The Effect of Project Work on the Speaking Ability of Iranian EFL beginner Students

Abstract

EFL learning context stresses on the speaking skill as a vital communicative tool. The students will be more proud if they are able to interact with the other interlocutors. Since the Iranian students are far from the native context and the most of their learning happens in the classroom, application of an appropriate teaching method increases motivation, self-confidence, autonomy, and consequently speaking skill as whole.  The present research endeavored to illustrate the effect of PW on students’ speaking skill. The participants were selected from a mixed-class students enrolled a general English course in Islamic Azad University of Chabahar (IAUC). The pre-test was administered and indicated that the students were homogeneous and at the elementary level. Then, one of the classes was assigned as control group and the other was the experimental group who respectively underwent conventional teaching method (teacher-centered method) and PW (student-centered method). After 10 sessions, the post-tests were administered for both groups in order to measure their speaking achievement. The outcomes demonstrated that while the control group and the experimental group were homogeneous before the treatment, their speaking performances were significantly different after implementing PW. Therefore, the researcher concluded that PW influences total speaking ability of elementary adult EFL students.