Exploring Students’ and Teachers’ Attitudes towards the Use of Podcast in Enhancing EFL Learners Oral Proficiency The Case of First Year Learners at Mohamed khider University of Biskra

Abstract

Speaking is one of the challenging and difficult skill among the four language skills. Many first year students at the department of English at Biskra University face problems when speaking the target language due to many reasons which include; lack of students’ motivation, vocabulary, and fear of making mistakes. The present dissertation aims at investigating the effectiveness of using podcast in EFL classes to enhance learners’ speaking skill. It also seeks to explore both students’ perceptions and teachers’ attitudes towards the use of podcast in oral expression classes. This study was conducted through a qualitative descriptive method to answer the research questions and confirm the hypothesis which postulates that the use of podcast can enhance learners oral performance. In order to verify the stated hypothesis two questionnaires were administered to a sample of twenty-nine first year EFL students and ten oral expression teachers at the English department at Mohammed Khider University of Biskra during the academic year 2022-2023. The results obtained show that podcasts are effective tools for increasing learners’ motivation to speak and interact which in turn will improve learners’ oral proficiency. In the light of these findings, the earlier stated hypothesis was successfully confirmed in that if we use podcast in EFL oral classroom, students’ speaking skill will develop. Hence, the implementation of podcast technology in EFL classes to improve learners' speaking skill is highly recommended