The Efficacy of the Deductive and Inductive Approaches in Teaching Information Structure (IS) of Non-Canonical Sentences and Its Effect on Iranian EFL Learners

Subject Areas : Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies

Hamidreza Sheikhi ¹ , Bahram Hadian ² , Mehdi Vaez dalili ³

1 - PhD student, Department of English, Isfahan Branch (Khorasgan), Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran.
2 - Assistant Professor, English Language Teaching Department, Isfahan Branch (Khorasgan), Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran.
3 - Assistant Professor, English Language Teaching Department, Isfahan Branch (Khorasgan), Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran.

Received: 2022-12-08 Accepted : 2023-01-28 Published : 2023-02-05

Keywords: The Deductive Approach, EFL/ESL learners, Information Structure (IS), Inductive Approach, Non-canonical Sentence,

Abstract :

The present study attempts to compare the efficacy of the Deductive and inductive approaches in teaching Information Structure (IS) of non-canonical sentences and its effect on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension in college. In this respect, 69 undergraduate Persian-speaking EFL learners (28 males and 41 females, mean age ≃ 21, age range=19-24, years of EFL learning ≃ 8, sophomore); majoring in English Literature and English Translation at the department of English Language and Literature, Arak University, Iran, were chosen in the form of two homogeneous intact groups, namely The Deductive (experimental) and Inductive (control) groups, consisting of 36 and 33 participants, respectively. Providing a six-week training course including twelve treatment sessions of The Deductive vs. Inductive instructions of IS principles, the results of statistical comparisons using paired-samples t-test and independent-samples t-test concerning the participants’ performance of each group indicated a significant improvement in reading comprehension. Concerning the pretest to the post-test phase, the momentum of progress has been sharper in the Deductive group. Regarding the post-test to the delayed post-test stage, deterioration of obtained reading comprehension abilities by EFL learners in the Deductive group has been statistically significant, whereas the findings indicate that the EFL learners of the Inductive group have shown statistically considerable retention of improved skill.