2016 IJRSLL – Volume 5 Issue 3
Author/s:
Mashhadizadeh, Davood*
Sobhe Sadegh Institute of Higher Education, Isfahan, Iran (Davood.mashhadizadeh@yahoo.com)
Rezvani, Ehsan
Sobhe Sadegh Institute of Higher Education, Isfahan, Iran (Rezvani_ehsan_1982@yahoo.com)
Abstract:
World Wide Web has improved the capabilities of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) by empowering learners to refine their learning ways themselves. The current study was aimed at investigating Iranian EFL learners’ attitude towards the use of a WBLL approach to improve the production of lexical and grammatical collocations in writing. A website, http://olrc.ir, was established to help with planning the course activities, and preparing the materials. Nine classes were randomly selected from High Intermediate EFL courses held in ACECR Language Center. A total of 78 students participated in the study after administering the exclusion criteria. The materials used in the main WBLL course included links to online corpora, an online dictionary, an online translator tool, as well as specifically designed materials for the writings. According to the results of the current study, learners’ attitude towards the WBLL approach was positive and favorable in the areas of the helpfulness of the approach, and improvement in their confidence and writing proficiency, as well as the sub-field of word phrase. Learners also reflected a preference for the online collocation dictionary over the online corpus, as the online dictionary was easier to manage in numerous ways. Moreover, learners’ attitude towards using the approach for further assignments, apart from personal English writings, was positive. Generally, it was revealed that the shift to WBLL approach is mostly welcomed by the learners, especially when the tools and materials are easy enough to be handled and analyzed.
Keywords: WBLL; learner attitude; concordance; online collocations dictionary; writing
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrsll.2015.1306
*Corresponding Author