Improving Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ Oral Narrative Task Performance in Terms of Accuracy, Fluency and Complexity by Awareness Raising Through Semantic Fields
Subject Areas : آموزش زبان انگلیسی
بهزاد محمودی
1
,
سعیده اهنگری
2
,
مهناز سعیدی
3
1 - گروه انگلیسی، واحد تبریز، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، تبریز، ایران
2 - گروه انگلیسی، واحد تبریز، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، تبریز، ایران
3 - گروه انگلیسی، واحد تبریز، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، تبریز، ایران
Keywords: Accuracy, Complexity, Fluency, Task performance, Awareness raising, narrative task, oral narrative, semantic fields,
Abstract :
The effects different awareness-raising techniques might have on language learners’ performance have been studied by many researchers. The present study specifically focused on improving EFL learners’ oral narrative task performance in terms of accuracy, fluency and complexity by awareness raising through semantic fields. The participants in the study included 40 intermediate learners whose initial homogeneity in terms of language proficiency was assessed via a Preliminary English Test (PET). They were further randomly assigned as one experimental group and one control group, each comprising 20 participants. The amount of instructional time was 17 sessions, during which the participants in the experimental group received an awareness raising technique through 'semantic fields'. Before and after the treatment, an oral narrative test was administrated. The results of the data analysis revealed that the experimental group which received the awareness raising technique outperformed the control group in three measures of accuracy, fluency and complexity on their performance. The participants showed significant improvements in language proficiency as they retold the narratives. The findings of the present study can create the floor for researchers to go deep through the EFL contexts and find more about the probable effects awareness raising techniques might have on language learning and teaching.
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