The Impact of Dialogue via Peer Interaction on English Oral Ability and English Learning Attitude of Elementary School Students

• Main Authors: Chiung-Wa Lin, 林瓊娃
• Other Authors: Shu-Hui Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/93115546409516579797

碩士 === 國立臺北教育大學 === 兒童英語教育學系碩士班 === 103 === The study aimed to investigate the impact of peer interaction on EFL students’ English oral ability and English learning attitude as well as their opinions toward peer interaction. The participants were 24 sixth grade students in an elementary school in New Taipei City. The study adopted one-group pretest-posttest experimental design, and lasted for 6 weeks, 720 minutes in total, with three periods per week and 40 minutes per period. This study adopted a quantitative research method, supplemented with interview. The quantified instruments included a pre- and a post-test of English oral ability and English learning attitude questionnaire. The English oral ability test, including picture telling with a sentence, picture story telling and spotting the difference in pictures, measured the richness and the accuracy of students’ oral narration. The English learning attitude questionnaire contained three dimensions: learning confidence, learning interest, and learning anxiety. After the intervention, data collected from the pre- and post-tests and the questionnaire were analyzed quantitatively through the use of paired-samples t test. The interviewed data collected from five higher and five lower proficient learners were also examined to tap into their perceptions about peer interaction. The major findings were as follows: 1. Peer interaction had positive impact on EFL young learners’ oral ability. 2. Through peer interaction, EFL young learners boosted their English learning attitude. 3. Based on the interview data, EFL young learners enjoyed peer interaction activities and considered it a useful method to enhance their English oral ability, and English learning attitude. Based on the findings of the study, suggestions for further research and for those who are interested in the implementation of peer interaction were offered.