Open Access Open Journal of Social Sciences, 2014, 2, 54-60 Published Online February 2014 in SciRes. http://www.scirp.org/journal/jss http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jss.2014.22008 How to cite this paper Lu, R.L., Goodale, T.A. and Guo, Y.B. (2014) Impact of Videoconference with Native English Speakers on Chinese EFL Learners’ Oral Competence and Self-Confidence. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 2, 54-60. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jss.2014.22008 Impact of Videoconference with Native English Speakers on Chinese EFL Learners’ Oral Competence and Self-Confidence Ruiling Lu 1 , Timothy A. Goodale 2 , Yanbing Guo 3 1 Department of Education, Taiyuan Normal University, Taiyuan, China 2 Department of Education, College of Coastal Georgia, Brunswick, USA 3 Department of English, Xiamen Academy of Educational Science, Xiamen, China Email: ruilinglu9@hotmail.com Received October 2013 Abstract This study presents an educational collaborative project between two colleges in the United States and China. Forty-five Chinese pre-service teachers and 5 American undergraduates participated in the project which involved a 10-week online synchronous videoconference between the partici- pants. The project aimed at improving Chinese EFL learners’ English oral skills as well as their confidence in teaching English language in future. Quasi-experiment design was employed to eva- luate the effectiveness of the project. Results showed that online synchronous videoconference with native English speakers did have positive impacts on Chinese participants’ English pronun- ciation and oral fluency & coherent. No significant difference was found in confidence measures. The outcomes of the project contribute to the relevant literature with an applicable and low-cost English language training model for EFL learners. Keywords Synchronous Video Conference; EFL Learners; Oral Skills; Confidence 1. Introduction The role of China within the global economy is growing rapidly at an accelerating rate and constantly expanding. This has given rise to a pressing demand of Chinese people for English proficiency. In conjunction with this growth and demonstrated importance, Chinese students are seeking to improve their English competence to bet- ter communicate in a global context. However, circumstances are not optimistic. Though English language learning is one of the core courses in elementary, secondary, and higher education, Chinese EFL (English as a foreign language) learners are found still pretty weak in their English proficiency, especially in listening and speaking ability. According to a recent news report, Chinese ranks the second to last in English proficiency among 12 Asian countries [1]. Various reasons account for this phenomenon. First, inadequate attention is given