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ELT VOICES – INDIA

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH

APRIL 2014 | VOLUME 4, ISSUE 2 | ISSN 2230-9136 (PRINT) 2321-7170 (ONLINE)

The Effect of Using Short Stories as a Fictional Source on Vocabulary Learning of Iranian EFL Learners AMIR REZA NEMAT TABRIZI (Ph.D.)1, SAEEDEH MAHDAVINIA2 (Corresponding)

ABSTRACT

Fictional materials, as an effective teaching tool, could be employed to enrich

the second language vocabulary of the EFL learners. The present study is an

attempt to investigate the effect of fictional stories on vocabulary development

of EFL learners in an Iranian context. To do so, an experimental study was

designed in which sixty homogeneous upper intermediate EFL learners

attending a conversation course in Rayen Language House in Kerman were

divided into two experimental and control groups. Following the PET language

proficiency test, for the purpose of selecting homogeneous learners, the

participants were given the Intermediate Cambridge Vocabulary Test prior to

the treatment as the pre-test to ensure if they enjoyed similar vocabulary

knowledge before the treatment. The experimental group received vocabulary

training through being exposed to fictional stories (four genres of science

fiction, fantasy, humour, and crime) for eight weeks (sixteen sessions) as well

as the conversation course book which was Touch Stone series book two, while

the control group experienced the course book and its instructions. Following

the treatment all participants were given the post test of vocabulary

(Intermediate Cambridge Vocabulary Test). The data was analyzed using SPSS

ELT VOICES – INDIA April 2014 | Volume 4, Issue 2

21|ELT Voices – India International Journal|ISSN 2230-9136 (Print) 2321-7170 (Online)

version 20 and the findings revealed that the experimental group learners

working with fictional stories outperformed the control group learners,

confirming that inviting fictions to the EFL classroom has positive impacts on

the vocabulary development of the learners as there is a strong link between

reading fictional stories and acquiring second language vocabulary. Teaching

vocabulary through fictional stories and similar contents are then suggested as

valuable tools helping the learners develop second language vocabulary.

Key words: fiction, vocabulary, vocabulary learning, short stories, EFL

classroom

1. Department of English Language, Payam-e-Nour University, Tehran, Iran.

2. Department of English Language, Payam-e-Nour University, Qeshm, Iran.



1. Introduction

Literature is currently considered promising incase it is used as medium for language learning

purposes. Different literary genres such as novel, drama, poetry, and short story, have been

employed in the ELT environments in various ways (Khatib, Rezaei & Derakhshan, 2011).

Various advantages of using literature in EFL/ESL classes as: being authentic, increasing

motivation, developing cultural/intercultural awareness and globalization, providing

intensive/extensive reading practice, developing sociolinguistic/pragmatic knowledge,

promoting grammar and vocabulary knowledge, reinforcing language skills, increasing

emotional intelligence (EQ), and fostering critical thinking have proposed and researched in

the field(Eren, 2004; Javid, 2013; Khatib & Faruji, 2012; Matsuoka & Hirsh, 2010;

Mihara,2011; Tsai, 2012; Webb, 2010).

Among various fictional texts, short stories have been of great concern by a number of

researchers (Egan, 1995; Eren, 2004; Erkaya, 2005; Strodt-Lopez, 1996). Short story is a work

of prose fiction which is shorter than the short novel, more restricted in characters and

situations (Chang, 2006). A short story is usually concerned with not more than a few effects,

problems or themes. In terms of character development, generally, a single aspect of a

character’s personality undergoes change or is revealed as a result of some incidents,

confrontation or conflict. Short stories seem to be the unique literary works can be used in

language teaching due to their practical implementation, compact nature and readability in one

sitting. They are not broad in scope and have a single effect on the readers (Alagözlü, 2011).

Tsai (2012) believes that most EFL learners have their primary contact with the target language

in the classroom; therefore, what is introduced in the class decides for the most part what they

may utilize in the out-of-class context. It is thus important to “empower foreign language

students to make effective use of the potential language-learning materials that exist around

them” (Maley, 1989, p. 15), to help find out prospectively motivating resources that the

students can use when the EFL courses end. As short stories are neatly organized most of the

time, and include specific vocabularies presented orderly and include themes which could be

discussed in the classroom fairly well, they could be employed by language learners to improve

their second language vocabulary knowledge (Khatib & Faruji, 2012). Appel and Richter

(2004) also argue the significance of presenting the fictional world of the narrative in the ELT



classes reasoning that such literary texts partly replace the real world while the learners are

reading and help them experience both the target language and life concepts.

Babaii and Yazdanpanah (2010) also discuss the positive impact of presenting fictional

oriented reading materials and telling stories on the EFL learners’ narrative ability and

vocabulary development. The present study aimed at investigating the effect of fictional source

on vocabulary learning of Iranian upper-intermediate EFL learners.

To fulfil the purpose of the study, the following research question was raised:

RQ: Does the use of short stories have any significant effect on vocabulary learning of Iranian

upper-intermediate EFL learners?

In order to investigate the above mentioned research question, the following null hypothesis

was formulated:

NH: Using short stories has no significant effect on vocabulary learning of Iranian intermediate

EFL learners.

Iranian learners of English deal with the so-called second language almost seven years and in

many a case the formal English education at schools is approximately barren. The private

institutes therefore have tried to fill the gap and compensate for the lack of a well-designed

second language education. Though the course books employed in the formal settings at

schools are mostly reading based, the direct vocabulary instruction which has recorded well in

the ELT literature (Ellis, 1995; Nation, 1993; Watanabe, 1997) plays a significant role in the

Iranian context, which is frequently referred to as an EFL one. The impact of general and

specific vocabulary knowledge on reading and listening comprehension have also been

investigated (Mehrpour & Rahimi, 2010). The impact of vocabulary knowledge on the

development of reading comprehension of literary texts has been researched as well (Beglar,

Hunt, & Kite, 2012).

In most EFL contexts, particularly in Asian countries like Iran, repetition and memorization of

unknown words is the main type of vocabulary acquisition (Nation, 1982; Yang & Dai, 2011).

Students read from a list of new words and their native language equivalents many times for

retention. However, these types of rote learning and decontextualized vocabulary practices are



not proved as being helpful and students cannot recognize the words and their meanings unless

they are presented within the same contexts (Cortazzi & Jin, 1994; Yang & Dai, 2011). Above

all, the impact of reading on vocabulary learning has raised some concerns because studies

addressing this issue have reported small vocabulary gains (Cho & Krashen, 1994). Thus, the

effect of reading materials in general and fiction type of reading in particular on vocabulary

learning is still open to question.

2. Review of the Related Literature

2.1 Using fictions to develop second language vocabulary

Learning vocabulary is a continuous task and it is an essential part of language learning/

teaching. That’s why there has been a renewed interest in learning and teaching vocabulary in

the past two decades (Maftoon, Hamidi & Najafi, 2012). Contextualized vocabulary learning is

considered significant in the EFL and ESL classrooms and fictions could be considered rich as

a source of second language vocabulary of the learners (Wajnryb, 2005). Covering short stories

is an educative linguistic activity in that because it allows individuals to develop their second

language reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge simultaneously (Khatib & Faruji,

2012). Though the classroom discussion usually taking place following the presence of short

stories in the language classrooms, learners share their personal understanding with others;

thereby creating negotiated transactions (Egan, 1995 & 1999). Using short stories could pave

the grounds for the learners to develop critical thinking, self-monitoring, strategic flexibility,

and fruitful peer interaction as well as getting familiar with novel vocabularies, expressions,

and lexical items (Strodt-Lopez, 1996).

Increasing second language learners’ cultural literacy and higher-order thinking capacity could

be pursued through presenting short stories in the ELT classroom and as Erkaya (2005) asserts

benefits of short stories should be clarified for the learners so as to encourage them employ

fictions to improve their vocabulary knowledge. However, Erkaya (2005) warns the novice

instructors against ignoring the EFL classes’ real needs which urge implication of authentic

texts based on the learners’ levels of understanding in terms of grammatical and complexity

and lexical novelty.



Good short stories which could be employed for instructional purposes as Greene (1996)

presents should enjoy the characteristics such as a) a clearly-defined single theme to reduce the

complexity of the context, facilitating the reading story process, b) a well-developed plot, c)

sound grammatical structures accompanied with authentic vocabulary and lexical items, d)

pleasing sounds and rhythm which are more attractive to the children or teenagers, e)

believable characters, f) dramatic appeal with a perfectly safe edge of fear and sadness, and g)

appropriate for the learners’ level in terms of concepts, characters, and ideas presented.

However, Maley (1989) and Eren (2004) argued that there is no strict rule to determine the

length of short-stories. It is the teacher’s duty to choose a story short enough to handle within

course hours. In this regard, Yazdanpanah (2012) believes that the shortness of the text is

important because it makes the learners feel they can read, understand and finish something in

English, and it will create a sense of achievement and self-confidence.

Hill (1994, p. 15) points out some other basic criteria to be kept in mind while choosing a

literary text for instructional purposes including: a) the needs and abilities of the students, b)

the linguistic and stylistic level of the text, and c) the amount of background information

required for a true.

As Marsh, Butler, and Umanath (2012) argue fictional sources such as short stories will

encourage students to connect information together and this way their interests in the course

content will be promoted. When students are more interested in learning, they spend more time

to study and it leads to longer retention of materials and better grades (McDaniel & Butler,

2010). To increase learning of course materials, fiction is a powerful tool for engaging

students and teaching content, even if it has potential to transmit false knowledge (Horst,

(2009).

Considering differences between fictional and non-fictional sources Marsh, et al (2012)

express that the content of fiction is a double-edged sword as “although some fiction is

completely divorced from reality, most of it contains a blend of true and false information”.

(p.450) Fictional stories are often taking palaces in the real world and make reference to actual

people, places, and events. Indeed, educators who want to incorporate fiction into their courses

have numerous options from which to choose. A wide variety of novels, films, comic books,

and video games are available to help students understand and learn course content.

Nevertheless, there is a potential downside to learning from fiction. McDaniel and Butler



(2010) also argue that unlike non-fiction sources that are generally held to a high standard of

accuracy, fiction, by its very nature, contains false information. Although much of this false

information is trivial, sometimes works of fiction contain major errors or inaccuracies that

contradict the true state of the world. If students are learning content from fiction, then there is

a risk that they will acquire false knowledge about the world. To be sure, educators sometimes

select inaccurate works of fiction on purpose, so that students can learn how to critique

secondary sources of information. Nevertheless, many studies have found that students have a

difficult time questioning fiction even though they know that it contains errors and

inaccuracies, and instead take fictional content at face value (Gerrig & Prentice, 1991, Horst,

2005; Shokouhi & Maniati, 2009; Wajnryb, 2005).

2.2 Structure of Fiction

Beyond content differences, fictional and non-fictional sources differ in form. Fictional sources

such as novels and movies tend to have narrative structures as they tell stories using a structure

familiar even to young children. In contrast, textbooks tend to be expository in form, directly

stating and conveying information to the reader in a logical structure (Appel & Richter, 2004).

Research has revealed that narratives and expository texts naturally use different kinds of

processing and this framework is called material-appropriate processing (McDaniel & Butler,

2010). When people read narratives, they naturally link across pieces of the text (relational

processing), whereas expository texts encourage readers to focus on individual items without

connecting them to one another. This process is called item-specific processing (Marsh, et al,

2012).

As Gerrig and Prentice (1991) present fiction is a literary work based on the imagination and

not necessarily on facts. Fiction comes in the form of different types such as a) Dystopia, a

work of fiction describing an imaginary place where life is extremely bad because of

deprivation or oppression or terror, b) Novel, an extended fictional work in prose; usually in

the form of a story, c) fantasy, a fiction type with a large amount of imagination, d) Story, a

piece of fiction that narrates a chain of related events, e) Utopia, a work of fiction describing a

utopia detective novel, mystery novel in which the reader is challenged to solve a puzzle before

the detective explains it at the end, f) Dime novel, penny dreadful, a melodramatic paperback

novel, g) Science fiction, literary fantasy involving the imagined impact of science on society,

h)Novelette(novella), a short novel, i) Roman a clef , a novel in which actual persons and

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/dystopia

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/novel

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/fantasy

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/story

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/detective%20novel

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/mystery%20novel

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/dime%20novel

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/penny%20dreadful

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/science%20fiction

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/novelette

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/novella

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/roman%20a%20clef



events are disguised as fictional characters, j) Romance, a novel dealing with idealized events

remote from everyday life, k) Roman fleuve, a French novel in the form of a long chronicle of

a family or other social group, l) adventure story(heroic tale), a story of an adventure, m)

Mystery (whodunit), a story about a crime (usually murder) presented as a novel or play or

movie, n) Love story, a story dealing with love, o)Fable(legend), a story about mythical or

supernatural beings or events, p)Short story, a prose narrative shorter than a novel, q)Allegory

(apologue), a short moral story (often with animal characters), r) Myth, a traditional story

accepted as history; serves to explain the world view of a people, s) Parable, (New Testament)

any of the stories told by Jesus to convey his religious message, and t)Plot, the story that is told

in a novel or play or movie etc.

Second / foreign language teachers; therefore, can manage the classroom the way in which

language sub-skills could be enriched through different types of fiction (Alavi &

Keyvanshekouh, 2012), and as the concern of the present study is vocabulary development of

the EFL learners, examining fictions applicable to the SL classroom is crucial.

2.3 Vocabulary learning strategies

The investigations on vocabulary learning strategies are vast (Horst, 2005): Meanwhile, as

Schmitt (2010) asserts changes in vocabulary learning strategies should be taken into

consideration to see how these changes are related to vocabulary development. Stoffer’s (1995)

questionnaire developed to measure vocabulary learning strategies could be considered

significant as she demonstrated the most frequent strategies concerning vocabulary learning as

follows:

1. Strategies involving authentic language use

2. Strategies used for self-motivation

3. Strategies used to organized words

4. Strategies used to create mental linkages

5. Memory strategies

6. Strategies involving creative activities

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/romance

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/roman%20fleuve

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/adventure%20story

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/heroic%20tale

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/mystery

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/whodunit

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/love%20story

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/fable

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/legend

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/short%20story

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/allegory

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/apologue

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/myth

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/parable

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/plot



7. Strategies involving physical action

8. Strategies used to overcome anxiety

9. Auditory strategies

Schmitt (1997) also proposed taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies, arguing that

determination strategies are used when learners determine the meaning of new words as they

first encounter them. Social strategies are used to understand a word by asking someone who

knows it, and memory strategies are approaches which relate new materials to the existing

knowledge. As Schmitt (2010) presents, using bilingual dictionaries was the most popular

strategy while imaging a word’s meaning, using cognates, imagining word form, skipping or

passing a new word, and the key word method were perceived as less helpful strategies in a

study conducted on 600 Japanese high school students.

Oxford (2011) argues that strategies change over time and Schmitt’s (1997) research asserts

that as participants become older, they use strategies which are less popular with younger

learners. The strategies becoming more popular among older people are those which require

deeper mental processing such as keyword method, connecting the target words to a personal

experience, and word association (Kudo, 1999).Some learning strategies are more beneficial at

certain ages than others, and learners naturally mature in using different strategies, so learners’

cognitive maturity and language proficiency should be taken in to account when

recommending strategies (Schmitt, 1997).

Different studies have been conducted concerning “fictional sources” and its role in second

language learning. Students reading a traditional historical fiction learn more than the students

reading a traditional textbook (Smith, 1993). Students in the historical fiction classroom not

only read the materials but also discuss them and integrate them with other activities such as

role play and consequently spend more time on the materials than do students in the classroom

using the text.

Another research focusing on experimental approaches for studying learning from fiction

including learning from short stories and from films was conducted by Marsh, et al (2012) and

confirmed the benefits of using fiction to help students learn accurate information about the

world. Other scholars have confirmed the positive effect of novel and short story instruction on



learning English: Babai and Yazdanpanah’s (2010) investigation supported the effect of

explicit teaching of story structures on EFL learners’ narrative ability in speaking, while

Shokouhi and Maniati’s (2009) study relying on an analysis of the lexical differences between

narrative and expository reading materials revealed that using narrative texts help students use

greater amount of highly frequent words.

Hosseini Fatemi (2010) asserted that fictional narratives can be used as instructional materials

for boosting learner’s language skills. In her study she found the superiority of narrative over

expository source in enhancing learner’s reading skills. Wajnryb (2005) argued the ways

teachers could employ to motivate a class of students by introducing to stories them. Her

ultimate aim was to provide activities that teachers can use to develop their students’ identities

through producing their own stories. This approach could help the learners build confidence.

3. Method

3.1 Participants

The participants of the study were 60 homogeneous male and female Iranian upper-

intermediate EFL learners with the age range of 15 to 27 at an English institute named Rayen

Language House in Kerman, who were selected from among 90 learners. The participants

selected for the study were the ones whose scores on the standardized language proficiency test

was one standard deviation below and above the mean. These participants were assigned to two

experimental and control groups. Tables 3.1and 3.2 below represents the descriptive statistics

of the subject selection procedure.

Table 3.1: Descriptive Statistics of subject selection

N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation

PET 90 23.0 50.0 41.42 2.20



Table 3.2: Descriptive Statistics PET by Groups

Group N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Experimental 30 42.03 2.327 .425

Control 30 42.13 2.209 .403

3.2 Materials

A) A Standard Version of Preliminary English Test (PET) as the placement test which was

administered before the instruction to select the main participants and make sure that they were

homogenous.

B) Four short stories in the form of four genres as follows:

B1: Gideon (humour story) by Wells Hastings

B2: Birthday gift (fantasy) by Surakshith

B3: The mysteries of ghost diary (crime) by Harshit Juneja

B4: The ultimate life (science fiction) by Paul Anobile

C) Intermediate Cambridge Vocabulary Test used as pre and post-test.

3.3 Procedures

To accomplish the purpose of this study, the researchers carried out the following procedures:

At first a PET test was administered to the learners in order to homogenize them. Sixty

students whose scores fell one standard deviation below and above the mean were selected and

divided into two experimental and control groups. In order to control the teacher variable, both

groups were taught by the same teacher. After that a pre-test of multiple choice vocabulary

items (Intermediate Cambridge Vocabulary Test) which was firstly piloted was administered to



both the experimental and control groups. The reliability of the test was calculated through

KR-21 formula (r = 0.76) which is an acceptable reliability.

Then an 8-session course of instruction began. This course lasted for a month (two sessions per

week). For the best use of the allocated time, the students in both groups had to read the text

before the class meeting. In this study 8 short stories were used by the researcher, and each

short story was practiced within 45 minute classroom period. The researcher tried to select

short stories which seemed to be interesting to the learners and had enough length to be

covered during the time limit of the class sessions. One sample of the short stories used by the

researcher is provided in the Appendices of this paper (Appendix A and Appendix B).

The experimental group received vocabulary training through being exposed to fictional stories

(four genres of science fiction, fantasy, humour, and crime) as well as the conversation course

book which was Touch Stone series book two, while the control group experienced the course

book and its instructions. Following the treatment all participants were given the post test of

vocabulary (Intermediate Cambridge Vocabulary Test). Measures of independent t-test was

then run to compare the experimental and control groups’ mean scores on the post-test of

vocabulary in order to probe the effect of fictional texts on the learners’ vocabulary

development.

4. Data Analysis

A. Pilot study of Pre and Post-test of Vocabulary

Intermediate Cambridge Vocabulary Test which was employed as both pre and post-test

piloted among 30 students with similar characteristics (age, gender, level) to the students of the

main study for the purpose of calculating the reliability of the test. The mean of the test was

calculated as13.5 and the SD was 1.61.The reliability of the test was also calculated as 0.74

based on Kr-21 method which is an acceptable reliability. Table 4.1 below best reports the

statistics related to the piloting process of pre/post-test.



Table 4.1: Calculations of pilot study of pre/post test

Results:

Total Numbers: 30

Mean (Average): 13.5

Standard deviation: 1.61352

Variance(Standard deviation): 2.60345

Reliability based on KR-21 0.74

B. Pre-test of Vocabulary

An independent t-test was run to compare the experimental and control groups’ mean scores on

the pre-test of vocabulary in order to prove that both groups enjoyed the same level of

vocabulary knowledge prior to the administration of the treatment. As displayed in Table 4.2

the experimental (M = 12.33, SD = 2.59) and control (M = 12.10, SD = 2.19) groups showed

almost the same means on the pre-test of vocabulary.

Table 4.2: Descriptive Statistics Pre-test of vocabulary by Groups


Experimental 30 12.33 2.591 .473

Control 30 12.10 2.187 .399



The results of the independent t-test (t (58) = .377, P > .05, R = .049 representing a weak effect

size) (Table 4.3) indicated that there was not any significant difference between the

experimental and control groups’ mean scores on the pre-test of vocabulary. Thus it can be

concluded that they enjoyed the same level of vocabulary knowledge prior to the

administration of the treatment.

Table 4.3: Independent t-test Pre-test of vocabulary by Groups

Levene's Test for

Equality of Variances

t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. t Df Sig. (2-

tailed)

Mean

Difference

Std. Error

Difference

Equal variances

assumed

.561 .457 .377 58 .708 .233 .619

Equal variances

not assumed

.377 56.410 .708 .233 .619

It should be noted that the assumption of homogeneity of variances was met (Levene’s F =

.561, P > .05). That is why the first row of Table 4.3, i.e. “Equal variances not assumed” was

reported.

C. Investigating the null hypothesis

The null hypothesis was set as; “using short stories has no significant effect on vocabulary

learning of Iranian intermediate EFL learners”. An independent t-test was run to compare the

experimental and control groups’ mean scores on the posttest of vocabulary in order to probe

the effect of short stories as fictional texts on the learners’ development of the vocabulary as

measured on the posttest. As displayed in Table 4.4 the experimental (M = 16.63, SD = 2.07)

outperformed the control (M = 13, SD = 2.19) groups on the post-test of vocabulary.



Table 4.4: Descriptive Statistics Post-test of Idioms by Groups


Experimental 30 16.63 2.076 .379

Control 30 13.00 2.181 .398

The results of the independent t-test (t (58) = 6.60, P < .05, R = .65, representing a large effect

size) (Table 4.5) indicated that there was a significant difference between the experimental and

control groups’ mean scores on the posttest of vocabulary. Thus the null-hypothesis as using

short stories has no significant effect on vocabulary learning of Iranian intermediate EFL

learners was rejected. The experimental group after receiving fictional vocabulary treatment

outperformed the control group on the posttest of vocabulary.

Table 4.5: Independent t-test Post-test of vocabulary by Groups

Levene's Test for Equality of

Variances

t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. T Df Sig. (2-

tailed)

Mean

Difference

Equal variances

assumed

.501 .482 6.609 58 .000 3.633

Equal variances not

assumed

6.609 57.858 .000 3.633

It should be noted that the assumption of homogeneity of variances was met (Levene’s F =

.501, P > .05). That is why the first row of Table 4.5, i.e. “Equal variances not assumed” was

reported.



D. Testing Assumptions

Four assumptions should be met before one decides to run parametric tests (Field, 2009). The

data should be measured on an interval scale. The subjects should be independent that is to say

their performance on the test is not affected by the performance of other students. The data

should enjoy normal distribution and finally the groups should have homogeneous variances.

The present data were measured on an interval scale and the subjects’ perform independently

on the tests. The assumption of normality was also met. As displayed in table 4.6, the ratios of

skewness and kurtosis over their respective standard errors were within the ranges of +/- 1.96

(Filed, 2009).

Table 4.6: Normality Tests

Group N Skewness Kurtosis

Statistic Statistic Std.

Error

Ratio Statistic Std.

Error

Ratio

Experimental

PET 30 .221 .427 0.518 -.711 .833 -0.854

Pre-test 30 -.267 .427 -0.625 -.743 .833 -0.892

Post-test 30 -.587 .427 -1.375 -.652 .833 -0.783

Control

PET 30 .334 .427 0.782 -.658 .833 -0.790

Pre-test 30 -.370 .427 -0.867 -1.081 .833 -1.298

Post-test 30 -.427 .427 -1.000 -1.325 .833 -1.591

The assumption of homogeneity of variance was discussed when reporting the results of the

independent t-test.



E. Criterion Referenced Validity

The Pearson correlation coefficients between the PET, Pretest, and posttest of vocabulary were

computed as the criterion referenced validity indices of the latter tests. As displayed in table

4.7, the pretest (r (58) = .96, P < .05, representing a large effect size), and the posttest (r (58) =

.73, P < .05, representing a large effect size) enjoyed significant criterion referenced validity

indices.

Table 4.7: Criterion Referenced Validity

PET

Pre-test

Pearson Correlation .963**

Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 60

Post-test

Pearson Correlation .733**

Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 60

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).



F. K-R21 Reliability

The reliability indices of the tests are displayed in Table 4.8 below.

Table 4.8: K-R21 Reliability Indices

N Mean Variance K-R21

PET 90 41.42 27.23 .75

Pre-test 60 12.22 5.664 .17

Post-test 60 14.82 7.813 .54

5. Discussions and conclusion

The findings of the present study firstly revealed that receiving short stories as fictional texts

significantly affects EFL learners’ vocabulary knowledge as the experimental group receiving

fictional texts outperformed the control group on the posttest of vocabulary. Secondly, the

results revealed that learners’ perceived vocabulary learning strategies is enriched through

focusing on the short stories. Findings of the present study are in line with the findings of other

researchers recorded in the literature. Appel & Richter (2004) stress the positive impact of

fictional texts in the ESL classrooms in providing an atmosphere in which learners improve

their second language skills eagerly in a cooperative mode. Employing word identification and

code-breaking to facilitate retention of vocabulary items by EFL university students, Horst,

(2009) comes to know that training SL learners through authentic literary texts is more apt to

facilitate the process of learning lexical items. Marsh, et al (2012) also support the positive

impact of employing fictional sources in the classroom and learners’ mentality growth within

the cognitive psychology framework Yazdanpanah (2012),in line with the previous research,

argues that explicit teaching of story structure affects the EFL learners’ use of communication

strategies. Beglar et al, (2012) argue that reading for pleasure increases the vocabulary

knowledge of the Japanese university EFL learners. Analyzing the authentic literature using a

short story telling activity, Eren (2004) stresses the effectiveness of this method on the

learners’ development in cultivating cooperative learning as well as piecing together the class



room discussions and developing an acceptable level of second language vocabulary

knowledge, especially idiomatic expressions.

Teaching short stories in the EFL classroom makes students think of short stories as literary

texts that are argumentative in nature. The novel contextualized expressions, idioms, and

collocations appearing in the short stories can help students develop a good command of

second language vocabulary (Alagözlü, 2011). According to Matsuoka and Hirsh (2010), the

use of short stories as fictional texts in the ELT classrooms might be effectively conducive to

second language vocabulary development.

Incidental vocabulary learning occurs “when the learners are required to perform a task

involving the processing of some information without being told in advance that they will be

tested afterwards on their recall of the information” (Laufer & Hulstijn , 2001, p. 10).Using

fictional texts in the language classes is great importance to enhance the learners' incidental

vocabulary learning. This way incidental learning of vocabulary occurs when the students

focus on comprehending the text.

It seems that students in the experimental group get more involved in vocabulary learning than

the students in the control group. Also there are less opportunities for negotiation of meaning

among them the learners in the control group. On the other hand, in the experimental group

learners work with stories and understand them, therefore they learn more vocabularies

compared to the learners in the control group. Therefore, as the results of this study showed,

greater amount of incidental learning of vocabulary occurred in the learners in the experimental

group.

To sum up, it can be concluded that employing fictional texts in teaching vocabulary items to

the EFL students in the Iranian context proved positively effective and it also supported the

fruitful and rewarding effect of focusing on short stories in learners’ perceived vocabulary

learning strategies.



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