the participants' communicative competence at the beginning of the course. Then, the experimental group received the treatment. The control group was taught the course content using the regular communicative method through which students received teacher-course from the textbook. After the treatment, the two groups took the post-test. The data analysis through paired and independent sample t-tests revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group on the posttest. In other words, teaching authentic materials showed to have a significant effect on improving learners' communicative competence. The implications, limitations, and suggestions of this study are explained at the end of the study.

scholarly journals The Impact of Drama Instruction on EFL Omani Fifth Graders’ Read-ing Comprehension

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 674
Author(s):  
Ruqaya Al Rabeei ◽  
Salma Al-Humaidi ◽  
Saleh Al-Busaidi
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Fifth Graders ◽  
Reading Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Teacher's Perceptions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

Drama instruction is one of the methods recommended in EFL literature. This study aimed to investigate the impact of drama instruction on EFL fifth graders’ reading comprehension. It also explored the students’ and the teacher’s perceptions of the use of drama in reading lessons. A total of 74 randomly selected students participated in the study and formed the control group and the experimental group. The study followed the mixed quasi-experimental design. A pre- and posttest reading test was administered to examine the impact of drama on reading comprehension. A questionnaire was implemented to explore students’ perceptions of drama. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted to probe students’ and teacher’s perceptions of drama. The results were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. They showed no significant difference in reading comprehension between the control group and the experimental group. However, the experimental group performed better in the posttest than the control group although their mean scores in the pretest were lower. The participant teacher and students responded positively towards the use of drama in reading lessons. They reported that drama activities were exciting and made them love reading.

scholarly journals The Impact of Podcasts on EFL Students’ Listening Comprehension

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tryanti R. Abdulrahman ◽  
Nonny Basalama ◽  
Moh. Rizky Widodo
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Control Group ◽  
School Students ◽  
Control Group Design ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

This research has objective to investigate students’ listening comprehension through the use of podcast in EFL classroom. 60 high school students in Indonesia were taken as sample for this research with distribution of 30 students in experiment class and 30 students in control class. The samples were taken by using cluster random sampling. Quasi-experimental method with the post-test only control group design was applied in this research. In addition, a survey questionnaire was administered to experimental group to explore their perception on the use of podcast instruction in teaching listening. Findings revealed that there is a significant difference of post-test score between two groups, favoring experimental group. Data analysis using one way ANOVA showed significance value (sig. 0.010) is lower than &lt; 0.05 which interpreted that Podcast has significant impact on students’ listening comprehension. Additionally, the result of questionnaire indicated that students have positive attitude toward the use of podcast in listening classroom. Students perceived that podcasts provided authentic materials, interesting activities including listening exercises and meaningful tasks for them so they felt more motivated to learn English. This study recommended that teacher may utilize podcast in teaching listening considering its effectiveness as technology based learning tool.

scholarly journals School-Based Training for Sustainable Emotional Development in Chinese Preschoolers: A Quasi-Experiment Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6331
Author(s):  
Jianfen Wu ◽  
Manlin Zhang ◽  
Wenqi Lin ◽  
Yunpeng Wu ◽  
Hui Li
Keyword(s):  
Social Adjustment ◽  
Emotional Competence ◽  
Control Group ◽  
School Based ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

Emotional competence (EC) is important for children’s social adjustment and sustainable development. The present study designed a school based emotional competence learning (ECL) program and examined its effectiveness with 56 Chinese preschoolers aged 5–6. A quasi-experimental design was employed to examine the impact of the ECL program on young children’s EC. Two upper Kindergarten classes (Daban) for children aged 5–6 were randomly assigned as experimental group (n = 31, 42% girls, Mage = 68.31 months, SD = 3.75) and control group (n = 25, 44% girls, Mage = 68.16 months, SD = 3.77). The experimental group was engaged in a 15-week ECL program, whereas the control group had similar duration courses without emotional competence training. All the children were administered the Test of Emotion Comprehension, Expression Identification Task, and Emotion Regulation Strategy Inventory before and after the intervention. The results indicated no significant differences between the experimental and control groups in the pre-test. In contrast, the experimental group outperformed the control group in most EC components in the post-test. Meanwhile, the experimental group demonstrated greater increases in EC components. The findings suggest that this ECL program has strong potential as a school-based, structured program for enhancing children’s emotional competence. The educational implications of these findings are discussed.

scholarly journals The Impact of Using the Station Rotation Model on Saudi EFL Learners’ Descriptive Writing Skills

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alanoud Ahmed Aldukhi
Keyword(s):  
Writing Skills ◽  
Intermediate School ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Descriptive Writing ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
Rotation Model

The present study investigated the impact of the station rotation model (SRM) on enhancing students’ descriptive writing skills. It adopted the quasi-experimental pre-post test control/ experimental group design. The tools of the study included a pre/post- descriptive writing skills test, and open-ended questionnaire. The participants of the study were selected randomly, 40 female students enrolled in the twelfth intermediate school in Riyadh. Students of the experimental group received the descriptive writing skills instructions in nine sessions based on the SRM, two of them were for training. The study results revealed statistically significant differences at 0.05 level between the mean scores of the control and the experimental groups on the post test in favor of the experimental group in overall descriptive writing skills as well as in each descriptive writing skill. The researcher recommended that there is a real necessity from educators and teachers to prepare appropriate curriculums that involve implementing the station rotation model inside the classrooms, in a way that corresponds with teachers’ ability and students’ need, aiming to gain the mentioned advantages.

scholarly journals THE USE OF MIND MAPPING TO TEACH READING COMPREHENSION

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 162
Author(s):  
Sopian Saori
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Mapping Technique ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Mind Mapping ◽  
Reading Tests ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

The research was aimed at finding out the impact of using mind mapping toward students’ reading comprehension. This study was classified as a quasi experimental research design using two intact classes as an experimental and control group. The experimental group was treated using mind-mapping technique, while the control group was subjected to conventional learning technique. The sample of this study was the first year students of Nabi’ Nubu’ Islamic Senior High School. The instrument of this study employed reading test for students in both groups. The reading tests were distributed in the pre-test and post-test. The data analysis used descriptive and inferential statistic. The data were met the normal and homogeneous data. The result of the study showed that the mean scores of the experimental group (71.76) was higher than the control group (60.24) after treatment was given. Thus, the use of mind mapping has a significant effect towards students’ reading comprehension. It indicated that the technique can be an alternative technique to teach reading comprehension.

scholarly journals Methodological Analysis of the Effect of an Anti-Bullying Programme in Secondary Education through Communicative Competence: A Pre-Test–Post-Test Study with a Control-Experimental Group

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 3047
Author(s):  
Fernando González-Alonso ◽  
Francisco D. Guillén-Gámez ◽  
Rosa Mᵃ de Castro-Hernández
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Education ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Assessment Instrument ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Control Group Design ◽  
Test Study ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Experimental Group

The promotion of communicative competence in students play a key role in schools for the purpose of improving social, emotional and coexistence relationships in Secondary Education students. The development of said competence can represent a great strategy to improve conflicts in the classroom, notably bullying. We used a quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test control group design with a sample of 55 students from the city of Salamanca (Spain) to analyse the level of conflict and their perceptions about bullying during the 2017–2018 academic year. The anti-bullying programme called the Improvement of Coexistence and Communicative Competence (ICCC) programme used is. The behaviour of students based on their level of coexistence with the group of classmates was measured by the INSEBULL instrument (Bullying Assessment Instrument), which added one more dimension of own elaboration. The results showed that, even though the significant levels of conflict, they decreased substantially once the ICCC programme was applied. Furthermore, we found differences between the control and experimental groups which underlined the effectiveness of the program. Regarding gender, no differences were found in the experimental group. This study shows that the development of communicative competence in students has a significant impact on their level of coexistence with other classmates, although the results suggested the need for longitudinal implementation of the programme in order to improve school coexistence and social skills of students from the early stages of education.

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