The Efficacy of Unguided Conversation on Fluency and Speaking Confidence: A Case Study in South Korea

Authors

  • Jeffrey Baldwin Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology
  • Jennifer Manning Korea Institute of Energy Technology in South Korea
  • Natasha Powell Pohang Institute of Science and Technology
  • Paulina Martinez

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56498/41202241

Keywords:

Conversation practice, Oral Fluency, Unguided conversation

Abstract

To date, there is limited research into the measurable benefits of unguided and unstructured conversation practice (typically a popular, in-demand service) for adult English language learners. This project looks to determine the differences in measured oral fluency as well as self-reported speaking confidence of South Korean university students before and after several months of conversational English practice with native English instructors. Participants were given weekly one-on-one “free talk” sessions with no grammatical instruction and very limited corrective feedback for a total of one hour. Sessions were recorded at early and late program intervals in order to calculate the average length of runs and speech rate. Moreover, students completed pre- and post-program surveys to estimate their overall confidence levels in L2 speaking. This project found limited change in fluency without direct corrective feedback. Furthermore, our measurements of students’ self-reported speaking confidence revealed inconsistent trends from the first to last sessions. This research seems to indicate that loosely structured, “coffee shop” style lessons should adopt a more structured curriculum in order to see more pronounced and measurable growth over time.

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Published

2022-06-27

How to Cite

Baldwin, J., Manning, J. ., Powell, N. ., & Martinez, P. . (2022). The Efficacy of Unguided Conversation on Fluency and Speaking Confidence: A Case Study in South Korea . Modern Journal of Studies in English Language Teaching and Literature, 4(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.56498/41202241

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 1 (2022)

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Articles

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