THE IMPACT OF PODCASTS DESIGNED THROUGH AUDACITY ON IMPROVING GRAMMAR SKILLS

Abstract

The situation with the pandemic in the world showed that education in Ukraine will never be the same. Isolation turned out to be a big challenge for both teachers and students. This is explained primarily by a lack of theoretical knowledge and practical experience in providing distance learning. According to the EU recommendations, the education institution will work effectively if it provides the best use of digital technology for teaching and learning and develops teachers' and students' digital competences and skills. Educational technology tools include content management systems, language learning apps, podcasts, and electronic discussion boards. The features of free, open-source, cross-platform audio software Audacity are described in the study. The paper analyzes how a university teacher can record, edit and export in MP3 format the language learning podcast through Audacity. To answer this question, we created 5 bilingual grammar podcasts based on the audio platform. The designed podcasts can be used as learning activities outside the class with the university students. The obtained results showed that even a beginner in the sphere of ICT can design a good-quality foreign language podcast. The difference between the scores in pre and post-test results suggest that self-designed podcasts can be used in teaching EFL to improve grammar skills. This study emphasizes the need for implementing ICT tools in the educational process to improve the quality of teaching and learning and to share the gained experience with the colleagues. Further research could determine the role of self-designed podcasts in an online language course for the students of technical universities.