With the development of educational technology, the concept of technology-enhanced multimedia instructions is using widely in the educational settings. Technology can be employed in teaching different skills such as listening, reading, speaking and writing. Among these skills, reading comprehension is the skill in which EFL learners have some problems to master. Regarding this issue, the present study aimed at investigating the effect of video materials on improving reading comprehension of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. A Longman Placement Test was administered to 30 EFL learners to ensure that learners are at the same level of proficiency. The students were chosen from the state high schools in Chabahar. The participants were regarded as intermediate learners and were divided into two groups (one experimental group and one control group). Then, a pre-test of reading comprehension was administered to assess the participants’ reading comprehension. The participants of experimental group used video files to improve their reading comprehension while the control group received conventional approaches of teaching reading comprehension. Finally, all the participants were assigned a 40-item multiple-choice reading comprehension post-test. The results of the study indicated that video materials had a significant effect on promoting reading comprehension of Iranian intermediate EFL learners (p = .000, <.05).
Vocabulary learning has always been a major concern for second language learners. Particularly for those who are just beginning to learn English. Usually a long list of vocabulary items is given to learners and they have to memorize all of them. The present study using a quasi-experimental design aimed to determine whether teaching vocabulary through instructional games can affect the vocabulary enhancement of students. The participants were 40 pre-intermediate EFL students who were equally divided into two groups. To this end, the two groups of students were assigned as control and experimental groups. The control group was exposed to textbook teaching and the experimental group was exposed to instructional games. After analyzing the obtained data, no significant differences were found between the two groups on posttest, as both programs made progress in the subjects. However, after two weeks, a delayed post-test was conducted to see the retention of learners' knowledge of vocabulary. In the end, although both groups had changed positively, a significant change was seen in the retention of learners' knowledge of vocabulary in the experimental group.
This is a longitudinal case study of two Farsi-speaking children learning English: ‘Bernard’ and ‘Melissa’, who were 7;4 and 8;4 at the start of data collection. The research deals with the presence or absence of functional categories (CP),in our case Yes/no questions, Wh-questions, and embedded clauses as well as their production rate in early stages of interlanguage development of the child second language (L2) acquisition of syntax. Some studies in the field of child second language acquisition regarding the production of functional categories (CP) are discussed. Examining data collected from the children’s spontaneous speech, the researcher’s diaries and translation and other tasks over a period of 20 months, the competing claims of the two most prominent hypotheses about early L2 grammars are tested: Vainikka& Young-Scholten’s (1996) Minimal Trees/Structure Building hypothesis and Schwartz & Sprouse’s (1996). Full Transfer/Full Access hypothesis. The conclusion is reached that Yes/no questions, Wh-questions, and embedded clauses as three functional categories are absent in early stages of interlanguage development of the child L2acquisition.Keywords: Functional categories, Child L2 acquisition, Minimal Trees/Structure Building hypothesis, Full transfer/fullaccess hypothesis, Yes/no questions and Wh-questions, Embedded clauses
This study investigated Iranian intermediate EFL learners' vocabulary learning within the paradigm of Task Based Language Teaching through instructing jigsaw and information-gap tasks. To this end, 60 intermediate EFL learners were selected. They were all female and their age range was between 16-17 years old. Then the experimental groups in which one group with the use of jigsaw and one with information-gap received task based instruction for one session each week for five weeks, while the control group experienced the same amount of instruction as ordinary classes. At the end of the study, all subjects were assigned a 50-item multiple choice vocabulary test. A one-way ANOVA was used to analyze the data. The results indicated that TBI had a significant effect (p=.000< .05) on promoting vocabulary knowledge of Iranian intermediate EFL learners; there existed a significant difference between the experimental groups' performances in the assigned tests, as well. The main pedagogical implication of this study is for teachers in that by involving learners in task completion and enjoying the process, learners can improve their vocabulary knowledge and accordingly their language proficiency.
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