The Effect of Using Web-Cam Chat on the Undergraduate EFL Students’ Pragmatic Competence

Abstract

<p>This study aimed to investigate the effect of using web-cam chat on developing of the pragmatic aspects of language by college-level English as foreign language (EFL) learners in Jordan. A quantitative approach was applied to determine first, whether the use of web-cam chats had a positive effect on EFL learners’ pragmatic competence. Second, the effect of presenting pragmatic through two delivery systems face-to-face, in-class activities and computer-mediated communication (CMC) via web-cam chats i.e. Facebook and Skype was investigated in this study. The sample of the study consisted of thirty-two undergraduate students who made up two intact classes in a "Conversation Skills course, which call Penguin Functional English by Peter Watcyn-J0nes .Code N 1302109” at AL al-Bayt University in Jordan, during the second semester of the academic year 2013/2014. The students were interviewed in order to know their actual levels in the pragmatic aspects of English before starting the experiment. The sample was divided into two groups; the control group (15 students) was taught the course content using the regular communicative method through which students received instructor-led lessons from the textbook, while group two, the experimental (17 students) was taught using web-cam chat. After conducting the activities, a post test was administered. Scores were tabulated and prepared for statistical analysis. The results showed that web-cam chat had a positive impact on the EFL learners’ pragmatic competence. Learners who studied via web-cam chat performed better on the pragmatic aspects of English post-test than those who did not. The findings also indicated that technology can be a valuable tool for delivering pragmatic instruction. Moreover, the findings of the study revealed that students acquired the speaking and listening skills in web-cam chat more efficiently and effectively than in the regular communicative method.</p>

Literature in Foreign Language Education Programs: A New Perspective

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The Importance of the Request Strategies in the Iraqi EFL Classroom

“…Such pragmatic should be effectively and purposefully selected in such a way that they should be more testable, interesting, motivating in FL classroom. As well as, empirical research by Bataineh and Hussein (2015) indicated that pragmatic doesn't focus on grammatical knowledge, but it focuses on the meaning of learners' language use in the acts of communication in EFL classroom. Results of those studies provided rich evidence to support the necessity for EFL students' pragmatic aspects to develop speech acts and improve the act of communication in the FL classroom, yet further researches need to be conducted in diverse contexts, with numerous models to gain a deeper understanding of how students can cultivate such competency successfully in their classroom.…”