The Application of Projected Visuals in Teaching Collocations to Intermediate EFL Learners

The present study is an attempt to investigate the effective of using projected visuals, pictures in the form of slides displayed through projectors, in teaching English collocations on students’ learning. To this end, 60 Iranian EFL learners were selected out of 90 based on their performance on a language proficiency test, PET, and were assigned randomly into two homogeneous groups of control and experimental. Both groups took a 40-item researcher-made, validated pretest of collocations whose reliability was calculated as 0.74 through KR-21. 130 collocations were presented to each group in ten sessions through ten tables which consisted of 10 to 15 collocations with their L2 definitions and L1 (Persian) equivalents. The control group was required to make sentences, including the newly instructed collocations following the examples provided by the instructor, while the experimental group was shown a set of slides related to the newly-instructed collocations and was asked to determine the intended collocation related to each picture. After receiving ten treatment sessions, both groups took the posttest. The collected data were analyzed through ANCOVA and the results indicated that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group. Therefore, the use of visuals as instructional aids in teaching English collocations is proved helpful and recommended to those EFL instructors who are seeking for enhancing their students’ learning through more effective materials