Teacher-Assisted vs. Peer-Assisted Performances and L2 Development: A Mixed Methods Approach

Abstract

<span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">The present study compared the impact of teacher-provided and peer-provided oral <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">assistance in the acquisition of English <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"><em>wh</em><span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">-question forms. Participants were 90 <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">female Iranian EFL learners who constituted the 3 groups of the study: teacherassisted, peer-assisted, and a control group. Participants in the experimental groups <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">received assistance either from the teacher or a peer during task-based performances <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">to make <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"><em>wh</em><span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">-questions, whereas those in the control group performed the same tasks <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">with no assistance. The study took a mixed-methods design. Results from the <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">quantitative pre/posttest analysis showed that both teacher-assisted and peer-assisted <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">groups significantly improved in receptive and productive knowledge of the L2 <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">forms compared to the control group, but no significant difference was observed <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">between the 2 groups' degree of language development. Results of the qualitative <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">microgenetic analysis revealed that the peer-assisted group outperformed the <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">teacher-assisted group at the first 2 time points of the experiment. The finding that <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">peer-provided assistance was effective with equal or greater benefits as compared to <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">the teacher-assisted group calls into question the traditional belief that L2 learners <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">are incapable of assisting peers in EFL classrooms.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" /><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span></span></span></span></span>