Effects of Using Computer-Based Activities in Teaching English Speaking at a High School in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54855/ijte.222112Keywords:
: high school, computer-based activities, Computer-Assisted Language Learning, English speaking, communicationAbstract
It is well-acknowledged that the English language is becoming widespread worldwide, and the application of computer technology in teaching and learning foreign languages in general and English, in particular, has shown significant changes. To improve English speaking skills for high school students, we designed and applied some computer-based activities (CBA) using computer technology. This research aimed to explore the effects of using such CBA in teaching English speaking at a high school in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The study was carried out with a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods. A total of 88 high school students were engaged as subjects in the form of experimental and control groups. The experimental group was given a treatment using CBA in their speaking sections for five months. A set of pre-test and post-test was conducted to assess the effectiveness of CBA on this experimental group in comparison with the control one who got no treatment with CBA. In the assessment, we employed the form of PET speaking and this international test's speaking rubric and a student questionnaire which helped to identify the experimental students' attitudes towards CBA. The results showed the positive effects of using CBA on students' speaking skills and significantly improving their communication problems after treatment. In addition, they were quite interested in using CBA, which is a great encouragement to recommend more use of CBA in teaching speaking to students in Vietnam's high schools and similar contexts.
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