Enhancing Learners’ English Speaking Skills through Spontaneous Cross-Cultural Communication: Evidence from OmeTV

Abstract

This study investigates how spontaneous cross-cultural communication contributes to the development of learners’ English speaking skills through real-time digital interaction. Employing a qualitative descriptive design with content analysis, the research involved five Indonesian EFL learners who engaged in random video-based conversations with international interlocutors. Data were collected through recorded spontaneous conversations and semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the interactive model of Matthew B. Miles and A. Michael Huberman, which includes data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. The findings reveal that communication occurred without prior preparation and required learners to interpret meaning and respond immediately through spontaneous inference. Strategic competence such as clarification requests, paraphrasing, repetition, simplification, and non-verbal cues supported conversational continuity. Although participants initially experienced anxiety and hesitation, repeated exposure reduced affective barriers and enhanced confidence. Spontaneous digital interaction fostered fluency, communicative flexibility, intercultural awareness, and speaking confidence. These findings indicate that authentic, spontaneous cross-cultural communication can function as an alternative and complementary learning environment to enhance EFL speaking skills beyond formal classroom settings.