Effect of Bilingualism on English Dictation Performance of Male and Female Primary Level Students

Abstract

The concept of linguistics is not limited to a special language or community; nowadays, the world is growing rapidly and the idea of bilingualism can be traced in various countries and even small cities. In most of the countries the formal and educational language is different from the learners' mother tongue; this difference can create positive or negative influences on the academic achievement of the students. On the other hand, the popularity of English language is growing rapidly in Iran and people attempt to learn this language. The present study which is a comparative survey attempts to investigate the effect of bilingualism on dictation score of elementary students in second grade who are learning English in ILI. The participants are 30 bilingual students in Tabriz city and 30 monolingual students in Tehran. The participants are both male and female. Before starting the main research Raven intelligence test was used in order to ensure the consistency of students' educational level. The obtained scores were analyzed by ANOVA method. Later, a test of dictation composed of 40 words was given to student and the scores were analyzed by independent t-test. This dictation was designed and validated by consulting 4 elementary school teachers. The final results revealed that there is no significant relationship between bilingualism and dictation score and also there is no significant relationship between gender and dictation score.