A Multicultural Study: Input Enhancement and Jigsaw Impacts on Reading Comprehension of Immigrant ESL Learners in Iran

Subject Areas : Journal of Teaching English Language Studies

Masuma Alavikhah ¹ , Seyed Abdolmajid Tabatabaee Lotfi ² , Amir Sarkeshikian ³

1 - English Language Department,Qom Branch,Islamic Azad University,Qom,Iran
2 - Department of English Language, Qom Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qom, Iran
3 - Department of English Language, Qom Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qom, Iran

Received: 2024-12-04 Accepted : 2024-01-05 Published : 2024-06-07

Keywords: input enhancement, focused instruction, meaning-focused instruction, reading comprehension.,

Abstract :

Focused instructions in language teaching have gained weight during recent decades. As reading is a powerful tool for vocabulary growth, knowing which instructions have more effect on it is necessary. The effectiveness of focused instructions has been examined in empirical studies. But few inquiries compared the impacts of form-focused instruction like input enhancement with meaning-focused instruction such as Jigsaw on L2 development. Therefore, this research tried to examine a comparison between the impacts of input enhancement and jigsaw on reading comprehension of non-Iranian ESL learners.50 elementary ESL learners in an international primary school were chosen in three intact classes. In the first experimental group, input enhancement was used for presenting the target words; in the second experimental group, the jigsaw was used. The control group learned the same target words giving the participants a word list (traditional). Before applying the treatment all the subjects were given the teacher-made pretest. After five sessions of treatment, the post-test was administered. One-way ANOVAs were used to analyze the data collected from the learners’ performance on the pretest and post-test. The results announced that there was not any notable distinction between the post-test scores of the three groups. However, the paired samples t-test results revealed that the input enhancement and control group had reading comprehension development after the treatment. This research can inform teachers and syllabus designers about the efficiency of input enhancement and word lists on reading comprehension.

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