Abstract:

Talking in a foreign language has always been a challenge if students are not exposed or do not have the opportunity to use what is learned for real-life purposes. When the opportunity arises, there is always a certain level of uncertainty and nervousness. Therefore, it is imperative to provide students with the opportunity to use what they have learned in class in an academic setting that resembles real life as much as possible. Out of the four skills developed when learning a foreign language, speaking has been reportedly one of the most difficult. It is also one that is practiced in a more controlled environment, the classroom. When the world moved to online learning, I provided my students with this opportunity. The next challenge was to find out how comfortable they became using the target language with native speakers and what communication strategies they developed or acquired. I designed and applied a survey to self-report their comfort level a) contrasting the beginning and end of the semester, b) with the topics used, and c) with the communication strategies used or developed.

During the Spring 2021 semester, three different courses at different language learning levels of Spanish were involved in weekly real-life exchanges with native speakers from Mexico and Costa Rica. Students in the beginning and intermediate levels focused on developing their Spanish language skills, and students in an advanced pedagogy class focused on content – pedagogy and education related topics. These three groups were paired with three different groups learning English. One group of students from Costa Rica was also focusing on pedagogy in English, and one was focusing on their English language skills. The one group from Mexico was focusing on English language skills but were under 18 and could not participate in the survey.
The study was repeated during the Fall 2021 semester with two different groups for Spanish and the same two groups for English.

Regarding oral exchanges online, nowadays, there are many applications on phones or computers that allow students to talk to native speakers. These applications may involve some kind of payment on the part of the students. However, students do not create a relationship with the people in these apps because it is a random selection. People volunteering or working with these apps may not be students or may have an age difference with the users. The use of these applications is mostly for those who seek the practice or need the practice. Nonetheless, practice is what makes students’ confidence in speaking grow. There are special oral interviews that determine students’ level in the target language and studies on how to develop students’ speaking abilities, but there are no studies that focus on students’ speaking confidence level.

Keywords:

Distance learning, English, Spanish, International Cooperation, technology in education, Engagement.