Abstract:
Co-teaching is a method that two teachers work together and deliver the instruction in the same classroom to a heterogeneous group of learners. This study was an attempt to find out the effect of one teach-one assist model of co-teaching on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension. To this end, a quasi-experimental design with the pre-test, post-test, and control group was employed and 35 female students within the age range of 15-18 at the elementary level were selected as the participants of the study from Sanjesh-E-No institute in Tabriz, Iran. They were randomly assigned into the experimental and control groups after taking Key English Test (KET). The experimental group received instruction through two teachers while the control group was taught by a single teacher. Both groups took part in the pre-test and post-test of reading comprehension. The results of an independent-samples t-test revealed that the experimental group had significantly better reading performance compared to the control group. The results of the study can be useful for teachers, students, and any ELT program.
Machine summary:
To this end, a quasi- experimental design with the pre-test, post-test, and control group was employed and 35 female students within the age range of 15-18 at the elementary level were selected as the participants of the study from Sanjesh-E- No institute in Tabriz, Iran.
Some factors that cause difficulty in teaching reading are related to over- crowded classrooms, and differences between students’ needs and performance (Brooker, 2014; Cook & Friend, 2004, 2010; Moradian Fard & Agha Babaie, 2013; Reith & Polsgrove, 1998).
Co-teaching helps schools by providing situation for teachers to have advanced planning and delivering instruction in conjunction with special educators to guarantee the success of all students with necessary adaptation for the disable ones (Murawski & Dieker, 2004).
Maultsby and Barbara (2009) studied Middle Tennessee students in grades fifth to eighth to find the effect of co-teaching on their language arts, reading, and achievement in math, which was measured by the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP).
Aliakbari and Bazyar (2012) also examined the effect of parallel teaching on the general language proficiency of the EFL students as well as the participating teachers’ and students’ perceptions on this model in Iran.
They took the reading and writing parts of Key English Test (KET) and those whose scores fell one standard deviation below and above the mean were considered as the participants of this study, who 35 students, randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups.
Co-teaching is beneficial for teachers' personal growth, support, and collaboration (Fenty & McDuffie-Landrum, 2011; Friend, 2007; Scruggs, Mastropieri, & McDuffie, 2007; Walther- Thomas, 1997; Weiss, & Brigham, 2000).