The Impact of Applying Concept Mapping Techniques on EFL Learners’ Knowledge of Tenses

The present study was designed to investigate the impact of applying fill-in-the-map and construct-a-map techniques on EFL learners’ knowledge of tenses. To this end, sixty EFL elementary female students, who were selected based on their performance on a standardized teacher-made proficiency test, were randomly assigned into two equal experimental and control groups. In order to be convinced of their homogeneity in terms of knowledge of tenses, a researcher-made test of grammar on tenses was administered to the participants in both groups. As the results showed no significant difference between the mean scores of the experimental and control groups on this test, they were regarded to be homogeneous in that respect. Students in both groups received the same amount and method of instruction but they differed in the practice phase. The participants in the experimental group used fill-in-the-map and construct-a-map techniques, but those in the control group did not practice these techniques and worked on the textbook exercises and some “find the error” activities instead. At the end of the instruction, an independent samples t-test was run for the obtained means of the experimental and control groups on a researcher-made posttest on the knowledge of tenses. The results showed that there was a significant difference between their mean scores on the test. Thus, it could be concluded that applying fill-in-the-map and construct-a-map techniques was effective in the improvement of EFL learners’ knowledge of tenses.