Increasing Iranian Learners’ Speaking Skill by Employing the Vaughan Method

This study was conducted to provide a comparison between the Vaughan Method and the Communicative Language Teaching in terms of developing the speaking skill. A mixed-method design was selected. In the quantitative part which included a quasi-experimental design, 8 intact classes of 75 advanced Iranian EFL learners were given IELTS speaking pretests and posttests. An ANCOVA was run because the effects of the pretest scores were considered as the covariate and the type of method was the independent variable. The ANCOVA indicated that that there were no significant differences among the performance of the two treatment groups, which showed that there was no significant difference between the Vaughan Method and the Communicative Language Teaching classes in terms of developing the learners’ speaking skill. Meanwhile, the learners’ attitudes towards the usefulness of the Vaughan method were obtained through a questionnaire and an interview. The learners’ attitudes showed that the error correction and repetition were viewed positively. Meanwhile, they considered the teacher as the prime factor in increasing their motivation which led to the improvement of their speaking skill. This study implies that although the Communicative Language Teaching is an advanced and comprehensive approach, eclectically designed methods such as the Vaughan method could be as successful in EFL contexts.