Cohesive Conjunctions in Applied Linguistics Research Articles among Iranian and Non-Iranian Researchers: A Comparative Corpus-based Study

Ehsan Namaziandost, Mehdi Nasri, Mohammad Hossein Keshmirshekan

Abstract


The present study aimed to investigate the effects of authentic materials on enhancing Iranian English as a foreign language learners' communicative competence. To this end, 106 upper-intermediate participants out of 136 were selected based on their performance an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and randomly assigned to two equal groups- one experimental group and one control group. Then a pre-test was administered to assess the participants' communicative competence at the beginning of the course. Then, the experimental group received the treatment. The control group was taught the course content using the regular communicative method through which students received teacher-course from the textbook. After the treatment, the two groups took the post-test. The data analysis through paired and independent sample t-tests revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group on the posttest. In other words, teaching authentic materials showed to have a significant effect on improving learners' communicative competence. The implications, limitations, and suggestions of this study are explained at the end of the study.


Full Text:

PDF

References


Al Azri, R. H., & Al-Rashdi, M. H. (2014). The effect of using authentic materials in teaching. International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research, 3(10), 249-254. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a8da/ed79131bf72bd4e51d1e21212426e73113b7.pdf

Alijani, S., Maghsoudi, M., & Madani, D. (2014). The effect of authentic vs. non-authentic materials on Iranian EFL learners’ listening comprehension ability. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 3 (3), 151-156. http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.3p.151

Anderson, A., & Lynch, T. (1988). Listening. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bachman, L. F. (1990). Fundamental Considerations in Language Testing. Oxford University Press: OUP

Bacon, S. M. (1989). Listening for real in the foreign-language classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 22 (2), 543-551. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.1989.tb02781.x

Barekat, B., & Nobakhti, H. (2014). The effect of authentic and inauthentic materials in cultural awareness training on EFL learners' listening comprehension ability. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 4(5), 1058-1065. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.5.1058-1065

Bataineh, A., & Al-Abdali, A. (2015) The Effect of Using Web-Cam Chat on Undergraduate EFL Learners' Socio-cultural Competence. International Journal of Education, 7(2), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.5296/ije.v7i2.7035

Berardo, S. (2006). The use of authentic materials in the teaching of reading. The Reading Matrix, 6(2), 60-69. http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/berardo/article.pdf.

Breen, M. (1985). Authenticity in the language classroom. Applied linguistics. 6(1). 60 - 70. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/6.1.60

Canale, M., & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics,1, 1-47.

Carney, C., & Franciulli, M. (1992). The use of authentic reading materials in the business language classroom. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 373538).

Carter, R., & Nunan, D. (Eds.), (2001). The Cambridge guide to teaching English to speakers of other languages. Cambridge University Press.

Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the theory of syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Crossley, S., McCarthy, P., Louwerse, M., & McNamara, D. (2007). A linguistic analysis of simplified and authentic texts. The Modern Language Journal, 91(1), 15- 30. 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00507.x

Dörnyei, Z. (2003). Attitudes, orientations, and motivations in language learning: Advances in theory, research, and applications. Language Learning, 53(1), 3 –32. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9922.53222

Floris, F. (2008). Developing English for general academic purposes (EGAP) course in an Indonesian university. K@ta, 10 (1), 53-62. Retrieved from http://puslit2.petra.ac.id/ejournal/ index. php/ing/ article/shop/16759/16740

Habouti, M., Mohammad, H., Mahmoodi, H., & Ziaei, F. (2015). The effect of authentic listening materials on improving Iranian EFL learners' listening comprehension. Academie Royale Des Sciences D Outre-Mer Bulletin Des Seances, 4(2), 143-148. www.jallr.com/index.php/JALLR/article/download/391/pdf391

Hadley, A. (2001). Teaching language in context (3rd edition). Boston: Thomson Heinle.

Hammer, J. (1991). The Practice of English Language Teaching. New Edition. London: Longman.

Herron, C., & Seay, I. (1991). The effect of authentic oral texts on student listening comprehension in the foreign language classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 24(6), 487 - 495. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.1991.tb00495.x

Hussein, N. & Elttayef, A. (2016). The Impact of Utilizing Skype as a Social Tool Network Community on Developing English Major Students' Discourse Competence in the English Language Syllables. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(11). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1099585

Hwang, C. C. (2005). Effective EFL Education through Popular Authentic Materials. Asian EFL Journal, 7(1).90-101. http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/March_05_ch.pdf

Hymes, D. H. (1972). On Communicative Competence. In Pride, J. B., & Holmes, J. (Eds.), Sociolinguistics, 269-293. Baltimore, USA: Penguin Education, Penguin Books Ltd.

Kasper, G. (1997). Can pragmatic competence be taught? Honolulu: University of Hawai’i, Second Language Teaching & Curriculum Center. Retrieved December 2018, from www.nflrc.hawaii.edu/NetWorks/Nw6.

Littlewood, W. T. (1992). Communicative language teaching: An introduction (4th ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Marzban, A., & Davaji, D. (2015). The effect of authentic texts on motivation and reading

comprehension of EFL students at intermediate level of proficiency. Theory and

Practice in Language Studies, 5 (1), 85-91. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0501.11

Mishan, F. (2005). Designing authenticity into language learning materials. Bristol, UK: Intellect.

Morrow, K. (1977). Authentic texts in ESP. In S. Holden (Ed.), English for specific purposes (pp. 13-15). London, UK: Modern English Publications.

Morton, R. (1999). Abstracts as authentic material for EAP classes. ELT Journal, 53(3), 177-182. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/53.3.177.

Namaziandost, E., Rahimi Esfahani, F., & Hashemifardnia, A. (2018). The impact of using authentic videos on prosodic ability among foreign language learners. International Journal of Instruction 11(4), 375-390

Namaziandost, E., Sabzevari, A., & Hashemifardnia, A. (2018). The effect of cultural materials on listening comprehension among Iranian upper-intermediate EFL learners: In reference to gender. Cogent Education 5(1): 1560601, https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2018.156060

Omid, A., & Azam, R. (2015). Using authentic materials in the foreign language classrooms: Teachers‟ perspectives in EFL classes. International Journal of Research Studies in Education, 5(2), 105 - 116. DOI: 10.5861/ijrse.2015.1189

Otte, J. (2006). Real language to real people: A descriptive and exploratory case study of the outcomes of aural authentic texts on the listening comprehension of adult ESL students enrolled in an advanced ESL listening course. Dissertation Abstracts International, 67(4), 1246B. (UMI No. 3212979)

Peacock, M. (1997). The effect of authentic material on the motivation of EFL learners. ELT Journal, 51(2), 144-156. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/elt/51.2.144.

Riley, P. (1996). Well don’t blame me! - On the interpretation of pragmatic errors. In W. OLeksy (Ed.), Contrastive pragmatics (pp. 231 - 249). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Rogers, C., & Medley, F. (1988). Language with a purpose: Using authentic materials in the foreign language classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 21, 467 - 478. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1944 - 9720. 1988.tb01098. x.

Schachter, J. (1983). A New Account of Language Transfer. In S. Gass and L. Selinger (Eds.), Language Transfer in Language Learning. (pp. 98-111). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

Shohamy, E. (1996). Language testing: Matching assessment procedures with language knowledge, in M. Birenbaum & F. Dochy (eds.), Alternatives in Assessment of Achievements, Learning Processes and Prior Knowledge, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, MA, 143-159.

Shoomossi, N., & Ketabi, S. (2007). A critical look at the concept of authenticity. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 4(1), 149-155. http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/v4n12007/shomoossi.htm

Soliman, S. (2013). Libyan teachers’ Attitudes and Believes Regarding the Use of EFL Authentic Materials within Reading Lessons at Universities Levels in Libya. International Journal of Learning & Development, 3(5). DOI: 10.5296/ijld. v3i5.4484

Thanajaro, M. (2000). Using authentic materials to develop listening comprehension in the English as a foreign language classroom. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia.

Ur, P. (1996). A course in language teaching: Practice and theory. Cambridge University Press.

Van Ek, J. A. (with contributions by Alexander, L G.). (1977). The threshold level for modern language learning in schools. London: Longman.

Weyers, J. (1999). The effect of authentic video on communicative competence. The Modern Language Journal, 83(3), 339-349. https://www.jstor.org/stable/330257

Wilcox, B., Morrison, T., & Oaks, D. (1999). Computer corpora and authentic texts: Toward more effective language teaching. Reading Research and Instruction, 38(4), 415-423. DOI: 10.1080/19388079909558305

Wolfson, N. (1983). Rules of speaking. In J. C. Richards and R. Schmidt, eds. Language and Communication. New York: Longman.

Young, D. (1999). Linguistic simplification of SL reading material: Effective instructional practice? The Modern Language Journal, 38(3), 350-366. https://www.jstor.org/stable/330258




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30870/jels.v4i2.5431

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2019 Journal of English Language Studies

Creative Commons License
Journal of English Language Studies is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright @ 2024 Journal of English Language Studies.

View My Stats