The Role Of BBC Learning English Podcasts In Developing Speaking Skills Among EFL Learners

Abstract

English podcasts are accessible, free of charge, and can be usefully exploited to enhance EFL students' speaking skills. The paper at hand sets out to examine whether the incorporation of BBC learning English podcasts in the teaching of oral comprehension and production contributes to the improvement of EFL learners' speaking skills. To this end, a quasi-experimental approach using a paired sample t-test is conducted on a random sample of first year EFL students. The paired sample t-test is used to determine if, after the treatment application, there is a significant difference between the pretest and posttest speaking skills assessment means. The paired sample t-test succeeded in revealing a statistically reliable difference between the mean number of the pretest and the mean number of the posttest, and by specifying the preset level of significance (α =0.05), the alternative hypothesis has been confirmed. The results of the SPSS outputs confirm that teachers’ integration of BBC learning English podcasts, more precisely 6 minutes English, can provide EFL students with the opportunity to speak fluently through the improvement of vocabulary, word choice, grammar, pronunciation, and interaction.