Iranian Pre-intermediate EFL Learners Research Articles

Impact of Pictorial Cues on Speaking Fluency and Accuracy among Iranian Pre-Intermediate EFL Learners

This study examined the effect of pictorial cues on Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners’ speaking accuracy and fluency. To do this study, 54 Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners were selected out of 80 students in a private English Language Institute. The selected participants were divided into two equal groups; experimental group and control group. After that, both groups were pretested by a speaking pre-test. The experimental group was taught through using the pre-speaking strategies as the researcher provided students with pictorial inputs. On the other hand, the students of the control group were taught through traditional speaking activities including repetition and over-learning. The treatment took 15 sessions of 50 minutes each under the guidance of the supervisor. In the first session, the participants were homogenized. In the second session, they were pretested. During 11 sessions, students were taught by using pictorial input, and in the last session after the treatment the two groups took the speaking post-test. The results of paired t-test and MANOVA revealed that the experimental group had better performance on their accuracy and fluency post-test compared to their pre-test. The results also showed that the experimental group outperformed the control group on the accuracy and fluency post-test. Finally, implications arising from the findings and suggestions for further research were explained.

The impacts of spaced and massed distribution instruction on EFL learners’ vocabulary learning

This study intended to investigate the effect of spaced and massed distribution instruction on vocabulary learning. To fulfil this objective, 68 Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners (14–16 years) ...

Varying levels of difficulty in L2 reading materials in the EFL classroom: Impact on comprehension and motivation

AbstractIn this project, 54 Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners (16 to 21 years) participated in 15 sessions in which they were asked to read and study books from a structured series of L2 readin...

THE EFFECT OF SYNTAGMATIC AND PARADIGMATIC RELATIONSHIPS ON LEARNING GRAMMAR AMONG IRANIAN PRE-INTERMEDIATE EFL LEARNERS

The purpose of the present study was to explore the effects of using syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships on learning grammar among Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners. To fulfill the objectives of the study a Homogeneity test ( Oxford Quick Placement Test ) was administered among 70 students at the pre-intermediate level of a private language Institute and finally 40 participants were selected. Then, they were randomly divided into two sub groups, namely control and experimental groups. Before starting the treatment, a validated teacher-made grammar test was administered to students as pre-test to assess the participants' knowledge of grammar at the beginning of the course. Then, the experimental group received the treatment, which was teaching grammar through using syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations while the control group was taught using traditional methods of teaching. After 20 sessions of treatment, the two groups were administered the same teacher-made grammar test as post-test. Data were analyzed by Paired and Independent Samples t- test. The findings showed that the experimental group significantly performed better than the control group. Generally, the experimental groups outperformed the control groups. The results suggest that syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations can be used in English classes to develop listening grammar ability among Iranian EFL learners.

Exploring the association among working memory, anxiety and Iranian EFL learners\u2019 listening comprehension

This study was intended to investigate the relationship between working memory, anxiety and Iranian EFL learners’ listening comprehension. For the purpose of this study, 60 Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners were selected among 80 students at a private language institute in Hamadan, Iran. They participated in a homogeneity test (Oxford Quick Placement Test) to determine their homogeneity level. At first, two working memory span tests was administered to participants. Moreover, foreign language listening anxiety questionnaire and listening comprehension tests were applied as another data gathering instruments. Pearson’s Product moment correlation and one-way ANOVA were used to analyze the data. It was revealed that there was a strong, negative relationship between FL listening comprehension and listening anxiety. The study showed that a large number of the students experience high level of anxiety. Consequently, they were poor in their listening comprehension test implementation. Also, regarding working memory, it was found that working memory is an efficient and paramount prophesier for EFL listening comprehension. Learners with larger working memory capacity more likely have better abilities in listening. In addition, this study provides some pedagogical implications on EFL teaching.

The Effect of Gallery Walk Technique on Pre-intermediate EFL Learners’ Speaking Skill

A Gallery Walk is an action that permits students to examine and show their last work around a room much like artists would show their artistic pieces in a “exhibit.” It is a way that learners can share their group tasks or individual responses to a content in a stress-free way with the confirmation of getting some feedback from their learning network. This study investigated the impact of gallery walk technique on Iranian pre-intermediate EFL students' oral execution. Firstly, 60 homogeneous pre-intermediate students from a private language institute were selected and randomly divided into two equal groups, named as experimental and control group. Then they were pretested through a researcher-made speaking test. The learners in the experimental group received gallery walk technique and the control group continued the ordinary program of the classroom; they did not receive any treatment. After the treatment, the researchers administered the modified version of the mentioned pre-test as the post-test. Independent and Paired Samples T-tests were run to analyze the data. The results of post-test showed that experimental group outperformed the control group. The findings indicated that gallery walk technique improved Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners' speaking ability.

THE EFFECT OF TEACHING PHONOLOGICAL RULES ON ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION AMONG IRANIAN PRE-INTERMEDIATE EFL LEARNERS

This study was intended to examine the impact of teaching phonological rules on English pronunciation among Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners. To fulfill, 50 pre-intermediate students who were studying in a private language institute in Ahvaz, Iran were selected via non-random sampling (convenience sampling). They participated in a homogeneity test (Oxford Quick Placement Test) to determine their homogeneity level. Then they were randomly divided into two groups of control (n=25) and experimental (n=25). Before starting the treatment, a validated teacher-made pronunciation test was administered to both groups as the pre-test. Then the experimental group received the treatment, which was teaching phonological rules activities and the control group received conventional instruction including examples in an implicit method. At the end of the treatment, a post-test on pronunciation was administered to evaluate the effect of phonological rules instructions to assess the participants’ pronunciation improvement. At the end of the study, the analysis of the obtained data was carried out using SPSS, version 25. The obtained results indicated that there was a significant difference between the performances of both groups. The experimental group participants were found to have a better performance than the control group. Generally, the experimental group outperformed the control group. This study suggests that teaching phonological rules can help learners to learn pronunciation more easily and effectively.

The Effect of Listening Strategy Instruction on Iranian Pre-intermediate EFL Learners’ Listening ability

Listening comprehension plays an important role in the process of language learning as it is one of the four major skills in language acquisition. This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of listening strategy instruction on improving listening comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. To achieve this goal, forty students studying at Birjand University were participated in the current study. All of thestudents were within the age range of 18 to 22. Then, they were non-randomly divided into two groups, as a control and an experimental group. Theexperimental was taught based on a guide lesson plan regarding listening strategies while the control group did not receive any treatment. The listening section of TOEFL was utilized to measure the listening performance of the participants before and after the treatment. The results of Independent Samples Test indicated thatinstructing listening strategies had no significant impact onlistening comprehension of Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners.

Effects of using Triple Play Plus English on vocabulary learning among Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners

Effects of using Triple Play Plus English on vocabulary learning among Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners

The Effects of Using Podcast on Listening Comprehension among Iranian Pre-intermediate EFL Learners

The purpose of the present study was to explore the effects of using podcast on listening comprehension among Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners. To fulfill the objectives of the study a Homogeneity test (Oxford Quick Placement Test) was administered among 90 students at the pre-intermediate level of Poyesh language Institute and finally 60 participants were selected. Then, they were non-randomly divided into two sub­groups, namely control and experimental groups. Before starting the treatment, a validated teacher-made listening comprehension test was administered to students as pre-test to assess the participants' listening comprehension at the beginning of the course. Then, the experimental group received the treatment, which was teaching listening comprehension through using podcasts while the control group was taught using traditional methods of teaching listening with no multimedia source. After 20 sessions of treatment, the two groups were administered the same teacher-made listening test as post-test. Data were analyzed by Paired and Independent Samples t-­test. The findings showed that the experimental group significantly performed better than the control group. Generally, the experimental groups outperformed the control groups. The results suggest that podcasts can be used in English classes to develop listening ability among Iranian EFL learners.

The Effect of One-way and Two-way Tasks on Iranian EFL Learners’ Lexical Learning

This study investigated the effect of one-way and two-way tasks on lexical learning of Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners. Participants included 40 male and female Iranian EFL learners with the age range of 11-21, at the pre-intermediate level and from two English language institutes. They were assigned to two experimental groups: a one-way-task group and a two-way-task group. Knowledge of the intended lexes was established by a pre-test. The experimental groups underwent different treatments for eight 30-minute sessions during which they told stories based on the picture-cued stories. After the treatment, a post-test and a delayed post-test were administered. The results of the one-way repeated measures ANOVAs indicated that both one-way and two-way tasks had a significant effect on the learning of lexis. Meanwhile, gain scores of pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest were compared using independent samples T-tests. It indicated that two-way tasks, compared to one-way tasks, were more effective in the retention of lexes. The findings of this study could attract the attention of material developers to include one-way and two-way tasks in the books. Teacher trainers and EFL teachers could utilize similar task types in the classroom and could provide EFL learners with an effective way of vocabulary acquisition.

The effect of drama method and drama-based activities on Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners’ speaking skill

Although Iranian language learners spend many years in language classes, many of them have problems when communicating in a foreign language and their abilities to communicate and speak in the target language is lower than their capabilities in paper and pencil tests. Apart from lack of fluency, they suffer from self-confidence and anxiety. This study was conducted to examine the benefits of drama method and drama-based activities to enhance verbal communicative skill. The question whether students’ attitudes employing drama method will change about English instruction was also investigated. The experiment was conducted with 20 Iranian students whose major was not English and their proficiency levels in English language were pre-intermediate. Experimental group was instructed through drama method for 18 sessions (two 1.5 hour sessions in a week). Role-play for pre/post tests and questionnaire for learners’ attitude were used through this method. The findings revealed that mean score of students in the experimental group was higher than that of the control group. Drama method and drama based activities provided the students with more occasions to speak the second language in classroom, and use language in activities which are like a real life situation and make declarative knowledge turned to procedural knowledge. Drama method enhanced students’ self–confidence and decreased their anxiety. Being related to real life situations, drama based activities are more purposeful for learners, hence they motivate them more than usual. Generally speaking, it can be concluded that drama method enhances speaking ability of the foreign language learners, and learners’ attitude toward drama-based teaching is positive.

Effects of using instructional video games on teaching English vocabulary to Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners

This study aims to investigate whether there is any benefit in using IVGs among the Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners or not. Therefore, 60 EFL learners from Padideh Derakhshan Institute in Sahinshahr, Isfahan, Iran were chosen as the sample. First, a test of novelty was administered at the early stage to ensure the novelty of to-be-instructed words. Then, the participants were divided into experimental and control groups in order to receive their respective treatments. At the end of the course, both groups sat for posttest and about 1 month later they sat for delayed posttest. The findings of the study showed that there is no significant difference in learning vocabulary through using IVGs. The results also showed that male and female language learners had the same progress and no significant difference was seen. And finally results showed that using IVGs has a significant effect on the learners' vocabulary retention.

Effects of using instructional video games on teaching English vocabulary to Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners

Effects of using instructional video games on teaching English vocabulary to Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners

A Survey on the Effectiveness of Mother Tongue on Learning L2 Vocabulary by Iranian Pre-intermediate EFL Learners

<p>This study investigated the role of mother tongue on learning English vocabulary by Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners. For this purpose, 30 female pre-intermediate learners were chosen. After administering a Nelson test participants were selected from the intact classes at Foreign Language Institute in Babol. These 30 partners were randomly allocated to 2 gatherings (one laboratory and the other control) each comprising of 15 partners. The participants received a pre-test comprising 70 English words to ensure that they did not have previous information of objective structures. Experimental group received their instruction, meaning of each target word, and translation of target words with their mother tongue (Persian). But control group just received target language (English) for all activities or instructions. Both teacher and students in this group didn’t allow using Persian. After the treatment, the same pre-test was given to the participants as a post-test to measure the effectiveness of therapy gained. After collecting the data, to respond the research proposal, a t-test was conducted. The results indicated that first language had significant effect on learning English words. The findings of this study are considered to be useful in methodology issue.</p>

Using Podcasts to Improve Second Language Comprehension in Iranian Language Classrooms

<p>The present study aims at investigating the influence of podcasts (POD) on language comprehension of Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners. An Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was administered to 60 male and female university students. The participants were considered as pre-intermediate learners and were divided into two groups (one experimental group and one control group). During the fifteen sessions of the treatment, thirty podcasts were presented to the two groups. The experimental group received just the audio file of the POD, and the control group received a different treatment which was the transcript file of the same audio podcast file of the experimental group. The results of the t-tests revealed that there was no significant difference in language comprehension scores across the posttest between two groups. Based on the interview results after the post-test, all of the participants (100%) agreed that both audio and the transcripts (written texts) were useful for them and claimed that it is a good method of improving language comprehension.</p>

The Impact of Enactive /Vicarious pre-reading Tasks on Reading Comprehension and Self-Efficacy of Iranian Pre-Intermediate EFL Learners

This study investigated the effect of enactive pre-reading tasks on Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners’ reading comprehension and self-efficacy. Moreover, it explored whether Iranian per-intermediate EFL learners’ reading comprehension and self-efficacy are influenced by vicarious pre-reading tasks. The required data was gathered through a reading comprehension passage entailing 20 comprehension questions and a 30-item self-efficacy questionnaire with 5-point Likert-scale response options. A total of 66 participants (including 34 individuals in the enactive group and 32 leaners in the vicarious one) took part in this study. The Pearson formula, an independent T-Test, paired T-test, and the Mann-Whitney U test were used to analyze the data. Based on the findings of the study, enactive pre-reading tasks played a key role in the Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners’ reading comprehension ability. Moreover, it was found that vicarious pre-reading tasks served an important role in the Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners’ self-efficacy.

Input Flooding: A Factor to Improve Iranian Pre- Intermediate EFL Learners’ Structural Accuracy

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of implicit focus on form through input flooding on structural accuracy. To fulfill the purpose of the study, 43 Iranian preintermediate EFL learners of one of the language institutes were chosen by means of administering the homogeneity (KET) test. These learners were pretested through a structured interview to check their current accuracy level regarding the oral production of five structures. Based on the results of the pretest, two matched groups, one as the control group and the other as experimental group, were formed. Then, the two groups were provided with tasks through listening about the target structures in the study. Of course, the experimental group underwent focus on form implicitly through input flooding while the control group was not provided with it. After twenty sessions of treatment, each ninety minutes, the two groups were post tested through another structured interview. The data obtained from instruments used in the present study indicated that the instructional treatment, input flooding, did not have a significant effect on the acquisition of the target forms. The analyses of the data were done through the analysis of variance (ANOVA).

The Effect of Task Complexity on Iranian Pre-intermediate EFL Learners’ Incidental Learning of Grammatical Collocations through Reading

The aim of this research was to examine the effect of task complexity instruction on EFL pre-intermediate learner’s incidental learning of grammatical collocations through reading. To do so, the test of general English proficiency, OPT, was administered to 140 participants to homogenize subjects. Based on the mean score (X= 34.5) and standard deviation of students’ scores (SD= 2.8), 90 subjects were selected, those scoring between half a standard deviation above and half a standard deviation below. They were assigned in three classes with 30 students in each. Each of these classes was randomly assigned to one of the three tasks (fill in the blank, sentence writing, and translation sentences). Then the pretest, based on fifty fill in the blank questions was administered. After ten treatment sessions, the post-test which was the same as pretest was given to the participants to measure their knowledge of grammatical collocations in the tasks. Paired samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, and post-hoc tests were used to calculate for the productive and receptive knowledge of the students. The findings showed that there is significant main effect for all three groups. The result of this experiment is discussed in light of the involvement load hypothesis.

Investigating the Relationship between Teacher’s Thinking vs. Feeling Personality Type and Iranian Pre-Intermediate EFL Learners’ Speaking Skill

This study was an attempt to investigate the relationship between teachers' personality type (feeling vs. thinking) and speaking skill of pre- intermediate EFL students in Iranian context. Twelve teachers and forty eight students from a local language institute participated in the study. The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), an instrument based on Jung’s personality theory, was taken from teachers and students were administered Preliminary English Test (PET) interview. SPSS was used to calculate the required analyses. The results showed a statistically significant positive relationship between teacher’s’ personality type and learners’ speaking skill. It was also indicated that there is a statistically significant difference between speaking skill of learners taught by feeling teachers vs. thinking teachers. In fact students in the feeling group had higher speaking scores than their counterparts in the thinking group.