Chapter three

Field work

Introduction

This chapter presents the data analysis and interpretation of the findings which aims

to give answers to the study’s research questions and objectives. As it has already been

explained in the introduction, the data gathering tools for this study was a questionnaire and

an interview.The questionnaire for students and the interview for teacher at the department of

foreign languages English at Mohamed kheider University to investigate the different

attitudes towards integrating podcasts as an electronic tool on developing the lexical

competence. Generally, The following data analysis and reports produced, in forms of tables

and figures, seeks to portray the way podcast may affect EFL teaching and learning.

1.1 The Student’s Questionnaire Commented [U1]: Correct the enumeration of the subtitles.

1.1.1 Questionnaire description

The questionnaire is meant for the targeted population, fifty (50) third year EFL

students of Mohamad Kheider university of Biskra regardless to their age, gender and social

status, for the sake of collecting the required data for the research and data studying the

different behaviors of the learners towards integrating podcasts in EFL learning, mainly

vocabulary learning. With regard to the descriptive method chosen for this research, the

questionnaire was a semi-structured containing twelve (12) items divided into two sections.

Starting with the first section, it contained a set of questions concerning the beliefs about

learning vocabulary. The second section, however, included questions that seek to know the

learners’ orientation towards using technological tools, mainly Podcasts, in EFL learning,

calculate their familiarity with the term podcasts, and whether or not the latter may develop

their lexical competence.The items included in the questionnaire were multiple choice

questions in which respondents are asked to select the best answer out of the choices given,
asking for frequency use with: “always” “Often” “Sometimes” “Rarely” and “Never” and

open-ended questions where students were required to give their own views on vocabulary

learning and freely express their ideas without relying on fixed options.

1.1.4 The Analysis of the Questionnaire

Section I: Beliefs about Vocabulary Learning

Item 1: Where do you usually meet new vocabulary?

Statement Percentage Participants

1. In lectures and lessons 46% 23

2. When speaking with classmates or friends 14% 7

3. When reading texts outside the classroom. 52% 26

4. When listening and watching English-language media. 58% 29

5. When speaking with native speakers of English. 16% 8

6. When using the internet. 34% 17

7. When using a dictionary. 30% 15

Table 4.Contexts of Meeting New Words.

 35

30

25

20

15

10

0
In lectures speaking reading listening/ speaking internet dictionary
with texts watching with
friends media natives
speakers

Graph 1.contexts of meeting new words

As both the table and the graph show, this part measures the places where students

usually meet new words. Among all choices given, More than half of the respondents, twenty

nine (29) students, consider listening and watching English language media as the place

where they meet new vocabulary, which in fact gives it the highest average of 58%. The

second source of vocabulary that takes the average of 52% is when reading texts outside the

classroom. 26 respondents consider reading texts of different genres apart from classroom,

including books novels, and articles, as a big source to meet new vocabulary. Both the use of

dictionary and internet received approximative answers. The average of 34% of the

respondents, 17 students, pick for using the internet, and the reason may go its spread

nowadays. Whereas, 30% , which represents 15 students, think using dictionary lead them to

meeting new words. In lectures and courses, 23 of the respondents, the average of 46%, are

almost half of the respondents choose lectures and courses as the place where they receive

new words. The options that received the lowest average are 14% (7 students), when

speaking with friends, and 16% ( 8 students), when speaking with native speakers. This may

shows that students do not practice speaking especially with their classmates. In trying to find

other places where students face new words, the students were asked an open question to
state them. Some of the respondents gave answers that are already mentioned in the choices

provided. Students' answers are as follow:

 When reading books (short stories, novels… and so on) .

 When writing paragraphs.

 When chatting with friends on social networks.

 When using the internet.

Item 2: In which of the above contexts does vocabulary cause a problem?

Statement Percentage Participants

1. In lectures and lessons 12% 6

2. When speaking with classmates or friends 6% 3

3. When reading texts outside the classroom. 24% 12

4. When listening and watching English-language media 42% 21

(e.g. songs, TV, movies, newscasts…etc)

5. When speaking with native speakers of English. 4% 2

6. When using the internet. 4% 2

7. When using a dictionary. 8% 4

Table 6.contexts in which Students Acquire More Vocabulary.

25

20

15

10

0
In lectures Speaking Reading Listening to Speaking Internet dictionary
and lessons with friends texts English with native
media speakers

Graph 2. Contexts in which Students Acquire More Vocabulary.

As the presented data above shows, 21 respondent of the whole sample that represents the

highest average of 42% acquire more vocabulary in both listening and watching English

media maybe due to the spread of technology. This simply shows the interest students have

towards E-learning tools. Reading texts of different genres receives the concern of 12

respondents, the average of 24%, maybe because they prefer learning new vocabulary

through reading novels, stories, books and so on. As three (3) students, the average of 6%,

acquire more vocabulary when speaking with friends, unexpectedly, acquiring new

vocabulary when speaking native speakers received lower average that is 4% maybe

because student find it hard to understand native speakers as far as accent, different regional

dialects are concerned. Six (6) students that represent the average of 12% find lectures and

lessons as the context where they meet new vocabulary the most. As using the internet is

considered as the popular way to reaching native speakers for a conversation, acquiring new

vocabulary when using the internet received equal average as when speaking with native

speakers that is 2%. Finally, four students, the average of 8%, seem to opt for the traditional

way of acquiring new vocabulary that is when using dictionary.

 Item 3: What do you do first when you meet new words?

Statements Frequency A. Always B. Often C. Sometimes D. Rarely E. Never

1. Ask the meaning N° 2 2 17 22 7

of an unknown

word from the % 4% 4% 34% 44% 14%

teacher.

2. Try to N° 12 17 16 3 2

understand the

meaning on the % 24% 34% 32% 10% 2%

basis of the co-

context.

3. Ask my class N° 5 11 16 11 7

mate to explain.

% 10% 22% 32% 22% 14%

4. Write them as N° 12 5 13 14 6

notes and look for

them afterwards. % 24% 10% 26% 28% 12%

5. Check them in a N° 23 11 13 2 1

bilingual dictionary

(English /Arabic) % 46% 22% 26% 4% 2%

or

(English/French).

6. Check them in a N° 11 14 12 11 2

monolingual

dictionary (English % 22% 28% 24% 22% 4%

/ English).
 Table 7. The frequency of students’ meeting with new words.

25

20

15

10

0
1 2 3 4 5 6

Graph 3. The frequency of students’ meeting with new words.

As can be seen in table 4 and graph 3, the purpose of setting item 3 is to

know the student’s attitude when they first meet new words. Item three includes

six different ways of dealing with new vocabulary and students were asked to

choose how often they use each one of them. As the results show with the first

statement, asking the meaning of an unknown word from the teacher, a

considerable average of the students seem to be reluctant when it comes to asking

the teachers help, maybe because they are shy or afraid of the teacher’s reaction.

Both ‘always’ and ‘often’ received the same average of the respondents that is

4%. Seventeen students, the average of 34%, answered ‘sometimes’, 22 students

(42%) answered ‘rarely’, and 7 students (14%) answered ‘never‘.

 As far as the co-context is concerned, the results shows that respondents

seem to rely on it to generate the meaning of a new word they encounter for the

first time. 12 respondents that represents the average of 24% always rely on the

co-context to understand new vocabulary. 17 respondents ( 34%) answered

‘often’, and 16 respondents (32%) answered ‘sometimes’,3 respondents

answered ‘rarely’. However, only 2 respondents (4%) who totally neglect to

center the meaning of a new word in accordance to the co-context.

A considerable average of the respondents show positive attitudes towards

asking the help of a classmate to explain the meaning of a new word. As the

results show in table 4 and graph 3, 5 students that represents the average of 10%

always depend on their classmates to get the new word’s meaning, 11 students

(22%) answered ‘ often’, 16 students (32%) answered sometimes, and 11

students (22%) answered ‘rarely’. The rest 7 students that represent the average

of 14% never ask their classmates, maybe because of certain factors as

introversion, shyness.

For many students, taking notes of new words to look for their meaning

afterwards is important to ensure enriching their vocabulary knowledge. The

results show that 12 respondents that represent the average of 24% always take

notes to check their meaning later. 5 respondents (10%) answered ‘often’, 13

respondents (26%) answered ‘sometimes’, and 14 respondents (28%) answered

‘rarely’. The remaining 12% of the students, 6 students, never take notes maybe

because they prefer the immediate explanation of new vocabulary from the

teacher or via checking dictionary.

 Among all the different ways of dealing with new vocabulary for the first

time, checking a bilingual dictionary received the highest average as shown in

both graph 3 and table 4. Almost have of the respondents, 23 students, always

depend of a bilingual dictionary, maybe because they believe using their mother

tongue to understand new words can facilitate second language learning. 11

respondent (22%) answered ‘always’, and 13 respondents (26%) answered

‘sometimes’. For the remaining respondents, two of them rarely use bilingual

dictionary , and one refuses to use it.

Unlike bilingual dictionary, checking the meaning of new vocabulary from

a monolingual dictionary lower average, yet, it remains remarkable. Among all

students, 11 students (22%) always prefer to check new words using monolingual

dictionary. 14 students (28%) answered ‘often’, 12 students (24%) answered

‘sometimes’, 11 students (22%) answered ‘rarely’, and 2 students answered ‘

never’.

As the students were asked to give other ways of getting the meaning of a word they

first met, none of the respondents fill that part.

Item 4: Are you interested in using technology in language learning?

Choices Percentage Participants

Yes 92% 46

No 8% 4

Table 8.The use of technology in language learning

 50

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
Yes No

Graph 4.The use of technology in language learning

Amongst the different ways of language learning, this part portrays the percentage

taken from the participants towardstheir interest in integrating technology in language

learning. With accordance to graph (4) and table (8) that shows the results, the majority of

the students, 92% / 46 participants, opted for "Yes" to indicate that it has benefits towards

facilitating and motivating the process of language learning. However, the remaining 8% of

the participants that opted for "No" seem to opt for the traditional way of language learning,

maybe because they my think that tablets, smart phones and so many types of technological

tools are a cause of great distraction towards language learning.

Item 5: Did you experience listening courses in laboratories?

Choices Percentage Participants

Yes 24% 12

No 76% 38

Table 9.Listening and laboratory

 40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
Yes No

Graph 5. listening and laboratory

This part measures the participants' experience of listening courses in laboratories. As

portrayed in graph 5 and table 9, 76 % of the participants, 38 students, didn't experience

listening courses in laboratories. However, the remaining percentage, 24 % / 12 participants,

experienced listening courses at laboratories. These results can be demonstrated as the

problem of luck of laboratories.

Item 6: Have you ever heard of podcasts?

Choices Percentage Participants

Yes 64% 32

No 36% 18
 Table 10.The Students’ acquaintance with podcasts.

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
Yes No

Graph 6.TheStudents’ acquaintance with podcasts

The displayed results portrayed in Graph 6 and table 10 present the student's

familiarity with term podcast. 64% of the participants, 32 participant, are familiar with the

term as it indicates the wide spread of such technological tool amongst not only students but

also the teachers. On the other hand, the numbers of those who are not familiar with the term

is 18 participants which represent average of 36%. The later average of the unfamiliarity with

the term may go for the lack of interest from both teachers and students towards using

technology.

Item 7: How often do you listen to English podcasts?

Frequency Percentage Participants

Always 10% 5

Sometimes 56% 28

Often 12% 6
Never 22% 11

Table 11.The frequency of listening to English podcasts

30

25

20

15

10

0
Always Often Sometimes Never

Graph 7.The frequency of listening to English podcasts

The results shown in the graph 7 and table 11 illustrate the frequency of the

participants’ listening to English podcasts. Ranging from "always" to "often" took78% of the

participants, 39 students, who expose themselves to English podcasts differently. Five (5)

participants that represent the average of 10% who arealways listening to English podcasts,

six (6) participants that represent the average of 12% are often listening to them, and twenty

eight (28) participant, which took the lion share, the average of 56%, are sometimes listening

to them. On the other hand, a noticeable average of participants is those who never listen to

English podcasts which is 22%. Certainly, the exposure to the language is crucial as it

develops both receptive (listening and reading) and productive skills (writing and speaking)

of the language. Without exposure, however, the learners' package of the language will be

limited to some extent.

 Item 8: Do you often listen for: pleasure/ Study/ other reasons.

Choices Percentage Participants

Pleasure 42% 21

Study 54% 27

Other 4% 2

Table 12.The purpose of listening to English

30

25

20

15

10

0
Pleasure Study Other

Graph 8.The purpose of listening to English

As portrayed in both graph 8 and table 12, this part measures the reasons behind

listening to English Podcasts. Firstly, the average of 4% which represent only two (2)

participants inclined to listen to English Podcast for the sake of gaining new vocabulary,

phrases, expressions and idioms. Secondly, the average of 54% which represents 27

participants listen to English for the sake of studying. Finally, the average of 42%, twenty one

(21) participants, listento English podcasts for pleasure.

 Item 9: Do you think that podcasts are useful for language learning?

Choices Percentage Participants

Yes 90% 45

No 10% 5

Table 13.podcasts and language learning

50

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5
0
Yes No

Graph 9.podcasts and language learning

This part measures the usefulness of the electronic tool "Podcast" for language

learning.The average of 90% which represent (45) of the participants have the same answer

in common that integrating podcasts positively affects language learning. Whereas, the rest of

the participants that takes the average of 10% are inclined to believe that podcast bring no

benefits to language learning.

Item 10: Are there any problems that you have encountered while you are

listening to podcasts?

Choices Percentage Participants

Yes 38% 19

No 62% 31

Table14. The challenges of listening to podcasts

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
Yes No

Graph 10.The challenges of listening to podcasts

Within this part, the participants were asked whether they encounter problems while

listening to podcasts or not.The participants who answered "Yes" didn't exceed those who

answered "No". The average of 62%which represents thirty one (31) participantsdonot

encounter problems while listening to podcasts.However, the remaining 38 % of the

participants represent the participants who encountered various problems while listening to

podcasts.As they were asked to give examples of these problems, there are three problems

that are in common and they are as follows:

 Idioms are hard to understand as far as the context is concerned.

 The pace as well as the various accents of the speech.

 The loss of concentration due to the length of the podcast.

 Item 11: Do you think using podcasts will help to enhance your lexical competence?

Choices Percentage Participants

Yes 92% 46

No 8% 4

Table 15.Podcasts and lexical competence development

50

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5
0
Yes No

Graph 11.Podcasts and lexical competence development

Through asking the participants a closed question about the development listening to

podcasts may bring to the lexical competence. This part received a positive attitude as forty

six (46) of the participants, which is the average of 92%,agreed that listening to podcast will

help in enhancing the lexical competence. The rest 8% of the participants, 4 respondents,

disagreed to the value that listening to podcasts may bring to widening the vocabulary size.

Such negative attitude may reflect the various problems encountered while listening.

Item 12: Which Type of Podcast you think is more effective in enhancing your

lexical competence?
Types of podcasts Percentage Participants

Audio podcasts 20% 10

Video podcasts 80% 40

Other 0% 0

Table 16.Types of podcasts

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
Audio podcast Video Podcast Other

Graph 12.Types of podcasts

Within this item, the respondents were asked to opt for the kind of podcast that best

help them to develop their lexical competence in addition to giving reasons to their answers.

With regard to graph 12 and table 16, statically speaking, the type of podcasts which the

respondents opted for the most is Video podcast as it took the average of 80% which reflect

forty (40) participants. The respondents reasons for choosing such kind of podcast is that

videos help in boosting up vocabulary storage, remembering, making it easy to guess the

meaning of a new word through the video which may include not only verbal language but

also body language. The reasons, as the respondents asserted, certainly shows the extent to

which video podcasts contributes in enhancing the learners’ lexical competence.

 In the other hand, ten respondents (10) which represent the average of 20% opted for

audio podcast as effective in developing their lexical competence simply because they believe

it helps in putting full attention to the content as well as the different ways of pronunciation.

1.4.5 Discussion

In accordance to the student’s questionnaires results, it’s important to highlight the

points to be discussed which are: the vocabulary sources and the ways to get the meaning, the

different learning styles as far as the types of podcasts are concerned, and the way technology

(podcasts) enhance learning in general, and the lexical competence in particular.

With regard to the different recourses of vocabulary that students’ tend to use, most of

them claim that the main source of their vocabulary is the English media (TV, songs…etc)

which certainly involves technology in general, and podcasts in particular. Learning English

as a second language cannot be an easy task. Many of the students’ are found to face

problems with vocabulary occur when speaking with native speakers such as the various

English accents, the pace of speaking, and the wide range of vocabulary that natives exceed

the learners’. Therefore, the vocabulary resource can be considered as a motive which serves

the learners to develop and prosper their language. The majority of the students tend to using

bilingual and monolingual dictionaries as a primary aid to check word meaning when they

meet them for the first time. It’s important to highlight that English media is full of chances

to get the learners exposed to English language in different forms as well as to develop not

solely their lexical competence but also other skills of the language including listening and

pronunciation.

The learners must be affected by different types of podcasts as far as the styles of

learning are concerned. When learning new material, individuals will differ on how best to

learn and what distractions have the most impact. According to Olivia (2016) learning styles
theory says that an auditory learner will learn better when they are presented aurally. But

there are many types of knowledge which are hard to grasp aurally such as the shape of a

country. In this case the learner will learn the shape of a country through seeing it, which is

visually. However, learns learn how to ride a bike by doing it, which is kinesthetically. As

regarded in the student’s questionnaire results, it is found that videos and images promote the

learners to remember better than audios. As asserted by Shana and Kellie (2011), the visual

aids often promote comprehension better than do descriptions that are purely verbal in nature.

Regardless to the positive aspects that audio podcasts, video podcasts are more likely to be

effective in enhancing the lexical competence than the audio podcasts.

Measuring the usefulness of technology, podcast as an e-tool, in enhancing language

learning received a positive attitude as it motivates the learners and brings joy and a new

atmosphere to the classroom. Moreover, the learners’ interest towards integrating podcasts

for educational purposes exceeded half of the participants. Yet, applying podcasts in the

university requires laboratories sessions, which most of the learners do not have. As the

students concern is to be successful in communication, Farah (2013) asserted that integrating

podcasts, authentic ones, motivates the learners and narrows the gap between the formal

English which dominates most second language classroom and the informal English used in

most real –life communication events.

1.2 Teachers’ interview

1.2.1 Description of the Teachers’ Interview

We have analyzed the data accumulated from four EFL teachers of different modules,

including Oral expression, written expression, and ESP, fromthe English department of

Biskra University via a semi-structured interview. For the sake of gaining more satisfying and

valid answers for this research, the interview, consisting of eight questions, mainly targeted
the teachers who are well-accustomed with the use of technology in EFL classes and have a

long teaching experience.The interview chiefly aims to collect information about use of

podcasts in teaching and the way it affects on both teaching and learning

1.2.2 The Analysis of the Teachers’ Interview

Question 01: How long have you been teaching English?

Teacher 01: I have been teaching for 14 years.

Teacher 02: I have been teaching for twelve 12 years.

Teacher 03: More than 30 years.

Teacher 04: 11 years.

The first question asked for the teachers aims to measure the experience of the

teachers. In teaching, unlike novice teachers, well-experienced teachers are more likely to

have a clearer vision about the subject matter. Therefore, having teachers who have at least

11 years experience of teaching would serve to reach the aim of the research.

Question 02: Do you use technology to teach English?

Teacher 01: Yes! but not frequently. It depends on the nature of the course I am

teaching.

Teacher 02: I rarely do. Because of so many factors. One example of these factors is

the absence of electricity in some classes.

Teacher 03: Yes, I do.

Teacher 04: Yes, I use it but rarely.

 All the teachers have the same answer in common which is positive. They do use

technology in class, yet the degree of use varies from one teacher to another. As claimed by

teacher one and two, there are certain factors which lead to the presence or absence of

technological tools in the classroom. These factors are:

 the nature of the subject being taught

 problems related to electricity

Question 03: What kind of technology do you usually use?

Teacher 01: I generally use the PC with loud speakers and data-show, and I prefer to

use them in the laboratory to avoid the noise found in the usual setting, but yet, the number of

the students has become a problem and the laboratory will not carry them all.

Teacher 02: the technological tools I am using are limited to PCs with loud speakers,

the data-show, and smart phones.

Teacher 03: The Technological aids I usually use are the computer, data show,

overhead projector, and smart phones.

Teacher 04: I use authentic materials, such as PPT (Power Point Presentations) and

educational videos presented via data-show.

As far as the teacher’s replies are concerned, the commonly used technological tools

among the teachers are the computer and Data-show. The computer provides various ways of

presenting the material to be taught such as an image, video, audio, PPT …etc, therefore,

teachers may use such E-tool in order t motivate the learners to account for their different

learning styles as well as enhance the production of teaching. In addition to the technological

aids mentioned so far, there are others which teachers use including smart phones, overhead

projector. Teacher number one (1) pointed out to certain factors that hinder the use of such
technological tools. Using technological tools in laboratories is more effective than the usual

classroom setting, yet, the number of the learners within one class causes a problem that one

laboratory may not fit them all.

Question 04: how can technology facilitate EFL teaching and learning?

Teacher 01: using technology helps both teachers and learners. It helps the teacher to

change the atmosphere of teaching and opt for a new material and change the setting such as

moving from the normal setting (classroom) to the language laboratory. Using technology

motivates me and the learners and breaks the usual routine.

Teacher 02: the good thing about technology is that it creates a newly joyful, relaxing

and motivating atmosphere for both learners and teachers, and makes the job easy for

teachers, Technology can never stand alone and can never compensate for the teachers role in

the classroom.

Teacher 03: For learners, Technology grasps their attention and gets them involved

and motivated, breaks the routine, and creates fun atmosphere in the class. For Teachers,

however, Technology as a teaching aid helps the teacher to reach the objectives of the course.

And as far as authentic material is concerned, technology helps the teachers to exposes the

learners to the real world of language.

Teacher 04: Well, it can facilitate the process of EFL teaching and learning in terms

of saving time and effort, exposing students to real English (e.g. British or Amerian),

motivating learners and engaging them, promoting interaction.

As the teachers were asked provide the ways technology facilitates EFL teaching and

learning, it is agreed by all of them that technology is a source of motivation for both teachers
and learners. The positive effect of the use of technology in EFL classrooms includes the

following:

 It creates a newly relaxing, joyful, and motivating atmosphere for both

teachers and learners.

 It grasps the learners’ attention, promotes interaction, and gets them involved.

 It helps the teacher to opt for new material (authentic material).

 It helps the teacher to change from the normal setting to language laboratories.

 It helps the teacher to reach the objectives of the teaching courses.

 It makes the job of teaching easier and saves time.

Question 05: Do you know about podcasts?

Teacher 01: Yes.

Teacher 02: Yes, I do.

Teacher 03: Yes

Teacher 04: What I know about podcasts is that they are digital materials, which are

recorded and stored on the net so that people can download or listen to them online. They are

sometimes accompanied by transcripts.

Measuring the acquaintance of the teachers with the term podcast revealed a positive

result. Teacher number four (4) gave a very specific definition to the term the reason behind

their acquaintance may go back to the knowledge they have about technological tools and

their use in classrooms.

Question 06: Do you think that podcasts are useful tools in language learning?

Why?
 Teacher 01: Yes! They are useful unless we know what kind of podcast to be chosen

as far as the students’ level and needs are concerned. Podcasts are more likely to be authentic

material and help students promote their listening skill including the different accents and

pronunciations (e.g. British or American) and their vocabulary knowledge.

Teacher 02: Yes, the usefulness of podcasts in language learning is undeniable. Yet

they need to be appropriately chosen as far as the students’ needs and level is concerned.

Using podcasts to foster learning is motivating and a routine-breaking.

Teacher 03: Yes, they are so for two main reasons: They provide exposure to correct

pronunciation and native-like accent, and they may expand students' vocabularies.

Teacher 04: Yes, they are useful. Podcasts promote students to develop their

receptive and productive skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing).

Getting the teachers exposed to this question revealed positive answers. The use of

podcasts in language learning has positive impact on the learning outcomes. According to the

teachers’ responses, integrating podcasts in EFL classrooms motivates the learners, foster

their learning, help them to promote their listening skills with regard to the different accents,

and expend their vocabulary knowledge too. Yet, integrating podcasts does not come

randomly. It requires authentic material to be presented as well as full attention to the

learners’ needs and level.

Question 07: How can podcasts develop the learners’ lexical competence?

Teacher 01: It is up to us, as teachers, to know well how to choose the podcasts

appropriate to our students as far as fostering their lexical competence in different fields is

concerned
 Teacher 02: it’s all about choosing the material of a particular field of knowledge

which the learners will be exposed to. The appropriate selection of podcasts’ material would

definitely help the students to enrich their vocabulary knowledge.

Teacher 03: there has to be a well-planned program to the use of podcasts so to be

included in the curriculum. As there are various topics covered in the field of Podcasting,

teachers need to opt for the right material so to meet the learners’ needs and level.

Teacher 04: I think they may develop the lexical competence of learners due to the

fact that these learners will be habituated to listen to the different patterns of English and train

their ear to listen to various words (even they do not know their meaning), but through

constant listening to podcast, they would know how to use these words in sentences (and

even understand their meaning without checking dictionaries).

Seeking to know the way listening podcasts may affect the learners’ lexical

competence; one common factor given by the four teachers is “the appropriate selection of

the podcast material given to the learners.” As there are plenty of topics discussed in

podcasts, the teacher, while selecting the material, needs to consider the learner’s levels and

needs. Listening to podcasts get the learners accustomed to the different patterns of English

and train their ears to various words. The learners may encounter new words which they do

not know. Yet, as claimed by teacher four (4), the consistent listening leads to knowing them

even without checking the dictionary which is fostering their lexical competence.

Question 08: Do you think that podcasts may enhance the learners’ interest in

learning English? How?

 Teacher 01: as far as the teacher is concerned, if they prepare the students well to the

nature of the podcast and explain to them what is podcast, how they can make use of it and

make it effective to their language learning, their interest will be enhanced towards Podcasts.

Teacher 02: Yes, definitely. Podcasts as technological aids helps the learners to learn

differently than the usual classroom. Podcasts motivate them and brings a new atmosphere

and that would raise their interest towards learning English.

Teacher 03: sure. Learners find it joyful and comfy when experiencing podcasts in

the laboratory. So, it may raises autonomy within learners.

Teacher 04: Yes, they may increase the students' interest because some podcasts may

talk about topics related to learning English.

The teachers’ answers give a positive feedback regarding the contribution of podcasts

towards raising the learners’ interest towards learning English. The teacher needs to introduce

the nature of podcasts, what they are, and how they are used with regards to the different

topics related learning English, because, as seen in the questionnaires analysis, there are some

students who are not even acquainted with the nature of the term. Podcasts brings a new

atmosphere to the classroom which motivates and fosters the learners’ autonomy, because as

mentioned by teacher three (3) “learners find it joyful and comfy when experiencing podcasts

in laboratories.”

1.2.3 Discussion

The analysis of the teachers’ interview with regard to their long experience in the field

of teaching gives positive results towards integrating technological tools in EFL teaching and
learning. The teachers’ use of technological tools in fostering the teaching and learning

process, in the department of English at the University of Mohamed Kheither Biskra, is

limited to using data show, smart phone, computer, and overhead projector. As emphasized

by Stephanie (2016), Technology makes teaching easier and allows teachers to engage and

motivate students in new ways. Providing the ways technology may facilitates EFL teaching

and learning, technology is a source of motivation for both teachers and learners as the

findings reveal that it creates a newly relaxing, joyful, and motivating atmosphere for both

teachers and learners, grasps the learners’ attention, promotes interaction, gets them involved,

helps the teacher to opt for new material (authentic material), helps the teacher to change

from the normal setting to language laboratories, It helps the teacher to reach the objectives

of the teaching courses, and makes the job of teaching easier and saves time.

With regard to the term podcasts, Blacksburg (2017) asserts that podcasts are valuable

tools for teaching students to use spoken language to communicate effectively with a variety

of audiences and for different purposes. Considering the contribution of podcasts towards

raising the learners’ interest towards learning English, the teacher needs to introduce the

nature of podcasts, what they are, and how they are used with regards to the different topics

related to learning English. Integrating podcasts in EFL classrooms motivates the learners,

brings a new atmosphere to the classroom which fosters their autonomy and learning, help

them to promote their listening skills with regard to the different accents, and expend their

vocabulary knowledge. However, use of podcasts requires the teacher to opt for authentic

material to be presented as well as considering the learners’ needs and level.

As briefly defined by Diego (1997), the lexical competence is the ability to use words.

Knowing the lexical competence and the ways to enhance it is of a great value for both

teachers and learners. With regard to the appropriate selection of the podcast material

(authentic material), there are plenty of topics discussed in podcasts. The teacher needs to
consider the learner’s levels and needs as it promotes the the learners to get accustomed to the

different patterns of English and train their ears to various words. The learners may encounter

new words which they do not know. Yet, the consistent listening leads to knowing them even

without checking the dictionary via the different context the word is used in; therefore, it is

fostering the lexical competence.

Conclusion

The obtained results from the students’ questionnaire and the teachers’ interview, as

provided in this chapter, revealed that podcasts play a significant role in EFL teaching and

learning, which confirmed the effectiveness of podcasts as an e-tool that enhances their

Lexical Competence, as well as its usefulness in language learning.