The impact of picture-based vs. context-based method on Iranian intermediate EFL learners' knowledge of prepositions
محورهای موضوعی : Journal of Teaching English Language Studies
Saereh Mohamadpour
1
(Department of English Language, Tonekabon Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon-
IRAN)
Ramin Rahimy
2
(Department of English Language,
Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon Branch,
IRAN)
کلید واژه: Schema, Prepositions, Syntax, cognitive linguistics, Picture-Based, Context-Based,
چکیده مقاله :
The present study aimed to investigate the effect of picture-based vs. context-base method onIranian intermediate EFL learners' knowledge of prepositions. The main question this study triedto answer were whether using picture-based vs. context-based method might enhance higherknowledge of prepositions in Iranian learners of English at intermediate level. To answer thequestions, 45 intermediate learners participated in the experiment of the study. They were selectedfrom among a population of EFL learners via an OPT test score of at least one standard deviationbelow the mean. They were then divided into three groups of 15 and were randomly assigned totwo experimental and a control group. A pretest of English prepositions (the nine most common)was administered to all three groups, then, they were taught prepositions for 10 sessions but withdifferent methodologies: the experimental group one received a treatment of picture-basedsimultaneous with context-based method and the experimental group two received a treatment ofpicture-based method while control group received a treatment through conventional method(instructing general rules governing this category of words) without specific focus on proposedmethod. A posttest of English prepositions (the nine most common) was then administered to threegroups. The data of the study were analyzed using the paired sample t-test to indicate the groupsmean difference, and the degree of progress from the pretest to the posttest of the study in theexperimental groups was indicated by calculating the ANOVA coefficient. The results indicatedthat using picture-based/context-based method was the most effective method in teachingprepositions.
Abkhoo, F.,Gorjiani, B.,Pazhakh, A.(2014).Teaching spatial and temporal prepositions through
audio, pictorial-speech, and video modalities to preintermediate
EFL learner. Retrieved May 12, 2015,from http : / / www . ijlalw
.org / finalversion 5735.pdf.
Anderson, R. C., & Pichert, J. (1978). Recall of previously unrecallable information
following a shift in perspective. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior,
17, 1-12.
JOURNAL OF TEACHING ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES, Vol. 4, NO. 4, Spring 2016
37
Ausubel, D. P. (1963). The psychology of meaningful verbal learning. New York:
Grune and Stratton.
Ausubel, D. P. (1968). Educational psychology: a cognitive view. New York: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston.
Ausubel, D. P. (2000). The acquisition and retention of knowledge: a cognitive view.
Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Celce-Murcia, M., & Larsen-Freeman, D. (1999). The grammar book: An ESL / EFL
teacher’s course (2nd edition). USA: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.
Celce-Murcia, M., (2001). Teaching English as a second or foreign language. Heinle
& Heinle.
Delshad, S.(1980).Persian and English Preposition Compared and Contrasted from a
Pedagogical Point of view. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. University of
Texas, USA.
Dirven, R. (1993). Dividing up physical and mental space into conceptual categories by
means of English prepositions. In: Cornelia Zelinsky-Wibbelt (Ed.), The
Semantics of Prepositions. From Mental Processing to Natural Language
Processing (pp. 73-97). Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
Evans V. & Tyler A. (2005). Applying cognitive linguistics to pedagogical grammar:
The English prepositions of verticality. Revista Brasileira de linguistica aplicada,
5(2), 11-42.
Hasan, A. &Abdullah, I.(2009).The conceptual mapping of the English preposition
into arabic. European Journal of Social Science, 4(8),604-613.
Herskovits, Annette.(1986).Language and spatial cognition; an interdisciplinary
JOURNAL OF TEACHING ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES, Vol. 4, NO. 4, Spring 2016
38
study of prepositions in english. In Aravind K. Joshi(Exec. Ed), Studies in
Natural Language Processing. Cambridge University Press.
Huddleston, R., & Pullum, G. K. (2002). The Cambridge grammar of the English
language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jallili, H. ; Shojaei, M.(2012).Persian EFL students' developmental versus fossilized
prepositional errors. Iran University.
James, M. (2007). Interlanguage variation and transfer of learning [Electronic version].
International review of applied linguistics in language teaching, 45.
Janfaza, A., Soori, A., Yousefi, S.S.(2014).Common preposition errors committed by
Iranian students. Retrieved May 12, 2015,from http : // www . journals . aiac . org
.au/index.php/IJALEL/article/view/1036/966.
Jie, X. (2008). Error theories and second language acquisition [Electronic version].
USChina foreign language, 6(1), 35-42.
Lam, Y.(2009).Applying cognitive linguistics to teaching the spanish preposition
por and para. language awarness, 18(1), 2-18.doi:10.1080/09658410802147345.
Leech, Geoffrey N., Rayson, Paul, & Wilson, Andrew. (2001). Word frequencies in
written and spoken English: Based on the British National Corpus. London:
Longman.
Li, H., Japkowiez, N.; Barrière, C. (2005). English to Chinese translation of
prepositions. In Eighteenth Canadian Conference on Artificial Intelligence.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 3501, 402-416.
Lightbown, Patsy M. and Spada, Nina. 2003. How Languages are Learned. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
JOURNAL OF TEACHING ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES, Vol. 4, NO. 4, Spring 2016
39
Lindstromberg, S. (1996). Prepositions: meaning and method. ELT Journal, 50 (3),
225- 236.
Mahmoodzadeh, M.(2012). A Cross- linguistic Study of Preposition in Persian and
English: The Effect of Transfer. Retrieved May 12, 2015, from http : // www .
google .com/url ? sa = t & rct = j & q = & esrc = s & source = web & cd = 1 &
ved = 0 c b 0 Q Fj A A &url - http.
Mehrgan, Masumeh (2013). Aquiring English language prepositions by Iranian EFL
learners: the effect of proficiency and gender. Retrieved October 18, 2015, from
www.sid.ir/en/VEWSSID/J-pdf/53001020130303.pdf.
Morenberg, M. (1997).Doing grammar (2nd ed.)New York. Oxford University Press,
Inc.
Mukundan, J., & Norwati, Roslim. (2009). Textbook representation of prepositions.
English Language Teaching, 2(4), 13-34. Retrieved October 18,2015, from http:
//www . ccsenet . org/journal/index.php/elt/article/view/4440.
Novak, J. D., & Cañas, A. J. (2009). How people learn. Retrieved January 1, 2013, from
http://cmap.ihmc.us/docs/howpeoplelearn.html.
Paivio, A. (1986). Mental representations: a dual coding approach. Oxford, England:
Oxford University Press.
Quirk, R. & Greenbaum, S.(1993). A University Grammar of Contemporary English.
London: Longman Group Ltd.
Radden, G., & Dirven, R. (2007). Space and extensions of space. In: G. Radden & R.
Dirven (Eds.), Cognitive English Grammar. Cognitive Linguistics in Practice 2
(pp.303-334). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
JOURNAL OF TEACHING ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES, Vol. 4, NO. 4, Spring 2016
40
Rhalmi, Mohammed (2013). Meaning and Context in Language Teaching. Refrievded
August 4, 2015, from www. Myenglish pages.com/blog/meaning-and context in
language-teaching/.
Robinson, P., & Ellis, N. C. (2008). Conclusion: cognitive linguistics, second
language acquisition and L2 instruction – issues for research. In: P. Robinson, &
N.C. Ellis (Eds.), Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language
Acquisition (pp. 489-545).New York/London: Routledge.
Svartvik, J. (1988). English prepositions in applied linguistics. In: J. Klegraf & D. Nehls
(Eds.), Essays on the English Language and Applied Linguistics on the Occasion
of Gerhard Nickel's 60th Birthday (pp. 397-406). Heidelberg: Julius Groos.
Swan, M. (1998).Practical English Usage. Oxford: Oxford University press.
Talmy, L. (1983). How language structures space. In Jr. Pick, L. Herbert & L. P.
Acredolo (Eds.), Spatial Orientation: Theory, Research and Application (pp. 225-
282). New York: Plenum Press.
Tetrealt,j. & chodrow, M.(2008).Native judgement of non-native usage: experiments in
preposition error detection In. COLING workshop on human Judgements in
computational linguistics.
Ur, penny; Wright, Andrew (1992).Five-minutes activities. Retrieved May 12, 2015,
from http://www.africanafrican.com/folderB/.../B201-ocr.pdf.
Wehmeier S. (2000) Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
