Teachers' Practices of ICT Use in Teaching English Speaking Skills: A Case of a Secondary School in Nepal.

Abstract

In this 21st century, ICT tools have become a crucial platform for sharing thoughts and ideas andteaching and learning speaking skills in the English language. This dissertation explored English language teachers' ICT-based practices in enhancing the speaking skills of the learners in the classroom. A case study was adopted to meet the intent of the purpose of the study. Interviews and observation were used as the main data generation strategies in the study. This study explored ICT-based practices adopted by English language teachers in enhancing students' speaking ability. The findings of the study exhibit that ICT tools were used to demonstrate pictures and images, and videos through YouTube and the internet. The findings further stated that the teachers use ICT tools to engage the students in interactions and discussions. The findings of the study further exhibit that teachers used ICT tools to simplify and define word meanings and engage students to search for the meanings of difficult and unfamiliar vocabulary. The students increase their vocabulary through Google Search and digital dictionary because Google Search and digital dictionary provides multiple meanings with examples of vocabulary. The findings of the study display that integration of ICT tools such as smart phones and YouTube enhanced students' pronunciation because smart phones provided feedback and models to the students. The students got a chance to watch videos on YouTube that helped them to pronounce properly. The findings further explored that teachers used Google and digital dictionaries because Google search and digital dictionaries helped the students search for phonemic transcription. The integration of ICT tools played a crucial role in enhancing students' supra segmental features. These ICT tools assisted the students in developing native- like intonation because the students got the chance to become familiar with various accents of the native English speakers trough ICT tools. The study's findings further reveal that the integration of ICT tools created a meaningful environment that made the classroom interactive. ICT tools provide access to authentic and motivating materials such as videos, cartoons and pictures. Thus, they develop fluent English speaking skills. The findings of the study might be implemented to help teachers enhance students' speaking skills through the use of ICT tools. Moreover, the findings of this study might be applied by the students to improve their speaking skills by integrating ICT tools while learning speaking skills.