The Use of Skype To Improve Students Speaking Skill

KEYWORDS ABSTRACT

Skype There are various social media outlets that play a significant
role in English as a foreign language learning tool, and one of
Speaking Skill
these social media tools is Skype, which plays a pivotal role
in the development of English learning skills among young
active learners. That is why this study has been carried out to
highlight the role of skype use in English-speaking learners.
This study showed that using skype improves the speaking
skills of the EFL learners and motivates the EFL learners to
strengthen their speaking skills by using Skype.

1. INTRODUCTION to convey meaning (Richard, 2005) .It is

observed that: “Speaking is used for
Speaking is one of the productive
many different purposes, each purpose
skills that must be mastered by the
involves different skills, such as
students in learning a language. They are
established rapport, or to engage in the
to be able to give their opinion to the
friends, to seek or express opinion, to
others because of speaking. And they are
persuade someone about something, or
to be able to express their feelings in
clarify information” (Widdowson, 1978).
speaking. Moreover, they are going to be
known by the others because of their Skype is a common type of video
speaking skill. It is noted that: “Speaking chat service used by many people. With
is the way of one in giving his/her a reputable business, there are a few
opinion without hesitation or fear” clear cut lessons. They leam English
(Numan, 2003). every lesson from the same native
speaker, spend money instead of
It is reported that: “speaking is the
software on the actual lesson, and leam
oral skill because it consists of
English conversation through role-
producing systematic verbal utterances
playing and one-one chats. There are two
ways in which someone who speaks Language is an origin or means of
English and someone who is a native communication, and interaction is
English speaker can learn a language. defined as communication as the
The aim of this study is to encourage exchange of ideas between and between
students to speak English in class as people. Interaction is deemed to be
much as possible and to communicate effective when it achieves desired results
with people in different parts of the and when the desired result can only be
world, especially native speakers. achieved by interaction and only when it
has a respectful way of speaking.
Skype works, not necessarily person-
to-person, through computer-to- According to Syakur (1987),
computer. Skype can thus be used to speaking is a complex skill because at
teach people's classes. It is a key to least it is concerned with components of
knowing for teaching that Skype can be grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation,
used to connect individuals, one and fluency.
individual to a group, or one group to
Harmer (1990) writes that when teaching
another group, and is a natural fit for
speaking or producing skill, we can
language teachers interested in cross-
apply three major stages, those are:
cultural exchanges with students.
 Introducing new language
2. DISCUSSION
 Practice
Speaking is the ability to produce. It  Communicative activity.
was not possible to separate it from
Speaking has been regarded as
listening. We create a sentence when we
merely implementation and variation,
speak and it should be meaningful. We
outside the domain of language and
may consider the speaker, the audience,
linguistic proper. Linguistic theory has
the text, and the input in the form of
mostly developed in abstraction from
interaction. Speaking could not be
context of use and source of diversity.
isolated from pronunciation as it helps
Therefore, Clark and Clark (Nunan,
students to learn the sounds of English.
1991) says that speaking is
fundamentally an instrument act.
 Speakers must be able to anticipate language of each other." Launched in
specific discourse situations and then March 2011, Skype in the classroom is a
produce the expected patterns. For website designed exclusively for
instance, a learner involved in the educational purposes. It is a forum where
previously described exchange with the teachers and students can exchange
salesperson must know the usual pattern educational resources and disseminate
followed by such interaction and access information about their classes.
that knowledge as the exchange
In order to improve English speaking
progresses.
skills, one may be frustrated, but there is
The learner must also choose the no need for pressure in this technological
correct vocabulary to describe the item age to enhance the ability to speak via
requested, rephrase or emphasize terms Skype, to use it with family, classmates
to clarify the explanation if the clerk and teachers to improve English
does not understand it, and use speaking skills. Similarly, we use to
acceptable facial expressions to show persuade people to speak. The
satisfaction or frustration with the communication between the speaker and
service. the audience takes place when the goal is
to convince the listener to take a specific
Skype is a free communication
action.
software, according to Wikipedia, that
enables users to make calls, send instant Skype is one of a software
messages, and do online video application that uses voice over Internet
conferencing. It is one of the best online protocol (VoIP) technology “which
voice-over-internet services, founded by converts voice signals into data streams
Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis in that are sent over the Internet and
2003, but later owned by Microsoft, converted back to audio by the
particularly in 2011. recipient’s computer” (Educause, 2007).
Skype offers communication services
According to Elia (2006), Skype
that are both synchronous and
enables tandem language exchange in
asynchronous. Skype users can have
which "two people of different mother
online chats or conferences with a
tongues work together to learn the
webcam and a headset that enables
interaction without time and space
limitations. This feature makes Skype a
great platform for teaching and learning
languages.
According to McLauchlan
Suveica (2012) in their paper "Building a
Global Classroom: Providing
Cooperative Research Opportunities for
U.S. and Moldovan Students," this
collaborative work with students abroad
creates opportunities for students in
Moldova and the U.S. through digital
collaboration, oral and written
interaction, such as working remotely,
outside homes, outside the country.
Through collaborating with
counterpart in another country, across
cultures and beyond boundaries, learning
oral and written communication skills,
challenging assumptions about
"privileged" American student in terms
of research opportunities, non-academic
collaboration, individual and team work,
etc.
According to Cindy Phthisic (2010)
in her article “The basic technical
requirements for getting started with
Skype, a web-based video conferencing
tool”, there are some way to exploring
possibilities by using Skype in
classroom:
1. Reading to Another Class.
Classes ask volunteers to sign up and
read to students. It can be students acting
and
out a story as it is read or simply reading
a book. Older students can share a story
with younger students or vice versa. This
is a great activity for “ Read Across
America Day,” and they will likely have
many other classes eager to collaborate
with another for a Skype call.
2. Connecting with Reading Buddies.
This option provides an opportunity for
one-to-one interaction. A student in
a another class Skypes in to read to or with
another student similar to a virtual
tutoring session. Becoming a virtual
reading buddy is a great way for pre-
a service teachers to practice both teaching
reading and working with technology.
3. Sharing Projects.
Students have worked all semester long
on a project and teacher would love to
have them make a formal presentation to
another group of students. Students can
virtually present projects to another class
and have the other class critique their
work. To take this one step further,
teacher could pair students from each
class to work on the project virtually and
then work together to present the
projects via Skype.
4. Polishing Language Skills.
Foreign-language teachers have
embraced Skype as a powerful tool to
reinforce second-language acquisition.
By partnering with a class in another
country, both classes can refine their
conversational skills. It also serves as a
way for students to gain firsthand
knowledge of another culture. Be aware,
however, that time-zone differences can
sometimes make these collaborations
prohibitive.
Skype's implementation according to
Faculty Course in United States and
Moldova as follows:
1. In an introductory joint seminar, the
teachers selected common readings that
were discussed.
2. Joint class meetings during the
project were held six times over a 10-
week period.
3. The joint workshop was attended by
guest speakers from the U.S. and
Moldova. Students also worked outside
of class with representatives of NGOs in
Moldova and Florida.
4. The project resulted in a joint video
conference with each team sharing their
research findings. Throughout the
project, through reading assignments,
class discussions, guest speakers, and
individual and group research, all
students were expected to gain a well-
rounded and comprehensive
understanding of human trafficking
issues.
5. A focus area was allocated to each
group of students, consisting of three to
four U.S. students and one to two
Moldovan students, which allowed them
to develop a deeper understanding of a
single issue that they would then be able
to present to their classmates at the joint
video conference.
6. A focus area was allocated to each
group of students, consisting of three to
four U.S. students and one to two
Moldovan students, which allowed them
to develop a deeper understanding of a
single issue that they would then be able
to present to their classmates at the joint
video conference.
3. CONCLUSION 4. REFERENCE

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