Integrating podcasts in the EFL classroom. A case study in 1º E.S.O.

Abstract

This paper aims to report a podcasting study case while interrogating how useful it can be in the makings of an EFL classroom with positive learning outcomes. It is applied research in 1º E.S.O that operates on the main working hypothesis that there is a significant positive correlation between the use of podcasting and student’s engagement. Likewise, it seeks to preclude the notion that podcasts are a cure-all practice to undesirable learning outcomes. I shall draw from two sources of data to identify this possible correlation. First, an initial recollection of student’s attitudes through qualitative data, namely, questionnaires on two bilingual and a non-bilingual group of 1º E.S.O to comprehensively illustrate the state of the subject. Second, a final teacher’s assessment of the process-performance tasks to ponder grades as quantitative data helpful to uphold the avowed success. Within the field of social constructivism, this case is undergirded by previous literature recommendations on how to use podcasts, which the best integration scenarios are and some pedagogical considerations concerning information processing and how to enhance students’ output in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom.