A Comparative Study on the Impact of L1 Translation, L2 Equivalent and Pictures on the Acquisition of Proverbs

The Purpose of this study was to focus on the importance of English Proverbs for EFL learners. This study tried to analyze the effect of three different methods in learning English proverbs. The study compared the possible effect of using pictures, first language translation and L2 definition on Iranian learners’ acquisition of proverbs. A sample of 60 Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners was selected who were randomly assigned into three groups, each group comprising 20 pre-intermediate EFL learners. First, a proverb test was used as a pretest to make sure the participants were not familiar with the meaning of the proverbs. Then, a total of 40 proverbs were selected to be taught to the participants. The first group learned the proverbs with Persian translation, the second group was taught the same proverbs with definition of the proverbs in L2 and the third group received those 40 proverbs with pictorial description. The treatment lasted 10 sessions in the three classes. After the treatment the same test used as the pretest was presented to the three groups as the post-test to check the effect of each instructional procedure on the participants’ level of proverbs. The analyses of the data showed that use of pictorial mode in teaching proverbs had a more significant effect on the learners’ acquisition of proverbs.

Keywords:

first language translation , L2 equivalent , pictures , acquisition of proverbs