Particle Phrases as Metaphorical Concepts Retained in Online Speech: The Case of Spoken Accuracy

Particle phrases are defined as prefabricated “chunks” stored and retrieved as a whole from memory at the time of use, rather than being subject to generation or analysis by the language grammar. This study was an attempt to investigate the effect of teaching particle-bound phrases on spoken accuracy of Iranian EEL learners. Having been homogenized, a sample of 51 Iranian EFL learners at a university in Karaj, Iran was assigned to three groups: two experimental and one control. Before the treatment, a pre-test of video-based narrative retelling was administered. The Experimental Group 1 (EG1) was presented with the target particle phrases and came up with drawings of their concepts. In Experimental Group 2 (EG2), the same procedure happened except for the hands-on drawing task. The Control Group (CG) was presented with the same particle phrases every session along with their L1 (Farsi) meanings. The results showed that EG2 (M = 5.16) significantly outperformed CG (M = 3.81) on the immediate posttest (Mean Difference = 1.34, p = .000). It was also found that EG1 (M = 4.82) significantly outperformed CG (M = 3.81) on the immediate posttest (Mean Difference = 1.01, p = .000). Plus, there was not any significant difference between EG1 (M = 5.16) and EG2’S (M = 4.82) means on the immediate posttest (Mean Difference = .334, p = .146). Regarding delayed post-test, it was shown that there was no significant difference between EG1 and EG2 on delayed posttest, but both groups outperformed CG in that regard.