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The Relationship among Level of Ambiguity Tolerance and Cloze Test Performance of Iranian Efl Learners across Gender
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Sa’dabadi, Nazila |
| Copyright Year | 2015 |
| Abstract | In the second language classroom, there are many learner variables that instructors should be aware of because of the impact they will have on the success of their students. Among them, the influential variable is tolerance of ambiguity. While ambiguity may be present in learning any subject, there is a remarkable amount of ambiguity when it comes to acquiring a second/foreign language. Thus, this study investigated the relationship between ambiguity tolerance and cloze test performance across gender among intermediate EFL learners. By means of an institutionalized placement test (i.e., Iran Language Institute Placement test), a total of 134 Iranian EFL learners of English, that is, 67 females and 67 males were selected to take part in the study. The participants were within the age range of 15-18 having at least 3 years experience of learning English at the institute. Participants were asked to fill out Ely’s Second Language Tolerance of Ambiguity Questionnaire (SLTAS) translated into Farsi for the ease of comprehension. Having filled out the questionnaire, a cloze test was selected from TOEFL test and administered to them. A series of one-way ANOVA and post hoc comparisons using the Tukey HSD test were used to analyze the obtained data. Results indicated the superiority of male learners over female ones in being more ambiguity tolerant as well as cloze test performance. Moreover, high ambiguity tolerant learners in both groups outperformed in cloze test compared to the other two groups, that is, average and low ambiguity tolerant learners. Teachers in all educational settings including language institutes, and schools will profit from the results which will provide insights on the advantages of improving learners’ level of ambiguity across gender in EFL settings. KEYWORDS: Ambiguity Tolerance, Cloze Test, Gender INTRODUCTION There are many learner variables that instructors should take into account in second language classes because of the effect they have on the success of their students. Thus, these learner variables can help determine the techniques and methods that instructors can apply in the class. Among them, one of the most important variables is tolerance of ambiguity. Ambiguity tolerance (AT) indicates people's personality which can affect many aspects of their life, learning and proficiency of learners (Ely, 1989). Therefore, tolerance of ambiguity plays an important role in various aspects of language performance and learners’ beliefs about learning (Erten & Topkaya, 2009; Ashouri & Fotovatnia, 2010). Although ambiguity is present in learning any subject, it is International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World (IJLLALW) Volume 6 (4), August 2014; 337-‐347 Sa’dabadi, N. EISSN: 2289-‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-‐3245 www.ijllalw.org 338 more evident when it comes to acquiring a second/foreign language; for some learners this is what makes second language learning exciting, however, for others this same amount of ambiguity makes learning extremely frustrating and unpleasant. Naiman, Frohlich, Stern, and Todesco (1978) define ambiguous situation by "novelty, complexity, or insolubility, and further characterizes responses to such threatening situations by expressions of dislike, depression, attending to avoiding the situation, or by destructive behavior" (p.70). Moreover, Ely (1989) states that ambiguity in language learning is regarded as uncertainty experienced by language learners whenever they feel they have not pronounced a sound accurately, or understood a grammatical point or understood the exact meaning of a word. Therefore, AT can create a stressful situation for learners and affect language learning, risk taking, and usage of the appropriate strategies negatively when it is not tolerated well enough. Thus, the learners' attempt towards being a good language learner might be blocked when ambiguity is not tolerated. In recent years, many studies have investigated the relationship between ambiguity tolerance and different language skills (writing, reading, speaking, listening, grammar, vocabulary, and cloze test). Results of some studies indicated a significant correlation between AT level and EFL learners' general English scores (Chapelle, 1983; Khajeh 2002; Mori, 1999; Yea-Fen, 1995). To clarify the AT influence on EFL achievement in SLA contexts, some studies tried to explore the relationship between AT and learners’ success in English skills. El-Koumy (2000) examined the differences in English reading comprehension grades among 150 high, middle, and low ambiguity tolerant EFL learners and found that the moderate AT group outperformed significantly higher than the low and high group. Some other studies on the relationship between EFL learners' level of AT and their language learning strategy use, were conducted in past two decades. Results of these studies showed a positive correlation between AT and language learning strategy use of EFL learners (Jun-yong, 1998; Khajeh, 2002; Yea-Fen, 1995). Khajeh (2002) conducted a study on the relationship between AT, language proficiency, and language learning strategies. She stated that there was a positive correlation between AT and both proficiency level and frequency of strategy use. Participants were 120 male and female sophomores studying English with an age range of 18-25. Some of studies were conducted on the gender role in discourse (Hawes & Thomas, 1995; Lees, 1997; Weedon, 1987), and gender bias in oral performance (Halpern, 1986; Hyde, 1990; Hyde & Linn, 1988; Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974). Among the existing studies, Maubach and Morgan (2001) investigated the effect of gender on language learning style of 72 students of French and German (57 girls, 15 boys). The findings revealed that males had higher level of ambiguity tolerance comparing to their females. In contrast, Kissau (2006), conducting a study on 490 French language learners (254 girls, 236 boys), reported no gender difference in tolerance of ambiguity. International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World (IJLLALW) Volume 6 (4), August 2014; 337-‐347 Sa’dabadi, N. EISSN: 2289-‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-‐3245 www.ijllalw.org 339 Erten and Topkaya (2009) in their study on 106 female, and 67 males reported a significant difference between males and females in their tolerance of ambiguity with females exceeding males. Moreover, a study conducted by Lin and Wu (2003) indicated that males outperformed females in the grammar, vocabulary, and cloze test sections in TOEFL test, however, listening comprehension obviously favored females Ambiguity Tolerance abd Cloze Test Performance Since studies regarding ambiguity tolerance usually focus on general language learning achievement and few studies have investigated the relationship between ambiguity tolerance and a cloze test performance which was popular in the 1970s and 1980s. However, they still receive attention in many examinations throughout the world. The popularity of cloze tests has faced some controversy and many researchers (Jonz, 1976; Oller, 1972; Brown, 1983) question the validity and the reliability of such tests while many others (e.g. Oller, 1979; Bachman, 1985) praise cloze tests. A cloze test asks the participants to fill in the words that have been deleted from a reading selection (Oller, 1979). Cloze tests are used in various types of tests (e.g., achievement, diagnostic, placement, etc.) (Heaton, 1990). In Iran, cloze tests are used in high school tests and the National University Entrance Exam (NUEE). Thus, they play a very important role in the educational life of Iranian test takers. Moreover, gender differences in cloze test performance have been examined only to a limited degree and little differential performance by gender has been found. In sum, the importance and influence of ambiguity tolerance in second language acquisition should be realized in every English class in Iran, and important measures should be taken to direct this cognitive style as efficiently as possible. Thus, this study will be an attempt to examine whether there would be any statistically significant relationship among the level of ambiguity tolerance (AT) of the Iranian EFL learners, their gender, |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://www.ijllalw.org/finalversion6427.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
