The Impact of Discourse Markers and Relative Clauses on the Reading Comprehension of EFL Learners

Abstract

In the realm of reading comprehension, syntactic knowledge has generated a great deal of debate among the researchers who believe in the effectiveness of teaching vocabulary through different methods and strategies, and those who believe in the effectiveness of syntactic knowledge in reading comprehension. The present study investigated the contribution of learners’ syntactic knowledge, namely discourse markers and relative clauses in reading comprehension. A quasi-experimental design was used. Two groups of students were assigned as experimental and control groups. The performances of students in the experimental group were compared with the performances of students in the control group. A series of t- tests was run to determine the impact of syntactic knowledge on reading comprehension. Comparing the mean score of the experimental group with that of the control group on the post-test revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group (p= .000 < .05). The findings could shed light on our understanding of the role of syntactic knowledge in reading comprehension and provide some pedagogical implications for learners, teachers, and materials developers. The paper finishes with some strands of research in the realm of reading comprehension.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n1p568