Enhancing the quality and quantity of verbal student participation: An action research study

The main purpose of learning a language is communication, but most EFL learners in Turkey have difficulties using English for communicational purposes. To deal with this situation, they need to interact with their peers in the classroom. This qualitative action research aims to increase the quality and quantity of 22 EFL learners' verbal participation through some collaborative activities during 13 weeks. In this study, firstly, a comprehensive literature review and an initial student survey are conducted to find the factors affecting student participation and how to increase the quality and quantity of verbal student participation in classroom interaction. Then, four regular teacher-controlled speaking classes and seven collaborative activities are recorded to see the effects of the activities on verbal student participation. The number of words and turns, the LREs, types of turns produced by learners, the number of different students, the percentage of students who spoke per class, and time spent in student participation are investigated to reveal the nature of learners' interactions and to see the effects of collaborative activities on the quality and quantity of verbal student participation. Additionally, post-activity surveys, the final student survey, and the reflective teacher journal also answer the research questions. The findings show that there are many factors such as speaking activities and topic selection affecting learners' verbal participation; collaborative activities increase the quality and the quantity of verbal student participation; and these activities differ in their effects on verbal student participation based on some factors.