Retelling Yassawi’s Hikmets: the impact on EFL students’ English-speaking performance and vocabulary size

Abstract

This experimental study evaluates the effects of retelling Yassawi’s hikmets on the speaking performance and vocabulary size of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learner. Sixty EFL students recruited from a university in Kazakhstan were asked to narrate monologues based on previously read hikmets of their choice during out-of-class meetings once a week over 10 weeks. The results reveal that this intervention significantly improved participants’ speech fluency, lexical complexity and vocabulary size as opposed to their counterparts who did not engage in the retelling experience. However, the analysis of covariance revealed that only fluency and lexical complexity showed significant differences after controlling for the pre-test scores of these variables and vocabulary size. It was also found that pre-test vocabulary size and fluency had a moderating influence on post-test fluency. In a nutshell, retelling hikmets brought about gains in learners’ vocabulary and speaking performance especially in terms of fluency. This evidence underscores the effectiveness of oral text reproduction exercises in improving the speaking abilities and vocabulary of EFL learners   even when the recited text is out-of-date and not really engaging. The findings advance our understanding of effective language teaching methods and offer practical guidance for EFL teachers, curriculum developers and researchers.