Teacher-centered and/or Student-centered Learning:English Language in Iran

Abstract

This paper reports on research findings on leaner-centered approach compared to teacher-centered approach in teaching English grammar as a foreign language in Iranian high school context. It shows the need for grammar instruction in English language classes when roughly all education efforts are bottom-up explicit approach. One could compare and contrast these two learning approaches and try to evaluate the effectiveness of them. To this end, a cohort of 60 male homogeneous students at a junior high school in Tabriz, Iran participated in this study. All participants were native speakers of Azerbaijani and Persian aged around 16. There were two classes, including 30 students in each group (class) who were assigned to the control and experimental group. The experimental group received a treatment in passive-active voice, followed by a grammar pre-and post-test. All the tests consisted of multiple-choice, cloze, and fill-in-blanks, which were administered to study the homogeneity in their grammar knowledge over one month, and the results were compared. Two groups were observed, namely the control group (group A) or teacher-centered and the experimental group (group B) or student-centered. This experimental study also comprised classroom observations and teacher interview. When the students are given the opportunity to merge input in what they learn and how they learn, academic achievements and comprehension occur. The results support the implementation of teacher-centered process for the purpose of developing grammar knowledge of Iranian EFL learners. English classes cannot fulfill the learners' needs on communication. The findings suggest the need for explicit teaching of grammar rules and their use through communicative tasks.

Using Audio-Visual Aids and Computer-Assisted Language Instruction (CALI) to Overcome Learning Difficulties of Grammatical Structure in Students of Special Needs

“…The results of the present study suggest that a significant improvement in the performance of the treatment group in question could indicate the use of audio-visual aids and CALI. Our results agree with similar outcomes of some other studies (Zohrabi & Torabi, 2012;Hopp, 2013;Czerwon, et al, 2013;Clément, et al, 2013;Sadeghi & Dousti, 2013).…”

“…(Hopp, 2013: p. 53) Many experiments investigated the teaching approaches' effect. Using 2 different teaching manipulations, the findings of using both leaner-centered approach and teacher-centered approach in teaching English grammar as a foreign language were compared by Zohrabi & Torabi (2012). Sixty subjects in question were divided into an experimental group and a control group.…”

A Meta-Analysis of Vocabulary Learning Strategies of EFL Learners

“…Teacher-centered content was reported in Iran while a relationship was observed between group work in the class vocabulary learning in other countries (Zohrabi, 2012). This emphasized a direct relationship in the effectiveness of different treatments and learners' vocabulary learning.…”

University Teachers’ and Students’ Beliefs about Grammar Translation Method and Communicative Language Teaching in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan

“…The participants of the study were 60 male students of intermediate level. Zohrabi et al (2012) concluded that teacher-centered process was supported for the development of grammar learning in Iranian EFL learners. They further found that practically Teacher-Centered Learning (TCL) is more acceptable and applicable in Iranian English language teaching system.…”

“…Moreover, CLT could be more applicable in the Malaysian secondary schools. Zohrabi, Torabi, & Baybourdiani (2012) conducted a quantitative research to find out the possibility to integrate student-centered learning with teacher-centered learning among the EFL learners of Iran. The participants of the study were 60 male students of intermediate level.…”