THE STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COOPERATING WITH PEERS AS AN INDIRECT VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGY ON THE IRANIAN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION

The present study was conducted to compare the effect of Cooperating with peers as indirect vocabulary learning strategy on reading comprehension skill. To fulfill the purpose of the study, a language proficiency test was administrated to one hundred male and female university students who studied in a course other than English as their major in Omidiyeh Islamic Azad University, Khouzestan, Iran. Ultimately, sixty intermediate students were selected and assigned into two experimental (A) and control (B) group. The first group was taught vocabulary through Cooperating with peers as indirect vocabulary learning strategy for developing their vocabulary storage in reading comprehension and group (B) was assigned as control group. After ten sessions of treatment, the two groups were given a post-test of an achievement vocabulary test. Data analysis was conducted through t-test statistics. It demonstrated that the experimental group (A) who utilized Cooperating with peers vocabulary learning strategy outperformed the control group (B) who was the control group in terms of the mean and standard deviation gained in the post- test (p < .05). t- Test analysis revealed that there was a significant difference between the two groups learning vocabulary at intermediate level. In other words, Cooperating with peers strategy at intermediate level can lead to higher achievement of vocabulary storage in reading comprehension of intermediate level of Iranian EFL undergraduate students.