This study was intended to investigate the application of the Frayer model to teaching vocabulary to language for specific purposes students. It employed quasi-experimental control group posttest-only design. As its requirement, two intact classes of Iranian undergraduate computer sciences majors—having taken language for specific purposes course—were selected in a convenience sampling fashion (#62 students). They were assigned to two groups: control and experimental. In a twelve-week treatment period, the experimental group was taught some words present in content area texts using the Frayer model charts along with other words using textbook procedure. To be more precise, they were trained how to organize their understanding of words graphically—the words chosen from their English for specific purposes textbook, i.e., English for computer engineering. In contrast to the experimental group, the control group received instruction in vocabulary learning following just textbook procedure. At the end of the term, an identical vocabulary achievement posttest was administered to both groups. The probable effectiveness of the Frayer model application in learning vocabulary words was statistically computed through independent samples t-test procedure. The results showed that Frayer model had significantly affected the experimental English for specific purposes students’ vocabulary gain. As a result, they outperformed the normal English for specific purposes students in vocabulary learning. It is implied that the practitioners in this area can transgress the textual mode routines of vocabulary learning: they can take advantages of graphically organizing tools such as the Frayer model for the enhancement of vocabulary learning. تفاصيل المقالة

AbstractIntelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) are referred to as computerized learning environments that incorporated pedagogical, cognitive learning, knowledge representation theories into computational models of tutor, learner, and domain knowledge respectively in order to provide individualized instruction in diverse subject areas. Since they take advantages of many technological artifacts of artificial intelligence (AI), knowledge representation models, and computational linguistics, they have been both object and means of research into AI, pedagogy, psychology, applied linguistics etc. Under the circumstances, the bulk of research findings is expectable and unavoidable. Sometimes researchers are badly in need of conducting first- or second-order meta-analytic reviews. This study first introduces the components of a typical ITS; then provides a descriptive account of the effectiveness, potential, and requirements of ITSs for foreign language teaching and learning (FLTL); and finally and most importantly, as a second-order review, synthesizes and describes the results of some previous meta-analytic reviews in reference to a few prevailing themes in the ITS research area such as the effects of the forms of instruction, subject matter variation, ITSs’ pedagogical features etc. Toward the third end, exclusion and inclusion procedures were applied to select seven target reviews using keyphrases scheme. The thematic meta-synthesis showed that the findings of almost all these reviews are consistent and congruent with some slight variations due to the study features. It is implied that meta-analyses like this can, by implication, inform and advance the science of ITS design, i.e. a theory of ITS design. تفاصيل المقالة