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In the tertiary level Indian ELT classrooms, learners from regional language medium schools find it difficult to cope with English though they excel in other subjects. One of the most important factors that affect the learning process is the 'baggage' that they bring into the language classroom. Identities that are very personal to the learners and are related to their social, religious, or cultural experience-termed as transportable identities (TI) have an impact on the learners in being involved in the cognitive processes related to language learning. Considering this, it is important to investigate how such transportable identities could be exploited in a language classroom to develop the speaking capabilities of the learners. The present study attempts to investigate how podcasts that match the transportable identities of learners could assist them in developing their speaking proficiency. Though largely designed as a qualitative study, a quantitative approach is used to establish inter-rater reliability of the pre-test and the post-test. The subjects of the study are four first-year engineering undergraduate learners from National Institute of Technology-Tiruchirappalli, India. Data was collected using discussion, pre- and post-tests and feedback. To triangulate data and understand the change in language use and identify learner perceptions, one-to-one interview was also conducted. The present study traces the changes in the learners' speaking proficiency and states the implications of using podcasts as speaking enhancement tools for communicative English classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching English in India successfully is still a burning issue. After learning English for more than ten years or so, the under graduating populace cannot communicate in English either in the classroom or in real-life contexts. Therefore, students' proficiency in English has been the constant thought of teachers, teacher trainers, ELT experts, and linguists over all these years. We, as teachers, are always conscious of how we can make our students learn English, how they would become fluent in English. We do some experiments with pedagogical devices in the classroom. This paper is an attempt to find out how do role plays help in developing speaking skills. This paper is also an attempt to find out whether role plays help in developing students' communicative competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study focuses on how the leveraging technology for oratory skills assessment of plurilingual learners who studied first-year engineering at Marwadi University, India, between 2020-2021. The targeted group of learners used a mobile application, I-Speak. The learners were required to record their responses in audio recordings for the application randomly suggests to them. They were asked to record their responses initially, in the English Language, a Foreign Language and then in the Gujarati Language, a First Language. The assessment of the recordings while played together exhibited the findings related to the learners' articulation, comprehension, and oratory skills. The research was carried out keeping the IELTS band descriptors for Speaking skills as a base. The mobile application proved very useful as the learners could listen to their recordings more than once and find out their mistakes. They were also mentored on how they can leverage technology for enhancing their oratory skills as plurilingual learners. This research paper aims to present that the learners who are fluent in the First Language are also fluent in the Foreign Language and vice-versa. Pronunciation and the Lexical Resources were moderately associated with both languages. There is a highly significant correlation between respondents' First Language and Foreign language-oratory skill bands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of visual teaching material and resources in the development of Speaking Skills in the English language in Secondary level students in India. In the study, the experimental design with pre-test and post-test control groups was chosen. The research consisted of 82 secondary-level students. In order to collect the data, pre-test, post-test, speech axiom, and interview forms were prepared, and a t-test was used in the analysis of the data. The interviews were conducted with open-ended questions on the research topic and results were interpreted according to their percentages and frequency values. According to the results obtained from the data, a statistically significant difference was found between the mean achievement of the students using visual teaching materials and using written-visual teaching materials. The result suggests the use of written-visual teaching materials. The data obtained from the interview also supported these results. Therefore, visual teaching materials should be chosen appropriately by language teachers and should be carried into the classroom environment. It is recommended that visual teaching materials be presented with written support, as it facilitates reminding and provides the opportunity to learn with permanent marks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]