Abstract
The main aim of this study is to help EFL students’ improve their oral communication proficiency out-of-class. To achieve that, video-movie was chosen as a medium for improving the subjects' oral communication proficiency. It was hoped that movie could function as a pseudo-immersion for the students, an accessible and easy alternative to being in the English native countries. Based on that, this study aim has been transformed into this research question ‘what effect does self-directed learning using movies has on the students' perceived oral communication proficiency?’. To answer that, six first year students at the faculty of English language and literature, Ajloun University in Jordan, were selected based on purposive sampling and divided equally into two groups, treatment and control, based on random assignment. The subjects in both groups were asked to take the self-assessment language test twice, once before the beginning of the case study scheme and another after. Likewise, to be interviewed twice, and to fill in the study notes during the case study scheme. Only the treatment group were given eight movies with its guides and asked to self-study with it over eight weeks. The results from the case study indicated that movie could help improve the students' oral communication proficiency with higher post-test scores than pre-test scores. Methodological triangulation from both the interviews and study notes also supports the assertion that movie improved the subjects’ oral communication proficiency. The subjects in the treatment group revealed in the post-interview that movies helped improve their listening skills and two subjects suggested that it could possibly have helped improve their speaking skills as well. Their perception in their study notes also supports the results. In conclusion, it is very likely that self-directed learning using movies has improved the students’ oral communication proficiency. This study has implications for practical applications in language teaching and learning which suggests that movie can be effective out of class. In addition, the results suggest that further larger scale investigations into students' language improvement out of class will be worth carrying out.
Highlights
EFL students’ poor level of linguistic proficiency has raised many concerns about English teaching and learning in most, if not all, EFL countries where English is not spoken commonly
English language teaching methodology has been shifted from the traditional approach, grammartranslation, to Communicative Language Teaching approach (CLT) during which the main focus on developing learners’ communicative competence in the targeted language (Al-Ahdal et al, 2014)
It requires learners to understand and employ linguistic, non-linguistic, and contextual parameters such as mimics, gestures, and body language in an effective way to construct and receive meaning by producing and receiving utterances(Aydın, 2001; Cheng, 2005; Wilson, 2006).In addition to other psychological factors and the cognitive demand, extra challenge with oral communication is that in the EFL context where English is taught as a foreign language, learners have a limited number of opportunities, if not any at all, to use the targeted language outside of the classroom
Summary
EFL students’ poor level of linguistic proficiency has raised many concerns about English teaching and learning in most, if not all, EFL countries where English is not spoken commonly. A lot of attempts to promote students’ level of linguistic proficiency have been considered These attempts have led to a real change in the methods of teaching to shift from a focus on receptive skills and knowledge to an emphasis on productive skills. It requires learners to understand and employ linguistic, non-linguistic, and contextual parameters such as mimics, gestures, and body language in an effective way to construct and receive meaning by producing and receiving utterances(Aydın, 2001; Cheng, 2005; Wilson, 2006).In addition to other psychological factors and the cognitive demand, extra challenge with oral communication is that in the EFL context where English is taught as a foreign language, learners have a limited number of opportunities, if not any at all, to use the targeted language outside of the classroom. Language stakeholders need to find ways to extend the oral communication practices out of class to expose their learners to the target language more effectively, rather than purely rely on in-class limited activities (O’Malley & Pierce, 1996) ( as cited in Göktürk, 2016, p. 72)
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