College Students’ Attitudes Toward An App For Creating Videos In Online Introductory Spanish Classes

Technological tools offer many possibilities to second language teachers in teaching the four language skills (Carrio-Pastor, 2016), namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Learning new vocabulary is also crucial to increase students’ knowledge and academic success, which depends on language comprehension. Mobile learning technologies have proved to be ideal in second language acquisition because they are flexible, accessible, available, and cater to a myriad of interactive activities. Teaching a second language and measuring students’ language abilities in online environments is often more challenging than in traditional face-to-face classes, especially in speaking skills because students and teachers are physically apart. Body language and facial expression, which are important aspects of communication, are lost when visual contact is compromised in the online learning environment.

Today, most students own a smartphone, and an estimated 88% have access to a mobile phone or smartphone (Clayton & Murphy, 2016). However, using smartphones to take selfies, text messages, and do posts on Insta- gram can easily monopolize a college student’s day, and educators need to emphasize the educational value of a smartphone in the classroom. Most students know how to download and use applications (apps) as part of their everyday lives, and can therefore also use apps to take ownership of the learning process.

The rapid integration of this technology into education may thus require evaluation studies that help educators choose appropriate applications to deliver content and communicate with their students (Rosell-Aguilar, 2017). It may also better equip instructors to provide students with more meaningful feedback and improve their learning skills in many subject areas, especially second language acquisition.

Online courses in foreign languages cover the same aspects of language learning as face- to-face classes. Synchronous online communication tools such as Skype and Zoom represent a convenient, low-cost, increasingly common means of connecting two or more people across locations for social, professional, or educational purposes (Adinolfi & Astrid, 2017). However, they present some challenges for students and teachers. One issue is that video chats are time-consuming for both students and instructors. A second issue is that students must coordinate availability among themselves for real-time conversations. Students expect convenience and independence when they take online courses, and scheduling synchronous video chats sometimes compromise this expectation. Educators also suspect that students who take online courses may not be doing the work themselves. In face-to-face teaching, educators become accustomed to recognizing the individuality of a students’ work which may not be the case in an online setting.

Apps are available in various subjects, including math, astronomy, foreign languages, literacy, study aids, art/creativity, and geography (Shuler et al., 2012). This dynamic app culture is growing fast in the education field and can be used to motivate student learning. While the literature is rich in studies that address technology integration in education (Kim & Kwon, 2012; Kukulska-Hulme & Shield, 2008), studies that specifically explore students’ perceptions of using language apps in class are scarce. It is essential to gain insight into students’ experience of using apps in this setting, and how it affects their learning.

The Recap app is a question-led chat tool that uses student-created videos to facilitate oral production and interaction among students. It is a free app available for Android and Apple devices. Recap app seeks to complement the online courses discussed above by facilitating speaking and interacting with others in the language which the student is learning. The app can be downloaded to smartphones to access class activities, record videos, access other students’ recorded videos, and provide comments.

Research suggests that technology-infused approaches to pronunciation instruction may encourage the production of more culturally authentic language use (Lomicka & Lord, 2010). While using the Recap app, the teacher can see their students’ faces and hear their voices via the videos. Although students cannot interact in real-time conversations, they can comment on their own and the videos recorded by other students. This recording function enables the teacher to evaluate their students’ progress in mastering their language skills.

The purpose of this study is to investigate college students’ attitudes toward using the Recap app as part of their online language learning process. Using this app, students can practice their Spanish language skills via videos and interacting with each other.

The following research questions guided the study:

1. 1. What are student attitudes toward using the Recap app in online elementary Spanish classes?

2. 2. What are student attitudes toward the effectiveness of the Recap app in improving their Spanish language skills?

3. 3. Is there any difference between female and male students’ attitudes toward the Recap app?

The participants were 69 undergraduate students enrolled in three elementary Spanish 101 online courses from a state university in the Rocky Mountain region. The sample consisted of 23 males and 46 females. Most of the participants were English speakers who had little or no prior knowledge of Spanish.

We used a student attitude survey to evaluate the students’ perceptions of the Recap app and how it related to their online languagelearning process. The online student attitude survey consisted of 13 items. The first ten 5-point Likert questions asked students about the app itself and its contribution to their language learning. Examples of the survey items are:“Recap app met my expectations,” “Recap app was easy to use,” and “Recap app helped me improve my listening skills”. The remaining three open-ended questions were aimed at the students’ language learning experiences using Recap app. The open-ended questions were: “What did you like the most about the Recap app?” “What did you like the least about the Recap app?” and “How did using the Recap app impact your language skills?” This attitude survey was linked to an online survey platform known as Qualtrics.

We obtained approval from the Institutional Review Board to conduct this study. Through the app, students created five videos on five different topics that the instructor posted during the semester, approximately one video every 3 weeks. The students read the topic questions in Spanish and created videos of themselves responding in Spanish. They then viewed their classmates’ videos and responded by writing comments in Spanish. During the last week of classes, the students completed the online student attitude survey about the video-created app and their learning experiences.

To answer Research Questions 1 and 2, the students’ responses to the first 10 survey questions were analyzed using SPSS. For each stated item, “strongly agreed” was scored as 5, “agree” was scored as 4, “undecided” was scored as 3, “disagree” was scored as 2, and “strongly disagree” was scored as 1. Frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations were calculated and reported. Students’ comments in response to each of the three open-ended questions in the attitude survey were categorized and reported. Finally, to answer Research Question 3, a two-sample t test was used to analyze the data.

In response to Research Question 1, “What are student attitudes toward using the Recap app in online elementary Spanish classes?” most students reflected positive attitudes. The majority of the students (84%) reported that Recap app was easy to use (54% strongly agreed and 30% agreed), and that Recap app met their expectations (38% strongly agreed and 46% agreed).

Table 1 shows the distribution of the 10 survey questions describing students’ attitudes toward Recap app. The data shows that the overall mean was 3.77, indicating that students had mostly positive attitudes toward using the Recap app to learn Spanish. The survey’s overall standard deviation was 1.21, which shows a small variation in the data collected. The data also shows that Survey Question 2,“The Recap app was easy to use” (M = 4.30, SD = 0.91); Survey Question 4, “The Recap app helped me improve my speaking skills” (M = 4.18, SD = 1.05); and survey question 1, “The Recap app met my expectations”, (M = 4.14, SD = 0.86); had the highest ranking across all the questions. In contrast, Survey Question 10, “My classmates’ oral presentations helped me improve my writing skills” (M = 3.20, SD = 1.27); Survey Question 9, “My classmates’ oral presentations helped me improve my reading skills” (M = 3.21, SD = 1.35); and Survey Question 5, “Recap app helped me improve my reading skills” (M = 3.39, SD = 1.27); had the lowest ranking of all the questions.

The results of the open-ended questions, which were intended to discover students’ attitudes toward using the Recap app, revealed common themes. These themes are presented in the order in which they were identified through the first two open-ended questions.

Each of the participants was asked to describe what they liked mostabout using the Recap app. Among the main features that students liked most were the accessible interactive features, for example connecting with the instructor and other students through comments and feedback, and oral presentations using video and audio recordings. Phrases used in the student comments included “building class presence,” “providing comments, feedback, opinions,” “providing comments for reflection,” and “it was easy to comment.”

Students made the following statements:

• “I enjoyed the ability to make videos. Making these videos helped me work on my sentence structure and added a level of socialization to the class that I missed having.”

• “I liked being able to connect with my classmates online ... it helped create confidence when speaking a new language and provided a more interactive way to see how classmates were doing.”

• “The thing I liked most about the Recap app was how easy it was to use. It was straightforward to find the assignments and record yourself.”

• “I liked the idea that we were able to respond in our way then can see what other people’s responses were in Spanish. It gave [me] perspective.”

• “This app also was easy to redo a recording that got messed up. Another thing I really enjoyed was how you could turn off the camera, I liked this because it made me feelnervous about my appearance and helped me focus more on the content.”

• “I enjoyed how I could see my classmates’ work as well as being able to respond to their responses. I like it because I was also seeing what my classmates had to say about my responses as well.”

Another feature mentioned by the participants is that the Recap app is user-friendly, and can be easily navigated on computers and cell phones. Comments ranged from “easy accessibility” to “fast-loading” and “free to download.” Some students said that the Recap app was fun to use because of its “engaging color scheme” and “interesting layout.”

When asked about the weaknesses of the Recap app, many students reported technical difficulties downloading the app, challenges navigating the app on cell phones or computers, and problems with recording audio and video. Many students also reported that the Recap app would sometimes “freeze” or “glitch.” Because of the app’s inability to save previous work, many students had to redo their assignments or recordings. Comments included: “freezes/shuts down/glitches” and “inability to save work after logging out.”

Students made the following statements:

• “The Recap app glitches a lot and sometimes will not post your response, so you have to redo it, and that was a pain. Also, it was challenging to listen to some students’ oral presentations.”

• “Although it did a great job capturing sound, the video quality could be better. Sometimes it was pretty slow recording one video and moving onto the next. It also took a while to publish our videos.”

Another major complaint about the Recap app was that it lacks a notification feature. Some students found Recap app’s inability to provide reminders of upcoming assignments and projects to be a problem. Additionally, the presentation of videos without support in English and the requirement of entering a personal identification number whenever the student needed to log-in into the Recap app, was viewed as significant difficulties.

Students made the following statements:

• “It required [a personal identification number] every time used with no ’remember me’ option.”

• “[There is a] lack of English transcripts or subtitles.”

• “I did not like that I had to search for the pin on canvas and type it in again to get inside my class every time I used it on my computer. There may have been an easier way that I did not use, but it was not very enjoyable to do this. Also, I do not like that you have to finish all of the questions before submitting the answers.”

• “I have been halfway through when my computer/phone crashed and had to start all over again because my answers were not saved.”

Furthermore, some participants did not feel comfortable recording themselves and showing the recording to other people.

Students made the following statements:

• “I do not like the fact I have to record myself. As silly as it is, it makes me anxious. I wish I did not have to show my face. Not only is it weird, but it is also scary for me. Some people decide to take online classes because of their mental health. I do not believe this works for mental health. I don’t like the fact I have to wait to read the questions either. I need time to think about my answer without seeing my face staring back at me. It puts so much pressure on me, and it makes me feel uncomfortable.”

• “I don’t like the recording as well because it’s an invasion of privacy and some people can hack into computers, and they can watch you without you even knowing it. I think this definitely needs some updating so people can feel more comfortable recording their conversations. I hope to see some changes when I take another class like this again.”

These examples show that the Recap app needs to improve in a few aspects to be a reliable and secure tool for education.

In response to Research Question 2, “What are student attitudes toward the effectiveness of the Recap app in improving their Spanish language skills?”, 43% of the participating students either “strongly agreed” or “agreed” that the Recap app improved their Spanish language skills in all four areas. For example, 82% of the students agreed that watching or listening to their classmates’ oral presentations improved their listening skills. Also, 75% of students agreed that the Recap app helped them to improve their speaking skills, and 73% of the students agreed that the Recap app helped them to improve their reading skills. In comparison, 68% agreed that watching or listening to their classmates’ oral presentations improved their speaking skills. Furthermore, 55% of the students agreed that the Recap app helped them improved their writing skills, while 52% of the students agreed that the Recap app helped them improve their reading skills. However, only 43% of students agreed that their classmates’ oral presentations improved their reading and writing skills.

In addition to the Likert-type survey questions, each participant was also asked to describe how the Recap app impacted their Spanish language skills. Almost all students reported that the app helped them to improve their overall Spanish language skills.

Students made the following statements:

• “The Recap app impacted my language skills because it allowed me to listen to my classmates speaking in Spanish. Also, it allowed me to use Spanish more than just on the speaking activities on Vista Higher Learning (a book online platform).”

• “It gave an opportunity to speak, listen, and read Spanish. Since the questions were in Spanish, it forced us to read the language. Then we got to practice speaking the language. Also, commenting on other students allowed us to listen and write in Spanish.”

• “This helped a lot because although I was taking an online class, I was able to practice the actual speech of it for a grade. Also, being able to hear my classmates helped with my comprehension of the language.”

Furthermore, improvement in other areas of language skills such as pronunciation, writing and sentence construction, grammar, and Spanish conjugation was also noticed by students.

Research Question 3 asked, “Is there any difference between female and male students’ attitudes toward the Recap app?” Comparing male and female students’ attitudes toward the Recap app in the class, it was noted that male students (M = 4.23, SD = 0.65) had more favorable attitudes toward using the app and its positive effects on language learning than female students (M = 3.67, SD = 0.72). However, there is no significant difference in students’ attitudes toward the Recap app between genders t(67) = 1.97, p = 0.07.

To answer Research Question 1: “What are student attitudes toward using the Recap app in online elementary Spanish classes?”, this study revealed that students’ have positive attitudes toward using the Recap app in an online Spanish course. According to Davis (2015), providing opportunities for asynchronous and synchronous communication between learners in the course is essential for creating a sense of

presence and building a learning community in an online course. Our study showed that the Recap app helped students to create a “class presence” among students. They watched each other’s videos and then participated in making and reading each other’s comments about the videos. Overall, the findings confirm that the app helps engage students in their learning processes and build an online community.

To answer Research Question 2: “What are student attitudes toward the effectiveness of the Recap app in improving their Spanish language skills?”, our results were in line with research results, which indicate a positive link between the use of technology and language learning (Berns et al., 2015; Demouy & Kukulska-Hulme, 2010). Ebadi and Bashiri (2018) found that almost all participants held positive views about their vocabulary and grammar learning experiences using an app. A mixed study conducted by Kirkgoz (2011) showed that integrating technology in language instruction resulted in a noticeable improvement in students’ oral communication skills and demonstrated that students had positive attitudes toward such integration. A case study conducted at a Japanese university showed that students who recorded themselves improved their verbal language skills, increased their word count, and became more fluent and confident when speaking English (Gromik, 2012).

The students in this study likewise had favorable perceptions of using the Recap app and its positive effects on language learning, especially speaking and listening skills. Due to the ability to practice speaking and listening with other classmates using the Recap app, students’ speaking skills improved, which in turn enhanced their Spanish vocabularies and increased their confidence in speaking Spanish as a second language.

To answer Research Question 3: “Is there any difference between female and male students’ attitudes toward the Recap app?”, the results reveal that there is no significant difference in male and female students’ attitudes toward the Recap app. In a previous study that compared gender preferences for app usage (Stachl et al., 2017), the results showed no significant difference between genders in app usage patterns. While gender was not a determining factor, the type of application used significantly impacted attitudes (Nami, 2020). This finding can be related to research regarding genders using educational apps.

Two limitations of this study are provided. In this study, only Recap app was considered, but there are many educational apps available. Also, the participants are only from one university so the results may not generalize to a broader population. For future research, a comparison of two or more similar apps on language learning would be useful. Additionally, a study with larger sample size and collecting data from various settings (face-to- face, hybrid, and online classes) over time would yield more robust data to determine its effectiveness.

In conclusion, this study examined the impact of using the Recap app in language learning and how it helped students improve their language skills. The majority of the participants had positive attitudes toward using the Recap app in their Spanish class. All the data supports results from previous studies, demonstrating how technology can be used to improve language learning. The results also prove that language learning in traditional classroom settings often lacks oral practice and that students experience high anxiety in presenting in front of a class. The results of this study showed that students encountered some technological challenges with the Recap app. These technical issues are typical in the use of apps.

This study offers several implications for second language teaching, which could aid language instructors in classroom settings. The settings may be face-to-face, hybrid, or online classes. The Recap app also does not need to be limited to language courses since it is adaptable to different study areas. Any course could benefit from the audio and video features and the opportunities for students’ oral presentations. We found that a combination of teacher planning, pedagogy, and use of the Recap app is crucial for student success.