The Effect of Alternative Approach on Iranian Intermediate EFLLearners’ Speaking Accuracy and Fluency

This study investigated the effect of alternative approach on Iranian EFL learners’ speaking accuracy andfluency, and examined its role on students’ speaking proficiency in conversation classes. Ninety studentsselected in an English language institution in Lorestan, Iran. Through an oral test sixty out of ninetystudents whose scores were between one standard deviation (SD) above and below the mean were selectedas the participants of the study. Then they were divided into two equal homogeneous groups ofexperimental and control. Control and experimental groups were under the instruction of different teachersin the same school for ten sessions within five weeks. The experimental group received the treatment whichwas five units of “New Interchange ۱“developed by Richards (۲۰۰۸) and was taught under the supervisionof the teacher using alternative approach strategy but the control group was taught in the traditional way.After the teaching period was over, a post-test was presented to both groups to see whether the teacher'salternative approach had been effective. The scores obtained through the pre and the post-test wereanalyzed using the Paired and Independent Samples t-test procedure and the results reported. The resultsindicated that the experimental group of EFL learners under the supervision of teachers applying alternativeapproach better than their counterpart (control group) that paved the way in traditional way. Hence, it isclaimed that this trend is conducive for conversation.

کلیدواژه ها:

Alternative approach ، EFL learner ، speaking accuracy ، speaking fluency