The Effect of Peripheral Learning on Iranian EFL Learners' Use of Communicative Function

The purpose of this mixed-method research was to examine the effectiveness of exposing the EFL learners to the peripheral learning environment on the use of communicative function among them. Further, it was intended to explore the attitudes and perceptions of the EFL learners towards adopting peripheral learning procedures and using instructional posters in the classroom environment. To fulfill the goal of this study, due to the restrictions imposed by the Covid-۱۹ pandemic, only ۴۰ intermediate EFL learners were randomly selected based on the purposive sampling procedure from two language institutes. The selected learners were assigned randomly into two groups i.e., experimental and control. The required data for the quantitative section was collected by using two versions of the Discourse Completion Test (DCT); the sum of their scores was an indicator of the participants’ level of communicative function use. For the qualitative phase, a structured interview with three open-ended questions was conducted with ۱۰ volunteer participants selected from the experimental group. An eight-session treatment was carried out for the experimental group by exposing them to peripheral learning situations via instructional posters. The control group was undergoing the traditional teaching method without any treatment. The quantitative data were analyzed using an independent samples t-test and the first major result suggested that exposure of the learners in the established peripheral learning environment by instructional posters could exert a considerable effect on their DCT scores as the indicator of their ability in using communicative functions. The findings of this study might help the EFL teachers and instructors as well as school administrators to be aware of the effects of peripheral learning and set up classrooms and schools accordingly.

کلیدواژه ها:

EFL Learners ، Communicative Function ، Peripheral Learning ، Posters ، DCT