Phiing Thi Hdi Van vd Dig Tap chl KHOA HQC & CONG NGHE 105(05) 151 155 THE USE OF IMULTIMEDIA IN ENHANCING ENGLISH ORAL COMPETENCE FOR FRESHMEN STUDENTS AT COLLEGE OF SCIENCES THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY P[.]
Trang 1THE USE OF IMULTIMEDIA IN ENHANCING ENGLISH ORAL
COMPETENCE FOR FRESHMEN STUDENTS AT COLLEGE OF SCIENCES -THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Phung Thi Hai Van, Nguyen Thi Que
College of Sciences - TNU
SUMMARY
Speaking so far has been considered as one ofthe most important skills in English learning, yet it
is also one of the weakest skills that students possess In many recent researches, advanced technologies have proved to effectively facilitate foreign language teaching and make English speaking so much more fun lo learn with However, whether multimedia really enhances students' Nguyen province has not yet been fully investigated Therefore, in this paper, we introduce a preliminary study on the use of Muhimedia in the teaching of speaking skill to first year students different teaching methods namely traditional teaching method and multimedia participated in the study Pre-test means scores showed no significant differences between the control and experimental groups while comparisons ofthe post-test mean scores showed a great improvement
in the students' achievement The study concluded that use of multimedia in teaching English helps enhance EFL students' mastery of English oral communication
Key words: Multimedia, traditional approach, enhancing oral competence, college of Sci:
pre-test, post-test
INTRODUCTION
Numerous studies have confirmed that English
is, in comparison with other languages in the
world, the most rapid form of international
communication As a result, English has
become one ofthe compulsory subjects in the
education system of Viet Nam in recent
decades It can be also noted that the use of
multimedia in leaching English is becoming
more and more popular in the modem world
Multimedia means using more than one type
of communication tool It may be any
computer application that integrates text,
graphics, animation, video, audio, or other
methods of communication Multimedia is
different from television, books or cassenes
because the former lets you interact wilh its
application When clicking on a word, you
can make a picture appear, or you can click
on a picture so that a video can be started
Multimedia became more popular in the mid
-1990s when the price of hardware began to
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fall Then, people started using it in the industry, business, education, entertainment and in other purposes Today, multimedia can
be found at home, in school, at work, in public places such as libraries, Internet shops or cafes
In Educalion, sludenis study interactive CD-ROMs al their own speed and explore topics
by clicking on related links creatively Specifically, teenagers have played computer games for years, bul multimedia applications combine education and entertainment and they let the users visit virtual worlds or change the ending of films Brinton as quoted
by Hartnetl (2001) claimed that multimedia tool server is an important motivator in the language teaching process because "media materials can lend authenticity to the classroom situation, reinforcing for students the direct relation between the language classroom and the outside world"
Multimedia is convenient; however, it is difficult for a lot of teachers in general and teachers of English in particular in terms of its application
151
Trang 2Do teachers of English really experience
using multimedia at work? How should the
teachers of English apply multimedia in
teaching? When using il, whal kind of
multimedia should be chosen for each specific
lesson? These arc questions that are olien
faced by most English teachers nowadays
No one can deny the important role of the
teachers to students, which is nol only the
pride bul also Ihe teachers' challenge Whal
teachers present and convey to students can
directly or indirectly shape their minds,
attitudes and motivation to study As a result,
most teachers wish lo make use as much as
possible of innovative methods lo motivate
their students in the clgssroom And
according to Slempleski and Arcario as
quoted by Strangman (2003), teachers around
the world are experimenting wilh these
communication tools of multimedia lo
facilitate learners in learning so as lo enhance
the quality of their language lessons
Teachers at the College of Sciences, Thai
Nguyen University also are clearly aware of
these issues Particularly, we do agree that
the goal of English learning and teaching is
no longer to pass examinations but lo use
the language for daily communication and
interactions Therefore, the
above-mentioned are the main reasons in shaping
our own research in applying multimedia
and testing for its effectiveness in
classroom leaching and learning
SUBJECT AND METHODOLOGY
The experimental two-group design was
applied in this study to find out the
effectiveness of using Multimedia in teaching
English oral skill
60 students in College of Sciences were
purposively selected to be the respondents of
the study 30 sludenis were subjected lo Ihe
traditional melhod while other 30 sludenis
were taught wilh multimedia The experiment
was carried out in a three month period ofthe
first semester in the school year 2012-2013
A teacher-made achievement test was
validated and administered as a pre - test and
post - test
T- test was used to test for a significant difference between the mean gain scores in students' speaking skill of the two groups taught with two different approaches namely multimedia and traditional one
FINDINGS The students' attitudes in learning speaking through multimedia approach (MMA) and their perceptions on the benefits of MMA
on their speaking lessons
Attitudes of students towards learning English speaking through multimedia
Table L Attitudes of students in learning speaking through Muhimedia
students' attitudes towards learning Englisii tlirough tnultimcdia
5 (not interested at all)
4 (not interested)
3 (neutral)
2 (interested)
1 (very interested)
Total
Nutnber
2
4
5
II
8
30
(%)
6.67 13.33 16.67
36 67 26.66 100.00
Il is obvious from the table that the majority
of students were very interested and interested
in learning English speaking through multimedia (about 63% of the respondents) while the minority of about 20% of the students had no interest in it Therefore, Ihe result showed quite positive attitudes of students when teachers applied multimedia in the teaching of English speaking skill
Students' perceptions on the benefits of multimedia on their speaking lesson
As table 2 indicated, the average mean of students' perceptions on the benefits of using multimedia in speaking lesson was equal lo 2.81 which was described as
"High" Il also revealed from the table Ihal the benefit 1 "I get excited in learning speaking" was ranked first with a weighted
mean of 3.1 and described as high and the least-rated was item 7 "My teacher makes
us passive " with a weighted mean of 2.47
and classified as "Low"
Trang 3Table 2 Benefits of Muhimedia from speaking lesson
Benefits of Multimedia on Speaking Lesson Weighted
Mean 4.1 1 get excited in learning speaking
4.2 I have chances to practice speaking in classroom
4.3 I become more active in participating in classroom activities
4.4 My speaking skill is improved
4.5 My teacher always create interesting activities using multimedia
4.6 My teacher always gives me invaluable feedback
4.7 My teacher makes us passive
4.8 My teacher is always a good organizer and manager
AVERAGE WEIGHTED MEAN
The m a r k s o f t h e s t u d e n t s t a u g h t w i t h M M A a n d T A in p r e - test a n d p o s t - t e s t
The pre-test and post-test mean scores in English speaking performance of students taught with multimedia and traditional approach in terms of pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and fluency
Table 3 The pre-test mean scores in English speaking of students in two groups subjected to MMA and TA
3.1 2.67 2.73 2.73 2.87 2.93 2.47
2 96 2.81
1
7
5
5
4
3
8
2
High Moderate Moderate Moderate High High Low High High
Grammar
Pronunciation
Vocabulary
Fluency
Total
Ml
X
1 55
I 43
128 1.17 5.43
jitimcdia approach
SD 0.50 0.49 0.52
0 42
1 92
VI Fair Fair Fair Poor Fair
Table 4 The post-test mean scores m English speaking of students it
Grammar
Pronunciation
Vocabulary
Fluency
Total
Ml
X 2.03 1.67 1.75 1.55 7.0
jitimedia a\
SD
0 36 0.42 0.37 0.42 1.56
pproach
VI Very good Good Good Fair Good
Traditional a
X
1 63
1 27 1.33 1.33 5.38
7 two groups
SD 0.64 0.58
0 53 0.43 2.16
taught w
Traditional a
X 1.78 1.62 1.68 1.40 6.48
SD 0.34 0.34 0.47 0.39
1 52
pproach V[ Good Poor Fair Fair Fair
ilh MMA and TA
pproach
VI Good Fair Good Fair Fair The two tables clearly showed that multimedia and traditional approaches both helped to improve students' performance in English speaking shown in the higher post-test mean scores of 7.0 and 6.48 as compared with the lower pre-test resuhs of 5.43 and 5 38 respectively It is also noted that the students in t w o groups w e r e quite o f t h e same level in their English speaking abilities before the experiment, b u l students of M M A group advanced to the level of " G o o d " in speaking white Ihe TA students still stayed in the same level of " F a i r " although their marks were higher
Significant d i f f e r e n c e in t h e m e a n gain s c o r e s o f t h e s p e a k i n g skills o f t h e S t u d e n t s t a u g h t with t h e M u l t i m e d i a A p p r o a c h a n d t h e T r a d i t i o n a l A p p r o a c h
The findings in table 5 revealed a significant difference in the mean gain score of sludenis taught with the m u l t i m e d i a approach of 1.57 which is higher than the mean gain score of students exposed to the traditional of 1.10 It is therefore concluded that multimedia helped students perform better in s p e a k i n g skill than traditional approach of leaching
Trang 4Table 3 The significant difference ofthe knowledge gained by the students taught
with Ihe multimedia approach and the traditional approach
Speaking skills Mean gain
scores Stdev df Q- Stat
Experimental Group
(MMA)
Control Group
(TA)
0.029 Reject Ho Significant
CONCLUSIONS
Based on the findings of this study, the
following conclusions were drawn:
1 Students respond positively in Iheir altitudes
towards multimedia and inultimedia's benefits
in their speaking skill
2 The hypothesis thai there is a significant
difference between the pre-test mean score of
students taught with multimedia wilh that of
sludenis in the traditional method is rejected
3 The hypothesis that the post-test mean score
of students exposed lo multimedia differs
significantly fi-om thai of students subjected to
the traditional melhod is supported It is evident
that the mean score of students using
multimedia is significantly higher than that of
students in the traditional method
4 The hypothesis that there is a significant
difference between the pre-test and post-test
mean scores of students taught with
multimedia is also supported
5 And the hypothesis that sludenis in Ihe
experimental group exposed lo muhimedia
perform better than those in the control group
using the traditional approach is also
supported in this study
RECOMMENDATIONS
The recommendations below are given based on
the major findings and conclusions ofthe study:
1 The study reveals that after a three month
period, students in the currently traditional
method performed better in the post-test than
in the pre-test Hence, this method is still
suggested for teachers to continue integrating
in their teaching
2 The findings figure out that students in the MMA group performed better than those in the traditional approach Therefore, teachers
of English should try to apply multimedia in their teaching to motivate and enhance students' oral competence
3 The managing boards of College of Sciences and other tertiary institutions in the region and in Vielnam should consult this study regarding the benefits of multimedia in English teaching and therefore should focus much on the development of well-equipped classrooms and teachers wilh expertise in the fields of multimedia as well to enhance students' performance in English
4 Further studies must be conducted to determine the effectiveness of multimedia in larger scales
REFERENCES
[1] Hartnett (2001) Motivation toward language learning, Brinton
[2] Roblyer& Knezek (2003) The implications of technology for teaching and learning WM.C
Company Publisher
[3] Strangman (2003) The success of computer and software programs m elevating learning outcomes, UK Cambridge University Press
[4] http//www.£oogle.com.vn/search?hl^vi&q= multimedia, 2001
Trang 5TOM T A T
SU'DUNG DA PHU"OfNG TIEN D E NANG C A O KY NANG N 6 I TIENG ANH CilA SEVH VIEN N A M THlTC NHAT T R U ' O N G DAI H Q C K H O A H Q C
- D ^ I H Q C T H A I NGUYEN
Phdng Thj Hdi Van, Nguygn Thj Que'
Trudng Dgi hoc Khoa hgc - DH Thai Nguyen
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Nguyen Hai nhdm sinh vien dupe gidng d^y bang hai phucmg ph^p iruyen thfing vk phuong phdp
khi thu nghiem ciia 2 nhdm khong c6 su khdc bi^l d^ng ke trong khi dilm trung binh sau khi thir nghiem 2 phuang phdp the hien su khac biel khd ldn Uong kha nang sii dung tieng Anh cila 2 nhom Kit qua cita de tai cho thay vipc sii dung da dang cdc phuong lign truySn thong trong giang dgy tieng Anh thyc su nang cao kha nSng giao liep bang tieng Anh cua sinh vien
Tii'khda: da phucmg lien, phuang phdp truyen thong, ndng cao khd ndng giao liep, Dgi hoc Khoa
hoc, trudc Ihir nghiem, sau thi nghiem
Ngdy nhdn bdi- 05/4/2013; Ngdy phdn bien: 06/5/2013; Ngdy duyel ddng 06/6/2013
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