Peer Feedback to Improve Speaking Facilitated with Mobile Devices

Abstract

This study was conducted in a public high school in Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador during the pandemic caused by COVID-19. The sample that took part in this action research was in the second year of baccalaureate. Within this study, the students had the opportunity to improve their speaking skills through peer feedback. The participants worked on online activities that allowed them to gain vocabulary, practice fluency, work in pairs, and use appropriate structures in context. Besides, they created dialogues and recorded themselves in real-life situations with the use of their mobile devices and other technological tools. During the innovation, students took a pre and post-survey as well as a pre and posttest to determine their improvement. The results showed that students improved their speaking skills. They also increased their intrinsic motivation to learn English. Cohen’s d = 0.9 indicated the reliability of this research. This study confirms that peer feedback activities enhance students’ oral production. Besides this, once students realized the benefits of speaking English, they started to be more interested in English learning, considered it easier to acquire and use language through dialogues in online environments.