Dialogue Localization in Conversation Design and EFL Learners’ L2 Classroom Conversation Fluency Achievement

Abstract

The present study investigated the effect of dialogue localization as a classroom activity on intermediate EFL learners’ classroom conversation. To achieve this, 60 intermediate language learners were selected as convenient sample. The participants’ proficiency levels were determined through the administration of the OPT test. The OPT test utilized in this study comprises a total of 30 questions, distributed evenly across three categories: listening, vocabulary, and grammar, with 10 questions allocated to each category. The proficiency level of the students was determined based on their scores, with a range of 0-10 indicating a pre-intermediate level, 10-20 indicating an intermediate level, and 20-30 indicating an advanced level. Then, they were divided into experimental and control groups. According to Farhady, Jafarpur, and Birjandi (1994), a pre-test of speaking consisting of 7 questions was administered to both groups, and the participants were required to respond orally. The scoring system used for evaluating the participants’ speaking skills was based on the guidelines outlined in the book “Testing Language Skills from Theory to Practice.” The experimental group was then taught localized conversation while the control group was taught non-localized conversation. After ten sessions of the treatments, a post-test of speaking was administered in which the participants in both groups were involved in the same activity as the pretest. The data were analyzed through calculating independent sample t-test. The results indicated that the means of the two groups were significantly different, i.e., the experimental group outperformed the control group in the speaking achievement. This means that localization in dialogue has the potential to enhance students’ speaking abilities during classroom conversations.