The role of epistemic curiosity in developing EFL learners’ grammar and pronunciation skills
Keywords:
Epistemic curiosity, grammar, pronunciation, EFL.
Abstract
The study examines the impact of epistemic curiosity on students' grammar and pronunciation skills in an EFL context in Iraq. Conducted over 12 weeks in 2021-2022 Academic Year, the research involved fifty students from TISHK International University, chosen using cluster sampling. The students were divided into control and experimental groups, with the latter encouraged to explore their interests online as part of their learning process. Data collection utilized a mixed-methods approach, including two exams, a questionnaire, and an interview. SPSS 26 and NVivo were used for quantitative and qualitative data analysis, respectively. The results, determined through independent samples t-test, indicated a significant improvement in grammar and pronunciation marks for students in the experimental group. Additionally, they exhibited more positive attitudes towards inquiry-based learning compared to their control group counterparts. These findings contribute to the understanding of the role of epistemic curiosity in enhancing language learning outcomes and offer valuable insights for implementing inquiry-based strategies in EFL classrooms. The study uncovers a crucial gap in the literature, shedding light on the benefits of fostering curiosity-driven learning approaches in English language education in Iraq.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Al-Nabi A.A., & Fahady, S.S. (2022). EFL University Students’ Perceptual Curiosity and Language Proficiency: Correlation Study, International Journal of Research in Social Sciences & Humanities, 12(3), 348-365. http://doi.org/10.37648/ijrssh.v12i03.021
Abdulrahman, S.A., & Kara, S. (2022). Mentor-Mentee Relationship: Fifteen Career Saving Suggestions. International Journal of Social Sciences and Educational Studies, 9(3), 138-150.
Azar, B. (2007). Grammar-based teaching: A practitioner’s perspective. TESL-EJ, 11(2), 1–12. Retrieved from http://www.tesl-ej.org/ej42/a1.pdf
Bahari, A., & Gholami, J. (2022). A systematic review of current research on affordances and challenges of technology-assisted grammar learning. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 32(1), 125-148.
Berlyne, D. E. (1954). A theory of human curiosity. British Journal of Psychology, 45, 3. (1954: Aug).
Bull, S. G., & Dizney, H. F. (1973). Epistemic curiosity-arousing prequestions: Their effect on long-term retention. Journal of Educational Psychology, 65(1), 45-49. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0034817
Casey, L. (2014). Questions, curiosity and the inquiry cycle. E-learning and Digital Media, 11(5), 510-517.
Celik, B., & Kara, S. (2022). Students' perceptions of the general english proficiency test: A study on Tishk International University students in Erbil, Iraq. Amazonia Investiga, 11(59), 10-20. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2022.59.11.1
Dyer, K. D., & Hall, R. E. (2019). Effect of critical thinking education on epistemically unwarranted beliefs in college students. Research in Higher Education, 60(3), 293-314. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-018-9513-3
Eren, A. (2009). Examining the relationship between epistemic curiosity and achievement goals. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 9(36), 129-144.
Eren, A., & Coskun, H. (2016). Students' level of boredom, boredom coping strategies, epistemic curiosity, and graded performance. The Journal of Educational Research, 109(6), 574-588.
Fetters, M. D., Curry, L. A., & Creswell, J. W. (2013). Achieving integration in mixed methods designs—principles and practices. Health services research, 48(2), 1-24.
Fitzgerald, F. T. (1999). Curiosity. Annals of internal medicine, 130(1), 70-72.
Foley, J. (2022). CLT using CEFR and EIL in Southeast Asia and East Asia in the English language classroom. RELC Journal, 53(1), 240-252.
Halliday, M. A. (2014). Corpus studies and probabilistic grammar. In English corpus linguistics (pp. 42-55). Routledge.
Hardy III, J. H., Ness, A. M., & Mecca, J. (2017). Outside the box: Epistemic curiosity as a predictor of creative problem solving and creative performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 104, 230-237.
Hashemian, M., & Fadaei, B. (2011). A Comparative Study of Intuitive-imitative and Analytic-linguistic Approaches towards Teaching English Vowels to L2 Learners. Journal of Language Teaching & Research, 2(5), 1-9.
Ho, P. V. P. (2014). The Effects of Communicative Grammar Teaching on Students' Achievement of Grammatical Knowledge and Oral Production. English Language Teaching, 7(6), 74-86.
Hong, J. C., Ye, J. H., & Fan, J. Y. (2019). STEM in Fashion Design: The Roles of Creative Self-Efficacy and Epistemic Curiosity in Creative Performance. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 15(9), 2-18. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/108455
Huck, J. T., Day, E. A., Lin, L., Jorgensen, A. G., Westlin, J., & Hardy III, J. H. (2020). The role of epistemic curiosity in game-based learning: Distinguishing skill acquisition from adaptation. Simulation & Gaming, 51(2), 141-166.
Kang, M. J., Hsu, M., Krajbich, I. M., Loewenstein, G., McClure, S. M., Wang, J. T. Y., & Camerer, C. F. (2009). The wick in the candle of learning: Epistemic curiosity activates reward circuitry and enhances memory. Psychological science, 20(8), 963-973.
Kara, S. (2023). The effects of epistemic curiosity-based instruction in enhancing EFL studentsreading and listening skills at a tertiary level. Amazonia Investiga, 12(62), 75-91. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.62.02.6
Kara, S., & Yildiz, Y. (2022). From a commodity to addiction: Are mobile phones valuable commodities or sources of addiction for freshman students? Amazonia Investiga, 11(56), 196-209. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2022.56.08.20
Kavlu, A. (2015). The effect of project–based learning on undergraduate EFL students’ reading comprehension ability. Journal of Education in Black Sea Region, 1(1), 39-44. https://doi.org/10.31578/jebs.v1i1.8
Küçük, T. (2023). Technology Integrated Teaching and Its Positive and Negative Impacts on Education. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 10(1), 46.
Lauriola, M., Litman, J. A., Mussel, P., De Santis, R., Crowson, H. M., & Hoffman, R. R. (2015). Epistemic curiosity and self-regulation. Personality and Individual Differences, 83, 202-207.
Litman, J. A., & Silvia, P. J. (2006). The latent structure of trait curiosity: Evidence for interest and deprivation curiosity dimensions. Journal of personality assessment, 86(3), 318-328.
Litman, J. A., & Spielberger, C. D. (2003). Measuring epistemic curiosity and its diversive and specific components. Journal of personality assessment, 80(1), 75-86.
Lowry, N., & Johnson, D. W. (1981). Effects of controversy on epistemic curiosity, achievement, and attitudes. The Journal of Social Psychology, 115(1), 31-43.
Nakamura, S., Reinders, H., & Darasawang, P. (2022). A classroom-based study on the antecedents of epistemic curiosity in L2 learning. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 51(2), 293-308.
Palmer, D. (2018). Positive and negative curiosity experiences among tertiary students. Global Journal of Education Studies, 4(1), 90–101. doi: https://doi.org/10.5296/gjes.v4i1.13226
Peterson, E. G., & Cohen, J. (2019). A case for domain-specific curiosity in mathematics. Educational Psychology Review, 31(4), 807-832.
Piotrowski, J. T., Litman, J. A., & Valkenburg, P. (2014). Measuring epistemic curiosity in young children. Infant and Child Development, 23(5), 542-553.
Rotgans, J. I., & Schmidt, H. G. (2014). Situational interest and learning: Thirst for knowledge. Learning and Instruction, 32(1), 37-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2014.01.002
Ruiz-Alfonso, Z., & León, J. (2019). Teaching quality: relationships between passion, deep strategy to learn, and epistemic curiosity. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 30(2), 212-230.
Sadiq, D. A. (2023). Mentor-Mentee Relationship: 12 Suggestions from English Mentors to Mentees. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 10(2), 50.
Sarac, S., Mede, E., & Akgun, E. (2022). Does e-learning trigger epistemic curiosity? Journal of Qualitative Research in Education, 30(1), 211-222. Doi: 10.14689/enad.30.9
Schmitt, F. F., & Lahroodi, R. (2008). The epistemic value of curiosity. Educational theory, 58(2), 125-148.
Shareef, L. A. (2023). Flashbacks of Present English Mentors on Their Previous Mentoring Program Experiences. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 10(1).
Silvia, P. J. (2017). Curiosity. The science of interest, 97-107. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55509-6_5
Spielberger, C. D., & Starr, L. M. (2012). Curiosity and exploratory behavior. In Motivation: Theory and research (pp. 231-254). Routledge.
Takkaç-Tulgar, A. (2018). The effects of curiosity on second language learning in terms of linguistic, socialcultural and pragmatic development. Journal of Educational Sciences, 9(2), 59–72.
Tjabaka, L. H. (2022). Constructivist Communicative Strategies for Integration of Communication Skills in Grammar Classroom. Czech Journal of Multidisciplinary Innovations, 2, 4-16.
Van den Branden, K. (2016). Task-based language teaching. In The Routledge handbook of English language teaching (pp. 238-251). Routledge.
Yucedal, H. M. (2023). Integrating mobile assisted language learning (MALL) into EFL classes at a tertiary level. Amazonia Investiga, 12(62), 92-104. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.62.02.7
Yildiz, Y. (2016). The role of extracurricular activities in the academic achievement of English as foreign language (EFL) students In Iraqi universities (A case of Ishik University preparatory school). (Unpublished PhD Thesis). International Black Sea University, Tbilisi.
Yildiz, Y. (2020). Reading habit and its role on students’ academic success at language preparatory school: A research on Tishk International University preparatory school students. Amazonia Investiga, 9(27), 189-194. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2020.27.03.20
Abdulrahman, S.A., & Kara, S. (2022). Mentor-Mentee Relationship: Fifteen Career Saving Suggestions. International Journal of Social Sciences and Educational Studies, 9(3), 138-150.
Azar, B. (2007). Grammar-based teaching: A practitioner’s perspective. TESL-EJ, 11(2), 1–12. Retrieved from http://www.tesl-ej.org/ej42/a1.pdf
Bahari, A., & Gholami, J. (2022). A systematic review of current research on affordances and challenges of technology-assisted grammar learning. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 32(1), 125-148.
Berlyne, D. E. (1954). A theory of human curiosity. British Journal of Psychology, 45, 3. (1954: Aug).
Bull, S. G., & Dizney, H. F. (1973). Epistemic curiosity-arousing prequestions: Their effect on long-term retention. Journal of Educational Psychology, 65(1), 45-49. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0034817
Casey, L. (2014). Questions, curiosity and the inquiry cycle. E-learning and Digital Media, 11(5), 510-517.
Celik, B., & Kara, S. (2022). Students' perceptions of the general english proficiency test: A study on Tishk International University students in Erbil, Iraq. Amazonia Investiga, 11(59), 10-20. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2022.59.11.1
Dyer, K. D., & Hall, R. E. (2019). Effect of critical thinking education on epistemically unwarranted beliefs in college students. Research in Higher Education, 60(3), 293-314. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-018-9513-3
Eren, A. (2009). Examining the relationship between epistemic curiosity and achievement goals. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 9(36), 129-144.
Eren, A., & Coskun, H. (2016). Students' level of boredom, boredom coping strategies, epistemic curiosity, and graded performance. The Journal of Educational Research, 109(6), 574-588.
Fetters, M. D., Curry, L. A., & Creswell, J. W. (2013). Achieving integration in mixed methods designs—principles and practices. Health services research, 48(2), 1-24.
Fitzgerald, F. T. (1999). Curiosity. Annals of internal medicine, 130(1), 70-72.
Foley, J. (2022). CLT using CEFR and EIL in Southeast Asia and East Asia in the English language classroom. RELC Journal, 53(1), 240-252.
Halliday, M. A. (2014). Corpus studies and probabilistic grammar. In English corpus linguistics (pp. 42-55). Routledge.
Hardy III, J. H., Ness, A. M., & Mecca, J. (2017). Outside the box: Epistemic curiosity as a predictor of creative problem solving and creative performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 104, 230-237.
Hashemian, M., & Fadaei, B. (2011). A Comparative Study of Intuitive-imitative and Analytic-linguistic Approaches towards Teaching English Vowels to L2 Learners. Journal of Language Teaching & Research, 2(5), 1-9.
Ho, P. V. P. (2014). The Effects of Communicative Grammar Teaching on Students' Achievement of Grammatical Knowledge and Oral Production. English Language Teaching, 7(6), 74-86.
Hong, J. C., Ye, J. H., & Fan, J. Y. (2019). STEM in Fashion Design: The Roles of Creative Self-Efficacy and Epistemic Curiosity in Creative Performance. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 15(9), 2-18. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/108455
Huck, J. T., Day, E. A., Lin, L., Jorgensen, A. G., Westlin, J., & Hardy III, J. H. (2020). The role of epistemic curiosity in game-based learning: Distinguishing skill acquisition from adaptation. Simulation & Gaming, 51(2), 141-166.
Kang, M. J., Hsu, M., Krajbich, I. M., Loewenstein, G., McClure, S. M., Wang, J. T. Y., & Camerer, C. F. (2009). The wick in the candle of learning: Epistemic curiosity activates reward circuitry and enhances memory. Psychological science, 20(8), 963-973.
Kara, S. (2023). The effects of epistemic curiosity-based instruction in enhancing EFL studentsreading and listening skills at a tertiary level. Amazonia Investiga, 12(62), 75-91. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.62.02.6
Kara, S., & Yildiz, Y. (2022). From a commodity to addiction: Are mobile phones valuable commodities or sources of addiction for freshman students? Amazonia Investiga, 11(56), 196-209. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2022.56.08.20
Kavlu, A. (2015). The effect of project–based learning on undergraduate EFL students’ reading comprehension ability. Journal of Education in Black Sea Region, 1(1), 39-44. https://doi.org/10.31578/jebs.v1i1.8
Küçük, T. (2023). Technology Integrated Teaching and Its Positive and Negative Impacts on Education. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 10(1), 46.
Lauriola, M., Litman, J. A., Mussel, P., De Santis, R., Crowson, H. M., & Hoffman, R. R. (2015). Epistemic curiosity and self-regulation. Personality and Individual Differences, 83, 202-207.
Litman, J. A., & Silvia, P. J. (2006). The latent structure of trait curiosity: Evidence for interest and deprivation curiosity dimensions. Journal of personality assessment, 86(3), 318-328.
Litman, J. A., & Spielberger, C. D. (2003). Measuring epistemic curiosity and its diversive and specific components. Journal of personality assessment, 80(1), 75-86.
Lowry, N., & Johnson, D. W. (1981). Effects of controversy on epistemic curiosity, achievement, and attitudes. The Journal of Social Psychology, 115(1), 31-43.
Nakamura, S., Reinders, H., & Darasawang, P. (2022). A classroom-based study on the antecedents of epistemic curiosity in L2 learning. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 51(2), 293-308.
Palmer, D. (2018). Positive and negative curiosity experiences among tertiary students. Global Journal of Education Studies, 4(1), 90–101. doi: https://doi.org/10.5296/gjes.v4i1.13226
Peterson, E. G., & Cohen, J. (2019). A case for domain-specific curiosity in mathematics. Educational Psychology Review, 31(4), 807-832.
Piotrowski, J. T., Litman, J. A., & Valkenburg, P. (2014). Measuring epistemic curiosity in young children. Infant and Child Development, 23(5), 542-553.
Rotgans, J. I., & Schmidt, H. G. (2014). Situational interest and learning: Thirst for knowledge. Learning and Instruction, 32(1), 37-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2014.01.002
Ruiz-Alfonso, Z., & León, J. (2019). Teaching quality: relationships between passion, deep strategy to learn, and epistemic curiosity. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 30(2), 212-230.
Sadiq, D. A. (2023). Mentor-Mentee Relationship: 12 Suggestions from English Mentors to Mentees. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 10(2), 50.
Sarac, S., Mede, E., & Akgun, E. (2022). Does e-learning trigger epistemic curiosity? Journal of Qualitative Research in Education, 30(1), 211-222. Doi: 10.14689/enad.30.9
Schmitt, F. F., & Lahroodi, R. (2008). The epistemic value of curiosity. Educational theory, 58(2), 125-148.
Shareef, L. A. (2023). Flashbacks of Present English Mentors on Their Previous Mentoring Program Experiences. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 10(1).
Silvia, P. J. (2017). Curiosity. The science of interest, 97-107. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55509-6_5
Spielberger, C. D., & Starr, L. M. (2012). Curiosity and exploratory behavior. In Motivation: Theory and research (pp. 231-254). Routledge.
Takkaç-Tulgar, A. (2018). The effects of curiosity on second language learning in terms of linguistic, socialcultural and pragmatic development. Journal of Educational Sciences, 9(2), 59–72.
Tjabaka, L. H. (2022). Constructivist Communicative Strategies for Integration of Communication Skills in Grammar Classroom. Czech Journal of Multidisciplinary Innovations, 2, 4-16.
Van den Branden, K. (2016). Task-based language teaching. In The Routledge handbook of English language teaching (pp. 238-251). Routledge.
Yucedal, H. M. (2023). Integrating mobile assisted language learning (MALL) into EFL classes at a tertiary level. Amazonia Investiga, 12(62), 92-104. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.62.02.7
Yildiz, Y. (2016). The role of extracurricular activities in the academic achievement of English as foreign language (EFL) students In Iraqi universities (A case of Ishik University preparatory school). (Unpublished PhD Thesis). International Black Sea University, Tbilisi.
Yildiz, Y. (2020). Reading habit and its role on students’ academic success at language preparatory school: A research on Tishk International University preparatory school students. Amazonia Investiga, 9(27), 189-194. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2020.27.03.20
Published
2023-07-30
How to Cite
Kara, S. (2023). The role of epistemic curiosity in developing EFL learners’ grammar and pronunciation skills. Amazonia Investiga, 12(66), 8-20. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.66.06.1
Issue
Section
Articles
Copyright (c) 2023 Amazonia Investiga
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
.gif)
