1,720,987 research outputs found
The effect of task-based instruction on reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners
No full textDeveloping reading comprehension ability is an important aspect in acquisition of a language. The present study focused on improving reading comprehension ability through Task-based Instruction (TBI). TBI is a methodology that develops from a focus on classroom tasks. The participants of the study were 135 Iranian female students at different levels selected from high schools in Isfahan, Iran, through a quasi-experimental design. The participants were divided into four groups, two control groups (CGs) and two experimental groups (EGs). They received a pre-test, the instruction, and a post-test. The participants in EGs were taught through TBI, whereas CGs were exposed to a traditional method. The comparison between CGs and EGs were made through paired sample t-tests. The results revealed that the students in EGs outperformed CGs. The difference between the two grades was also investigated by independent sample t-test. The results showed that students at first-grade outperformed fourth-graders. The findings suggest that using flexible and interactive tasks in English classes improves reading comprehension ability of Iranian EFL learners. This study may have pedagogical implications for practitioners in the field and for syllabus designers to include appropriate tasks in English textbooks
An Evaluation of English Textbooks Used in Iranian High Schools: Teachers’ and Learners’ Attitudes
No full textThe quality of a textbook might have fundamental roles that it can determine the success or failure in teaching and learning course. The present study evaluated English textbooks used in Iranian high schools, which are claimed to have been published based on the components of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach. The purpose of this study was to explore high school teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards the Iranian high school English textbooks. To fulfill the objectives, a questionnaire consisting of 45 questions related to high school English textbooks was administered to 150 male and female high school students and their teachers in Isfahan, Iran. The participants were also interviewed in terms of their attitudes towards CLT and its implementation in Iranian high school English textbooks. The descriptive analysis of the data indicated that Iranian teachers and learners in Isfahan had a positive attitude towards the English textbooks based on the CLT principles. The majority of participants stated that 80 percent of CLT principles were currently practiced in Iranian high school English textbooks; however, some changes might improve the quality of these English textbooks
Motivation and attitudes of Iranian undergraduate EFL students towards learning English
No full textThis paper investigated the various socio-psychological orientations of Iranian
undergraduates towards learning English. It focused on the motivation orientations of the
students and their attitudes towards the target language and its community. A group of
108 students majoring in English translation at Islamic Azad University, Khorasgan
Branch in Isfahan, Iran was surveyed using the AMTB (Attitude, Motivation Test
Battery). The domains used for the purposes of the study were: a) interest in English, b)
parental encouragement, c) motivational intensity, d) attitudes towards learning English,
e) attitudes towards English-speaking people, f) integrative orientation, g) desire to learn
English, and h) instrumental orientation. The results revealed that these Iranian Nonnative
speakers of English learn the language for both ‘instrumental’ and 'integrative'
reasons and their attitudes towards the target language community and its members were
generally found to be highly positive. The paper also reported some micro and macro
implications of the study
Role of Bottom-up and Top-down Pre-listening Activities on Iranian EFL Students’ Listening Comprehension
No full textAbstractPre-listening activity has a considerable role in improving listening comprehension. This research examined the effects of bottom-up and top-down pre-listening activities on Iranian EFL students’ listening comprehension. It also investigated the potential interaction effects of language proficiency and gender with the treatments. Using the TOEFL (PBT) test, 270 learners were selected and grouped into three proficiency levels of elementary, intermediate, and upper-intermediate. At each level, 90 subjects were randomly distributed to one control (CG) and two experimental groups (EGs), each consisting of 30 learners. After giving the pretest, vocabulary preparation as a bottom-up pre-listening activity and content-related support as a top-down pre-listening activity were given to the two EGs for the treatment, but the learners in the CGs were demanded to listen to the audio tracks and go straight into the listening tasks without any pre-listening activities. The research lasted for six weeks and 12 sessions. At the end of the experiment, the posttest was given to the subjects to measure the effects of the treatments. The results revealed significant differences between the learners’ pretest and posttest performance. The analyses of the data confirmed the positive impact of both types of pre-listening activities on the listening comprehension of Iranian EFL learners based on their proficiency levels. Further analyses revealed the interaction effects between proficiency levels and treatments. However, there was no interaction effect between the learners’ gender and the treatments. The findings of the study could help practitioners in the field to assign more practical tasks to improve the listening comprehension of Iranian EFL learners
Contributory Role of Virtual Courses via Skype to Control Embarrassment of Iranian EFL Learners’ Performance
No full textA Corpus-based Study of Academic Vocabulary in Physiotherapy Research Articles
Get PDFScientific English is not homogenous but varies in relation to the contexts. As a contribution to the field, this study developed a list of academic words used frequently in physiotherapy research articles (RAs) and compared it with the distribution of high frequency words in Coxhead’s (2000) Academic Word List (AWL) and West’s (1953) General Service (GSL). By analyzing a 1.7 million-word corpus, 1450 high frequent academic word families were identified and constituted the Physiotherapy Academic Word List (PAWL). The analysis showed that, of the 570 word families in AWL, 562 occurred frequently in physiotherapy research articles (RAs) and this provided a coverage of 11.51 of the tokens in the corpus. In addition, 406 word families (accounting for 28% of the word families in PAWL) found to be used frequently in PRAC had not been listed in GSL and AWL. The results indicate that AWL (Coxhead, 2000) is not entirely useful for physiotherapy learners because of the narrow coverage of some word families and the shortage of frequently used physiotherapy academic words. The established PAWL may serve as a guide for instructors in curriculum preparation, and for physiotherapy English learners in setting their vocabulary learning goals
Code Glosses in Academic Writing: The Comparison of Iranian and Native Authors
No full textOne of the challenges of academic writing is the creation of a structurally and communicatively well-organized and coherent text. Metadiscourse enables authors of journal articles to achieve this goal by raising the writers‘ awareness about discourse features which can contribute to a better academic content production. Also, L1 background has always been a hot topic in applied linguistics and native versus non-native comparisons have been of particular interest in this field. The purpose of this study was to see whether native English speakers and Iranians use code glosses as a sub-category of metadiscourse similarly in their academic writings. To this end, the introduction section of 30 journal articles written by native and Iranian non-native English authors were investigated and the number of code-glosses in each group was counted and analyzed. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to answer the research question of this study. The result of data analysis revealed that there was no significant difference between the frequency count of code glosses used by Iranian and native English authors. This study can have pedagogical implications for EAP course designers as well as academic writing instructors and students
Investigating the Effect of Process Praise on Classroom Engagement of Self-Conscious Iranian High School EFL Learners in Large Groups and Small Groups
Get PDFEngagement in classroom activities is a vital part in language learning process. Most learners usually intend to participate in classroom activities but shy and self-conscious learners resist to engage in activities and share their ideas with the peers. In this investigation, the aim was to assess the effect of process praise rather than personal praise on classroom engagement of the self-conscious Iranian high school EFL learners in two contexts: classroom activities and group activities. The samples were selected by means of a shyness scale questionnaire. The research was done in three phases: without any praise, praise for classroom activity participation, and praise for group activity engagement. Video recorded observations and post hoc analysis resulted that in first and second phases, the participants showed no sign of developing in engagement, while in the third phase they improved significantly in group activities and communicating with groupmates. They committed in the post interviews that teachers’ process praise privately and in small group has motivated them to participate in activities and has enhanced their confidence. The findings of this research can be effective for English language teachers in motivating the shy students to be more active in classroom activities, and consequently language learning will be facilitated for these learners
The Effect of the Pamphlet of Study Skill on Iranian Pre-Intermediate EFL Learners’ Writing Skill
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to consider the effect of the pamphlet of the study skill on writing texts of Iranian Pre-Intermediate EFL students in a private institute in Isfahan. To achieve the intended purpose, an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was administered to 100 learners in a private English language institute and 60 pre intermediate learners were selected as the participants of the study. They were divided into two groups randomly. The experimental group (30 students) and control group (30 students). Both of the groups were asked to a test as a pre-test and post-test. Afterwards the experimental group was taught a pamphlet about the skills of writing during 20 sessions. Then, the data of the study was statistically analyzed with using SPSS software. The results showed when the students in the experimental group learned the skills of writing a good text, they could write the different kinds of texts. They could organize and develop the paragraphs very well and they could also use appropriate linking words in different types of writing texts
- …
