IMPACT OF PICTORIAL CUES ON SPEAKING FLUENCY AND ACCURACY AMONG IRANIAN PRE-INTERMEDIATE EFL LEARNERS

Mehdi Nasri¹⁺ --- Ehsan Namaziandost² --- Samira Akbari³

^1,2,3Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran.

Keywords: Accuracy, Fluency, Speaking skill, Pictorial cues, Pre-speaking strategies, Intermediate EFL learners.

ARTICLE HISTORY: Received:25 April 2019 Revised:5 June 2019 Accepted:10 July 2019 Published:13 September 2019.

Contribution/ Originality:The paper's primary contribution is to analyze how EFL leaners’ speaking skills are developed through pictorial inputs. The findings of the study will help the Ministry of Education to take into account the importance of implementing the pictorial cues as a pre-speaking strategy instruction and to provide teachers with pre- and in-service training in using pre-task activities. In a nutshell, the contribution of the present study lies in the fact that it investigated the roles of pictorial cues in speaking classes.

1. INTRODUCTION

Speaking is an essential component of second language acquisition. It has acquired a critical and fragile status by evolving through the historical backdrop of language instruction.  The significance of speaking skills has been underestimated over the last two decades that it has won its entitlement to be a free component of language acquisition, learning and testing (Bygate, 2003; Namaziandost et al., 2019). Various ideas have been given to describe the meaning of speaking skills; Oxford Dictionary of Current English (2009) defines speaking as "the activity of passing on data or communicating ones' contemplations and sentiments in communicative languages (p. 414)". According to Palmer (2010) oral language is students’ main way of communicating and it is a very important part of their learning process. It is something that can be applied to all foreign language teaching, where the aim for the students is to develop their communication skills (Skolverket, 2011). Through communication they can send and receive information, process knowledge, interpret and critically evaluate their own knowledge. Using their communication skills, the students can also enhance their ability to develop other linguistic skills.

Palmer (2010) also asserted that “students’ language development is the first reason for which a teacher shall focus on their oral communication in the class”.  In agreement with the ideas of Wiliam (2007) the author  also points out the importance of giving students guidance during their school years so that they can take their language to its full potential. Furthermore, in the Swedish curriculum (Skolverket, 2011) students’ language development is established as common responsibility for all subjects. One part of language development is spoken language and in order to improve it students need guidance and good knowledge of their own capacity (Abedi et al., 2019).

In English language acquisition and learning , speaking is considered as a skill  that must be rehearsed and aced (Shohib, 2011; Namaziandost and Ahmadi, 2019). It is viewed by students as the proportion of knowing a language and the most significant expertise they can secure; in light of the fact that they judge their advancement in the conditions of their achievements in spoken communication (Burkart, 1998). Communicating in a language is particularly hard for students ignorant about language on the ground that viable oral communication requires the capacity to utilize language properly in social collaborations as expressed by Mackey (1978) "speaking is the most mind boggling of semantics skill, since it considers what is to be said while saying what has been thought (p. 263)".

One great technique to improve EFL leaners' speaking ability is utilizing systems-based guidance. Techniques based guidance has various potential indications in the classroom (Brown, 2000; Namaziandost et al., 2018). Systems based Instruction is the utilization of both learning and communication methodologies to study hall learning (Cohen (1998) in Brown (2000)). Cohen (1998) states that the underlying premise of the strategies-based instruction is that students should be given the opportunity to understand not only what they can learn in a language classroom, but also how they can learn a language more effectively and efficiently. Research seems to suggest that there is a wide variety of strategies that learners can use to meet their language learning and using needs (online) (Nasri et al., 2018).

A significant part of language learning is acquiring speaking skills. As indicated by O’Malley and Chamot (1990) speaking is significant as it helps students "in arranging meaning where either semantic structures or sociolinguistic principles are not shared between a second language student and a speaker of the language" (p. 43). In this manner, classrooms should support the use of spoken language and provide adequate space for developing speaking skills. By appointing speaking tasks, language teachers can enable students to utilize a powerful communication system (Nasri and Biria, 2017). These methodologies may show up at three phases in errand execution for (1) getting readied for up and coming speaking tasks, (2) checking language info and yield, and (3) evaluating or reflecting back on the task.

Pictorial cues are one of the methodologies which can assist the educators with warming up learners and give them background information before showing the exercise (Azadi et al., 2018). As indicated by Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, picture cues are characterized as graphs, publications, or pictures that help learners to come to a meaningful conclusion or improve an introduction. These can be films, slides, outlines, and different gadgets including everything that can be derived through human sight (other than books), utilized in instructing, delineating addresses, and so forth (Wehmeier, 2000; Hosseini et al., 2017). Additionally, pictorial signals are something you look at (for example, a diagram or film) that is utilized to make something clearer, and furthermore, they are instructional gadgets (as a graph, guide, or model).

1.1. Research Questions and Null Hypotheses

This study aimed to answer the following research questions:
RQ 1. Does the use of pictorial cues have any significant effect on Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners’ speaking accuracy?
RQ 2. Does the use of pictorial cues have any significant effect on Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners’ speaking fluency?

The following null hypotheses were tested in this study:
HO 1. Using pictorial cues does not have any significant effect on Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners’ speaking accuracy.
HO 2. Using pictorial cues does not have any significant effect on Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners’ speaking fluency.

2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Speaking is a fundamental ability that language students should ace with other language skills, namely reading, writing and listening. It is characterized as a mind-boggling procedure of sending and getting messages using verbal articulations, yet it additionally includes non-verbal images, for example, signals and outward appearances. Harmer (2001) characterized speaking as a skill by which individuals are judged while first impressions are being formed. To communicate in the unknown language easily and precisely, students should most likely know a few components which are critical to build up this expertise. Harmer (2001) refers to these components which allude to language students who ought to know about it. The scientist attempts to give all the more understanding about the components of speaking in particular; information of jargon, sentence structure, familiarity. These are the primary center of speaking that must be learned by students who are happy to learn an unknown language (Namaziandost et al., 2019).

In showing setting, a ton of consideration has been paid to structure exercises which spotlight more on tasks that are adjusted between the need to accomplish familiarity and exactness. These criteria are likewise founded on the appraisal of oral skills. In task-based methodology, familiarity and exactness are principal attributes of this methodology, and they are viewed as integral in achieving a given undertaking (Namaziandost et al., 2019). In spite of the fact that Richards and Rodgers (2001) referenced that "familiarity and worthy language are essential objectives: Accuracy is judged not in theory but rather in setting", and this is an undeniable point since the emphasis of TBLT is on the communicative process between learners or teachers-learners, rather than mastery of the language forms.

Many questions have been raised about the role of accuracy in TBLT theory. Lee (2000) made the important point that “the task based approach somehow excuses teachers and learners from a consideration of how to develop high levels of accuracy in the use of grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary" (p, 61).  Students, should build up an informative capability through homeroom practice; notwithstanding, all the while they should know how the language framework functions is in a right and suitable manner (Namaziandost et al., 2019).

If somebody needs to become familiar with an unknown language, s/he will clearly encounter a wide range of learning issues. Dalley (2009) characterized that these challenges have to do with the learning of new stable framework, the new jargons, and acquiring better approaches for masterminding the remote words into sentences. In learning an unknown language, the scientist clarifies that understudy will meet challenges in his learning procedure might be effectively comprehended. Since his early life, he has been speaking the native language, which has been profoundly embedded in him as a major aspect of his life. In this way, it will be difficult for him to comprehend new sounds or to create the remote sound.

In strategy-based guidance, educators may begin with the built up course materials and after that addition techniques, or begin with a lot of systems and plan exercises around them or supplement methodologies precipitously into exercises when suitable.  Cohen et al. (1995) lays out a grouping of presentation techniques that stress unequivocal methodology mindfulness, dialog of advantages of procedure use, useful and contextualized practice with procedures, self-assessment and checking of language execution, and proposals for or exhibitions of the transferability of the systems to new language tasks (Mirshekaran et al., 2018).

The steps are (1) Language activity: ask learners to do a language activity without any strategic instructions; (2) Discussion of strategy: have them discuss how they did it, praise any useful strategies and self-directed attitudes that they mention, and ask them to reflect on how the strategies they selected may have facilitated the learning process; (3) Suggestions for complementing strategy repertoire: suggest and demonstrate other helpful strategies, mentioning the need for greater self-direction and expected benefits, and making sure that students are aware of the rationale for strategic use. Learners can also be asked to identify those strategies that they do not currently use, and consider ways that they could include new strategies in their learning repertoires; (4) Strategic practice: allow learners plenty of time to practice new strategies with language tasks; (5) Strategy transfer: show how strategies can be transferred to other tasks; (6) Strategy practices with new tasks: provide practice using the techniques with new tasks and allow learners to make choices about the strategy they will use to complete the language learning task; and (7) Evaluating strategy use: help students understand how to evaluate the success of their strategy use and to gauge their progress as more responsible and self-directed learners (Chamot, 2005; Hashemifardnia et al., 2018).

Strategies-based instruction activities are designed to raise awareness about strategies, to train students in strategy use, to give them opportunities to practice strategy usage and to encourage them to personalize these strategies for themselves. Teachers also allow students to choose their own strategies and do so spontaneously, without continued prompting from the language teacher (Cohen et al., 1995; Namaziandost et al., 2018).

According to Webster's dictionary, a "cue" is "any sound, word, or action that signals an action; a guiding hint or suggestion." Delivering cues to your students, both verbally and non-verbally, will aid them in understanding the message you are trying to explain. Context clues are hints that an author gives to help define a difficult or unusual word. The clue may appear within the same sentence as the word to which it refers, or it may follow in a preceding sentence (Wehmeier, 2000; Namaziandost and Shafiee, 2018). Because most of one's vocabulary is gained through reading, it is important that students be able to recognize and take advantage of context clues. There are at least four kinds of context clues that are quite common: 1) a synonym (or repeat context clue) which appears in that sentence; 2) an antonym (or contrast context clue) that has the opposite meaning, which can reveal the meaning of an unknown term; 3) an explanation for an unknown word is given (a definition context clue) within the sentence or in the sentence immediately preceding; and 4) specific examples (an example context clue) used to define the term.

There may also be word-part context clues in which a common prefix, suffix, or root will suggest at least part of the meaning of a word. A general sense context clue lets the reader puzzle out a word meaning from whatever information is available - and this is the most common kind of context clue. Others describe context clues in three ways: 1) semantic or meaning clues, e.g., When reading a story about cats, good readers develop the expectation that it will contain words associated with cats, such as "tail," "purr," "scratch," and "whiskers"; 2) syntactic or word order clues where the order of the words in a sentence can indicate that a missing word must be (for example, a verb); and 3) picture clues where illustrations help with the identification of a word (Wehmeier, 2000).

Gaillard (2013) examined the impact of three different planning conditions, namely no planning, solitary planning and Thompson’s teacher-led planning, or Prelude to Conversation, on the fluency (measured through total duration of the speech sample, words per minute, and pauses per minute), complexity (measured through words per utterance), accuracy (measured through the percentage of errors), and anxiety level (measured through anxiety scales) of students performing short speaking tasks. In this study, subjects were all enrolled in first semester French classes and were divided into three groups that rotated through three planning conditions, each group starting with a different planning type in the cycle. Each week, the speaking task was common across all subjects, but depending on the group, the treatment was different. Their performance level during the speaking task and their anxiety level were compared for each treatment. Results show that planning has an impact on fluency, complexity, and accuracy of students but not on their anxiety level. Findings also show that pre-speaking has a more positive influence on the quality and the quantity of production of students more than solitary planning and no planning. Task and pre-task anxiety influenced the anxiety level of students, demonstrating the role that specific tasks can have on student performance no matter how teachers try to prepare them for tasks. Results also suggest that more personal-oriented tasks, e.g., student schedules, will elicit better responses than more outward-oriented tasks, e.g., school systems, cultural differences.

Moradi and Talebi (2014) attempted to find out if pre speaking strategies instruction in strategic planning has any effects on Iranian EFL students’ use of pre- speaking strategies as well as their fluency and lexical resources. Two groups of control and experimental were given a picture- cued narrative task to think and speak about it, and then a pre-speaking strategies questionnaire as pre- and post-tests.  The experimental group received pre-speaking strategies instruction in strategic planning with ten minutes of planning time. Data analysis showed the experimental group outperformed the control group. Therefore, for effective speaking, strategic planning should be coupled with pre- speaking strategies.

3. METHOD

3.1. Participants

The participants of this study were 54 Iranian pre-intermediate students who were selected out of 80 students in a private English language institute. The participants' age range was between 12 and 13. Their level of English language proficiency was determined on the basis of their scores in the Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT). Only male students participated in the current study. The participants’ first language was Persian and they were selected through random sampling methods. The participants were randomly divided into two equal groups of 27 members each; one control group and one experimental group.

3.2. Instruments

The first instrument which was used in the present study to homogenize the participants was the OQPT. It helped the researcher to have a greater understanding of what level (i.e., pre-intermediate, pre-intermediate, intermediate) participants were at. According to this test, the learners whose band score was between 33-36 (out of 60) were considered as the pre-intermediate learners.

The second and the most important instrument for gathering information was a researcher-made speaking pre-test. The pre-test included several topics and questions from the learners’ textbook (i.e., Interchange). The learners were asked to talk about the topics of the test (Pollution, Smoking, and Plastic Surgery) for about 5 minute and their speech was recorded for the second rater. The reliability of the pre-test was calculated through inter-rater reliability by means of Pearson correlation analysis and a score of 0.981 was obtained.

The third instrument was a post-test of speaking. The post-test was similar to the pre-test in form but different on topics. The topics (e.g. social media, marriage, atomic bomb) of this test were selected from the textbook mentioned. The difficulty level of the topics was the same as in the pre and post-tests. The reliability of the post-test was computed through inter-rater reliability by means of Pearson correlation analysis and it was seen as .894. The pre and post-tests were validated by four English experienced teachers.

The fourth instrument was the speaking checklist (Hughes, 2003). It was used to aid in assessing how raters score the participants' speech. The raters scored the participants' speech based on such speaking checklists.

3.3. Data Collection Procedure

To conduct the present study, the researcher visited a private English language institute and gave OQPT to Iranian EFL learners to determine their level of English proficiency. The researcher randomly selected 54 pre-intermediate students and divided them into two groups of 27 each; one control group and one experimental group. Then, both groups were pretested by administering a speaking test and only the participants of the experimental group were given the treatment. The treatment for the experimental group comprised using the pre-speaking strategies. The researcher provided students with pictorial inputs. For example, the researcher prepared some attractive pictures about the topics and showed them to students before teaching the topic. The researcher required students to give their comments on pictures in order to warm them up for target materials.  On the other hand, the students of the control group were taught through traditional speaking activities including repetition and over-learning.

The instruction lasted 15 sessions of 50 minutes each. In the first session, the respondents were homogenized and in the next session they were pretested. During 12 sessions, the pre-speaking strategies were employed and in the last session, the two groups took the post-test of speaking. Their speaking performances (speaking 5 minutes on different topics) was recorded and scored by two raters through Hughes (2003) speaking checklist.

3.4. Data Analysis Procedure

The gathered data through the above-mentioned instruments were analyzed and interpreted based on the objectives of the study. Firstly, in order to check the normality of the data, Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test was used. Paired samples t-test and MANOVA were used to find out the impact of the treatment on Iranian EFL learners' speaking accuracy and fluency.

4. RESULTS

Before conducting any analyses of the pretest, and posttest, it was necessary to check the normality of the distributions. Thus, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test of normality was run on the data obtained from the above-mentioned tests. The results are shown in Table 1.

Table-1. One-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (groups' pre and post-tests).

Groups’ tests	Kolmogorov-Smirnova
	Statistic	df	Sig.
EG. AC. pretest	.18	27	.06
EG. AC. posttest	.19	27	.11
CG. AC. pretest	.20	27	.09
CG. AC. posttest	.17	27	.13
EG. FL. pretest	.21	27	.12
EG. FL. posttest	.17	27	.07
CG. FL. pretest	.18	27	.06
CG. FL. posttest	.20	27	.08

Note. EG: Experimental group; CG: Control group; AC: Accuracy; FL: Fluency.

The p-esteems under the Sig. segment in Table 1 decide if the appropriations were ordinary or not. A p-esteem more prominent than .05 demonstrates a typical conveyance, while a p-esteem lower than .05 shows that the appropriation has not been ordinary. Since all the p-esteems in Table 1 were larger than .05, it could be presumed that the appropriations of scores for the exactness pretest, precision posttest, familiarity pretest, and familiarity posttest acquired from EG and CG students had been ordinary. It was therefore safe to continue with parametric test (for example combined examples t-test and MANOVA for this situation) and make further correlations between the participating groups.

To compare the pretest and posttest scores of the EG and CG learners with respect to speaking accuracy and fluency, one-way MANOVA was utilized. This statistical test is used when there is one independent variable (in this case, the use of Pictorial Input, which surfaces in the experimental vs. control groups), and two or more related dependent variables (fluency and accuracy in this case) which are subcomponents of speaking in this study. Table 2 and 3 deal with comparing the EG and CG learners on the pretest of speaking accuracy and fluency.

Table-2. Descriptive statistics results comparing EG and CG on speaking accuracy and fluency scores of the pretest.

Tests	Groups	Mean	Std. deviation	N
AC. pre	EG	11.42	1.21	27
	CG	12.12	1.96	27
	Total	11.77	1.65	54
FL. pre	EG	11.25	.75	27
	CG	11.61	1.16	27
	Total	11.43	.98	54

Source: The present study.

The pretest mean scores of the EG and CG for fluency and accuracy are shown in Table 2. There were minimal differences between the mean scores of the two groups on both the subcomponents of speaking. To make sure whether the differences were of statistical significance or not, the researcher had to refer to the MANOVA Table 3.

Table-3. MANOVA results comparing EG and CG on speaking accuracy and fluency scores of the pretest.

Effect		Value	F	Hypothesis df	Error df	Sig.	Partial eta squared
Groups	Pillai's trace	.08	2.44	2.00	51.00	.09	.08
	Wilks' Lambda	.91	2.44	2.00	51.00	.09	.08
	Hotelling's trace	.09	2.44	2.00	51.00	.09	.08
	Roy's largest root	.09	2.44	2.00	51.00	.09	.08

Source: The present study.

Since the most commonly reported statistics is Wilk’s Lambda, here the value for this statistic is reported (.91). The Wilk’s Lambda’s associated Sig. value was found to be .09, which is larger than the significance level (i.e., .09 > .05). This shows that the two groups of EG and CG were not significantly different on their pretest in terms of (the two subcomponents of) speaking. What follows is the results of a similar data analysis procedure performed for the speakingaccuracy and fluency posttest scores of the EG and CG. Any possible changes on the posttest could be attributed to the treatment provided for the EG (that is, using the pictorial input).

Table-4. Descriptive statistics results comparing EG and CG on speaking accuracy and fluency scores of the posttest.

Tests	Groups	Mean	Std. deviation	N
AC. post	EG	16.85	1.09	27
	CG	12.53	1.78	27
	Total	14.69	2.62	54
FL. post	EG	16.14	1.14	27
	CG	12.24	1.32	27
	Total	14.19	2.32	54

Source: The present study.

The posttest mean score of the EG and CG for fluency and accuracy as shown in Table 4, were different from one another. However, to find out whether these differences were statistically significant or not, the researcher needed to consult to the MANOVA Table 5.

Table-5. MANOVA results comparing EG and CG on speaking accuracy and fluency scores of the posttest.

Effect		Value	F	Hypothesis df	Error df	Sig.	Partial eta squared
Groups	Pillai's trace	.81	110.30	2.00	51.00	.00	.81
	Wilks' Lambda	.18	110.30	2.00	51.00	.00	.81
	Hotelling's trace	4.32	110.30	2.00	51.00	.00	.81
	Roy's largest root	4.32	110.30	2.00	51.00	.00	.81

Source: The present study.

The Wilk’s Lambda’s associated Sig. value was .00, which is lower than the significance level (.00 < .05). A p- value less than or equal to the significance level shows a significant difference between two groups. Thus, the two groups of EG and CG were significantly different on their posttest in terms of accuracy and fluencyvariables of speaking.

To find out whether the difference between the fluency and accuracy pretest and posttest scores of EG and CG learners was statistically significant or not, the researcher examined the paired-samples t test (Table 6).

Table-6. Results of paired-samples t test comparing the accuracy and fluency pretest and posttest scores of the EG and CG learners.

Pairs	Groups’ tests	Mean	Std. deviation	Std. error mean	t	df	Sig. (2-tailed)
Pair 1	EG. AC. post – EG. AC. pre	5.42	1.74	.33	16.19	26	.00
Pair 2	CG. AC. post – CG. AC. pre	.40	1.18	.22	1.78	26	.08
Pair 3	EG. FL. post – EG. FL. pre	4.88	1.53	.29	16.56	26	.00
Pair 4	CG. FL. post – CG. FL. pre	.62	1.77	.34	1.84	26	.07

Source: The present study.

Since the p value under the Sig. (2-tailed) column in Table 6 was smaller than the significance level (.00 < .05), it could be understood that the difference between the accuracy pretest (M = 11.42) and accuracy posttest (M = 16.85) of EG learners was statistically significant. Moreover, as the p value under the Sig. (2-tailed) column in Table 6 was smaller than the significance level (.00 < .05), it could be construed that the difference between the fluency pretest (M = 11.25) and fluency posttest (M = 16.14) of the EG learners was of statistical significance.  Regarding the control group, the difference between accuracy pretest and accuracy posttest as well as the difference between fluency pretest and fluency posttest is not significant (.08 and .07 > .05). Thus, the researcher made a conclusion that using pictorial cues in the experimental group’s classroom affected both speaking accuracy and fluency positively. Therefore, both null hypotheses of this study are rejected.

5. DISCUSSION

After collecting the data, the researcher analyzed them in order to find out the effectiveness of the treatment on students' speaking accuracy and fluency. The findings showed that students who received the instruction through pictorial input had better performance on their post-test compared to their pre-test. The results statistically revealed that pictorial input group significantly did better on the fluency and accuracy post-test (p < .05). Therefore, both null hypotheses of the study were rejected. In fact, the experimental group gained higher scores on their post-test. This may be due to some appealing features which the pictures had. It can be claimed that pictures are very useful tools which can help the students speak English language more accurately and fluently.

There are many reasons for using pictures in language teaching. As Wright (1990) pointed out, they are motivating and draw learners’ attention. It is also a fact that they provide a sense of context to a language and give specific reference point or stimulus. Based on these findings, teaching English speaking through pictures was found to be more effective than audio-visuals aids. One reason of this may be the attractiveness of pictures for young learners while others found pictures making a more permanent effect on learners (Namaziandost and Nasri, 2019). The other reason is that Iranian teachers use less colorful pictures than audio-visual aids thus; it was interesting for younger learners to be taught through picture presentation.

Pictures are those kinds of visual instruction materials that can be used more effectively to develop and sustain motivation in producing positive attitudes towards English and to teach or reinforce language skills. Teachers felt that pictures attract the pupils' attention and deepen their understanding of words; teachers also felt that when pupils associate new words with a picture, they find it, easier to remember the meaning of the word. These positive views about the role of pictures in teaching speaking reflect those studies mentioned in the literature review (e.g. (Harmer, 2001; Namaziandost and Nasri, 2019)). As Hill (1990) pointed out, the standard classroom is usually not a very suitable environment for learning languages. That is why teachers search for various aids and stimuli to improve this situation. Pictures are one of these valuable aids which bring “images of reality into the unnatural world of the language classroom.” (Hill, 1990).

Pictures bring not only images of reality, but can also function as a fun element in the class. Sometimes it is surprising, how pictures may change a lesson, even if only employed in additional exercises or just to create the atmosphere. Pictures meet a wide range of use not only in acquiring speaking, but also in many other aspects of foreign language teaching. Wright (1990) demonstrated this fact in an example, where he used one compiled picture and illustrated the possibility of its use in five different language areas. His example showed the effective use of pictures in teaching structure, speaking, functions, situations and all four skills effective. Furthermore, he pointed out that “potential of pictures is so great that only a taste of their full potential can be given” in his book. (Wright, 1990).

To be more specific, beside lessons where pictures are in the main focus, they might be used just as a “stimulus for writing and discussion, as an illustration of something being read or talked about, as background to a topic and so on” (Hill, 1990). Pictures, being suitable for any group of learners independently on age or level can be used in lots of various ways. As Hill (1990) stated, “What is done is limited only by the preparation time available, the visuals to hand and the imagination of the individual teacher.”

The results of this study are in contrast with Heidari and Araghi (2015) who investigated the effects of pictures and songs on vocabulary learning. One pre-test was administered before the study and one post-test after program for measuring the effectiveness of the treatment. The results were analyzed by SPSS which indicated that clustering is more effective than pictures; this was so because words which are interrelated in their meaning reinforce learning and recalling of the other. It can be said that through using clusters of words the relevant schema is activated in effective manner. Moreover, the findings of this study are supported by Baralaei and Najmabadi (2015) who examined the effect of images on Iranian EFL learners’ retention of vocabulary. The experimental group received instruction with images, whereas the control group taught the same lessons but the instruction was informed of giving text and definition. At the end of the treatment, a post-test was administered and results indicated that there was a significant difference between the two groups. In fact, images had positive effects on improving Iranian EFL learners’ retention of vocabulary.

6. CONCLUSION

The main conclusion to be drawn from this study is that the use of pictures is beneficial to EFL students. The result of this study also showed that using pictorial input had a positive effect on speaking accuracy and fluency of language learners. Pictures improved Iranian EFL students' speaking skill and also helped them to speak more fluently and accurately than traditional methods. Those students who were instructed through pictures could speak more fluently and accurately after the treatment.

The followings are pedagogical implications of teaching speaking by using pictures for elementary students. These show that there are several approaching types and methods that can be developed by teachers for having a good and enjoyable class situation to reach out the curriculum target.

1. The teacher should choose the technique and materials that are appropriate with the students’ needs and experiences so the class atmosphere becomes enjoyable and interesting. 2. The teacher should give short, clear and simple instructions. 3. The teacher should keep in control students’ activities. 4. The teacher should present the language in an enjoyable and relaxed way. It could be done by using pictures, songs, games etc. 5. The teacher should be creative and active to find various methods to teach the beginners and elementary students.

Funding: This study received no specific financial support.

Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Acknowledgement: All authors contributed equally to the conception and design of the study.

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