Polish pre- and upper-intermediate learners’ opinions on the significance of linguistic and non-linguistic determinants of speech in developing their EFL speaking skill: A quantitative study

Klaudia Gajewska

Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Poland

Klaudia Gajewska is a PhD candidate at The Maria Curie-Skłodowska University and an English teacher in a secondary school in Lublin, Poland. Her research interests centre around Second Language Acquisition and Foreign Language Teaching with a special emphasis placed on examining the relationship between the productive skill of speaking and its subskill, pronunciation.


https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5796-2951


Abstract

Since “spontaneous verbal expression is not solely a product of knowledge and skill in using a language code” (Rivers 1968: 192), many scholars have emphasised the interdisciplinarity of the ability to speak. Having stressed the multifaceted character of speaking in the light of the selected linguistic and non-linguistic determinants of speech, we aim to explore Polish learners’ opinions on what components underlying a speech production process influence their ability to speak English. The quantitative study that we conducted among the group of 66 Polish EFL secondary school and university students revealed that out of 12 linguistic and non-linguistic determinants of speech, the knowledge of FL vocabulary and culture were respectively judged to be the most and least relevant. Even though some statistical differences in pre- and upper-intermediate students’ choices were keenly anticipated, between-group comparisons of A2 and B2 level subjects’ answers did not render any statistically significant similarities or differences.

Keywords:

FL speaking, EFL pre-intermediate speakers, EFL upper-intermediate speakers, linguistic determinants of speech, non-linguistic determinants of speech, learners’ opinions, Polish EFL classroom

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Published
2020-09-30


Gajewska, K. (2020) “Polish pre- and upper-intermediate learners’ opinions on the significance of linguistic and non-linguistic determinants of speech in developing their EFL speaking skill: A quantitative study”, Crossroads. A Journal of English Studies, (30), pp. 57–76. doi: 10.15290/cr.2020.30.3.04.

Klaudia Gajewska 
Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Poland

Klaudia Gajewska is a PhD candidate at The Maria Curie-Skłodowska University and an English teacher in a secondary school in Lublin, Poland. Her research interests centre around Second Language Acquisition and Foreign Language Teaching with a special emphasis placed on examining the relationship between the productive skill of speaking and its subskill, pronunciation.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5796-2951