The effects of academic oral presentations on English as a foreign language students’ oral communication strategy use: An intervention study

This study investigated how academic oral presentations impacted the use of oral communication strategies by Turkish students learning English to overcome speaking difficulties. The "Strategies for Coping with Speaking Problems" scale was used to measure the effectiveness of an oral presentation intervention. Two groups of first-year students: an intervention group and a control group took part in this study. Both groups were given a pre-test. The intervention group (n=35) engaged in giving academic oral presentations in English for 30 minutes, while the control group (n=34) attended conventional classes for 12 weeks. After the intervention, both groups were given a post-test. The results showed that academic oral presentations had a positive impact on the oral communication strategies used by the intervention group. The strategies employed were categorized into several types: fluency-oriented strategies, accuracy-oriented strategies, and nonverbal strategies. Addition-ally, 'total strategy use' refers to the integrated application of all these strategies. There was a significant improvement in most sub-dimensions of the scale. No significant difference was found in the pre-test and post-test results of the control group. Overall, the study suggests that academic oral presentations can help students improve their oral communication strategies and overcome speaking difficulties when learning a new language.