Investigating the Role of Authentic Video Materials As an Important Strategy in developing speaking skills Among Undergraduate EFL Iraqi Learners
Abstract
The below study was carried out to determine the role of authentic video materials on developing the speaking skill of undergraduate Iraqi EFL learners. To achieve this goal, the sample of this study were 50 EFL Iraqi learners (from a population of 136) at the third grade at the math department at the Collage of computer science and math/ Tikrit university who have studied throughout the first semester of the academic year 2024/2025. They were in 2 sections, part A 25 learners referred to as EG whilst, the section B had 25 learners. Assigned as the CG. Apparently, the largest portion of EFL learners encounter difficulties in oral interaction. Many of these challenges can be from bad fluency, spoken grammar miss-use, to lack of vocabulary. Therefore, many practitioners for which a number of studies have addressed the challenge of incorporating the spoken national language into because it exposes students to authentic instances of teaching speaking the speaking ability in different situations. Thus, the current study was performed to get an insight into the regarding the utility of integrating authentic materials in teaching speaking. Although speaking is a vital skill in learning a language, Iraqi students face serious challenges in learning it since they do not get a chance to deal with real-life situations relevant to the language, and they are accustomed to traditional learning methods. This study develops on sociocultural theory and principles of communicative language teaching to investigate how video-based resources (such as TED Talks, YouTube tutorials, and situational role-play videos) provide opportunities for language practice and promote communicative competence. To this end, the findings of this study confirm that genuine video materials are an effective resource that could be employed to promote speaking skills in the context of Iraqi EFL. Include video-based tasks as part of the curricula and training teachers to effectively leverage technology and videos for cultural video resources focused on how to best use these videos for maximal benefit.
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