Enhancing EFL learners’ speaking and listening skills through authentic online conversations with video conferencing tools

Figures & data

Table 1. Number of paired participants by year.

Year	Vietnamese EFL learners	L1 English volunteers
2015	30	30
2016	40	40
2017	55	55
2018	47	47
2019	102	102
2020	229	229
2021	190	190
2022	168	168
Total	861	861

Table 2. Self-reported effect of viet-skype on english speaking skills (N = 42).

On an agreement scale 1- 5, how much do you agree with the following statements about Viet-Skype?	Mean	SD	Min	Max
It helped me speak English more fluently	4.33	0.65	3	5
It helped me speak English with better intonation	4.29	0.71	3	5
It helped me speak with more accurate stress	4.10	0.66	3	5
It helped me use appropriate vocabulary	4.33	0.61	3	5
It helped me use more accurate grammar	4.02	0.75	2	5
It helped me listen to English easier	4.45	0.67	3	5
Overall, Viet-Skype improved my English-speaking ability	4.55	0.59	3	5

Note: 1= Strongly disagree; 5= Strongly agree.

Table

Topic 4: HEALTH
Task 1: Start a conversation with your partner. Talk about the following:1. Do you think that you are a healthy person?2. What do you do to take care of your health?3. Do you have any bad habits?4. Do you think that people in general are healthy now?5. What do you think is important for health?6. What is healthcare like in your country?7. What are some health issues where you live?8. What can people do to keep fit?9. Have you ever had to stay in the hospital?10. What one thing could you do to be healthier?
Task 2: Visually based conversationBoth partners are asked to find two visuals that will represent the theme of health (e.g. Google images, their own pictures): two for Vietnam and two for the volunteer’s country (2 photos or pictures for each person). They are also asked to prepare five discussion questions for each visual image. Outcome: a list of at least 5 differences and 5 similarities between 2 cultures in terms of health.
Task 3: Have a conversation about one of the following situations.1. You have gained weight recently. You go to see a doctor and have a talk with him/her to get some advice on how to lose weight. One person plays the doctor; one person plays the role of the patient.2. Your friend suffers from stress now. Talk with him/her about how to deal with stress. One person plays the role of the stressed person; the other person gives advice on de-stressing.

Table

Week	Topic
1	Introduction. Who am I? Partners talk about themselves.
2	Food
3	Language and Learning
4	Film and Art
5	Health
6	Sports
7	Transportation
8	Environment
9	Festivals
10	Restaurants and Eating Out
11	Clothes and Fashion
12	Facebook
13	Phones
14	Music
15	Meeting new people
16	Gender Roles

Table

Speakers	Transcripts	Notes
V	Today's subject is food. I like meals with curry. I serve rice with especially Indian or Thai curries.	V made a sample first.
S	Oh … Oh … I like noodle. Yes.
V	What's your favorite kind of food?	V gave a prompt to encourage S to speak.
S	Hmm. I think I like noodle and rice, fish and meat.
V	What is your favorite meat?	Prompt from V
S	Ohm. I like beef
V	Ah beef! Beef is good.
S	Ohm. I love vegetables, too.
V	What's your favorite vegetable?	Prompt from V
S	Ohm. I love tomatoes, potatoes and beans.
V	What about fruit?	Prompt from V
S	What about food? Ah fruit? fruit?	S corrected his/her listening comprehension.
V	Uh huh.
S	Oh. I like orange juice and apple juice

V = Volunteer; S = Student.