Summarizing

The present study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of two educational methods of learning by summarizing, and learning through teaching on the comprehension of sixth grade elementary male students. This was an applied study and the research design was experimental with a pre-test and post-test approach and the control group. The study population included all sixth grade male students at Allameh Tabataba'i School, who were studying in the academic year of 2018-2019. The random available sampling method was used in this study. The total number of students were 59, all of which were participated in the study and divided into three different groups by random convenience sampling method. Then, the first experiment group members (15 subjects) were trained in 8 learning sessions through teaching method. The subjects in the second experimental group (15 subjects) were trained in 8 learning sessions by summarizing method. The control group (n = 29) received no training. Two researcher-made questionnaires were designed to assess the comprehension level of the students. The data were analyzed using analysis of covariance in the SPSS software. Emphasizing the findings of the research, it can be argued that both learning methods had a favorable effect on the students' comprehension, and increased the students' comprehension level. Based on these findings, one can conclude that these two educational methods have a great impact on increasing the comprehension of sixth grade elementary students.

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 = 20) and control (n = 18) groups randomly. They summarized a starter-level short story, Drive into danger, using a maximum of 450 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 450-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.