scholarly journals THE EFFECT OF BRAINSTORMING AS A PRE-WRITING STRATEGY ON IRAQI EFL MA LEARNERS’ WRITING ABILITY

Author(s):  
Murtadha Abdulhassan Mohammed ◽  
Dr. Bushra Saadoon Mohammed Al-Noori

This study aimed to study the impact of the use of brainstorming and its subcategories (listing, questions and answers, sketch) as a pre-writing strategy for Iraqi EFL MA students. Participants in the study were 60 Iraqi EFL MA learners, both male and female. The instruments of the study were the pre-test, the instruction, the post-test and a questionnaire at the end of the treatment to measure the attitude of the students toward teaching. The results of the study showed that there was no meaningful relationship between brainstorming, its subcategories and the written development of EFL learners. Moreover, the results showed that there was no significant difference between men and women in terms of brainstorming usage and the three subcategories.

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-15
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Aghajani ◽  
Hadi Salehi

This study was an attempt to find out the impact of Montessori teaching method on EFL learners’ writing achievement. To fulfill the purpose of the study, out of 150 students, 95 male and female students were selected randomly to participate in this study. All of them were given a pretest to find out their level of proficiency. They had no background knowledge of English and they had not studied English before. They were also divided randomly into two groups namely experimental and control. The experimental group consisted of 23 male and 27 female learners while the control group consisted of 21 male and 24 female learners. Experimental group members were instructed based on Montessori teaching method and their instruction was based on different Montessori materials. The control group members had a routine teaching process. Each group was a mixture of both male and female learners with the age range of 5-6. After 12 sessions, writing posttest was given to both groups to evaluate whether there is any significant difference between these two groups or not. The obtained data were analyzed both descriptively and inferentially. The data were analyzed by statistical tests such as one-way ANCOVA and one-sample t-test. The statistical analyses revealed that there was significant statistical differences between two groups mean scores on the writing posttest. Therefore, it can be argued that Montessori teaching method had significant impact on learners’ writing skill.


Author(s):  
Maryam Danaye Tous ◽  
Abdorreza Tahriri ◽  
Sara Haghighi

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of instruction through debate on the male and female EFL learners’ reading comprehension, and to examine the difference between male and female EFL learners’ perception towards instructing critical thinking (CT) through debate. 88 learners, out of 120, were selected through convenience sampling method. Using a quantitative research method with experimental pre-and post-tests design, this study consisted of 44 participants in the experimental group and 44 participants in the control group. The experimental group received some treatment in the form of “the Meeting-House Debate” strategy, while the control group received no such treatment. After one month and a half treatment of experimental group, both groups participated in the post-test. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics procedures. Findings showed that the debate strategy had statistically significant effect on the students’ reading comprehension. Also, results revealed that there was no significant difference between male and female EFL learners’ perception towards instructing CT through debate. It was concluded that instructing CT skills through debate strategy resulted in better understanding of reading texts.


2011 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Ali Derakhshan

<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>


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (33) ◽  
pp. e15298
Author(s):  
Elahe Salehi ◽  
Ali-Reza Ameri ◽  
Gholam-Reza Abbasian

The study scrutinized the effect of individual and group-based expectations on EFL learners' self-image and reading comprehension. This study explored the effectuality of individual expectations and group-based expectations in improving self-image and reading comprehension among EFL learners. To do so, 50 out of 120 Iranian EFL learners were chosen as the sample of the study and they were divided into two groups of Individual-based Expectation Instruction and Group-based Expectation Instruction, received five sessions of instruction along with some types of expectations and took two types of reading and self-image tests as a pre- and post-test. In general, the results showed no significant difference between the two groups’ mean scores on the post-test of self-image. The results revealed that the individual expectation group significantly outperformed the group-based expectation group on the post-test of reading comprehension. The findings suggest that using different forms of expectations in language classes can be instrumental in improving the students’ self-image and reading comprehension.


Author(s):  
Mostafa Rahimi Rad

This paper is an attempt to investigate the EFL Iranian learners` use of metadiscourse markers in argumentative writing. The participants of the study are 40 students both male and female. To produce the relevant data, participants were given a pretest of writing ability to check their initial knowledge use of metadiscourse markers. Finally, a post test assessing their writing ability with metadiscourse markers was administered. Writing is a social activity and it is supposed as an important factor of literacy in society despite being mastered in English, students from different cultures and with different first languages seem to be different in developing writing texts.  Metadiscourse markers enable the writers to interact with the readers effectively. The findings revealed that both male and female writers employed more interactive markers than interactional markers due to the fact that both genders inserted transition markers frequently to guide readers through the texts. The findings indicated generally that instruction of metadiscourse markers significantly improves EFL learners’ writing ability of advanced students. The Teachers pay more attention to metadiscourse markers in making EFL curricula. Then they ask for the reinforcement of metadiscourse markers through instruction in EFL courses for the improvement of the learners' writing ability.


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.


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.


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.  


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adil Mohammed Qadha ◽  
Baleigh Qassem Al-Wasy ◽  
Hassan Saleh Mahdi

PurposeThis study aimed to investigate the impact of social networks on learning requests by Arab undergraduate EFL students.Design/methodology/approachFurthermore, both types of requests (i.e. direct and indirect) have been compared under the same condition. A total of 40 Saudi EFL learners participated in this study. Their scores in the pre-test and post-test were compared.FindingsResults of the post-tests indicated that the experimental groups' performance significantly outscored the control groups. However, no significant difference was reported between the two experimental groups (i.e. direct and indirect).Originality/valueRequests, as a component of pragmatics, have been investigated extensively in the literature to aid second/foreign language learning. However, little is known about the manner by which social networks could foster learning requests.


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.


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