The Impact of Oral Social Networks on Students’ Oral Production Achievements: Case of EFL Students at the English Department of Tlemcen University .

Abstract

Technology is everywhere, entwined in almost every part of our lives. It affects how we shop, socialize, connect, play, and most importantly learn. Used to support both learning and teaching, technology, ushered in completely new ideas and views concerning EFL methods and approaches. It has gained much respect and popularity among EFL teachers who are in need to go beyond the traditional methods of teaching where teachers used to accomplish most parts of the job. Moreover, our traditional classrooms still emphasize on writing and reading at the expense of speaking. Therefore, teaching speaking represents a great challenge for both EFL teachers and learners who display low achievements in their oral skills. The main issue of this research then is to diagnose the impact of ICTs and in particular the impact of oral social networks on EFL student’s speaking skill, the research covers two basic issues. First, the extent to which Oral Social Networks affect students’ speaking skill. Second, how can Oral Social Networks be helpful in EFL context to improve speaking? The research work took place at Abou Bakr Belkaid University by means of two questionnaires one was distributed for ten EFL teachers and the other one addressed to thirty learners. The practical outcome of the study has displayed that the frequent usage of Oral Social Networks by EFL students as well as teachers constitutes a significant impact on both users. It has also reflected the teachers’ readiness to integrate Oral Social Networks in EFL context by means of a convenient pedagogy. Technology is believed to make students respond positively in a language classroom, therefore, it is tremendously important for teachers to enrich their teaching process with the appropriate use of Social Networks and to promote a global understanding among the EFL Students who should broaden their perspectives about the target cultures and ameliorate their communicative competence in order to interact and communicate effectively and appropriately in English Language.