| Summary: | English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) students who attend academic
institutions are required to communicate orally about the texts they read but are
often anxious about their oral language proficiency. They, as well as their
instructors, have noted that oral production for ESL students can be problematic
particularly in classrooms where English is the dominant language. While previous
research has examined the written work of ESL students, this study explores the
production of their oral language.
Fourteen intermediate level ESL students at a mid-sized college/university
in British Columbia received explicit instruction in discourse marker use through
either a question-and-answer series or a graphic representation of the knowledge
structure of principles or cause and effect (Mohan, 1986). Participants analyzed
the text for key ideas and for markers that are conventionally recognized in cause
and effect discourse, then recalled the text orally. Through pre and post-tests, a
written questionnaire, a semi-controlled task in constructing graphics and in-depth
analyses of participants' oral samples, the effects of explicit instruction on the
production of oral language were researched. Findings were expressed as
observations with implications for facilitating ESL students' oral production of cause and effect discourse and possibly for their notemaking so that they might
integrate the language and content they require for their academic studies. === Education, Faculty of === Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of === Graduate
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