The Effect of Short Message Service on Iranian Lower Intermediate EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension through Skimming and Guessing Strategies Awareness

The present study tried to investigate the use of Short Message Service (SMS) as a new way to skimming and guessing strategies awareness in reading comprehension, beyond the confines of classroom. To this end, 80 male high school students were selected. To ensure the homogeneity of their proficiency level, Oxford Quick Placement Test (version 2) was administered to them. Fifty five participants were chosen and others were excluded. The participants were assigned into control and experimental groups. Then, they received questions asking them to skim the texts for their main ideas as well as guess the meaning of some new words either on paper or through SMS messages in scheduled pattern of delivery two times a week during eight weeks. After eight weeks, the two groups were compared. The results of t-tests revealed that experimental group, the SMS group, outperformed significantly (p<.05) in both skimming and guessing strategies awareness. But there was no significant difference between reading comprehension skills of two groups.

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