Compensatory Strategies and Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ Speaking Fluency: Focusing on Self-Repetition and Comprehension Check Strategies

This study aimed to seek the effects of self-repetition and comprehension check strategies on Iranian EFL learners' speaking fluency. To this end, the researcher gave the OQPT to 140 Iranian students to determine their level of English proficiency. The researcher selected 90 intermediate students and divided them non-randomly into two experimental groups; Self-Repetition group (n=30) and Comprehension Check group (n=30). Then, both groups were pretested. After that, the researcher put the participants of both groups in two Compensatory Strategies. Each experimental classroom was taught through a specific compensatory strategy. On the other hand, the control group received traditional activities in learning speaking fluency. This procedure continued till the last session. At the end of the study, a posttest was conducted. The results of one-way ANOVA revealed that both experimental groups had better performance on their post-test compared to their pre-test. The results showed that there was not a significant difference between the performances of the experimental groups on the post-test

Linguistics, SLA and Lexicon as the Unit of Language

Each one of the major linguistic schools takes a different compartment of language as the main building block which shapes the totality of a language. The claim is that most of the linguistic theories have ceded to the prominence of lexicon as one major component of language. Through introducing the concept of lexical features, into the Minimalist Program, Chomsky has acknowledged the fact that lexicon features determine a word’s meaning, its morphological shape and its syntactical behavior in syntax. Constructions are based on particular lexical items which have been acknowledged as crucial in SLA although with different labels such as holophrases, prefabricated patterns, formulaic speech, formulae, sequences in SLA, chunks, and formulaic expressions or utterances. By adopting a lexical approach in studying language and language teaching and learning, the need for a new teaching methodology has always been felt, a demand which has never been satisfied

Linguistics, SLA and Lexicon as the Unit of Language

Each one of the major linguistic schools takes a different compartment of language as the main building block which shapes the totality of a language. The claim is that most of the linguistic theories have ceded to the prominence of lexicon as one major component of language. Through introducing the concept of lexical features, into the Minimalist Program, Chomsky has acknowledged the fact that lexicon features determine a word’s meaning, its morphological shape and its syntactical behavior in syntax. Constructions are based on particular lexical items which have been acknowledged as crucial in SLA although with different labels such as holophrases, prefabricated patterns, formulaic speech, formulae, sequences in SLA, chunks, and formulaic expressions or utterances. By adopting a lexical approach in studying language and language teaching and learning, the need for a new teaching methodology has always been felt, a demand which has never been satisfied

The Effect of Using Authentic Texts on Iranian EFL Learners' Incidental Vocabulary Learning: The Case of English Newspaper

This study intended to investigate the effect of using authentic texts on Iranian EFL learners' incidental vocabulary learning. To this end, a population of 52 Iranian female EFL learners aged 15 to 17 was selected. They were two intact classes; experimental group (25 students) and control group (27 students). Both groups received a pretest at the first session. Regarding the treatment, the authentic reading texts selected from World News for students of English, Level1 was taught to the experimental group while the texts selected from book 1 was taught to the control group. After a month post-test were run among all of the participants in both control and experimental groups to find out the possible effects of the treatment on the participants' vocabulary improvement. The analysis of data paired samples t-test and independent samples t-test showed that there was a significant difference between the post-tests of experimental and control groups. The experimental group outperformed the control group on the post-test

The Impact of Code-switching on Vocabulary Learning among Iranian Upperintermediate EFL Learners

This study aimed to investigate the impact of code switching on Iranian upperintermediate EFL learners' vocabulary learning. To this end, 64 participants out of 90 male students were selected and randomly divided into two equal experimental groups- experimental and control groups. Then, the groups were pretested by a vocabulary pre-test. Then after, the participants of experimental group received the treatment, i.e., using code switching. After the treatment ended, both groups took the post-test of vocabulary. The results of paired and independent samples t-tests revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group on the post-test. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the performance of the experimental and the control group on the post-test

The Effect of Using Authentic Texts on Iranian EFL Learners' Incidental Vocabulary Learning: The Case of English Newspaper

This study intended to investigate the effect of using authentic texts on Iranian EFL learners' incidental vocabulary learning. To this end, a population of 52 Iranian female EFL learners aged 15 to 17 was selected. They were two intact classes; experimental group (25 students) and control group (27 students). Both groups received a pretest at the first session. Regarding the treatment, the authentic reading texts selected from World News for students of English, Level1 was taught to the experimental group while the texts selected from book 1 was taught to the control group. After a month post-test were run among all of the participants in both control and experimental groups to find out the possible effects of the treatment on the participants' vocabulary improvement. The analysis of data paired samples t-test and independent samples t-test showed that there was a significant difference between the post-tests of experimental and control groups. The experimental group outperformed the control group on the post-test

The Impact of Code-switching on Vocabulary Learning among Iranian Upperintermediate EFL Learners

This study aimed to investigate the impact of code switching on Iranian upperintermediate EFL learners' vocabulary learning. To this end, 64 participants out of 90 male students were selected and randomly divided into two equal experimental groups- experimental and control groups. Then, the groups were pretested by a vocabulary pre-test. Then after, the participants of experimental group received the treatment, i.e., using code switching. After the treatment ended, both groups took the post-test of vocabulary. The results of paired and independent samples t-tests revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group on the post-test. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the performance of the experimental and the control group on the post-test

Texts with Various Levels of Hardness, Reading Comprehension and Reading Motivation: I+1 Versus I-1

Considering the vital role of comprehensible input, this study attempted to compare the effects of input with various difficulty levels on Iranian EFL learners' reading comprehension and reading motivation. To fulfil this objective, 54 Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners were selected from two intact classes (n = 27 each). The selected participants were randomly assigned to two equal groups, namely “i+1” (n=27) and “i-1” group (n=27). Then, the groups were pretested by a researcher-made reading comprehension test. After carrying out the pre-test, the treatment (i.e., extensive reading at different levels of difficulty) was practiced on the both groups. The participants in “i+1” group received reading passages beyond the current level, on the other hand, the “i-1” group received those reading passages which were below their current level. After the instruction ended, a modified version of pre-test was conducted as posttest to determine the impacts of the treatment on the students' reading comprehension. The obtained results indicated that there was a significant difference between the post-tests of “i+1” and “i-1” groups. The findings showed that the “i+1” group significantly outperformed the “i-1” group (p < .05) on the post-test. Moreover, the findings indicated that “i+1” group's motivation increased after the treatment. The implications of the study suggest that interactive type of input is beneficial to develop students' language skills. Keywords: Comprehensible Input; Extensive reading; Foreign language reading motivation; Input; Reading comprehension; Text difficulty leve

Contribution of Multiple Intelligences to L2 Writing of EFL Learners

  The present study was carried out to unveil the predictive power of multiple-intelligences (MI) in accounting for different components of L2 writing.  To do so, through an OPT, 120 intermediate EFL learners were selected. In one class session, the researcher gave McKenzie's (1999) MI questionnaire to the learners and asked them to fill out the questionnaire. In the subsequent session, the participants were asked to write an argumentative essay about a topic within 60 minutes. The learners' writings were scored from 1 to 4 based on each component of writing under question (i.e., content, organization, cohesion, vocabulary, grammar, spelling, and pronunciation). Finally, the learners' answers to the questionnaire were quantified and their performances on the writing test were scored by two raters (and the inter-rater reliability calculated through Pearson correlation equaled .86). Multivariate regression in AMOS (version 22) was used to analyze the data, and to show which types of MIs contributed more to different aspects of L2 writing. The results of this investigation showed that certain types of multiple-intelligences affected certain components of the students' writing. More precisely, it was unraveled that logical and musical intelligences contributed more to the relevance and adequacy of content; on the other hand, verbal, musical, and naturalistic intelligences  bore effects on learners' writing organization; logical, existential, and verbal intelligences played a significant part in the learners' cohesion; logical and intrapersonal intelligences contributed more to the adequacy of vocabulary for purpose; musical, logical and intrapersonal intelligences could significantly account for the grammar of written productions; visual and kinesthetic intelligences were most effective in the punctuation components of L2 writings; finally, EFL learners' spelling was influenced by logical, musical, existential, and interpersonal intelligences. The results of the study bear significant implications for L2 writing researchers and teachers