International vs. Domestic Materials and Reading Comprehension Achievement: Evidence from EFL Learners’
Subject Areas : Journal of Teaching English Language StudiesNajmeh Khajvand 1 , Ramin Rahimiy 2
1 - Department of English Language, Tonekabon Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran
2 - Associate Professor, Department of English Language, Tonekabon Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran
Keywords: International Materials, Domestic Materials, Reading Comprehension,
Abstract :
The present study aimed to investigate the impact of international vs. domestic materials on Iranian pre-Intermediate EFL learners’ reading comprehension achievement. The main question this study tried to answer was whether there would be any difference between the means of the two participant groups in a reading comprehension achievement post-test if the groups were taught with two different teaching materials. To investigate the answer to the question, 30 Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners were selected from among a population of 100 through administering the institute proficiency test with the criteria of at least 1 standard deviation below to 1 standard deviation over the mean. Then, they were divided into two fifteen-member groups, one the experimental and the other, the control group of the study. A pretest of reading comprehension was administered to the groups. During a 10-session treatment, the participants in the experimental group received teaching reading comprehension through international material practice, while the participants in the control group received teaching reading comprehension through domestic material practice. The two groups participated in the posttest of reading comprehension achievement and the means of the two groups’ posttests underwent comparison via applying an “independent-samples” T-test. The results indicated that the participants’ reading comprehension in the experimental group had a slight outperform over the control group as a result of a different treatment.
Adams, T. (1995). What Makes Materials Authentic? (ERIC Document Reproduction. Service No. ED 391389).
Al Azri, R.H., and Al-Rashdi, M.H (2014). The Effect of Using of Authentic Materials in Teaching. International Journal of scientific & technology, 18, 249-254.
Allen, F. A. (1983). Techniques in teaching Reading.New York: Oxford University
Press.
Alyousef, H. S. (2005). Teaching Reading Comprehension to ESL/EFL Learners.
Al-Wahaibi, M., & Al-Hosni, M. (2007). An Eye on Using Authentic Reading Materials: Practice & Adaptation.
Allwright, R. (1977). Language Learning through communication practice ELT Document 76, 3:2-14 The British Council reprinted in Brumfit, C.J. & Johnson, K. (1979) The Communicative Approach to Language Teaching Oxford, O.U.P. ( pp 172-173).
Anderson, N. (2009). Active reading: The research base for a pedagogical approach in the reading classroom. In Z.-H. Han and N. Anderson (Eds.), Second language reading research and instruction: Crossing the boundaries (pp. 117-143).
Arias, I. J. (1994). Selecting Reading Materials Wisely.
Bahrani, T., & Sim, T. S. (2011). The role of audiovisual mass media news in language learning. English Language teaching, 4(2), 260-266.
Bacon, S., & Finneman, M. (1990). A study of attitudes, motives, and strategies of university foreign language students and their disposition to authentic oral and written input. Modern Language Journal, 74(4), 459-73.
Bamford, J. (1984). Extensive Reading by Means of Graded Readers. Reading in a Foreign Language, 2(2), (pp. 218-260).
Bamford, J., & Day, R. (1998). Teaching The Language Skills, from http://dx.doi.org/
Bean, T., & Moni, K. (2003). Developing student's critical literacy: Exploring identity
construction in young adult fiction. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 46,
638-648.
Bell, T. (2001). Extensive Reading: Speed And Comprehension.
Berardo, S. A. (2006). The Use of Authentic Materials in the Teaching of Reading.
Benett, R. L. (2008). Authentic Materials for the ESL class. Queen College: CUNY.
Berardo, S. (2006). The use of authentic materials in the teaching of reading. The Reading Matrix, 6 (2), 60-69.
Baird, K., & Redmond, M, (Eds.). (2004). The use of authentic materials in the K-12 French program. Winston-Salem, NC: Wake Forest University, Department of Education.Martinez (2002)
Barekat, B. & Nobakhti, H. (2014). The Effect of Authentic and Inauthentic Materials in Cultural Awareness Training on EFL Learners‟ Listening Comprehension Ability. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 5, pp. 1058-1065, May 2014
Biber, D. (1995). Dimensions of Register Variation: A Cross-Linguistic Comparison. Cambridge University Press.
Birch, M. (2002). English L2 Reading. Getting to the Bottom, Mahwah, New Jersey & London, Lawrence Erlbaum, 200p.
Blagojević, S. (2013). Original Texts as Authentic ESP Teaching Material–the Case of Philosophy. ESP Today, 1(1). 113-126.
Brantmeier, C. (2003). Does gender make a difference? Passage content and comprehension in second language reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 15(1), 1–27.
Breen, M. P. (1985). Authenticity in the language classroom. Applied Linguistics,
6(1), (pp. 60–70).
Brown, H. D. (2001). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to Language
Pedagogy. White Plains, NY: Longman.
Brown, H. D. (2007). Principles of language learning and teaching. New York:
Pearson Education.
Brown, J. D. (1988). Understanding Research in Second Language Learning.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Breen, M. (1985). Authenticity in the language classroom. Applied Linguistics 6, 60-70.
Carrel, P. L., Devine, J. and Esky, D. E. (1995). Interactive Approaches to Second Language Reading. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
Cheng, L., Andrews, A., & Yu, Y. (2011). Impact and consequences of school-based assessment (SBA): Students’ and parents’ views of SBA in Hong Kong. Language Testing, 28(2), 221–249.
Coiro, J. (2003). Reading Comprehension on the Internet: Expanding our understanding of reading comprehension to encompass new literacies. The Reading Teacher, 56, 458-464.
Coleman, M.F. (2003). Promoting reading comprehension competence among English Second Language high school learners in a disadvantaged community, Med Dissertation, UNISA.
Cook, V. ( 1981). Using Authentic Materials in the Classroom MET, 9(14).
Cooper, D. E. (1983). Authenticity and learning: Nietzsche's educational
philosophy. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Day, R. & Park, J. (2005, April). Developing reading comprehension questions.
Reading in a Foreign Language. 17.1, 60 – 73.
Day, R. D., & Bamford, J. (1998). The cult of authenticity and the myth of
simplification. In Extensive reading in the second language classroom (pp. 53–
63). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Day, R., & Bamford, J. (2002, October). Top principles for teaching extensive reading. Reading in a Foreign Language (14) 2, 1–6. Retrieved August 04, 2006 from http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/October2002/day/day.html
Dreyer, C. & Charl, N. (2003). Teaching reading strategies and reading comprehension within a technology-enhanced environment. System 31, 349-365.
Dubin, F., & Bycina, D. (1991). Academic reading and the ESL/EFL teacher. In M. Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (2nd ed) (pp.195-215).
Ebrahimi, S., & Javanbakht, Z. O. (2015). The Effect of Topic Interest on Iranian
EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension Ability. Journal of Applied Linguistics
and Language Research Volume 2, Issue 6, 2015, (pp. 80-86).
Elley, W.B., & Manghubai, F. (1983). The effect of reading on second language learning. Reading Research Quarterly, 19(1), (pp 53-67).
Ellis, R. (2008). The study of second language acquisition (second ed). Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Fei, L., & Yu-feng. J. (2008). Application of authentic materials in extensive reading
class in Chinese universities. US- China foreign language, 6(3). 11-14.
Fry, E. B. (1963). Teaching faster reading: a manual. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gilmore, A. ( 2007). Authentic materials authenticity in foreign language learning.
Language Teaching.40(2), (pp. 97-118).
Ghaedrahmat, M., & Entezari, J. (2014). Impact of Demotivating Factors on the
Reading Comprehension Achievement of Iranian EFL learners.
Grabe, W. (2004). Research on teaching reading. Annual Review of Applied
Linguistics, 24, (pp. 44–69).
Grabe, W., & Fredericka, L. Stoller. (2002) Teaching and Researching Reading, Harlow (U.K.), Longman (Applied Linguistics in Action Series), 291p.
Grabe, W., & Stoller, F. L. (2001). Reading for academic purposes: Guidelines for the ESL/EFL teacher. In M. Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd ed.) (pp. 187-203).
Greene, B. B. (2001) "Testing reading comprehension of theoretical discourse with cloze" Journal of Research in Reading, 2001, vol. 24, no. 1, (pp. 82-98).
Guo, S. C. (2012). Using Authentic Materials for Extensive Reading to Promote
English Proficiency, from http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/elt.v5n8p196
Hamilton, R. (2010). YouTube for two: online video resources in a student-centered,
task-based ESL/EFL.
Harmer, J. (2005). The Practice of English Language Teaching. London: Pearson Education Limited.
Harmer, J. (2001). The Practice of English Language Teaching. (3rd Ed.). London:
HarperCollins.
Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and Learning in the language Classroom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Harmer, J. (1998). How to teach English. Harlow: Longman.
Hekmatshoar-Tabari, B., & Rahimy, R. (2021). Tailored vs. standard curriculum and general english achievement: A study of teachers’ views. Latin American Journal of Content & Language Integrated Learning, 14(1), 123–149.
Hill, J. K. (1981). Effective reading in a foreign language. English Language Teaching Journal, 35,(pp 270-281).
Huang, C. C. (2005). Effective EFL education through popular authentic materials.
Asian EFL Journal, 7(1). Retrieved from http://www.asian-efl- journal.com
Ianiro, S. (2007). Authentic materials. Professional development Fact sheet, No
(1), American Institute for Research.
Jacobson, E., Degener, S., & Purcell-Gates, V. (2003). Creating Authentic Materialsand Activities for the Adult Literacy Classroom: a handbook for Practitioners. NCSALL.
Jamaleddin, Z., & Lashkarian, A. (2015). Genres as Authentic Sources of Communication by which we Interact can Improve Learners' Success.
Johnson, B. R., Rodger, L.L., & Block, C.C. 2004. Comprehension Process
Instruction: Creating Reading Success in Grades K–3. New York : The Guilford Press.
Kim, D. (2000). A qualitative approach to the authenticity in the foreign language classroom: a study of university students learning English in Korea. Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education, 5 (1), 189-205.
Kilickaya, F. (2004). Authentic materials and cultural content in EFL classrooms. The
Internet TESL Journal, 10(7), 1-6.
Laing, S., & Kamhi, A. (2002).The use of think-aloud protocols to compare inferencing abilities in average and below-average readers. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 35(5), 437–448.https://doi.org/10.1177/00222194020350050401
Larsen-Freeman, D. (2000). Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Luckner, J. L., & Handley, C. M. (2008). A summary of the reading comprehension research undertaken with students who are deaf or hard of hearing. American Annals of the Deaf, 153(1), 6-36. https://doi.org/10.1353/aad.0.0006
Maroko, G. M. (2010). The authentic materials approach in the teaching of functional writing in the classroom. In The new decade and (2nd) FL Teaching: The initial phase Rudolf Reinelt Research Laboratory EU Matsuyama (pp. 71 – 87).
McNeill, A. (1994). What makes authentic materials different? The case of English language materials for educational television. Papers presented at the Annual International Language in Education Conference, Hong Kong.
Mercer, N., Wegerif, R. & Dawes, L. (1999) Children's talk and the development of reasoning in the classroom, British Educational Research Journal 25, 1, 95-111.
Miller, M. (2005). Improving aural comprehension skills in EFL, using authentic materials: an experiment with university students in Nigata, Japan. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
Miller, L. (2003). Developing listening skills with authentic materials. ESL Magazine, 6(1), 16-19.
Morrison, B. (1989). Using news broadcast for authentic listening comprehension. ELT Journal, 43(1), 14-18.
Morrow, K. (1977). Authentic texts and ESP. In S. Holden (ed.), English for specific purposes, 13-17. London: Modern English Publications.
Nunan, D. (2001). Second Language Teaching and Learning. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
Otte, J. (2006). Real language to real people: A descriptive and exploratory case study of the outcomes of aural authentic texts on the listening comprehension of adult ESL students enrolled in an advanced ESL listening course. Dissertation Abstracts International, 67(4), 1246B. (UMI No. 3212979)
Richards, J., & Rodgers, T. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (p. 204). New York: Cambridge University Press. http:// dx.doi.org/ 10.1017/ CBO9780511667305.021
Shanahan, T., Callison, K., Carriere, C., Duke, N. K., Pearson, P. D., Schatschneider, C., & Torgesen, J. (2010a). Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten through 3rd Grade: IES Practice Guide (NCEE 2010-4038). What Works Clearinghouse.
Shanahan, T., Callison, K., Carriere, C., Duke, N. K., Pearson, P. D., Schatschneider, C., & Torgesen, J. (2010b). Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten through 3rd Grade: IES Practice Guide (NCEE 2010-4038). What Works Clearinghouse.
Snow, C.E., Burns, M.S., & Griffin, P. (eds.) (1998). Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 432 pp.
Soliman, S.E.M. (2013). Libyan teachers’ Attitudes and Believes Regarding the Use of EFL Authentic Materials within Reading Lessons at Universities Levels in Libya. International Journal of Learning & Development, 3(5), 121-129.
Thanajaro, M. (2000). Using authentic materials to develop listening comprehension in the English as a foreign language classroom. Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia.
Taylor, D. (1994), Inauthentic Authenticity or Authentic Inauthenticity? TESL-EJ. Journal. 1(2). https://tesl-ej.org/wordpress/issues/volume1/ej02/ej02a1/
Williams, D. (1983). Developing Criteria for Textbook Evaluation. ELT Journal, 37, 251-255. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/37.3.251
Young, D. J. (1993). Processing strategies of foreign language readers: Authentic and edited input. Foreign Language Annals, 26(4) 451-468. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.1993.tb01180.x