American International Journal of Social Science

ISSN 2325-4149(Print), ISSN 2325-4165(Online) DIO: 10.30845/aijss

Gloss or No Gloss? EFL Learners’ Preference
Foroogh Azari

Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine the effects of different textual glosses on the reading comprehension of EFL learners in a tertiary context. In the present quasi-experiment study, 76 EFL learners at UPM who had attained similar scores in a standardized reading text were divided into four groups randomly. Each group read six authentic texts under one of the following text conditions: L1 (Persian) gloss, L2 (English) gloss, L1 and L2 (Persian and English) gloss, and no-gloss. Results revealed a significant difference in comprehension between the experimental groups and the control group, but the differences in performance between experimental groups were not significant. Furthermore, 94.74% of the participants preferred to read glossed texts. Participants preferred L1 and L2 gloss over L1 gloss and L2 gloss types, respectively. The findings of this study will be beneficial for those who are interested in applying related psychological theories in developing ESL/EFL learners’ reading comprehension.

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