the English speaking/presentation course in a senior high school classroom. First, setting up attainable and differentiated goals for students and the teacher should be taken into consideration. Speaking/presentation training is not easy for either teachers or students to understand. For teachers, it is imperative they adopt suitable speaking activities to meet the level of their students’ English proficiency and help them improve their speaking/presentation skills. Analyzing students’ learning profiles and background knowledge about English speaking and presentation can help teachers determine what speaking activities should be incorporated into regular classrooms.
Students are diffident about speaking English because they are not likely to achieve the standard teachers have set. Having tangible learning goals helps students build up their sense of achievement. Teachers may worry that students’ English proficiency level might not meet the learning goals. To reduce the barriers students may encounter in the process of learning speaking/presentation skills, two suggestions are provided. Firstly, students should be allowed to use L1 for group discussions when composing their speeches. The present study showed that students could elaborate on their ideas more in their L1, and even slow learners could express their thoughts during group discussions. With language and peer supports, slow learners can be supported more quickly and be more willing to practice speaking English. Secondly, teachers can establish a formal platform for students to present their speaking performances in the regular classroom. Students may be more motivated to improve their speaking/presentation skills if provided with a concrete goal while preparing for presenting and working on their speaking learning outcomes. Teachers also can collaborate with other teachers to hold a formal conference for students from different schools. Students had their own platforms to deliver their presentations in English to teachers and students from different schools. Students in the present study were able to
received professional feedback from other teachers and students from different schools.
Students were also able to observe other students’ presentations, reflect on their own performance, and even emulate other students’ models. This formal presentation provided students with an attainable goal for improving their speaking/presentation skills.
Second, as speaking is the area of highest anxiety for students when learning a foreign language, senior high school teachers should create a less anxiety-inducing environment to teach speaking/presentation skills in both the regular classroom or the elective course. Positive encouragement and constructive feedback are crucial factors for students to feel less afraid to make mistakes and be more willing to speak English.
Tseng (2018) stated that students are indifferent to feedback from teachers and peers due to unconstructive and vague feedback. One useful technique is “Sandwich Feedback”, in which the structure of feedback follows the format: merits, drawbacks which need to be improved upon, and merits. As the present study showed, when students first received compliments for their presentations, they felt relieved and paid attention to feedback from the teacher and peers. The teacher then gave some suggestions for students to re-examine their performances. It was obvious that students paid heed to adjust not only their linguistic and non-verbal delivery but also their attitudes toward English speaking and presentation. Last, the teacher complimented students on their perseverance and effort in order to reinforce their confidence and ease their anxiety.
Third, no matter how intensive the schedule of the English speaking/presentation course is, with proper adaptation and collaboration with other teachers, speaking/presentation skills can be imparted in the daily classrooms or in an elective
over one semester. This English speaking/presentation course seems to be intensive for students and teachers. As a result, the teacher-researcher suggest that teachers combine speaking/presentation instruction with the teaching of dialogues and important issues in their daily classrooms. Teachers can employ teaching techniques or speaking activities mentioned in the previous chapter. Teacher can apply the information gap activity so students exchange their opinions in English during the regular classrooms.
Also, teachers can use Pecha Kucha to teach students how to describe pictures, objects, and events with subjective and objective information. Teachers can only apply one or two speaking/presentation skills in each lesson to lessen the teaching burden and the teaching schedule would not be influenced. With proper adjustment of the training schedule, teachers who offer the elective course can extend the duration of each speaking activity depending on students’ English proficiency level. Furthermore, collaborating with colleagues is helpful and can ease the burden. During the English speaking/presentation course, teachers need to help students rehearse their presentations, which takes teachers much effort and time. If several teachers can collaborate together to help students rehearse their presentations, students can receive plenty of help and suggestions from different sources.
Fourth, teachers can adopt action research study to diagnose students’ difficulties in speaking and subsequently to adapt their teaching methods. Implementing action research gives teachers an opportunity to identify problems that students encounter in speaking. Also, teachers have opportunities to reflect on their teaching methods, materials, and even their own philosophy toward teaching English, especially in teaching speaking skills. Through a reflective process, teachers can reinvigorate their teaching, which helps them make positive changes toward incorporating speaking/presentation to the regular classroom so that students can have more exposure
to English speaking. Moreover, conducting action research study helps teachers and their colleagues understand more about students’ learning difficulties in their schools.