the effect of using shadowing technique on l2 learners spontaneous speech and stress reduction

Shadowing traditionally conceived as a preparatory strategy for strengthening phonological working memory capacity among simultaneous interpreters has been recently introduced as an ancillary technique for fostering l2 conversational skills. the main goal of the present study was to uncover the effects of using shadowing technique on l2 learners' spontaneous speech and stress reduction. shadowing techniques expectantly can aid students to pronounce a word correctly and practice their accuracy and fluency in verbal ability. following a convenience sampling method, the study recruited 30 intermediate english language learners from an english language school with the ages ranging from 14 to 16. based on the results of an oxford placement test (opt), a homogenous group was selected who were randomly divided into one experimental (n= 15) and one control (n= 15) group. the adapted version of l2 speaking and writing anxiety scale (l2swas) (macayan, et al., 2018) was used to measure the learners' stress levels before and after the treatment. as instructional treatment, the experimental group received reinforcement techniques like mini conversation repetition, mumbling, parallel repetition, complete shadowing, content shadowing and summarizing followed by voice-recording, filling-in-the-blanks and true-false and summarizing activities whereas the control group received only a conventional conversation instruction. the results of independent and paired-sample t-tests showed that the shadowing technique had a significant effect on the participants’ spontaneous speech. the qualitative analysis of posttest interview showed lowered stress levels among the participants. finally, the paper discusses the pedagogical implications of the findings for l2 learning, teaching and material development.