https://doi.org/10.37815/rte.v34n2.888

Original articles

Improving oral communication skills of English learners with voice
messages and short videos

Mejora
de las habilidades comunicativas orales de estudiantes de inglés con mensajes
de voz y vídeos cortos

Rotimi Peter
Oye1 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6860-5423,

Katherine Salvador
Cisneros2  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0414-3597

1Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Centro de Educación
Continua, Quito,
Ecuador

[email-masked]

2Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL),
Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Humanísticas, Guayaquil, Ecuador

[email-masked]

Sent:               2021/12/10

Accepted:       2022/05/19

Published:      2022/06/30

Abstract

Summary: Introduction,
Methodology, Results and Discussion and Conclusions.

How
to cite: Oye, R. & Salvador-Cisneros,
K. (2022). Improving oral communication skills of English learners with
voice messages and short videos. Revista
Tecnológica - Espol, 34(2), 155-164. http://www.rte.espol.edu.ec/index.php/tecnologica/article/view/888

University students face
the challenge of communicating in a foreign language while speaking. This is
perceived as one of the most complex skills to develop. The lack of
opportunities to interact in the target language, in and out of the English
classrooms, prevents students from acquiring fluency and confidence. This study
examines the development of students' oral communication skills of Level B1
(Pre-Intermediate level of the Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages) of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) using the WhatsApp
applications. Forty–five EFL learners aged 18-25 from a language center at a
university in Ecuador performed exercises using voice messages and short videos
as part of their course planned activities. The data collection method
consisted of surveys and interviews with the participants and their teacher’s
observations. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and
cross-tabulation accordingly. Analysis of the data evidenced that short videos were
far more effective than voice messaging in improving the participants' oral
communication skills. Other benefits were the improvement of grammar and
pronunciation observed in the learners' voice messages, with the consequent
improvement of their speaking fluency. It can be said that the participants'
overall oral communication skills developed with the use of the WhatsApp
application in this study. Therefore, the authors recommend exploring the
application of technological resources in the EFL classroom.

Keywords: educational research, foreign language instruction, English, educational
technology, educational innovations, WhatsApp.

Resumen

Los estudiantes universitarios
enfrentan el desafío de comunicarse en una lengua extranjera mientras que la destreza
oral es una de las más difíciles de desarrollar. La falta de oportunidades para
interactuar en el lenguaje objetivo dentro y fuera de la clase de inglés impide
adquirir fluidez y confianza. Este estudio examina el desarrollo de las
habilidades de comunicación oral de los estudiantes del Nivel B1 (Nivel
pre-intermedio del Marco Común Europea de Referencia de Lenguas) de inglés como
Lengua Extranjera, haciendo uso de la aplicación WhatsApp. Cuarenta y cinco
estudiantes de inglés, de edades entre 18 y 25 años, de un centro de idiomas de
una universidad de Ecuador realizan ejercicios de comunicación oral empleando
mensajes de voz, con la ejecución de vídeos cortos como parte de las
actividades planificadas en su curso. El método de recolección de datos incluye
encuestas y entrevistas a los participantes, y observaciones de su profesor. La
información se examina mediante estadística descriptiva y tabulaciones
cruzadas. El análisis de los datos evidencia que el uso de vídeos cortos es
mucho más eficaz que los mensajes de voz para mejorar las habilidades
comunicativas orales de los participantes. Otro beneficio es la mejora en el
uso de la gramática y la pronunciación observada en los mensajes de voz de los
estudiantes, y su consecuente mejoría de la fluidez en su habilidad oral. En
este estudio puede decirse que las habilidades comunicativas orales mejoran de
manera general con el uso de la aplicación WhatsApp, por lo tanto, los autores
recomiendan explorar diferentes recursos tecnológicos en la enseñanza de
lenguas extranjeras.

Palabras
clave: investigación educativa, enseñanza de lengua
extranjera, inglés, tecnología educativa, innovaciones educativas, WhatssApp.

Introduction

This
study addresses one of the concerns of English as Foreign Language (EFL)
teachers about learners' difficulty speaking in English after studying the
language for several years. English learners have many problems engaging in
meaningful conversations. Most learners have difficulty developing oral
communication skills (Altiner, 2018). This difficulty
may result from some teachers focusing more on teaching grammar and vocabulary
with a content-based approach, leaving a communication-based approach aside.
Also, for some learners, passing an English exam composed of grammatical structures
and writing about individual experiences is not enough to improve their oral
communication skills. Not being able to speak English in and outside the
classroom is a typical problem college students face. In addition, learners say
they are shy or afraid to make mistakes when trying to communicate in English (Namaziandost, 2019).

It must
also be said that oral production in the English language does not only help
learners to further their education, but also prepares them for cross-cultural
activities in their life experiences. Furthermore, speaking English will enable
learners to obtain part-time jobs due to Ecuador being a touristic location for
foreign English speakers who are seeking adventures and international
relationships. Learners with a B1 level of English will find it easy to get
jobs in hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, and tourist places. The
advantages of cross-cultural activities like knowing Ecuadorians' local
cuisines and other cultural identities may be transmitted to English native
speakers who come to visit Ecuador for cultural experiences. Cultural
experiences may be achieved through speaking to individuals physically or
through video conferencing (Jung, 2013). Learners will be prepared to master
the meanings of words and use them on different occasions with those who want
to have a cultural understanding of a specific location (Kurkimbayeva
et al., 2020).

According
to the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education on Learning English, Article 31 of the
University Council, students must achieve a B1 level of English of the Common
European Framework before graduating from university (CES, 2019). Some high
school students need to prepare well to pass their English proficiency level
when they reach university. The English proficiency level at the university
corresponds to the B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages, which states that learners would be able to communicate fluently on
topics related to their everyday activities (Council of Europe, 2001, p.24).
This work results from research undertaken towards the master in TEFL degree of
one of the authors. It is set in the English Center of the Continuous Education
Department at the National Polytechnic University. Participants are university
and high school students enrolled in this English Center who are challenged to
acquire a B1 level (a pre-intermediate level of the Common European Framework
of Reference for Languages) to improve their oral communication skills.

The research questions of this study are:

1. How do voice messages improve the oral communication of EFL B1
students using the WhatsApp application?

2. How do short videos in English improve the oral communication of EFL
B1 students using the WhatsApp application?

3. What are EFL B1 learners' perceptions of using voice messages and
short videos to enhance their communication skills?

Methodology

This study aimed to employ an action
research approach to address communication skills problems in the EFL
classroom. Alina et al. (2007) suggest that action
research results in practical solutions to problems in education and learning.
Siegel (2013) states that practical solutions can improve language skills when
attention is given to the learner's perspective of their learning process. In
the same vein, Tuan and Nhu (2010) claim that
researchers and learners need to investigate student perspectives while
interacting to find solutions to learners' communication skills in the
classroom. Therefore, this study uses an interpretive approach to examine
learners' perceptions of improvement when using WhatsApp as a learning tool. In
this regard, the study combined a survey, interviews, and observations as data
collection tools to identify and meet the needs of learners.

The survey employed in this study included
five statements where the participants were asked to position themselves along
a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 to 5, as follows:

1.     Extremely poor

2.     Poor

3.     Neither poor nor good

4.     Good

5.     Extremely good

The semi-structured interview included
three initial questions aimed to respond the research questions:

Question 1. Would you like to use voice
messages through the WhatsApp application during class activities? Why?

Question 2. Would you like to use short
videos from the WhatsApp application during class activities to enhance your
communicative skills? Why?

Question 3. What are your perceptions about
using voice messages and short videos to improve your speaking skills?

The data collected from surveys were
interpreted using descriptive statistics and a cross-tabulation analysis. The
responses to the open questions in the interviews were listed for their
analysis. Results and conclusions followed the analysis of the collected data.

Forty-five participants took part in this
study. Students were enrolled in the 5th Cycle English Course, Fall Term
(October 20th to December 17th, 2020) in the English Center of a polytechnic
university. All participants were 18 to 25 years old. They held Level B1 in
English according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Participants granted their informed consent to participate, knowing the purpose
and the content of the survey and the interview. Participants attended two-hour
daily English lessons for eight weeks, from Monday to Friday. Learners in this
study usually have scarce opportunities to put the grammatical structure
learned in class into practice in their daily activities and conversations.
Therefore, this study explored the effect of using English voice messages and
short videos through the WhatsApp application to improve the communication
skills of EFL B1 learners in the classroom. The focus of this study was the
improvement of oral skills, fluency, and the learners’ confidence in the use of
the language.

Results and Discussion

The
participants’ responses to the survey are presented based on a descriptive
statistical analysis. Figure 1 illustrates how students
perceived their improvement after using WhatsApp voice messages through bar
charts. Most respondents (n=20; 44.4%) agreed that WhatsApp voice messages are
an excellent tool to improve their communication skills. At the same time, only
one participant (2.2%) agreed that the use of WhatsApp voice messages is a poor
technique to improve communication skills.

The second objective of this study was to
explore how short videos from WhatsApp contributed to participants' oral
communicative skills. Figure 2 reflects that most respondents (n=22;48.9%) agreed that
short videos are good to improve their communicative skills. While only one of
the respondents (2.2%) agreed that short videos are considered an Extremely
Poor tool to improve communication skills.

The third objective of this
study was to know the most perceived improvement after using voice messages and
short videos from the WhatsApp application. Figure 3 depicts students' responses, with most respondents
(n=18;40.0%) reporting the perception of improvement in their grammar skills.
Only two respondents (4.4%) agreed that voice messages and short videos from
the WhatsApp application enhance their emotional expression.

Figure 1

Bar chart of the distribution of
students’ perception of their improvement after the use of voice messages

Figure 2

Bar chart of the distribution of
students’ perception of their improvement after the use of short videos

Figure 3

Bar chart of the distribution of
students' perception of their improvement after the use of voice messages and
short videos

A cross-tabulation count of
students' perceptions corroborates that those respondents who agree that voice
messages and short videos are good tools to enhance their communication skills
relate Grammar as the primary area of improvement (Table 1 and Table 2).

Table 1

Cross-tabulation
count of respondents’ perceptions (voice messages)

SCALE

EASY TO USE

HELP IN PRONUNCIATION

MORE CONFIDENCE

EXPRESS EMOTION

IMPROVE GRAMMAR

TOTAL

EXTREMELY POOR

0

0

0

0

0

0

POOR

1

0

0

0

0

1

NEITHER POOR NOR GOOD

1

1

1

1

3

7

GOOD

3

5

5

1

6

20

EXTREMELY GOOD

3

4

1

0

9

17

TOTAL

8

10

7

2

18

45

Table 2

Cross-tabulation
count of respondents’ perceptions (short videos

SCALE

EASY TO USE

HELP IN PRONUNCIATION

MORE CONFIDENCE

EXPRESS EMOTION

IMPROVE GRAMMAR

TOTAL

EXTREMELY POOR

0

0

0

0

1

1

POOR

2

0

0

0

0

2

NEITHER POOR NOR GOOD

1

0

1

1

0

3

GOOD

4

4

6

0

8

22

EXTREMELY GOOD

1

6

0

1

9

17

TOTAL

8

10

7

2

18

45

The
Pearson Chi-Square value was calculated to determine if there was a significant
difference among the perceptions. It was found that there is no statistically
significant association between the participant's perception of the use of
voice message and short videos and their responses about the use of voice
messages as a tool to improve communication skills. This lack of association is
shown in Table 3 since the P-value of 0.551
is more significant than 0.05 (95% confidence level).

Table 3

Chi-Square
test

VALUE

DF

ASYMPTOTIC SIGNIFICANCE

(2-SIDED)

PEARSON CHI-SQUARE

10.738a

12

.551

LIKELIHOOD RATIO

9.912

12

.624

LINEAR-BY-LINEAR ASSOCIATION

.505

1

.477

N OF VALID CASES

45

a. 18 cells (90.0%) have an
expected count of less than 5. The minimum expected count is .04.

The
same test was run with the second set of data. It was found that there is a
statistically significant association between people's perception of the use of
voice messages and short videos and their responses about the use of short
videos as a tool to improve their communication skills. This association is
seen in Table 4, where
the P-value of 0.027 is less than 0.05 (95% confidence level).

Table 4

Chi-Square test

VALUE

DF

ASYMPTOTIC
SIGNIFICANCE (2-SIDED)

PEARSON
CHI-SQUARE

28.519a

16

.027

LIKELIHOOD
RATIO

28.285

16

.029

LINEAR-BY-LINEAR
ASSOCIATION

1.599

1

.206

N
OF VALID CASES

45

a.
23 cells (92.0%) have an expected count of less than 5. The minimum expected
count is .04.

The semi-structured
interview with each participant was thought to inquire if they liked
introducing the WhatsApp application using voice messages and short videos
during classroom activities to enhance their communicative skill. An opening
question was followed by the second question to make participants state their
reasons why they would like to use it and why not. The last question aimed to
know their points of view on the uses of both voice messages and short videos
through the WhatsApp application. Table 5 lists the responses from
participants as follows:

Table 5

Responses to semi-structured interviews

QUESTIONS

RESPONSES (n=45)

Participants who would like the use
of voice messages through WhatsApp during learning activities.

All participants said yes to this
question.

Participants who would not like the
use of voice messages through WhatsApp during learning activities.

None.

Participants' reasons for the use of
voice messages.

-It makes it possible to be
confident when talking.

-It is possible to repeat sentences
and delete them until

accuracy is achieved because we can speak
well.

-It makes it possible to express
emotion.

Participants who would like the use
of short videos through WhatsApp during learning activities.

All participants said yes to this
question.

Participants who would not like the
use of short videos through WhatsApp during learning activities.

None.

Participants' reasons for the use of
short videos.

-It helps to improve grammar skills.

-It helps to learn more expressions
in English.

-It helps to improve pronunciation.

Participants' perceptions about the
uses of voice messages and short videos.

-It is easy to use.

-It is funny.

-It makes us learn personally.

-To understand different accents.

During
this study, the improvement in students' Grammar was observed, for example, in
the voice messages. This improvement is reflected in the observation notes'
good use of grammatical structures. Mistakes in the use of possessive pronouns
were reduced. For example, three participants were aware of the difference
between 'your' and 'their.' Participants were engaged
in self-discovery and self-correction. The following quote of one of the
participants depicts this, “I went to the house and see, sorry saw my brother watching the movie….”
(SS1)

In
the above-directed quote, the participant made a mistake in the second verb,
using the verb in simple form instead of the verb in simple past, and he
quickly corrected it. Therefore, this behavior was noted as self-discovery
errors and self-corrected.

It was also found that students' motivation
increased, as noticed in the SS2 continuous question Teacher! Can I speak
about the short videos? The energy and the drive-in in most of the
participants who wanted to present their findings of short videos on the
WhatsApp application reflected their attempts to copy expressions and use them
in the classroom.

Their teamwork and excellent cooperation
during participants' preparation for both presentations and sending of voice messages
were found in the field notes as cooperation and not competition. Also, their
expressions of laughter, interjections, and the use of adjectives to describe
their voice messages and short videos in the English language, allowed to
observe this.

Finally, despite having some mistakes in
their voice messages and short videos, participants were able to have more
confidence and speak with few or no errors for more than three minutes. Short
videos appealed more to them since they were given a chance to select their
short movies and send them to the WhatsApp group for all to watch before
presentations. Participants were able to include some funny videos that were
sometimes relevant to their topics. Funny videos made them feel relaxed after a
good laugh, as noticed in one of the participants' comments, “Teacher! I remember to speak about it
because it is very funny” (SS3).

Conclusions

This
study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of English voice messages and
short videos using the WhatsApp application to improve communication skills.
The improvement in the use of the WhatsApp application was more noticeable in
short videos than voice messages. Similarly, the improvement was more related
to Grammar and pronunciation.

Lack
of communication skills is one of the problems students face when learning
English as a second language. Therefore, finding a solution to this problem is
significant. Most students in this study look forward to expressing themselves
in L2. According to Kovac & Mrsic (2017)
learners' attitudes towards speaking a second language increase their
self-confidence, which is related to the student’s behavior. Hence, a positive
impact for students is increased self-confidence during and after using the
WhatsApp application. It may be argued that the opportunity to repeat and
listen to individual voices both inside and outside the classroom increased
confidence in using the language. The results show that most of the
participants agree that using voice messages and short videos on WhatsApp would
improve their Grammar and pronunciation in their oral communication skills.
Based on the field notes, we also noticed an increase in their confidence when
speaking English.

In
addition, the WhatsApp application created a social bond between students as they
listened to and watched videos individually or collectively to react and speak
in the classroom. The use of the WhatsApp application has provided neurological
value. This finding means that learners can use their brains to think patiently
and critically about what is happening in their heads before deciding to send a
voice message or watch a short video. As a result, students could focus on
finding specific words, paragraphs, and sentences while listening to and
watching short English videos through the WhatsApp application.

As
argued, the WhatsApp application allows students to create interest and value
when they focus on their learning activities (Stepp, 2002). Language teachers
need to be creative about incorporating WhatsApp into their lesson plans to
avoid the underuse of social networks in the educational sector and the power
of social media for learning purposes (Prichard, 2013; Ko, 2019). Also, in this
study, some students sent good voice messages and short videos to the WhatsApp
group that were not relevant to a particular topic and were too long.
Consequently, it is recommended that voice messages and short videos from
WhatsApp should not be too long so that students do not miss the purpose of
learning English.

There
were no significant limitations that could affect the results of this study.
The researchers planned to make sure that all limitations were under control.
We mention minor ones that were dealt with during the study. For example, there
are reported cases of shy students, students who wanted to choose the short
videos, and some who did not follow the given instructions. Students were timid
to speak out during the first activities on sending voice messages to the
WhatsApp group of the class. It was complicated to understand the main idea of
their discussion due to their low voice. Some gave excuses for using bad
earphones, while some complained about noisy environments. However, there was
an improvement after that.

Moreover,
students wanted to choose the videos they liked, not according to the learning
objectives. It was also discovered that students often got carried away by
wanting to continue watching even after the allocated time lapsed. Some
students wanted to use their earphones covered with their hands to pretend they
were paying attention in the class while still looking at the screens of their
phones. Some students had to repeat their activities because they refused to
send their short videos and voice messages within the allocated time assigned
by the researcher. All efforts were made to make sure that participants
followed instructions so that the results of this study were valid and
reliable.

The
result of this study would be helpful to both language teachers and learners on
the use of WhatsApp application in the classroom to help enhance their oral
communication skills, which corroborates other studies (Minalla,
2018). The uses could be extended to the university and other English language
institutes in Ecuador. Language teachers could make a proposal to universities
and language institutes about the significance of the internet in teaching and
learning environments for learners to use WhatsApp in their different
classrooms. The increase in the usage of cell phones has given young learners
the benefits of using educational applications to learn and do more academic
activities without necessarily being in the classroom. The advantages of
eLearning are overwhelming in academic cycles. Learners may choose their
concentration instantly using tablets and other electronic devices (Main-smith,
n.d.). This trend will advocate the acceptance of mobile phones in the
classroom since they could be essential learning tools.

Further
research could be done on other social applications like Instagram, Facebook,
Telegram, Twitter, QQ, WeChat, and QZone. Using those
tools in the EFL classroom is sought to improve oral communication skills and
the understanding of complex topics in language teaching. Creativity in using
technology in the classroom is always recommended for teaching EFL.

Acknowledgments

The
authors would like to thank the Centro de Educación
Continua of the Escuela Politecnica Nacional and its
students who participated in this study.

References

Alina,
M., Lopes, C., Sancha, P., Cientifico,
T., & Ingleses, E. (2007). Communicative EFL Assessment in Cape Verde
Perceptions, Constraints and Suggestions for Effective Testing Tools
Communicative EFL Assessment in Cape Verde Perceptions, Constraints and
Suggestions for Effective Testing Tools.

Altiner, C. (2018). Teaching of Focus Structures in
English. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 6(11a), 69. https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v6i11a.3802

CES
(Consejo de Educación Superior). (2019). Reglamento de Régimen Académico
Consejo Educación Superior. Lexis Finder, 051, 51 reglamento-de-regimen-
academico-2015.pdf

Council of Europe.
(2001). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning,
teaching, assessment. Cambridge University Press.

Jung, M.-Y.
(2013). Videoconferencing Improves Students’ Language Learning in the EFL
Classroom. TESOL Journal, 4(4), 743–751. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.112

Ko, M. H.
(2019). Students’ reactions to using smartphones and social media for
vocabulary feedback. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 32(8),
920–944. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2018.1541360

Kovac, M. M.,
& Mrsic, A. (2017). Students’Attitudes
towards Foreign Languages. Journal of Educational and Developmental
Psychology, 7(2), 124. https://doi.org/10.5539/jedp.v7n2p124

Kurkimbayeva, A. M., Akhatova, B. A.,
Gumovskaya, G. N., Kotenyatkina,
I. B., & Khuziakhmetov, A. N. (2020).
Communicative strategies in modern linguistics (On the material of English
travel blogs). XLinguae, 13(2), 33–49. https://doi.org/10.18355/XL.2020.13.02.03

Main-smith, J.
(n.d.). Cell-Phone Addiction.

Minalla, A. A. (2018). The Effect of WhatsApp Chat Group
in Enhancing EFL Learners’ Verbal Interaction outside Classroom Contexts. English
Language Teaching, 11(3), 1. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v11n3p1

Namaziandost, E.
(2019). The Impact of Social Media on EFL Learners’ Speaking Skill: A Survey
Study Involving EFL Teachers and Students. 6(3), 199–215.

Prichard, C.
(2013). Using Social Networking Sites as a Platform for Second Language
Instruction. TESOL Journal, 4(4), 752–758.
https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.113

Siegel, J. (2013).
Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching Second language learners’
perceptions of listening strategy instruction. Innovation in Language
Learning and Teaching, 7(April), 37–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2011.653110

Stepp, J. G.
(2002). Student Perceptions on Language Learning in a Technological
Environment: Implications for The New Millennium. Language Learning and
Technology, 6(January), 165–180. http://llt.msu.edu/vol6num1/steppgreany/

Tuan, L. T., & Nhu, N. T. K. (2010). Theoretical Review on Oral
Interaction in EFL Classrooms. Studies in Literature and Language, 1(4),
29–48. https://doi.org/10.3968/1415