Analyzing EFL University Students’ Academic Speaking Skills Through Self-Recorded Video Presentation

Abstract

Academic speaking is a fundamental skill that needs to be implemented in higher education. It is essential for university students to express their ideas in a formal academic setting with clarity and confidence. However, it remains a significant challenge for many EFL university students, particularly when it comes to fluency, vocabulary, and confidence in live settings. Addressing this issue, this study aims to analyze the academic speaking skills of EFL university students through self-recorded video presentations. The participants were 15 students from the English Education program enrolled in the Academic Speaking course at a state university. A qualitative content analysis was conducted using an oral performance rubric adapted from Brown and Abbeywickrama (2019), focusing on seven elements: organization, content, pronunciation, fluency, grammar, vocabulary, and performance. The findings revealed that the highest performance was demonstrated in the areas of organization and content, indicating the ability to organize the ideas and provide appropriate materials in the video presentations. In contrast, the weakest elements displayed by the students were fluency and vocabulary, underscoring the need for additional practice in academic word usage and natural, spontaneous speech production. The study comes to the conclusion that video presentations are an effective alternative for conventional methods of evaluating academic speaking abilities, particularly when it comes to reducing students' anxiety levels and giving them more time for planning. It also highlights the necessity of focused teaching methods to improve vocabulary and fluency in academic settings.