scholarly journals Investigating the Washback Effects of Task-based Instruction on the Iranian EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Learning

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Alireza Hamzeh

<p>The current research was an attempt to explore the washback impact of task-based instruction (TBI) on EFL Iranian learners’ vocabulary development. To this end, conducting an Oxford Placement Test (OPT), 30 out of 72 EFL Iranian learners studying in an English language institute, were randomly selected. Then, they were assigned to experimental (N=15) group, and control group (N=15). The experimental group of the study was taught through TBLI and the control group of the study was instructed the vocabulary via conventional teaching instruction for 12 ninety-minute sessions. The class sessions were held twice a week. The data was examined through independent sample t-test. The findings revealed that there was significantly different between two groups’ performance in the posttest, thereby TBI had a significant effect on developing Iranian EFL learners’ vocabulary development. Furthermore, some pedagogical implications for EFL instructors and learners as well as syllabus designers have been presented. <strong></strong></p>

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arash Hashemifardnia ◽  
Hosna Rasooyar ◽  
Mehrdad Sepehri

This study examined the effects of task-based activities on Iranian EFL learners’ speaking fluency. For this study, 50 Iranian participants were selected from students based on Oxford Quick Placement Test. The selected intermediate participants were then randomly divided into two equal groups: experimental and control. After a pre-test, a treatment was started; in the first session of the treatment, the task of ‘buying’ was given to the participants to be performed in a near authentic context. In the second, the third and the fourth sessions of the treatment, the task of ‘ordering food’, ‘ordering a bus ticket’ and ‘visiting a doctor’ were given to the participants, respectively. The control group did not receive task-based instruction. At the end of the experiment, a post-test for finding their speaking fluency was done. The findings revealed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group (p < 0.05). Keywords: Iranian EFL learners, speaking fluency, task-based speaking activities


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 450
Author(s):  
Farzad Taghavi ◽  
Farzaneh Aladini

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.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 183
Author(s):  
Roya Keshavarz ◽  
Amin Marzban

<p>The present study was an attempt to investigate the effect two types of corrective feedback (i.e., recast and metalinguistic) in order to find out which one is more effective on EFL learners’ speaking improvement and also to see if gender could play a role in the relative impact of the two types of corrective feedback on learners’ speaking ability. To this end, 65 EFL learners of intermediate level in one of language institutes in Shiraz, Iran were selected and divided into three groups including two experimental groups and one control. The instruments used to collect the data included IELTS test as the pre and post tests and Oxford Placement Test (OPT) in order to obtain the homogeneity in participants’ English proficiency. The collected data were codified and entered into SPSS Software (Version 22) and were analysed using descriptive statistics, t-test, and Tukey test. The results indicated that although applying these two types of corrective feedback could have made improvement in EFL learners’ speaking ability, there was not observed any significant difference between impacts of recast and metalinguistic on EFL learners’ production. The test results also indicated that there was not any significant difference regarding gender within the three groups. This homogeneity further shows that in this study, the gender variable did not have any effect on the role of corrective feedback and it can be concluded that the observed difference between metalinguistic group, recast group, and control group is just the result of the provided corrective feedback type which has acted as the intervening variable and the moderator variable such as gender did not prove to have any effect in the outcome of this study. The findings can contribute to syllabus design and teaching methodology areas.</p>


2000 ◽  
Vol 129-130 ◽  
pp. 225-274
Author(s):  
Ali Işik

The present study investigates the combined effects of different amounts of comprehension-based and form-focused instruction on skill-based proficiency and knowledge of grammatical structures of beginner-level efl students. Specifically, the study addresses the following research questions : 1) Does a basically comprehension-based program of instruction supported by form-focused instruction help beginner-level efl learners improve/develop their listening, reading and writing abilities more than a basically form- focused program of instruction? 2) Does a basically form-focused program of instruction help beginner-level efl learners improve their knowledge of grammatical structures more than a basically comprehension-based program of instruction? One experimental and one control group, each containing 20 lycee prep level Turkish efl students, participated in the study. The subjects in the experimental and control groups were randomly selected from among lycee prep classes in two different schools. The experimental group enrolled in a program of comprehension-based instruction supported by form- focused instruction; whereas, the control group enrolled in a basically form-focused program of instruction. Both the experimental and control groups had 29 hours of efl instruction per week for 36 weeks. Different instruments were used to see the effects of these two different types of instruction on their reading, listening, writing skills and knowledge of grammatical structures. At the end of the fourth month, both groups were given the listening, reading and writing components of the Key English Test (ket) and the grammar component of the Oxford Placement Test. At the end of the eighth month, they were given the Preliminary English Test (pet) and another version of the grammar component of the Oxford Placement Test. The results indicated that the program of comprehension-based efl instruction supported by form-focused instruction was more effective than a basically form-focused program of instruction in helping beginner-level students develop their listening, reading, and writing skills as well as their knowledge of grammatical structures.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lida Mohammadnejad

One of the most problematic areas for foreign language learning is collocation. Iranian EFL learners mostly complain about being unable to talk voluntarily in class since they are not able to produce collocations and new vocabularies because they have of feeling anxious. This study aimed at investigating the effect of reading short stories on learning English collocations among pre-intermediate EFL Learners. The study had an experimental design and the sample of the study consisted of 54 students chosen from the results of a placement test to determine the pre-intermediate level students in Simin Language Institute in Sari. They were placed into 2 groups of experimental and control. Data of the study were collected through a collocation test used as pretest and posttest. The teacher assessed the effect of reading short stories on learning English collocations among pre intermediate EFL learners. The collected data were analyzed through statistical methods by SPSS software version 21. Results showed that the experimental group outperformed the control group on the measure. This indicated that reading short stories had a statistical significant effect on EFL learners’ collocation learning. Results had implications for teachers, learners and material developers. 


Author(s):  
Hayat Eid Alroudhan

NLP is an interpersonal communications model based on the belief that language is strongly inter-connected with neurological processes and behavioral patterns adopted through experience and the power of this connection can be harnessed to acquire the skills in exceptional people. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the efficiency of NLP for language learning and investigate its potential role in learning the English language. By using primary and secondary sources and implementing the Oxford Placement Test, as the pretest and the post-test on the experimental and control groups, the effect of the NLP coaching treatment sessions on the experimental group of female Saudi EFL learners was investigated for two months. The findings of this study reveal that NLP not only provides the techniques and solutions to the problems, but it also enables teachers to form their own flexible responses to the specific problems. In this study, NLP coaching proved to have a significant effect on EFL learning, however, further research is needed to confirm the findings of this innovative study.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 408
Author(s):  
Seiflou Kobra ◽  
Hashemnezhad Hossein

The aim of the present quasi-experimental study is to investigate the effect of dialogue journal assessment and portfolio assessment on Iranian EFL learners’ writing performance. To do this, 90 intermediate EFL students from 150 students in Omid –Mofid English Language institute in Khoy were non-randomly chosen. They were male and female (58 females and 32 males) and their age range is between 20-32. Then they were randomly divided into three groups of 30: a control group receiving only the routine instruction, and two experimental groups receiving portfolio and dialogue journal, respectively. Topic based paragraph writing as pretest and posttest were given to the participants of three groups to detect their writing ability at the beginning and at end of study. The result of the study showed that portfolio assessment group, the dialogue journal group and the control group performed significantly different on the post test. Students in portfolio assessment group outperformed than the student in dialogue journal group and performance of dialogue journal group was better than control group in their writing performance. Finally, some implications are provided for EFL teachers, learners, and syllabus designers.


Author(s):  
Aram Reza Sadeghi ◽  
Soheila Ghorbani

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of TED-Vodcast on academic oral proficiency, with a focus on accuracy and fluency of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. There is no doubt that most of the university students in different fields of study face a lot of hardships while attending international conferences for presenting a paper which is due to lack of English proficiency. In this research, 34 female freshman students of English Language and Literature at Semnan University aged between 18-27 were selected and assigned into 2 groups of experimental (N=19) and control (N=15). TED-Vodcast was integrated into experimental group and conventional method of teaching listening and speaking was applied for the control group. Both groups took pretest and posttest which were in the form of interviews. The relation of 3 dependent variables of the two groups were computed by MANOVA and independent sample T-test was used as well. The findings of the study indicated that TED-Vodcast had significant effects on learners' oral proficiency as well as accuracy but not on fluency.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 2191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seyedeh Zahra Arfaei Zarandi ◽  
Behzad Rahbar

The present study set out to investigate the effect of intervening scaffolding strategies on Iranian EFL learners’ speaking ability. To do so, a sample of 60 Iranian EFL learners were selected based on their performance on Oxford Placement Test (OPT). The participants were then randomly assigned to two equal groups of experimental and control. The experimental group was taught speaking through intervening scaffolding by providing flexible opportunities for learners to use their knowledge, skills, and strategies in different contexts and for different purposes. Control group received routine techniques of speaking instruction. Based on the statistical results of the independent sample t-test, intervening scaffolding strategies had been proved to be successful in enhancing speaking ability of EFL learners


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Ehsan Namaziandost ◽  
Sajad Shafiee ◽  
Ray Suryadi

Smartphones are becoming an increasingly common part of our daily lives. Applications used in these systems are extremely varied due to their extraordinary efficiency. With respect to language teaching, the use of these technologies has opened up new doors, changing innovatively the way teachers teach and students learn. Accordingly, this study aimed to find out the impacts of using WhatsApp as a mobile instant messaging application on teaching vocabulary among pre-intermediate EFL learners. To this end, 60 Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners were selected from a private English Language Institute. Then, they were randomly assigned to two equal groups- an experimental group and a control group. They were pre-tested by a researcher-made vocabulary test.  Then, the treatment was applied to both groups. As the treatment, the control group was taught with traditional activities whereas the experimental group was taught with the use of mobile application (WhatsApp). At the end of the instruction, a researcher-made vocabulary post-test was administered. The results of independent samples t-test and one-way ANCOVA indicated that the experimental group had better performance on the post-test compared to control group revealing the usefulness of the mobile application utilized in this study on learning vocabulary.


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