oral performance

This study aimed to investigate the impact of pre-speaking activities on Iranian intermediate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ oral performance. The study followed a quasi-experimental design in which subjects of the study were non-randomly selected. Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was used to select 100 intermediate EFL learners as the main sample. Then they were divided randomly into two experimental and control groups. Prior to the treatment, participants of both groups were given a pre-test of speaking to ensure their speaking ability. After a treatment of pre-speaking activities to members of the experimental group, a post-test of speaking was administered to seek the effect of it. A t-test was run to examine the difference between the mean scores of each group in post-tests. It was found that there was a statistically significant difference between the experimental and the control group. That is, the experimental group outperformed the control group in oral performance.

Among the latest efficient approaches in language teaching, Task-based Language Teaching has turned up to be the main approach in a way that it is currently recognized as the leading teaching approach in language instruction (Ji & Pham, 2017). Using the proper tasks based on the proficiency level of the learners can facilitate the process of language learning. The present study aimed at investigating the effect of open and closed tasks on improving Iranian EFL learners’ oral performance at intermediate and advanced levels. This study is a quasi-experimental research with pretest and posttest design. The participants of the study included 55 female EFL learners at Jahadeh Daneshgahi language institute in Tabriz city, who were selected through cluster random sampling method. The data were collected through 10 open tasks and 10 closed tasks along with an oral pretest and an oral posttest checklist that examined grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, breakdown-response, interaction, and speech flow of learners’ oral performance. The tasks were selected from the Four Corner series (Richards & Bohlke, 2012). The data were analyzed by a two-way MANCOVA test and ANCOVA. The obtained results indicated that open and closed tasks can improve EFL learners’ oral performance and there is no significant difference between open and closed tasks in developing learners’ oral performance in both levels. Besides, at the advanced level, the amount of oral performance development is greater than the intermediate level. The outcomes of this study can be useful for EFL teachers and learners regarding using the optimal kind of tasks in improving oral performance.

The concept of demotivation and removing possible barriers of learning has been researched and advocated throughout the ESL/EFL literature but it seems that it has not been well studied at least on Iranian seminary EFL learners. As such, this study aimed at investigating the effect of demotivation on oral performance of Iranian EFL seminary learners and finding possible demotivating factors which may affect it. The participants were 50 male intermediate EFL learners studying at Islamic Propagation Office, Isfahan, Iran, selected based on their performance on the Oxford Placement test. A pretest-posttest design oral performance exam was used. The participants were divided into two groups of motivated and demotivated group based on the motivational questionnaire (Celce-Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin, (1996). The collected data included: (1) the results of the motivational questionnaire, (2) the results of the oral tasks (used as pre and post tests) and (3) responses to a semi-structured interview regarding the possible demotivating factors which may influence participants' oral performance. The independent sample t-test and paired samples t-test were used to determine whether there were significant inter and intra-group differences. The results provide evidence that motivation helps enhance EFL seminary learners’ oral performance and demotivation significantly hinders improving it.

This study investigated the validity of processability theory proposed by Pienemann (1998/2015) among Iranian EFL learners’ oral performance. The theory defines six procedural stages for learners in the process of second language acquisition. In order to conduct the study, 10 intermediate EFL learners were selected based on their performance on Oxford Placement Test. Then, they participated in five tasks; namely, interview, spot-the- difference task, picture description, picture identification and story-telling task. Their speech was recorded and then transcribed according to predetermined structures (i.e., interrogatives, word order, and negation) called target structures. The frequency of the occurrence of target structures was calculated based on the emergence criterion. The results showed that Iranian EFL learners produced language structures in the predicted procedural stages as proposed by processability theory. Thus, processability theory can be valid for Iranian EFL learners too.

Being able to communicate effectively is the optimal goal of all language learners; therefore, despite difficulties they face and restrictions they have while expressing themselves, they rely on employing diverse communication strategies (CSs). This descriptive study was set to analyze Iranian EFL learners’ use of CSs in oral and written performances at two levels of proficiency. To this end, 60 university students of EFL were selected and assigned to two distinct groups. The participants’ oral and written performances were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively using Dornyei’s (1995) taxonomy of CSs. The results of the study revealed that the context of communication plays a significant role in the use of communication strategies. The use of CSs by participants’ significantly varied by their level of proficiency. The most frequent problem areas were 'lexical gaps', 'problems in discourse management', and 'uncertainty in conveying the message', which can be considered by language teachers and material designers.

Many scholars have long contributed to making the instruction of oral production more effectively. This study compared three task types (information-gap, reasoning-gap, and opinion-gap tasks) and two cognitive styles (field-independence and field-dependence) regarding their effects on English as a foreign language (EFL( learners’ oral production linguistic complexity. The current study was quantitative in research methodology and followed the comparison group design. Initially, 230 Iranian learners were selected using convenience sampling. After the participants sat the proficiency test, the number of participants was reduced to 180 BA students at the university of Mohaghegh Ardabili and Islamic Azad University, Ardabil Branch. They were randomly divided into six experimental groups. Two groups were randomly assigned to field-independent (FI) and field-dependent (FD) information-gap tasks, the next two groups to FI and FD reasoning-gap tasks, and the other two groups to FI and FD opinion-gap task types. Each group consisted of 30 advanced EFL learners and was taught oral production using one of the above-mentioned task types. Michigan test of English Language Proficiency test (Phakiti, 2003) and group embedded figures test (Witkin et al., 1971) were used to determine proficiency level and measure cognitive styles. A two-way ANCOVA (analysis of covariance) procedure was run to examine the data. The results revealed significant differences among task types and cognitive styles, with FD learners and opinion-gap task being the most effective on EFL Learners' oral production linguistic complexity. The interaction between cognitive styles and task types is more likely to account for language learners’ oral performance.