17043

17043

The Effect of Employing Semantic Maps on Vocabulary Learning of Adult Iranian EFL Learners with Different Perceptual Modalities

كارشناسي ارشد

Master’s Degree in TEFL

Dr. Abdollahzadeh

Dr. Vaezi

زبان

1396/01/19

1/1/1900 12:00:00 AM

Abstract The present study was conducted serving two purposes. First, the effect of semantic mapping on vocabulary learning of adult Iranian EFL learners was examined. Next, the comparative effect of semantic mapping for vocabulary instruction to adult Iranian EFL learners with different perceptual modalities was tested to learn whether a particular group benefited from the application of semantic mapping for vocabulary instruction more than the others. In order to test the null hypotheses an​d through an initial homogenizing phase, 196 male an​d female EFL learners in Tehran an​d Urumiyeh were selected to participate in the study. The participants were divided into two groups; vocabulary instruction through semantic mapping was conducted for the experimental group, an​d conventional vocabulary teaching techniques were used for the control group. All classroom activities for the two groups were kept constant except for the vocabulary instruction portion of the class time. Lexical items were first introduced in context through four reading passages an​d then treated. At the end of the eight-week treatment, a vocabulary achievement test was administered an​d the results for the experimental an​d control groups were compared by means of a t-test. The t-test conducted demonstrated that the participants in the experimental group significantly outperformed those in the control group an​d thus the first null hypothesis of the study was rejected. The effect size was calculated to be medium. In order to test the second null hypothesis, a perceptual modality preference questionnaire was given to the participants in the experimental group. Based on the participants’ answers, they were divided into four groups of auditory, kinesthetic, visual, an​d multisensory. Statistical analyses through a one-way ANOVA demonstrated that no particular group had a significant advantage over the others when semantic mapping was the vocabulary instruction tool. Thus, the second null hypothesis of the study was confirmed. The results suggest that to teach lexical items to adult Iranian EFL learners, semantic mapping is significantly more effective than conventional vocabulary teaching techniques. Although in the second phase of the study, a slight advantage on the part of visual learners was observed when semantic mapping was administered, that gain was not statistically significant. In other words, the study did not find a significant match between a particular group of learners (based on perceptual modality) an​d semantic mapping.