كليدواژه :
Comparative Analysis , English and Persian narrative essays , Labov’s model , Iranian PNU Students
چكيده فارسي :
Identifying new and effective instructional ways have been a primary concern of those who are involved somehow in the teaching-learning process. In this regard, the primary goal of the current project was to examine whether there were any differences in the way Iranian EFL learners write narratives in their L1 (Farsi language) and FL (English language). To put it clearly, this study aimed to investigate the Iranian EFL learners’ narrative essays written in their L1 and FL based on Labov’s (2013) model of narrative structure in order to find commonalities and differences in overall organization of texts and that which group of learners (telegram group or class attendees group) performed better on writing narratives. Moreover, this study attempted to examine if the subjects back transfer English rhetorical patterns based on Labov’s (2013) model of narrative structure into their Persian essays. Also, comparing the effectiveness of classical ways of instruction (class attendance) and new ones (telegram mobile learning) was another concern of the present study. After administration of TOFEL test, 60 out of 90 Payam-e-Noor University subjects with intermediate level of English language proficiency were selected. The selected participants were randomly divided into the following two groups, the class attendees group which received the intended treatment program in physical classroom environment, and the telegram group which received the treatment in the virtual environment of the telegram messenger software. Two pre-tests and two post-tests were administered before and after the treatment. Narrative moves in 240 English and Persian pre- and post-essays were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. Considering the comparison of English and Persian pre- and post-narrative essays, the results were encouraging for the telegram group. The subjects of the telegram group actually made greater gains on most of the categories assessed and scored higher overall on their English and Persian final written products. The finding of this study showed also that the explicit instruction of Labov’s model of narrative structure and also none of the instructional methods, i.e. class attending instruction and telegram mobile instruction, might not lead to the development of students’ ability to back transfer the FL rhetorical narrative structure to their L1 narrative writing. Moreover, the results of the study justified the claim that the new instructional methods and telegram m-learning/teaching specifically can provide new opportunities for teaching-learning process and that Iranian students who were taught through new mobile-based methods, explicitly telegram m-learning/teaching, performed better on if not writing skill, narrative writing at least. The study concludes by suggesting that writing teachers might benefit from utilizing new mobile-based and internet-based methods and specifically the one introduced in this study, i.e. telegram m-learning/teaching, to develop their students’ language learning or writing skill at least and narrative writing ability in specific.
