Zahra Parvanevar, Dr. Seyyed Amir Hossein Sarkeshikian & Dr. Seyyed Abdulmajid Tabatabaee Lotfi
Islamic Azad University, Qom Branch, Iran
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of two memory strategies, (i.e., semantic mapping and imagery strategies) on the reading comprehension of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. To conduct this quasi-experimental study, 75 females tenth grade high-school students were selected through a language proficiency test (Nelson test). They were randomly assigned to three groups, each group consisting of 25 students (i.e., two experimental groups, and one control group). All the three groups were given a pretest. The experimental groups were instructed reading by two different treatments; one group received reading through semantic mapping strategy and the other was taught reading through imagery. The control group did not receive any specific training or strategy. At the end of the semester, a similar test like the pre-test, was administered to all the subjects of the three groups. The mean scores of three groups were compared through One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results indicated that the learners who utilized semantic mapping and imagery strategies outperformed the control group. Furthermore, the experimental group that received semantic mapping showed a higher efficiency than the imagery one. In addition, the imagery group significantly outperformed the control group. As a result, it can be concluded that semantic mapping and imagery strategies had positive effects on students’ reading comprehension and these strategies can be used as a way of helping learners to improve their reading comprehension. The findings have pedagogical implications.
The above abstract is a part of the article which was accepted at The Third International Conference on Current Issues of Languages, Dialects and Linguistics (WWW.TLLL.IR), 31 January-1February 2019 , Ahwaz.
