Contribution of Applying Translation Based and Strategy Based Methods (Information Synthesization, and Visualization) to Teaching ESP Reading Comprehension to Iranian Undergraduate ESP (Accounting) Learners

The purpose of this study was to investigate the contribution of applying translation-based and strategy-based methods (information synthesization and visualization) in teaching ESP reading comprehension to Iranian undergraduate ESP (accounting) learners. This study intended to deal with the problem of teaching ESP reading comprehension. The design of the present research was a quantitative pretesttreatment-posttest quasi-experimental research. Ninety students from 120 students whose average was two standard deviations below and above the mean were chosen and randomly assigned into three homogeneous groups (A, B, and C) with 30 participants in each group. A pretest has been administered to all the participants, showed that the three groups were not significantly different in ESP reading comprehension ability. The material has been taught based on the strategic-based method in group A, and the emphasis was on information synthesization and visualization strategy. In group B the texts have been taught based on translation processes, and in group C the combination of translation processes and strategy-based methods have been employed. Then the post-test has been administered, the result revealed that the mean difference was more in favor of group C who received treatment through focusing on the combination of translation method and strategy-based methods than of those who received treatment via focusing on each process separately in teaching ESP reading comprehension. The result of the study could help ESP teachers by applying proper strategy methods in addition to translation-based methods.