Comparing Contemplative and Transformative Instruction in EFL Learners’ Oral Performance: A Mixed-Methods Study

This study sought to examine the efficacy of contemplative and transformative instruction methods for teaching second language speaking skills. In distinct ways, these techniques depart from customary teaching approaches by placing learners at the focus of education. For this study, 41 EFL students were subjected to each pedagogical technique, and their speaking progress was examined before and after the relevant activities with the Preliminary English Test (PET). In addition, the participants were interviewed so that they could have more knowledge of the efficacy of both techniques. The contemplative group performed practices such as journaling, attitude communication, and vision setting while the transformative group completed activities such as directing real-life role-plays, miscellaneous situations, and drama, to name a few. Both statistical and interview studies revealed that the transformative approach was more effective than the traditional technique in improving learners post-test speaking scores. The contemplative method, on the other hand, could not be proven to be statistically effective. These results will provide important suggestions for all educators in terms of oral language development and will be examined in greater detail below.