Strategic Planning and Accuracy and Fluency in Second Language Acquisition

This study set out to investigate the differential effects of unguided strategic planning on the accuracy and fluency of low-, mid-, and high-proficiency learners’ oral production. Sixty participants were assigned to two equal groups of low- and mid-proficiency. Thirty English major graduate students of the University of Tehran, Iran, were also assigned to a high-proficiency group. The participants within each proficiency group were divided into two groups of unguided strategic planning (USP) and no planning (NP), and their oral productions of a narrative picture story task were audio-recorded, transcribed, segmented, coded, and scored for measures of accuracy and fluency. The results of a set of t-tests revealed that the mid-proficiency participants benefited most from strategic planning, as both the accuracy and fluency of their oral production improved. Low-proficiency participants, in contrast, showed no sign of improved accuracy or fluency under the SP condition. High-proficiency participants also demonstrated higher fluency after the strategic planning opportunity. The findings of the study are discussed within the wider framework of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT).