“Claim – support – question” routine to foster coherence within interactive oral communication among EFL students

Abstract

This article reports on the results of an action research study that aimed to determine the effect of a thinking routine in the development of coherence in speaking interactions. The study was carried out with two groups of second year business students in an English as a foreign language program at a university in southern Chile. A mixed methods approach was used to collect data before and after the intervention through questionnaires and pre-and post-tests. The findings suggest that the impact of the application of the routine was significant in promoting the speaking competence, especially in developing coherence within interactive communication.