The Use of Technology in Teaching Speaking Skills

In the development of speaking skills digital technology plays various roles. It can be a means of communication between learners via messengers and videoconferencing software. It can also allow for the use of audiovisual materials that support oral production by giving patterns or by empowering students to produce their own audiovisual texts, which involves recording and rehearsing speech sample and editing them. The use of digital technology also creates language learning environments in virtual worlds, in games, and in interactions with digital “robots.” It also helps to provide immediate feedback on oral production in speech-to-text applications and enables learners to hear what they can write. Although analog technologies ( e.g., audiolingual labs) were widely used for developing speaking in the seventies of the previous century this entry focuses on the current potential of digital technology and its application in teaching practices.