scholarly journals The Impact of Using Task-Based Activities on Iranian EFL Learners’ Speaking Skill

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-27
Author(s):  
Atefeh Shamsy ◽  
Rasoul Mombeini

This study explored the impacts of task-based activities on Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ speaking skill. To do the current study, the Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT) was given to 75 students and 50 intermediate participants whose scores were between 40 and 47 were selected. Then, the participants were randomly divided into two groups; one experimental group and one control group. Then they were given three topics to talk about in two minutes as a speaking pre-test.  Afterwards, the experimental group received the treatment through task-based activities while the control group received a traditional instruction. The whole instruction lasted eight sessions. In the first two sessions, the OQPT and the pre-test were administered, respectively; in five sessions, the participants received the treatment, and in the eighth session, the post-test of speaking was given to the participants of both groups to measure the effects of the treatment on their speaking improvement. The collected data were analyzed through independent and paired samples t-tests and the results indicated that the experimental group outperformed the control group on the post-test.  In other words, there was a significant difference between the speaking post-test of the two groups. The implications, the conclusions, the limitations, and the suggestions of the research were explained.  

Author(s):  
Parisa Abedi ◽  
Ehsan Namaziandost ◽  
Samira Akbari

This study attempted to examine the effects of flipped classroom instruction on Iranian EFL learners’ writing skill. To fulfill the objective of the study, 48 Iranian upper-intermediate participants were selected through administrating the Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT). Then, they were divided into two groups; one experimental group and one control group. Then, both groups were pretested by a writing test. After that, the researcher put the participants of the experimental group in a flipped classroom. The flipped classroom was equipped with Internet, computer and projector and participants in this classroom were allowed to bring their Smartphones to the classroom and use them during learning. The control group was exposed to traditional instruction in the class. This procedure continued till the last session. The results of independent samples t-test and one-way ANCOCA revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group on the post-test. In addition, the results showed that there was a significant difference between the performances of the experimental group and the control group on the post-test.


Author(s):  
Abdolamir Amari

This study examined the impacts of using Compensatory Strategies (CSs) on speaking skill of Iranian EFL learners. To conduct this research, 50 Iranian intermediate EFL learners were chosen among 80 students and then, they were divided into two equal groups- one experimental group and one control group. The groups then were pretested by a speaking pre-test. After that, the participants of the experimental group were taught by using the CSs including approximation, appealing for the help, code switching, and time-gaining. On the other hand, the participants of the control group received traditional activities in learning speaking such as repetition and over-learning. After the treatment, both groups took the post-test of speaking. The results of paired and independent samples t-tests indicated that the experimental group outflanked the control group on the post-test. The results revealed that there was a significant difference between the performance of the experimental group and the control group on the post-test.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Mohammad Davoudi ◽  
Mojtaba Rezaei

<p>The present study aims at investigating the influence of podcasts (POD) on language comprehension of Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners. An Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was administered to 60 male and female university students. The participants were considered as pre-intermediate learners and were divided into two groups (one experimental group and one control group). During the fifteen sessions of the treatment, thirty podcasts were presented to the two groups. The experimental group received just the audio file of the POD, and the control group received a different treatment which was the transcript file of the same audio podcast file of the experimental group. The results of the t-tests revealed that there was no significant difference in language comprehension scores across the posttest between two groups. Based on the interview results after the post-test, all of the participants (100%) agreed that both audio and the transcripts (written texts) were useful for them and claimed that it is a good method of improving language comprehension.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 26
Author(s):  
Muhammad Husnu

This study aimed at examining the effectiveness of demonstration technique to improve vocabulary and grammar element in teaching speaking at EFL learners. This research applied true-experimental design. The respondents of the study were 32 students (class IIA) as experimental group and 32 students (class IIB) as control group from the second semester of Economic Departments of Hamzanwadi University in the academic year 2016-2017. To collect the data, a pre-test and a post-test were given to the EFL learners. To analyze the data, the researcher applied SPSS 17 for windows. To analyze whether there was a significant difference in the mean score between pre-test and post-test, the researcher used a paired-samples t-test to get answer of the hypothesis. After performing a paired-samples t-test, the researcher found that there was a significant difference in mean scores between experimental and control group and t-test score is higher than t-table, it meant that demonstration technique was significantly effective in teaching speaking, especially to improve the element of vocabulary and grammar in teaching speaking at EFL learners.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Ehsan Namaziandost ◽  
Arash Hashemifardnia ◽  
Albina Anvarovna Bilyalova ◽  
Doris Fuster-Guillén ◽  
Jessica Paola Palacios Garay ◽  
...  

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of online instruction through different mobile applications has become more common in education all over the world. Therefore, this research investigated the potential effects of using WeChat-based online instruction on Iranian EFL learners’ vocabulary knowledge. To achieve this objective, 44 Iranian intermediate subjects were picked out among 67 students based on the findings of the Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT). The subjects were then randomly divided into two equal groups: experimental and control. After assigning the subjects to two groups, they were pretested by a vocabulary test. Then, the experimental group received vocabulary instruction using WeChat application, while the control group received a conventional vocabulary instruction. After the instruction, a vocabulary posttest was given to both groups to assess the effectiveness of the treatment. The gathered data were analyzed through independent samples t-test, one-way ANCOVA, and paired samples t-test. The outcomes attained in this research demonstrated that there was a significant difference between the posttests of both groups in favor of the experimental group. Eventually, the conclusions and the pedagogical implications of this study were explicated.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-18
Author(s):  
Behnaz Raji

This study examined the effect of Jigsaw technique as a part of cooperative learning on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension. To this end, 40 intermediate participants were selected out of 73 EFL learners based on the results of Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT). The participants were divided into two groups; control and experimental. Then, the participants of both groups were pretested on reading comprehension. After pre-testing, the cooperative learning activities (Jigsaw technique) were practiced with the participants of the experimental group during 5 sessions. The experimental participants were assigned to five-member teams to work on reading texts. Each team member read an assigned section and then members from different teams who had studied the same sections met in ‘expert groups’ to discuss their sections. Then, students returned to their own teams and taught their team-mates about their section. On the other hand, the control group received traditional teacher-fronted instruction throughout the classroom time. After the treatment sessions, a teacher-made reading comprehension post-test was given to the participants of both groups to measure their reading comprehension ability after the treatment. The results of paired samples t-test and independent samples t-test revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group on the post-test. The findings also showed that there was a significant difference between the post-tests of both groups in favor of the experimental group.


Author(s):  
Gholam Reza Parvizi ◽  
Hooshang Khoshsima ◽  
Mohammad Tajik

<p>This article investigated the impact of task-based language teaching (TBLT) on writing performance of the Iranian intermediate EFL learners. There were two groups of forty students of the intermediate female learners studying English in Jahad-e-Daneshgahi language institute, ranging in age from thirteen to nineteen. They participated in their regular classes in the institute and were assigned to two groups including an experimental group of task-based language teaching and a control group for the purpose of homogeneity, all students in two groups took an achievement test before the treatment. As a pre-test; students were assigned to write a task at the beginning of the course. One of the classes was conducted through talking a TBLT approach on their writing, while the other class followed regular patterns of teaching, namely traditional approach for TBLT group. There were some tasks chosen from learners’ textbook. The task selection was in accordance with learning standards for ESL and TOFEL writing sections. At the end of the treatment, a post-test was administered to both experimental group and the control group. Scoring was done on the basis of scoring scale of “expository writing quality scale”. The researcher used paired samples t-test to analyze the effect of TBLT teaching approach on the writing performance of the learners. The data analysis revealed that the subjects in TBLT group performed better on the writing performance post-test than the subjects in control group. The findings of the study also demonstrated that TBLT would enhance writing performance in the group of learners. Moreover, it was indicated that TBLT has been effective in teaching writing performance to Iranian EFL learners. </p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Reza Abdi

An important, but rare question in EFL writing is whether learners should use dictionaries or not. The problematic state of this question prompted the present study. This study assesses research on the question of "does dictionary use affect Iranian EFL learners' lexical density or not". In order to answer the above question, a total of seventy four Iranian EFL intermediate learners (male and female aged from 17 to 26) from Nasr English Institute, Ardabil, Iran took part in this research study. The participants were high school and college students whose L1 was Azari-Turkish. They were appointed to three experimental groups and one control group randomly. Since this research explored the effect of dictionary use on learners' writing, the three experimental groups were labeled as EPD, PED and EED. The study had a pre-test, post-test 1 and post-test 2 design. All four groups took a proficiency test named Solutions Placement Test. ANOVAs proved their homogeneity (F=.002, p=1.000). Then the participants completed three pieces of writing, each including a writing task with similar level and number of words but a different topic. Experimental groups had two treatment sessions after pre-test and they had a two-week interval after post-test 1. During the test, experimental group one (EPD) used English-to-Persian dictionary, meanwhile, experimental group two applied Persian-to-English dictionary and finally, experimental group three took the advantage of English-to-English dictionary. Nevertheless, the compassion group received no dictionary and no treatment sessions. To fulfill the purpose of the study, a One-way ANOVA was applied to figure out the differences among the performance of the four groups. Although, there observed tangible improvement in the scores, the results ran counter to the expectations and showed no significant difference.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leila Neisi ◽  
Mehrnnoosh Hajijalili ◽  
Ehsan Namaziandost

This study aimed to investigate the impact of inverted classrooms on promoting Iranian EFL learners’ extensive and intensive reading comprehension. To fulfil, 60 Iranian upper-intermediate EFL students out of 90 were chosen based on an Oxford Quick Placement Test. The selected participants were randomly divided into two experimental groups; intensive reading group (n=20) and extensive reading group (n=20), and a control group (n=20). Then, the three groups were pretested. After that, the researcher put the participants of both experimental groups in two inverted classrooms. Each inverted classroom was equipped with Internet, computer and projector and participants in this classroom were allowed to bring their Smartphones to the classroom and use them during learning. On the other hand, the control group receive no treatment and were taught in traditional instruction. The results of paired samples t-test and one-way ANOVA revealed that both experimental groups had better performance on their post-test compared to their pre-test. The results showed that there was not a significant difference between the performances of the experimental groups on the post-test. Finally, implications arising from the findings and suggestions for further research were explained.


Author(s):  
Mojtaba Maghsoudi ◽  
Sahar Saeedi

This study presents the findings of an investigation of the impact of teacher error corrective feedback on 180 field-dependent/ field-independent (FD/FI) male and female pre-intermediate and advanced Iranian EFL learners writing skill. The participants were separated into two experimental groups and one control group and were asked to write three paragraphs of about 100-150 words around three different topics, each in odd days of a week; then they received direct (in experimental group 1), indirect (in experimental group 2) and no correction feedback (in control group). The results based on Mean Scores, Standard Deviation, Multivariate Analyses and 1-way ANOVA showed that there was not any significant difference between the FD/FI learners' writing skill scores who had received corrective feedback on their errors; however, as indicated by the second finding of the present study it would be better to feedback field-dependent/-independent EFL learners indirectly. It was also indicated that, learners' learning styles had made a significant change in their writing skill scores.


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