Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Department of English Language and Literature, University of Isfahan, Iran
2 Department of English language and literature, Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Isfahan
3 Associate Professor of TEFL, University of Isfahan
4 Department of English Language, Faculty of Arts, University of Kufa, Iraq
Abstract
This study was an attempt to see whether the instruction of pragmatic markers in virtual vs. real classroom settings and in universities vs. private institutes had any effect on EFL learners’ speaking ability. A group of 224 EFL learners of English Translation and English teaching passing conversation courses were selected and randomly divided into four groups. The two experimental groups (both in university and language institute settings) received instruction on pragmatic markers in online vs. real conversation classrooms while the two control groups (in university and language institute settings) did not receive instruction on pragmatic markers in online vs. real conversation classrooms. The results indicated that generally those who received pragmatic instruction outperformed those who did not receive such kind of instruction and the participants in real classrooms outperformed their virtual counterparts in terms of speaking ability. The study also examined the intervening effects of some social and personal factors including age, gender, social class and level of language proficiency.
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