scholarly journals YouTube as a Learning Tool to Improve Students’ Speaking Skills as Perceived by EFL Teachers in Secondary School

Author(s):  
Thamer Binmahboob

YouTube has been shown to be a rich source for teaching speaking in EFL contexts. However, the use of YouTube is developing speaking skills is still understudied in the Saudi EFL context. The full use and awardees of YouTube resources are not well articulated by many EFL teachers in Saudi Arabia. This study attempted to examine the perceptions of English instructors of using YouTube to improve the speaking skills of the students in the secondary stage in Saudi Arabia. The English instructors’ attitudes towards YouTube and the best ways to use YouTube in the class were examined. The descriptive and analytical approaches have been applied in order to design the research. For data collection, a questionnaire has been designed to addresses the research topic. It was distributed on a sample of English language instructors (30 EFL instructors) in the secondary stage in Riyadh city in Saudi Arabia. The findings of the study showed that English language instructors see that YouTube is a highly beneficial instructional tool in improving the speaking skills of the secondary school students. It was found that the instructors have positive attitudes towards YouTube. They expressed that YouTube lessens the students’ anxiety and allow the students to learn faster, retain attention for a long time and motivates the students to learn the language. On the other hand, the findings showed that YouTube can be used in different ways in the class such as asking the students to comment on a particular video or to give some details, discuss, pose questions and give answers. YouTube gives a real chance for the students to interact in the class and to speak freely and get improved in pronunciation. The study recommended using YouTube as an integral instructive tool in English language classes.

2019 ◽  
Vol X (28) ◽  
pp. 203-224
Author(s):  
Ivana Odža ◽  
Mirjana Matea Kovač

The paper examines the attitudes of secondary school students, e. g. grammar school and craftmanship secondary school, toward their own language competences in the native (Croatian) and foreign (English) language. The testing instrument is a questionnaire with statements compiled according to questionnaires used to study attitudes toward the native and / or foreign language. The aim of the research is to observe the level of awareness of the respondents about their own language competences. The results of the statistical analysis indicate that the students of both populations are satisfied with their speaking skills in both languages. They also claim to recognize their own errors, as well as the errors and speech disfluencies of others. Grammar school students, unlike students from the craftmanship secondary school, find the introduction of a course that would further develop speaking skills useful. The obtained results are not in line with the dominant curricular guidelines for teaching the native language, especially those related to the area of speaking competences, emphasizing the need to strengthen the basic, spoken, and consequently written competences of students. The reasons for such attitudes could be explained by insufficient knowledge of the underlying features of highly developed communication competence and consequently of insufficient awareness of their own, as a necessary prerequisite for successful interaction in the contemporary society. The research results point to the necessity of acquiring a more objective perception of students about their own language competences. Keywords: speaking competences; speech errors; speech disfluency; students’ attitudes.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
Muhammad Riaz Khan ◽  
Shehla Riaz Khan ◽  
Saeed Ahmad

The graduates of Jazan University (Saudi Arabia), like anywhere else in EFL or ESL settings, require effective oral communication skills in English language for a highly competitive and expanding market economy of the country, and the worldwide too. The study was taken to evaluate the students’ perceptions about the need of speaking skills and the urgency to participate in language enhancement activities keeping in view the generally unsatisfactory position of the Saudi students in speaking English language. The sample population for this research was taken from three colleges, i.e. the first grade students from Engineering, Business and Computer Science of this university. A survey method technique was adopted in which data was obtained using a structured questionnaire about students’ responses on multiple items indicating their understanding of the importance of speaking skills, their existing level of oral communication and the need to participate in the extra coaching programs offered by the university. The quantitative data were analyzed by using SPSS 17. The data shows the participants’ understanding of the importance of communication skills for social needs, personality development, attaining and survival in the job market, and their needs for attending extra language training sessions other than their normal routine courses.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 649-671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gloria Vickov ◽  
Eva Jakupčević

The present study aims to investigate the use of discourse markers (DMs) in non-native (Croatian) EFL teachers´ talk with primary and secondary school students. The study concentrates on the occurrences and frequencies of DMs, but it also provides an account of the function distribution of the three most frequently used DMs (ok, so, and). The quantitative and qualitative analyses of the recorded transcriptions reveal that the teachers use a variety of DMs, almost exclusively the ones typical of classroom management and classroom discourse organization, with no significant differences in the patterns of DM use with the primary and secondary school students. The DMs fulfill a number of structural and interpersonal functions mainly aimed at providing coherent and stimulating classroom discourse. The findings of this study might contribute to raising awareness of the diversified functions of DMs, which could facilitate non-native EFL teachers´ overall lesson organization and structuring of particular teaching segments.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chong Xin Txin ◽  
Melor Md Yunus

Even after undertaking years of formal education to acquire the language in schools, having a poor command of English remains a problem faced by most Malaysians, especially students in rural schools of Sarawak. Based on the error-analysis carried out by recent research, subject–verb agreement (SVA) is one of the most frequent errors committed by students. To overcome this problem, teachers should significantly improve students’ mastery of SVA in the English language through effective teaching methods. Therefore, this research was conducted to explore the effects of Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures in teaching SVA among rural Sarawak learners. In this study, 35 Form 4 students were selected from a secondary school in the Belaga District, Sarawak as the research participants. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used as data collection tools. Overall, findings demonstrated that students showed positive feedback after the intervention was implemented. Results of this research will hopefully provide insights to secondary school students, teachers and the community in the cooperative teaching and learning of grammar.


Health ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 07 (10) ◽  
pp. 1366-1378
Author(s):  
Ali S. Mobarak ◽  
Raouf M. Afifi ◽  
Amani Qulali

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulmohsen H. Al-Zalabani ◽  
Soliman M. Amer ◽  
Khaled A. Kasim ◽  
Reem I. Alqabshawi ◽  
Ayat R. Abdallah

Background and objectives. Second-hand smoke (SHS) is an important public health problem worldwide. The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of SHS exposure and its associated risk factors among intermediate and secondary school students.Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2013 among 3400 students from 34 intermediate and secondary schools in Madinah City, Saudi Arabia. Data about sociodemographic and smoking-related factors and SHS exposure were collected using a self-administered questionnaire.Results. Of the 3210 students analyzed, the prevalence of SHS exposure was 32.7% 49.3%, and 25% inside, outside, and both inside and outside the home, respectively. The highest risk of SHS exposure was associated with the adolescent’s smoking status, parental smoking, close friends smoking, and family structure. The risk was markedly increased in association with parental smoking for exposure inside the home (OR = 6.49; 95% CI = 5.44–7.73) and with close friends smoking for exposure outside the home (OR = 4.16; 95% CI = 3.54–4.77). The risk of SHS, however, was lower among adolescents having knowledge about smoking and highly educated parents.Conclusion. The study revealed a considerably high prevalence of SHS both inside and outside the home among adolescents. Knowledge and beliefs about SHS exposure are the main preventable approach.


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