The Effect of Concept Mapping on Iranian Pre-intermediate L2 Reading Comprehension

Abstract

Teachers are always looking for innovative ways to help students improve their reading comprehension. One popular method is the use of graphic organizers such as concept maps. This study examined the use of concept maps (a meta cognitive technique) to aid reading comprehension of Iranian pre- intermediate L2 learners in one of the language institutes in Shiraz. The researcher wanted to find appropriate answers to the following research questions 1) does the application of concept mapping technique have any significant effect on Iranian pre-intermediate L2 reading comprehension 2) do Iranian pre-intermediate L2learners have positive attitude toward the application of concept maps in their reading classes? For this, 30 pre-intermediate L2 learners were selected and assigned as experimental group. This experimental group received instruction on how to use concept mapping technique as a pre-reading activity. This group took part in language classes twice a week for one hour and half and reading activities covered thirty minutes of the whole class and also they completed two thirty-minutes reading comprehension tests, one as the pre-test and the other as the post-test. The results of Wilcoxon Sign Rank test showed that the participants in concept mapping group performed better in post-test than in pre-test administration. Moreover, the results of Chi-square revealed that, on the whole, L2 learners had positive attitudes toward using concept mapping technique in reading classes. This study had theoretical as well as pedagogical implication in the field of second/ foreign teaching and learning.