1079811

research-article20222022
SGOXXX10.1177/21582440221079811SAGE OpenMahdi

Original Research

SAGE Open

Improving Speaking and Presentation

January-March 2022: 1­–12
© The Author(s) 2022
DOI: 10.1177/21582440221079811
https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221079811

Skills through Interactive Multimedia journals.sagepub.com/home/sgo

Environment for Non-Native Speakers

of English

Dawood Ahmed Mahdi1

Abstract
This study examines the correlation existing between students speaking competency and their interaction with multimedia
devices in the classroom learning process. A mixed-method study design has been employed to explore the impact of an
interactive multimedia environment on their presentation and speaking skills. Initially, 46 Arabic-speaking students from the
English Undergraduate Program (B.A. Degree) were recruited in this study. They were divided into two groups based on two
intact classes for the same course. The total number of fully completed video-recorded presentations of the two sections was
reduced to forty participants. These presentations served as the database for the pre-test result of the two sections before
assigning one section as a control group and the other section as an experimental one. Moreover, a questionnaire was filled
out by the experimental group students for further opinions and perceptions regarding the impact of multimedia technology
on speaking skills. In addition, audio-recorded semi-structured interviews were conducted for in-depth understanding.
The multimedia students’ group significantly outscored the non-multimedia group in the verbal presentation performance
over the semester. The student’s performance showed that multimedia helped the students in learning better. The results
revealed that there was a positive impact of multimedia environment on the development of presentation and speaking skills
among the students.

Keywords
improvement, speaking and presentation skills, interactive multimedia environment, non-native speakers

Introduction Muslem and Abbas (2017) stated the role of immersing

technique that is a form of experimental learning enabling
The development of language skills among native speakers students to understand and engage fully in the target language
is a matter of concern for both learners and language experts to improve their listening, speaking, reading, and writing
(Rabbidge, 2014). The modern-day educational system relies skills. Multimedia that is supported by language-related video
on technologies that incorporate different strategies that may clips and presentations may serve as a useful input on part of
be highly favorable to increase the language competency of the teachers’ contribution. This provides an opportunity for
non-native English language speakers. Multimedia serves as individuals to repeat words or sentences in order to under-
an important tool that can be integrated into the modern-day stand the lexical as well as phonological usage of sentences.
language classroom to create a positive influence over the Technological Assisted Language Learning (TALL) has
language learning process (Chapelle & Erik, 2016). Students been influential for the past few years in the process of lan-
through the given tool are able to understand the structure of guage learning and teaching. Ahmad (2016) highlighted cer-
language that is integrated into almost every other subject. tain useful resources that are related to multimedia sources
The aim of providing greater language competency to native
learners can be achieved by providing a linguistically rich
environment to students through different means. Dramati­ 1
Faculty of Languages and Translation, King Khalid University, Abha,
zations, visual presentations, videos, and posters are some Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
useful tools that are integrated into the modern-day language
Corresponding Author:
classroom. This can help learners to develop important con- Dawood Ahmed Mahdi, Faculty of Languages and Translation, King Khalid
nections that are related to the sentence structure and phono- University, Asir, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
logical aspects (Zhou, 2018). Email: [email protected]

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2 SAGE Open

and their execution in language classrooms. Computer students’ ability in reading comprehension and the use of
Assisted Language Learning (CALL), Web-based Language interactive multimedia strategy in reading comprehension
Learning (WBLL), Machine Translation Assisted Language was interesting for the students.
Learning (MTALL) are some common examples of such
sources that are widely used in the process of second lan-
Research Objective
guage acquisition. The given sources offer a variety of oppor-
tunities for language learners to interpret, learn, and develop The objective of the study is to investigate the correlation
their language skills. Since this is the age of globalization, existing between students’ speaking competency and their
teachers, and students cannot ignore the significance of the interaction with the multimedia devices in the classroom
use of multimedia resources during the process of language learning process.
learning. A foreign language is mainly used to carry out effec-
tive communication, which integrates psychological, linguis-
tic, and communicative variables (Mahdi, 2014). Leong and
Significance of the Study
Ahmadi (2017) highlighted different factors that are signifi- The significance of the study is that it encourages the stu-
cant during the process of learning. The speaking skills of dents to start verbal communication using English as the
EFL learners are greatly affected by semantics, phonology, medium so as to become confident in their language.
learners’ motivation, personality, syntax, etc. For various EFL Moreover, the study aims to inspire EFL teachers to use
learners, phonological aspects can serve as a greater chal- multi-media-based programs in their classes to help non-
lenge during the process of language learning. Other issues native speakers learn the language in an easy and interactive
that are related to the spelling of words that are similar in way. Therefore, the present study has mainly focused on the
pronunciation but are complicated in structures serve as a effects of verbal presentations within a multimedia environ-
greater challenge in this regard. For various non-native ment. The study has also investigated the association between
English language speakers, this causes a lot of confusion and the preferences of students regarding the multimedia envi-
thus hinders the process of language learning. Multimedia ronment and their speaking skills within the classroom
sources along with the use of subtitles can serve as a valuable learning process. The study also contributes toward the sig-
resource in this regard. nificance of an interactive multimedia environment in
The effectiveness of multimedia-based learning provides improving the speaking skills of students. The research ques-
an opportunity for language instructors to design effective tion addressed in this study is the following:
English-Medium instruction-based short courses that may Does interactive multimedia environment help in improv-
be integrated as a classroom activity in language learning. ing spoken English and presentation skills in non-native
Studies demonstrated positive results of language learning speakers?
that is incorporated through multimedia resources. Besides
this, learning that is supported through technology enhances
Literature Review
students’ language competency. Min et al. (2019) suggested
that learning materials such as; lecture notes supported by It is significant to explore how educational technology con-
audio can provide better results in this regard. tributes to the evolution and improvement of education. The
Multimedia is also used in improving the English- integration of technology that is related to the multimedia
speaking skills of non-native speakers, which is integral to resources provides a wide range of opportunities for lan-
improving their communication. However, the progress of guage learning as illustrated by Miller (2018). Teachers
students depends on the teaching and learning strategies through the given resources are able to identify the language
employed by both students and teachers. The progress of requirements of students, as speaking, learning, and listening
students’ speaking mainly depends on the classroom struc- skills are highly integrated into the given process. The pres-
ture, different assessments, lessons, and strategies (Mahdi, ent students are widely engaged in modern means of com-
2015b). It is believed that the implementation of the multi- munication; therefore, the use of technology in language
media environment would help the students in improving classes can integrate high-level interest among students.
their speaking skills. For instance, the use of videos and Miller (2018) also stated that technology can never replace a
images can capture the students’ attention, and inspire them teacher’s role in the classroom but it can act supportively.
to speak (Damayanti, 2017). A study conducted by Nadirah The study also posited that it is also very necessary while
et al. (2020) wanted to find out if the use of interactive mul- comparing technologies to find out which application would
timedia improved reading ability of eighth-grade students. be best to address the specific needs of the students. In
The findings of the study showed a significant difference today’s world, children are already tech-savvy and have
between the achievement of those students who used inter- more than basic computer skills. They use multimedia on a
active multimedia as compared to those who did not in read- regular basis as well as other internet resources on and out-
ing comprehension. On the basis of the results, the researcher side the school premises. In order to keep them engaged at all
concluded that the use of interactive multimedia increased times, the facilitators need to be adaptive toward this rapid
Mahdi 3

change in the environment to make maximum use of the activities on mobile phones encourages them to speak
digital aid prevailing today (Miller, 2018). English as a foreign language with fluency as well as to
Bajrami and Ismaili (2016) argued that the use of multi- reflect on their speech. Also, to be able to construct meaning-
media resources helps in improved participation of students ful sentences and communicate confidently (Hwang, Shih,
during classroom practices. The study also provided students et al., 2016). A study conducted by Fauzi (2016) stated that the
perspective of integrating multimedia resources, according speaking skills of those students increased when PowerPoint
to which multimedia sources help students to better under- presentations were used during the classroom lectures.
stand the content of the everyday lessons. Besides this, the Speaking skills along with writing skills are considered as
process of language learning was more interesting for stu- productive and need to be integrated into the development of
dents, since it captures students’ attention in enriching their effective communication. Moreover, the findings of the
vocabulary. Moreover, video lessons help students to under- study also suggested that multimedia presentations should be
stand the cultural background of the target language, provid- a part of the speaking class in order to help the students
ing active ESL learning practices. It further enables them to become more fluent in English as these presentations help
understand the lexical structure of words along with feasible the students to become better at communication. This may be
audio pronunciations. This enables an opportunity for auton- because of the characteristics of the multimedia which is
omy within the process of learning. Through visual represen- attractive due to animations, videos, sounds, figures, etc. The
tations, students can relate and remember the scenarios that study also stated that these tools can be a teaching-learning
are associated with a specific lexical structure. In short, the aid but the students need to be well versed in vocabulary,
purpose of their study was to find out the benefits that English grammar, and model presentation, which are still very impor-
language teachers and learners attain by using audio-visual tant in learning how to speak the language.
aids in the classrooms. Moreover, it also emphasized how Golonka et al. (2014) also reviewed the impact of technol-
these aids can be used appropriately by the facilitators in ogy in learning and teaching of foreign language. The study
order to bring improvement in students as well as to make was conducted with over 350 students and concluded that the
sure that the class is student-centered rather than teacher- computer-based approach was more effective than the tradi-
centered thus ensuring students’ active participation in the tional approach. Another study by Rahnavard and Heidar
activities (Bajrami & Ismaili, 2016). Mino and Butler (1995) (2017), investigated the effect of web-based instruction in
also found a positive correlation between the communication order to improve EFL learners’ pronunciation skills. The
skills of an individual and the use of an interactive media study findings showed that web-based learning was impact-
environment. The study suggested the use of audiotaped lec- ful in increasing the learners’ motivation to improve pronun-
tures and reading assignments to improve the oral communi- ciation. The statement has been evaluated by Hismanoglu
cation skills of the students outside the classroom. The (2012) based on video teaching lessons provided through the
interactive media approach can give more exposure to verbal internet among Turkish EFL learners. The study followed a
communication and can also cover the course in adequate pre- and post-test strategy dividing students into two groups,
time. Hawlitschek and Joeckel (2017) illustrated that learn- that is, control and experiment. The results were produced
ing that is integrated through videos motivates and entertains using t-test and independent samples. The study data analy-
students making the process of language learning even more sis showed that students who were exposed to internet-based
interesting for non-native speakers. It further provides useful video lessons were far superior as compared to those who got
topics for class discussions. The study also investigates the their training in a traditional way of pronunciation lessons.
impact of integrating instructional support like a prompt that Moreover, the paired samples of the t-test results showed a
highlights the significance of learning through educational noticeable progress in the two groups. The test results proved
games. It found out that it is useful to make educational that the experimental group outclassed the other control
games as a part of learning in order to facilitate learning. The group in a number of problematic word stress patterns
study carried out research on entertainment media and found (Hismanoglu, 2012). According to another study conducted
that if this learning is implemented it increases learners’ by Praheto et al. (2019), both teachers and students felt the
mental effort as well as their learning outcome. need of using interactive multimedia to help in the process of
The interactive multimedia environment is beneficial for learning. Moreover, students use attractive multimedia to get
the students as it provides them with attractive features, rid of boredom. This study was conducted to find out the
which engage them in the learning process and let them feel need for using interactive multimedia by the students who
free to learn in their own ways. Moreover, the study looked learn the Indonesian language skill. They carried out the
into the possibilities of mobile-game-based activities which study in the Department of Primary School Teacher Education
enhanced the learning of the students. The results of their during the two academic years 2017/2018 and 2018/2019.
study suggested that game-based learning activities improved The study findings reflected that the teachers still use
the speaking skills of the students if driven by a mobile sys- the traditional teaching methods while using interactive
tem. The results of the study state that learning by using multimedia such as PowerPoint and modules. The study
4 SAGE Open

concluded that the students gave a positive response about noticeable apprehension and lack of confidence among the
the use of interactive multimedia as it helped them develop students, which is related to fluency in speaking. Therefore,
the Indonesian language skill. Also, the teachers kept the it was concluded that motivational activities are necessary
needs of the students in mind while creating interactive mul- to encourage verbal communication among them. To learn
timedia presentations by combining various elements such as and speak a specific language, a number of factors are
pictures, sounds, animations, text, and appropriate use of needed to be considered that include vocabulary, pronuncia-
colors. In short, the use of interactive multimedia does not tion, and collocations. The fluency of students in speaking
only deliver teaching materials cognitively but involves the English is improved by providing students with a variety of
students in the utilization of interactive multimedia in learn- situations and frequent speaking tasks. A significant impact
ing Indonesian language skills. of multimedia technology has been found in the learning
Rahnavard and Heidar (2017) in their paper focus on the instructions and methods of communicating information
idea of web-based learning that has gained significant atten- among the students (Mahdi, 2015c). The results concluded
tion in the given context. From a theoretical perspective, by Bahadorfar and Reza (2014) stated that multimedia pro-
web-based learning and instructions provide a suitable envi- motes individual interaction and positively affects the indi-
ronment for learners. It further allows teachers to provide vidual’s self-esteem and motivational level. This technology
attention toward each student since learning takes place in possesses the ability to process information with great speed
the form of small groups. The study further indicated that and accuracy. It has entirely transformed the way students
students found it easy to develop listening and speaking work, learn, and communicate. The study further suggested
skills in language classrooms that were incorporated through that theoretical and practical aspects in the learning of the
web-based language instructions. Modern-day technology second language can be combined together by using modern
provides greater opportunities to learners in comparison to technical methods that should be adopted in order to achieve
those that were offered in previous times, where only com- effective results in the teaching and learning of speaking
puters served as a meaningful purpose of active learning. skills. Lastly, the study suggested that English language
The study findings of Boonkit (2010) are consistent with the teachers should motivate children to use technology to
statement. They highlight that use of multimedia improves develop and further polish their speaking abilities.
the students’ creative ability and their confidence which A study conducted by Fauzi (2016) attempted to improve
encourages them to speak by improving their speaking com- the four language skills through an interactive multimedia
petence. This research examined the factors that enhanced environment. The results showed that the use of computer
the speaking skills of Thai EFL undergraduate students. The applications in schools has changed the teaching methodolo-
study found that students’ confidence in themselves devel- gies throughout the curriculum. It allows the students to
oped during the 15 weeks of regular listening and speaking experience a world of real language opportunities. The use of
course. Moreover, the study found that a creative topic was PowerPoint presentations helped in improving students’
considered a powerful tool for improving speaking skills. effective speaking skills. Another study by Mahdi (2015a)
The speaking skills are needed to be integrated into the evaluated the techniques and strategies to foster the confi-
development of effective communication. According to dence of EFL students and reduce oral communication
Annala et al. (2016), speaking skills are the most important apprehension. The results showed that there was a significant
skills that are required for communication. A great number impact of confidence on the oral communication apprehen-
of benefits are created for the business organizations and sion of the EFL students. The communication strategy is
speakers by maintaining effective communication through interconnected with second language learning; however,
speaking. they are considered to be different in many ways. Fulfilling
Effective speaking skills help students in job interviews the special needs of the EFL students resulted in the develop-
and other job training activities. Speaking and communica- ment of confidence among EFL learners, as they are pro-
tion skills have been placed ahead of motivation, work vided with the appropriate environment (Mahdi, 2015a).
experience, and academic credentials. Sommerauer and The paper of Kessler (2010) studied the fluency aspect
Müller (2018) focused on augmented learning environments among various EFL students. For evaluating two types of
that are beneficial in facilitating the process of language recording study, one is the audio journal recording whereas
learning. Learning that is based on collaboration, reflection, the other used mobile audio devices. The observational
and effective feedback that is followed within the given method was used for evaluating the effectiveness of the two
framework reduces students’ anxiety and involves each and mediums. It studied the independent factors such as the vol-
every student as an active participant in the learning pro- ume of the study, the pause he or she made, the length of the
cess. In different circumstances, speaking usually takes sentences being delivered, and the anxiety presence in the
place in the context where the performance is conducted for voice. The outcome of the study showed that the use of audio
the audience. A study conducted by Mahdi (2015c) investi- journal records was more effective in building speaking
gated the association between communication competence fluency among students in contrast to the use of mobile audio
and oral communication apprehension. The results depicted devices.
Mahdi 5

Windihastuti (2013) also investigated the improvement a control group and the other section as an experiment alone
in the speaking skills of students by the use of picture series. (i.e., 20 participants in each group).
The research population included tenth-grade students The main parts of the language that were investigated
enrolled in the SMA Negeri 6 Surakarta in the confined included pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, fluency, and
bracket, that is, January to April. The data was gathered accuracy in speaking, which were carefully assessed depend-
through observation, interviews, images, as well as tests. ing upon pre- and post-test results of students that were
The outcome of the study was positive illustrating that the exposed to multimedia teaching. The researcher provided the
integration of picture series, explanation of teachers, and study sample with some activities at the end of each session,
drilling techniques can assist in improving students’ narra- associated with what they had learned to ensure that the
tive speaking skills. Nowadays, the process of acquiring study sample has mastered the skills of each session. The
knowledge has been diminishing and this has been the major students’ progress in EFL speaking fluency skills at the end
concern for students today. As the text has been replaced by of the program was assessed after program implementation
sound and image/illustrations and the handwriting is via the EFL speaking fluency test. Then, the experimental
replaced by keyboard so multimedia technology should be group was exposed to 12 hours of multimedia teaching (i.e.,
engraved in the teaching resources for the English language 6 weeks, 12 lectures). The experimental group was exposed
but should not replace the role of teachers in the classrooms. to the interactive multimedia environment. The control group
It should be kept in mind that multimedia can be used as a received a traditional teaching method with the same mate-
supportive source and cannot replace teachers but can facili- rial at this stage. Finally, the participants were told to send
tate them in their methodologies by making their lessons their video-recorded presentations as a post-test.
more interactive and entertaining for the students through
the use of audio-visual content.
Instruments and Data Collection Procedures
The Test. The experimental group was exposed to 12 ses-
Method sions of multimedia teaching during 6 weeks (i.e., two sessions
This given section includes information that is related to the per week, and each session lasted for about 1 hour). These
involved participants, instruments, and procedures used for instructional sessions are aimed at developing some EFL
the collection of data along with the strategy used to analyze speaking skills and its sub-skills. They were exposed to text,
the data. The present research followed a mixed method. This graphics, sounds, animations, and videos; which were identi-
method combines qualitative and quantitative approaches to fied as multimedia program-based resources whereas the con-
data collection and the ensuing discussions. This hybrid trolled group received traditional teaching methods during this
approach is for gathering more information by combining the period, mainly lecturing via a teacher-directed method.
results of both qualitative and quantitative methods. Thus, The material related to the 12 hours teaching design was
conducting qualitative video-recorded presentations and based on different PowerPoint presentations, graphics,
audio-recorded semi-structured interviews in addition to a sounds, animations, and videos to analyze the effect of mul-
quantitative questionnaire enabled the researcher to gain a timedia environment among different students. After this
deeper understanding of the complexities of EFL students’ period, video-recorded presentations were sent from the con-
speaking skills at King Khalid University (Saudi Arabia). trol group and the experimental group to compare with their
previous oral presentations for further evaluation. The speak-
ing skills of the students from both groups were examined on
Participants the basis of their breakdown fluency, speed fluency, and
The study initially employed (46) EFL male students enrolled repair fluency through their pre-and post-video oral speaking
in the B.A. program at the Faculty of Languages and presentations in addition to audio-recorded semi-structured
Translation from King Khalid University for the academic interviews. Audio-based semi-structured interviews with the
year 2017/2018. The participants were enrolled in two sec- 20 experimental group students were recorded in English
tions of a course entitled “Speech Workshop Course.” The and also in their native language, for a double-check. Their
nature of this program is an advanced speaking course. interviews were recorded then categorized into major themes
Students aged between 19 and 23 years were included as par- which were consistent with the research topic.
ticipants. The two sections were given four initial hours on
the given topic, that is, “how to prepare a short verbal presen-
The Questionnaire
tation in English” for 2 weeks (i.e., two lectures each week).
Then, the participants were told to send their video-recorded A quantitative approach has been selected to gain an in-depth
presentations as a pre-test. The total number of fully com- understanding of the opinions, perceptions, expectations,
pleted video-recorded presentations of the two sections was and obstacles faced by the students in learning to speak in a
40. These presentations served as the database for the pre- specific language. A questionnaire was distributed to the
test result of the two sections before assigning one section as experimental group students for further perceptions of the
6 SAGE Open

impact of multimedia technology on speaking skills (see showed a significant difference between the pre-and the
appendix). The research methodology was based on three post-test result analysis (p = .000). This means that the use of
steps that included the development of the questionnaire, interactive multimedia-based programs enhanced the stu-
observation, and analysis of the obtained data/observations dents’ English Language speaking skills.
from qualitative tools used in this work. Along with this The results showed that using multimedia is effective for
qualitative approach, a Likert scale questionnaire also has learning the language.
been designed to get more quantifiable results. The question-
naire was designed on the basis of the five-point Likert scale
Statistical Representation of Pre-and Post Use of
and distributed electronically to the recruited students. The
main aspect covered by the questionnaire included the sig- Interactive Multimedia Environment
nificance of interactive multimedia resources toward improv- Table 2 revealed the before and after results for using an
ing the students’ English-speaking skills. The validation was interactive multimedia environment to improve students’
submitted to a panel of experts regarding the EFL speaking speaking skills, knowledge, and interaction among students.
fluency test in its preliminary form. They were asked to eval- In the paired sample test, the first theme showed a mean
uate the validity of the test with respect to clarity, suitability, value of 0.1677, the second theme showed a mean value of
and instruction for the level of students. All jury members 2.18, the third theme showed a mean value of 0.43 and the
showed that the test guidelines were appropriate and clear. fourth theme showed a mean value of 0.933. Thus, the results
Nonetheless, they recommended some changes and noticed in Table 2 showed that the development of the academic
some mistakes, which the researcher had to correct. Lastly, achievement for the students learning in the interactive mul-
they showed that the test appeared to be a valid measure of timedia environment was greater than that of the students
EFL speaking fluency skills. The test was administered in the learning in a traditional environment.
English Department. The Pearson inter-rater reliability was
computed and found to be .99.
The evaluation instrument was set to measure and assess EFL Speaking Focusing on Pronunciation,
the weaknesses and strengths of students in speaking. The Grammar, Fluency, Vocabulary and Accuracy
data, obtained from the questionnaire, were analyzed using Table 3 reflects the test scores of EFL students before and
the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) version after exposure to a multimedia-based teaching program. It
20.0. showed the p-value for pronunciation was .001 which is less
than .05 which is significant, the p-value for vocabulary was
Results .002 which is also less than .05 thus being significant, the
p-value for grammar was .003 which also indicates its sig-
Quantitative Results nificance, for fluency and accuracy the p values were .000
The study recruited 40 students who were divided into two and .015 which were also significant. The mean scores of the
intact classes. The first class was composed of 20 students, study sample in the post-assessment test of the EFL speaking
and they were treated as the control group. The other class focused on pronunciation, grammar, fluency, vocabulary,
was also composed of 20 students and they were treated as and accuracy. The results showed that the mean score of
the experimental group. Their scores were analyzed to find if vocabulary, fluency, and accuracy was higher in post-assess-
there was any significant difference in their performance. ment as compared to their pre-assessment of the same skills,
with a significant difference at .05 level. This indicated that
the use of multimedia-based programs helped the students in
Pre-and Post-Multimedia Environment Enhance polishing up their pronunciation, grammar, fluency, vocabu-
Knowledge, Speaking Skills and Interaction lary, and accuracy.
Table 1 showed the correlation between pre- and post-use of
Multimedia environment by using four different themes like:
Qualitative Results
Pre- Multimedia technology enhances knowledge and Post
Multimedia technology enhances knowledge showed a cor- The pre- and post-results pertaining to the use of a multime-
relation .866, then, Pre-multimedia environment improves dia teaching program showed significant differences between
speaking skills and Post Multimedia environment improves the performance of students in the two video oral presenta-
speaking skills showed a correlation of .567, another theme, tions at the beginning and at the end of the experiment. Their
Pre-Comprehensible and Post-Comprehensible multimedia performance showed remarkable improvement in terms of
environment improves speaking showed a correlation of .852 pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, fluency, and accuracy.
and the last theme, Pre-Multimedia environment improves Results of the qualitative interview were based on semi-
interaction among students and Post-Multimedia environ- structured interviews. The main concern of the interview was
ment improves interaction among students showed a correla- to analyze students’ perceptions regarding the use of multi-
tion of .844. The correlation and the paired sample test media resources in improving students’ speaking skills. The
Mahdi 7

Table 1. Multimedia Environment enhances Knowledge, Speaking Skills and Interaction.

N Mean SD Correlation Sig.

Pair 1 Pre-Multimedia technology enhances knowledge and Post Multimedia 20 2.40 1.506 .866 .000
technology enhances knowledge
Pair 2 Pre-Multimedia environment improves speaking skills and Post Multimedia 20 2.80 1.398 .567
environment improves speaking skills
Pair 3 Pre-Comprehensible multimedia environment improves speaking power 20 3.00 1.333 .852
and Post-Comprehensible multimedia environment improves speaking
Pair 4 Pre-Multimedia environment improves interaction among students and 20 3.00 1.414 .844
Post-Multimedia environment improves interaction among students

Table 2. Interactive Multimedia Environment Improves Students’ Speaking Skills, Knowledge, and Interaction.

95% Confidence interval

Paired Differences of the difference

Std Std error Sig (two-

Mean deviation mean Lower Upper df tailed)
Pair 1 Multimedia technology enhances 0.1667 0.56723 0.07323 −0.1298 16320 0.228 59 .821
knowledge
-Post Multimedia technology enhances
knowledge
Pair 2 Multimedia environment improves 2.18333 1.14228 0.14747 1.88825 2.47842 0.14806 59 .000
speaking skills
-Post Multimedia environment improves
speaking skills
Pair 3 Comprehensible multimedia environment 0.43333 0.64746 0.08359 0.26608 0.60059 5.184 59 .000
improving speaking power
-Post Comprehensible multimedia
environment improving speaking
Pair 4 Multimedia environment improves 0.93333 0.63424 0.08188 0.76949 1.09717 11.399 59 .000
interaction among students -Post
Multimedia environment improves
interaction among students

Table 3. EFL Students Exposed to Multimedia-Based Program on the Pronunciation, Vocabulary, Grammar, Fluency and Accuracy Skills.

N Mean Std. Dv t-value DF Sig

Pronunciation
Pre 40 0.176 0.675 0.129 39 .001
Post 40 0.032 0.146 4.111 39
Vocabulary
Pre 40 0.016 0.147 5.174 39 .002
Post 40 0.0221 0.647 5.165 39
Grammar
Pre 40 0.0327 0.0644 1.0685 39 .003
  Post 40 0.0273 0.414 1.6954 39
Fluency
Pre 40 0.0147 0.418 1.4245 39 .000
Post 40 0.0487 0.656 1.9323 39
Accuracy
Pre 40 0.0228 0.985 1.6424 39 .015
Post 40 0.0833 0.266 1.139 39
8 SAGE Open

Table 4. Correlation of Experimental and Controlled Group Performance With and Without Interactive Multimedia Teaching.

PowerPoint Improves
presentations interaction Implementing
Improve improve among multimedia
speaking skills speaking skills students environment
Experimental group
Pearson correlation .64 .77 .74 .74
Sig. (two-tailed) .56 .75 .72 .71
Control group
Pearson correlation .3 .4 .2 .1
Sig. (two-tailed) .000 .001 .002 .002

data collected from the students was organized inconsis- Multimedia improve speaking skills. The analysis showed
tently. However, questions were used to investigate the influ- that more than half of the students agreed on the fact that
ence of a multimedia environment in helping students to their speaking skills improved after being taught in the inter-
improve their speaking skills. Table 4 has provided an over- active multimedia environment. Students including S 5, S 6,
view of the results obtained from the participants by asking S 9, S 11, S 12, S 14, S 17, and S 20 (40%) showed positive
them open-ended questions. reactions toward the improvement of their speaking power as
a result of attending multimedia-based lectures. The students
stated that:
Correlation of Experimental and Controlled
Group Performance With and Without “Our skills of speaking English have improved efficiently after
Interactive Multimedia Teaching being exposed to interactive multimedia classrooms.”

Table 4 shows the correlation of experimental and controlled “Our English Language skills surely improved with the use of
groups’ performance with and without interactive multimedia multimedia technology in our classrooms.”
teaching. The experimental group showed a large correlation
with interactive multimedia teaching as it improved their “With the help of multimedia teaching tools, I experienced that
PowerPoint presentation skills (.77), their speaking skills (.64), my English Language speaking fluency improved.”
as well as interaction among students (.74). On the other hand,
the controlled group did not display any significant improve- “The use of classroom multimedia tools enabled us to improve
ment in their speaking skills (.3), PowerPoint presentation our speaking skills to a great extent.”
skills (.4) and interaction with their peers (.2), thus showing no
“Our speaking performance or fluency improved with the use of
strong relationship with interactive multimedia teaching.
interactive multimedia tools in the classroom.”

Influence of interactive multimedia environment. Many stu-

Multimedia encourage interaction among students. Some
dents (40%) stated that interactive multimedia environments
students expressed positive feelings toward their interaction
had a significant influence on their learning and speaking
with peers. For example, six students including; S 1, S 3, S 7,
skills. In particular, eight students (S 2, S 4, S 9, S 10, S 13,
S 8, S 10, and S 15 (30%) stated that;
S 16, S 18, and S 19) of the experimental group stated that:

“Different multimedia approaches used for teaching purposes “After being exposed to multimedia classrooms, we are more
helped us in improving English Language skills.” likely to communicate with our classmates in English and
imitate the gestures and body language of native English
“Multimedia was indeed an effective tool for teaching as it speakers.”
helped us to enhance our English Language skills.”
“By working together either in pairs or groups, we got the
“This tool of learning was very engaging, it kept us active at all opportunity to interact and mingle and it also improved our
times which resulted in the improvement of English Language interactions with each other.”
skills.”
“We made new friends while working in cohesion using the
“This medium of teaching and learning was fun and helped us to multimedia tools in the classroom.”
develop interest in learning as it was interactive.”
“We got the opportunity of interacting and making new friends as
“It was a different learning experience and we found it to be while we worked and learned together using multimedia tools.”
more interactive and student centred compared to the traditional
method.” The qualitative results were summarized in Table 5.
Mahdi 9

Table 5. Overview of Qualitative Results.

Theme Questions Responses Respondents %

Influence of Interactive 1. How the implementation of multimedia A significant influence of S 2, S 4, S 9, S 10, S
Multimedia technology in universities help students in interactive multimedia 13, S 16, S 18 and
Environment developing their speaking skills? environment on their S 19 (40%)
learning and speaking skills
Multimedia Approach 1. H
 ow does technology help the students in Positive reactions toward S 5, S 6, S 9, S 11, S
Improves Speaking enhancing their speaking and learning processes? the improvement of their 12, S 14, S 17, and
Skills 2. H
 ow do the PowerPoint presentations within speaking power as a result S 20 (40%)
the classroom help students to enhance their of attending multimedia-
speaking skills? based lectures
Multimedia Approach 1. Does comprehensible multimedia environment The students expressed S 1, S 3, S 7, S 8, S
Encourages Interaction enhance the speaking power of the students? positive feelings toward 10, and S 15 (40%)
among Students 2. Do you recommend a multimedia environment their interaction with peer
in teaching process?

Discussion reading ability and the use of interactive multimedia strat-

egy in reading comprehension was very interesting for the
The present study has conducted a quasi-experimental analy- students in their learning process. The study found a posi-
sis to investigate the association between the preferences of tive effect on the learner’s ability to understand language
students regarding the multimedia environment and their during valuable interaction, this finding was in line with
speaking skills during the language learning process. The another study conducted by Golonka et al. (2014). The cur-
qualitative results have shown remarkable improvement in rent study results were also supported by the studies con-
terms of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, fluency, and ducted by Hassani et al. (2016) and Annala et al. (2016) as
accuracy among students. The findings of this study support they also found a positive impact of interactive media
the outcomes of the previous studies such as Bajrami and approach on the speaking and learning skills of the individu-
Ismaili (2016) and Mino and Butler (1995) as highlighted in als. The study used an intelligent virtual environment along
the literature review when the students were exposed to two with pedagogical agents. The study was conducted on non-
situations, where one group was taught using multimedia- native English learners and a positive result was found on
based programs whereas the other was instructed using the their listening and speaking skills. The study focused on
traditional means, a significant impact was noted. The results equipping the learners with sufficient skills to help them
of the experimental group were compared with the outcomes communicate in public places. The results were positive as a
of the student who used traditional methods, that is, the con- drastic increase was observed in their speaking abilities as
trol group. The results showed a major positive impact on the predicted by the numbers obtained. Similarly, the present
verbal post-test of the students, who used interactive media study showed consistent results with research conducted by
for learning. Mino and Butler (1995) also found a positive Lee (2014).
correlation between the communication skills of an individ- The author studied the impact of digital news on oral lan-
ual and the use of an interactive media environment. The guage skills and the development of content knowledge, by
study suggested the use of audiotaped lectures and reading involving 15 Spanish students who used Voice Thread, which
assignments to improve the oral communication skills of the is an interactive media tool. A positive impact of digital news
students outside the classroom. The interactive media on the development skills of individuals has been observed.
approach can give more exposure to verbal communication The technique empowered the students and resulted in
and can also cover the course in adequate time. These results increased collaboration between them. Furthermore, it
obtained from the present study are consistent with the previ- increased the speaking fluency of the students. Studies con-
ous studies as discussed in the literature review since it ducted by Diyyab (2014) and Sommerauer and Müller (2018)
showed a positive impact of the interactive media approach found a positive influence of multimedia-based approach for
in improving the speaking/communication skills of the learning on the EFL speaking fluency of the students. The
students. study by Diyyab (2014) was conducted on the second-year
The current research revealed that technology has a sig- students of Minufiya University, Egypt and the participants’
nificant impact on EFL learning especially due to Automatic performance was analyzed after conducting the test two
Speech Recognition (ASR). This is in line with the findings times. Moreover, Min et al. (2019) suggested that learning
of a study conducted by Nadirah et al. (2020) which reflected materials such as; lecture notes supported by audio can pro-
that the use of interactive multimedia increased students’ vide better results in this regard.
10 SAGE Open

The results showed a significant increase in developing Study Recommendations

EFL speaking fluency skills among the students. The
approach superseded the traditional tools of learning in the There should be classes focusing particularly on learning the
context of the effectiveness and development of speaking spoken language through interactive multimedia-based pro-
skills in the students. These results agree with the findings of grams. The students should be given the freedom to use any
the present study, which stated a positive influence of inter- resources such as PowerPoint presentations, texts, graphics,
active multimedia environment on their learning and speak- sounds, animations, and videos to verbally present their
ing skills. In short, the findings of the study showed that the assignments, which will enhance their speaking power and
use of interactive multimedia-based programs had a signifi- give them more confidence when they stand up to speak
cant improvement in the English Language speaking skills of publicly.
the students who were included in the experimental group.
Moreover, the finding of this study is also in line with the Study Limitations and Future Suggestions
study conducted by Praheto et al. (2019). According to their
The current study was not able to examine the effectiveness
findings, interactive multimedia is effective in the process of
of new ways and methods to develop EFL speaking fluency
learning. Furthermore, the study stated that the teachers still
skills other than the use of multimedia based-programs. Also,
use the traditional teaching methods by using customized
it fell short of finding out the attitudes of the University stu-
PowerPoint presentations which means that they take their
dents toward EFL speaking instructions. Therefore, there is a
students’ needs into account while creating slides such as the
need to conduct future studies which should carry out the
use of elements like animations, pictures, sounds, texts, etc.
analysis on a large study sample to assess the effectiveness of
In this study, the same intervention, which was multimedia-
using multimedia interacting systems.
based programs, could also be applied to the students who were
put into the control group so that they can also enhance their
knowledge and improve their English-speaking skills because Appendix
they were exposed only to the traditional methods of teaching.
Questionnaire
Conclusion Theme 1
Influence of Interactive Multimedia Environment
The study has investigated the impact of multimedia envi-
ronment on the speaking skills of students by conducting pre Q1. How the implementation of multimedia technology in
and post-tests. The results have shown effective use of mul- universities help students in developing their speaking
timedia as compared to the traditional methods of teaching. skills?
The results clearly recommend the expansion of multimedia
usage in teaching theoretical curriculum and the implemen- Theme 2
tation of computers as a valuable tool in teaching and learn-
ing practices. An interactive learning environment tends to A Multimedia Approach Improves Speaking Skills
provide an effective alternative to traditional education. It is
more effective for the cognitive abilities of students in com- Q1. How does technology help the students in enhancing
parison to traditional methods. Moreover, it is best for EFL their speaking and learning processes?
students as in today’s world where technology is playing a Q2. How do the PowerPoint presentations within the
significant role in every aspect of life, it has become the need classroom help students to enhance their speaking
of time. The non-native students can learn the language more skills?
quickly through interactive lessons planned by the teachers
as nowadays students are very tech-savvy and have more Theme 3
than a basic knowledge of computers which can ease the A Multimedia Approach Encourages Interaction among
facilitators’ role in imparting knowledge. Students

Q1. Does comprehensible multimedia environment

Study Contribution enhance the speaking power of the students?
The study has also investigated the association between the Q2. Do you recommend a multimedia environment in
preferences of students regarding the multimedia environ- teaching process?
ment and their speaking skills within the classroom learning
process. The study also emphasizes the significance of an Acknowledgments
interactive multimedia environment in improving the speaking The author would like to express his gratitude to King Khalid
skills of students. University for providing administrative and technical support.
Mahdi 11

Furthermore, the author is very thankful to all the associated person- Environ­ments, 24(1), 252–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/104
nel and students that contributed to the purpose of this research. 94820.2013.846265
Hawlitschek, A., & Joeckel, S. (2017). Increasing the effective-
Declaration of Conflicting Interests ness of digital educational games: The effects of a learning
instruction on students’ learning, motivation and cognitive
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to
load. Computers in Human Behavior, 72, 79–86. https://doi.
the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.01.040
Hismanoglu, M. (2012). Teaching word stress to Turkish EFL
Funding (English as a foreign language) learners through internet-based
The author received no financial support for the research, author- video lessons. US-China Education Review, 1, 26–40.
ship, and/or publication of this article. Hwang, W. Y., Shih, T. K., Ma, Z. H., Shadiev, R., & Chen, S.
Y. (2016). Evaluating listening and speaking skills in a mobile
ORCID iD game-based learning environment with situational contexts.
Computer Assisted Language Learning, 29(4), 639–657.
Dawood Ahmed Mahdi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4730-9828
https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2015.1016438
Kessler, G. (2010). Fluency and anxiety in self-access speak-
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