Significance of Discussion-Oriented Classes and Students’ General Proficiency as well as their Attitude toward Learning English

The study investigated the pivotal role of discussions in Iranian EFL classes and its relevance to students’ general proficiency level as well as their impressions toward English. The researcher selected two groups of EFL learners as sample groups. Convenience sampling was used from EFL classes in Muhammad Male English Centre (MEC) and Nasim Female English Centre (NEC) in Jahrom- Fars. Two groups of 35-41 intermediate L2 learners were selected randomly to take part in the study. To collect detailed data, an open-ended attitudinal questionnaire for all of them and a semi-structured interview for 25 of them from both groups were utilized. Finally, the study revealed that almost all participants benefited from discussions in classes because of fun and friendly atmosphere, stress-free speaking, score free, speaking motivation, speaking improvement, informative aspect of discussions, less restriction in books, various and motivating topics, peer learning as well as significantly improved general English proficiency.