Grammaring, Its Effects on Oral Performance Among EFL Beginner-Level Learners in Higher Education

Over several decades, numerous approaches applied to EFL have resulted in theories and reasonings to teach and learn English. Although Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is the most commonly used path nowadays, it has only resulted in minimal development of university learners’ oral skills; i.e., English-beginner-level students usually attain minimal scores on oral performance after instruction using CLT approaches in some Higher Education Institutions. Thus, this study aims to illustrate the impact of Grammaring approach, in combination with the practice of Form and Meaning as a complement to Use in CLT, on students’ oral proficiency. Data from 38 students in control (n=19) and experimental (n=19) groups were analyzed. A descriptive and inferential statistical analysis of rubric bands from pre and post tests showed subtle improvements in aspects of Form (syntax) and Meaning (lexical use) but not in Use. These results have implications on what to teach and how to teach some language skills to lower-level learners, and highlights considerations for elaborating rubrics and assessing foreign language learners.