The TED Talk videos and the Listening Skill

Abstract

In recent years, innovations and technological advances have been developed that allow both teachers and students to facilitate English language learning. One of them is the TED platform where high-impact educational videos are disseminated. Reason why the current study was developed with the aim of analyzing how the use of activitybased TED talk videos facilitates the development of listening skill. To achieve the objectives, a quasi-experimental methodology was used, which included 29 students from the sixth semester of the Carrera de Pedagogía de los Idiomas Nacionales y Extranjeros of the Universidad Técnica de Ambato, a group of students that was selected for convenience. To achieve it, nine TED talk videos of an educational nature and with high entertainment content were selected, lasting between 15 and 20 minutes. After the presentation of each TED video, an activity related to the topic was carried out in the classroom to identify the listening capacity achieved by the students. Data collection was performed using the Cambridge PET test, which was applied at the beginning of the experimentation, after the application of 8 activities and at the end of the intervention. The results of the intervention were checked through the statistical test of Chi square. According to the development of the research, it was determined that using activities based on The TED talk videos has a positive effect on the students' listening skills because it motivates them to listen, in addition to contributing to the development of vocabulary, pronunciation, contraction, speed and speech time, since TED Talk presents only native speakers.