By: Armineh Ab
Thesis Committee: Irshat Madyarov, Ph.D., Liliana Edilyan, M.A.
Abstract
This study investigates the effect of blogging on idiom production in an academic EFL setting. Blog as a motivating and user-friendly writing tool, which provides various options such as uploading pictures and commenting, was considered as a suitable tool for writing assignments aimed at enhancing idiom production. Due to its interactive nature, blogging was assumed to be a proper means for this purpose.
Twenty one participants of the study were the newly enrolled students of the American University of Armenia with TOEFL iBT score mean of 74.5. These students were enrolled conditionally provided they take the EEP course and raise their language proficiency level during the course. Convenient sampling approach was used i.e. the participants were divided to two groups of morning and evening shifts due to their personal schedules and priorities. Quantitative data were obtained through pre and post tests. The data were analyzed through SPSS software package, via Mann-Whitney U Test and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Tests. The qualitative data were obtained through a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview which were analyzed descriptively. Results obtained from the data analysis indicated that blogging had positive effect on the production of idioms.
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“The Impact of Authentic Materials on Vocabulary Acquisition”
By: Hripsime Shabunts
Thesis Committee: Catherine Buon, Ph.D., Alexan Simonyan, Ph.D., and Rubina Gasparyan, MA
Abstract
The study investigated the effectiveness of authentic vs. instructional materials on vocabulary acquisition in EFL setting.This study is quasi-experimental and it involved one control group and one experimental group (17 students in experimental group and 16 students in control group).