Exploring the Relationship between Life Quality and Speaking Ability of Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners

International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Research

مقاله 14، دوره 6، شماره 22، آذر 2018، صفحه 59-71   

نوع مقاله: Research Papers

نویسندگان

Reza Biria^{* 1}؛ nikoo farhadian²

¹Department of Foreign Languages, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Isfahan, Iran

²The English Department, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Islamic Azad University Khorasgan (Isfahan) Branch, Isfahan, Iran

چکیده

Despite its direct relevance to second/foreign language learning, quality of life has been a neglected area within Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research. The present study sought to investigate the relationship between quality of life factors and speaking skill as one of the most challenging parts of L2 learning. To this end, an adapted version of life quality questionnaire originally devised by the World Health Organization (WHO) was administered to 100 female intermediate Iranian EFL learners. In addition, 30 of the participants were randomly selected to take part in follow-up semi-structured interviews which asked why the respondents felt the way they reported. The analysis of data obtained from questionnaire and interviews revealed that although all the four domains of life quality namely physical, psychological, social, and environmental domains had impact on the speaking ability of the participants, a number of facets in physical and psychological domains were more influential. Furthermore, the statistical Pearson correlation analysis demonstrated a positive correlation between life quality factors dominating learner’s success in speaking tasks. The findings of this study have implications for teacher educators and educational decision makers in bringing about higher levels of speaking ability and Quality Of Life (QOL) among English language learners.

کلیدواژه‌ها

quality of life؛ Speaking Skill؛ Physical factors؛ Psychological factors؛ Social Factors؛ Environmental factors

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