Pushed and Non-pushed Speaking Tasks in an EAP Context: What Are the Benefits for Linguistic Processing and Accuracy?

Shelley Byrne,Christian Jones

doi:10.5755/j01.sal.0.24.6366

Abstract

This article reports on a mixed methods study investigating the effectiveness of pushed and non-pushed speaking tasks in a UK university setting with upper-intermediate students. Specifically, the study addressed a) if a pushed speaking task produced more language related episodes (LREs) than a non-pushed speaking task b) the differences in the types of LREs produced by each task and c) whether a pushed speaking task resulted in more accurate usage of past narrative forms. Results showed that the pushed storytelling task produced significantly more LREs than the non-pushed task and it also identified that the most common LRE type for both pushed and non-pushed learners related to some form of output correction. The pushed group achieved greater accuracy gains from pretest and posttest scores but these gain scores were not found to be statistically significant. The study concludes that creating a push during spoken output activities can increase the occurrence of opportunities for linguistic processing, and subsequently interlanguage development, to occur. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.0.24.6366

Highlights

Within the field of second language acquisition (SLA), the role of language production and its contribution to interlanguage development has faced much debate (Selinker, 1972)
This study aimed to explore how pushed and non-pushed speaking tasks can vary in effectiveness within a setting with upper intermediate students of English
There was a significant positive effect upon the number of learnerinitiated language related episodes (LREs) when students were pushed in their spoken output

Summary

Introduction

Within the field of second language acquisition (SLA), the role of language production and its contribution to interlanguage development has faced much debate (Selinker, 1972). Following research within an immersion programme setting, Swain (1985) became one of the first advocates for the role of output in the enhancement of SLA. A review of literature shows that many COH studies to date have taken place in an immersion context and have often used written output tasks to explore the hypothesis. They have not tended to take into account how learners themselves view the production of LREs during pushed and non-pushed output tasks. This study seeks to address these issues by answering the following research questions: 1) Does a pushed speaking task result in more language related episodes (LREs) than a non-pushed task for adult upper intermediate learners at an HE institution in the UK?

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Conclusion