Developing EFL Learners’ Speaking and Oral Presentation Skills through Pecha Kucha Presentation Technique

Abstract

The goal of this study is to examine the potential of Pecha Kucha presentation style for English language learners who are prospective teachers of English. The participants were students enrolled in an advanced-level speaking course in the English language teaching department of a state university in Turkey between 2016 and 2018. Students were required to make presentations in Pecha Kucha format, a fast-paced, time-constrained presentation technique. As part of the study, 102 students completed an open-ended survey and a total of 12 students representing cohorts from each year participated in semistructured focus group interviews. Thematic data analysis illustrated benefits of using the presentation style such as perceived development in speaking, self-confidence, time management and presentation skills, and drawbacks including an increase in anxiety, steep learning curve, and constraints due to the format. In addition, the findings showed that English language teacher candidates recognized the technique's potential and reported a high rate of intention to integrate it into their future language teaching pedagogies. The study is concluded with the discussion of implications for EFL learners, preservice language teachers, and educators in higher education context.

Strengthening English language undergraduates’ presentation skills: A blackboard-mediated intervention program

“…In terms of the use of technology, this study employed Blackboard to facilitate deliver of the intervention program, which may have helped improve students' performance [15]. This result accords with previous studies that used technology to improve students' speaking and presentation skills, employing a multimedia approach [51][52][53][54][55][56][57].…”

“…First and foremost, the researchers aimed to draw as much as possible from the existing literature on the procedures used in the current study to improve EFL students’ oral presentation skills. This research is aligned with Solmaz [ 56 ] in considering “the long-term character of the development process of oral presentation skills, described as central professional skills” (p.16). Moreover, the purpose of the study corresponds to Bandura’s view that social cognitive theory is particularly well adapted to explaining the evolution of complex behavior, such as oral presentation skills [ 19 ].…”

“…Similar to this intervention, research has found that presentation qualities like eye contact, body posture, and voice aid English-speaking abilities [ 42 ], and project-based learning using presentation can significantly affect students’ speaking skills [ 55 ], with students’ oral presentation skills improving significantly after instruction due to enhanced confidence and the experience of speaking in front of a crowd [ 14 ]. As in this study, previous research has reported participants favoring a multimedia design [ 15 ], which improves students’ confidence [ 52 ], and also collaborative learning, as it enables the co-construction of knowledge and skills [ 56 ]. Such courses can enhance students’ oral presentation abilities and vocabulary uptake/retention levels [ 54 ], as well as making them more enthusiastic, motivated, and eager to produce outstanding presentations as they grow more self-assured and relaxed.…”

“…For example, Solmaz employed Pecha Kucha to develop EFL learners' speaking and oral presentation skills. Thematic analysis not only highlighted the advantages of the program, such as developing speaking and presentation skills, enhancing self-confidence, and improving time management, but also drawbacks, such as increased anxiety, a steep learning curve, and format constraints [56]. Among other studies examining the integration of technology in oral presentations [57][58][59][60], some found that this can pose difficulties in terms of the students' language competence.…”

Applied linguistics and language education research in Turkey: 2016–2022

“…Looking at an EAP context, Demirkol et al (2021) indicated that giving speeches and asking and answering questions in conferences were the most difficult task for undergraduate learners in EMI universities. In addition to those studies that had a more experimental nature, for instance, looking at the role of extensive reading (Yakut, 2020), the use of Pecha Kucha technique (Solmaz, 2019), the use of L1 (Yüzlü & Atay, 2020), as well the effect of pressured online planning (Tuzcu & Yalçın, 2020) on L2 learners’ speaking and pronunciation, researchers have also adopted a more naturalistic approach to examine the ways in which EFL teachers promoted extended student talk (Gümüşok & Balıkçı, 2020) and provided oral corrective feedback (Ölmezer-Öztürk & Öztürk, 2016). Based on natural classroom observations, Kemaloğlu-Er and Özata (2020), for instance, revealed codeswitching in group work to be a builder of solidarity and a means of task achievement and interactional fluency.…”