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89
USING PODCAST TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE VIETNAMESE LISTENING AND SPEAKING SKILLS OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Nguyen Quoc Thuy, Lecturer Nguyen Thi Doan Trang, Lecturer Thai Nguyen University of Education (Vietnam, Thai Nguyen)
DOLW.24412/2500-1000-2021-9-2-48-52
Abstract. Nowadays, Vietnamese is gaining increasing interest from foreigners and is being studied for a variety of objectives. The purpose of this study is to determine the benefits of using podcasts in teaching foreign languages in general, and Vietnamese in particular, and to implement teaching-learning techniques using podcasts to guide foreign students at the intermediate level to improve their Vietnamese listening and speaking skills. The findings of this study indicate that the usage of podcasts benefits the development and improvement of Vietnamese listening and speaking abilities among international students enrolled at the Thai Nguyen University of Education.
Keywords: Vietnamese, using podcasts, listening and speaking skills, international students, foreign language.
I. Introduction. International students and foreigners relocating to and working in Vietnam are increasing their demand for studying Vietnamese. To establish a legal framework for teaching Vietnamese to foreigners in institutions, the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam issued the "Vietnamese Competency Framework for Foreigners" on September 1, 2015, according to Circular No. 17/2015/TT-BGDT [1], based upon the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
This article aims to demonstrate the efficacy of podcasts in strengthening international students' Vietnamese communication abilities in the areas of listening and speaking. The research methods used include analyzing and generalizing research on the use of podcasts in the field of foreign language teaching in general; investigating, learning, and conducting experiments to demonstrate the impact of podcast application on the listening and speaking skills of international students studying Vietnamese at the Thai Nguyen University of Education.
The term Podcast is a mash-up of two terms: iPod (a brand of Apple's music player) and Broadcast (broadcast), which were first used in 2004. "A podcast is an audio file similar to a radio broadcast, that can be downloaded and listened to on a computer or MP3
player" [2]. In studying, podcasts have been used in a variety of ways. Learners can listen to or watch the podcast content at their leisure, autonomously modifying the speed and frequency of their listening or viewing. In conjunction with the "Shadowing" approach, students are instructed to listen to a video or audio recording of a real human being speaking and repeat what they say. In addition to being used for listening, Stanley G asserts that: "it is also possible to use podcasts to extend the scope of the classroom by involving students in the creation and publishing of their own content for a real audience. You can also start a podcast exchange project with another class and students from other parts of the world" [3].
Not only for educational objectives, but the chance to reach a global audience is a big incentive for learners to develop their own pod-cast. Alla V. Naidionova, Oksana G. Ponoma-renko argue that: "Podcasts provide students with a more authentic and personal experience to develop various language skills" [4]. By incorporating podcasts into the learning process, students can diversity the learning experience and make classes more dynamic. Podcasts offer a virtual natural language environment, which enables learners to organize speech activities in novel ways. Creating student podcasts and uploading them to the In-
ternet is a relatively simple process that does not require advanced computer skills. It is sufficient to navigate to the podcast service's website and follow the instructions (www.podomatic.com).
II. Experimental research
1. Research questions and hypotheses
Taking into account the theoretical and
practical viewpoints stated, this study seeks to address the following research question:
Question: Does incorporating podcasts into instructional activities significantly affect Vietnamese language learners' listening and speaking abilities?
Based on the pedagogical significance of the study, the following null hypothesis will be tested:
Hypothesis: The use of podcasts in educational activities has no impact on the listening and speaking abilities of students studying Vietnamese.
2. Method and design of the research
The current research is of qualitative and
quantitative direction, intending to demonstrate that the effectiveness of using podcasts in teaching activities has an effect on Vietnamese learners' listening and speaking abilities. The study will compare two groups of students that are enrolled in the same study program and at the same level. The study's design will include the following: Select two classes at random: one for control and one for experiment. The experimental group would use podcasts to teach listening-speaking tasks, while the control group would employ more traditional approaches. Data obtained through experimental results were analyzed and processed through software (SPSS-27). An independent sample t-test was used to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference in performance between the control and experimental groups.
3. Data Collection Tools
The following tools were used to address the research question:
- Create a survey questionnaire to ascertain students' interest in structuring their learning
through podcasts; Develop listening and speaking lessons using podcasts to instruct students in experimental groups, including program objectives, instructional methods employing podcasts and task performance, activities, and evaluation approaches.
- A listening-speaking test at the B1 level was administered to both the control and experimental groups following the incorporation of podcasts into teaching activities. This test was chosen from the school's question bank and accepted for use on other students enrolled in the same school year. This demonstrates that the test is sufficiently trustworthy for use in this research.
4. Research results
4.1. Results from the survey
Although podcasts are not a new application, 97 percent of students in both the control and experimental groups stated that they had never engaged podcasts in their learning and were unfamiliar with this teaching style. However, the questionnaire revealed that the vast majority of these students (69%) expressed an interest in learning Vietnamese via podcasts.
4.2. Results of the final exams of the A2 module - Elementary level (before the experiment)
All students enrolled in the study have completed an A2-level Vietnamese language program. By comparing the mean scores (Mean) of students in the control and experimental groups at the end of the A2 level for two listening and speaking skills, we found that the mean score (Mean) for listening and speaking skills were nearly identical in the two groups (Table 1). To evaluate whether there was a significant difference between the mean scores, an independent sample t-test was carried out. We obtained Sig. (2-tailed) of listening skills (p = 0.485) and of speaking skills (p = 0.986) > a = 0.05, indicating that the general average of A2 listening and speaking skills in the two groups were the same.
Table 1. Descriptive statistics of scores of listening and speaking skills at the end of A2 (before experiment)
Group Statistics
Group N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
Listening A2 Control 15 7.393 .9231 .2383
Experimental 15 7.113 1.2223 .3156
Speaking A2 Control 15 7.620 1.0844 .2800
Experimental 15 7.613 .9380 .2422
Independent Samples Test
Levene's Test foi Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means
F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference Std. Error Difference 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference
Lower Upper
Listen-ing_A2 Equal variances assumed .609 .442 .708 28 .485 .2800 .3955 -.5301 1.0901
Equal variances not assumed .708 26.050 .485 .2800 .3955 -.5329 1.0929
Speak-ing_A2 Equal variances assumed .001 .975 .018 28 .986 .0067 .3702 -.7517 .7650
Equal variances not assumed .018 27.431 .986 .0067 .3702 -.7524 .7657
4.3. Results of the final exams of the B1 module (after the experiment)
Table 2 shows the results of the listening and speaking test at the end of module B1. In listening skills: the control group's mean (mean) and standard deviation were 7.247 and 0.6621, respectively; The mean score and standard deviation of the experimental group were 7.807 and 0.6850. In speaking skills: The control group's mean score and standard deviation were 6,920 and 1.3214; The mean score and standard deviation of the experimental group were 7.980 and 0.7571. As can be seen, there is a statistically significant difference in mean scores (Mean) between the
experimental and control groups, most notably in speaking abilities. Additionally, t-test examination of independent data indicated the existence of the Sig index. (2-tailed) in listening (p = 0.031) and speaking (p = 0.012) is less than the 0.05 significance level. It can indeed be said that there is a statistically significant difference between the experimental group and the control group in the overall listening-speaking test at the end of module B1 in favor of the experimental group. As a result, the null hypothesis that podcasts have no influence on Vietnamese language learners' listening and speaking abilities is rejected.
Table 2. Descriptive statistics of the score of listening and speaking skills at the end of level B1 (after experiment)
Group Statistics_____
Std. Error
Group N Mean Std. Deviation Mean
Listening B1 Control 15 7.247 .6621 .1710
Experimental 15 7.807 .6850 .1769
Speaking B1 Control 15 6.920 1.3214 .3412
Experimental 15 7.980 .7571 .1955
Independent Samples Test
Levene's Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means
F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference Std. Error Difference 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference
Lower Upper
Listen-ing_B1 Equal variances assumed .000 .991 -2.277 28 .031 -.5600 .2460 -1.0639 -.0561
Equal variances not assumed -2.277 27.968 .031 -.5600 .2460 -1.0639 -.0561
Speak-ing_B1 Equal variances assumed 1.904 .179 -2.696 28 .012 -1.0600 .3932 -1.8654 -.2546
Equal variances not assumed -2.696 22.297 .013 -1.0600 .3932 -1.8748 -.2452
Therefore, it can be stated that the use of podcasts in education has a considerable effect on students' listening and speaking abilities. The findings established that the experimental group outperformed the control group.
The examination of the B1 end-of-course test results also demonstrates that enhancing listening skills has a beneficial effect on im-
proving speaking ability at the B1 level and vice versa. Table 3 indicates that there is a statistically significant link between listening and speaking skills B1 (the Sig. (2-tailed) p = 0.01 < 0.05). On the other hand, 0 < Pearson's r = 0.604 < 1, suggesting a substantial correlation between the variables of listening and speaking skills.
Table 3. Correlation between listening and speaking skills at level B1 Correlations
Listening B1 Speaking B1
Listening B1 Pearson Correlation 1 .604*
Sig. (2-tailed) .017
N 15 15
Speaking B1 Pearson Correlation .604* 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .017
N 15 15
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tai ed).
III. Conclusion prepared and unprepared listening and speak-
The incorporation of podcasts into the ed- ing skills. The implementation of podcast ucational process benefits the development of technology into Vietnamese language instruc-communication ability in Vietnamese, partic- tion boosts learners' motivation, strengthens ularly the listening and speaking abilities of learners' information technology capabilities international students at Thai Nguyen Univer- and cognitive activities, and provides learners sity of Education. According to our theoreti- with the opportunity to overcome linguistic cal study, podcasts can be highly beneficial to hurdles through participation in a real lan-growing students' listening and speaking guage context. skills and practicing and controlling students'
References
1. Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training. Vietnamese Competency Framework for Foreigners" on September 1, 2015, according to Circular No. 17/2015/TT-BGDT. 2. Collins dic-tionatry. Retrieved from https://www.collinsdictionary.com
3. Stanley G. (2016). Podcasting: Audio on the Internet comes of age. TESL-EJ, 9(4). Retrieved from http://teslej.org/ej36/int.html
4. Alla V. Naidionova, Oksana G. Ponomarenko (2018). Use of podcasting technology to develop students' listening skills. Information Technologies and Learning Tools, Vol. 63, №1. (p. 178). ISSN: 2076-8184.
5. Salmon G., Edirisingha P. (2008). Podcasting for learning in universities. Berkshire: Open University Press.
ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕ ТЕХНОЛОГИИ PODCAST ДЛЯ УЛУЧШЕНИЯ ВЬЕТНАМСКИХ НАВЫКОВ СЛУШАНИЯ И РЕЧИ ИНОСТРАННЫХ СТУДЕНТОВ
Нгуен Куок Тхюи, преподаватель Нгуен Тхи Доан Чанг, преподаватель Педагогическом университете Тхай Нгуен (Вьетнам, г. Тхай Нгуен)
Аннотация. В настоящее время вьетнамский язык вызывает все больший интерес со стороны иностранцев и изучается для различных целей. Цель этого исследования - определить преимущества использования подкастов при обучении иностранным языкам в целом и вьетнамскому в частности, а также внедрить методы преподавания и обучения с использованием подкастов, чтобы помочь иностранным студентам среднего уровня улучшить свои навыки аудирования и разговорной речи на вьетнамском языке. Результаты этого исследования показывают, что использование подкастов способствует развитию и совершенствованию вьетнамских способностей к слушанию и разговорной речи среди иностранных студентов, обучающихся в Педагогическом университете Тхай Нгу-ен.
Ключевые слова: вьетнамский язык, использование подкастов, навыки аудирования и говорения, иностранные студенты, иностранный язык.
