scholarly journals EFFECTIVENESS OF EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION OF COHESIVE DEVICES ON IRANIAN EFL LEARNERS' WRITING DEVELOPMENT

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Hossein Kargar Behbahani ◽  
Ali Akbar Jabbari ◽  
Amir Hamed Dolatabadi Farahani
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Explicit Instruction ◽  
Writing Development ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Writing Ability ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
University Level

The present study aims to investigate the effect of explicit instruction of cohesion and coherence in Iranian EFL learners' writing development. Cohesion and coherence are both important concepts which cover a large number of discourse features of texts that need to be mastered by language learners. The aim, then, is to determine whether the students' writing ability would be improved when teachers explicitly teach these ideas in their classes. In order to achieve the aims, the described methodology has been used. The sample has been randomly chosen from students of English at university level. The results of the Independent-sample T-tests administered showed that for both males and females, the explicit group outperformed the control group and also the higher the proficiency of learners, the better their writing ability. The implication of the study is that ESL/EFL teachers can implement explicit instruction of cohesion and coherence to better teach their students how to write a coherent piece of discourse.

The Writing Performance of Iranian EFL Learners in the Light of Metadiscourse Awareness

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 923 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sima Farhadi ◽  
Nader Asadi Aidinloo ◽  
Zahra Talebi
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Writing Performance ◽  
Intermediate Students ◽  
Writing Ability ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Writing Test ◽  
Writing Skill ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Experimental Group

In the framework of language teaching, the writing skill requires to be encouraged during the language learners’ course of study. Since metadiscourse markers help transform a tortuous piece of text into a coherent and reader-friendly one, knowledge about the metadiscourse, amongst other things, is used to improve writing skill. The current study aimed to investigate the influence of instruction of metadiscourse markers on intermediate EFL learners’ writing performance by using metadiscoursal taxonomies proposed by Hyland (2005). For this purpose, a pet test was administrated to 60 intermediate students in Iran Language Institute in Urmia. Having being homogenized by Preliminary English Test (PET), they were assigned randomly into two groups. Both the control and the experimental group sat for a pretest of writing test in the form of a cloze test which aimed to measure the learners’ initial knowledge of writing performance. The experimental group was exposed to explicit instruction of metadiscourse markers for seven successive sessions. On the other hand, the control group didn’t receive any instruction.  Eventually,  a post  test  designed to evaluate  their  writing  ability  with the focus of  metadiscourse markers  was  administered to both groups. The findings implied generally that the implementation of metadiscourse markers (via instruction) significantly improves EFL learners’ writing ability.

scholarly journals Effect of Paper and E-Dictionaries on Iranian EFL Learners' Reading Comprehension

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
Shiva Grami ◽  
Mahmood Hashemian
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Analysis Of Covariance ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Paired Samples ◽  
Treatment Design

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of paper and e-dictionaries on Iranian intermediate learners' reading comprehension. To this end, 90 female English Foreign language learners were randomly selected and assigned into 2 experimental groups (e-dictionaries and paper dictionaries groups) and 1 control group. All the groups took a pretest using no dictionaries. After 2 weeks of treatment design for the experimental groups, all the 3 groups took part in the posttest. The experimental groups did their task with their relevant dictionaries, whereas the control group did their task without using any kind of dictionary. Data were analyzed through analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and paired samples t test. Results showed that the participants’ reading comprehension improved from the pretest to the posttest in both experimental groups. Results also indicated that the learners in the e-dictionaries group outperformed those in the paper dictionaries group. The outcome of study reveals that e-dictionaries could improve students’ reading comprehension by motivating them, shortening the time of searching words and reading a text, and increasing the number of look ups. 

The Effects of Communicative Pronunciation Instruction on Suprasegmental Performance in an EFL Context

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 860
Author(s):  
Nasrin Shah Mohammad Nazari ◽  
Atefeh Sadat Mirsaeeidi
Keyword(s):  
Language Production ◽  
Explicit Instruction ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Efl Context ◽  
Pronunciation Instruction ◽  
Picture Description ◽  
Based Instruction ◽  
Learned Features

This study investigated the effects of communicative suprasegmental instruction on Iranian EFL learners’ pronunciation performance. To this end, 24 pre-intermediate EFL learners were randomly assigned to two groups: the experimental group receiving communicative pronunciation instruction in which after receiving conventional explicit instruction students were given communicative tasks to practice learned features, and the control group receiving only conventional explicit exercise-based instruction. The learners’ pronunciations were assessed in controlled read-aloud and communicative picture-description/picture-driven contexts in terms of two suprasegmental features (i.e. compound words stress and interrogative intonation). The results of the study revealed that the explicit exercise-based instruction was significantly effective in controlled contexts but modestly effective in communicative picture-description and picture-driven tasks. On the contrary, communicative pronunciation instruction was not only significantly effective in the controlled context but also in communicative tasks. This finding reveals that communicative suprasegmental instruction is more effective than conventional explicit instruction in both controlled and communicative language production contexts. In the end, some pedagogical implications of the findings are also discussed.

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 Developing the Writing Ability of Intermediate Language Learners by Blogging

2012 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohsen Hajiannejad
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Quantitative Evaluation ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Writing Ability ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
English Classes ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Writing Skill ◽  
Do So

Considering the widespread use of blogs during recent years, the present study explored how blogging can affect the writing skill of Iranian language learners. Besides, the learners' perception of blogging was evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively to see whether learners showed enthusiasm to blogging and how it motivated them to write. Two intermediate English classes were selected as the Control and Experimental Groups. Six writing topics were selected and were assigned to both groups. The writing activities in the Control Group were done on paper-based method while the Blogging Group used a selected website to do so. To evaluate the writing activities, four criteria were taken into account: a) length of the writing activities, b) use of verb forms, c) use of articles, and d) use of prepositions. Based on the results of the chi-square tests, in terms of the frequency of missed articles and prepositions the performances of both groups were significantly different. Also the compositions in the Blogging Group were longer than those of the Control Group. However, the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the learners' perception towards blogging revealed that students believed blogging had encouraged them to write more accurately. They also considered that blogging had remarkably improved their writing ability as compared to the time they did not use blogging.

scholarly journals EFL Teachers’ and Learners’ Perceptions of Grammatical Difficulties

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maha Alhaysony ◽  
Eid Alhaisoni
Keyword(s):  
Rank Order ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
The One

This paper investigates grammatical difficulty from the perspective of Saudi university students, of EFL as well as from the perspective of university teachers. It aims to find out which English grammar features are more difficult/less difficult than others. Furthermore, it attempts to determine the reasons and causes that account for such grammar difficulty. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were the two research instruments used in this study. A total number of 103 students and 85 university teachers took part in the questionnaire, while only 20 teachers and 25 students responded in the interview. All the participants were from Aljouf University (males and females). The results showed that some English grammar features were more difficult and some were less difficult than others. The obtained difficulty order determined by EFL learners and the one obtained by the teachers’ perceptions were compared. Some similarities and differences were found to exist in the rank order of the features for the two groups. The findings of the study may be beneficial to syllabus designers, material developers, teachers and EFL learners. 

scholarly journals The Impact of Writing Self-Assessment and Peer Assessment on Iranian EFL Learners’ Autonomy and Metacognitive Awareness

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Maryam Ebrahimi ◽  
Siros Izadpanah ◽  
Ehsan Namaziandost
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Peer Assessment ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Metacognitive Awareness ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Metacognitive Awareness Inventory

One of the most significant current discussions in writing is self-assessment and peer assessment. This study aimed to investigate the impact of writing self-assessment and peer assessment on autonomy and metacognitive awareness of Iranian EFL learners. One hundred and twenty participants were selected using convenience sampling. Four instruments were used in this test: (1) Nelson placement test; (2) Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI); (3) Zhang and Li’s autonomy questionnaire; and (4) rubric. A quasiexperimental design was used in this study. They were divided into two experimental groups, self-assessment (N = 40) and peer assessment (N = 40), and one control group (N = 40). Collected data were tested and compared using covariance analysis (ANCOVA). Results from the tests indicated that both self-assessment and peer assessment are effective ways to improve autonomy and metacognition awareness of EFL learners in the completion of writing tasks. Findings also showed that self-assessment was more effective than peer assessment and the results showed that the types of assessments increased the learners’ knowledge in the writing, teaching, lexicography, spelling, grammar, and similar models and were significantly effective in developing their writing skills. The findings of the present research study might have some implications for researchers, instructors, language teachers, and language learners.

scholarly journals The Effect of Peer Assessment and Collaborative Assessment on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners' Writing Ability

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (13) ◽  
pp. 08-16
Author(s):  
Ghasem Aghajanzadeh Kiasi ◽  
Sona Rezaie
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Alternative Assessment ◽  
English Language ◽  
Peer Assessment ◽  
Teacher Assessment ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Writing Ability ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Collaborative Assessment ◽  
Significant Difference

As an attempt to shed more light on the effectiveness of alternative assessment in second language learning, the current study sought to explore the effects of peer assessment (PA) and collaborative assessment (CA) on the Iranian intermediate EFL learners' writing ability. To fulfil the purpose of this study, 36 Iranian EFL learners studying English at Kadous English Language Institute in Rasht, Iran, were homogenized as intermediate learners based on their performance on Oxford Solutions Placement Test (OSPT). The final pool of qualified candidates was assigned to one control and two experimental groups comprising 12 learners. All the participants sat for a pretest of L2 writing so that their initial level of writing could be appraised and their homogeneity in writing could be determined. The experimental groups received treatment on English writing through utilizing PA and CA strategies. On the other hand, the control group was taught through the conventional method (i.e. teacher assessment, TA). At the end of a twelve-session experiment, a post-test measuring the effectiveness of the treatments and the participants' writing ability was administered. The results of descriptive and inferential analyses revealed a statistically significant difference among CA, PA, and TA strategies. The results also demonstrated that the CA and PA groups outperformed the control group. However, the CA group performed significantly better than the PA group. Based on the findings of this study, language teachers, materials developers, and education authorities can concentrate on employing CA as the main strategy to foster the writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. However, PA may also be utilized to teach writing where possible.

How effective are recasts in teaching /θ/ and /ð/ to EFL learners?

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Maryam Karami ◽  
Laya Heidari Darani
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Complex Sounds ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Feedback Type ◽  
Paired Samples ◽  
Before And After ◽  
And Control

This study explored the effect of recasts as corrective feedback (CF) on teaching the sounds /θ/ and /ð/ to Iranian EFL learners, which are absent in Persian. A group of 30 intermediate level students studying English were assigned randomly to the experimental group (EG) and control group (CG). The EG was instructed by giving recasts as CF; while the CG received no feedback when they were taught these sounds. In this experimental study, two teacher-made tests on sounds /θ/ and /ð/ were administered to the participants before and after the treatment. The collected data were analysed using paired-samples t tests. Language learners in the recast group outperformed those in the CG in the posttest. The results showed that recast was an effective feedback type in teaching both the sounds. Findings of the present study can help language teachers and teacher trainers in teaching these complex sounds to Iranian EFL learners.   Keywords: Corrective feedback, errors, form-focused instruction, recast, sounds /ð/ and /θ/.    

Developing EFL learners’ morphological awareness: Instructional effect, teachability of affixes, and learners’ perception

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-325
Author(s):  
Ming-Fang Lin
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Junior High School ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Seventh Graders ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Instructional Effect ◽  
Morphological Instruction ◽  
Southern Taiwan

Abstract Morphological instruction has been proved to be facilitative of second language learners’ vocabulary learning. However, studies on the effect of teaching affixes on Chinese EFL learners’ vocabulary learning were relatively less explored. Therefore, this study was aimed at investigating the effect of teaching six affixes on Chinese EFL learners’ vocabulary learning, the teachability of affixes, and the learners’ perception toward the instruction. The participants were 40 seventh-graders from two intact classes in a junior high school in southern Taiwan. One class of 20 students served as the control group, and the other class of 20 students was assigned as the experimental group to receive the six-session training of affixes. Instruments were a morpheme identification task, a vocabulary translation test, students’ learning journals, and a questionnaire of perception toward the instruction. The results indicated the positive effect of instruction on the experimental group’s receptive learning of the affixes. In addition, the data also showed the students’ positive perception toward morphological instruction. This study concluded with theoretical implications for future studies and pedagogical implications for teaching affixes.

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