MOBILE TECHNOLOGY AND STUDENT AUTONOMY IN ORAL SKILL ACQUISITION

Two groups of EFL first-year university students participated in the study. Pretest scores showed no significant differences in their oral proficiency level. Both groups were then exposed to the same in-class instruction that depended on the textbook. They covered the same lessons, skills, exercises, and tests. Since first-year students have no opportunities to listen to native speakers or practice English out of class and have problems in auditory discrimination, listening comprehension, oral expression, and oral fluency, the experimental group used a self-study mp3 English listening and speaking program. They practiced 90 lessons and 900 short audio files of basic English structures and commonly used expressions out of class, on their own. The mp3 lessons consisted of short sentences which the students could read, listen to, and mimic as many times as they needed. On average, the students practiced 3.5 h a week. At the end of the semester, they were posttested. Results showed significant differences between both groups as a result of using the mp3 self-study lessons. The experimental group made higher gains in listening and speaking abilities. Improvement was noted in listening comprehension, oral expression, fluency, pronunciation correctness, and vocabulary knowledge. Results also showed positive correlations between (a) practice time and number of lessons covered by the students and (b) listening and speaking posttest scores, i.e., improved listening and speaking skills. Students reported positive attitudes toward the mp3 self-study listening and speaking lessons and reported several benefits.