The use of the 3,2,1 technique to foster students’ speaking fluency

Barriga, M. M., & Briesmaster, M. (2017). The Use of the 3/2/1 Technique to Foster Students' Speaking Fluency. I.E.: Inquiry in Education, 9(2), 1-13.

Background

With the shift to a more communicative approach to teaching and a greater emphasis on communicative competence, there is a need to help students communicate their ideas and thoughts fluently.

Aims

This study investigated how the use of the 3/2/1 technique influenced students’ speaking fluency.

Sample

Forty English as a foreign language (EFL) students from a technical university in central-southern Chile participated in this study. They were second year students taking the same major.

Method

The participants were randomly placed into two groups – control and experimental – with each having twenty students. In Week 1, the participants took a pre-test based on the 3/2/1 technique. This technique required the participants to make a three-minute speech based on a given topic. Then, the same speech had to be compressed into two minutes, and finally into one minute. From Week 2 to 8, the experimental group practised the technique once a week while the control group had regular classes. In Week 9, both groups took a post-test based on the 3/2/1 technique. The participants’ deliveries were recorded, transcribed, and analysed in terms of pauses and word per minute (WPM). After the post-test, six students in the experimental group were interviewed to uncover their perceptions of the use of the 3/2/1 technique.

Findings

Though both groups of participants increased their number of WPM with each delivery of the pre-test and the post-test, the experimental group’s increases were greater. When the deliveries of the pre-test was compared with the post-test, the experimental group showed increases in the number of WPM in all the three post-test deliveries whereas the control group showed decreases in all. There was no significant difference in the length of pauses in the pre-test and post-test. The interviewees expressed that the 3/2/1 technique was useful as it made them feel more confident in conversing in front of their classmates.

Implications

The findings suggest that the 3/2/1 technique can be used to foster students’ speaking fluency. It can be applied in other contexts such as when reading aloud. As this technique provides students with many opportunities to speak during class, it may help students overcome their fear of speaking.

Original article retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?q=The+use+of+the+3%2f2%2f1+technique+to+foster+students%E2%80%99+speaking+fluency&id=EJ1171669.