Comparative Effect of Visual and Auditory Teaching Techniques on Retention of Word Stress patterns: A Case Study of English as a Foreign Language Curriculum in Iran

This study aimed at investigating the effect of visual (Cuisenaire Rods) and auditory nonsensical monosyllables using Pratt speech processing software as teaching techniques on retention of word stress. To this end, 60 high school participants made the two experimental groups of the study each having 30 students on the basis of their proficiency scores on KET (Key English Test). In one experimental group, Cuisenaire rods were used to teach word stress whereas in the other one, auditory nonsensical monosyllables using Praat speech processing software was used as an auditory aid. Both groups received the same educational content except for the way of presentation. T-test analysis indicated that both experimental groups improve their retention of word stress from pretest to post test. The compassion between the two techniques indicated that visual representation had more effect on word stress retention than auditory representation. Creativity and dynamicity of the two methods can help teachers to attend individual preferences and preferred learning styles.