Davoud Amini; Rana Ansari; Bahram Behin
Abstract
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 ...
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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.
Ali Akbar Khomeijani Farahani; Shiva Kaivanpanah; Zainab Sadat Naseri
Volume 11, Issue 24 , December 2019, , Pages 177-200
Abstract
The importance of communicative ability in second language classroom context has increased the interest in interaction among foreign language learners. The quality of negotiations is influenced by so many factors that should be investigated in order to facilitate the process of second language acquisition. ...
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The importance of communicative ability in second language classroom context has increased the interest in interaction among foreign language learners. The quality of negotiations is influenced by so many factors that should be investigated in order to facilitate the process of second language acquisition. This study seeks to investigate the effect of task type on autonomous EFL learners’ interactive negotiation in synchronous computer-mediated communication context. Total number of 60 pre- intermediate EFL learners were chosen from Iran Language Institute of Birjand based on their performance on the language learning autonomy questionnaire designed by Zhang and Li (2004). They participated in three types of tasks, including Decision making, Jigsaw, and Opinion gap tasks via Telegram Desktop. The chat history of EFL learners was analyzed in terms of the model of interaction proposed by Tsui (1994). Three main moves of Initiating, Responding, and Follow-up were included in her taxonomy of interaction analysis. The results suggested that the learners tried to utilize different frequencies of appropriate moves to achieve the goals of the specific task. Practically, this study presented a revised model that can be used as a frame work for designing suitable task types in the process of computer-mediated communication.
