Effects of Socio–affective Strategies
Training on Speaking Ability and
Anxiety Reduction among Iranian
Intermediate EFL Learners
By
Mehrdad Moloudi, PhD
Parisa Haji Mohamad Ebrahim
Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch
(Iran)
Background of the Study:
What are Socio-affective Strategies?
Taking your
emotional
temperature
Encouraging
yourself
Cooperating
with others
What are
Socio-affective
Strategies
Empathizing
with others
Asking for
questions
Lowering
your anxiety
Background of the Study:
Why Socio-affective Strategies?
Problems
associated
with
traditional way
of teaching
Acknowledged
benefits of
socio-affective
strategies
SocioAffective
Strategies
Statement of the Problem:
Current Problems in Research and
Practice in Iranian Context
Lack of effective strategies
Learners’ anxiety
Lack of motivation
Objectives of the Study
To investigate the effects of socioaffective strategies training on speaking
ability of Iranian intermediate EFL
learners
To investigate the effects of socioaffective strategies training on anxiety
reduction of Iranian intermediate EFL
learners
Methodology:
Research Design and Procedure
Number of Sessions
Session1
Session2
Session3-19
Session20
Activities
Proficiency test
Pretests
Treatment
Posttests
Design: quasi-experimental
Approach: quantitative method
Variables
Independent
Variable
Socioaffective
Strategies
Variables
Dependent
Variable
Speaking
ability
Anxiety
reduction
Proportion of the Target Population
to the Accessible Participants
Target Population
t
Sample
All intermediate learners enrolled
in fall semester in 2013 in English
Language Institute (N=80)
Intermediate learners who were
accepted to take part in the study
after proficiency test (N=44)
Sampling Technique:
Nonprobability convenient sampling
Instrumentation
Pretests
Speaking section of TOEFL IBT
Anxiety questionnaire
Socio-affective questionnaire
Treatment
Socio-affective strategies practice
Posttests
Speaking section of TOEFL IBT
Anxiety questionnaire
Socio-affective questionnaire
Data Collection
Week
Treatment (half an hour) and data collection
X1
X2
1
TOEFL PBT
TOEFL PBT
2
TOEFL IBT (Speaking),
TOEFL IBT (Speaking),
Anxiety and Socio-affective Anxiety and Socio-affective
questionnaires
questionnaires
3
SAS
NSAS
4
5
6
SAS
SAS
SAS
NSAS
NSAS
NSAS
7
8
SAS
SAS
NSAS
NSAS
9
10
11
SAS
SAS
SAS
NSAS
NSAS
NSAS
12
13
14
SAS
SAS
SAS
NSAS
NSAS
NSAS
15
16
17
SAS
SAS
SAS
NSAS
NSAS
NSAS
18
19
20
SAS
SAS
TOEFL IBT (Speaking),
Anxiety and Socioaffective questionnaires
NSAS
NSAS
TOEFL IBT (Speaking), Anxiety
and Socio-affective
questionnaires
Data Analysis
RQ1 (quantitative)
Mixed within-between groups ANOVA
RQ2 (quantitative)
Wilcoxin test and Man-whitney U test
1. Socio-affective strategies improved the
speaking ability of Iranian intermediate
EFL learners.
Experimental
Control
Pretest
Posttest
Total
Pretest
Posttest
Total
Mean
Std.
Deviation
N
1.6818
3.4091
2.5455
1.7955
2.1591
1.9773
.45107
.68376
1.04447
.64842
.80750
.74673
22
22
44
22
22
44
In line with the
literature:
Ikala.R.(2010); Hamzah,
M., Shamshiri, K., &
Noordin , N. (2009) ;
Habte-Gabr.E (2008)
2. Socio-affective strategies reduced the
anxiety of Iranian intermediate EFL
learners
Group
N
Mean Rank
Sum of
Ranks
1
2
22
22
15.98
29.2
351.50
638.50
anxiety
Mann-Whitney U
Wilcoxin W
Z
Asymp. Sig.(2tailed)
98.500
351.500
-3.374
.001
In line with the
literature:
Saeidi, M.,
Khaliliaqdam,S. (2013);
Phillips, E.M. (1992).
Result of Socio-affective Strategies
Questionnaire
Group
N
Mean Rank
Sum of
Ranks
1
2
22
22
30.25
14.75
665.50
324.50
Anxiety
Mann-Whitney U
Wilcoxin W
Z
Asymp. Sig.(2tailed)
71.500
324.500
-4.014
.000
Pedagogical Implications
Help identify effective language learning strategies and materials
or reflect the curriculum that is actually being implemented in
the classroom.
Help learners to develop their group work activity. In another
words, they can share their experiences, cooperate with each
other, asking for clarification, and encouraging each other before
start speaking in front of the teacher and other students.
Help learners to control and reduce their anxiety by practicing
relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, making positive
statement, and discussing their feeling to someone else.
Provide information on the strength and weaknesses of each
individual student.
Suggestions
First
Focusing on another strategy such as cognitive or
metacognitive.
Second
Focusing on another skill such as listening or
reading.
Third
Focusing on another affective factor such as
motivation and self-steem.
Fourth
Focusing on gender, proficiency level and age of the
students.
Thanks For Your Attention
dr.moloudi@yahoo.com
ebrahimy_parisa@yahoo.com