The Effect of Dyadic and Triadic Interaction on Iranian EFL Learners’ Oral Proficiency

Abstract

Knowing about interaction and applying it among EFL learners, is one of the crucial and important factors which needs to be taken seriously in English education. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Dyadic and Triadic Interaction between young Iranian English learners and to find out how the different forms of interaction between the learners in classroom practice can enhance their oral proficiency by drawing on some theories such as Social Learning, Social Development Theory and Interaction Hypothesis. 61 Iranian young learners participated in the study, taking part in two interviews that were based on Young Learners English Test YLE Cambridge University (Starter). The subjects’ interactional behaviors were determined by the researcher with a checklist which named Learner’s Interaction. Multivariate and discriminate analyses of both experimental groups and control groups’ scores indicated that dyadic interaction between young learners could enhance their oral proficiency more effectively in comparison with that of control group in which all activities were conducted individually, but it didn’t improve learners’ oral proficiency significantly in comparison with Triadic interaction. The results can be used to pave the way for adopting effective educational planning and consequently enhancing teaching education system and improving teachers' practice and learning in EFL contexts.