mental imagery

Due to the importance of idioms, many researchers and teachers have long sought to find ways of making idiom teaching and learning more effective. This study compared three visual mnemonic devices (pictures, mental imagery, and movie clips) in terms of their effect on EFL learners’ recognition and recall of English idioms. Ninety intermediate level EFL learners who were preparing themselves for IELTS participated in this study. They were in three groups of thirty members each. Each group was taught idioms using one of the afore-mentioned visual mnemonic devices. Receptive and productive tests of idioms were administered to all groups after the treatment. The one-way ANOVA procedure was used to analyze the collected data. The results revealed statistically significant differences among these devices, with pictures method being the most effective on both recognition and recall of idioms. The findings of the study can have significant theoretical as well as pedagogical implications for language researchers, textbook designers, curriculum developers, teachers, and language learners. 

The aim of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of mental imagery on the English language comprehension of sixth grade students. The method is semi-experimental and its plan involves pretest, post-test, and follow-up. Using a multi-stage random sampling method, 32 students were selected from schools in the district (2) and assigned to either the experimental or evidence group - each group consisted of 16 students. All the students within both groups were given a pretest which consisted of 20 multiple choice questions (with 4 possible answers each). There was no significant difference between the mean scores gained by the students of both groups on the pretest. The experimental group received the mental imagery teaching program and how to form pictures in the mind-e.g, how to visualize-before reading, while reading, and after reading a short story, for example, by being requested to draw pictures of the characters, scenes, or setting in the story as they perceived them. The evidence group received no instruction. To measure the effectiveness of the treatment program for each experimental condition, a research-made reading comprehension test was applied. There were  significant differences between the experimental and evidence groups, when data analysis was performed by ANOVA, using repeated measures. The findings showed that the mental imagery teaching program can improve the English language comprehension and this study suggests that the English teacher may improve her teaching strategy by optimizing the use of a variation technique in school. The teacher should be creative while delivering materials in the class.