The Relationship between Self-Perceived Communication Competence and Iranian EFL Learners L2 Oral Discourse

This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between second language (L2) learners’ individual variables and their oral discourse. To this aim, the researchers examined the relationship between the individual variable of self-Perceived communication competence (SPCC) and Iranian EFL learners’ oral output as measured by its complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF). Forty learners at intermediate level of English proficiency volunteered to participate in the study. SPCC scale was used to measure the participants’ perception of their own communication competence. In addition, to elicit samples of their L2 oral discourse, they were asked to perform the narrative task of recounting a story based on a sequenced set of pictures. Correlation coefficients among learners’ perceptions of SPCC and CAF were found to be statistically significant. In other words, there was a significant relationship between L2 learners’ perception of their communicative competence and complexity, accuracy, and fluency of their oral discourse. These findings speak to the importance of considering this factor when individualizing our teaching practice as it significantly contributes to L2 speech development. This will help us move towards developing a more empirically grounded, comprehensive framework capturing the relationship among cognitive/affective factors and different dimensions of L2 discourse.