The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Teaching Speaking Skills

Abstract

With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, online learning has permeated the field of education with dramatic growth. Thus, new concerns confront teachers and students in order to sustain the continuity of the curricula through digital platforms. In accordance with the need, the present study aims at finding out how the COVID-19 interruption has affected the teaching and learning processes with respect to English speaking skill, which has face-to-face communicative orientation in nature and therefore, been affected the most. Among 33 universities in Turkey, 298 preparatory school teachers and students consisting of 95 teachers and 203 students participated in the study. The results of the study revealed participants' opinions on how speaking skills were delivered, which activities were used, how feedback was provided and how assessment was conducted. The implications of the study can be used for improving online speaking skills not only during emergency situations but in general education. (c) Association of Applied Linguistics. All rights reserved