Digital Tools for the Development of Oral Skills in English

Abstract This paper presents the results of a virtual ethnographic study developed in an online classroom in a public university in Brazil. The online activities aimed to help ۷۰ students to develop English oral skills in a ۶۰-hour course taught along ۱۵ weeks using the Moodle Language Management System (LMS). After the initial weeks, and some dropouts, there were ۶۳ participants in this study. The course was planned and managed by the authors of this article and some modifications were made along the experience in face of unexpected changes in the learning environment. Having as theoretical support complexity, connectivism, and learning ecology, we assessed digital tools for oral communication and verified that they had a positive impact on language learning and increased learners’ opportunities for language practice. The tools not only contributed to the development of the students’ oral skills but also decreased their anxiety when speaking English.