Impact of podcasting on pronunciation skills of pre-service EFL teachers

Abstract

This explorative qualitative study investigates EFL freshmen’s perception of the impact of creating pronunciation podcasts on their pronunciation skills. The study was conducted with the participation of 80 freshmen, enrolled in a Teaching English as a Foreign Language teacher education program at a Turkish state university. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, investigator notes, records of dashboard activities, analytics and performance tracking records of the LMS, and podcasts created by the participants as well as the recordings of the peer feedbacks on the discussion board. Analysis of the data was done through content analysis technique, presenting the thematized findings through analytical generalizations. Results have shown that the participants have positive views of creating pronunciation podcasts and that podcasting freed them to a great extent from the spatio-temporal limitations of the classroom, allowing them to study and practice pronunciation at their own convenience. The findings are discussed with reference to pronunciation, recommendations for EFL freshmen are made, and implications are offered.