Oral Communicative Competence: Explicit Teaching and Systematic Practice in Portuguese L1 Classes Impact of a Program Implemented in Middle School

Abstract

Oral language skills support not only the oral communicative competence itself but also reading skills. However, the development of oral communicative competence has not received the same attention in research as reading or even writing has. The main goal of this study was to examine the effect of the oral skills training program “Communication and Oral Expression: speaking, listening, and reading in middle school” on 7th-grade students’ oral communicative competence (verbal, paraverbal, and non-verbal skills). Possible effects on students’ vocabulary knowledge were also considered. This quasi-experimental study design, involving an experimental and a control group, comprises a sample of 122 students from two public middle schools located in the North of Portugal, with ages ranging from 11 to 16. Verbal, paraverbal, and nonverbal skills were taught and practiced for seven months. These skills were assessed four times (pre-test, two intermediate measures, and post-test). A vocabulary test was administered as a pre-test to check students’ vocabulary knowledge, being also assessed at the end of the intervention program (post-test). Multivariate and univariate analyses of covariance tests showed a significant and large effect of the group on students’ oral communicative performances at the end of the intervention, after controlling for the effect of the pre-test results. The results of a Mixed ANOVA showed that there was a significant improvement in the experimental group concerning vocabulary knowledge. These results highlight the importance of practicing speaking skills within educative settings for the development of children’s oral communicative competence and vocabulary knowledge.