The Effect of Teaching Communication Strategies on Iranian EFL Learners’ Speaking Self- efficacy in Content-based Courses

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of teaching communication strategies on students’ self-efficacy in speaking in content-based courses in Iranian EFL context. To this end, 30 students in two content-based classes, one as the experimental group and another as the control group, in SAMA private junior high school school in Tabriz, participated in this study. Communication strategy instruction was taught explicitly over a period of 16 one-hour sessions to the experimental group, while the control group didn’t receive any explicit communication strategy teaching. Data on the learners’ self-efficacy in speaking were collected through a researcher made questionnaire. The results of the data analysis using ANCOVA revealed the positive effect of teaching communication strategies (CSs) on students’ self efficacy in speaking in content-based courses in Iranian EFL context. The findings of this study have important implications for material developers for designing activities involving communication strategies and for teacher training programs for teaching communication strategies to improve learners’ self-efficacy regarding speaking skill.

Keywords

• Communication Strategies
• Content-based Course
• Self-Efficacy in Speaking