Task Type Effects on EFL Oral Production, Perception, and Proficiency

Abstract

This study investigates the oral production and perceptions of 38 EFL learners using two task types: personal information and narrative picture tasks. It also examines whether proficiency level moderates the impact of task type on EFL speech. Results from two-way ANOVAs and thematic analysis revealed that the personal information task was less demanding for EFL learners than the narrative picture task. The data also indicated that EFL learners achieved higher levels of accuracy and syntactic complexity during the personal information task, diverging from theoretical underpinnings and existing research findings in this area. Furthermore, the data showed that while proficiency affected the accuracy and fluency of speech production, it did not moderate task performance, suggesting that EFL learners' performance on the two tasks remained consistent across different proficiency levels. These findings have significant implications for research, pedagogy, and assessment in EFL contexts.