The Study of the Effectiveness of Textual Cohesion of Teaching Materials on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension

Journal of Teaching English Lnaguage Studies

مقاله 4، دوره 7، شماره 2، اسفند 2018، صفحه 58-76   

نویسندگان

hengameh vaezi^{* 1}؛ parisa farrokh²؛ shahnaz habibi³

¹Assistant professor, Department of English Language, Islamic Azad University, Rasht Branch

²Assistant professor, Department of English Language and Translation, Islamic Azad University, Lahijan Branch

³MA student, Department of English Language, Islamic Azad University, Rasht Branch

چکیده

The present investigation was an attempt to study the effect of difference in textual
cohesion of different teaching materials on Iranian intermediate EFL learners' reading
comprehension. To that end, a QPT test was administered to 105 EFL students learning
English language in institutes. Based on QPT test direction individuals who get 31+ in
grammar and vocabulary, 8+ in reading section, and 8+ in writing are considered to be at
intermediate level of foreign language proficiency. So 45 learners were selected for this
study and they were divided into three groups, two experimental groups and one control
group, the first experimental group, studying Topnotch, the second experimental group
studying Touchstone and the control group studying high school English book. All
groups contained 15 participants. Then a reading test was administered to all groups as a
pre-test to take their initial knowledge of reading comprehension. The experimental
groups received treatment in using the above mentioned books containing more cohesive
elements in ten sessions. The control group was taught the high school English book
reading passages. Finally all experimental and control groups sat for the posttest for
reading comprehension test. ANOVA was conducted to see if there was a significant
difference between groups or not. The results were computed and analyzed through SPSS
and it was explored that difference in textual cohesion in different teaching materials,
namely texts containing more cohesive elements, had a positive effect on Iranian
intermediate EFL learners' reading comprehension ability.

کلیدواژه‌ها

Cohesion؛ cohesive devices؛ reading comprehension؛ Learning

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