The contribution of audiovisual resources to students’ speaking skills

La contribución de los recursos audiovisuales a la expresión oral de los estudiantes

Sara María Mera Jaramillo 1

Karina L. Mendoza Bravo, PhD 2

1Universidad Técnica de Manabí, Instituto de Posgrado, Portoviejo-Manabí-Ecuador, Email:

In Portoviejo, many educational institutions have the necessary audiovisual resources to be

able to teach English as a Foreign Language. The objective of this research was to determine

the contribution of audiovisual resources in the development of speaking skills. The study was

carried out with a group of 62 students and 10 teachers from a school in Portoviejo city. The

methods used in this study were quantitative and qualitative. The results obtained thanks to the

application of various instruments such as questionnaires, revealed important information, such

as that slides are one of the most used audiovisual resources in classrooms and that these

resources help students with language acquisition word reminding and cognitive learning. It

was also possible to know that the students consider that their level of oral production is good,

as do the teachers. In this study, it was concluded that the use of audiovisual resources

fue determinar la contribución de los recursos audiovisuales en el desarrollo de la habilidad de

hablar. El estudio se realizó con un grupo de 62 estudiantes y 10 docentes de un colegio de la

ciudad de Portoviejo. Los métodos utilizados en este estudio fueron cuantitativos y cualitativos.

Los resultados obtenidos gracias a la aplicación de diversos instrumentos como cuestionarios

revelaron información importante, como que las diapositivas son uno de los recursos

audiovisuales más utilizados en las aulas y que estos recursos ayudan a los estudiantes en la

adquisición del lenguaje, el recuerdo de palabras y el aprendizaje cognitivo. También se pudo

conocer que los estudiantes consideran que su nivel de producción oral es bueno, al igual que

los docentes. En este estudio se concluyó que el uso de recursos audiovisuales contribuye

positivamente al desarrollo de la habilidad oral de los estudiantes.

goals without using proper language to communicate. (Rao, 2019) All human beings need to

develop their oral skills in order to communicate with those around them.

There are approximately 670 million people in the world today who have a native or native-

like command of English. No other language has spread around the globe so extensively,

making English a truly international language. (Al-Jadidi, 2009)

Whether people learn English as a second language or a foreign language, they are learning a

target language. The learning of the target language can take on a variety of patterns. Dozens

of factors are involved, and it is doubtful whether we can make it possible to propose a complete

analysis of all the factors. Nevertheless, there are sorts of opinions and beliefs on what

influence language learning. (Setiyadi, 2020). Learning a new language is a challenge since on

and attitude, and cultural awareness”. (p.16) Everything that surrounds people learning a new

language plays a role in learning, from culture to attitudes.

communication became the primary goal for foreign language learners. We live in time when

information technologies play a very important role in education: their use in foreign language

teaching raises motivation, facilitates students’ cognitive abilities and helps to create a

favourable psychological atmosphere in the classroom. (Stakanova & Tolstikhina, 2014) The

use of ICT plays a fundamental role in these teaching-learning times. Teachers in charge of

time and with the right content.

International research into the contribution of visual and audiovisual materials started 30 to 40

years ago. These studies primarily focused on printed materials and used informative texts that

are appropriate to the reading skills levels in the form of structured printed materials such as

task cards and worksheets. (Akay, 2021).

The use of audiovisual resources plays a fundamental role in this new era, changing the process

Audio-visual resources include television, computer and films and the like. These resources

are capable to ensure effective teaching which improves skill acquisition and retention among

learners especially at the prime level. The use of audio-visual resources in teaching and learning

will move teaching method from rote method (teacher center method) to a more innovative and

enriched method known as “child center method”. (Ojobor, Fagbemi, & Babarinde, 2020).

Classes at this time must be focused on the students, the role of the teacher is to be a guide and

the main character is the student, and thanks to audiovisual resources, students can fulfill their

role, since the classes can be more dynamic and fun, making the teaching process of learning

a new language more effective. (Ode, 2014) says that “Teaching and learning processes are

very crucial at all levels of educational development. If well planned and directed, they are the

keys to success and progress of an individual. Therefore, best methods have to be used in order

to enhance effective teaching and learning. Consequently, the need to employ the use of

teaching aids otherwise referred to as audiovisual resources to enhance effective teaching and

learning.” (p.1)

In Ecuador, The English Language Learning Standards of the Ministry of Education (2012)

says that “the third domain is devoted to “Curriculum Development”, particularly aspects

related to planning for standards-based English, implementing and managing standards, and

it cannot always be used in all educational centers due to different factors.

Communication is one of the fundamental pillars in the development of the human being.

Communicating in our mother tongue is essential, but over the years learning a new language

has become a necessity, as is being able to communicate with others. Essentially, being able to

speak a foreign language means having communicative efficiency. It is inconceivably difficult

to imagine what life would look like if people could not communicate verbally. (Kuśnierek,

In Portoviejo, many educational institutions have the necessary audiovisual resources to be

able to teach English as a Foreign Language.

teachers used in the past decades we will not be able to see the results we expect, students with

the ability to communicate openly in another language.

We have to take into account that the ability to speak goes beyond expressing our ideas, we

also have to recognize certain key points such as pronunciation and fluency in order to maintain

effective communication with others. (Hussain, 2017) found that good pronunciation and

fluency in speaking skill is the hallmark of culture and it is the duty of the teacher to accomplish

this goal approximately as an Englishman does. Incessant effort is needed in this direction from

the teachers and learners.

Developing speaking proficiency requires more than simply just getting the language learners

exposed to a pool of vocabulary or grammar descriptions. Unfortunately, most of the language

development of speaking skills. The present study is focused on speaking skills, and several

authors agree that it is one of the most important skills to develop when learning a new

language. Speaking skill is the most important skill to acquire foreign or second language

learning. Among the four key language skills, speaking is deemed to be the most important

skill in learning a foreign or second language. (Rao, 2019)

This mixed study combines quantitative and qualitative methods for data collection.

Techniques such as the survey were applied through a questionnaire to the students, in order to

obtain findings and viewpoints related to this study. Likewise, the bibliography was used to

collect conceptual and theoretical information from different sources that helped to develop a

theoretical framework. By integrating findings and perspectives from many empirical findings,

a literature review can address research questions with a power that no single study has.

(Snyder, 2019)

the reality in this study, it was carried out with a group of 62 students and 10 teachers from a

Results

In order to determine the contribution that audiovisual resources have in the development of

The teachers indicated that the use of audiovisual resources in the classroom contributes

positively to the learning process of their students. Likewise, it was revealed that one of the

Table 1: Test scores – students

Question 1: According to your opinion, the contribution of audiovisual resources to your

speaking skills development is?

Variable

Frequency

Source: Students from a school in the city of Portoviejo.

According to the students surveyed, 100 % considered that audiovisual resources have a

15

10

Source: Students from a school in the city of Portoviejo.

According to the students surveyed, the use of audiovisual resources has many advantages for

the development of speaking skills. Most agree that language acquisition is the greatest

advantage, while 16% of the students consider that one of the advantages is word reminding.

Only 8% consider cognitive learning as an advantage of using audiovisual resources.

Source: Students from a school in the city of Portoviejo.

56% of those surveyed agree that from the list of audiovisual resources shown, teachers use the

slides in the classroom. A low percentage uses movies and images. Only 10% of the students

surveyed agree that teachers use movies as an audiovisual resource in the classroom.

Table 4: Test scores – students

Question 4: How do you rate your level of oral production into the classroom?

Frequency

According to the teachers surveyed, 80% consider that there are several advantages of using

audiovisual resources with their students, such as: language acquisition, word reminding and

cognitive learning but, a low percentage considers that the use of audiovisual resources only

helps their students with language acquisition or with words reminding.

Table 3: Test scores – teachers

Source: Teachers from a school in the city of Portoviejo.