THE EFFECT OF USING WEB- BASED INSTRUCTION ON LEARNING OF SPEECH ACT OF COMPLIMENT OF IRANIAN EFL LEARNERS

This study focused on the benefits of using web- based instruction of speech act of compliment over fine- using strategy training for pragmatic use of a foreign language. Sixty out of one hundred students were selected based on an OPT test from Tonekabon Islamic Azad university. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups, one experimental and one control group. A researcher- made tests of speech act of compliment was administered as the pre-test to check their language proficiency. Then the treatment stared for one semester. The control group practiced the speech act of compliment through "Speech Act Strategy Inventory"(Cohen and Ishihara) that are constructed for general use of strategies specifically for learning and using speech acts in a second/foreign language. The experimental group used www.iles.umn.edu/introspeechacts website by Ishihara (2005). Then a post- test of DCT was administered. The results were compared through Paired and Independent Sample T- test to see whether there was any difference. The results show that wedbased instruction is more influential than traditional ways of strategy training.