Iranian Adult EFL Learners Research Articles

Processing Referentially Ambiguous Pronouns by Adult Learners of English as a Foreign Language

Introduction: Processing ambiguous pronouns by L1 speakers of English has been the subject of a great bulk of research. Only a few studies, however, have investigated the ambiguity resolution of pronouns by people for whom English is a second or foreign language. In this study, the researchers employed a picture selection task to explore how adult Iranian EFL learners treated ambiguous pronouns.
 Methodology: The materials were 20 experimental items in four different conditions (i.e., manipulation of neither noun phrases [NP1] nor NP2, NP1 manipulation, both NPs manipulation and NP2 manipulation) plus 30 filler items. The principal purpose of this study was to investigate whether the manipulation of NPs by attaching extra content/semantic information to them had any impact on their accessibility and how the participants associated ambiguous pronouns with NPs when attempting to choose an antecedent.
 Results: The results confirmed the idea that increasing the length of an NP is an important mechanism employed by EFL learners in the process of ambiguity resolution of pronouns. The results also indicated that the NP length mechanism was a better predictor of accessibility in comparison with other mechanisms, such as the primacy effect, the subject rule, and the grammatical role.
 Conclusion: The findings demonstrated that when an NP carries extra-linguistic information compared to other NPs, it might have a better chance of being selected as the referent of an ambiguous pronoun.

An Exploratory Empirical Research on Hope for Learning English as a Foreign Language

There is a dearth of research on hope in studies of second or foreign (L2) language learning. Therefore, the present research contributes conceptually to a deep understanding of hope for learning English as a foreign language and the ways it may be developed. To do so, an exploratory mixed-methods design was employed. Using in-depth interviews, qualitative data was collected from the advanced-level adult Iranian EFL learners. Grounded-based analysis of the data led to the emergence of forty-seven items tied to seven main components as well as inter-relationships between them. In the quantitative phase, a 47-item questionnaire of hope for learning EFL was designed and then piloted. Next, to test the validity of the piloting phase findings, the refined 46-item questionnaire of hope for learning EFL was administered to a convenience sample of EFL learners (n=330). Statistical analyses of the testing data confirmed that forty-six items are linked to seven broad underlying components of hope for learning EFL. The main factors building the construct of hope for learning EFL were confirmed. Moreover, core factor, interconnections between the identified components were developed and validated. The findings can provide invaluable clues as to the development of educational interventionist programs in the future.

Vocabulary Learning via Reading: Is Input Modification Useful?

Since authentic texts address native speakers, they might lack the reader-friendly attributes which can help EFL learners to read and understand them. Also, learning the new vocabulary through reading can be difficult for EFL learners. As such, in order to utilize these texts as teaching materials in EFL classes, they should be modified. The present study investigated Iranian intermediate-level EFL learners and how they acquire English language vocabulary incidentally from modified English texts while their primary task is reading for meaning. In order to measure the impact of lexical input modification on the improvement of foreign language vocabulary learning, 60 adult Iranian EFL learners between the ages of 18 and 22 in two intact classes were selected and randomly assigned to two homogenous groups of control and experimental. The analysis of the data revealed that incidental second language vocabulary learning could be improved effectively by lexical input modifications such as lexical and typographical elaboration.

An Analysis of Errors in Writing Skill of Adult Iranian EFL Learners Preparing for the IELTS

This study sought to examine the sort, frequency, and sources of writing wrongs committed by adult Iranian EFL students. To score the participants’ written essays and speaking interviews, the four criteria specified for the IELTS Speaking and Writing Band Scores (British Council, 2014) were taken into consideration. The study also tried to comparatively analyze the error categories made by men and women learners regarding the type and frequency of their linguistic errors. To gather the information, from the population of faculty members at Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences (HUMS) in Bandarabbas, Iran, 100 adults, both male and female, with their age ranging from 31 to 52, were selected using convenient sampling. Based on their previous IELTS band scores ranging from 4 to 6, the members are separated into three groups.The results of data analysis revealed that verb tense was the very common grammatical mistake done by members in all three groups. For the cohesion and coherence and lexical sub-categories, relative clauses and incorrect use of target lexical item were regarded as the most common categories of errors. Outcomes of Chi-Square analyses also showed substantial differences among errors committed by participants in different groups. Finally, the comparison between male and female participants’ errors revealed that male participants made both written and spoken errors more than females. According to the results, recommendations, and any suggestions that are of importance to teachers and policymakers as well as to EFL learners are presented in detail.

The Effect of Teaching Paragraph Writing in L1 on Iranian Adult EFL Learners’ Writing Ability

Despite the importance of writing in ESL/EFL contexts, too many youngsters do not learn to write well enough to meet the demands of school or the workplace. The present study strives to probe into the effect of teaching paragraph writing styles in the first language on the wiring proficiency of Iranian EFL learners. To conduct the study, a quasi-experimental design was used. The participants of this study were 40 male and female language learners learning English as the foreign language at the Oxford language institute in Bojnourd in the Northern Khorasan province of Iran who were divided into experimental and control groups. There was no treatment for the control group, but the experimental group received the treatment in which four types of paragraphs-descriptive, explanatory, contrastive, comparative- were taught in participants' first language (Farsi). After the treatment, a simplified English proficiency test focusing mainly on English writing skill was used to assess the effectiveness of the treatment. Independent t-test results showed a significant difference between the mean scores of the experimental and control groups on the posttest of writing ability. As for the gender differences, the results of the independent sample t-test revealed that there is a statistical significant difference between writing proficiency of Iranian males and females EFL learners in terms of making use of first language text structure knowledge. The implications of the study are discussed.

COOPERATIVE AND COMPETITIVE TEACHING TECHNIQUES AFFECTING IRANIAN EFL LEARNERS’ AUTONOMY LEVEL

This study investigated the effects of competitive and cooperative teaching techniques on Iranian adult EFL learners’ autonomy. To this end, a sample of 88 non-English major university students at Sohrevardi Nonprofit College in Qazvin were assigned to two groups, and each group received instruction under one of the treatment conditions including cooperative and competitive teaching techniques. To collect data, the Persian translation of an autonomy questionnaire was administered before and after the treatment. The obtained data were analyzed using an Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) procedure. The result of data analysis showed that competitive and cooperative teaching techniques affected the level of autonomy in EFL learners. The learners in the cooperative group were more autonomous. The findings of the present study may have implications for learners, teachers, and syllabus designers.

Use of Single- vs. Multi-Word Verbs in the Written Discourse of Iranian EFL Learners

Age is being evermore complained as an impediment to language competency, either given as a pretext or raised as a real challenge, taken for granted by foreign language learners. This study seeks to prod about the verb choices among EFL learners. In so doing, the two completely different radiuses of EFL learners, a group of university students in distance education, with part-time class participation and another from a private language institute in Qom province were recruited and compared on their choices of verbs in respect of single- and multi-word forms put into the written tasks. The results of the rating of the students’ assignments showed that adult Iranian EFL learners’ written language was deprived of phrasal verbs, even in informal writing assigned the use of informal language were scarcely captured. The study corroborates the former studies for the avoidance and incompetency of EFL learners in the use of phrasal verbs.

EFL Learners’ Use of Direct Strategies in Competitive and Cooperative Learning Contexts

<p style="text-align: justify;">This study investigated the effects of competitive and cooperative teaching techniques on Iranian adult EFL learners’ use of direct strategies. To this end, a sample of 88 non-English major university students at Sohrevardi Nonprofit College in Qazvin were assigned to two groups, and each group received instruction under one of the treatment conditions including cooperative and competitive teaching techniques. To collect data, the Persian translation of a modified version of the subsection of Oxford’s Strategy Inventory of Language Learning pertaining to direct strategy use was administered before and after the treatment. The obtained data were analyzed using an Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) procedure. The result of data analysis showed no significant difference between the effects of competitive and cooperative teaching techniques on direct strategy use of Iranian adult EFL learners. The findings of the present study may have implications for learners, teachers, and syllabus designers.</p>

Effects of Dicto-Comp and Dictation on the Writing Skill of Female Adult Iranian EFL Learners

<p>This study was an attempt to clarify and remind L2 learners/teachers of 2 kinds of writing: dicto-comp and dictation. We explored the effect of controlled writing on the accuracy of the writing of adult Iranian EFL learners. Prior to the study, the homogeneity of 30 adult EFL learners was checked through an OPT test. Thirty participants were assigned to 210 one-hour sessions: Group A via dicto-comp and Group B via dictation. Following this practice, the participants in both groups were asked to write texts as the posttest about similar topics to the one of the pretest. Results indicated that the participants working in the dictation wrote more accurately than those who wrote in dicto-comp format; however, but both dictation and dicto-comp had positive effects on the writing of the participants.</p>

Validation and Investigation of Sentence Parsing Strategies: a Study of EFL Learners Psych and Language Processing

Having a proper insight into understanding the human cognition in sentence processing strategies, this study explored the nature of Minimal Attachment and Late Closure strategies in relation to language proficiency levels. Facing the problem that why some EFL learners tend to parse differently (i.e., use Minimal Attachment and Late Closure Strategies), on one hand and the need to develop a reliable and valid instrument to do the respective investigation on the other hand, was the motive behind this study. By administering a Preliminary English Test (PET), three groups of Iranian adult EFL learners, both male and female were conventionally classified into three levels of proficiency. Three separate researcher-made sentence comprehension tests (each for one proficiency level) were then adopted as the main data collecting instruments through applying Think- Aloud Protocol in which all steps of instrument validation were taken. Findings revealed the use or better to say construct validity of various strategies. Meanwhile, the analyses revealed that the parsing strategies are, to some extent if not that much, associated with language proficiency levels, indicating that language proficiency level has some degree of effect on the participants use of parsing strategies as a whole, although findings on Minimal Attachment and Late Closure strategy use as two separate ones differed. While, there was not much effect of language proficiency level on Minimal Attachment strategy, the findings indicated a moderately large effect size on Late Closure strategy use and the three groups showed almost higher means on Late Closure strategy rather than the other one. Therefore, certain parsing strategies are associated with language proficiency level proving the fact that language proficiency level is an effective parameter as far as human cognition in language processing in general and sentence processing in particular are concerned. Moreover, not only is there relationship among language proficiency levels and the strategy use but the nature of relationship varies depending on language proficiency level and strategy type.

A Study of the Form and Content of Private Speech Produced by Iranian Adult EFL Learners

This article examines the speech of Persian learners of English while working collaboratively on a picture description task. The main purpose of the study was to analyze the content and form of private speech identified in the interactions of 12 adult EFL learners at two beginner and advanced levels of proficiency. The learners’ interactions were tape-recorded during the completion of a picture description task. The results indicated that whisper and loud forms of private speech were used by both advanced and beginner learners, and question/answer and repetition were the two most frequent contents of private speech identified in the transcripts of both groups. Extracts obtained from the interactions of the learners suggest that private speech helped them manage their speech, structure their sentences and get control over the task.

Type of Test-Taking Strategies and Task-Based Reading Assessment: A Case in Iranian EFL Learners

This study examined the effect of task-based assessment on the type of test-taking strategies that three proficiency groups of Iranian adult EFL learners used when completing a task-based reading paper. A total of 70 EFL university undergraduates (53 females and 17 males) took part in the study. They were divided into three proficiency groups: high, intermediate and low. A set of Chi-square analyses was used to explore the type of test-taking strategies they used. The findings revealed that a pattern could be drawn of the type of strategies used by the three proficiency groups. Nonetheless, such a pattern shifted at times depending on the ability of the test takers and/or the tasks under study.

The Effect of Explicit Instruction of Discourse Markers on the Quality of Oral Output

The present study was an attempt to investigate the effect of explicit vs. implicit instruction of discourse markers (DMs hereafter) on learners’ oral production. To this end, 40 Iranian adult EFL learners (including both males and females) with the age range of 23 to 30 years of age were randomly selected. The sample was randomly divided into two equal groups with 20 members. The control group attending the speaking course received no explicit instruction on DMs, while participants in the experimental group attending the same course, received an explicit treatment on DMs. The experimental group received five sessions of explicit instruction on DMs, consuming 20 minutes of the class time. The data required for the study was collected through semi-structure interview with the participants of the study who spoke on similar topics. Results indicate that the participants in the control group who were exposed to implicit way of teaching discourse markers did not show to use discourse markers frequently. In contrast, the learners in the experimental group who received explicit instruction on discourse markers proved that they used discourse markers frequently in their speech. The final conclusion is that explicit teaching of discourse markers to learners in the experimental group was useful.

Patterns of Persian EFL Learners’ Comprehension of Idiomatic Expressions: Reading Strategies and Cross-Cultural Mappings in focus

This paper primarily focused on the description of the results of a study conducted with sixty Iranian adult EFL learners to investigate how the reading strategies and pragmatic elements are likely to govern and characterize the comprehension and interpretation process of English idioms with and without contextualized reading. It also intended to determine the role of cultural mappings and the extent to which Iranian EFL learners' knowledge of cultural idioms is affected by their L1 when they try to construct their own meanings. The researchers came up with some interesting inferences about such theme-based patterns of idiomatic expressions through descriptive statistics and analysis of the participants' metacognitive comments in four phases of the study.