ISSN: 2383-0514 (Online) © 2016 Khate Sefid Press The Effects of … · 2016-03-15 · Keywords: Reading, Pre-reading activity, Previewing, Word mapping Introduction Reading is a

International Journal of Language and Applied Linguistics 2016; 2(1): 62-82

Published online March 15, 2016 (http://www.ijlal.ir)

ISSN: 2383-0514 (Online)

© 2016 Khate Sefid Press

62

The Effects of Computer-based Vocabulary

Previewing on Improving Reading

Comprehension and Vocabulary Learning of

Iranian EFL Learners

Sona Pourghaz Department of English Language Teaching, Gorgan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Gorgan, Iran

Email: [email protected]

Khadijeh Jafari Department of English Language Teaching, Gorgan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Gorgan, Iran

Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Previewing activities help students’ comprehension by creating a mental framework. Very few

previous studies have used computer-based word maps as a kind of previewing strategy on

students’ comprehension and vocabulary learning; the present research therefore aims to

investigate the effects of computer-based vocabulary previewing on improving reading

comprehension and vocabulary learning of Iranian EFL learners. To this end, 68 freshmen

college students at Farhangian University in Gorgan, Iran participated in the study. They were

selected from two intact classes based on a convenience sampling method. These two classes

were randomly assigned to either as the experimental or control group. Venture Placement Test

was administrated at the beginning of the course to both groups to homogenize the participants in

terms of their proficiency. Prior to the treatment, both groups completed reading comprehension

and vocabulary pretests. Then, while the experimental group received computer-based

vocabulary previewing, the control group did not receive any kind of pre-reading activities. After

Received May 24, 2015; Accepted March 6, 2015.






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treatment classes, both groups were again measured on posttests to compare their improvement

in reading comprehension and vocabulary learning. The results of the statistical analysis showed

that the students in the experimental group who received computer-based vocabulary previews

demonstrated significant improvement on the reading comprehension and vocabulary learning

posttests than the students of the control group. Some implications have been drawn for EFL

teachers and material designers in the end.

Keywords: Reading, Pre-reading activity, Previewing, Word mapping

Introduction

Reading is a fundamental skill for English as a second/foreign language students and for

many reading is an important skill to master. According to Adams (1990), reading is one of the

main pathways to learn about vocational areas as well as academic areas (e.g., math, language art,

science, etc). According to Anderson (1999) ―with strengthened reading skills, they will make

greater progress and attain greater development in all academic areas‖ (p. 1). Therefore, reading

is necessary to learners' success in their school, and finally to their success in life (Salinger,

2003). Reading is an active process that needs an interaction between the text and the reader that

it is essential for successful completion of lifelong and school learning (National Reading Panel,

2000). The aim of reading is comprehension (Salinger, 2003) and reading comprehension is the

ability to derive meaning from print and understand the text (NRP, 2000). Therefore, reading can

be considered as one of the most important macro-skills in the domain of L2/FL learning and

teaching. Some years ago, reading was considered as a passive skill, that is, the readers did not

have any active mental processing or message production like writers or speakers (Chastain,

1988). However, for the past few decades, there has been an increased focus on L2/FL reading

comprehension and many had acknowledged its significance in language research and

acquisition.





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An overview of the literature shows EFL students at different educational levels including

elementary, secondary and at university level have problems in their reading comprehension.

Some of these problems include low reading speed, insufficient vocabulary, inability to use

reading strategies, lack of cultural information, lack of syntactic or grammatical knowledge,

inefficient problem-solving ability, low motivation for reading, using word by word’ reading

strategy and etc (Chou, 2011; Qian, 2002; Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997).

Therefore teachers should try to provide reading promoting activities by using various

pre-reading activities such as previewing main ideas, providing background knowledge, pre-

questioning, vocabulary previewing, aural description and etc. The present study aims to

investigate the effect of computer-based vocabulary previewing on students' comprehension and

vocabulary learning, it is hypothesized that computer-based vocabulary previewing helps

students to activate their existing background knowledge or construct new knowledge, this

knowledge would help the reader improve their vocabulary learning as well as get better

comprehension.

Literature Review

Reading models and theories went through a variety of stages of development over the

past half century (Pearson & Stephens, 1994). From 1940 to 1960, reading was ignored when

audio-lingual method was dominant. 1960s was a decade that reading was considered as a

passive skill, it included only decoding process or bottom-up skills. In 1967, Goodman described

reading as a psycholinguistic guessing game where the reader plays an active role (Top-down). In

1970s, Rumelhart described reading as a cognitive and interactive, psycholinguistic process so

that readers' top-down as well as bottom-up processes are activated concurrently (schema theory).

Rumelhart (1980, p. 34) showed the essence of schema theory as the following, ―schema theory

is basically a theory about knowledge. It is a theory about how knowledge is represented and

about how that representation facilitates the use of the knowledge in particular way‖.

Pre-reading activities are rooted in schema theory. Pre-reading activities were named

―enabling activities‖ by Tudor (1989) because they provide a reader with the essential

background knowledge to comprehend the material and to organize activity. Motivating the





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students to want to read the text, activating the student’s existing prior knowledge of the subject,

and providing any language preparation that might be required for coping with the passage are

the purposes of pre-reading stage (Cele-Murcia, 1991). Also they can be used to increase the

accuracy and speed of students reading, thereby reducing the effort and time required to read

(Rousseau& Yung Tam, 1991).

Previewing is considered as a kind of pre-reading activities. It is an instructional

technique that is different from background knowledge (Chen &Graves, 1995). Previewing can

be used independently or joined with other techniques; it can be used to assist the development of

oral reading fluency. This instructional technique can be used to increase word recognition skills

as well as word comprehension (Rose & Sherry, 1984). Also this technique can be used to

improve EFL/ESL learners' listening comprehension. As Jafari and Hashim, (2012) mentioned,

EFL/ESL teachers can use different kinds of advance organizer activities, for example

previewing questions, pre-teaching of key vocabulary, previewing main ideas, providing

background knowledge and so forth to help their students to ―tune in‖ before listening.

Preview was defined by Graves (1985) as a script read by learners right away before they

read a selection. Previewing has a significant role in building background knowledge, the same

foundation as in schema theory (Chen& Graves, 1995). The reader starts to predict about what

will come in the text with his/her prior information, so he/she may reduce uncertainly in advance

and anticipate correctly the forthcoming situation (Mikulecky, 1985).

In the following literature review, the focus is only on published studies that have

investigated the effects of different pre-reading activities such as previewing on L2/FL reading

comprehension. Chen and Graves (1995) studied the effects of previewing on students’

comprehension in EFL context. They investigated the impact of previewing and providing

background knowledge for American short stories on Taiwanese college students’

comprehension of the stories; their attitudes towards the treatments were also investigated. 240

college freshmen students were their participants. Participants were randomly assigned to four

treatment groups: A) they listened to a 200-word preview before reading each story, B) they

listened to a 200-word presentation of background knowledge, C) they listened to both the

preview and the background knowledge presentation, D) the control group that did not receive





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any pre-reading assistance. The results showed strong positive effects of the previewing and

combined treatments and weaker positive effects of the background knowledge treatment. The

results of the questionnaire indicated that the students in all experimental treatments had positive

attitudes towards the treatments they received.

Zhaohua (2004) investigated effects of previewing and providing background knowledge

on EFL reading comprehension of American documentary narratives. Seventy eight students

studying at Agriculture College of Yangzhou University were the participants of the study. The

researcher randomly assigned them into 3 groups (A, B, & C).The first experimental group

(Group A) received preview treatment, second experimental group (Group B) received

background knowledge treatment, and the control group (Group C) did not receive any treatment.

The results of the study showed that the background knowledge group had a significantly

superior performance over the control group and not the preview group.

The influence of background knowledge and previewing texts on the reading

comprehension of Chinese EFL students was also investigated by Chen (2008). Twenty third 5th

grade English language learners were the participants of his study. The reading passage type was

examined at two levels: culturally familiar and culturally unfamiliar. The previewing techniques

were also examined at two levels: preview vs. no preview. The results showed that there was a

statistically significant interaction effect between the type of passage and the preview treatment.

The students had significantly higher reading comprehension scores when they were provided

with a previewing text before reading a culturally unfamiliar passage.

Hawkins, Hale, Sheeley and Ling (2010) compared the effects of repeated reading and

vocabulary-previewing interventions on improving reading fluency and reading comprehension

of struggling high-school readers. According to the findings, both interventions had positive

effects on reading performance of the students as compared to the control condition; repeated

reading and vocabulary-previewing conditions led to the highest improvements in reading

fluency for all participants. The effect of background knowledge on reading comprehension of

Taiwanese EFL students was investigated by Chou (2011). The participants were159 students

from a college in Southern Taiwan; they were divided into background knowledge group and

vocabulary group. The background information was given to the background knowledge group of





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the study one week before the reading comprehension test. For the vocabulary knowledge group,

a worksheet was made consisting of 30 vocabulary words chosen from the three selected

passages in the reading comprehension test. The participants were asked to write in the

definitions for each word (in either English or Chinese) and they had one week to complete the

worksheet before the reading comprehension test. The result of the study showed that the

participants who received a list of vocabulary to study performed significantly better on the

reading comprehension test than the participants who relied on background knowledge.

Yusuf (2011) investigated the effect of pre-reading activities on ESL students' reading

comprehension in a senior secondary school. The participants were fifty students from two

secondary schools in Kaduna (Nigeria).They were divided into two groups, the experimental

group's students were exposed to pre-reading activities—namely, previewing, pre-reading

discussion, and brainstorming, whereas the control group was taught using traditional methods.

The results of this study showed that the students of experimental group performed better than

the control group students.

Maghsoudi (2012) investigated the effect of using pre-reading activities on the

comprehension of culturally loaded texts. The participants were 76 undergraduate Iranian EFL

students; they were divided into two groups. The experimental group was exposed to three pre-

reading activities: previewing, pictorial text, and the pre-teaching of vocabulary while the control

group was not exposed to any particular treatment. According to the results of the study the

students of experimental group outperformed the control group.

Nikoopour and Amini Farsani (2012) investigated the effects of vocabulary previewing

on reading comprehension, word recognition and word production of 80 Iranian undergraduate

students studying English at Islamic Azad University, Tehran. Iran. The infrequent and difficult

words were previewed for the participants. The results showed that there was statistically

significant difference between reading comprehension score of those students for whom

vocabulary was previewed and those for whom vocabulary was not previewed. The findings also

showed that vocabulary previewing activities were far more effective in enhancing reading

comprehension of Iranian EFL learners and their word knowledge, both productive and receptive.





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Effects of pre-reading activities on EFL reading comprehension by Moroccan college

students was investigated by Madaoui (2013).The researcher investigated the effects of two pre-

reading activities(class discussion and vocabulary definitions). The participants of the study were

57 Moroccan college freshmen. In this study each learner at first read an expository text under

one of the three conditions and after that immediately answered a 9-item short-answer test

designed to measure comprehension of the test. According to the results of the study the two pre-

reading activities produced significantly higher comprehension test scores than the control

condition. Comparing the two pre-reading activities, vocabulary definitions activity was

significantly less effective than the class discussion activity.

In a recent study, Al Rasheed (2014) investigated the effect of two pre-reading activities

on Saudi EFL college students’ reading comprehension. Twenty three students were in the first

experimental group, they received vocabulary pre-teaching and the other experimental group

including twenty three students received pre-questioning activities. At first the students of both

groups were asked to perform the pre-reading strategy, read a passage, and then answer

comprehension questions. The results demonstrated that there were no statistically significant

differences between the two groups.

In a more recent study, Roshani, Azizifar, Gowhary, and Jamalinesari (2015) investigated

the effect of pre-reading activities on the reading comprehension performance of Ilami high

school students in Iran. They studied the effect of two types of pre-reading activities, guessing

reading content from asking pre-reading questions and vocabulary definition. There were 60

grade-10 students in the study. The results of their study showed that the group receiving

guessing meaning from pre-reading questions performed better that their counterpart who

experienced vocabulary definition. The qualitative finding also showed that both groups were

satisfied with the activity they experienced.

Ronaghi, Bayat and Mahmoodi (2015) investigated the effects of word-map technique on

EFL students’ vocabulary learning. Unfamiliar words were taught to students in the experimental

group through word-maps while the control group was taught through the guessing-game. The

results of statistical analysis confirmed the superiority of the word- map group over the guessing-

game group. In a qualitative study, Pourghaz and Jafari (2015) examined non-English college





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students' attitudes towards the use of vocabulary previewing technique on improving their

reading comprehension. The findings of their study showed that students generally had positive

attitudes towards the use of vocabulary previewing activities in their reading class.

Overall, review of the literature shows that the use of different forms of pre-reading

activities helps students’ reading comprehension. However, very few studies have examined the

effects of computer based word maps as a different previewing approach on students’

comprehensions and vocabulary learning. As a response to this existing gap in the literature, the

present research addressed the following research questions:

1. Is there any significant difference in the reading comprehension ability of the students who

receive computer-based vocabulary previewing activities and those who do not receive?

2. 2. Is there any significant difference in vocabulary learning ability of the learners who

receive computer-based vocabulary previewing activities and those who do not receive?

Method

Participants

The students participating in the present study were 68 freshmen college students at

Farhangian University in Gorgan, Iran. They were selected from two intact classes based on a

convenience sampling method. They were studying Geography and Counseling. These two

classes were randomly assigned as the experimental or the control group. There were 35 students

in the experimental group (Counseling) and 33 students in the control group (Geography). The

students were only females; their average age was 19. All participants had similar educational

background in English language learning. They had studied English formally at schools for at

least six years. They were all native speakers of Persian. Their English proficiency level was

elementary. Both the control and the experimental group were taught by the same teacher.

Design

This study employed a pretest-posttest experimental design. As it was mentioned earlier

the participants of this study were selected from two intact classes based on a convenience

sampling method and then the classes were randomly assigned to one experimental group and





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one control group. Computer-based vocabulary previewing is the independent variable of the

study, reading comprehension and vocabulary learning of the students are the dependant

variables of the study.

Instruments and Materials

Reading passages. The textbook ''Facts and Figures'' by Ackert and Lee (2004) was

selected by the university lecturer for the course. This book includes seven units, and each unit

contains five lessons. Only five units were selected to be taught in the present research. Four

lessons of each unit were choosed. Each lesson includes some highlighted key words. The topic

of these five units include: Unit1) Animals, Unit 2) How? Why?, Unit 3) Plants, Unit 4)Work

and Leisure, and Unit 5) Exploration and Adventure. This textbook was supposed to be

challenging and relatively unfamiliar to most of the students, it includes a variety of topics which

were appropriate to the participants' ages and were not culturally biased. Twenty reading

passages were selected to be taught to both control and experimental groups.

Computer-based vocabulary word maps. Each target key vocabulary was placed at the

center of the map, its English definition, synonym, antonym, part of speech, picture, and one

illustrative sentence were placed around the target word. The maps were drawn using

drawing tools in Microsoft Word, they were presented to students through power point slides.

Procedures

At the first session of the course in October 2014, the researcher administered the Venture

Placement Test to all 68 participants of the study to check their homogeneity in terms of English

language proficiency.

In the second session of the study, vocabulary and reading pretests, which were piloted in

September 2014, were administrated to both control and experimental groups. The vocabulary

and reading pretests included 40 and 28 items, respectively. The source of vocabulary and

reading pretests was ''Facts and Figures'' textbook. The main purpose of administering these two

pretests was to measure students' vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension prior to

treatment. At the next stage, the selected units were taught to both experimental and control





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groups using different methods. The treatment procedures for each group are clearly explained in

the following sections (D1 and D2).

After completing the treatment, the teacher administered the reading comprehension and

vocabulary posttests to all participants in the experimental group and control group. The posttests

were administrated to all groups in the same manner as the pretests. The content of the posttests

was the same as the pretests; the researcher used different test formats to eliminate any possible

test type effect, and also to decrease practice effect.

Treatment procedure in the experimental group. Before reading, the teacher asked the

participants of the experimental group to face down their reading passage and showed them the

vocabulary word maps of the reading passage. Each key vocabulary was presented to students in

a single map and in a single slide. The teacher first described the content of the map loudly, and

then the students were required to read the information silently. Students were allowed to ask

their questions about the content. After ensuring the complete understanding of each vocabulary,

the teacher moved to next map. Overall, 140 maps were prepared. At the next stage, the teacher

asked the students to look at their reading passages and read through the text silently by

themselves and try to understand as much as they can. Students were asked to make connections

between the content of the passage and the new previewed words while reading. Then the teacher

read the passage for the students. Finally, the teacher gave students some post reading activities,

these activities include asking and answering questions, completing textbook designed activities

and engaging students in a discussion about the topic.

Treatment procedure in the control group. Students in the control group were taught

the same reading passages by the same teacher during the whole period of study to avoid any

kind of personal bias. They were not provided with any kind of vocabulary previewing activities.

They received their usual classroom instruction using traditional methods. At first the teacher

read the passage loudly and students were required to listen to the passage carefully. Then some

comprehension questions were asked by the teacher. Students were also asked to read through the

text silently by themselves. Similar to the participants in the experimental group, they were also

allowed to ask their questions about the content. Persian equivalents of some words and the

translation of some sentences were given to them if they needed. Finally some post- reading





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activities such as asking and answering questions, completing textbook designed activities and

discussing about the topic were given to the participants.

Data Analysis

Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive statistics including mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum of the

scores from vocabulary and reading tests is presented in Table 1.

Table 1

Descriptive Statistics for Vocabulary Pretest and Posttest

Time Group N Mean S.D. Minimum Maximum

Pretest Experimental 35 22.26 5.94 9.00 32.00

Control 33 21.36 5.40 10.00 35.00

Posttest Experimental 31 33.13 7.02 16.00 39.00

Control 30 24.87 5.52 11.00 36.00

Table 1 illustrates the descriptive statistics for vocabulary pretest and posttest in both

control and experimental groups. The mean scores of the participants in the experimental and

control groups on pretest are 22.26 and 21.36, respectively; while on the posttest, the

experimental and control groups' means are 33.13 and 24.87, respectively.

Table 2

Descriptive Statistics for Reading Comprehension Pretest and Posttest

Time Group N Mean S.D. Minimum Maximum

Pretest Experimental 35 18.97 3.28 13.00 24.00

Control 33 18.55 3.46 11.00 25.00

Posttest Experimental 31 25.71 3.19 17.00 28.00

Control 30 23.77 3.17 17.00 25.00

Table 2 illustrates the descriptive statistics for reading comprehension test scores of the

experimental and control groups on pre and post tests. Reading comprehension mean scores of





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the experimental and control group on pretest are18.97 and 18.55and on posttest are 25.71and

23.77, respectively.

Inferential Statistics

Venture placement test analysis. As mentioned earlier, Venture Placement Test was

administrated to all participants at the beginning of the course to check their homogeneity in

terms of language proficiency. To see whether the difference between the experimental and

control groups was significant or not, an independent samples t-test was conducted on the

placement test scores. The result is summarized in Table 3.

Table 3

Independent Samples T- test for Placement Test

T df Sig. (2-tailed)

Placement test .761 66 .450

The result showed that there is no significant difference between experimental and

control groups in terms of language proficiency; t (66) =0.76, p=0.450). The p-value (0.450) is

larger than the significance level.05: t (66) =0.761, p=0.450.

Analysis for vocabulary tests between and within groups. The data collected from

vocabulary pretest was used to compare the initial differences between control and experimental

groups. An independent samples t-test was conducted with vocabulary pretest scores to see

whether the difference between the experimental and control groups on vocabulary pretest is

significant or not. The result is summarized in Table 4.

Table 4

Independent Samples T- test for Vocabulary Pretest

t df Sig. (2-tailed)

Vocabulary pre-test .648 66 .519





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Table 4 demonstrates the comparison of two groups' vocabulary scores on pretest by

using independent samples t- test. The alpha level was set at.05. As shown in the table, the

obtained p- value is greater than the significance level.05; t (66) =.648, p=.519. This finding

suggests that there is no significant difference between experimental and control groups in their

vocabulary pretest.

Prior to conducting the posttest analysis, three students from the control group and four

students from the experimental group were removed from the subject pool due to their

absenteeism, poor class participation, and sparse pretest/posttest responses. Scores from a total of

31 students in the experimental group and 30 students in the control group were considered for

analysis.

To see the effectiveness of computer-based vocabulary previewing on vocabulary

learning of EFL students, paired samples test was used. The result is presented in Table 5.

Table 5

Paired Sample Test for Experimental and Control groups

Paired Differences

Mean S.D. t df sig

Vocabulary Experimental 10.52 3.76 15.579 30 .000

(Pretest/posttest) Control 4.13 1.89 11.986 29 .000

It can be seen from Table 5 that paired difference mean in the control group is 4.13 and in

the experimental group is 10.52. This suggests that both experimental and control groups had

progress in their vocabulary learning after receiving instruction using two different methods. As

shown in the table, the obtained p-value is less than 0. 05 in each group, based on this finding,

both groups benefited from the reading course. It means that instruction was effective for both

groups. To see which group has improved more significantly, their posttest scores were

compared.





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Table 6

The Comparison of Experimental and Control Groups on Vocabulary Posttest


Vocabulary Post-test 5.098 59 .000

Table 6 shows the results of the analysis on students' vocabulary posttest using Independent

Samples T-test. The results show that obtained p-value is less than 0.05 at significance level of

0.05. It means there is a significant difference between two groups on vocabulary posttest. The

students in the experimental group have scored significantly higher than the control group on

vocabulary posttest. This finding suggests that teaching vocabulary using previewing technique

is more effective than using traditional methods.

Analysis for reading comprehension tests between and within groups. First, the data

collected from reading comprehension pretest was used to compare the differences between

control and experimental groups. Then, a within group comparison was conducted with reading

comprehension scores of each group. Finally, both groups were compared on their reading

comprehension posttest.

Table 7

Independent Samples T- test for Reading Comprehension Pretest


Reading Pre-test .521 66 .81748

Table 7 demonstrates the comparison of experimental and control groups on reading

comprehension pretest using Independent Samples T-test. The result shows that the obtained p-

value was greater than 0.05. t (66) =.521, p=.817. This means that there is no significant

difference between control and experimental groups on reading comprehension pretest. To

understand the effectiveness of instruction in control and experimental groups, a paired samples

test was performed. The result is presented in Table 5.8.





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Table 8

Paired Sample Test for Experimental and Control Groups

Paired Differences

Mean S.D. t df sig

Reading Experimental 9.72 2.39 2.76 30 .000

(Pretest/posttest) Control 5.37 2.57 11.45 29 .000

The results in Table 8 shows that paired difference mean in control group is 5.37and in

experimental group, it is 9.72. This result suggests that both control and experimental groups

have improved in their reading comprehension after receiving instruction using different

methods. As indicated in the table, the obtained p-value is less than 0.05 in both experimental

and control groups. It means that instruction was effective for both groups. To see which group

has improved more significantly in their reading comprehension, their posttest scores were

compared.

Table 9

The Comparison of Experimental and Control Groups on Reading Comprehension Posttest


Reading Post-test 6.074 59 .000

Table 9 shows the results of Independent Samples T-test on students' reading

comprehension posttest. The results show that obtained p-value is less than 0.05; it means there

is a significant difference between control and experimental groups on reading comprehension

posttest. The students in the experimental group have scored significantly higher than the

students in the control group on reading comprehension posttest. This finding suggests that

teaching vocabulary using computer-based vocabulary previewing is more effective than using

traditional methods.





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Discussion

These results of the present study suggest that computer-based vocabulary previewing

was more effective in increasing the learners’ reading comprehension ability and vocabulary

learning than the traditional method. In general, these findings are supported by the findings of

some previous studies. The findings of the present study are in line with the ideas of Grabe

(2004), Stanovich (2000), and Rivers and Temperly (1978). These scholars have acknowledged

the importance of previewing activities on improving comprehension of the students.

Moreover, the results of this study support the schema theory of Rumelhart (1980),

according to this theory providing the learners with essential background knowledge can improve

their reading comprehension.

This finding is also consistent with Ausubel's Theory of Meaningful Learning (1960)

which supports the use of advance organizers. Previewing activities, that it was used in this

study, can be considered as one kind of advance organizers, these preparatory activities enable

EFL/ESL learners to provide a context for interpretation and learners will use this knowledge'' as

a basis of their hypothesis information prediction and inferencing'' (Mendelsohn, as cited in Jafari

and Hashim, 2012).

Moreover, the findings of the present study are in accordance with the conclusion of Qian

(2002), he asserted that the more vocabulary a reader knows; the better she or he will be at

guessing and decoding the meaning of the texts. This implies that having vocabulary knowledge

before reading could increase the overall performance of the students on reading comprehension

test. As the finding of the current study showed students in the experimental group who received

computer-based vocabulary previewing outperformed the participants in the control group who

did not receive vocabulary previewing treatment.

The findings of the present study do not support the assumptions proposed by Celce-

Murcia (1991), Richards (1985), and Been (1975) , who claimed that explicit pretext teaching

of vocabulary before going through reading selections focuses the students' attention on details,

which is not helpful in terms of reading comprehension. Cele-Murcia (1991) claims that once the

selection reading has been started or it is finished the vocabulary should be discussed rather than

before learners start to read. Richards (1985) stated that words cannot be learned by students in





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isolation without considering their related context because they are structured into an elaborate,

interlocking system.

It is worth mentioning here that the results of this study were obtained under the condition

that both experimental and control groups' students had equal amount of reading practice and the

only difference was the application of computer-based vocabulary previewing in the

experimental group. One main reason for getting a better result in the experimental group might

have been that vocabulary previewing by using interesting power point slides and word mapping

technique might be more attractive for experimental group's students in that, it could have

triggered a sense of enjoyment and involvement of the class activities.

Previewing the key vocabulary might activate the previously stored information in

students' long term memory and provide an opportunity for the students to understand the text by

either making inferences or retrieving information from long term memory, or it may helped

them to construct new knowledge before the main reading task. Through this process, previewing

activities made comprehension of the reading passages more meaningful for the students.

Conclusion

The overall results of the present study showed that using computer-based vocabulary

previewing could enhance elementary college EFL learners’ reading comprehension and

vocabulary. In addition, the results of this study have clear implications for FL/L2 teachers,

teacher trainers and curriculum designers. Teachers should be trained to incorporate techniques

and strategies to help students with reading comprehension.

The findings of the present study generally extend our understanding and knowledge

regarding the use of computer-based vocabulary previewing in teaching reading comprehension

to EFL students. The findings provide proofs for schema theory. The availability of vocabulary

previewing in reading comprehension enhances students' abilities to comprehend the reading

material, this is the main theoretical implication of this study.

The findings raise important pedagogical implications for teachers who teach reading and

vocabulary courses. Based on the findings of the present study, teachers can have an effective

role in increasing student’s vocabulary knowledge as well as reading comprehension. The





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quantitative findings of the present study showed that by providing computer-based vocabulary

previewing activities through different techniques such as word mapping, teachers could help

their students to activate their already stored knowledge in their long term memory or construct

new knowledge if they have not heard those words previously. Both of these two processes help

comprehension. Making word maps of difficult or new vocabulary and presenting them through

Power Point slides is relatively easy and do not take much classroom time to present, therefore

lectures teaching English to ESP students are encouraged to use these kinds of pre-reading

activities to assist their college level students in reading. Another important implication of the

present study is for ESL/EFL teacher trainers and reading material developers. They can pay

attention to some effective pre-reading activities which proved to have positive effect on reading

comprehension and vocabulary learning. Teacher trainers can include a course on training

teachers in using computer-based vocabulary previewing activities before teaching reading.





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References

Ackert, P., & Lee, L. (2004). Facts and figures (reading and vocabulary development). (4th ed).

Language Teaching Publications.

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ISSN: 2383-0514 (Online) © 2016 Khate Sefid Press The Effects of … · 2016-03-15 · Keywords: Reading, Pre-reading activity, Previewing, Word mapping Introduction Reading is a