Effect of Podcast-Based Instruction on Secondary School Students' Oral Communication Skills in Rivers State, Nigeria
Keywords:
Oral Communication Skills, Podcast-Based Instruction, Pronunciation Skills, Quasi-Experimental Design, Secondary School StudentsAbstract
This study examined the effect of podcast-based instruction on secondary school students’ oral communication skills in Rivers State, Nigeria. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study, focusing on pronunciation improvement and gender differences in oral communication performance. A quasi-experimental research design, specifically the pretest–posttest non-equivalent control group design, was adopted. A sample of 233 students was selected using purposive and simple random sampling techniques. Data were collected using the Oral Communication Skills Performance Test (OCSPT), which was validated by experts and tested for reliability using Kuder-Richardson, yielding a reliability coefficient of α = 0.87. The experimental group was taught using podcast-based instructional materials, while the control group received conventional lecture-based instruction over a period of six weeks. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) tested the hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that students taught using podcast-based instruction showed greater improvement in pronunciation skills, which was the specific aspect of oral communication measured in this study, compared to those taught using conventional methods. Both male and female students improved after exposure to podcast-based instruction, with females showing slightly higher gains; the difference was statistically significant. The study concludes that podcast-based instruction is an effective strategy for improving students’ pronunciation skills compared to conventional methods. It is recommended that English language teachers integrate podcast-based instruction to enhance students’ pronunciation development.
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