Using TED Talks to Improve Motivation of Learning English Language Skills among Middle School Students with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

This study aimed to use TED Talks, which are abundant with real-life examples of English language use, that might improve the public speaking skills of elementary-level Jordanian EFL students with learning disabilities. The study also aimed at identifying the attitudes of the students with learning disabilities toward using TED Talks to increase motivation to learn English. This research used a quasi-experimental approach. The present study included 68 female EFL tenth graders from the Irbid Schools for Girls, a public institution under the Irbid Directorate of Education. The researcher created an educational program based on the TED talks. The pre-post-test was used to measure the students’ progress and a questionnaire was used to measure their attitudes to this strategy. The program seems to have created good levels of interaction among the students and boosted their appetite to participate and engage with the visual and audio materials presented in the TED Talks videos. The students showed positive attitudes toward using the TED Talks program to raise their motivation to learn English language.