The Relationship Between Vocabulary Recall and Critical Thinking

Journal of Teaching English Lnaguage Studies

مقاله 4، دوره 5، شماره 3، خرداد 2017، صفحه 52-68   

نویسندگان

Reihaneh Sheikhy Behdani؛ Mojgan Rashtchi^*

English Department, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

چکیده

The study aimed to investigate whether there was a relationship between Iranian EFL learners'
critical thinking (CT) and ability to recall vocabulary. Also, the relationship between gender and
recall was investigated. In so doing, 128 upper-intermediate language learners were selected from
Islamic Azad University based on convenience sampling. After homogenizing the participants on
general language proficiency level using Babel test, the researchers implemented Watson Glaser
critical thinking appraisal (W-GCTA) and divided the participants to experimental (critical
thinkers) and control (non-critical thinkers) groups. The researchers also gave a researcher-made
vocabulary test to the participants to examine their vocabulary knowledge. As a result, 60 unknown
words were recognized and used in the form of completion items for both the experimental and
control groups. The participants of the groups knew that they should recall the vocabulary items
later on a recall test. After applying Mann-Whitney U test, the researchers found that there was a
significant difference in recalling ability of the control and experimental groups (U=.40, p<.05).
The results revealed that there was a weak correlation between gender and the learners' ability to
recall vocabulary (ôb = .113, p = .803).

کلیدواژه‌ها

assumption؛ critical thinking؛ deduction؛ implication؛ inference؛ recall؛ recognition

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