Abstract
Picture-based storytelling tasks, i. e. telling a story relying on some
pictures, and short speech tasks, i. e. producing a speech with a given topic
without pictures, are two types of oral narrative tasks widely adopted in previous studies. However, few have discussed what effects these two types of tasks
may exert on second language learners’ speaking performance. In this study,
sixty English as a foreign language learners, divided into lower- and higherproficiency groups, performed a picture-based storytelling task and a short
speech task. Stimulated recalls were collected from seventeen participants.
Their oral discourses were analysed in terms of complexity, accuracy, and
fluency. Stimulated recalls were analysed based on Levelt’s speaking model.
The short speech tasks raised participants’ accuracy and lexical complexity and
were more effective for higher-proficient learners regarding structural complexity. The findings yield suggestions for designing oral narrative tasks for EFL
learners with different L2 proficiency levels.
pictures, and short speech tasks, i. e. producing a speech with a given topic
without pictures, are two types of oral narrative tasks widely adopted in previous studies. However, few have discussed what effects these two types of tasks
may exert on second language learners’ speaking performance. In this study,
sixty English as a foreign language learners, divided into lower- and higherproficiency groups, performed a picture-based storytelling task and a short
speech task. Stimulated recalls were collected from seventeen participants.
Their oral discourses were analysed in terms of complexity, accuracy, and
fluency. Stimulated recalls were analysed based on Levelt’s speaking model.
The short speech tasks raised participants’ accuracy and lexical complexity and
were more effective for higher-proficient learners regarding structural complexity. The findings yield suggestions for designing oral narrative tasks for EFL
learners with different L2 proficiency levels.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 383-409 |
Journal | IRAL - International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching |
Volume | 60 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2022 |
Keywords
- narrative task
- oral performance
- picture prompts
- task-based language teaching
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Language and Linguistics
- Linguistics and Language