The Impact of Concept Mapping on Summarizing Short Stories for EFL Learners

Language learners find it hard to change a text’s wording and present it differently while maintaining the original meaning in the text. This research, therefore, examined the effect of concept mapping instruction on summarizing short stories for EFL learners. Two intact grade-eight classes were assigned to experimental (n = ۲۰) and control (n = ۱۸) groups randomly. They summarized a starter-level short story, Drive into danger, using a maximum of ۴۵۰ words as a pretest. Next, the experimental group experienced concept-mapping instruction, whereas the latter group received the traditional way of teaching summarization, for six consecutive weeks. Both groups summarized the same story again, based on their instruction, into a ۴۵۰-word text at a maximum as a posttest. Pretest and posttest summaries were assessed in terms of content, organization, vocabulary, and language use. The experimental group positively improved on overall performance, content, and organization, marginally improved on vocabulary, but did not improve on language use. Furthermore, the participants’ feedback on the instructional treatment supports the statistical results. The findings offer several instructional implications.

کلیدواژه ها:

Concept mapping ، EFL learners ، Summarizing ، short story ، writing