Enhancing Slovak EFL Learners´ Speaking Accuracy via Extensive Reading

Mgr. Michaela Sepešiová, PhD., Prešovská univerzita, ID Výzvy2017-573;    Abstract: Though perceptive skills are the most valuable sources of information, the article deals with the necessity of attention to development of speaking within the teaching of English as a foreign language since speaking skills appear to be the most problematic of the four language skills to be mastered by learners. The present study analyses the effects of extensive reading input on the accuracy and complexity of Slovak EFL learners’ speaking skills. Participants were 152 homogeneous, elementary EFL learners who attend three different elementary schools in eastern Slovakia. They were divided into six groups – 3 extensive reading input groups and 3 control groups. The participants’ dialogues in the pre-test and post-test phase were separately recorded, and later transcribed and coded in terms of accuracy and complexity through modified Brophy and Good (1970) standard coding system. The categories, including “correct response”, “partially correct response”, “incorrect or no response”, are generally related to the accuracy of answers. So as to analyse the obtained data from pre-test and post-test, paired sample T-Test was used to study the scores within each group. The results of post-test scores of the learners from extensive reading input group were significantly higher (at α=.5) than the control groups ‘learners. Therefore, it might be stated that extensive reading is beneficial for enhancing accuracy.

Key words: Elementary Pupils. Extensive Reading. Speaking Skills. Accuracy.