Exploring Collaborative Fluency in CEFR-Aligned ESL Group Oral Discussions

Abstract

This study examines how ESL learners engage in group oral discussions, with particular attention to their ability to pick up, build on, and extend their peers’ ideas during collaborative speaking tasks. Drawing on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), especially descriptors at the B2–C1 levels, communicative competence is conceptualised not merely as individual fluency but as the ability to sustain interaction through elaboration, responsiveness, and discourse management. The study was conducted in a Malaysian tertiary institution and involved thirty ESL learners across five groups participating in assessed group oral discussions. The interactions were audio-visually recorded, transcribed, and analysed thematically to explore how learners responded to peer input and co-constructed meaning through talk. Findings indicate that higher-proficiency learners (upper B2–C1) demonstrated a greater capacity to develop the discussion based on their peers’ contributions. These learners employed interactional strategies such as clarification, elaboration, reformulation, and topical linkage, which align closely with CEFR indicators of sustained interaction. In contrast, B1-level learners tended to initiate topics or provide shorter, self-contained responses and often relied on peer support to maintain the flow of interaction. The study highlights the pedagogical value of incorporating CEFR-aligned interactional objectives into group oral assessments and underscores the importance of training learners to extend turns and respond meaningfully to others as part of real-world communicative competence.