Abstract

With the importance of oral communication skills and digital literacy skills for 21st-century learners (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2006), there is an increasing tendency to incorporate technology in language learning and teaching. In this trend, PechaKucha Presentation (PKP), a unique, fast-paced format of giving presentations, has recently been advocated for its benefits in developing learners' oral communication skill in various contexts (Angelina, 2019; Coskun, 2017; Mabuan, 2017). This paper presented a study that explored seven international students' speaking and listening experiences with PKP activities while completing the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program prior to their undergraduate programs in a US university. The study adopted a phenomenological design with semi-structured interviews, artifacts, and observations. Colaizzi's (1978) data analysis framework was employed to provide a comprehensive description of the participants' speaking and listening experiences with PKP. Findings revealed that (1) participants experienced a connection between emotions regarding PK presentations and their English speaking skills; (2) participants described cognitive and metacognitive skill use and awareness due to PK presentations experiences; (3) participants perceived audience as an important factor in presentation decisions; (4) these EAP international students were aware of and critical of their English- speaking skills; (5) they preferred more time for pronunciation and to convey information; (6) EAP peers' pronunciation hindered meaning making; (7), PK meaning- making processes included listening, reading, viewing, and critiquing their peers' presentation performance. The study also offered several recommendations regarding the most practical teaching strategies that emerged from the findings of this research. Further implications that may inform EAP educators and EAP curriculum designers of oral communication skills for international students were also discussed.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2021

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Mihai, Florin

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Community Innovation and Education

Department

School of Teacher Education

Degree Program

Education; Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0008692;DP0025423

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0025423

Language

English

Release Date

August 2021

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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