Abstract-Textbooks play a very crucial role in the process of language teaching and learning. They affect the whole language learning/teaching process. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness and suitability of the EFL textbooks produced by the Ministry of Education and used in Iranian educational system from teachers' versus learners' points of view in a comparative way. To this end, the study employed a survey based design. The data were collected through questionnaires with 27 close-ended items consisting of five different sections. The results showed that both the teachers and the learners believed that the high school English textbooks are highly ineffective in increasing learners' motivation to learn English, in increasing the learners' accuracy in producing pragmatically correct sentences, in increasing learners' fluency in speaking English, in improving learners' language skills, and in engaging the learners in learning about the target language culture. It can be concluded that the English textbooks used in Iranian high schools cannot meet the Iranian learners' and teachers' needs and wants since they are grammar-based. Thus, based on the findings of this study, the textbook designers can take into account the teachers' and learners' preferences and perceptions when designing the new editions of these textbooks.
Cooperative learning consists of some techniques for helping students work together more effectively. This study investigated the effects of Group Investigation (GI) and Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) as cooperative learning techniques on Iranian EFL learners' reading comprehension at an intermediate level. The participants of the study were 207 male students who studied at an intermediate level at ILI. The participants were randomly assigned into three equal groups: one control group and two experimental groups. The control group was instructed via conventional technique following an individualistic instructional approach. One experimental group received GI technique. The other experimental group received CIRC technique. The findings showed that there was a meaningful difference between the mean of the reading comprehension score of GI experimental group and CRIC experimental group. CRIC technique is more effective than GI technique in enhancing the reading comprehension test scores of students.
Background: Drawing upon Socio-Cultural Theory (SCT), this study inspected the impact of spoken and written summary training on intermediate EFL students’ long-term reading comprehension in individual and peer-mediated conditions. Method: 120 Iranian EFL intermediate male and female learners aged 16 to 18 years were randomly assigned into two main conditions (i.e., individual and peer-mediated). Moreover, each condition was divided into spoken, written, and no summary groups. The treatment lasted for six sessions, and then a delayed post-test, summarization scale, and a researcher-developed collaboration scale were administered at the end of the study. Results: The outcomes of one-way ANOVA revealed that summary training was efficacious in improving EFL students’ reading skills. However, the verbal summary group exceeded the written and control groups. In addition, the findings of the independent-samples t-test demonstrated that the learners’ reading skills in peer-mediated groups significantly improved in the delayed post-test compared to their counterparts. Similarly, the findings emerging from the analysis of the questionnaires highlighted both instructors’ and the students’ positive perceptions on summarizing strategies and collaboration in the classrooms. Implication: The implications are presented concerning the effectiveness of summary training and peer-mediation in EFL reading courses.
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