Cross-Cultural Skype Conversation in Improving Students’ Speaking Production and Grammar

Abstract

Generation Z students with millennial spirit 4.0 are always expected to increase their competitiveness globally. One of the elements to compete is the ability to speak English with good grammar. A tertiary school in Bandung adopts Cross-Cultural Skype Conversation (CCSC) to improve students' English-speaking production and grammar. This study aims to analyze how it is implemented and how the students view it. Data were collected through classroom observation to see how CCSC was implemented. To get the students' perceptions, a questionnaire was distributed to 42 Engineering students, after it was tabulated and analyzed, 2 students with opposite perception were chosen to be interviewed. The result of the observation shows that CCSC is carried out in turn in a way that one student talks to English speakers from other countries, while other students write one's grammar mistakes. While questionnaire and interview analysis show that 74% of students agree that CCSC can improve their speaking production and grammar as they can talk more, and they tend to be able to understand and reply to what their interlocutors ask. Corrections regarding grammar errors are rarely encountered.