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Papers by Ahmad Amerigolestan
The study was intended to examine task-planning effects (collaborative and individual) on Persian... more The study was intended to examine task-planning effects (collaborative and individual) on Persianspeaking EFL learners' writing. The study was also aimed to scrutinize the long-term effects of such planning on EFL writing. Therefore, a group of 49 upper-intermediate EFL learners were placed in three groups of Collaborative Task-Planning (N=16), Individual Task-Planning (N=15), and Control (N=18). The groups all received the same materials and treatment, except for experimental groups who were asked to do task-planning collaboratively and individually. The first writing assignment was the pre-test, the seventh one was the posttest, and the last (tenth) one was the delayed posttest. Brown and Bailey's (1984) scale was employed to rate the assignments. After making sure about the inter-rater consistency, data were analyzed using two one-way ANOVAs to examine the effects of task-planning on EFL writing performance in pre-and posttests. The results indicated that task-planning resulted in better writing performance in experimental groups. Results are in line with previous research on collaborative writing, such as Doboa and Storch (2005). However, the study was different because it made a distinction between collaborative and individual task-planning. Results revealed that, although there was not a statistically significant difference, participants of the collaborative task-planning group performed better in writing paragraphs and essays. Finally, repeated-measure ANOVA confirmed long-term effects of task-planning for participants of the collaborative task-planning group, who outperformed participants of both individual task planning and control groups. The study calls for more in-depth research to shed more light on the issue.
This paper reports on a qualitative study designed to investigate the discoursal differences amon... more This paper reports on a qualitative study designed to investigate the discoursal differences among advertisement techniques by Iranian and English language institutes; in fact, the study is an attempt to scrutinize similarities and differences between English and Persian advertisements. To do so, five Persian advertisements about English language institutes were selected and were compared with their English counterparts. Using DA, the researchers have actually tried to analyze the variability of the advertising techniques used by such institutes. The syntactic and pictorial, as well as all semantic features have been taken into account. It was concluded that in both, encouraging words, which are highly frequent, are used. However, it was found that there are some discoursal differences which are primarily related to the life style as well as social and cultural background of the target country. Some culture-bound features have been observed in each case which are absent in the other way round. The results of the study may prove helpful for those in the business whose job is to attract people"s attention to special products or services.
Syntactic priming refers to a tendency to produce or repeat a recently produced or heard structur... more Syntactic priming refers to a tendency to produce or repeat a recently produced or heard structure . In fact it is the phenomenon by which processing of an utterance is facilitated by processing of another one which shares the same underlying syntactic structure. This study is intended to examine the impact of syntactic priming on the production and retention of indirect questions by Iranian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Eighty learners participated in two picture description experiments investigating the impact of syntactic priming on oral production and retention of indirect questions. Repeated Measure Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed that in Experiment 1, priming did result in increased production of the target structure by the Experimental groups as compared with production by the Control groups, and in Experiment 2 the rate of production of the target structure remained significantly higher for participants in the Experimental groups one day later. It is suggested that priming can be used as an alternative teaching technique along with other teaching methods and techniques, especially when teaching grammatical points.
The present study was intended to investigate the impact of traditional, blended, and web-based t... more The present study was intended to investigate the impact of traditional, blended, and web-based teaching methods on Iranian EFL learners" writing. To this end, a group of 60 high intermediate and advanced EFL learners (out of 140) were randomly placed in three groups (N= 15 each), after conducting the placement test. The participants were placed in two experimental groups, namely Blended Learning and Web-based. The participants of the Blended Learning received traditional teaching methods of writing plus learning via the web. In the second group, the Web-based, the participants received materials and instructions merely through the web. Participants of the control group, however, were taught based on the traditional teaching methods of writing and received the materials, instructions, and feedback through traditional methods. In order to collect the data, participants" first piece of writing was regarded as the pretest and their last one was the post-test. The results of the one way analysis of variance and the follow up post hoc tests showed that the participants of the Blended Learning group outperformed the ones in the other two groups in their writing performances. Having a more meticulous look at the results, it was observed that participants of the Web-based group also outperformed those of the control group. In conclusion, the results of the study revealed that employing a blended teaching method or a web-based can create a desirable condition to enhance the EFL learners" writing performance.
This study is intended to scrutinize the impact of pre-modified input on Iranian EFL learners' se... more This study is intended to scrutinize the impact of pre-modified input on Iranian EFL learners' sentence processing. To answer the research questions, a group of sixty intermediate learners were selected and then placed in four different groups: Group A, the control group, received baseline (unmodified) input. Group B received sentences with simplified target word. Group C received elaborated input, which is a sentence including both unmodified word and its frequent synonyms in appositive. Finally, Group D was given unmodified sentence in written form without using the software, Psychoscope which was used in order to collect the data and reaction times. Furthermore, participants were asked to negotiate the meaning in pairs and answer the yes/no questions which followed. After the data was collected, ANOVAs were used in order to analyze the data. The results indicated that there was no significant difference between the performance of Groups B and C, while both significantly outperformed Groups A and D. Results clearly show that pre-modified input, in any form, substantially affects EFL learners' sentence processing.
This study is aimed to examine the impact of recast and uptake on Iranian EFL learners" paragraph... more This study is aimed to examine the impact of recast and uptake on Iranian EFL learners" paragraph writing. To do so, ninety EFL learners were randomly placed in three groups, namely Recast, Uptake, and Control, each consisting thirty learners. First, participants were asked to complete the pre-test, a paragraph writing task. Participants were given instructions by highlighting certain aspects of input using the Review section of MS Office. During the ten-session course, participants were assigned to write paragraphs on various topics.
Inverse-preference effects imply structures less favored by speakers are affected by structural p... more Inverse-preference effects imply structures less favored by speakers are affected by structural priming. This study examines the role structural priming plays in the production of passive structures, a difficult and hence not favored structure among Iranian EFL learners. The 40 participants were placed in Experimental High-Proficiency, Experimental Mid-Proficiency, Control High-Proficiency, and Control Mid-Proficiency groups. Results of picture description sessions, analyzed by a two-way ANOVA showed that priming led to increased production of the target structure by experimental groups as compared with control groups. Furthermore, results indicated EFL level of proficiency made a significant difference in production of the target structure. peer-review under responsibility of [name organizer]
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2013
ABSTRACT Inverse-preference effects imply structures less favored by speakers are affected by str... more ABSTRACT Inverse-preference effects imply structures less favored by speakers are affected by structural priming. This study examines the role structural priming plays in the production of passive structures, a difficult and hence not favored structure among Iranian EFL learners. The 40 participants were placed in Experimental High-Proficiency, Experimental Mid-Proficiency, Control High-Proficiency, and Control Mid-Proficiency groups. Results of picture description sessions, analyzed by a two-way ANOVA showed that priming led to increased production of the target structure by experimental groups as compared with control groups. Furthermore, results indicated EFL level of proficiency made a significant difference M production of the target structure. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of ALSC 2012
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2013
This study compares the efficacy of Explicit Teaching and Consciousness-n IELT Writing Task 1 of ... more This study compares the efficacy of Explicit Teaching and Consciousness-n IELT Writing Task 1 of Academic Module. Forty five IELTS candidates, placed in two experimental and one control groups, participated in the study. Participants of the explicit group were given detailed instructions on all parts of the Task. For the C-R group, participants were instructed to provide reasons why they chose particular grammatical than mere explicit teaching.
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2012
In this report, we provide a brief discussion of syntactic priming and how this methodology has p... more In this report, we provide a brief discussion of syntactic priming and how this methodology has provided insight into issues of syntactic representation, specifically in terms of the autonomy of syntax and the relationship between production and perception in syntactic representation. We present results from studies related to syntactic priming in bilinguals and second/foreign language learners that focus on the ways in which syntactic priming can illuminate the representation of syntax in acquisition and bilingual grammar. Finally, we suggest further paths of research using this methodology.
The study was intended to examine task-planning effects (collaborative and individual) on Persian... more The study was intended to examine task-planning effects (collaborative and individual) on Persianspeaking EFL learners' writing. The study was also aimed to scrutinize the long-term effects of such planning on EFL writing. Therefore, a group of 49 upper-intermediate EFL learners were placed in three groups of Collaborative Task-Planning (N=16), Individual Task-Planning (N=15), and Control (N=18). The groups all received the same materials and treatment, except for experimental groups who were asked to do task-planning collaboratively and individually. The first writing assignment was the pre-test, the seventh one was the posttest, and the last (tenth) one was the delayed posttest. Brown and Bailey's (1984) scale was employed to rate the assignments. After making sure about the inter-rater consistency, data were analyzed using two one-way ANOVAs to examine the effects of task-planning on EFL writing performance in pre-and posttests. The results indicated that task-planning resulted in better writing performance in experimental groups. Results are in line with previous research on collaborative writing, such as Doboa and Storch (2005). However, the study was different because it made a distinction between collaborative and individual task-planning. Results revealed that, although there was not a statistically significant difference, participants of the collaborative task-planning group performed better in writing paragraphs and essays. Finally, repeated-measure ANOVA confirmed long-term effects of task-planning for participants of the collaborative task-planning group, who outperformed participants of both individual task planning and control groups. The study calls for more in-depth research to shed more light on the issue.
This paper reports on a qualitative study designed to investigate the discoursal differences amon... more This paper reports on a qualitative study designed to investigate the discoursal differences among advertisement techniques by Iranian and English language institutes; in fact, the study is an attempt to scrutinize similarities and differences between English and Persian advertisements. To do so, five Persian advertisements about English language institutes were selected and were compared with their English counterparts. Using DA, the researchers have actually tried to analyze the variability of the advertising techniques used by such institutes. The syntactic and pictorial, as well as all semantic features have been taken into account. It was concluded that in both, encouraging words, which are highly frequent, are used. However, it was found that there are some discoursal differences which are primarily related to the life style as well as social and cultural background of the target country. Some culture-bound features have been observed in each case which are absent in the other way round. The results of the study may prove helpful for those in the business whose job is to attract people"s attention to special products or services.
Syntactic priming refers to a tendency to produce or repeat a recently produced or heard structur... more Syntactic priming refers to a tendency to produce or repeat a recently produced or heard structure . In fact it is the phenomenon by which processing of an utterance is facilitated by processing of another one which shares the same underlying syntactic structure. This study is intended to examine the impact of syntactic priming on the production and retention of indirect questions by Iranian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Eighty learners participated in two picture description experiments investigating the impact of syntactic priming on oral production and retention of indirect questions. Repeated Measure Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed that in Experiment 1, priming did result in increased production of the target structure by the Experimental groups as compared with production by the Control groups, and in Experiment 2 the rate of production of the target structure remained significantly higher for participants in the Experimental groups one day later. It is suggested that priming can be used as an alternative teaching technique along with other teaching methods and techniques, especially when teaching grammatical points.
The present study was intended to investigate the impact of traditional, blended, and web-based t... more The present study was intended to investigate the impact of traditional, blended, and web-based teaching methods on Iranian EFL learners" writing. To this end, a group of 60 high intermediate and advanced EFL learners (out of 140) were randomly placed in three groups (N= 15 each), after conducting the placement test. The participants were placed in two experimental groups, namely Blended Learning and Web-based. The participants of the Blended Learning received traditional teaching methods of writing plus learning via the web. In the second group, the Web-based, the participants received materials and instructions merely through the web. Participants of the control group, however, were taught based on the traditional teaching methods of writing and received the materials, instructions, and feedback through traditional methods. In order to collect the data, participants" first piece of writing was regarded as the pretest and their last one was the post-test. The results of the one way analysis of variance and the follow up post hoc tests showed that the participants of the Blended Learning group outperformed the ones in the other two groups in their writing performances. Having a more meticulous look at the results, it was observed that participants of the Web-based group also outperformed those of the control group. In conclusion, the results of the study revealed that employing a blended teaching method or a web-based can create a desirable condition to enhance the EFL learners" writing performance.
This study is intended to scrutinize the impact of pre-modified input on Iranian EFL learners' se... more This study is intended to scrutinize the impact of pre-modified input on Iranian EFL learners' sentence processing. To answer the research questions, a group of sixty intermediate learners were selected and then placed in four different groups: Group A, the control group, received baseline (unmodified) input. Group B received sentences with simplified target word. Group C received elaborated input, which is a sentence including both unmodified word and its frequent synonyms in appositive. Finally, Group D was given unmodified sentence in written form without using the software, Psychoscope which was used in order to collect the data and reaction times. Furthermore, participants were asked to negotiate the meaning in pairs and answer the yes/no questions which followed. After the data was collected, ANOVAs were used in order to analyze the data. The results indicated that there was no significant difference between the performance of Groups B and C, while both significantly outperformed Groups A and D. Results clearly show that pre-modified input, in any form, substantially affects EFL learners' sentence processing.
This study is aimed to examine the impact of recast and uptake on Iranian EFL learners" paragraph... more This study is aimed to examine the impact of recast and uptake on Iranian EFL learners" paragraph writing. To do so, ninety EFL learners were randomly placed in three groups, namely Recast, Uptake, and Control, each consisting thirty learners. First, participants were asked to complete the pre-test, a paragraph writing task. Participants were given instructions by highlighting certain aspects of input using the Review section of MS Office. During the ten-session course, participants were assigned to write paragraphs on various topics.
Inverse-preference effects imply structures less favored by speakers are affected by structural p... more Inverse-preference effects imply structures less favored by speakers are affected by structural priming. This study examines the role structural priming plays in the production of passive structures, a difficult and hence not favored structure among Iranian EFL learners. The 40 participants were placed in Experimental High-Proficiency, Experimental Mid-Proficiency, Control High-Proficiency, and Control Mid-Proficiency groups. Results of picture description sessions, analyzed by a two-way ANOVA showed that priming led to increased production of the target structure by experimental groups as compared with control groups. Furthermore, results indicated EFL level of proficiency made a significant difference in production of the target structure. peer-review under responsibility of [name organizer]
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2013
ABSTRACT Inverse-preference effects imply structures less favored by speakers are affected by str... more ABSTRACT Inverse-preference effects imply structures less favored by speakers are affected by structural priming. This study examines the role structural priming plays in the production of passive structures, a difficult and hence not favored structure among Iranian EFL learners. The 40 participants were placed in Experimental High-Proficiency, Experimental Mid-Proficiency, Control High-Proficiency, and Control Mid-Proficiency groups. Results of picture description sessions, analyzed by a two-way ANOVA showed that priming led to increased production of the target structure by experimental groups as compared with control groups. Furthermore, results indicated EFL level of proficiency made a significant difference M production of the target structure. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of ALSC 2012
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2013
This study compares the efficacy of Explicit Teaching and Consciousness-n IELT Writing Task 1 of ... more This study compares the efficacy of Explicit Teaching and Consciousness-n IELT Writing Task 1 of Academic Module. Forty five IELTS candidates, placed in two experimental and one control groups, participated in the study. Participants of the explicit group were given detailed instructions on all parts of the Task. For the C-R group, participants were instructed to provide reasons why they chose particular grammatical than mere explicit teaching.
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2012
In this report, we provide a brief discussion of syntactic priming and how this methodology has p... more In this report, we provide a brief discussion of syntactic priming and how this methodology has provided insight into issues of syntactic representation, specifically in terms of the autonomy of syntax and the relationship between production and perception in syntactic representation. We present results from studies related to syntactic priming in bilinguals and second/foreign language learners that focus on the ways in which syntactic priming can illuminate the representation of syntax in acquisition and bilingual grammar. Finally, we suggest further paths of research using this methodology.