Korean EFL Learners’ Perspectives on Speaking Tasks: Discussion, Summary, and Information-Exchange Tasks

Kim Mihye

doi:10.5539/elt.v7n11p1

Abstract

This study investigates Korean university English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ task preference among three different speaking tasks. Quantitative data were collected through questionnaires and qualitative data were collected from interviews. Quantitative datawere obtained from 88 survey respondents and qualitative data from 50 interview participants. Two sets of identical questionnaires were used before and after the semester in which the study took place. Learners were askedto rate their degrees of task preference and their levels of task interest and task satisfaction in the classroom. The results show that “Discussion task” is the most preferred task type among the three different speaking tasks: “Discussion task,” “Information-exchange task,” and “Summary task.” However, learners report that “Information-exchange task” is the most difficult and their topic preference for the “Information-exchange task” is the lowest. In terms of the correlations between topic preference and speaking performance, moderate levels of positive correlations are shown. The findings suggest that task-based learningshould be widely utilized inuniversity-level EFL classrooms.

Highlights

Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) is considered an important teaching method in English as Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms, and several researchers have investigated the use of tasks in classrooms (Brown, 2004; Bygate, 1996; Ortega, 1999; Thornbury, 2005; Wendel, 1997; Wigglesworth, 1997)
The results show that “Discussion task” is the most preferred task type among the three different speaking tasks: “Discussion task,” “Information-exchange task,” and “Summary task.”
The results show that “Discussion task” was the highest followed by “Information task” and “Summary task.”

Summary

Introduction

Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) is considered an important teaching method in EFL classrooms, and several researchers have investigated the use of tasks in classrooms (Brown, 2004; Bygate, 1996; Ortega, 1999; Thornbury, 2005; Wendel, 1997; Wigglesworth, 1997). Within TBLT, speaking tasks are gaining popularity, and it is critical to understand task preference for university-level students among different task types. Task preference can motivate students’ speaking performance and reduce unnecessary time to explain irrelevant task types. The goal of the university-level classroom is to meet students’ expectation in class, so it is wise to use the most preferred task type to improve students’ speaking performance in a limited time. Learners’ perspectives have been largely ignored in the classroom implementation of different speaking tasks, such as “Discussion tasks,” “Summary tasks,” and “Information-exchange tasks.”. In studies considering the relationship between speaking tasks and learners’ level, the perspectives and experiences of learners have been largely excluded while the central focus has been on teachers Learners’ perspectives have been largely ignored in the classroom implementation of different speaking tasks, such as “Discussion tasks,” “Summary tasks,” and “Information-exchange tasks.” In studies considering the relationship between speaking tasks and learners’ level, the perspectives and experiences of learners have been largely excluded while the central focus has been on teachers

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Discussion

Conclusion