Academic use of Social Networking Technology for English Learning: Implementing Videotaped Peer Evaluation into English Speech Class

Abstract

Effective oral presentation skill is vital for a college student's success in educational, social, and professional life. There is a great deal of research interest focusing on English speaking performance and yet there are relatively few studies suggesting effective teaching approaches how instructors cope with the restrictions in current classroom settings to enhance English as a foreign (EFL) college students’ English Speech performance and motivation. The utilization of videotaped peer evaluation is recognized as having significant pedagogic value and has gained much attention in recent years due to the increasing emphasis on learner self-regulation and the rapid development of advanced social networking technology (SNT). Instructors in a number of universities have tried out videotaped peer evaluation in online collaborative team projects to evaluate student contributions to both process and task. This current study was designed to (1) investigate if the EFL college students were competent in evaluating their peers’ oral performance alongside their instructor in English Speech class, and (2) to explore EFL college students’ perceptions and attitudes towards the incorporation of videotaped peer evaluation and the potential of Social Networking Technology as academic learning tool in English Speech Class. Ninety-two junior English majors enrolled in English Speech courses were recruited to participate in this study. Data was collected via video recording of students’ oral presentations, students’ videotaped peer feedback, students’ English speech evaluations forms. A questionnaire-based survey was also administrated to better understand and measure students’ perceptions towards the videotaped peer evaluation and the academic use of Social Networking Technology in English Speech Class. Some statistical analyses were employed. The researcher first compared the means and standard deviations of the instructor and videotaped peer evaluations to determine the levels of agreement between the two sets of marks of the individual speech. Next, independent t-tests were conducted to examine if there were any significant differences between the instructor and videotaped peer evaluation of English speech performance. Then, the Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficients were computed to test the relationship between instructor- and videotaped peer-evaluation. Finally, descriptive statistical analysis was carried out to analyze EFL college students’ view on videotaped peer evaluation and social networking sites as instructional tool for English Speech. The results revealed that the videotaped peer evaluation was similar to the instructor's assessment. Students’ competencies in peer evaluation appear to be independent on the oral performance. Students held a positive orientation toward implementing videotaped peer evaluation through social networking technology and agreed on the positive impact of videotaped peer evaluation on the use of appropriate organizational pattern, pronunciation, body languages, confidence, and eye contact. The results provide preliminary evidence that the instructor's evaluation can be supplemented with videotaped peer evaluation and practical implications for the implementation of SNT in EFL English Speech class.