Speaking Activities Research Articles

The Effect of Recorded Dialogues in Higher Education Students’ Spoken Performance

Students’ participation in English class is low and evidenced lack of vocabulary when they are exposed to speaking activities. To assist students overcome that situation, this innovation integrated pair work through recorded dialogues in a technical context. Participants studied at a public university located in Guayaquil (Ecuador). They belonged to the school of Net and Telecommunications. A mixed-design research was conducted. Quantitative instruments: pre and posttests, pre and post-surveys, and an action research were part of it. Data collected answered three research questions, two related to improvement in speaking in terms of vocabulary and fluency, and a third to know students’ perspectives towards this innovation. Results showed a large impact (Cohen’s d=2.97 – average of the three speaking components) for speaking due to the innovation (p < .001). Regarding students’ perspectives, the means of the post-survey were positive for the components of the innovation (pair work, planning and structuring, and recording of the dialogues). Implications of this study address other higher education authorities and EFL teachers who would like to engage students in the lessons with authentic and student-centered activities like pair-work and content of students’ field of interest.

A Method for Change. Lacanian Discourse Analysis: A Glimpse into Climate Policy

Abstract In this article, I propose a return to Jacques Lacan, I develop a Lacanian discourse analysis (LDA) as one possible method in international relations and demonstrate its potential by sketching out the case of climate change policy within the European Union. Lacan’s theory of the four discourses as conceptual “mind maps” informs a method of discourse analysis enabling researchers to empirically investigate how a hegemonic discourse can be challenged and potentially subverted. A Lacanian perspective emphasizes the “subject of the enunciation” and conceptualizes subjects as socially produced but lacking: Discourse provides an historicized socio-linguistic structure sustaining the subject’s societal relations, but the speaking activity always produces a cut within subjectivity, which manifests as an excess-loss of meaning in the enunciation. Via the case study of the energy efficiency policy in the EU, I first illustrate how an LDA allows us to investigate climate knowledge and the authority of the discourse. Then, by looking at how energy efficiency is spoken in the enunciation, I expose the excess of meaning produced as an effect of language, which “fractures” the discourse. Finally, I show how to leverage on these produced fractures to assess the transformative and empowering potential of the observed discourse.

IMPROVING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS FOR MATH-MAJORED STUDENTS THROUGH EXTRA SPEAKING ACTIVITIES – A STUDY AT A HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE GIFTED IN VIETNAM

This research investigates the effectiveness of extra speaking activities (ESAs) in improving students’ English speaking skills at Le Quy Don High School for the Gifted in Danang, Vietnam (LQDHS). The study seeks to examine the perceptions on, and attitudes toward, the implementation of ESAs amongst a group of math-majored students at LQDHS. In the research, a quantitative approach with a Classroom Action Research design was used. The population consists of 26 Grade 10 math-majored students which consists of 24 male students and 02 female students. Data were collected through observation, speaking tests, and questionnaires. The speaking tests were carried out in three stages: pre-test, treatment, and post-tests with two cycles. Different speaking teaching techniques were adopted, including group discussion, public presentation, debating, and role-play. After each activity, constructive feedback and corrections from the teacher and peers were provided. The results show that the implementation of ESAs significantly improved the students’ speaking in terms of accuracy and fluency. In addition, many students engaged more actively in class activities after joining ESAs. Most students showed positive perceptions and attitudes toward ESAs.

APPLYING CTL MODEL TO ACTIVATE STUDENTS’ ISLAMIC WORLD PARTICIPATION IN SPEAKING CLASS AT ENGLISH EDUCATION PROGRAM

In English Education Program, Speaking Class starts at Semester I until Semester IV. It starts from Speaking for Basic Communication, Speaking for Interpersonal Communication, Discourse Speaking, and Academic Speaking. In semester IV the students are expected to be able to communicate in local, national, or even international settings about enable Islamic world, economic, social, environmental and politic issues. However, speaking skill is not easily obtained. There are some factors that make speaking class is not maximal. It might be caused by class setting, teaching method, teaching materials, students’ knowledge or even students’ Islamic world sinterest. Further, getting speaking skills for all students in the classroom is not easy as they often face uneven participation Islamic world, little talking time as certain students dominate the class. Thus, it is the lecturer’s role to set the speaking activity students’ Islamic world that can facilitate both the active speakers and silence speakers. The silence speakers need to practice speaking in low-pressure situation such as in small group before practicing in high-pressure situation like presentation in class. This research aims to describe the way to apply CTL model to activate students’Islamic world participation in Speaking Class. Through CTL the lecturer relates the learning materials and students activities that are relevant to their needs in their real life. The researcher chooses issues on enable Islamic world, economy, social, and environment for the topic of the discussion and he used prolem-solving approach. The population of the research is the fourth semester of English Education Study Program in the academic year 2017/2018. The total number of population is 66 students enable Islamic world which consist of 2 classes. The researcher took population sampling in this research. The instruments used in the research were classroom observation and questionnaire. The data were analyzed through descriptive analysis. Based on the finding and the discussion, the conclusion can be drawn that CTL model is able to activate students’Islamic world participation in Speaking Class of the fourth Semester of English Education Program in academic year of 2017/2018.

The Utilizing of Tongue Twister Media for English Speaking Activity of Management Students in School of Management

The ability of using English is important and is needed nowadays in many aspects. Everyone is supposed to be able to speak English for communication. The problem happens in non-English students who learn English for specific purpose. They do not feel confident to perform speaking due to they are very rare practicing English previously that causes some problems in pronunciation and mastery vocabulary. Therefore, this study is aimed to know the management students’ pronunciation of English words using tongue twister media and to probe the management students’ perception in speaking English activity. This research applies a qualitative approach with 24 Management major students from one class who mostly work and enroll online and offline English class. The instrument used are field note observation, questionnaires, and recorder. The findings show that most management students found speaking problems in pronouncing the sounds of /θ/, /ð/, /ʃ/ and /ai/. Although they were not confident in speaking English for the improper pronunciation, they were still trying to learn English well. They expressed that the utilize of tongue twister media in speaking activity is helpful, fun and challenging to pronounce and listen to the good pronunciations.

Peran Kegiatan OSIS Dalam Meningkatkan Kemampuan Public Speaking Siswa MAN 1 MUBA

This study discusses "The Role of OSIS Activities in Improving Public Speaking Ability of MAN 1 Muba Students". The background of this research is due to the decrease in public speaking ability experienced by students of MAN 1 Muba which hinders students from presenting themselves in the school environment and outside of school. The purpose of this research is to find out the role of OSIS activities in improving the public speaking skills of MAN 1 MUBA students. The theory used in this research is Aristotle's Retrometric Theory and Da'wah Communication Accommodation Theory. This research is a descriptive research with a qualitative approach. Data collection techniques used in this study were documentation, interviews and observation techniques. Sources of research data were obtained through primary data obtained through observations and interviews conducted at MAN 1 MUBA, and secondary data obtained through websites, books, journals and other references related to the object of research, then analyzed using qualitative analysis techniques. The results of this study stated that the MAN 1 MUBA Student Council as a whole could carry out its role well through Public Speaking activities which had honed students' communication skills.

Fostering Students' Creativity Through Hinduism Education-Based Bincang Esaba Program

SMP Negeri 1 Bangli has many types of extracurricular activities. These extracurricular activities’ implementation can support achieving one of the school’s objectives. The implementation of extra activities is carried out after intra-curricular activities are carried out with the determining the schedule submitted to the agreement of each extracurricular manager with its members. One of them is journalism extracurriculars. A mutual agreement as a contract for the activities implementation is determined together at the beginning of the school year before the activities begin. A detailed work program is a reference for the wheels of activity. Activities packed with various activities are the main attraction for students’ participation. This extracurricular activity has the main objective of fostering students’ competence in the field of journalism through writing and speaking activities. Specifically, this study emphasized the implementation of extracurricular activities in fostering students’ potential for linguistic-verbal competence through various group-based speaking activities. Bincang Esaba’ was an activity that focused on verbal activities and character building of journalism extracurricular members. This study used a qualitative descriptive approach. Conclusions were drawn from analyzing the various interrelationships of participants with multi-faceted, interactive strategies, such as direct observation, participatory observation, in-depth interviews, documents, and complementary techniques, such as photographs, recordings, and others. The study concluded that implementing journalism extracurricular activities at SMP Negeri 1 Bangli ran well according to the work program that had been prepared, and ‘Bincang Esaba’ could foster the linguistic-verbal intelligence of students who were its members.

ENGLISH-FOR-TOURISM TRAINING TO IMPROVE THE ENGLISH CAPABILITY OF TOURISM WORKERS AND BUSINESS OWNERS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM, CULTURE, YOUTH, AND SPORTS OF BLITARREGENCY

English plays a vital role in the tourism field since it supports tourism workers and business owners to provide excellent services. Numerous tourism destinations in Indonesia including the ones in Blitar Regency have become the center of attention for foreign tourists. Located in Blitar, East Java, Kampung Coklat and Karanganyar Coffee Plantation have also been continuously preparing their workers and business owners to provide efficient services for both domestic and foreign visitors. In accordance with providing excellent services to foreign tourists, tourism workers and business owners are expected to have good English mastery. Objectives: This community service aims to provide a support for the tourism workers and business owners under the supervision of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Youth, and Sports and the Department of Tourism Promotion of Blitar Regency in terms of improving their English mastery, especially their communication skills in English. Methods: The activity was carried out in three stages, namely two material sessions, speaking activities, and feedback. Results: This activity gave the participants an opportunity to practice serving a customer in English. Even though it was quite challenging for some of the participants, they felt encouraged to actively participate in the speaking activities and get familiar with expressions used in tourism and hospitality services. Conclusion: The supervision and training sessions in speaking English was very enlightening for the participants to improve their English mastery in tourism services. It needs a continuation to provide greater impact to the targeted participants.

Exploring the Implementation of Teacher’s Feedback on Students’ Speaking Skill

The background of the paper relates to the role of the teacher in the teaching and learning process as well as students as the subjects of that process. The learning and teaching process is primarily teacher-centered. The students had little opportunity to participate actively in class because the teacher constantly explained. Students felt hesitant to express their ideas as a result. They preferred to communicate in Indonesian rather than English. Additionally, they had a tendency to speak incorrectly, mispronouncing words, creating grammatical errors, and making inappropriate remarks. There are several goals for this research. The first is to identify and describe various forms of feedback from teachers on students' speaking activities. The second goal, however, is to have students speak about the reasons for giving such feedback and to explain those reasons. This study used a descriptive qualitative methodology. The research strategy that should describe and explain the phenomenon is the descriptive method. The researches' primary tools were interviews and documentation. Interviews are conducted with both the students and the English teacher who is actively involved in the educational process. However, the lesson plan for an English teacher and a photograph of a teacher in the classroom are used by the researcher as evidence. The results of this study are outside simply describing the various forms of teacher feedback used when educating students in English in the classroom. The researcher then goes on to discuss the various types of feedback that teachers can provide for their students as well as the challenges they face in doing so. The researcher also discusses the issues that students encounter while learning and teaching in relation to teacher feedback.

A Pedagogical Appraisal of the Higher Secondary Textbook of Bangladesh for Teaching Listening and Speaking Skills

Textbook evaluation is essential to determine whether the text is standard enough to achieve the teaching objectives. The researcher used the qualitative research method to collect data for this study to investigate the suitability of the textbook of Higher Secondary Level in Bangladesh for teaching listening and speaking skills. Based on the internal evaluation criteria (MacDonough & Shaw, 2013) of the text and semi-structured interviews with eight teachers, the findings reveal that the book includes inadequate lessons and inappropriate activities for improving learners’ listening skills. However, the study finds the book satisfactory for teaching speaking skills with suitable lessons and activities, although there is still room for improvement in the text by including more diverse speaking activities.

Using Simulation Activities in English Speaking Practice for Secondary School Students

The purpose of this study was to discover whether using simulation activities for 10th graders at a gifted high school in Vietnam and implementing such tasks in English speaking practice is beneficial to the students. A series of additional simulation activities were designed on the basis of the English 10 Textbook used in that school. A group of 30 students took part in an 8-week intervention in which they were required to complete 2 speaking activities each week and take a survey questionnaire before and after the treatment. In addition, the questionnaire was sent to the students to gain some insights about their opinions towards the materials. The findings of the post survey indicated that the students' speaking skills had improved significantly after they used the simulation activities. According to the results of the questionnaires, the materials provided were adequate and suited for 10th graders who want to improve their speaking skills. This study also revealed that these supplemental materials appeal to 10th graders' interests in improving their speaking performances. As a result, it is proposed that more frequent utilization of simulation activities should be provided in speaking instruction to improve the speaking performance of 10th graders.

Investigating freshmen’s L2 speaking anxiety level in Indonesia

The present study aims at investigating freshmen’s English (hereafter is called L2) speaking anxiety level in the classroom. The data were derived from online survey on 155 freshmen on two English Education Departments in Palangka Raya. The result indicated that the freshmen were experiencing a high level of L2 speaking anxiety in the classroom. Further, the result of independent sample t-test analysis showed that there was no significant difference on freshmen’s L2 speaking anxiety level by their gender. Similarly, one-way ANOVA analysis indicated that there was no a statistical difference on freshmen’s L2 speaking anxiety by English learning experience. Considering the findings, a high level of speaking anxiety is a serious problem to measure as it will make students disinclined to L2 speaking activities leading to poor L2 speaking fluency.

Students’ Preference of Speaking Activities in Online ESP Classes

This study aims to find out the students’ preferences for online classroom activities in English for Specific Purpose (ESP) speaking skills and the benefits that the students get from their preferred activities. Eighty-five students of the Psychology Department ranging from 17 to 22 years old, were proportionally selected to involve filling in the questionnaire and 10 students were interviewed. The findings show that there were several online learning activities both in synchronous or asynchronous mode including conducting a discussion by using video conference (zoom, google meet, etc.), conducting online task or quizzes, making a self-introduction video, conducting asynchronous discussion through learning platforms (canvas/LMS, google classroom, Edmodo, etc.), watching a Youtube video, making video project about a topic, and making a video about digital storytelling. Yet, the most favourable ofthe students’ preferences of online classroom activities in ESP speaking skills is discussion activities by using video conferences such as Zoom and Google Meet (Mean=3.3). Those activities were beneficial for students to improve students’ vocabulary, creativity, and speaking skills as well. In conclusion, t he use of video conferencing such as Zoom and Google Meet was considthe most preferable learning activities for speaking skills, followed by quizzes, watching Youtube, and other online learning activities. The students perceived that online speaking activities could improve their speaking skills. In addition, the implication of the study will be further discussed as well.

Features of Teaching Students of a Financial and Economic University to the General American Pronunciation Within a Communicative Language Teaching Approach

The presented article actualizes the topic of teaching the General American pronunciation to students of a financial and economic profile. It is noted that the practice of teaching foreign pronunciation should be carried out in conjunction with teaching all types of speaking activity in a foreign language. Attention is focused on the main principles of a communicative language teaching approach in teaching pronunciation. The features of the General American pronunciation, the development of which seems to be the most relevant for students of the financial and economic profile, are highlighted.

Whose emotion matters? Speaking activity localisation without prior knowledge

The task of emotion recognition in conversations (ERC) benefits from the availability of multiple modalities, as provided, for example, in the video-based Multimodal EmotionLines Dataset (MELD). However, only a few research approaches use both acoustic and visual information from the MELD videos. There are two reasons for this: First, label-to-video alignments in MELD are noisy, making those videos an unreliable source of emotional speech data. Second, conversations can involve several people in the same scene, which requires the localisation of the utterance source. In this paper, we introduce MELD with Fixed Audiovisual Information via Realignment (MELD-FAIR) by using recent active speaker detection and automatic speech recognition models, we are able to realign the videos of MELD and capture the facial expressions from speakers in 96.92% of the utterances provided in MELD. Experiments with a self-supervised voice recognition model indicate that the realigned MELD-FAIR videos more closely match the transcribed utterances given in the MELD dataset. Finally, we devise a model for emotion recognition in conversations trained on the realigned MELD-FAIR videos, which outperforms state-of-the-art models for ERC based on vision alone. This indicates that localising the source of speaking activities is indeed effective for extracting facial expressions from the uttering speakers and that faces provide more informative visual cues than the visual features state-of-the-art models have been using so far. The MELD-FAIR realignment data, and the code of the realignment procedure and of the emotional recognition, are available at https://github.com/knowledgetechnologyuhh/MELD-FAIR.

Improvement of Mahārat al-Kalām in Arabic Learning through Total Physical Response Method

The Total Physical Response (TPR) learning method was developed by James J. Asher. He argues that direct pronunciation to children or students contains an order, and then children or students will respond physically before producing verbal or speech responses. The aims of this study were (1) to find out how far speaking skills (mahārat al-kalām) in Arabic have increased through the TPR method in MTsN 4 Jombang, and (2) to find out the supporting and inhibiting factors in increasing mahārat al-kalām through the TPR method in MTsN 4 Jombang. This research method uses a descriptive-qualitative approach with data collection techniques using observation, interviews, documentation, and oral tests. The data analysis technique uses data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing or verification. The results showed that (1) with the TPR learning method, the final test score of Arabic learning for mahārat al-kalām in cycle 1 was 74.3% (good). After being given referrals again in cycle 2, it reached 87.6% (very good); (2) The supporting factors that influence speaking activities are language (linguistics) and non-linguistics, while the inhibiting factors are more dominant due to a lack of vocabulary (mufradāt) mastery.

ECHO-REPETITION AS A METHOD OF LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE

The technique of echo-repetition, or shadowing, has gained popularity as a way of individual or independent copying of pronunciation of a foreign speaker. The article considers the potential and prospects of using such a technique during the practice of simultaneous translation. The brief analysis of native and foreign literature conveys the interest of both theorists and practitioners in the methodology of developing listening skills when learning a foreign language. The research consists in updating the most effective (from the author’s point of view) methods of working with audio material. Listening is considered to be one of the key elements in learning a foreign language along with writing, reading and speaking activities. Echo-repetition aims at a detailed study of the audio text with its further assimilation at all levels of the language. The author points out the material selection criteria and the algorithm for working on it. The article also analyses methods of working with audio text within the framework of using the echo-repetition technique. The purpose of the study is to define the most effective (from the author’s perspective) techniques for working with audio material at different stages of teaching any foreign language. In the practical part of the study, techniques for exceling and improving listening skills are described. The practical significance of the work lies in the actualization of various listening techniques. The described techniques can be used at any level of proficiency in a foreign language. The conclusions summarize the information given and trace the prospects for further research in that field.

Developing Addie Model: Speaking for Informal Interaction Based on OBE Curriculum

Coursebook plays an essential role in English language teaching. It is a guide to the prescribed curriculum and syllabus. However, the coursebook does not always match the needs of students and lecturers. This study aims to develop a speaking coursebook using the ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation) model based on OBE Curriculum. Researchers used Research and Development (RD) in which the data were collected through questionnaire and interview. There were 26 students and two lecturers in the English Language Education Study Program. From the finding, the design and development of the coursebook are highly influenced by the result of the needs analysis. From the impact of the need analysis, the researchers developed the coursebook for Speaking for Informal Interaction that provides achievable teaching ideas for lecturers, including speaking activities, vocabulary, grammar, dialogue examples, exercise (individual, pair, or group work), and lesson learned related to the topics discussed. The result of validation from experts (design, content, and language), students, and lecturers agreed that the coursebook had met the criteria of a good coursebook. The results of this study can later be effectively used to support the achievement of student communicative competence, especially in the Speaking for Informal Interaction course.

Undergraduate Students' Perception on The Use of Role-Play In Speaking Class

This study aims to analyze the undergraduate students’ perception of role-play in speaking class that focuses on self-concept and speaking ability. The researchers employed a case study of twenty-five undergraduate students who had attended speaking subject with role play as the activity in the learning process. The data were collected by distributing 25-item questionnaires and open-ended interviews to confirm the questionnaire data. The researchers analyzed the questionnaire data quantitatively with mean formulation followed by range score category for the interview data descriptively. The results reported that the student’s perception of the use of role-play and their self-concept gained a high score. The students perceived that role play is a suitable and effective technique in speaking class. It helps them to communicate effectively through the use of a script. It also builds self-confidence and motivation to improve their speaking ability. In speaking activities, role play is perceived to create satisfaction and a comfortable and interesting atmosphere. The students are challenged to perform better due to the massive space of practice with their friends with the real life and familiar situation brought to the activity. This study implies that speaking activities with role play to be conducted more frequently and cover more meaningful and contextual topics for the students. This study suggests a comprehensible investigation of the factors underlying the students’ confidence in speaking with role play as the activity.

메타버스 게더타운 활용 영어 말하기 수업에 대한 학습자 인식 조사 연구

With recent developments in Metaverse technology, the topic of integrating Metaverse platforms into language classrooms has received increasing attention due to its enormous potential for language learning. This study aims to adopt one of the most popular Metaverse platforms, Gather.town, for EFL speaking, and to investigate learners' perceptions of their learning experiences. Specifically, the study investigated how college EFL learners perceived the use of this Metaverse platform for their English speaking. A total of 23 college EFL students participated in this study, engaging in various speaking activities offered in the Metaverse platform throughout the semester. To collect data, the survey and qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted. The study results indicated that the participants perceived the interaction opportunities in the Metaverse platform positively overall. They thought this platform was useful for their learning, and they perceived that their engagement in speaking activities had enhanced and their confidence in speaking had improved.
 The affordance of using the Metaverse platform was its potential to create a more anxiety-free and comfortable learning environment for learners. Results suggest that Gather.town has potential to develop learners' speaking proficiency in the EFL classroom due to its learner-centered design advantages and ease of free communication among learners.