The Effect of Learner-centered Instruction on Iranian EFL Learners' Critical Thinking and Pragmatic Competence

International Journal of Humanities and Social Science

© 2021 by SSRG - IJHSS Journal

Volume 8 Issue 5

Year of Publication : 2021

Authors : Sepideh Bashang, Zohre Mohammadi Zenouzagh

10.14445/23942703/IJHSS-V8I5P106

How to Cite?

Sepideh Bashang, Zohre Mohammadi Zenouzagh, "The Effect of Learner-centered Instruction on Iranian EFL Learners' Critical Thinking and Pragmatic Competence," SSRG International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, vol. 8,  no. 5, pp. 36-42, 2021. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/23942703/IJHSS-V8I5P106

Abstract:

The present study was an attempt to investigate the effect of learner-centered instruction on Iranian intermediate EFL learners' critical thinking. Furthermore, it tried to figure out the impact of learner-centered instruction on Iranian intermediate EFL learners' pragmatic competence. To do so, 95 EFL learners studying English as a Foreign Language at Language Institutes of Karaj, Iran, participated in this study. Utilizing a Quick Oxford Placement Test, 58 EFL female learners who got the band score of QOPT (i.e., from 30 to 48) were selected as the intermediate participants of the study. The data were collected through a critical thinking questionnaire and a pretest, and a posttest of Discourse Completion Test (DCT). The findings revealed that learner-centered instruction did have a statistically significant effect on enhancing the pragmatic competence of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. Besides, the results revealed that learner-centered instruction did have a moderate effect on the critical thinking of the EFL learners, but the effect was not statistically significant. Finally, the results of the study would be useful to EFL learners and teachers, material developers, and syllabus planners, too.

Keywords:

critical thinking, EFL learners, learner-centered instruction, pragmatic competence.

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