Incorporating Internet-Based Applications in Teaching Integrated Language Skills to EFL Students

Abstract

Nowadays, it has become more popular for teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) classes to engage their students in language learning by using Internet-based applications. However, each application is often designed to teach a separate language skill, so there is a need to incorporate some applications to teach four language skills effectively. Therefore, Kahoot, Wordwall, Google Form, and Padlet were combined in this action research to support the teacher in teaching integrated skills to 104 intermediate-level students of 4 EFL classes during a 15-week course at a tertiary institution in Vietnam. The purpose of this research was to describe how these Internet-based applications are incorporated in an EFL classroom through a teacher's reflective teaching journal and identify the students' perceptions of this implementation through a questionnaire followed by a semi-structured interview. The research findings indicated that a great majority of students (90.4%) somewhat and strongly supported the model of incorporating these applications in EFL classrooms with the four major benefits of facilitating their integrated language skill practices, fostering their active learning, encouraging self-studying, and increasing students’ attention span. Accordingly, this paper concluded with a suggestion for more implementations at other institutions with similar