scholarly journals The Effect of Dictogloss on Listening Comprehension: Focus on Metacognitive Strategies and Gender

Author(s):  
Mina Taheri ◽  
Saeed Taki

This study aimed at investigating the effect of dictogloss on EFL learners’ listening comprehension as well as on their use of metacognitive listening strategies with a focus on the effects on male and female learners. To this end, a total number of 50 female and male Iranian EFL learners, aged between 12 and 15 years old, at the intermediate proficiency level in a private language school in Iran were selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups with 25 male and female learners in each group. Dictogloss was employed to teach the learners in the experimental group for an instruction period of 12 sessions. Participants’ listening comprehension was determined through a pre/posttest which was adapted from the listening section of the standard test of PET and their use of metacognitive listening strategies via the MALQ, a questionnaire developed by Vandergrift et al. (2006). The data obtained were submitted to the t-test and results revealed significant improvement in the experimental group’s listening comprehension with no significant difference between male and female learners. Finally, the results showed that the listeners in the experimental group made noticeable gains in their choice of metacognitive strategies through using the dictogloss technique.  Findings are discussed in light of recent theories of language learning and teaching.  

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 1476
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Parvareshbar ◽  
Behrooz Ghoorchaei

This study aimed at investigating the effect of using short stories on enhancing vocabulary learning of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. The purpose of the study was to come up with new methods of enhancing learners’ vocabulary which enable both teachers and students to better cope with language learning and teaching. The design of the study is of quasi-experimental pretest-posttest. The participants were in two classes each of which had 25 students. One of the classes was considered as the control group and the other one was considered as the experimental group. The analysis of data using independent samples t-test showed that there was no significant difference between two groups at the outset of the study. After the treatment period, a posttest was given to both groups to see if there was a significant difference between the two groups. The magnitude of sig (2-tailed) on posttest was 0.01 that is lower than 0.05. Therefore, the difference is significant and the experimental group outperformed the control group. This can be attributed to the effect of using short stories on improving vocabulary performance of learners. The results have some implications for language teachers and materials developers.


Author(s):  
Ali ARABMOFRAD ◽  
Majid SAEIDI ◽  
Mohammad MOTAMEDI

Since the phenomenon of bilingualism is gradually increasing in the world, the theory-driven and practically oriented investigation on bilingualism have increased recently. However, a few studies have been conducted on the effect of bilingualism on language learning in the multilingual and multicultural context of Iran. Therefore, the main aim of the present study is to examine the effect of bilingualism on Iranian EFL learners' listening comprehension in the case of Azeri-Turkish vs. Persian students. The study employed a quasi-experimental design over 8 weeks with 44 female students assigned to one of the two experimental groups. To select bilingual and monolingual groups, a biographical questionnaire was used. Then, Nelson elementary proficiency test was administered to ensure the homogeneity of the students. To fulfill the purpose of the study, 15 bilingual (Azeri-Persian) elementary students in Fazilat high school in Ramian and 29 monolingual (Persian) elementary students in Sama high school in Azadshahr were selected to participate in the present study. Each group received 16 sessions of treatment in listening skill. Then, the two groups' performance was compared on pretest and posttest consisting of a multiple-choice and matching listening comprehension test. The results indicated that there was no significant difference between the bilingual and monolingual groups regarding their performance on listening comprehension, that is, bilingualism did not affect listening comprehension.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Mehdi Solhi Andarab

The recent improvements in technology and their integration in language learning have played a facilitating role invocabulary acquisition. Quizlet, an online teacher-/student-friendly tool, is one of the leading applications invocabulary acquisition. Along with the effectiveness of visualization in acquiring vocabulary, humor has been alsoextensively indicated to carry a significant role in language learning. With all its facilitating features, the integrationof technology, humor, and vocabulary can be achieved via Quizlet. In this study, the visual integration of humoraccompanying vocabulary on Quizlet was taken into scrutiny to see to what extent humor-integrated pictures onQuizlet account for the retention of vocabulary acquisition. With this purpose, this study examined the effect ofhumor-integrated pictures on vocabulary acquisition of 45 intermediate English as a foreign language (EFL) learnerson Quizlet. In so doing, the experimental group received a series of unknown vocabulary items for which theintegrated pictures were humorous, while the vocabulary items assigned for the control group were identical, but innon-humorous contexts. At the end, an independent samples t-test applied on the scores achieved from a posttestindicated a significant difference in scores of the control group and that of the experimental group. In fact, thelearners in the experimental group significantly outperformed their counterparts in the control group. The resultsindicated that linking vocabulary items with humorous pictures is more effective than using non-humorous context inlearning vocabulary. Apparently, as the results indicate, the significant effectiveness of technology in vocabularylearning can be boosted with the help of humorous context. The findings shed light on the importance of technologyin language learning and its linking with humor in vocabulary learning.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 337
Author(s):  
Shahram Esfandiari Asl ◽  
Asgar Mahmoudi

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.


2021 ◽  
pp. 209-221
Author(s):  
Ghazwan Mohammed Saeed Mohammed ◽  
Badri Abdulhakim DM Mudhsh

This study investigates the effects of COVID-19 on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ anxiety at the University of Bisha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The differences between male and female learners and learners of the different study levels in terms of anxiety caused by COVID-19 were investigated. Moreover, the study sheds light on two factors which are the internal factors and external factors that increase learning anxiety during COVID-19 and the strategies used by the learners to decrease the negative effects of COVID-19 on learning anxiety. The data of the study were collected from 80 EFL learners (40 males and 40 females) at the University of Bisha. This study is considerable as it deals with something that is important in the learning and teaching processes these days. The study revealed that COVID-19 causes normal anxiety to the EFL learners at the University of Bisha. It was also revealed that there is no significant difference between the male and female learners in terms of anxiety caused by COVID-19 and external factors. There is a significant difference between them in terms of the internal factors and strategies used by the learners to decrease the negative effects of learning anxiety during COVID-19. Lastly, there was no significant difference between the learners of the different study levels in terms of anxiety, internal factors and external factors that increase negative learning anxiety and the strategies used by the learners to decrease the negative learning anxiety during COVID-19.


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.


Author(s):  
Farzaneh Ghaed sharaf ◽  
Melika Mobaraki ◽  
Maryam Rabani Nia

Listening comprehension plays an important role in the process of language learning as it is one of the four major skills in language acquisition. This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of listening strategy instruction on improving listening comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. To achieve this goal, forty students studying at Birjand University were participated in the current study. All of thestudents were within the age range of 18 to 22. Then, they were non-randomly divided into two groups, as a control and an experimental group. Theexperimental was taught based on a guide lesson plan regarding listening strategies while the control group did not receive any treatment. The listening section of TOEFL was utilized to measure the listening performance of the participants before and after the treatment. The results of Independent Samples Test indicated thatinstructing listening strategies had no significant impact onlistening comprehension of Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners.


Author(s):  
Ahmad M. Mahasneh ◽  
Ahmad F. Al-Alwan

This study aimed at identifying the effect of a training program in developing the use of learning English language strategies among a sample of the Hashemite University students, and the differences in using these strategies due to gender and the type of group (experimental and control groups). The study sample consisted of 76 male and female students from the Department of English Language, divided into two groups (an experimental group of 34 male and female students and a control group of 42 male and female students). To achieve the aims of the study, Oxford's language learning strategies scale was used. The study used a quasi-experimental research design with pre-test and post-tests. ANCOVA and T-tests were used to analyze the data. The results of the study revealed that there is a statistical significant difference between the two groups in developing language learning strategies in favor of the experimental group. Also, results showed that there is no statistically significant difference in using language learning strategies attributed to gender.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-106
Author(s):  
Khalil Motalebzadeh ◽  
Abdolghafour Bejarzehi ◽  
Hossein Sheikhzadeh

This study aims at investigating the effects of types of oral texts’ genres on listening comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. The participants of the study were 65 male and female EFL students which all of them from Issar institute in Nikshahr and Chabahar. In order to have homogeneous groups and real-intermediate level students, the first part of the Oxford Placement Test (OPT) containing 40 questions was performed. After the sampling procedure, the pretest was performed and then students were randomly assigned to two groups of control and experimental. The experimental group received a course encompassing the instruction of generic features including news with two genres, political and economic, for twenty sessions of instruction. The subjects in the control group listened to some pieces of news (without any specific generic features, mostly reports with ordinary people about routines). The results showed the experimental group had a better performance on the listening comprehension posttest.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghazwan Mohammed Saeed Mohammed ◽  
Badri Abdulhakim DM Mudhsh

This study investigates the effects of COVID-19 on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ anxiety at the University of Bisha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The differences between male and female learners and learners of the different study levels in terms of anxiety caused by COVID-19 were investigated. Moreover, the study sheds light on two factors which are the internal factors and external factors that increase learning anxiety during COVID-19 and the strategies used by the learners to decrease the negative effects of COVID-19 on learning anxiety. The data of the study were collected from 80 EFL learners (40 males and 40 females) at the University of Bisha. This study is considerable as it deals with something that is important in the learning and teaching processes these days. The study revealed that COVID-19 causes normal anxiety to the EFL learners at the University of Bisha. It was also revealed that there is no significant difference between the male and female learners in terms of anxiety caused by COVID-19 and external factors. There is a significant difference between them in terms of the internal factors and strategies used by the learners to decrease the negative effects of learning anxiety during COVID-19. Lastly, there was no significant difference between the learners of the different study levels in terms of anxiety, internal factors and external factors that increase negative learning anxiety and the strategies used by the learners to decrease the negative learning anxiety during COVID-19.


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