Effect of TPR and CLT on young EFL learners’ speaking anxiety, oral proficiency, and vocabulary learning

Abstract

The teaching of English to young learners is a relatively new development in Turkish education system, and there is a need for research to determine the most effective teaching practices for this demographic. It is worth noting that worldwide, TPR studies have mainly focused on vocabulary learning, while CLT studies have focused on oral proficiency. However, despite the extensive research, there have been no attempts to compare the impact of TPR and CLT on young EFL learners' speaking anxiety, oral proficiency, and vocabulary learning. This study aimed at investigating the impact of Total Physical Response (TPR) and Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) on young Turkish EFL learners' speaking anxiety, oral proficiency, and vocabulary learning. Following a quasi-experimental research design, the participants’ speaking anxiety, oral proficiency and vocabulary knowledge were tested before and after the TPR and CLT interventions. The statistical analyses of the data revealed that both CLT and TPR reduced the participants’ speaking anxiety and improved their oral proficiency and increased their vocabulary knowledge. When compared, however, the improvement within the TPR group was significantly higher than the CLT group.