增進高中學生英語口語能力與降低英語口說焦慮之行動研究

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(1)國立臺灣師範大學英語學系碩. 士. 論. 文. Department of English National Taiwan Normal University Master’s Thesis. 增進高中學生英語口語能力與降低英語口說焦慮之行動研究. Action Research on Fostering EFL Senior High School Students’ Speaking Skills and Reducing Speaking Anxiety. 指導教授：程玉秀博士 Advisor: Dr. Yuh-show Cheng 研究生：張榮峰 Rong-Feng Chang 中華民國 109 年 9 月 September 2020.

(2) 摘要互動式溝通是 108 課綱的核心能力之一，英語口語表達能力的重要性日漸增加。然而高度的口說焦慮常常是學生達成互動式溝通的阻礙。為了增進學生的英語口語表達能力和降低學生的口語焦慮，教師需要有系統的教學方法和策略。本研究主旨在探討如何將英語口語表達能力訓練融入高中英語課堂，來協助臺灣高中學生增加英語口說能力與降低英語口語焦慮。本研究採用行動研究，研究對象為新北市某公立高中高一的 30 位學生，本研究設計完整 18 週的課程，著重於訓練學生的英語口語表達的流暢性、演講架構、簡報表達的訓練。本課程採用螺旋式的學習任務讓學生練習英語口語表達，課程提供各式朗讀練習，融入資訊落差(information gap)的口語活動、實物輔助和 Pecha Kucha 的圖片描述訓練來增進學生的英語口語表達能力。最後以兩種簡報模式的訓練—說服型和資訊型，讓學生能做出簡潔且富有知識性的簡報。研究者透過問卷、教師日誌、學生學習日誌、訪談等方式來收集資料，本研究採用統計計量法以及質性研究法來探討教師和學生在行動研究時遇到的困難以及如何調整教學來解決問題，也調查學生對於英語口語教學和口語焦慮的認知與態度。研究結果顯示大多數學生的英語口說能力有進步趨勢，且教學課程後的口語焦慮顯著低於上課前。研究發現學生的英語口說能力進步和口語焦慮下降，是透過在英語口語教學過程中使用以下的原則：(1)提供重複且螺旋式的學習任務來幫助學生建立自信、(2)提供範例來幫助學生熟悉演講架構以及非語言表達的方式、(3)提供足夠的協助和差異化指導來幫助學生減少認知上的壓力、與(4)創造溫暖且支持性的學習環境。此外，研究結果顯示多數學生認為英語口語表達訓練應該要融入高中英語課程中，且對於英語口語學習有很高的期待。如果教師提供有系統且支持性的學習環境，學生雖然有口語焦慮但會願意說英語。最後，本研究針對高中英語口語教學及未來的研究，提出進一步的建議。關鍵字：英語口語教學、口語焦慮、行動研究 i.

(3) ABSTRACT English speaking and presentation skills are becoming more important to students in Taiwan because one of the core goals of the 2019 National Curriculum Guidelines is to develop students’ communicative ability. However, students cannot often reach the goal due to their speaking anxiety. Teachers need to have systematic teaching methods and strategies to decrease students’ speaking anxiety and improve their English speaking/presentation skills. The present study aimed to investigate how to incorporate instruction of English speaking/presentation skills into a regular high school class to improve high school students’ English speaking/presentation skills and decrease their speaking anxiety. The present study adopted action research. Thirty 10th graders at senior high school in northern Taiwan participated in an eighteen-week English speaking/presentation course. The course focused on training speaking fluency, the structure of a speech, and presentation skills. A spiral learning task format was adopted in designing the course and students could practice speaking/presentation using a variety of activities. These included different types of read-aloud activities, information-gap activities, oral presentations with objects, and picture description in the Pecha Kucha format. By the end of the English speaking/presentation course, students were able to make succinct and informative speeches for two types of presentations: persuasive and informative. Data were collected through questionnaires, teaching journals, students’ learning journals, and interviews. The study conducted quantitative and qualitative analyses to investigate what difficulties both the students and the teacher encountered and ways to adjust teaching procedures to solve difficulties during the research process. Moreover, it investigated students’ speaking anxiety and their perceptions and attitudes toward English speaking/presentation training.. ii.

(4) The results revealed that students’ English speaking skills improved, and their speaking anxiety decreased, via use of the following principles during the teaching process: (1) providing repetitive and spiral learning tasks to build up students’ confidence toward speaking; (2) providing paradigms to help students familiarize themselves with the speech structure and non-verbal delivery; (3) offering sufficient and differentiated guidance to decrease cognitive demand; and (4) creating a warm and supportive environment. In addition, the results showed that most students acknowledged that English speaking/presentation training should be incorporated into high school English curriculum and had high expectations of learning English speaking/presentation. Furthermore, the results showed that there were significant differences in students’ speaking anxiety before and after the course. The results of this study suggest that if teachers offer a systematic and supportive environment, students will be more willing to speak English despite a high level of speaking anxiety. Lastly, pedagogical implications for high school English speaking/presentation training and future studies are provided. Keywords: English speaking/presentation course, speaking anxiety, action research. iii.

(5) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to the following people who made the present thesis possible. Firstly, I would like to express the deepest and most sincere gratitude to my thesis advisor, Dr. Yuh-show Cheng, who always provided her knowledge and thorough suggestions for me to enrich the thesis. Dr. Cheng is not only a professional researcher but also a considerate mentor to me. She provided the initial idea of implementing action research in order to have the opportunity to reflect on my teaching philosophy, sharpen my teaching skills, and experiment with this English speaking/presentation course in a regular class. She also offered me professional and editing support and warm encouragement to overcome any difficulties and confusion during the research. Her dedication and guidance have helped me to have an unforgettable academic research experience, and I am so honored to have her as my advisor. Secondly, I am greatly indebted to three of the oral committee members of this thesis, Dr, Hsi-nan Yeh, Dr. Hung-chun Wang, and Dr. Ya-ming Tai for their encouragement, profound comments, and professional guidance. These helped me further revise the thesis to make its content more organized. Thirdly, this thesis could not have been completed without the following people’s assistance and company. I would like to express my great appreciation to my classmates, Emma, Katrina, Anya, and Tina, who provided feedback and constant encouragement throughout all the ups and downs during the process of thesis writing. I also give thanks to my colleague, Yueh-chang Lin, whose assistance with statistics facilitated the quantitative analysis of the present study. Moreover, I show my gratitude to my friend, Eleanor. Her patience, experience, and knowledge of writing gave me a sense of security. Her warm encouragement and support provided me with the strength needed to deal with the stress of thesis writing.. iv.

(6) Finally, I must extend my greatest thanks to my dearest family. I could not have completed my thesis without their great love and support.. v.

(7) TABLE OF CONTENTS 摘要 ........................................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................x CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................1 Research Background and Motivation ....................................................................1 Ways to Reduce Students’ Speaking Anxiety .....................................................2 Activities for Training Skills Essential for Effective Oral Presentations ..............3 Purpose of the Study ..............................................................................................4 Research Questions ................................................................................................4 Significance of the Study........................................................................................4 Overview of the Thesis...........................................................................................5 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW...............................................................6 Conceptualizations of Language Anxiety................................................................6 Language Anxiety and Achievement ......................................................................7 Sources of Speaking Anxiety ..................................................................................7 Coping With Speaking Anxiety ..............................................................................9 Research on English Speaking and Presentation Tasks .........................................10 Oral Fluency Training ......................................................................................10 Presentation Skills Training ..............................................................................11 CHAPTER THREE METHOD ................................................................................15 Research Design ...................................................................................................15 Rationale for Doing Action Research................................................................15 Participants and Research Site ..........................................................................18 The English Speaking/Presentation Course ...........................................................19 Curriculum Design ...........................................................................................19 Course Schedule ...............................................................................................23 Teaching Procedure ..........................................................................................24 Data Collection Procedures ..................................................................................27 Questionnaires ..................................................................................................28 vi.

(8) Teaching Journals .............................................................................................29 Students’ Learning Journals..............................................................................29 Peer Observations .............................................................................................30 Interviews.........................................................................................................30 Research Procedure ..............................................................................................31 Data Analysis .......................................................................................................34 CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .................................................36 Students’ Perceptions and Attitudes Toward Learning Speaking and Presentation Skills ....................................................................................................................37 Results From the Fluency Training Phase .............................................................42 Oral Fluency.....................................................................................................42 Speech Structure...............................................................................................46 Using Realia .....................................................................................................50 Picture Describing ............................................................................................55 Interviews with Students After the Fluency Training ........................................59 Results From the Presentation Skills Training Phase.............................................63 Persuasive Speech ............................................................................................63 Informative Speech...........................................................................................66 Students’ L2 Speaking Anxiety Before and After the English Speaking/Presentation Course ..................................................................................................................68 Overall Reflections on the English Speaking/Presentation Course ........................70 Concluding Remarks ............................................................................................73 CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION ............................................................................75 Summary of Major Findings .................................................................................75 Pedagogical Implications......................................................................................77 Suggestions for Future Study................................................................................81 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................83 Appendix A: A Syllabus of Public Speaking and English Presentation .....................88 Appendix B: Introduction of English Speaking/Presentation Course .........................90 Appendix C: Questionnaire One (Chinese Version) ..................................................91 Appendix D: Questionnaire One (English Version) ..................................................92 Appendix E: Questionnaire Two (Chinese Version) .................................................93 Appendix F: Questionnaire Two (English Version) ..................................................94 Appendix G: Questionnaire Three (Chinese Version) ...............................................95 vii.

(9) Appendix H: Questionnaire Three (English Version)................................................96 Appendix I: Students’ Learning Journal ...................................................................97 Appendix J: Teaching Journal ..................................................................................99 Appendix K: Read-Aloud Activity ......................................................................... 100 Appendix L: Be-a-Reporter Activity ...................................................................... 105 Appendix M: Show-and-Tell Activity .................................................................... 111 Appendix N: Introduction of Pecha Kucha ............................................................. 115 Appendix O: Introduction of the Structure of English Presentation ......................... 117 Appendix P: Persuasive Speech (PPT Version) ...................................................... 118 Appendix Q: Classroom Observation Sheet ............................................................ 119 Appendix R: A List of Concepts of Speaking Skills ............................................... 120 Appendix S: Reflection Sheet for Conference......................................................... 121 Appendix T: Interview Questions (Chinese Version) .............................................. 123 Appendix U: Interview Questions (English Version) .............................................. 124 Appendix V: Consent Form.................................................................................... 125. viii.

(10) LIST OF TABLES Table 1. The Design of the English Speaking/Presenting Course Following the Three Stages of Understanding by Design.............................................................20 Table 2. Course Schedule .........................................................................................23 Table 3. Instructional Strategies Used in the English Speaking/Presenting Course ....25 Table 4. The Most Impressive Fluency Training Activity to Students .......................59 Table 5. Difficulties Students Encountered During Fluency Training .......................60 Table 6. Students’ Ways to Prepare for the Fluency Training Activities ...................61 Table 7. Students’ Perceived Learning from the Fluency Training Phase ..................62 Table 8. Paired-Sample t-test of the L2 Speaking Anxiety Questionnaire .................69 Table 9. Summary of Principles and Teaching Techniques for Speaking Training ....71. ix.

(11) LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. The Action Research Spiral .......................................................................17 Figure 2. Students’ English Scoring of CAP .............................................................18 Figure 3. Self-Assessed English Proficiency.............................................................19 Figure 4. Data Collection Procedures .......................................................................27 Figure 5. Procedure of the Study ..............................................................................32 Figure 6. The Action Cycles for the Two Phases of Instruction ................................34 Figure 7. Responses to the Statement, “I am Worried About Making Mistakes When Speaking English” ....................................................................................41 Figure 8. Responses to the Statement “I am Worried About Poor Fluency When Speaking English” ....................................................................................41 Figure 9. Responses to the Statement, “I am Worried About Unclear Expression When Speaking English” ..........................................................................41 Figure 10. The Speech Structure: “The Rule of Three” .............................................48. x.

(12) CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Research Background and Motivation While Taiwan’s National Curriculum Guidelines for Senior High School English have undergone several revisions to meet the needs of the times, developing learners’ communicative competences has continued to be one of the major goals of National Curriculum Guidelines. This had led to the need for English teachers to design activities to help students learn to communicate with others effectively. However, because speaking competency is not tested in the college entrance exam, grammar, vocabulary, and reading skills are still the major focus of instruction in senior high school English classrooms. Cultivating students’ speaking skills, including the skills to deliver oral presentations in English, is often neglected. Due to insufficient speaking practice, most senior high school students in Taiwan are embarrassed to speak English in class and often display a high level of anxiety when speaking English. English speaking and presentation skills are very important for students’ future academic and career development. Senior high school English teachers should incorporate English public speaking and presentation activities into their classes. As an English teacher, the researcher of the present study, is no exception. However, based on the researcher’s own experience with teaching English speaking skills, three crucial problems were found in students’ English speaking performance: lack of fluency, lack of presentation skills, and a high level of speaking anxiety. Gan (2013) also identified that learners often consider English speaking and presentation to be challenging because of their lack of linguistic proficiency, unfamiliarity with speaking conventions, and affective influences in the learning contexts. Thus, to deal with these three problems, action research was conducted to set up an English speaking/presentation. 1.

(13) course to help students improve their English speaking/presentation skills and reduce their speaking anxiety.. Ways to Reduce Students’ Speaking Anxiety Previous studies (e.g., He, 2007; Chang, 2014) have shown that it is common for EFL students to feel anxiety when they are required to speak up in English class. Mak (2011) found that the most crucial sources of class anxiety were “speech anxiety and fear of negative evaluation” (p.210). Woodrow (2006) further suggested that giving an oral presentation caused the highest level of in-class anxiety among EFL learners. High school students in Taiwan have been found to have similar difficulties. They are afraid of making mistakes and being corrected and “humiliated” in front of their classmates and teacher, so they often remain silent and refuse to interact with other students in English (Liu & Jackson, 2008). This in turn reduces their opportunities to practice and polish their speaking skills. Teachers should therefore take learners’ speaking anxiety into account when designing speaking activities. One way to make students more engaged in speaking activities and reduce their speaking anxiety is to incorporate various learning tasks into speaking/presentation training. Pérez (2016) stated that task-based learning can improve students’ speaking and increase their motivation toward speaking English in class. Individual or group task-based learning activities can also help students drive out their apprehensive feelings toward speaking. Giving students emotional support is yet another way for students to feel comfortable when they speak English. Chou (2011) stated that cooperative learning could offer mutual support among EFL learners, especially in improving students’ speaking ability. Therefore, implementing cooperative learning in an English speaking/presentation course may create a supportive learning environment and help. 2.

(14) students feel relaxed when speaking English in front of their peers. These strategies were thus included in this study.. Activities for Training Skills Essential for Effective Oral Presentations One way to enhance students’ ability to speak English and give English oral presentations is to provide activities that help students develop skills essential for effective oral presentations, including oral fluency, coherent organization of content, skilled non-verbal delivery, and good use of visual aids. In terms of improving oral fluency, read-aloud can be an effective learning activity for students who have limited exposure to spoken English (Lin, 2014). Reading aloud can be conducted in various formats such as choral reading, echo reading and shadowing. These activities can help students become familiar with the sound patterns of English, including pronunciation and intonation. For enhancing content organization, two useful activities are the information-gap activity and interview, which often come with language support and guidance. In an information gap activity, students interact with each other to obtain information they need to complete the oral task, scaffolded with a target conversation or sentence pattern. Interviews, on the other hand, guide students to organize their speech content according to a list of questions. To develop students’ ability to use visual aids in oral presentations, a show-andtell activity combining speaking with real objects can be helpful. One good example of this is Pecha Kucha, a presentation format where one has only twenty slides to present. Each slide, with one picture and one theme, is displayed for twenty seconds. Students practice describing the picture by providing as much information as possible within twenty seconds. Pecha Kucha presentation embeds storytelling arcs with visual images, enhancing the audience’s attention and reinforcing the speaker’s recall of information. 3.

(15) (Lucas & Rawlins, 2015). The above-mentioned activities were incorporated into the teacher-researcher’s action research to improve students’ speaking fluency.. Purpose of the Study Despite the importance of speaking/presentation skills, training students’ English speaking and presentation skills is not easy and can take a great deal of time to plan and conduct in classrooms. Moreover, due to test-oriented culture in Taiwan, most students are diffident about speaking English, not to mention delivering formal speeches and presentations, which are not tested in high-stakes exams. The current study aimed to develop an English speaking/presentation course for enhancing senior high school students’ English speaking and presentation skills. The course was developed based on the teacher-researcher’s observation of students’ problems in English speaking, recommendations from the teacher-researcher’s colleagues, and a review of the literature on English speaking skills training. Action research model was adopted to plan, implement, evaluate, and refine the English speaking/presentation course. The present study looks to offer teachers some practical suggestions for implementing English speaking and presentation training in senior high school classrooms.. Research Questions The research questions of the present study are as follows: 1. How can the teacher-researcher help senior high school students develop English speaking and presentation skills? 2. How can the teacher-researcher decrease students’ speaking anxiety when training them to speak/present in English?. Significance of the Study This study is thought to be significant in the following ways: First, carrying out action research provides in-service teachers with an opportunity to identify problems 4.

(16) in their classrooms and to reflect on their teaching methods, materials, and even teaching philosophy. Through action research, the teacher can reinvigorate his own teaching and make positive tweaks to the course designed to train students’ English speaking/presentation skills. Secondly, this research can reveal difficulties experienced by students when speaking English. The findings may inspire the teacher-researcher’s colleagues to reflect on their teaching of English speaking and incorporate more effective speaking activities into their classrooms. Moreover, the findings of the research are expected to provide in-service English teachers with pedagogical suggestions for boosting students’ English speaking and presentation skills and reducing their speaking anxiety.. Overview of the Thesis Chapter One discusses the importance of incorporating speaking and presentation skills training in regular English classrooms, ways to reduce students’ speaking anxiety, activities for developing skills essential for effective oral presentations, and the significance of the study. Chapter Two reviews literature related to reducing speaking anxiety and developing speaking/presentation skills. Chapter Three illustrates the design of this action research aimed at improving students’ speaking skills and decreasing. their. speaking. anxiety.. A. detailed. syllabus. of. the. English. speaking/presentation course is provided, together with the rationale for the course design. Chapter Three also introduces the participants, the research site, data collection instruments, data collection and analysis procedures. Chapter Four presents the results of action research. Chapter Five presents pedagogical and curriculum implications, followed by research limitations and suggestions for further research.. 5.

(17) CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW The purpose of the chapter is to review theories and studies related to EFL speaking anxiety and English speaking/presentation training. The chapter is divided into two sections. The first section focuses on conceptualizations of language anxiety, the relationship between language anxiety and achievement, and ways to deal with students’ speaking anxiety. The second section elaborates on literature related to English oral training activities, including fluency and presentation training.. Conceptualizations of Language Anxiety The feeling of anxiety is familiar to everyone, including language teachers and learners. Many language learners purport to have a subjective feeling of tension, nervousness, and even apprehension when they learn a foreign language (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986). MacIntyre (1999) described language anxiety as: the apprehension experienced when a situation requires the use of a second language with which the individual is not fully proficient. The propensity for an individual to react in a nervous manner when speaking, listening, reading, or writing in the second language. (p.5). Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) argued that language anxiety is a situation-specific anxiety and is different from other general types of anxieties. They further proposed a specific language anxiety that they thought to be “primarily responsible for the debilitating effects of anxiety on second language learning and achievement” (Horwitz, 2017, p.31), foreign language classroom anxiety; they also developed a scale to measure this anxiety, Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale. According to Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986), foreign language anxiety is: a distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of the language learning process. (p.128). 6.

(18) To help readers understand the concept of foreign language classroom anxiety, Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) related it to three performance anxieties: (1) communication apprehension; (2) test anxiety; and (3) fear of negative evaluation. This attempt has been widely misinterpreted as “Communication Apprehension plus Test Anxiety plus Fear of Negative Evaluation formed an equation that resulted in Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety” (Horwitz, 2017, p. 31), leading to many futile and unfounded factorial analytic studies aimed to examine whether or not the underlying structure of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale reflects the three kinds of anxiety mentioned above.. Language Anxiety and Achievement Language anxiety is regarded as an important affective factor in language learning (Horwitz, 2001). There is wide discussion regarding the correlation between anxiety and achievement. Early research had difficulty establishing a clear and definite correlation between foreign anxiety and achievement. However, recent research generally found a consistent negative correlation between language anxiety and achievement (Horwitz, 2001). Horwitz (2001) noted that many language learners were overwhelmed or struggled in a foreign language class. Mak (2011) purported that language anxiety may be “the most pervasive obstruction to the learning process” (p. 202).. Sources of Speaking Anxiety With theoretical advancement, language anxiety has been differentiated into different types according to language skills, such as speaking anxiety, listening anxiety, reading anxiety, and writing anxiety. Among them, learners tend to feel more anxious toward speaking than others (Liu & Jackson, 2008; Mak, 2011; Woodrow, 2006; Young, 1990). In fact, both teachers and students felt anxious speaking the foreign language in. 7.

(19) class, particularly in communicative or functionally oriented classrooms (Horwitz, 2000; Yaikhong & Usaha, 2012). Many studies looked into the sources of speaking anxiety. For example, ZappaHollman (2007) conducted a qualitative study to explore the discourse socialization of six non-native graduate students engaged in academic presentations in regular content courses at a Canadian university. They found that three types of problems resulted in students’ speaking anxiety when delivering their academic oral presentations: (1) linguistic (e.g., unclear pronunciation, lack of vocabulary, or limited fluency); (2) sociocultural (e.g., lack of familiarity with topics); and (3) psychological (e.g., shyness, fear of presenting in front of large audience). Also, Chang (2014) conducted a qualitative research on six graduate students in the field of TESOL at the NTNU. She conducted classroom observations and interviews to explore students’ sources of English presentation anxiety. Seven sources of speaking anxiety were found: (1) fear of negative evaluation from the professor of the course; (2) worry of uncertainty; (3) seeking impeccability; (4) unfamiliar audience; (5) pressure of comparison; (6) standard matching; and (7) maintaining self-esteem. Among them, fear of negative evaluation from the authority was the most significant source of anxiety about giving their English academic oral presentations. Although the professors engaged the students, their comments, criticisms, and even their non-verbal reactions, such as nodding, frowning, and smiling, always resulted in a high level of anxiety during public speaking. Mak (2011) investigated the speaking-in-class anxiety of 313 Hong Kong Chinese University students. The results showed that speaking-in-class anxiety stemmed from speaking in front of the class without preparation, being corrected by the teacher and peers, inadequate wait-time when speaking, and exclusive us the target language in class. Several studies have therefore noted that language teachers should investigate the. 8.

(20) sources of learners’ speaking anxiety and manage their class accordingly (Horwitz, 2001; Williams & Andrade, 2008; Trang, Moni, & Baldauf, 2013).. Coping With Speaking Anxiety Given that applying strategies may reduce learning anxiety, several studies have investigated this topic and revealed different types of coping strategies. Regarding coping strategies for speaking anxiety, Woodrow (2006) reported five methods: (1) perseverance; (2) improving language/knowledge skills; (3) positive thinking; (4) compensation; and (5) relaxation techniques. Specifically, “perseverance” refers to persisting in speaking English. “Improving language/knowledge skills” refers to preparing related words, sentence patterns, and background knowledge to improve their speaking. “Positive thinking” contains self-talk and “compensation” includes smiling and volunteering comments. “Relaxation techniques” are frequently adopted such as deep breathing and consciously calm oneself (p.320). Chang (2014) also found that EFL graduate students implemented several coping strategies to reduce their speaking anxiety before and during an academic oral presentation, including: (1) seeking help from their significant others, professors, friends, or classmates; (2) seeking affective supports from friends; (3) developing their own ways or techniques to give their academic oral presentation; and (4) seeking approval or support from the audience. He (2017) found that some strategies students frequently adopted to reduce their speaking anxiety include: preparing well, reducing the fear of making mistakes, creating a relaxed atmosphere, and being courageous enough to speak a foreign language. On the other hand, certain classroom activities may also help reduce students’ speaking anxiety. For example, Horwitz (2000) found that employing pair-work and personalized discussions can reduce learners’ speaking anxiety and allow learners to feel more comfortable in participating in classroom activities. Chou (2011) noted that group presentations provided mutual support for students to alleviate their speaking 9.

(21) anxiety. Vani (2016) tried to enhance students’ speaking skills by adopting peer team teaching, including group discussion, peer evaluation, and peer feedback. It was found that students’ speaking skills improved, especially for low proficiency students, because they were given autonomy to speak in groups and received constructive feedback from peers. These students became more willing to participate in English speaking class and could take advantage of the opportunities to speak English without much fear. Classroom atmosphere and teachers’ emotional support have also been found to affect students’ level of speaking anxiety. He (2007) found FL teachers who are perceived to be friendly, humorous, patient, and lively and who are adept at creating an atmosphere conducive to learning and enhancing students’ interests can better help students overcome speaking anxiety. Palacios (1999) also found students’ feelings of anxiety were positively correlated with the level of perceived teacher support. Also, Pan (2002) conducted her action research on motivating EFL learners to speak English and found that teachers’ emotional support was important in reducing students’ apprehension when speaking English. He (2007) suggested that creating a warm and low-anxiety classroom environment requires teachers to have a friendly attitude and students not to put pressure on their peers. Within a supportive and low-anxiety classroom environment, students should be able to speak English without fear of negative evaluation. In conclusion, providing appropriate peer team teaching, peer evaluation, creating a positive classroom climate, and offering teacher support are essential and effective means to help students deal with speaking anxiety.. Research on English Speaking and Presentation Tasks Oral Fluency Training Oral fluency is one of the most salient markers of proficiency in a second language (Chambers, 1997; Rossiter, Derwing, Manimtim, & Thomson, 2010). Oral fluency is 10.

(22) an indication of good speaking (Rossiter, Derwing, Manimtim, & Thomson, 2010). Pronunciation and fluency are two barriers to speaking effectively (Vani, 2016). Also, Beatty and Friedland (1990) found that one reason some students feel speaking anxiety is a lack of fluency in the target language. However, it is not possible to emphasize speaking fluency and accuracy in an English speaking/presentation course at the same time (Wang, 2014). Language teachers should know how to create conditions in which students can develop their fluency (Chambers, 1997). Goh (2007) proposed three types of speaking activities that can help learners improve their speaking fluency: information-gap tasks, problem-solving tasks, and social monologues. Information-gap tasks help learners use English to exchange information. Problem-solving tasks help learners collaborate to solve problems using English. Social monologues offer learners opportunities to speak English on the given topics. It is imperative to help students improve their oral fluency at the beginning of the speaking/presentation training. Moreover, Wang (2014) mentioned that repetitive tasks and practice should be implemented to develop fluent spoken language. Repetitive tasks can not only lower learners’ cognitive load and speaking anxiety but also decrease learners’ mistakes when speaking (Wang, 2014). Presentation Skills Training Developing oral presentation skills is essential in higher education (Van, Gulikers, Biemans & Mulder, 2015). Having knowledge of effective presentations and obtaining experience delivering presentations in English are vital for students’ communication proficiency (Simona, 2015). Al-Issa and Al-Qubtan, (2010) found many advantages to learning oral presentation skills: (1) integrating four language skills; (2) practicing speaking; (3) making decisions about choosing topics; (4) acquiring knowledge through English; (5) promoting learner-centeredness; and (6) expanding teacher’s roles such as a guide, facilitator, and supporter. 11.

(23) Van Ginkel, Gulikers, Biemans, and Mulder (2015) proposed seven principles for establishing an effective presentation skills course and for increasing oral presentation competency in higher education. These principles are put under three dimensions: (1) instruction; (2) learning activities; and (3) assessment strategy as follows (p. 68): Instruction: (1) Ensure that the learning objectives are communicated explicitly and formulated in relation to the rubrics of oral presentation assessment. (2) Ensure that the learning tasks and presentation assignments are relevant to students’ language proficiency levels. Learning activities: (3) Provide models for students to observe. (4) Provide opportunities and platforms for students to practice their oral presentations and to conquer their communication apprehension. Assessment strategy: (5) Ensure that feedback is constructive, explicit, and contextual. (6) Encourage students to get involved in the formative assessment process to record their learning process and to develop their attitudes toward presenting. (7) Facilitate self-assessment using videotaping and learning journals. Van and Becker (2016) provided helpful techniques for practicing oral presentation skills, including non-verbal delivery. The techniques they provided to address non-verbal delivery include: eye contact, rate of speech, volume, facial expression, posture, and pause for giving emphasis. Van and Becker (2016) also described the advantages of applying visual aids in making a presentation appealing. Using strong visual aids will help learners engage their audience in their presentations. Pecha Kucha is a helpful technique to improve students’ fluency (Christianson & Payne, 2011; Levin & Peterson, 2013; Lucas & Rawlins, 2015; Mabuan, 2017; 12.

(24) Murugaiah, 2016). Pecha Kucha is a presentation style whose name stems from the Japanese for the art of concise presentations. It enhances students’ oral presentation skills by promoting a simple, concise concept: “tell a story with twenty slides at twenty seconds per slide” (Johnson, 2012, p.9). Lucas and Rawlins (2015) elaborated that Pecha Kucha is a concise, story-based, and visually stimulating presentation technique whose rigid structure enables students to concentrate on the key points involved in the presentation. Levin and Peterson (2013) conducted an MBA marketing course using the Pecha Kucha style presentation and found that “the Pecha Kucha structure forces students to create a narrow-focused presentation without over- or underemphasizing certain sections” (p. 61). Pecha Kucha presentation embeds storytelling arcs with visual images, enhancing the audience’s attention and reinforcing the speaker’s recall of information (Lucas & Rawlins, 2015; Mabuan, 2017; Murugaiah, 2016; Robinson, 2015). Edwards (2010) highlighted the key principles of presenting in the Pecha Kucha format: (1) limiting text; (2) avoiding bullet points; (3) using high quality images; and (4) demonstrating consistency across slides (as cited in Lucas & Rawlins, 2015). Johnson (2012) implemented Pecha Kucha to his “Professional Presentations” class and found that students were forced to deliver the key points and make their audience more engaged in their presentations without depending on bullet points and texts. As a result, students had to practice emphasizing key points with pictures within the time limit. Although most students felt the highly structured presentation style was constrained, they did see that the Pecha Kucha format has greater flexibility for delivering speeches (Christianson & Payne, 2011; Lucas & Rawlins, 2015). Some students mentioned that the Pecha Kucha format helps them conquer speaking anxiety because they only had to focus on expressing themselves concisely in each slide rather than conveying their message in a longer, more detailed format (Coskun, 2017; Lucas & Rawlins, 2015). Murugaiah (2016) noted that Pecha Kucha could reduce students’ cognitive load 13.

(25) because it could improve their retention and comprehension of materials. However, Murugaiah (2016) stated that students with low proficiency levels found the Pecha Kucha format challenging and needed more individual support from teachers. As Pecha Kucha is quite different from traditional presentation, sufficient guidance and practice to prepare this presentation style is necessary. Oral presentations can be differentiated according to different learner levels (Murugaiah, 2016). To become familiar with the content and presentation techniques, it is essential to incorporate repetitive practice and rehearsals into an English speaking/presentation course. Repetitive practice and rehearsals can increase students’ familiarity with the content of their presentations so their confidence is raised and speaking anxiety is reduced (Liao, 2014; Simona, 2015). The current action research aimed to reduce students’ speaking anxiety and enhance their speaking/presentation skills. Therefore, the literature reviewed above concerning the sources of speaking anxiety and ways to deal with it was drawn upon to create an anxiety-reducing learning environment while the literature related to training of speaking and presentation skills was consulted in designing an English speaking/presentation course described in Chapter 3.. 14.

(26) CHAPTER THREE METHOD The main purpose of this chapter is to describe the research design for the present study, including the rationales for the action research project, the participants, research sites, curriculum design, and research instruments. The chapter is divided into two sections. The first section reviews the theoretical approaches to action research, offers a detailed background description of the research sites and participants, and explains the approach adopted in this study. The second section describes the research procedure, the structure of this action research, data collection instruments and data analysis.. Research Design Rationale for Doing Action Research Action research is a common approach in the educational field. The beginning of action research can be traced to Kurt Lewin, who followed Jacob L. Moreno, a German physician and social philosopher, who aimed to involve observers in social research to convert them into participant-observers and then to conduct a research for their own purposes (Stringer, 2013). Action research is described as an active action to solve problems in real contexts (McNiff, 2016; Stringer, 2013; Zuber-Skeritt, 1992). Burns (2008) stated that action research involves taking a self-reflective, critical, and systematic approach to exploring solutions to educational problems. In action research, the researcher is a teacher who will be an explorer, investigator, and planner to solve the teaching problems in a teaching context. Burns (2008) stated that action research is an appealing way to look closely at puzzling classroom issues or to delve into teaching dilemmas. Kurt Lewin (1946) depicted action research as a cyclical, dynamic, and collaborative process of planning a change for identified problems, putting the plan into action, observing the effects of the plan, and reflecting or re-formulating the plan. A 15.

(27) new cycle then begins (Hine, et al., 2014; Kemmis, et al., 2014). As time goes on, different forms of action research have been developed for different research sites and purposes. Typically, action research is a cyclical process, involving four elements: planning, acting, observing, and reflecting (Burns, 2008; Kemmis & McTaggart, 2005; McNiff, 2016). The present study adopted action research approach for several reasons. First, in action research teachers are encouraged to identify the problems in a teaching context, make a change, experiment with teaching methods, and then solve those problems with which teachers and students have been confronted. The findings are of practical value to teachers. Second, the purpose of this research was to explore how to incorporate English speaking/presentation skills to a regular class. Therefore, it was of the utmost importance to remain flexible in the process of exploring an effective English speaking/presentation course. Action research allows for such flexibility. In the process of doing action research, the researcher can make adjustments and changes to the preplanned instructional intervention when encountering difficulties. Finally, by doing action research, the researcher has opportunities to reflect on his teaching philosophy, teaching methods, and students’ difficulties. These opportunities may help the researcher become a more reflective teacher. The present study’s aims to progressively develop an effective speaking course to improve students’ speaking skills and decrease their speaking anxiety fit the spirit of a spiral model of action research consisting of several self-reflective cycles (Kemmis & McTaggart, 2005, p 278), as shown in Figure 1.. 16.

(28) Figure 1. The Action Research Spiral The first phase was planning, where an initial English speaking/presentation course developed, including the course syllabus, learning activities, and worksheets, based on the researcher’s understanding of his students’ needs. The second and third phases were acting and observing, in which teaching interventions were carried out and their effects were checked against the data collected from observations and students’ feedback. The final phase was reflecting, where adjustments were made to teaching methods, teaching procedures, and teaching materials based on the researcher’s reflection on their effects. A new cycle then started and data collection continued. This process continued and was repeated until the teaching procedure was completed and the major problems were solved. In other words, teaching continued until students’ speaking abilities had increased and/or their anxiety had decreased. All action research cycles aimed to create an effective English speaking/presentation course and build an anxiety-free environment.. 17.

(29) Participants and Research Site The research was conducted in a New Taipei Municipal Senior High School located in the northern part of Taiwan. Each year, the school recruits nineteen classes of senior high students. There are forty students in each class. Overall, there are nearly 2,000 students in 57 classes. The research was conducted in the first semester of the 107th academic year. The English speaking/presentation course was carried out as an elective course for 10th grade students. The researcher in the present study was the instructor of the elective course. The participants in this research were thirty 10th grade students enrolled in the 107th academic year. According to their performance on the Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School, the students were regarded as intermediate achievers in New Taipei City. On average, their recruitment score was 21 (the full score is 36). In addition, most of the participants’ English proficiency was intermediate (see Figure 2).. Figure 2. Participants’ English Scores of CAP Most students in the target senior high school were from middle-class families. Over 30% of the students had the possibility of going to national universities after they graduated. Most of the participants considered their English proficiency was at an intermediate level on a five-point scale (see Figure 3). Most of the participants had difficulty expressing themselves in English. The participants’ learning attitude was 18.

(30) quite passive; they might have been too scared to deal with their speaking anxiety and shyness. However, they were willing to accept teachers’ assistance and guidance. The participants in the present research needed specific guidance and tangible learning goals. during their learning process. Figure 3. Self-Assessed English Proficiency. The English Speaking/Presentation Course Because the study followed an action research design, an English speaking/presentation course in the form of an elective course that met once each week was developed to deal with three crucial problems identified in students’ Englishspeaking performance: lack of speaking fluency, lack of presentation skills, and a high level of speaking anxiety. In response to these, the teacher designed various English speaking practices to help students overcome these problems and boost their speaking proficiency and knowledge of delivering formal presentations. Curriculum Design The design of the English speaking/presentation course followed the principles of Understanding by Design (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005), an approach that advocates a three-stage backward design process for curriculum planning: (1) identifying desired learning outcomes, (2) determining assessment evidence, (3) planning experiences and instruction. These three principles helped the teacher re-examine students’ needs, teaching activities, teaching procedures, and assessment. In Stage One, the teacher 19.

(31) considered the expected outcomes. Because the purpose of the English speaking/presentation course was to solve three problems: students’ lack of speaking fluency, lack of presentation skills, and a high level of speaking anxiety, the desired learning outcomes were thus related to overcoming these problems. In Stage Two, the teacher decided to use multiple assessments to evaluate students’ learning. For multiple assessments, four types of evidence is suggested in Wiggins and McTighe (2005): performance tasks, academic prompts, quiz and test items, and informational checks for understanding. Given the nature of this speaking program, no quizzes or paper-and-pencil tests were used. Instead, many performance tasks (group discussion, individual and group presentations) and students’ self-evaluation of anxiety levels were adopted to assess whether the desired learning outcomes had been achieved. In Stage Three, planning learning experiences and instruction, the teacher designed learning activities for students to achieve the above-mentioned desired results. The specific curriculum design is summarized in Table 1. Table 1. The Design of the English Speaking/Presentation Course Following the Three Stages of Understanding by Design Theme. Design Focus Result 1. Students will improve their speaking fluency.. Identify Stage 1. Result 2. Students will know how to give clear and effective oral. desired. presentations with visual aids, body language, and. results. prosodic effects. Result 3. Students’ speaking anxiety will be reduced.. 20.

(32) Assessment for Desired Result 1 1. Read-aloud tasks in which fluency is the focus of evaluation. 2. A one-to-two minute “Show and Tell” speaking task in which students’ fluency is the focus of evaluation. 3. “Be-a-Reporter” practice for one-to-two minutes in which use of catchy speech openers and fluent introduction of their interviewees are the focus of evaluation. 4. “Pecha Kucha” practice in which students’ fluency in describing Determine. pictures on each slide in twenty seconds is the focus of. acceptable. evaluation.. evidence. Assessment for Desired Result 2. Stage 2 (assessment) 1. A persuasive speech in which students’ delivery and content of presentations are the main focus of evaluation. 2. An informative speech in which students’ delivery and content of presentations are the main focus of evaluation. Assessment for Desired Result 3 1. Students’ reports of speaking anxiety experiences from their learning journals during the program. 2. Students’ rating of their speaking anxiety levels before and after the English speaking/presentation course.. 21.

(33) Instruction for Desired Result 1 1. Guiding students to read English aloud with taking turns reading, echo reading and shadowing to familiarize themselves with spoken English and improve fluency. 2. Guiding students to talk about their meaningful objects with a focus on fluency rather than accuracy. 3. Guiding students to interview their classmates and make a nonstop report based on the interview. 4. Guiding students to use the technique of Pecha Kucha to Stage 3. describe pictures as fast as possible within the time limit. Plan learning experiences and instruction. Instruction for Desired Result 2 1. Guiding students to produce a persuasive speech from drafting outlines to writing scripts. 2. Guiding students to use gambits of presentation. 3. Guiding students to use visual aids, body language (gestures, posture, facial expression) and prosodic effects (intonation) in their presentation. Instruction for Desired Result 3 1. Building a supportive learning environment where the teacher serves as a facilitator and the students as collaborators, supporting each other. 2. Guiding students to write a learning journal to reflect on and document their ways to deal with speaking anxiety during their preparation of presentations.. 22.

(34) Course Schedule The English speaking/presentation course was divided into two phases with fluency training as the focus of the first phrase and presentation skills as the focus of the second phrase. Throughout the English speaking/presentation course, the teacher attended to students’ speaking anxiety and made effort to create a learning environment that could reduce their anxiety and increase their confidence in speaking. The weekly schedule of the English speaking/presentation course is outlined in Table 2. All of the worksheets used in the program can be found in the appendices. Table 2. Course Schedule Training Time. Teaching Activity. Focus Course orientation and introduction to English Week 1 public speaking (see Appendix A and B). Read-aloud activity: Students practiced speaking with Weeks choral reading, echo reading, and shadowing (see 2-3 Appendix K). Be-a-reporter activity: Students interviewed their Weeks classmates and practiced giving a two-minute speech Fluency. 3-4 with interesting openers (see Appendix L).. Training (7 Weeks). Show-and-tell activity: Students talked about their Weeks meaningful objects by giving a one-to-two-minute 5-6 speech (see Appendix M). Pecha Kucha activity: Students practiced speaking Weeks English for twenty seconds per slide (see Appendix 7-8 N).. 23.

(35) Introduction to the structure of an English Week 9 presentation (see Appendix O). 1. Showing examples of English presentations. Weeks. 2. Introduction to how to deliver English presentations. 10-11. with. body language (gestures,. posture, facial. expression, eye contact). Persuasive speech activity: The teacher provided. Presentation Skills Training. Weeks. several absurd products. Students were guided to give. 12-13. a speech to persuade the audience to buy the products (see Appendix P).. (10 Weeks). Informative speech activity: Students came up with a topic related to something about which they were passionate. They were guided to give a speech on the Weeks topic, starting from writing outlines and then scripts. 14-18 In the end, students participated in a presentation conference held at National Lan Yang Girls’ High School. Teaching Procedure In the current study, conducting an English speaking/presentation course mainly involved the instructor’s demonstration, group discussion, individual and group practice. The teacher usually started a unit with a demonstration of how to use certain skills, followed by students’ individual practice, and/or group discussion, where the researcher worked as a facilitator. Each unit ended with an individual or group oral presentation. Students were allowed to use their first language to discuss and share their thoughts in a group discussion so that every student, whether high or low in proficiency,. 24.

(36) could contribute, and their anxiety could be decreased. Table 3 summarizes the instructional strategies used in the course. Table 3. Instructional Strategies Used in the English Speaking/Presentation Course Instructional Phase. Learning Objectives. Learning Tasks Strategies. Developing oral fluency. Choral reading. Demonstration. Echo reading. Individual Practice. Shadowing. Group Practice. Developing knowledge of how to structure a Demonstration speech with Be-a-Reporter. Individual Practice. 1. openers Group Discussion 2. opening statements 3. “the Rule of Three” Fluency Training. Developing knowledge of how to give a speech using. Demonstration Show-and-Tell. 1. realia. Individual Practice. 2. closing statements and inviting questions Demonstration Giving fluent oral Pecha Kucha. Group Discussion. description Group Practice. 25.

(37) Developing knowledge of how to give a speech. Demonstration Persuasive. based on an analysis of. Group Discussion Speech. Presentation 1. the audience’s needs Skill. Group Practice. 2. arguments. Training Demonstration Giving a formal. Informative Group Discussion. Presentation. Speech Group Practice. Two examples are given below to illustrate the teacher’s teaching procedures. For the unit entitled “Be-a-Reporter,” the teacher’s demonstrated how to make opening statements, create openers with interesting facts, appealing hooks, quotations, personal stories, etc., and to use the “the Rule of Three” to structure a speech. Students then practiced these techniques by themselves (see Appendix L). After that, they worked in pairs on an information-gap activity (“Be-a-Reporter”), in which each pair of students interviewed their partners to collect information. Students were then guided to prepare and deliver a one-and-half-minute individual presentation by organizing the information they collected based on “the Rule of Three” and adding openers and opening statements. For the unit entitled Pecha Kucha, students were asked to form groups. The teacher demonstrated how to apply the Pecha Kucha format to deliver a speech, along with ways to connect every slide, such as adding an opening, transitional words, and conclusions. After a demonstration, students discussed with their group members how to draft a Pecha Kucha presentation using material the teacher provided, namely, the Introduction of Sun Moon Lake (see Appendix N). After that, each group decided a topic for giving a Pecha Kucha format presentation with pictures at the end of the unit.. 26.

(38) Each group of students then worked together to collect pictures related to the topic of their choice and practiced elaborating on their drafts of the presentation.. Data Collection Procedures The present study adopted the action research approach. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected to evaluate the effects of instructional plans and actions. The quantitative data were collected with questionnaires. Meanwhile, the qualitative data were collected through (1) questionnaire, (2) teaching journals, (3) students’ learning journals, (4) classroom observation by two colleagues, and (5) in-depth interviews with students. Moreover, all of the students signed a consent form (see Appendix S) to confirm their willingness to participate in this research and allow the teacher to collect data from them. The detailed data collection procedure is presented in Figure 4.. Figure 4. Data Collection Procedures. 27.

(39) Questionnaires Three questionnaires were given to the students in this study. The first questionnaire was used to inquire about students’ background and perspectives of English speaking/presentation training, which was conducted at the beginning of the English speaking/presentation course (see Appendix C) for the teacher researcher to have a better idea about the background of the participants. To assist the teacher-researcher to answer Research Question 2 on how to reduce students’ speaking anxiety, the second questionnaire, Cheng’s (2017) L2 Speaking Anxiety Scale (see Appendix D), was used to collect quantitative data about students’ level of speaking anxiety. The anxiety questionnaire consists of three sub-components (three items per component); in other words, nine items in total. A 5-point Likert scale (one to five points respectively for opinions of “strongly disagree”, “disagree”, “neither agree nor disagree”, “agree”, and “strongly agree”) was used as the response format. The first component, items 1 to 3, measured the cognitive dimension of speaking anxiety, i.e., one’s dysfunctional or maladaptive cognitions related to English speaking. The second component, items 4 to 6, measures the somatic dimension of speaking anxiety, i.e., one’s physical reactions to anxiety in speaking English. The third component, items 7 to 9, measured the behavioral dimension of speaking anxiety, i.e., specifically avoidance of speaking English. The anxiety questionnaire was conducted at the beginning and the end of the English speaking/presentation course to compare students’ speaking anxiety before and after the course. The third questionnaire employed was called “Teaching Activities Feedback.” This was completed weekly by students at the end of the class to understand their perceptions toward each activity and their preparations for each speaking activity (see Appendix E). The data collected from the third questionnaire were used to answer. 28.

(40) Research Question 1 on ways to help students develop their English speaking and presentation skills. Teaching Journals Teaching journals kept throughout the English speaking/presentation course were used to document how each class developed and to record the teacher-researcher’s reflections on teaching procedures and materials, observations of students’ reactions, and offbeat events at each class meeting (see Appendix J). During the class, the teacher attended to students’ learning behaviors, participation in learning activities, preparations for presentations, discussions in group presentations, and dynamics in group discussions. Students’ group discussions and presentations were videotaped to help the researcher recall the teaching procedures and crucial events during the teaching intervention. Based on the teaching journals, the researcher adjusted the teaching procedures, teaching methods, and teaching materials to better suit students’ needs and to alleviate students’ speaking anxiety. In the process of conducting action research, the teaching journals offered useful information for answering the two research questions. Students’ Learning Journals Students’ learning journals are tools for the researcher to delve more into the participants’ perspectives toward the instructional interventions. In this study, students were required to write weekly learning journals (see Appendix I) in which they reflected on their learning in the English speaking/presentation course, including learning difficulties, achievements, and feelings (including anxiety) toward each learning task. In addition, for the presentation tasks (i.e., giving persuasive and informative speeches) implemented in the second phase of the program, students were asked to document their learning experiences in two forms: a preparation form and a post-presentation form. Students were guided to document their preparation processes, the parts of preparation that made them feel anxious, and how they dealt with speaking 29.

(41) anxiety on the preparation form. They documented their feelings and difficulties on the post-preparation form to reflect on their progress and find solutions to difficulties. The information provided by students’ learning journals helped the researcher better understand the perceptions of students and helped answer both research questions. Peer Observations Two colleagues of the teacher-researcher were invited to observe the speaking/presentation class. Both of them were English teachers; one had obtained a Master’s degree in TESOL from Indiana University in the U.S.A. and the other had received a Master’s degree in TESOL from the National Taiwan Normal University. They both came to the class every week. A classroom observation sheet containing two sections (see Appendix Q) was provided to guide their observations. In the first section, the observers recorded students’ reactions toward the classroom activities, and their speaking performance. In the second section, the observers documented the teacher’s teaching procedure, and teaching activities. They documented the events by taking notes and photos. The observers did not interrupt or aid students when they were doing their speaking practice and presentations. The data collected helped triangulate the data collected through other sources. Interviews Interviews (see Appendix R) were used to provide an in-depth understanding of students’. perceptions. toward. the. teaching. activities. in. the. English. speaking/presentation course and the speaking anxiety they experienced before and after their presentations. Six students were randomly chosen to be interviewed at the end of the fluency training phrase and at the end of the English speaking/presentation course. In the first interview, four questions were designed to obtain students’ perceptions toward speaking fluency training activities, including which speaking fluency activity they enjoyed and thought to be the most effective and whether the 30.

(42) activities could increase their confidence in speaking and decrease their anxiety. Furthermore, two questions were posed to understand the difficulties students encountered in the process of learning and how they prepared their presentations during the fluency training phase. At the end of the program, a second interview was held to understand students’ perceptions toward presentation skills training activities and their overall learning experiences. Six interviewees shared their thoughts about presentation skills training in each class in the second phase. They were also invited to elaborate on what difficulties they had encountered when preparing the persuasive and informative presentations, what they had learned from the presentation conference, and overall suggestions for the English speaking/presentation course. All interviews were recorded and the data collected helped the researcher better understand students’ thoughts and answer the research questions.. Research Procedure The detailed procedure of the study was shown in Figure 5. At first, The teacher mapped out a structure of an English speaking/presentation course to solve the identified problems at the teaching site: students’ lack of fluency, lack of presentation skills, and high speaking anxiety. In the beginning of the course, students had to fill out two questionnaires: background questionnaire and L2 speaking anxiety scale. After analyzing the data from the two questionnaires, The teacher adjusted the structure of an English speaking/presentation course to meet students’ needs. The teacher divided the course into two phases (i.e., the fluency training phase and the presentation skills training phase) to deal with two main problems related to English speaking skills: lack of oral fluency and lack of presentation skills. Four speaking skills were taught in the fluency training phase and two types of presentations were introduced in the presentation skills training phase. Training of each skill went through an action cycle: 31.

(43) implementing, data collecting, data analyzing, and adjusting. In the end of the course, students filled out L2 speaking anxiety scale. The researcher then analyzed both qualitative and quantitative data to make conclusions about the course.. Figure 5. Procedure of the Study 32.

(44) A detailed description of the action cycles for the two phases of instructions is presented in Figure 6. The teacher first identified the problem (the major research focus) at the teaching site: Most students lacked opportunities for speaking English and were afraid of speaking English. Then, through consulting with colleagues (i.e., preliminary investigation) and reflecting on his own teaching experiences, the researcher further sorted out the most crucial speaking skills that students demanded: speaking fluency and presentation skills. The researcher then made an action plan to solve the problem: designing an English speaking/presentation course to improve students’ speaking fluency and presentation skills. During the process of implementing the action plan, the researcher constantly monitored and observed students’ reactions to the instructional interventions, and regularly evaluated their performances and learning outcomes. If the outcomes were found to be unsatisfactory, the researcher would reflect and go back to the stage of identifying the unsolved problem. Then, the researcher assumed appropriate solutions to unsolved problems, which could be secondary problems or new problems. The researcher thereby adjusted or reformulated the program to solve the problems and monitored the outcomes. A new action research cycle started and this cyclical process continued until major problems were solved.. 33.

(45) Figure 6. The Action Cycles for the Two Phases of Instruction. Data Analysis Analyzing action research data is an ongoing process of “squashing” the data to draw out new concepts, develop theories, and find the possibilities for classroom practice instead of setting patterns and explanations (Burns, 2008, p. 104). Thus, the data analysis was required to be dynamic, cyclical, and recursive (Burns, 2008, p.135). Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected to help the researcher reflect on and evaluate the curriculum design and teaching activities. For the quantitative data collected from L2 Speaking Anxiety Scale administered at the beginning and end of the English speaking/presentation course, a paired-sample t-test was conducted to compare students’ speaking anxiety before and after the English speaking/presentation course to determine the effect of the program on reducing students’ speaking anxiety. 34.

(46) The qualitative data were obtained from Questionnaires 1 and 3, students’ learning journals, teaching journals, classroom observations, and interviews. Content analysis was used to analyze these data. Students’ responses to Questionnaire 1 (the background questionnaire) were analyzed to identify students’ common fallacies and misconceptions toward speaking skills learning, which served as a reference in designing the English speaking/presentation course. Moreover, teaching journals and classroom observation notes were analyzed to reveal students’ performances and responses in accomplishing speaking activities and dealing with speaking anxiety. Students’ weekly journals, responses to Questionnaire 3 (the Teaching Activity Feedback questionnaire), and interview transcripts were analyzed to ascertain students’ views on the effectiveness of the class activities in improving English speaking/presentation skills.. 35.