Can TED Talks Help Improve Undergraduate Non-English Major Thai EFL Students' Listening and Speaking Competencies?
Keywords:
English as a Foreign Language, Listening and Speaking Skills, TED Talks, Thai UndergraduateAbstract
The test results (mid-semester and final examinations) of various English courses indicate a clear majority of non-English major undergraduate students studying at the university where the current study was undertaken leave the university after four years without acquiring the required proficiency in English. This condition can deprive them of local and international social and educational opportunities. Given the situation described above, this study was conducted to explore the effectiveness of an instructional intervention supplemented with authentic materials that included TED Talks videos to enhance English as a Foreign Language (EFL) tertiary-level learners' listening and speaking skills in Thai tertiary education. The study employed a pre-test and post-test research design in which two study groups (Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (n = 44) and Teaching Elementary Education (n = 38) were chosen using a random purposive sampling technique. The study groups were instructed with TED Talks: Keynote 4 teaching materials for one semester, and the study used two research instruments (pre-test and post-test). The pre-and post-test data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical tests. The results were statistically significant at .05, indicating an improvement in listening and speaking competencies equivalent to the B2 level in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Council of Europe, 2020) for both groups. In addition, a large effect size between variables was reported. This means that this study is practically significant. Assuming the study's positive outcomes, it can be concluded that the instructional intervention supplemented by TED Talks: Keynote materials can effectively enhance non-English major EFL undergraduate learners' listening and speaking competencies.
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