scholarly journals Reading Comprehension: Blog Exposure in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Context of Iran

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Najmeh Rafiee Moghadam ◽  
Mehry Haddad Narafshan
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Reading Test ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Effective Strategy ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Efl Context ◽  
Reading Test Scores ◽  
Experimental Group

The present study aims to provide experimental evidence on exploring the blogs to develop Iranian EFL learners' reading comprehension. To this end, forty intermediate female learners after taking the placement test were randomly assigned to control and experimental group. After twenty two sessions of blog exposure, a comparison of the reading test scores of the control and experimental groups revealed that EFL learners favor surfing the blogs which can act as an effective strategy of improving their reading comprehension.

The Efficacy of Novel Pre-activity Tasks on Macroskills: The Case of Group Discussion on Reading Comprehension

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 794
Author(s):  
Hooshang Khoshsima ◽  
Mahboobeh Khosravani
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Main Concern ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Spss Software ◽  
Experimental Group

The main concern of most researchers in the field of second and foreign language teaching is lessening the problems and eliminating the hinders on the way of learning a language. The importance of reading skill in the process of teaching and learning different languages is undeniable for everyone. The main aim of this study was to examine the effects of group discussion strategy as a pre- activity task on reading ability. To this aim, 27 Iranian EFL learners, who were at the same level –intermediate- studying at Shokuh and Safir Institutes, Birjand, Iran were chosen. Two groups- one control and one experimental group- were studied. In control group the conventional method was used in teaching reading, while in experimental group, group discussion pre-activity task was administered. Both groups met the same level -Intermediate. At the end, the obtained data of the tests was analyzed by SPSS software. According to the obtained data, it can be strongly concluded that group discussion has no significant effect on reading comprehension. This study can help teachers and syllabus designers in choosing and applying an effective pre-activity task which really help the learners in reading classes.

scholarly journals Effect of Elaborative Text Modification on Pre-intermediate Male and Female EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 337
Author(s):  
Shahram Esfandiari Asl ◽  
Asgar Mahmoudi
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Comprehension Ability ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
Reading Comprehension Ability

The current study was carried out to investigate whether elaborative text modification improves reading comprehension ability of pre-intermediate male and female EFL learners. To do this, 60 pre-intermediate learners were chosen based on their performance on a standard version of Longman's New Opportunities Placement Test. The participants also received a piloted version of a researcher-made reading comprehension test as the pretest to ascertain their homogeneity. The participants were then divided into two equal groups to represent the experimental and the control groups. Each group was further subdivided into male and female groups. Five reading passages in two formats (unmodified and elaborated) were administered to the participants in five weeks which was followed by a posttest. The experimental group received the elaborated texts, while the control group received the unmodified baseline texts. The results of a Two-way ANOVA indicated no significant effect for gender but there was a significant difference between the experimental and the control groups' reading comprehension. Findings of the study suggest that elaborative text modification can be a worthy option in EFL reading classes.

scholarly journals The Effect of Lexical Inference Strategy Instruction on Saudi EFL learners’ Reading Comprehension

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arafat Hamouda ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Strategy Instruction ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Lexical Inferencing ◽  
Unknown Words ◽  
Inference Strategy

Lexical inference strategy plays an important role in increasing the level of reading comprehension of second or foreign language learners. Lexical inferencing as an efficient strategy to deal with unfamiliar words has attracted much attention in the comprehension literature. However, few studies on lexical inferencing have been conducted in an English as a foreign language (EFL) setting. To fill in the existing gap, the current study aimed at investigating the effect of lexical inferencing strategy instruction on Saudi EFL students’ reading comprehension. Additionally, it sought to identify the lexical inferencing strategies used by Saudi EFL learners while they were inferring unknown words in a text. Last, the current study attempted to find the relationship between lexical inference strategies and reading comprehension among Saudi EFL learners. Sixty students from the English department were selected based on their scores on the Oxford Placement Test, indicating that they were at intermediate levels of English proficiency. The participants were randomly divided into two groups: control and experimental (each consisting of 30 students). The participants in the control group received regular instruction, while the participants in the experimental group were treated using lexical inference strategies. The instruments used for collecting data were Oxford Placement Test, reading comprehension test, and think-aloud protocol. A pre-test and post-test were administered for control and experimental groups. The results of the independent samples t-test revealed that teaching inference skills had a significant effect on reading comprehension performance among EFL learners. The results of the paired t-tests showed that lexical inferencing instruction had a statistically significant effect on EFL learners’ reading comprehension development. The results of the Spearman correlation coefficient indicated that there was a significant relationship between lexical inferencing strategies and reading comprehension. The findings revealed the profound impact of lexical inferencing strategy instruction on the experimental group's performance in understanding reading text. Hence, it was concluded that lexical inferencing strategies were recommended to teach to improve the students’ reading comprehension performance.

scholarly journals The Effect of Modified vs. Authentic Input on Iranian EFL Learners' Reading Comprehension

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 450
Author(s):  
Farzad Taghavi ◽  
Farzaneh Aladini
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
English Language ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Authentic Texts ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Reading Materials ◽  
Independent Variable ◽  
English Language Institute ◽  
Experimental Group

The present study investigated the effect of authentic input as a classroom activity on Iranian EFL learners' reading comprehension. This study intended to determine whether authentic reading materials could enhance Iranian EFL learners' reading comprehension at the upper-intermediate level. To achieve this goal, 46 language learners were randomly selected from 60 ones who attended Shokoh English Language Institute in Rasht, Iran. Quick Placement Test was conducted to homogenize the participants. They were divided into two groups: the experimental and control groups. The groups experienced identical conditions during the study except for their exposure to the independent variable. After administrating the pretest, the participants in the experimental group received the treatment. After eight sessions of the treatment, the posttest was administered to both groups of the study to find out the possible effect of authentic reading materials (independent variable) on the participants' reading comprehension skill (dependent variable). The results indicated that in the experimental group EFL learners' improvement in reading comprehension was significantly greater than those in the control group. This research is meant to improve EFL classes with respect to reading skill and to help English language publishers and teachers to see the unquestioning value of authentic texts.

scholarly journals The Effects of Reciprocal Teaching on Reading Comprehension of Iranian EFL Learners

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 26
Author(s):  
Leila Ashegh Navaie
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Instructional Strategy ◽  
Reading Test ◽  
The Other ◽  
Reciprocal Teaching ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Meaningful Difference ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Teaching Procedure ◽  
Experimental Group

The present study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of the Reciprocal Teaching Procedure (RTP) on reading comprehension of intermediate Iranian EFL learners in Iran. Two intact groups were chosen non-randomly, one as the control group and the other as the experimental group. Then an IELTS reading test was administered to both groups as pretest. After analyzing the collected scores by independent t-test it was known that there was no meaningful difference between control and experimental groups before the treatment. Both groups were offered 15 sessions of reading, the experimental group received treatment, they were taught reading by applying RTP as an instructional strategy, but the control group was taught reading through the conventional method. The results showed that reciprocal teaching can improve reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

scholarly journals The Effect of Lexical Inference Strategy Instruction on Saudi EFL learners’ Reading Comprehension

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arafat Hamouda
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Strategy Instruction ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Lexical Inferencing ◽  
Unknown Words ◽  
Inference Strategy

Lexical inference strategy plays an important role in increasing the level of reading comprehension of second or foreign language learners. Lexical inferencing as an efficient strategy to deal with unfamiliar words has attracted much attention in the comprehension literature. However, few studies on lexical inferencing have been conducted in an English as a foreign language (EFL) setting. To fill in the existing gap, the current study aimed at investigating the effect of lexical inferencing strategy instruction on Saudi EFL students’ reading comprehension. Additionally, it sought to identify the lexical inferencing strategies used by Saudi EFL learners while they were inferring unknown words in a text. Last, the current study attempted to find the relationship between lexical inference strategies and reading comprehension among Saudi EFL learners. Sixty students from the English department were selected based on their scores on the Oxford Placement Test, indicating that they were at intermediate levels of English proficiency. The participants were randomly divided into two groups: control and experimental (each consisting of 30 students). The participants in the control group received regular instruction, while the participants in the experimental group were treated using lexical inference strategies. The instruments used for collecting data were Oxford Placement Test, reading comprehension test, and think-aloud protocol. A pre-test and post-test were administered for control and experimental groups. The results of the independent samples t-test revealed that teaching inference skills had a significant effect on reading comprehension performance among EFL learners. The results of the paired t-tests showed that lexical inferencing instruction had a statistically significant effect on EFL learners’ reading comprehension development. The results of the Spearman correlation coefficient indicated that there was a significant relationship between lexical inferencing strategies and reading comprehension. The findings revealed the profound impact of lexical inferencing strategy instruction on the experimental group's performance in understanding reading text. Hence, it was concluded that lexical inferencing strategies were recommended to teach to improve the students’ reading comprehension performance.

scholarly journals The Effect of Two Pre- task Activities: Pre- taught Vocabulary and Brainstorming on Intermediate EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Masoud Khalili Sabet ◽  
Abdorreza Tahriri ◽  
Somayeh Rostami Shirkoohi
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Attitude Questionnaire ◽  
Intermediate Students ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Experimental Group

The primary purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of two pre- task activities of reading: pre- taught vocabulary and brainstorming in EFL learners’ reading comprehending.  To this end, three intact classes in a private English Institute in Tehran, were selected from a population of 60 English learners.  Based on their scores on Oxford Placement Test (OPT), the students were randomly assigned into two experimental groups and one control group and a pre-test was run at the beginning of the course. At outset of the course a pre- test was run among three groups.  The researcher instructed the experimental groups in 16 weeks, one session a week and lasting 40 minutes in each session. The first experimental group benefited from pre- taught vocabulary, while the second experimental group benefited from brainstorming as a pre- task and the third group did not receive any pre- task activities in the reading class. At the end of the course, a post- test with the same items of the pre- test was run to determine the improvement of EFL intermediate students’ reading comprehension changes and an attitude questionnaire was planned to determine the learners’ attitudes toward the pre- task activities.    The results of paired sample t- test indicated that the use of pre- taught vocabulary and also brainstorming enhanced the scores of  the first experimental and second experimental groups’  post- tests ; moreover, ANOVA results revealed a significant increase in reading comprehension scores  of the first and the second  experimental groups’ post- tests compared to the control group’ post-test scores.  The results of attitude questionnaire demonstrated the pupils’ positive attitudes toward the use of pre- task activities. 

scholarly journals The Comparative Effect of Spacing Instruction and Massed Instruction on Intermediate EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension

SAGE Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824401881102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ehsan Namaziandost ◽  
Fariba Rahimi Esfahani ◽  
Arash Hashemifardnia
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Comparative Effect ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
The Third ◽  
English Reading ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Initial Session ◽  
English Reading Comprehension

This study compared the effects of spacing and massed instructions on Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ reading comprehension. To fulfill this objective, 50 Iranian participants were selected among 80 students based on the results of Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT). The intermediate selected participants were then randomly divided into two equal experimental groups; spacing group and massed group. Afterward, the researcher measured the participants’ English reading comprehension by administering a reading comprehension pretest. Then, five English texts from Active One Book were instructed to both experimental groups. In the massed class, each text was taught in an intensive 60-min session, whereas each text was taught to the spaced group in three short sessions (about 60 min in total). The first session lasted for 20 min; the second occurring 2 days after the initial session lasted 20 min; and the third session took 20 min and was held 2 days after the second session. After the instruction, a reading posttest was administered to the both groups and finally the data were analyzed by using paired and independent samples t tests. The obtained results indicated that there was a significant difference between the posttests of spacing and massed groups. The findings indicated that the spacing group significantly outperformed the massed group ( p < .05) on the posttest. The implications of this study can make the teachers aware that teaching through spaced intervals can provide better results than teaching through one massed session.

scholarly journals The Effect of Storytelling on Iranian EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Retention

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 416
Author(s):  
Shahla Morsali
Keyword(s):  
Placement Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Private Language ◽  
Vocabulary Retention ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
New Words ◽  
Efl Context ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
One Way Anova ◽  
Better Than

<p><em>This paper presents the results of a study on utilizing two storytelling techniques, summarizing and strip story arrangement, in an EFL context. It focused on exploring which type of storytelling technique was more effective and thus could help EFL learners master the new words better. In was carried out in a private language school in Tehran, Iran. The participants were 105 learners who were selected from 160 elementary learners based on their performance on Oxford Placement Test as the test of homogenization. Three groups were formed, two experimental and one control group with 35 subjects in each. The learners in the summarizing group used the new words to summarize the stories in their written and spoken tasks and the learners in the other experimental group, strip story arrangement group, were asked to arrange some split sentences in their personal drafts. After thirty treatment sessions, the learners were given the posttest. The three groups’ performances on the posttest were compared by one way ANOVA. The results showed that the learners in summarizing group performed better than strip story arrangement group and both groups outperformed the control group.</em><em></em></p>

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document