1- Department of ELT, Ah.C., Islamic Azad University, Ahar, Iran
2- Department of ELT, AhC., Islamic Azad University, Ahar, Iran ,naderassadi@iau.ac.ir
3- Department of ELT, Ah.C., Islamic Azad University, Ahar, Iran
2- Department of ELT, AhC., Islamic Azad University, Ahar, Iran ,
3- Department of ELT, Ah.C., Islamic Azad University, Ahar, Iran
Abstract: (16 Views)
Objective: This study investigated the differential effects of five psycholinguistic task types—jigsaw, information-gap, problem-solving, decision-making, and opinion-exchange—on the willingness to communicate of Iranian EFL learners.
Methods: Adopting a quasi-experimental, pretest–posttest design, the study involved 150 intermediate-level female learners from private language institutes in Khoy, Iran. Participants were screened using the Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and divided into five intact classes, each receiving a specific task-based instructional treatment. Learners’ WTC was measured before and after the 10-session intervention using MacIntyre et al.’s (2001) WTC questionnaire. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and a one-way ANOVA.
Results: Findings revealed a statistically significant main effect of task type on WTC (p = .001). Post-hoc analyses indicated that while all tasks contributed to increased WTC, the opinion-exchange tasks yielded the most significant improvements compared to other task typologies.
Conclusions: These results suggest that tasks promoting personal agency, subjective expression, and reduced evaluative pressure are particularly effective in fostering communicative engagement in foreign language contexts. The study highlights the importance of context-sensitive task design in enhancing learners’ affective and communicative outcomes in EFL classrooms.
Methods: Adopting a quasi-experimental, pretest–posttest design, the study involved 150 intermediate-level female learners from private language institutes in Khoy, Iran. Participants were screened using the Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and divided into five intact classes, each receiving a specific task-based instructional treatment. Learners’ WTC was measured before and after the 10-session intervention using MacIntyre et al.’s (2001) WTC questionnaire. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and a one-way ANOVA.
Results: Findings revealed a statistically significant main effect of task type on WTC (p = .001). Post-hoc analyses indicated that while all tasks contributed to increased WTC, the opinion-exchange tasks yielded the most significant improvements compared to other task typologies.
Conclusions: These results suggest that tasks promoting personal agency, subjective expression, and reduced evaluative pressure are particularly effective in fostering communicative engagement in foreign language contexts. The study highlights the importance of context-sensitive task design in enhancing learners’ affective and communicative outcomes in EFL classrooms.
Keywords: Willingness to Communicate (WTC), Psycholinguistic Tasks, Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), Iranian EFL Learners, Opinion-Exchange Tasks
Type of Study: Original |
Subject:
Educational Studies
Received: 2026/04/15 | Accepted: 2026/08/18 | ePublished ahead of print: 2026/11/13
Received: 2026/04/15 | Accepted: 2026/08/18 | ePublished ahead of print: 2026/11/13
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