The Effects of Text-Structure Awareness on Reading Comprehension of Iranian EFL Learners

Subject Areas : Journal of Language, Culture, and Translation

عزیزه  چالاک ¹ (استادیار گروه انگلیسی دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، واحد خوراسگان)
نسیم  صدر ² (کارشناس ارشد گروه زبان انگلیسی دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، واحد خوراسگان)

Received: 2014-06-08 Accepted : 2014-06-08 Published : 2012-10-01

Keywords: reading comprehension, Expository text, Text-structure, Awareness raising,

Abstract :

This study aimed at determining the relative efficacy of text-structure strategy instruction, compared to that of traditional instruction, on the reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. Forty Iranian advanced participants (23 male and 17 female students) participated in this study. They were divided into 2 groups including a control group and an experimental group. To choose advanced language students with no statistically significant differences in reading skill and no text-structure knowledge, both groups were pretested with an Oxford Placement Test (OPT), a text-structure knowledge test, and the reading section of TOEFL, respectively. Then, during 4 weeks, the students in both groups were taught reading comprehension through 4 passages. The students in the control group were taught traditionally and the students in the experimental group were taught through text-structure awareness instruction. At the end of the fourth week, the students were post-tested to determine the effects of the intervention program. The results revealed that the reading comprehension of both groups improved significantly; however, the text-structure awareness instruction group outperformed the traditional instruction group significantly.

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