ESP and EAP
Mohammad - Zohrabi; Nava Nourdad; Israa Abbas Alsaadi
Abstract
Written corrective feedback comprises an error treatment intervention that aims to apprise language learners of the existence of errors in their written work, enables them to self-correct their written output, prompts them to use complex grammatical structures, and empowers them to cast aside their writing ...
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Written corrective feedback comprises an error treatment intervention that aims to apprise language learners of the existence of errors in their written work, enables them to self-correct their written output, prompts them to use complex grammatical structures, and empowers them to cast aside their writing task inhibitions. The present study used a mixed-methods design to examine the utility of written corrective feedback in foreign language context of Iraq. To this end, in the quantitative phase, the researchers selected 104 nursing students in four English for general purposes classes of a public university in Iraq as the participants. Furthermore, they assigned the learners to three experimental groups including direct, indirect, and metalinguistic groups and a control group. The researchers provided the experimental groups with their pertinent corrective feedback during 14 treatment sessions. Nonetheless, they used the traditional product-oriented writing instruction method in the control group. In addition, in the qualitative phase, the researchers randomly selected 10 students in each of the experimental groups and probed their perspectives on their relevant treatment using a researcher-developed semi-structured interview protocol. Based on the results, all of the examined WCF strategies ameliorated nursing students’ writing performance. However, direct and metalinguistic WCF strategies were more efficacious than the indirect strategy. Moreover, the qualitative findings indicated that the participants had a preference for direct and metalinguistic WCF strategies. The results can have practical implications regarding the use of written corrective feedback strategies in Iraqi context.Keywords: Direct, Indirect, and Metalinguistic Feedback Strategies
Parviz Ajideh; Mohammad - Zohrabi; Behnaz Khojand
Abstract
Reading skill entails the employment of specific skills and strategies. The use of post-reading and pre-reading activities, considering the importance of individual differences of the learners, have been reported to be successful techniques in improving reading comprehension. Thus, the objective of the ...
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Reading skill entails the employment of specific skills and strategies. The use of post-reading and pre-reading activities, considering the importance of individual differences of the learners, have been reported to be successful techniques in improving reading comprehension. Thus, the objective of the current study is to scrutinize the influence of pre- and post-reading activities in developing EFL learners’ reading motivation, self-regulation, and reading comprehension. The participants were 111 male and female B.A. students at the intermediate proficiency level selected through random sampling method. The instruments included Motivation for Reading Questionnaire by Mori (2002) and Self-Regulation Questionnaire by Brown et al., (1999). Reading comprehension is assessed founded on the learners’ scores in the reading section of PET. The collected data was analyzed by ANCOVA. The findings revealed that pre-reading and post-reading activities were effective in improving learners’ self-regulation, reading motivation, and reading comprehension. Additionally, it can be claimed that the effectiveness of pre-reading and post-reading activities on developing self-regulation and reading motivation can ultimately enhance learners’ reading comprehension. The outcomes of the study could be beneficial for EFL learners and teachers.
Leila Dobakhti; Mohammad - Zohrabi; Sevda Masoudi
Abstract
The present study made an endeavor to determine the degree to which online and flipped approaches to writing instruction affected the EFL learners’ writing ability. To this end, first, the researchers selected 75 intermediate-level female EFL learners in three intact classrooms of a private language ...
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The present study made an endeavor to determine the degree to which online and flipped approaches to writing instruction affected the EFL learners’ writing ability. To this end, first, the researchers selected 75 intermediate-level female EFL learners in three intact classrooms of a private language institute in Urmia (Iran) as the participants. These classes were randomly selected from among the online, flipped, and in-person classes of the relevant institute and were assigned to the online, flipped, and control groups. Second, the researchers administered the writing pretest of the study to all of the groups. Third, they used Adobe Connect learning management system to provide the online and flipped groups with the pertinent writing instruction treatment in ten sessions. Nonetheless, they provided the control group with in-person writing instruction. Fourth they administered the immediate and delayed writing posttests of the study to all of the groups immediately after the termination of the treatment sessions and one month subsequent to the end of treatment respectively. Finally, they used SPSS 24 to perform the data analysis. Based on the obtained results, although both of the online and flipped approaches had immediate and delayed positive impacts on the participants’ writing ability, the flipped approach was more beneficial than the online. The results may provide EFL teacher educators, course developers, syllabus designers, and teachers with guiding principles regarding the uses of online and flipped courses in foreign language contexts.
Mohammad Zohrabi; Parya Kaashef
Volume 4, Issue 3 , August 2017, , Pages 19-31
Abstract
Spelling has become a remarkable aspect of learning and/or teaching English as a foreign language. This skill helps learners to write fluently without interruption in the flow of thinking caused by searching dictionary for the correct spelling. However, the number of practical simple strategies to learn ...
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Spelling has become a remarkable aspect of learning and/or teaching English as a foreign language. This skill helps learners to write fluently without interruption in the flow of thinking caused by searching dictionary for the correct spelling. However, the number of practical simple strategies to learn and/or teach spelling is scant. This study was an attempt to introduce a simple strategy to learn spelling and to investigate its effects on learners’ progress in spelling. To this end, two groups of third grade students of secondary school were studied as control and experimental groups. A pretest was given, then the new strategy was used in the experimental group, and then a posttest was given, and finally the data were analyzed by using ANCOVA. The results showed that this new strategy of learning spelling has a positive effect on learners’ spelling performance. Findings show that this simple strategy can be effective in learning and/or teaching spelling.
