Cover not available
Article published In:
ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 171:2 (2020) ► pp.153–190

The effects of instructional focus and task type on pre-vocational learners’ ability in EFL oral interaction

ORCID logo | Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
| University of Amsterdam
| University of Amsterdam
| University of Amsterdam
| Leiden University

Little is known about the effect of diverging pedagogies on the development of interactional oral skills in a foreign language. In a controlled study, we evaluated three newly developed instructional programmes that were situated in the same training context, but that differed in instructional focus and type of task. These were compared to the effects of business-as-usual instruction. Multilevel analysis revealed that all experimental groups outperformed the ‘business-as-usual’ control group on oral interaction skills (N = 199), with similar results for the programmes. Positive effects were found on interaction skills for trained contexts of use only. No transfer was found to tasks in other contexts of use. We conclude that receiving contextualised oral interaction instruction is beneficial to the development of pre-vocational learners’ interaction skills.

Keywords: EFL oral interaction, focus-on-forms instruction, interactional strategies instruction, information gap tasks, task transfer
Article outline
  • Introduction
    • L2 interaction pedagogy
      • Focus-on-forms instruction and tasks
      • Information gap tasks
      • Interactional strategies instruction
      • Context-dependency of instruction
    • The present study
  • Method
    • Participants
    • Design
    • Interventions
      • Control condition
      • Focus-on-forms interaction with pre-scripted tasks (F-PS condition)
      • Focus-on-forms interaction with information gap tasks (F-IG condition)
      • Strategy-focused interaction with information gap tasks (S-IG condition)
    • Procedure
    • Measures
      • EFL oral interaction
      • Interaction strategies
      • Vocabulary
      • Experience
      • Gender and home language
    • Analysis
  • Results
    • Effect of the intervention on EFL oral interaction
    • Effect of the intervention on interaction strategies
  • Discussion and conclusions
    • Limitations and suggestions for future research
    • Implications for practice
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 25 June 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/itl.18027.van
References
Ahmadian, M. J. & Tavakoli, M.
(2011) The effects of simultaneous use of careful online planning and task repetition on accuracy, complexity, and fluency in EFL learners’ oral production. Language Teaching Research, 15(1), 35–59. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Anderson, J.
(2016) Why practice makes perfect sense: the past, present and potential future of the PPP paradigm in language teacher education. Practice, 191, 14–22.Google Scholar
Bejarano, Y., Levine, T., Olshtain, E., & Steiner, J.
(1997) The skilled use of interaction strategies: Creating a framework for improved small-group communicative interaction in the language classroom. System, 25(2), 203–214. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Benson, S. D.
(2016) Task-based language teaching: An empirical study of task transfer. Language Teaching Research, 20(3), 341–365. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bitchener, J.
(2004) The relationship between the negotiation of meaning and language learning: A longitudinal study. Language Awareness, 13(2), 81–95. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bueno-Alastuey, M., & Luque Agulló, G.
(2015) Explicit instruction and implicit use of L2 learning strategies in higher secondary EFL course books. International Journal of English Studies, 15(2), 17–39. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bygate, M.
(1987) Speaking. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
(2001) Effects of task repetition on the structure and control of oral language. In M. Bygate, P. Skehan, & M. Swain (2001), Researching Pedagogic Tasks. Second Language Learning, Teaching and Testing (pp. 23–48). Harlow, UK: Pearson Education Limited.Google Scholar
(2018) Learning Language through Task Repetition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Canale, M.
(1983) From communicative competence to communicative language pedagogy. In Richards, C. and Schmidt, R. W. (Eds). Language and Communication (pp. 2–27). London, UK: Longman.Google Scholar
Celce-Murcia, M.
(2007) Rethinking the role of communicative competence in language teaching. In Soler, E. A. & P. S. Jorda (Eds.), Intercultural language use and language learning (pp. 41–57). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cohen, A. D., Weaver, S. J., & Li, T. Y.
(1996) The impact of strategies-based instruction on speaking a foreign language. University of Minnesota, the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition.Google Scholar
De Bot, K.
(1992) A bilingual production model: Levelt’s speaking model adapted. Applied Linguistics, 131, 1–25.Google Scholar
De Jong, N. H., Steinel, M. P., Florijn, A. F., Schoonen, R., & Hulstijn, J. H.
(2012) Facets of speaking proficiency. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 341, 4–34. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Jong, N. & Perfetti, C. A.
(2011) Fluency training in the ESL classroom: An experimental study of fluency development and proceduralization. Language Learning, 61(2), 533–568. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
DeKeyser, R. M.
(1997) Beyond explicit rule learning: Automatizing second language morphosyntax. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 19(2), 195–221. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dörnyei, Z.
(1995) On the Teachability of Communication Strategies. TESOL Quarterly, 29(1), 55–85. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dörnyei, Z., & Scott, M.
(1995) Communication strategies: An empirical analysis with retrospection. In J. S. Turley & K. Lusby (Eds.), Selected papers from the proceedings of the 21st Annual Symposium of the Deseret Language and Linguistics Society (pp. 155–168). Provo, US: Brighham Young University.Google Scholar
Doughty, C., & Pica, T.
(1986) “Information gap” tasks: Do they facilitate second language acquisition?. TESOL quarterly, 20(2), 305–325. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dunn, L. L., & Dunn, D. M.
(2007) The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (4th. ed.). Bloomington, US: NCS Pearson.Google Scholar
Inspectie van het Onderwijs
(2004) Werk aan de basis. Evaluatie van de basisvorming na vijf jaar [Building the foundation. Evaluation of the foundation curriculum after five years]. De Meern, the Netherlands: Inspectie van het onderwijs.Google Scholar
Eckerth, J.
(2009) Negotiated interaction in the L2 classroom. Language Teaching, 42(1), 109–130. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R.
(2003) Task-Based Language Learning and Teaching. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
(2006) Current issues in the teaching of grammar: An SLA perspective. Tesol Quarterly, 40(1), 83–107. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2009) Task-based research and language pedagogy. In K. van de Branden, M. Bygate, & J. Norris (Eds.), Task-Based Language Teaching. A reader (pp. 109–129). Amsterdam/Philadelphia, the Netherlands: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Færch, C., & Kasper, G.
(1983) Strategies in interlanguage communication. London, UK: Longman.Google Scholar
Foster, P.
(1998) A classroom perspective on the negotiation of meaning. Applied linguistics, 19(1), 1–23. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Foster, P., & Ohta, A. S.
(2005) Negotiation for meaning and peer assistance in second language classrooms. Applied linguistics, 26(3), 402–430. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fukuta, J.
(2016) Effects of task repetition on learners’ attention orientation in L2 oral production. Language Teaching Research, 20(3), 321–340. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gallagher-Brett, A.
(2001) Teaching communication strategies to beginners. The Language Learning Journal 24(1), 53–61. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goh, C. C. M.
(2007) Teaching speaking in the language classroom. Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language Centre.Google Scholar
Goh, C. C. M., & Burns, A.
(2012) Teaching Speaking. Stuttgart, Germany: Ernst Klett Sprachen.Google Scholar
Griggs, P.
(2005) Assessment of the role of communicative tasks in the development of second language oral production skills. In A. Housen & M. Pierrard (Eds), Investigations in Instructed Second Language Acquisition (pp. 407–433). New York: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Hughes, R.
(2002) Teaching and Researching Speaking. Harlow, UK: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
Housen, A., Kuiken, F., & Vedder, I.
(2012) Dimensions of L2 performance and proficiency: Complexity, accuracy and fluency in SLA (Vol. 321). Herndon, VA: John Benjamins Publishing. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jansma, N., & Pennewaard, L.
(2014) Aansluiting Engels tussen vmbo-tl en mbo. Ervaringen vanuit de onderwijspraktijk [Aligning English in pre-vocational and vocational education. Experiences from the field]. Enschede, the Netherlands: Stichting Leerplan Ontwikkeling.Google Scholar
Johnson, K.
(1996) Language Teaching and Skill Learning. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Keck, C., Iberri-Shea, G., Tracy-Ventura, N., & Wa-Mbaleka, S.
(2006) Investigating the empirical link between task-based interaction and acquisition. In J. Norris & L. Ortega (Eds.), Synthesizing Research on Language Learning and Teaching (pp. 91–131). Herndon, VA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kellerman, E.
(1991) Compensatory strategies in second language research: A critique, a revision, and some (non-)implications for the classroom. In R. Phillipson, E. Kellerman, L. Selinker, M. Sharwood-Smith & M. Swain (Eds.), Foreign/Second Language Pedagogy Research, 142–160. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Kim, Y., & McDonough, K.
(2008) The effect of interlocutor proficiency on the collaborative dialogue between Korean as a second language learners. Language Teaching Research, 12(2), 211–234. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Konishi, K., & Tarone, E.
(2004) English constructions used in compensatory strategies: Baseline data for communicative EFL instruction. In Boxer, D. & Cohen, A. D. (Eds). Studying Speaking to Inform Second Language Learning, 174–198. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Kormos, J.
(2006) Speech production and second language acquisition. London, UK: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kouwenhoven, H., Ernestus, M., & van Mulken, M.
(2016) Communication strategy used by Spanish speakers of English in formal and informal speech. International Journal of Bilingualism, 20(5), 1–20.Google Scholar
Kuiken, F., & Vedder, I.
(2017) Functional adequacy in L2 writing: Towards a new rating scale. Language Testing, 34(3), 321–336. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kurtz, J.
(2011) Breaking through the communicative cocoon: Improvisation in secondary school foreign language classrooms. In R. K. Sawyer (Ed.), Structure and improvisation in creative teaching (pp. 133–161). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lam, W. Y. K.
(2004) Teaching strategy use for oral communication tasks to ESL learners. Leeds, UK: University of Leeds.Google Scholar
(2006) Gauging the effects of ESL oral communication strategy teaching: A multi-method approach. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 3(2), 142–157.Google Scholar
Lam, W., & Wong, J.
(2000) The effects of strategy training on developing discussion skills in an ESL classroom. ELT Journal, 54(3), 245–255. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lambert, C., Kormos, J., & Minn, D.
(2017) Task repetition and second language speech processing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 39(1), 167–196. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Levelt, W. J. M.
(1999) Producing spoken language: A blueprint of the speaker. In C. M. Brown & P. Hagoort (Eds.), The neurocognition of language (pp. 83–122). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Liemberg, E., & van Kleunen, E.
(1998) Talen in actie. Eindrapport van een onderzoek naar de rol van de moderne vreemde talen in de BVE-sector [Languages in action. Final report on research into the role of modern foreign languages in vocational and adult education]. Den Bosch, the Netherlands: CINOP/SLO.Google Scholar
Lightbown, P. M.
(2000) Anniversary article. Classroom SLA research and second language teaching. Applied linguistics, 21(4), 431–462. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2008) Transfer appropriate processing as a model for classroom second language acquisition. In Z. Han (Ed.). Understanding Second Language Process (pp. 27–44). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N.
(1990) Focus-on-form and corrective feedback in communicative language teaching. Studies in second language acquisition, 12(4), 429–448. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Loewen, S.
(2005) Incidental focus on form and second language learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27(3), 361–386. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Long, M.
(1991) Focus on form: A design feature in methodology. In K. de Bot, R. Ginsberg & C. Kramsch (Eds), Foreign Language Research in Cross-Cultural Perspective (pp. 39–52). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Long, M. H.
(2007) Problems in SLA. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.Google Scholar
Long, M.
(2015) Second Language Acquisition and Task-Based Language Teaching. Chichester, UK: Wiley Blackwell.Google Scholar
Lourdunathan, J., & Menon, S.
(2005) Developing speaking skills through interaction strategy training. The English Teacher, 341, 1–18.Google Scholar
Lowie, W., Verspoor, M., & van Dijk, M.
(2018) The acquisition of L2 speaking. In R. Alonso Alonso (Ed.) Speaking in a Second Language. AILA Applied Linguistics Series 17. Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lynch, T., & Maclean, J.
(2001) A case of exercising: Effects of immediate task repetition on learners’ performance. In M. Bygate, P. Skehan, & M. Swain (Eds.), Researching pedagogic tasks: Second language learning, teaching and testing (pp. 141–162). Harlow, UK: Pearson Education Limited.Google Scholar
Lyster, R., & Saito, K.
(2010) Oral feedback in classroom SLA: A meta-analysis. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 32(2), 265–302. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mackey, A., & Goo, J.
(2007) Interaction research in SLA: A meta-analysis and research synthesis. In A. Mackey (Ed.), Conversational Interaction in Second Language Acquisition: A series of empirical studies (pp. 407–452). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
McDonough, S. H.
(1999) Learner strategies. Language Teaching, 32(1), 1–18. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McNamara, T. F.
(1997) ‘Interaction’ in second language performance assessment: Whose performance? Applied Linguistics, 18(4), 446–466. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Meara, P., & Fitzpatrick, T.
(2000) Lex30: An improved method of assessing productive vocabulary in an L2. System, 28(1), 19–30. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nakatani, Y.
(2005) The effects of awareness-raising training on oral communication strategy use. The Modern Language Journal, 89(1), 76–91. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Naughton, D.
(2006) Cooperative strategy training and oral interaction: Enhancing small group communication in the language classroom. The Modern Language Journal, 90(2), 169–184. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Norris, J. M., & Ortega, L.
(2000) Effectiveness of L2 instruction: A research synthesis and quantitative meta-analysis. Language Learning, 50(3), 417–528. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
O’Malley, J. M., & Chamot, A. U.
(1990) Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pica, T., Kanagy, R., & J. Falodun
(2009) Choosing and using communication tasks for second language instruction. In K. van den Branden, M. Bygate, & J. Norris, (Eds.), Task-Based Language Teaching. A reader (pp. 171–192). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Poulisse, N.
(1993) A theoretical account of lexical communication strategies. In Schreuder, R. & Weltens, B. The Bilingual Lexicon (pp. 157–189). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rabab’ah, G.
(2016) The effect of communication strategy training on the development of EFL learners’ strategic competence and oral communicative ability. Journal of psycholinguistic research, 45(3), 625–651. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Révész, A., Ekiert, M., & Torgersen, E. N.
(2014) The effects of complexity, accuracy, and fluency on communicative adequacy in oral task performance. Applied Linguistics, 37(6), 828–848.Google Scholar
Rossiter, M.
(2003) “It’s Like Chicken but Bigger”: Effects of Communication Strategy in the ESL Classroom. Canadian Modern Language Review, 60(2), 105–121. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Saito, K., & Lyster, R.
(2012) Effects of form-focused instruction and corrective feedback on L2 pronunciation development of /ɹ/ by Japanese learners of English. Language Learning, 62(2), 595–633. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sample, E., & Michel, M.
(2015) An exploratory study into trade-off effects of complexity, accuracy, and fluency on young learners’ oral task repetition. TESL Canada Journal, 31(8), 23–46. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sayer, P.
(2005) An Intensive Approach to Building Conversational Skills. ELT Journal, 59(1), 14–22. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Scullen, M. E., & Jourdain, S.
(2000) The effect of explicit training on successful circumlocution: A classroom study. In J. F. Lee and A. Valdman (Eds.) Form and meaning: Multiple perspectives (pp. 231–253). Boston MA: Heinle & Heinle.Google Scholar
Segalowitz, N., & Lightbown, P. M.
(1999) Psycholinguistic approaches to SLA. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 191, 43–63. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shehadeh, A., & Coombe, C. A.
(Eds.) (2012) Task-based language teaching in foreign language contexts: Research and implementation (Vol. 41). Herndon, VA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Skehan, P.
(1996) Second language acquisition research and task-based instruction. In J. Willis & D. Willis (Eds.), Challenge and Change in Language Teaching (pp. 17–30). Oxford, UK: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Schmidt, R.
(1990) The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 111, 127–158. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sheen, R.
(2005) Focus on forms as a means of improving accurate oral production. In A. Housen & M. Pierrard (Eds), Investigations in Instructed Second Language Acquisition (pp. 271–310). New York: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Spada, N.
(2011) Beyond form-focused instruction: Reflections on past, present and future research. Language Teaching, 44(2), 225–236. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Spada, N., Jessop, L., Tomita, Y., Suzuki, W., & Valeo, A.
(2014) Isolated and integrated form-focused instruction: Effects on different types of L2 knowledge. Language Teaching Research, 18(4), 453–473. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Storch, N., & Aldosari, A.
(2013) Pairing learners in pair work activity. Language Teaching Research, 17(1), 31–48. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Swain, M.
(1985) Communicative competence: Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development. In S. M. Gass & C. G. Madden (Eds.). Input in Second Language Acquisition (pp. 235–252). Rowley, MA: Newbury House Publishers.Google Scholar
UNESCO
(2012) International Standard Classification of Education. ISCED 2011. Montreal, Canada: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.Google Scholar
Van Batenburg, E. S. L., Oostdam, R. J., van Gelderen, A. J. S., & de Jong, N. H.
(2016) Measuring L2 speakers’ interactional ability using interactive speech tasks. Language Testing, 35(1), 75–100. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Van Batenburg, E. S. L., Oostdam, R. J., van Gelderen, A. J., Fukkink, R. G. & de Jong, N. H.
(2019) Oral Interaction in the EFL Classroom: The Effects of Instructional Focus and Task Type on Learner Affect. Modern Language Journal (first view). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Van de Guchte, M., Braaksma, M., Rijlaarsdam, G., & Bimmel, P.
(2015) Learning new grammatical structures in task-based language learning: The effects of recasts and prompts. The Modern Language Journal, 99(2), 246–262. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Van de Guchte, M., & Rijlaarsdam, G.
(2018) Chatten in taakgericht MVT onderwijs: Effect op doeltaalgebruik en ervaringen van leerlingen. [Chatting in task-based Modern Foreign Language education: effects on target language use and learner experiences]. Levende Talen Tijdschrift, 19 (4), 3–14.Google Scholar
Wang, Z.
(2014) On-line time pressure manipulations: L2 speaking performance under five types of planning and repetition conditions. In P. Skehan, (Ed.), Processing Perspectives on Task Performance (pp. 27–61). Herndon, VA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Weir, C. J.
(2005) Language testing and validation. an evidence-based approach. Houndgrave, UK: Palgrave MacMillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Widodo, H. P.
(2016) Teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP): English for Vocational Purposes (EVP). In W. Renandya & H. P. Widodo (Eds.), English language teaching in Asia: Building a closer link between theory and practice (pp. 277–291). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Willis, J.
(1996) A Framework for Task-based Learning. Harlow, UK: Longman.Google Scholar
Yule, G., & Powers, M.
(1994) Investigating the communicative outcomes of task-based interaction. System, 22(1), 81–91. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

VAN BATENBURG, ELINE S. L., RON J. OOSTDAM, AMOS J. S. VAN GELDEREN, RUBEN G. FUKKINK & NIVJA H. DE JONG
2019. Oral Interaction in the EFL Classroom: The Effects of Instructional Focus and Task Type on Learner Affect. The Modern Language Journal 103:1 ► pp. 308 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 1 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.