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Abstract
This study investigated changes in the self-reported speaking confidence of 30 A2-level EFL students from a public school in Quito, Ecuador, after participating in a structured collaborative dialogue activity. A quantitative one-group pretest–posttest design was employed. Information was gathered using a 10-item Likert-scale questionnaire administered before and after the activity and a structured observation rubric applied during the task. Because the questionnaire data were ordinal and paired, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the pretest and posttest results. The total speaking-confidence score increased from a mean of 29.60 (SD = 4.41) at pretest to 48.77 (SD = 1.33) at posttest, Z = ?4.79, p < .001, with a large effect size (r = .88). Observation results also showed high levels of participation, engagement, cooperation, motivation, and enjoyment. Nevertheless, a small number of students continued to display some anxiety or a less confident tone of voice during the activity. The findings should be interpreted cautiously because the study did not include a comparison group and relied mainly on self-reported confidence measured immediately after the intervention. These limitations restrict causal interpretation and generalizability. Overall, the results suggest that structured collaborative dialogue may be a useful classroom strategy for providing A2-level EFL learners with less pressured opportunities to participate in oral interaction, receive peer support, and strengthen their perceived confidence when speaking English.
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