THE EFFECT OF THE SKYPE TM CONFERENCE CALL ON ENGLISH SPEAKING ANXIETY

Abstract

As a result of the globalized world, technology has become the center of our lives andchanges a lot of things such as our education and communication. Educational institutionshave started to use some online communication platforms such as Skype TM while teaching asecond language. This research examines the effect of Skype TM on foreign languagelearners’ speaking anxiety levels and tries to find out the differences in foreign languagespeaking anxiety levels between the traditional speaking lesson and the Skype TM ConferenceCall lesson. Twenty-one B1-B2 level adult English language learners participated in thisstudy and a true experimental research design was used. The data were analyzed by pairedsamples t-test analysis of pre- and post-tests of participants. The results indicated that SkypeTM had an impact on foreign language learners’ speaking anxiety because it reduced theanxiety levels of learners in the experimental group.