EFL Learners' Oral Production through different Communication Tasks

Most second language researchers believe that the more communicative the task is the more acquisition opportunities may occur among EFL learners. For a task to be more communicative it should trigger more negotiation of meaning through providing learners with opportunities to use English for a genuine purpose. Both tasks that elicit specific linguistic forms and tasks that elicit general samples of language can provide learners with genuine opportunities of negotiation of meaning. However, the frequency of negotiation and the structures that are promoted by each task type are different. This book investigates these differences through the performance of EFL learners of both focused and unfocused communication tasks. Statistical results and interpretations revealed that learners performed both tasks as unfocused tasks and they were able to use different communication strategies to circumvent the target structure. Additionally, Examples of different language structures produced by learners in both tasks are highlighted with explanation. Learners' perceptions of their own performance are explored and implications that may shed light on any potential learning effect are discussed too.

Samira Saeed Al Hosni is TEFL & TESOL supervisor and instructor.Also She is an assistant researcher at Sultan Qaboos University. She holds an M. Ed in TEFL (curriculum & methodology). Her areas of interest are TEFL & TESOL research, Task based language teaching & learning, EFL learners' oral communication and continuous professional development.