The effectiveness of conceptual mapping instruction in improving reading skills of Persian language learners

The present research seeks the notion of the effectiveness of conceptual mapping instruction in reading comprehension skill comparing to the traditional instructions (e.g. teaching reading skills without using conceptual maps). Moreover, the various ways of using these conceptual maps are compared; there is a comparison between teacher-made conceptual maps and students-made conceptual maps individually or in the groups. By considering the issue, 126 Persian language learners were studied. These learners were learning Persian in International Imam Khomeini University (IKIU) and Tehran University of Medical Sciences. They were chosen after a pretest and they were categorized in four experimental groups (student activities were considered individually, or in groups, and the teacher made maps, and the students made maps were regarded), and two control groups (students in groups or individually). The experimental and the control groups were taught during 10 sessions. It is necessary to mention that those students learned the same materials during those sessions. But the teacher applied conceptual maps for experimental groups, while she used traditional instructions for control groups. Then, the learner's reading comprehension skills were evaluated by a post-test. The post-test was held to measure the effectiveness of conceptual mapping in improving reading skills. And the results were compared by using descriptive statistical methods and appropriate statistical tests (Levin, ANOVA and Scheffe post hoc test). The results of data analysis showed that there is a significant difference between the mean performance of the experimental group and the control groups. So it can be concluded that teaching based on conceptual mapping has a noteworthy role and impact on improving reading skills