Kialo Edu as a Pre-Task Planning Tool for Small-Group EFL Discussions: Students’ Oral Participation

Abstract

Learning English as a foreign language requires students to communicate their ideas clearly, but many students find it difficult to organize their ideas while speaking spontaneously. This study examined the forms of oral participation shown by senior high school students in small-group EFL discussions after using Kialo Edu for pre-task planning, and how their planning was reflected in their oral contributions. This qualitative descriptive study involved six eleventh-grade students from class XI AKL A at SMK Bandung 1 Yayasan Perguruan Bandung. Data were collected from audio recordings of an online discussion conducted through Google Meet, observation field notes, and students’ Kialo Edu argument maps. The utterances were transcribed and coded using eight oral participation indicators: Initiating an Idea, Giving an Opinion, Giving an Explanation, Responding, Asking a Question, Agreeing, Disagreeing, and Developing/Extending an Idea. A total of 48 participation utterances were identified. The most frequent forms were Giving an Explanation (25.0%) and Giving an Opinion (22.9%), followed by Responding (14.6%), Initiating an Idea (10.4%), Agreeing (10.4%), Asking a Question (6.3%), Disagreeing (6.3%), and Developing/Extending an Idea (4.2%). Comparison of the students’ Kialo Edu maps and spoken contributions showed that students used prepared claims to start their turns, support their opinions, respond to opposing views, and extend their peers’ ideas. However, hesitation and minor grammatical errors were still observed. These findings suggest that Kialo Edu can serve as a useful planning scaffold before small-group EFL discussions, although it does not completely remove difficulties in spontaneous speaking.