DOI: 10.5176/2251-3566_L314.62
Authors: Sakae Onoda
Abstract: This paper reports the results of an investigation into the effects of a revised 4/3/2 repeated story-telling task (Nation, 2009) on speaking fluency of English majors in a Japanese university. Participants were instructed to read a story, write a summary and comments, and then discuss with three different people in pairs. The teaching procedure includes such fluency-enhancing elements as meaning-focus, repetition, formulaic expressions, automatization, and deep processing. Participants in this study were first-year English majors taking a Basic English Seminar course. Classes met once a week for the academic year. Quantitative data were gathered from tests administered at the beginning and at the end of the year. Speaking fluency was measured using an interview test that assessed rate of speech and a standard college speaking test. Results showed that speaking fluency improved as measured by both tests, thus lending support to the adaptation of the revised 4/3/2 repeated story-telling task.
Keywords: speaking fluency; automatization; repetition; formulaic sequences; deep processing
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