ERIC Number: EJ1128476
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Feb
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2203-4714
EISSN: N/A
Using Supplementary Readings (Short Stories) in Increasing the Conceptual Fluency, the Case of Idioms in English
Mokhtari, Elahe; Talebinezhad, Mohammed Reza
Advances in Language and Literary Studies, v5 n1 p134-145 Feb 2014
The aim of this research was to probed whether using supplementary readings (short stories containing idioms) increase conceptual fluency of L2 learners. In line with the goal of the study, first, the researcher selected a sample of 30 female lower-intermediate L2 learners from Sadr Private Language Centre in Isfahan. She selected them based on their scores (75 or higher) in the previous term final exam. The researcher divided them into two groups. Then, she held a pre-test containing 30 multiple choice questions and registered their scores out of 30. Questions were mainly taken from the exercises of the book "Can You Believe It?" Next, she taught idioms to both groups 15 minutes each session and for thirty sessions, but provided only the experimental group with supplementary readings taken from the mentioned book. After that, she held a post-test containing 30 multiple choice questions and again registered their scores. Questions were taken again from book exercises with a higher level of difficulty comparing to the pre-test. Finally, the researcher compared the results obtained from groups' mean scores, frequency of obtained scores, and t-test on pre-test and post-test. The results of the study showed that the experimental group accomplished far better than the control group on the post-test. It also showed that the experimental group development in terms of conceptual fluency was meaningful and reliable. Therefore, it can be concluded that using supplementary readings has positive effect on developing conceptual fluency of L2 learners.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Second Language Instruction, Second Language Learning, English (Second Language), Supplementary Reading Materials, Literary Genres, Reading Fluency, Reading Comprehension, Language Patterns, Females, Language Tests, Pretests Posttests, Multiple Choice Tests, Scores, Reading Instruction, Experimental Groups, Control Groups, Comparative Analysis, Difficulty Level, Instructional Effectiveness
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Iran
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A