Speaking Performance

The present quantitative study examined the role of a set of socially-mediated personal attributes that might intervene in the speaking performance of Iranian EFL learners. The possible relationship between three factors (namely, Willingness to communicate (WTC) in L2, L2 communication confidence, and Beliefs about L2 group work in L2 speaking), which are hypothesized to influence learners’ oral performance, was investigated. In fact, a model reflecting the hypothesis that these three variables would influence the learners’ speaking performance was constructed and tested by collecting data from a convenient sample of 100 B.A. university students in Iran. In order to collect the required data on the above-mentioned variables, a comprehensive questionnaire developed by Fushino (2010) and IELTS speaking test module 1 were utilized. The structural equation modeling confirmed that these three variables were very good predictors of performance of Iranian EFL learners on speaking skill. In other words, the measurement model of this study was approved and the conceptual model of research had an acceptable level of fit index. In addition, the result of multiple regressions indicated that L2 communicative confidence made a higher level of contribution in explaining the L2 speaking performance of the learners, which corroborates the association of these two constructs. The findings of present study also implied that increasing EFL learners’ WTC, communication confidence and beliefs about L2 group work is likely to help to improve their speaking ability and learners who have higher levels of L2 WTC and confidence are likely to achieve higher scores on their speaking performance.

Most of the models accounting for L2 oral production have deemed a significant role for vocabulary knowledge in this process. Previous studies have demonstrated a positive relationship between different aspects of lexical knowledge and performance or proficiency of second language skills including the speaking performance. Meanwhile, the findings have suggested a determining role for the task type used for measuring speaking performance when one or more aspects of lexical knowledge are in focus. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the EFL Learners’ deep vocabulary knowledge (DVK) and speaking performance by scrutinizing the mediating role of task type. To this end, 102 bachelor ELT students were given Word Associate Test to measure their DVK, and a planned presentation task and unplanned tasks of description, narration and reasoning to elicit speaking performance. The elicited samples of speaking performance were transcribed and analyzed in terms of fluency, accuracy, lexical complexity and grammatical complexity. Structural equation modeling indicated a lack of causal relationship between DVK and aspects of speaking performance as measured with both planned and unplanned tasks. However, mixed results were obtained in the case of the correlations of fluency, accuracy, grammatical complexity and lexical complexity with DVK across different tasks. Although the findings do not provide evidence for a strong relationship between DVK and speaking performance when DVK is analyzed in isolation from other aspects of vocabulary knowledge, the variation witnessed in findings provide further proof for the importance of task effectiveness in the study of lexical access. 

Abstract: Linguoculturology is a new field of linguistic research dealing with manifestation of culture of different nations that are reflected in ELT situations. Accordingly, the aim of the present investigation was to examine if teaching English in EFL Iranian secondary high schools can make a change in their linguocultural competence and to empirically test the extent to which teaching EFL Iranian secondary high school students in a linguocultural context was likely to impact their speaking skills. To achieve this goal, the study was carried out in an Iranian secondary high school, in Dezful, Iran. In the first phase of the research, to assess 100 female participants’ knowledge of the Iranian linguocultural context and to increase the participants, linguocultural awareness and their subsequent linguocultural competence a standard checklist was employed. A pretest-treatment-posttest design was used in the respective linguocultural situation with 50 of the students participating in the real instruction to verify their probable speaking promotion. The study was conducted over a four-month time period. The data gathered from filling out a standard checklist and from the students’ performance on pre-posttests was analyzed using SPSS software. Results indicated that, at least for the participants in the current experiment, the type of instruction embedded in the Iranian linguocultural context was significantly effective in promoting the learners’ linguocultural competence and their speaking abilities, respectively. Recommendations for ELT in comparable circumstances were given. Key words: linguacultural competence, EFL Learners, Speaking Performance