Traditional teaching

This study aimed to investigate the relative effectiveness of consciousness-raising tasks and structure-based production tasks in comparison with the traditional teaching in learning comparative and superlative forms, following a task-based approach to teaching English grammar. To this end, from among 82 female elementary-level high school students having taken a Solutions Placement Test (2010), 72 students being homogeneous regarding their language proficiency were assigned to one control group experiencing traditional grammar learning and two experimental groups that were instructed using consciousness-raising tasks and structure-based production tasks. The study was a quasi-experimental one following a pre-test post-test control group design. All groups took a multiple-choice researcher-made pre-test measuring their knowledge of comparative and superlative forms at the outset, and after six weeks, the three groups took part in the corresponding post-test. At last, the results of ANCOVA indicated that consciousness-raising task group had the best grammar performance, but no significant differences were found between the participants in structure-based production tasks and traditional teaching. Therefore, it is recommended that other EFL teachers consider consciousness-raising tasks as an option in teaching comparative and superlative forms in their high school classes.

AI-enabled solutions and systems, including AI chatbots, are revolutionizing teaching and learning processes in language education programs and language classrooms, profoundly changing traditional methodology and pedagogy. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of implementing and utilizing three AI chatbots, Claude, Chat GPT, and Google Gemini, with traditional instruction in an academic writing course at Ilam University, Iran. To this end, of 39 TEFL MA students enrolling in an academic writing course, four homogeneous classes of nine students were organized. In three classes, the three AI chatbots were used for providing feedback, correction, revision guidance, and tips for outlining, moves, and paragraph organization. A class with traditional teacher-centered instruction was also organized. At the end of the course, students in all four classes were tasked with writing two essays. A team of three raters was asked to rate the essays based on a common rubric. The rating results showed that students who received AI-enhanced instruction through the use of Claude achieved the highest scores, followed by those who received instruction with ChatGPT and Google Gemini, respectively. The participants in all three AI-enabled classes outperformed the participants in the class with traditional instruction. The rating results confirmed the effectiveness of AI-enhanced writing instruction, highlighting Claude as the most effective AI tool, and ChatGPT and Google Gemini in the second and third ranks, respectively. Based on the course outcomes, AI-enabled writing instruction is more effective than traditional instruction.