The influence of task repetition and task structure on EFL learners' oral narrative retellings

Abstract

This article reports on an empirical study which attempted to explore the influence of repeating two different types of narrative tasks on complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) in the oral production of learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). For this purpose, the effects of four conditions (i.e. no task repetition with a loosely structured narrative, task repetition with a loosely structured narrative, no task repetition with a tightly structured narrative, and task repetition with a tightly structured narrative) on learners’ CAF in producing English language were examined. Sixty Iranian intermediate-level EFL learners participated in this study. They were randomly assigned to the four performance conditions. The results of one-way analyses of variances revealed that narrative type significantly contributes to the impact of task repetition on learners’ oral performance. Interestingly, it was found that giving EFL learners the opportunity to repeat a tightly structured narrative task brings about gains in complexity, fluency, as well as accuracy. These findings bear theoretical and pedagogical implications for researchers and practitioners in EFL context.