Authentic Videos in Teaching English to Engineering Students at Universities

Authors

  • Nataliia Saienko
  • Mariana Shevchenko

Keywords:

Authentic video; Teaching; English; Engineering student; University

Abstract

The article provides the study of authentic videos effectiveness in teaching English to future engineers, focusing on listening and speaking skills advancement. Being created primarily for native speakers, authentic videos (movies, TV shows, and programs) present real-life issues and communication examples. Therefore, such records may become indispensable for engineering students, who often have limited English vocabulary. The 6-week research was conducted at the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” in February-March 2020. The sample was 50 full-time 3rd-year engineering students. During the research, the participants received surveys and tests. The obtained post-experimental test results revealed that the introduction of authentic videos in the English course regularly helps improve the technical students’ listening and speaking skills by almost two times. The average total mark, comprising the outcomes of listening, reading, writing, and speaking tasks, increased by 1.5 times. In the post-experimental questionnaires, the students stated that authentic videos advanced their English proficiency significantly and improved their understanding of the studied topics, including specialty-related vocabulary and issues. The vast majority of engineers-to-be expressed the desire to continue the work with videos at home. The study allows us to conclude that authentic videos are useful in English teaching since they help boost engineering students’ skills, motivation, positive characteristics (concurrently amending their weak points), knowledge in the field of specialty, and increase their interest in studying English. The research results may be employed for further studies concerning English teaching with videos at university and the subsequent lifelong learning of English.

https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.8.19

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Published

2020-08-31