The Impact of Brainstorming as a Pre-Reading Strategy on EFL UniversityStudents’ Willingness to Communicate in Reading, Reading Self –Efficacy, and Reading Achievement

The Impact of Brainstorming as a Pre-Reading Strategy on EFL UniversityStudents’ Willingness to Communicate in Reading, Reading Self –Efficacy, and Reading Achievement

The present study aimed at investigating a sample of Iranian EFL university learners to explore the effect of brainstorming strategy on willingness to communicate, their self-efficacy in reading, and their reading achievement. Two groups of EFL learners, selected in terms of the convenience and their level of language proficiency, participated in the study (i.e., an experimental and a control group) as the research entailed a treatment. The study applied a qusi-experimental approach. The participants were selected from among AdinehElmi-Karbordi University EFL learners. The initial sample consisted of 70 non-English major students from ESP classes. After administering the Oxford Placement Test (OPT), the researcher selected 50 students, of both males and females, who were homogeneous in terms of their scores for the study. The students in the control group received the traditional method of teaching reading but the students in the experimental group were taught reading by applying brainstorming strategy as the treatment. Moreover, the participants’ willingness to communicate (WTC) and reading self-efficacy were measured by the relevant questionnaires before and after treatment to compare the likely effects of the treatment. The results showed that brainstorming as a pre-reading strategy does not bring about any significant change in Iranian EFL university students’ willingness to communicate. The results, however, indicated that brainstorming as a pre-reading strategy significantly affects the participants’ reading selfefficacy as well as their reading achievement in the reading course.

The present study aimed at investigating a sample of Iranian EFL university learners to explore the effect of brainstorming strategy on willingness to communicate, their self-efficacy in reading, and their reading achievement. Two groups of EFL learners, selected in terms of the convenience and their level of language proficiency, participated in the study (i.e., an experimental and a control group) as the research entailed a treatment. The study applied a qusi-experimental approach. The participants were selected from among AdinehElmi-Karbordi University EFL learners. The initial sample consisted of 70 non-English major students from ESP classes. After administering the Oxford Placement Test (OPT), the researcher selected 50 students, of both males and females, who were homogeneous in terms of their scores for the study. The students in the control group received the traditional method of teaching reading but the students in the experimental group were taught reading by applying brainstorming strategy as the treatment. Moreover, the participants’ willingness to communicate (WTC) and reading self-efficacy were measured by the relevant questionnaires before and after treatment to compare the likely effects of the treatment. The results showed that brainstorming as a pre-reading strategy does not bring about any significant change in Iranian EFL university students’ willingness to communicate. The results, however, indicated that brainstorming as a pre-reading strategy significantly affects the participants’ reading selfefficacy as well as their reading achievement in the reading course.