English language learning
Afsar Rouhi; Afsaneh Saeedakhtar; Behrooz seifi; Reza Abdi
Abstract
Objective: This study explores the effect of recruiting topics valued by students along with the interest-igniting mode of reading texts, collectively framed as funds of identity, on willingness to read.
Methods: To this end, three groups of students were recruited. Over a 17-session experiment, all ...
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Objective: This study explores the effect of recruiting topics valued by students along with the interest-igniting mode of reading texts, collectively framed as funds of identity, on willingness to read.
Methods: To this end, three groups of students were recruited. Over a 17-session experiment, all the three groups received books in and out of tune with their FoI, elicited through an initial-semester researcher-made questionnaire. One group (n = 20) received e-books with few interactive features, the second group (n = 20) received e-books with no interactive features, and the third group (n = 20) received print books. WTR and attitude changes toward e-books were assessed using initial- and final-semester questionnaires. Students were also required to send summaries of their readings and keep journals throughout the experiment. They finally gave a post-treatment interview.
Results: Qualitative sets of data in juxtaposition with quantitative ones lent support to the positive influence FoI and e-books exercised on WTR and attitude change toward e-books.
Conclusions: FoI operationalized through e-books increased learners' WTR. In light of the patterns of changes observed, FoI of students are suggested to be taken into consideration for obtaining better educational results.
English language learning
Fatemeh Hemmati; Maaryam Rohani Ravari; Afsar Rouhi
Abstract
Research to date has commonly suggested that meaning inferencing through concordance lines can facilitate vocabulary learning. This facilitative role, however, may be subject to mediation by the expanded contexts of the target vocabulary item in concordance and accurate meaning inferencing. Of these ...
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Research to date has commonly suggested that meaning inferencing through concordance lines can facilitate vocabulary learning. This facilitative role, however, may be subject to mediation by the expanded contexts of the target vocabulary item in concordance and accurate meaning inferencing. Of these plausible factors, the length of the co-text of vocabulary items in concordance context remains under researched. The present study investigated how inferencing in the context of three varying concordance lengths (i.e., two complete sentences, one complete sentence, and a truncated sentence) affect EFL learners' accurate inferencing and vocabulary gain. To this end, 66 upper intermediate learners were assigned randomly into three groups and were asked to infer the meaning of 63 unknown words over seven sessions (nine words each session). For each unknown word, three examples in three different lengths were selected. Results indicated that two complete sentence co-text led to more accurate inferencing and vocabulary gain. The pedagogical implications of the findings are discussed
