An Investigation of the Integration of Synchronous Online Tools to Deliver Task-Based Language Teaching: The Example of SpeakApps.

Abstract

Research shows that Saudi students demonstrate poor proficiency in spoken English. It has been suggested that reasons for this include a lack of opportunity for students to practise, lack of motivation to learn, and, arguably, issues with the curriculum. Therefore, this research project tested the implementation of synchronous and asynchronous interactive online tools (in this case, using the platform SpeakApps)1 that assist in the delivery of speaking tasks. It expanded upon this to investigate how to design lessons that use tasks to facilitate oral production and interaction, within a particular language-learning context. This involved three stages: planning, delivery, and evaluation of a pedagogical intervention with a group of Saudi students through action research. The planning and delivery stages included using a customized CMC task evaluation framework for computer assisted language learning tasks, and an action research approach, designing and implementing speaking tasks. During the third stage, analysis was undertaken to measure changes in the students’ communication strategies over the period of the experiment, to evaluate the speaking tasks and to gauge the students’ attitudes towards and acceptance of using SpeakApps. 1 SpeakApps is a free and open source online platform and tool that uses information and communications technology (ICT)-based applications and pedagogies to facilitate oral skills practice. This research study involved an action research and a mixed design approach, using qualitative and quantitative methods. The data collection was conducted within the Department of European Languages and Literature at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The period of the data collection was nine weeks during which the data were gathered from two groups. The first group of participants consisted of 24 female Saudi Arabian students, aged between 20 and 23, who volunteered to participate in the study, which involved them in extra speaking tutorials outside their speaking and listening course. The second, smaller set of participants comprised two female instructors from the course in which the students were enrolled.

The researcher provided the students with different speaking activities to prompt authentic, goal-oriented communication tasks. The students needed to log on to SpeakApps to connect orally in order to complete the tasks as an interactive group discussion outside the classroom. The study's quantitative data were gathered from pre-and post-surveys, and the first part of weekly reflections on the corresponding speaking tasks, while the qualitative data were collected from a group interview, the second part of the weekly reflections, and analysis of students' interactions. The study required the two course instructors to express their opinions, through a weekly questionnaire, about the weaknesses and strengths of each speaking task, and also to suggest how to motivate the students as well as ways in which to improve the speaking tasks. Along with interacting orally through the application, the students were asked to evaluate speaking tasks as well as SpeakApps through using weekly questionnaires and pre-and post-surveys. Additionally, the researcher interviewed the learners to solicit ideas about options for facilitating the development of speaking tasks and investigating their perceptions of SpeakApps as well as learning processes. The results indicated that the students showed a positive attitude towards SpeakApps, although they experienced various technical problems. This thesis shows there were two main factors that promoted students’ acceptance of the technology: 1) students’ belief in its usefulness for improving their language skills, and 2) students’ feeling of being part of a community (affective dimension) because of the specific features of SpeakApps. Also, regarding