A Phenomenological Exploration of EAP International Students’ Speaking and Listening Experience with PechaKucha Presentations

Abstract

With the importance of oral communication skills and digital literacy skills for 21st- century learners (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2006), there is an increasing tendency to incorporate technology in language learning and teaching. In this trend, PechaKucha Presentation (PKP), a unique, fast-paced format of giving presentations, has recently been advocated for its benefits in developing learners’ oral communication skills in various contexts. This paper presented a study that explored seven international students’ speaking and listening experiences with PKP activities while completing the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program prior to their undergraduate programs in a US university. The study adopted a phenomenological design with semi-structured interviews, artifacts, and observations. Colaizzi’s (1978) data analysis framework was employed to provide a comprehensive description of the participants’ speaking and listening experiences with PKP.

Findings revealed that (1) participants experienced a connection between emotions regarding PK presentations and their English speaking skills; (2) participants described cognitive and metacognitive skill use and awareness due to PK presentations experiences; (3) participants perceived audience as an important factor in presentation decisions; (4) these EAP international students were aware of and critical of their English- speaking skills; (5) they preferred more time for pronunciation and to convey information; (6) EAP peers’ pronunciation hindered meaning-making; (7), PK meaning-making processes included listening, reading, viewing, and critiquing their peers’ presentation performance.