The Effect of Concept Mapping on Iranian Pre-intermediate L2 Reading Comprehension

Abstract

This experimental group received instruction on how to use concept mapping technique as a pre-reading activity. This group took part in language classes twice a week for one hour and half and reading activities covered thirty minutes of the whole class and also they completed two thirty-minutes reading comprehension tests, one as the pre-test and the other as the post-test. The results of Wilcoxon Sign Rank test showed that the participants in concept mapping group performed better in post-test than in pre-test administration. Moreover, the results of Chi-square revealed that, on the whole, L2 learners had positive attitudes toward using concept mapping technique in reading classes. This study had theoretical as well as pedagogical implication in the field of second/ foreign teaching and learning.

Concept Mapping for Improving Reading Comprehension in Second Language Education: A Systematic Review

“…True Experimental/Quasi-Experimental Design Alibabaee et al, 2014;Alkhateeb et al, 2015;Alkhateeb et al, 2016aAlkhateeb et al, , 2016bAndoko et al, 2019;Andoko et al, 2020;Beydarani, 2015;Chiang et al, 2016;Davaribina & Asl, 2017;Hamedi et al, 2020;Kalhor & Shakibaei, 2012;Khajavi & Ketabi, 2012;Lechuga et al, 2015;Liu, 2014;Lumontad et al, 2020;Morfidi et al, 2018;Nguyen & Pham, 2018;Pinandito et al, 2021;Rassaei, 2019;Rasyidah & Mardiansyah, 2015;Riahi & Pourdana, 2017;Soleimani & Nabizadeh, 2012;Syafrizal, 2018;Tabatabaei & Khalili, 2014;Tajeddin & Tabatabaei, 2016;Trang, 2017…”

“…All these studies found that using concept maps contributed to various aspects of students' improvements in the reading process. Specifically, using concept mapping could help students activate and energize their prior linguistic and world knowledge (Kalhor & Shakibaei, 2012;Riahi & Pourdana, 2017), prompt students to link new information to previous knowledge, and gain a deeper understanding of the text (Khajavi & Ketabi, 2012;Lumontad et al, 2020;Tajeddin & Tabatabaei, 2016;Trang, 2017;Yousofi & Seidi, 2015), encourage students' active engagement and facilitate meaningful learning (Khajavi & Ketabi, 2012;Lumontad et al, 2020;Nguyen & Pham, 2018;Tabatabaei & Khalili, 2014;Trang, 2017;Soleimani & Nabizadeh, 2012), direct attention to critical information in the text and guide students in building internal connections among ideas (Riahi & Pourdana, 2017;Tajeddin & Tabatabaei, 2016), as well as promote the use of various reading strategies (Kalhor & Shakibaei, 2012;Rassaei, 2019;Trang, 2017;Usman et al, 2017) during the reading process. Alibabaee et al, 2014;Beydarani, 2015;Chiang et al, 2016;Davaribina & Asl, 2017;Hamedi et al, 2020;Jaya & Latief, 2013;Kalhor & Shakibaei, 2012;Khajavi & Ketabi, 2012;Liu et http://ijlter.org/index.php/ijlter Lumontad et al, 2020;Morfidi et al, 2018;Nguyen & Pham, 2018;Phantharakphong & Pothitha, 2014;Rassaei, 2019;…”

“…For example, Riahi and Pourdana (2017) and Rassaei (2019) found that concept mapping was beneficial for students' use of reading strategies, especially the use of metacognitive reading strategies (Rassaei, 2019). Phantharakphong and Pothitha (2014), Tabatabaei and Khalili (2014), Trang (2017), Nguyen and Pham (2018), and Asri and Andoko (2019) focused on students' attitudes towards concept mapping, which were generally positive. The study of Liu (2014) examined the process of using the conceptmapping technique by analyzing students' eye movements during the reading process.…”