The Role of Gender in the Accuracy and Fluency of Iranian Upper-intermediate EFL Learners’ L2 Oral Productions

This study tied to check the role of gender on Iranian upper-intermediate learners’ speaking accuracy and fluency. Initially, out of 90 upper-intermediate learners, a total number of 25 male and 25 female learners were selected. A validated test (PET) was administered to the participants to assure homogeneity in terms of overall language proficiency and accordingly, 25 male and 25 female learners were identified as the legitimate participants who had been interviewed drawing on the some speaking tasks. The speech of the participants was recorded and subsequently analyzed by two raters based on the fluency and accuracy measurement criteria. Inter-rater reliability was established for both the fluency and accuracy (.986 and .898, respectively). Having finished the analysis of the participants’ performance, the researcher analyzed the data to investigate the role of gender on speaking accuracy and fluency. The results indicated that female participants outperformed the males in terms of fluency while males were superior in terms of accuracy.