Impacts of Text Shadowing in Developing EFL Young Learners’ Speaking Skills

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impacts of Text Shadowing technique in developing the English speaking skills of young learners. To pursuit the aim, the research employed a quasi-experimental method with the participation of seventy-eight Grade 2 pupils who were divided into an intervention group and a non-intervention group. The data analysis indicates improvements in speaking performance among both groups after eight weeks of intervention. Particularly, the intervention group achieved higher improvement than the non-intervention in terms of memorizing the initial letter sounds, clearly pronouncing words and having better intonation. Besides, the majority of the participants in the intervention group held positive attitudes toward learning and improving their pronunciation and fluency by Text Shadowing technique. Most of them found interest and confidence in learning and speaking English. The article ends with a suggestion that further studies should consider a larger sample size to obtain a better picture of the reality of the effect of Text Shadowing technique on speaking skills.