The Impact of Voki on EFL Learners' Speaking Performance

The purpose of the current study was to find out beneficial ways of implementing e-learning tools, particularly, Voki in a classroom, and see whether it would have an effect on the development of EFL learners' speaking skills, as well as to find out the learners' attitude towards the program. Moreover, an attempt was made to reveal the participants' learning behaviors and strategies when using the program. From two groups involved in the study, the experimental group received treatment, whereas the control group received placebo. The study comprised both quantitative(pre and post tests, attitudinal questionnaire) and qualitative(semi-structured interview) data collection instruments. The findings of the study indicated that the application of Voki might be an appropriate method for improving EFL learners' speaking skills. Furthermore, the results confirmed that the learners had positive attitude towards the program, as it provided a learning environment that was fun, enjoyable, stress free and effective for improving their speaking skills. Moreover, it was revealed that the participants had a number of learning strategies that they used when creating their Vokis.

Autorentext

Tatevik Zargaryan received her MA in TEFL at American University of Armenia (AUA) in 2011. Since then she has worked at AUA as an English language teacher. Her interests include language teaching, conferences, workshops, and the role of games in an EFL setting.