Comparing the efficiency of podcasts and mobile applications in the study of the german language by university students

Abstract

The article aims to study and compare the efficiency and effectiveness of podcasts and mobile applications in the study of the German language by students of the faculty of linguistics. The research involved several key stages: (1) studying scientific publications that demonstrate the experience of using the studied methods in teaching a foreign language in university; (2) selecting a sample from the 2- and the 3-year students of the faculty of linguistics, Philology; (3) the diagnostic stage that includes testing to identify the level of knowledge of students and dividing participants into groups according to the test results; (4) the forming stage that presupposes studying with the use of podcasts and a mobile application; and (5) the final stage with re-testing followed by quantitative and qualitative analysis of the research results. It has been discovered that podcasts and the mobile application have a higher efficiency of learning a foreign language, compared to the method of traditional home assignment. At the same time, podcasts are more effective in developing students’ communicative competence, enriching vocabulary and improving the knowledge of orthoepic standards of the German language, while the mobile application showed the best results in developing students’ grammar, spelling and punctuation skills.

Overcoming Transactional Distance through Implementing Podcasts and Vodcasts: Perceptions from an Open Distance and e-Learning University

“…In addition, Students 3 and 4 revealed that podcasts and vodcasts improve listening skills, which helped in better understanding the module content. This finding corroborates recent studies by Oliinyk, Gaman, Chaikovska, Bezzubova, and Paustovska (2022), Yeganeh and Izadpanah (2021), Vergara (2022), and Yiemkuntitavorn and Rattanapan (2021) in that podcasts and vodcasts are accessible, assist in understanding the module content and attentive listening is essential. From a transactional distance perspective (Moore, 1993;Zhang, 2003), the accessibility of podcasts and vodcasts facilitates learning, is helpful and improves students' listening skills, thereby reducing the transactional distance between lecturers and students (see Figure 1) as the course design accommodates flexibility through communications media and students' autonomy is not compromised by the use of podcasts and vodcasts in teaching and learning.…”