the effect of l1 use on self-efficacy and reading comprehension of iranian preintermediate efl learners

Abstract- the present study was an attempt to evaluate the effect of l1 use on self-efficacy and readingcomprehension of iranian pre-intermediate efl students. the participants of the study were 50 students of thepre-intermediate level at jazeereh zaban institute, borazjan, bousher, iran. their level was proved by theinstitute entrance exam. this exam was designed and validated by the scientific board of the institutes andconsisted of different parts: interview, pronunciation, translation, and reading test. at the first stage theseparticipants were divided into two groups of control and experimental. two pretests including a comprehensiontest and a self-efficacy questionnaire were administered for both groups. the book american english file 1 wasthe source to be taught. the control group was treated with the normal program in which the use of l1 wasforbidden but for the experimental group l1 use was allowed in the process of teaching. there were 15 sessionsfor both control and experimental group. each session lasted for 90 minutes. the first session and the lastsession were allocated to administering the pre-tests and the post-tests (comprehension test and self-efficacytest). the posttests were the same as the pretests. the data were analyzed using spss software, version 20.descriptive statistics as well as independent sample t-tests as well as paired sample t-tests were run. the resultsshowed the positive effect of l1 use on improving reading comprehension and self-efficacy score. the results ofthe present study can be useful for efl teachers, students, and syllabus designers.