Paper Title
Investigation of the Relationship(s) between using Substitution Drill Technique and Memory Permanency in Adult EFL Learners
Abstract
Using substitution drill technique in second language teaching has a history of decades. Although many critics have connected this technique to rote learning and advise teachers to use other more communicative methods, it seems that the effects of drilling on memorization and helping learners to build a faster and more organized structure of second languagein their minds is underestimated and ignored to some extent. The present paper, aims at having a deeper investigation on the possible relationships between using substitution drill technique and memory permanency on Persian learners of English. To do so, 84adult Persian learners of English (42 males and 42 females),whose level of English was Intermediate, were voluntarily asked to attend an 18-session English course for learning 504 Essential English words and another 18-session English class for learning Intermediate English Grammar. The learners of both experimental and control groups passedpre-tests and post-tests and the results were analyzed by SPSS. The results of the present study showed a 34 percent of higher effectiveness in learning vocabulary and 16 percent of higher effectiveness in learning grammar for the experimental group. Since other possible factors were fully controlled, this increase might push some teachers to maintain this technique as a useful tool along with other mother teaching methods. Keywords - Second Language Teaching, Substitution Drill, Teaching Methods, Permanent Memory, Memorization