THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING VISUAL RESOURCES IN IMPROVING STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS

Do Phuc Huong

Do Phuc Huong Hung Yen University of Technology and Education

Keywords: English language teaching, quasi-experimental study, speaking skills, student attitude, UTEHY, visual resources

Abstract

The speaking proficiency of first-year technical students is often constrained by psychological barriers, a lack of authentic practice environments, and insufficient vocabulary retention strategies. This study evaluates the effectiveness of employing visual resources in enhancing English speaking skills compared to traditional text-based methods. Utilizing a quasi-experimental design, the research involved 74 freshmen at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education (UTEHY), divided equally into a control group and an experimental group. The study was conducted over an eight-week intervention period, utilizing pre-tests, post-tests, delayed post-tests, and a structured questionnaire. The findings reveal that the utilization of visual resources had a statistically significant positive impact on students’ performance across different topic types. Specifically, the experimental group achieved a mean score of 7.27 on familiar topics, surpassing the control group’s mean of 6.85. Furthermore, favourable shifts in learning attitudes were observed, with 81% of participants agreeing that visual aids facilitated the speaking process and 73% reporting reduced anxiety. The study concludes that integrating visual aids into the curriculum is a viable strategy for improving oral competence and motivation in technical education settings.

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