The Impact of Students Team Achievement Divisions (STAD) on Iranian EFL Learners' Listening Comprehension

Abstract

Reading comprehension is a complex process and would be difficult for language learners. This study investigated the effects of the Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD) on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension. It also sought to see if there was any difference between male and female EFL learners in reading comprehension through the use of STAD technique. Sixty male and female from Hoomaye Zarin institute in Zarin Shahr in Isfahan participated in the study which used a pretest-posttest design. The Oxford Placement Test was used to ensure the homogeneity of the participants. They were divided into four groups, two experimental groups, and two control groups. The treatment sessions were conducted in 10 ninety-minute sessions. In the experimental groups, STAD was used, but there was no STAD treatment for the control groups and they received reading comprehension instruction through current methods of the language institute. The analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) and t-test analysis revealed that total gain in reading performance by the experimental groups was significantly superior to the total gain in the control groups. STAD effectively improved the learners’ reading comprehension of the experimental groups. The results of the study indicated that STAD was a more effective instructional paradigm for English as compared to the mainstream method of teaching. Due to its provision for higher learning engagement, STAD can be used as an active learning strategy for EFL Learners.