scholarly journals The Effect of Impulsivity vs. Reflectivity on Reading Comprehension of Iranian EFL Learners

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Somayeh Shaban ◽  
Mohammad Ramazani ◽  
Iman Alipoor
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Homogeneity Test ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Affective Factors ◽  
Reflective Group ◽  
General Module

In recent years attention has been accorded to language learners’ affective factors and learning styles. Two of the significant learning styles are impulsivity and reflectivity which have not been studied as much as other styles such as introversion and extroversion. This study endeavored to find out whether or not impulsivity and reflectivity have any effect on reading comprehension of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Seventy two language learners were selected from 4 intact classes out of 112 learners. Nelson proficiency test was given to the participants as homogeneity test. Next, Barrat’s (1995) impulsiveness questionnaire was given to the participants. Based on the results of the questionnaire, the participants formed 3 different groups, i.e., a reflective group (n=25), impulsive group (n=25) and a control group (n=22). The control group consisted of less impulsive and less reflective learners based on Barrat’s scale. An IELTS reading test (general module) was administered to the participants. Based on the results of independent samples t-test, it was found that impulsivity and reflectivity do not have any effect on reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. Pedagogical implications are discussed. 

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. 

scholarly journals The Effect of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) on Reading Comprehension in English for Specific Purposes Courses

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fahimeh Farahani
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English For Specific Purposes ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Sensory Learning ◽  
Scant Attention ◽  
Experimental Group

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) has potential to help language learners; however, it has received scant attention. The present study was an attempt to investigate the effect of NLP techniques on reading comprehension of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners at an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course. To achieve this goal, two intact classes of students were selected to form an experimental group (n=30) and a control group (n=30). A reading pretest (based on the course content) was given to all participants. The sensory learning styles of the participants were diagnosed using Reid's (1987) leaning style questionnaire, and the participants in the experimental group were familiarized with NLP techniques to be able to implement these techniques in their reading. In the control group, the conventional approach to teach ESP reading was used. Considering the analysis of posttest results through ANCOVA, it was found that implementation of NLP techniques can have significant effect on reading comprehension of Iranian undergraduate EFL learners. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

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 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.

The Effect of Cooperative Strategies versus Concept Visualization on Reading Comprehension Ability of Intermediate EFL Learners

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 686
Author(s):  
Hamidreza Fatemipour ◽  
Maral Hashemi
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Important Place ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Cooperative Strategies ◽  
Comprehensive Picture ◽  
Quasi Experimental

Reading in foreign language learning has an important place. While the advances in L1 reading comprehension have led us to gain a more comprehensive picture of the nature of reading, the similar studies in L2 context have not had the same impact. Furthermore, the fact that the majority of Iranian second language (L2) learners have been taught by traditional methods has compounded the problem. To unravel the aforementioned dilemma, this study was conducted to find out the effect of cooperative strategies versus visualization on Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) students' reading comprehension. In order to carry out the study, 45 female EFL learners, with the age range of 17 to 18 were chosen and after administering the pretest, they were assigned to two experimental groups (visualization and cooperative strategies) and one control group. A predominantly quantitative approach coupled with quasi-experimental design was used. After the treatment, a posttest was given to all groups. The meticulous analysis of data using paired t test and One-Way ANCOVA indicated that the participants in cooperative group outperformed the students in visualization group on reading comprehension test. It also revealed that conventional teaching approach did not have any significant effect on students’ performance in control group. This study offered some implications for teachers and course developers. 

The Effect of Contextual Visual Aids on High School Students' Reading Comprehension

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. 1827
Author(s):  
Nahid Majidi ◽  
Nader Assadi Aydinlu
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Homogeneity Test ◽  
Visual Aids ◽  
School Students ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Iranian High School Students

The present study was an attempt to investigate the effect of contextual visual aids on Iranian high school students’ reading comprehension. To do so, a thorough review of the related literature was done and a quasi-experimental study was designed in which the participants were 96 female EFL learners at the intermediate level. These participants were chosen out of 140 learners through a homogeneity test. The selected participants were assigned to four groups; three experimental groups (pre-thematic, thematic and post-thematic) and one control group. The participants went through the procedure of pretest, treatment, and posttest. The data was collected by means of three tests: a PET test, a pretest and a posttest of reading comprehension. A one-way ANOVA was run to probe the research questions posed in this study. The findings revealed that contextual visual aids had a statistically significant effect on Iranian high school students' reading comprehension. The study findings also revealed that among the Contextual Visual Aids, pre-thematic aids had the highest effect on high school students’ reading comprehension. This was followed by thematic visual aids which had a moderate effect on this process. However, the post-thematic visual aids had slightly significant effect on high school students' reading comprehension.

scholarly journals The Impact of Glossed Texts on Reading Comprehension among Tertiary Saudi Students

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 153
Author(s):  
Bader Alharbi
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Male Students ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Saudi Students ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this study is to explore the existing effect of gloss conditions on reading comprehension and vocabulary understanding of learners in the context of English as a foreign language. The study composed of 72 male students aged between 19 and 21 years selected from Qassim University in Saudi Arabia. The participants were divided into four groups, namely; L1 Arabic gloss, L2 English gloss, a combination of L1 and L2, and the last group with no gloss. Results and findings of the study revealed a significant difference regarding the comprehension of the texts among the experimental groups when correlated with the control group. Additionally, there was no significant change noted regarding performance among the experimental groups. Another finding indicated that the learners had a preference of L1 and L2 gloss over L1 gloss and L2 gloss types, with 93.03% of them preferring to read glossed texts. Overall, these findings suggest that the gloss and no conditions were significantly distinct. This research results will be beneficial for future studies that are interested in developing reading comprehension of EFL learners.

scholarly journals Partial Dictation vs. Dictogloss Effect on Listening Comprehension of Iranian EFL Learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 240-256
Author(s):  
Bahram Mowlaie ◽  
Milad Abdolmajid ◽  
Ali Rahimi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Homogeneity Test ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Instructional Activity ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Experimental Group

The unique characteristics of the listening skill and the vital role they play in language learning and communication do not receive the attention they deserve and the situation is worsened in EFL contexts due to lack of communication in everyday context.  Given this, the present study was an attempt to empirically investigate if partial dictation versus dictogloss had any significant effect on listening comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. To this end, 60 male EFL learners were selected via double sampling and, after taking homogeneity test and listening pre-test, they were randomly assigned to two experimental groups (partial dictation versus dictogloss) and a control group. The first experimental group was exposed to dictogloss, while the second experimental group was exposed to partial diction. The control group underwent the mainstream usual classroom activities. After the treatment which took one hour each session for seven sessions, a listening post-test was given to all groups. The thorough analysis of data using paired sample t-test indicated that partial dictation group slightly outperformed the dictogloss group in the listening post-test and both experimental groups significantly outperformed the control group in the listening test. The result can have implications for learners, teachers, and material developers in all second and, especially, foreign language contexts where listening comprehension does not receive the attention it deserves and this, in turns, deprives EFL learners of viable sources of input. It is recommended that dictation in either partial format or dictogloss become an instructional activity in English classes because of its usefulness in improving listening comprehension and, more importantly, because of its practicality which is an important concern in many language learning contexts.  Key words: Dictogloss; English as a Foreign Language, Listening Comprehension; Partial Dictation 

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 Effective Reading Comprehension in EFL Contexts: Individual and Collaborative Concept Mapping Strategies

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahra Riahi ◽  
Natasha Pourdana
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Concept Mapping ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Reading Materials ◽  
Post Test ◽  
And Control ◽  
Collaborative Concept Mapping

The present study attempted to investigate the possible impacts of Individual Concept Mapping (ICM) and Collaborative Concept Mapping (CCM) strategies on Iranian EFL learners' reading comprehension. For this purpose, 90 pre-intermediate female language learners ranged between 12 to 17 years of age were selected to randomly assign into ICM, CCM and Control groups in this study. After taking Key English Test (KET), the ICM and CCM groups received EFL reading materials presented and practiced with ICM and CCM strategies, respectively, while the Control group received only conventional instructions to reading comprehension. After conducting the treatment, all participants took a Concept Mapping post-test constructed by the researchers. The hypothetical assumptions in this study were in favor of ICM and CCM strategies to improve the Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension. Statistics supported the outperformance of the ICM and CCM groups comparing to Control group who received convention PPP teaching techniques on Concept Mapping post-test. However, the superiority of neither strategies was statistically proved so that no meaningful difference between the reading comprehension of the ICM and CCM groups were detected. Therefore, the researchers failed to determine which strategy caused a better or higher impact. Some pedagogical implications and recommended topics for further research were provided to the motivated researchers.

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