Charts of the post semi-structured interviews
Figure 15: Learners’ suggestions
Figure 16: Learners’ difficulties while watching Ted-talk videos
110438/ Dissertation 176
Figure 17: How peer-evaluation has helped learners
Figure 18: Learners’ perception of most common errors
110438/ Dissertation 177
Figure 19: How Ted talks have helped learners
110438/ Dissertation 178
APPENDIX XIV
Students’ transcribed interviews
Question 1
T: “Did you like using Ted-Talk videos?”
S1 “It was something different”
S2: “Pretty much, it was relaxing”
S3: “Nothing like the exam-practice we do”
S4: “We didn’t have to keep scores”
S5: “We weren’t tested”
S6: “We practiced paraphrasing as we do in the ECPE speaking test but in a different way”
S7: “It was more effective than just taking tests”
S8: “I agree with S1”
S9: “Miss, I don’t think it was relevant to our tests”
S10: “It wasn’t a waste of time but still, I still felt uncomfortable”
S11: “Yes, I found it different from our tests”
S12: “interesting but demanding..we needed to try harder..”
S13: “I think we could summarize the main ideas as we do in CPE practice tests, but I was more difficult because the video was longer”
Question 2
T: “Was the content of the speeches more interesting than that of texts in your textbook?”
All responded positively
110438/ Dissertation 179 Question 3
T: “What topic did you like on our videos?”
Lesson 1: Teach every child about food 5
Lesson 2: Taking the OLPC to Colombia 8
Lesson 3: Gaming 13
Lesson 4: How to stay calm when you know you'll be stressed 2
Lesson 5: Successful in learning 4
Question 5
T: “What did you like best on the Ted-Talk Videos?”
S10: “all speakers had something interesting to say”
S2: “very appealing speakers, their topic was interesting:
S5: “lively speeches”
S1: “I agree with S5”
S8: “they weren’t boring, it was spontaneous”
S6: “we could watch that person speak instead of listening him”
S7: “there was a visual image”
S3: “we weren’t tested on their content”
S4: “we could just focus on the main ideas and not on every single word”
S13: “they were talking about real problems”
S12: “ I think S7 is right”
S9: “they were real people”
S11: “I agree with S7”
Question 6
T: “Were the selected speeches easy to understand?”
Almost all students: ‘Yes’
S10: “…well some speeches were difficult to follow, they were speaking to fast.
S12: “…yes, they were fast, especially, Jamie Oliver”
S9: “…the speakers often used idioms and it was a difficult to understand what they mean but their movements or even their face gestures helped…still it was a bit difficult..”
110438/ Dissertation 180 Question 7
T: “Did the teacher allocate enough time for the use of Ted-Talks in your teaching context?”
All responded positively
Question 8
T: “How did you feel while working on Ted-Talk videos?”
S4: “…at the beginning it was strange, because we never watch videos and it was strange we did something different from our work
S13: “…..that made me a little bit stresses, because I thought you would test us and that could count in our marks, score records..”
S9: “….somehow alone, and you were just observing us..it was weird..”
S5: “there wasn’t right or wrong answer, and it was strange but fun..”
S12: “ ..exactly, it was strange but at least we didn’t have to keep our score..”
S10: “…usually we do tests and we correct our answers right away..now there were no wrong and correct answers..”
S1: “… I wasn’t comfortable to talk with others and discuss our ideas..”
S6: “…I liked it because, we could be free and more creative..”
S2: “… after our first lesson, I was more excited…waiting for our next video lesson..”
S3: “Well, at the beginning it was quite stressful..I mean we have never had such video classes and we didn’t know how to work, what you wanted us to do….with tests we know exactly what to do and make sure we give correct answers to get a score..”
Question 9
T: “Were the Ted-Talk lessons more interesting than the traditional ones?”
Almost all students: ‘Yes’
S9: “…they weren’t so much because I feel we need more practice, we must pass our exams..”
S12: “ ..they were different and more difficult.., I’m not really good an listening…it makes me feel anxious”
110438/ Dissertation 181 Question 10
T: “Do you think our Ted-Talk classes were...
S1: “… we had to use English all the time, it was difficult but interesting..this is what you tell us all the time to speak in English..”
S6: “..enjoyable.. we could speak and not sit and do nothing in front of a screen..”
S7: “ ..time passes so quickly and I wasn’t tired..”
S3: “.. we practiced especially now with the schools closed..”
S4: “…we did something different from the usual tests..”
S9: “..I would say difficult, I’m that good at listening…they were speaking fast..”
S12: “…much more interesting than speaking in class.. it was like chatting online..”
S8-S11: ‘ These breakout rooms was great, we could talk without getting interrupted..”
S13: “…I thought it was impossible to work together and when we did, it was more interesting than listening to you..no offence miss but it’s like having a lecture when we correct tests..boring”
Question 11
T: “Did you watch the videos again at home?”
Almost all students: ‘Yes’
S9: “I didn’t have so much time..lots of homework from the other frontistirio…I had my notes..”
Question 12
T: “What difficulties did you encounter while watching the videos?”
Ss distinguished four main problematic areas (see Appendix XIII, table 16) - Fast-paced speaking
- The use of idiomatic language
- Distinguishing major from minor ideas - Unknown words
110438/ Dissertation 182 Question13
T: “Given your overall experience would you like more Ted-talk videos to be integrate in your lessons?”
Almost all students: ‘Yes’
S9: “…I’m not sure..maybe..”
S12: “..perhaps…, I’m not thrilled with videos..”
Question 14
T: “Would you watch Ted-talk videos outside the classroom?”
The majority responded ‘Yes’
S9: “No, we have homework to do..”
S12: “ ..if we don’t have homework, yes..”
S6: “..sure.”
S13: “..why not, probably..”
S5: “I think yes..”
Questions 15-16-17
T: “Was the pre-viewing stage helpful”?
T: “Were the tasks of the while-viewing stage helpful to identify the main ideas?”
T: “Was the post-viewing stage helpful to write your summary?”
The majority felt this 3-stage instruction was helpful
S9: “..it was helpful because it there were stages working on specific things…”
S12: “..there was a sequence and we knew what to do..”
S1: “..it’s the common sequence you do your class..”
S3: “…from every stage we had something to use for the next stage..somehow the tasks were related..”
S6: “ somehow we needed to reach a purpose..”
110438/ Dissertation 183 Question 18
T: “Did you enjoy classroom discussions after viewing the speech?”
The majority responded ‘Yes’
S1: “ ..we had to speak in English, and it isn’t easy all the time..but we practiced a lot.. ”
S3 : “ ..we had more practice with speaking.. it’s good..”
S12: “ ..we could work and negotiate..It was like the oral tests of Michigan..but in a more relaxing way..”
S6- S7-S4: “..you didn’t mark us so yes, I enjoyed more..”
S5: ‘..we could work alone without your help which was difficult at first but then it was better to be more independent..”
Question 19
T: “Did you like working in pairs?”
All students: ‘Yes’
S1: “..definitely.”
S2: “ ..that was the best part miss..”
S4: “..absolutely..”
S5: “yes, because we could write the summaries together and learn from each
other..we found together the key ideas…and decide which ideas are important and which not”
S6: “..we never work in pairs, so I guess it was better than working on my own or with you..”
S7: “instead of finding the main idea alone, we could guide each other which made pair work fun..”
S13: “..we were able to work alone and share our notes which made it easier to
structure or summaries..I mean we could write together our summary and help other with our ideas..”
S8: “..when I was confused I knew that my partner would help me find the main idea and at least we could share the whole work..”
110438/ Dissertation 184 S12-: “ ..paraphrasing is not my favourite thing but working others was great to think as a team ways of changing the speakers’ words..”
Question 20
T: “Did you like peer-evaluation?”
The majority responded ‘Yes’
S4:“..it was uncomfortable we never check others’ work..”
S1:“ ..it’s something you do and we didn’t know what to correct, but the checklist with our criteria made it a bit easier”
S7:“ .. it was something different, it was like taking control..”
S9:“ I was somehow the bad guy..”
S12: “.. I didn’t agree with S2 ideas..”
S3: “challenging….but I enjoyed because I could express my view..”
S11:“ ..it was weird but at least, we could hear what others think of..I mean sometimes it’s more positive to hear your friends’ aspect instead of yours..”
S13: “I liked it because we weren’t tested or marked…this was like suggestions open to discussion..”
S8: “ it put me in an unknown position...how can I evaluate..?..I think our checklist somehow helped me to check specific items and avoid being too strict”
S2: “ It was strange but we some sort of guidance, the list helped a lot to think ..”
S5: “..the criteria we wrote really helped what to examine exactly..”
Question 21
T: “Did peer-evaluation encourage you to edit your drafts?”
The majority responded ‘Yes’
S12: “… I think S 9’s suggestions weren’t correct…”
S9: “..yes, I had my notes and their other’s notes and I didn’t have to watch the video again”
S5: “I was at some point confused , because we had different notes..”
S7: “..not always..sometimes..”
S2: “I think so, especially if my notes were poor..”
110438/ Dissertation 185 Question 23
T: “Did you edit your drafts at home before handing them in?”
The majority responded ‘Yes’
S2: “…..it was one of the steps you mentioned in the end”
S4: “…not always, after all we had dome most of the writing in the class..”
S9: “.. had other lessons..too”
S1: “yes”
S10: “..sometimes.”
S11: “..not always..”
S12: “ yes and our notes and helped me change a few parts..”
S3: “ it was easier now with all the notes..you ask us to edit our essays but without notes is difficult..at least now we had some ideas..”
S7: “I think what we discussed helped us rethink of our summaries and change them a bit..”
S5: “.. we actually went back to what we had discussed and took those pieces we needed for our summaries..which was good and relaxing..”
Question 24
T: “Was writing a summary of a short video more interesting than summarizing textbook passages?”
S10: “It wasn’t a waste of time but still, I still felt uncomfortable”
S12: “..at some point I was confused, because the texts were longer that these we have in Cambridge practice tests..”
S6: “ so much better..”
S1 “It was different and yeah..probably more interesting”
S2: “interesting , but still more difficult”
S3: “I agree with S6”
S4: “…the texts in the books are a bit boring but their topics are what exams focus”
S5: “you didn’t give as a score but notes…feedback and that was not that stressful”
S7: “we could watch videos and not read,.. so yes I liked it more”
S8: “I agree with S7”
110438/ Dissertation 186 S11: “Yes, I found it different from our tests”
S12: “interesting but demanding..we needed to try harder..”
S13: “I think we could summarize the main ideas as we do in CPE practice tests, but I was more difficult because the video was longer”
Question 26
T: “Do you feel your summarization skills have improved through the use of Ted Talks?”
S1: “why don’t we have more videos often..?, ..it would be better..”
S4: “I think they helped me get an idea how to write summaries, at least it was more interesting this way”
S3: “ ..somehow yes, even it is still confusing..”
S9: “ not that much..”
S2: “..yeah, much..”
S5: “sure..why don’t we have more often such lessons??”
S6: “we could have more practice, it was more far more interesting than our tests..we should watch videos more often….”
S7: “It was more effective..I think S5 is right, we can have video lessons more often”
S8: “I agree with S1”
S10: “a little, at least we now have a better picture of what you want us to dod..”
S11: “still, I find it difficult,..”
S12: “yeah.. a little better..”
S13: “yes..”