The Effect of Explicit Instruction of Formulaic Sequences on Oral Proficiency Improvement of Young Iranian EFL Students

Abstract This study aimed to shed light on young Iranian EFL students’ oral proficiency improvement through explicit instruction of formulaic sequences (FSs). This pretest-posttest quasi experimental study was conducted in a bilingual school in Shahrekord, Iran. Accordingly, based on ACTFL OPI test, two groups of low intermediate students with age range of ۱۱ to ۱۲ were chosen to be assigned as control and experimental groups. The control group with ۲۰ participants continued its regular instruction focusing on analytic grammar rules and discrete vocabulary, while the experimental group with ۴۰ participants received explicit FSs-based instruction through readings, by adopting a teaching procedure inspired by Lewis’ prescribed strategies for lexicon instruction. After ۲۴ sessions of instruction, the participants were interviewed again, and their oral performance was recorded and transcribed to be scored by two experienced judges. Subsequently, ANOVA results revealed the significant oral proficiency improvement of experimental group in comparison to the control group, pointing to the effectiveness of FSs instruction.

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Key words: Formulaic Sequences , Oral Proficiency , Input Noticing , ACTFL OPI