The Effect of Using Idiom-Based Activities Program on Developing Prep Students’ Speaking Skills A

Abstract

The aimof this research is toinvestigate the effect of using idiom based activities program on developing the prep students’ speaking skills.Based on reviewing literature and related studies, the researcher investigated the theoretical framework of idioms and of the speaking skills. This research followed the quasi-experimental method where one-group pre/post design was randomly selected of 30 students from the first preparatory stage in HodaaSharawy School in Cairo in 2014/2015. The instruments of the research included: a checklist; a pre-posttest; a scoring scale rubric. A three unit program was designed and taught through using idioms and by an online educational program (Voki). The group has taken a pre/posttest and the results were statistically analyzed using T-Test and the effect size was calculated. Both the quantitative and qualitative results showed that there were a statistically significant difference at the level of (0.01) between the mean scores of the research group students on the speaking pre and posttest administrations in the speaking skill as a whole and in each speaking sub-skill (vocabulary, pronunciation, communication, grammar, non-verbal skills) in favor of the post test scores. According to these results, the study presented several recommendations and suggestions that can help in developing other educational aspects. Key Words: Idioms, speaking skill, speaking sub-skills, Voki.