Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of 2 concept map (CM) learning strategies on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension ability and learner autonomy. To this end, 60 Iranian EFL learners at the preintermediate level of language proficiency were randomly assigned to 2 groups. Both groups received an 8-week instruction: one through teacher-constructed and the other through cooperative concept map strategies. Participants also filled out a 38-item autonomy questionnaire and took a 40-item test of reading comprehension ability before and after the treatments. Results revealed that the cooperative group outperformed the other one on the test of reading comprehension. However, the analysis of the participants’ perceptions of autonomy did not show any significant difference across the 2 groups. Findings suggest that CM learning strategies may make strategic learners who are meaning makers and learn how to learn, especially when they are working collaboratively.
Machine summary:
Cooperative Concept Map Learning Strategies in EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension and Autonomy Ahmad Alibabaee¹, Zahra Mehranfar², & Golam Reza Zarei³ ¹Corresponding author, Sheikhbahaee University, ahmadalibabaee@shbu.
ir Received:16/11/2013 Accepted: 15/03/2014 Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of 2 concept map (CM)learning strategies on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension ability and learner autonomy.
The present study as an attempt to account for this exigency addressed the differential impacts that teacher-constructed and cooperative CM learning strategies might have on L2 reading comprehension and also on the perceptions of learner autonomy of Iranian high school students learning English as an L2.
A wealth of studies regarding CM learning strategy has been conducted in educational settings: Four approaches such as teacher-constructed, learner- constructed, fill in the map, and cooperative concept map are widely used in EFL classrooms.
This map reduces holding misconceptions by the learners (Novak, 2002), helps them in comprehension of a text, and saves teachers time (Hall, 1988, as cited in Liu, Chen, & Chang, 2010; Jonassen, Beissner, & Yacci, 1993).
The related literature reveals that cooperative concept maps are beneficial in improving social communication skills, and learning motivation (Guveng & Acikgoz, 2007; Hwang, Shi, & Chu, 2011; Kwon & Cifuentes, 2009; Liu, Chen, & Chang, 2010).
This indicates that the participants in the teacher-constructed and cooperative CM learning strategy groups did not differ significantly on the pretest scores of the reading comprehension.