Diagnosis Of The Main Reasons for Intensive Advanced English II Students of Semester I-2014, at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador To Be Afraid of Speaking English in Public Inside and Outside the Classroom
Subject:
Seminar I
Students:
Garca Mira, Luis Alonso Mazariego Santamara, Jos Francisco Rivas Alvarenga, Carlos Amlcar
INTRODUCTION
This research project called Diagnosis of the Main Reasons for Intensive Advanced English II Students of Semester I-2014, at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador to be Afraid of Speaking English in Public Inside and Outside the Classroom the researchers will execute an investigation to find out suitable answers for the questions Why are Intensive Advanced English II Students of Semester I-2014, at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador, Afraid of speaking English in Public Inside and Outside the Classroom? And how does being afraid of speaking English in public hinder Intensive Advanced English II students academic success? The main purpose of this investigation is to find out the answers for the questions formulated at the very beginning of the project, to identify the main problems students face while speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom, and to provide specific tips for students to overcome the fear of speaking English in public. In order to develop a well-structured research project, the researchers will get involved into a deep theoretical analysis in order to gather information with the aim of getting updated on all the causes that affect students public speaking English in public, how these causes affect their performance, and the different solutions that experts provide to overcome the problem of public speaking. On the other hand, in chapter one, the researchers will develop the statement of the problem in order to describe all the difficulties that Advanced English II students face at the moment of speaking English in public, and how these difficulties affect their academic development. In chapter two, the investigators conducted a deep literature review in order to set a theoretical base
to gather relevant and necessary information to find out all the factors that affect peoples public speaking. After that, in chapter three, the researchers will work on the operationalization of variables in order to organize the hypothesis, set the variables and develop the indicators for creating the tools that will be used to gather the information. In chapter four, the researchers elaborated the methodology in order to illustrate, and organize all the steps to follow at the time of carrying out the investigation. Finally, in chapter five, the researchers will build up the timetable to establish the dates for developing every single activity of the investigation. Doubtlessly, in order to execute an excellent investigation, the researchers will carry out checklists, observation checklists, and surveys with the objective of gathering data from Intensive Advanced English II students to find out the main reasons that affect students development while speaking English in public, to discover how much students practice English daily, and to analyze their study habits with the aim of providing tips that will help them overcome their difficulties when speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom.
ABSTRACT
The research study Diagnosis of the Main Reasons for Intensive Advanced English II Students of Semester I-2014, at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador to be Afraid of Speaking English in Public inside and outside the Classroom talks about the challenges that Intensive Advanced English II students face when speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom. The core of this research lays on two main objectives: to identify the main reasons why the mentioned students are afraid of speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom, and to determine the consequences of this phenomenon. In order to test the hypothesis, Intensive Advanced English II students of the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador do not like to speak English inside and outside the classroom due to internal factors and psychological issues which affect their performance in their oral skill, the researchers will develop a descriptive and explanatory study under the quantitative paradigm. During this study, the involved students will be asked to provide certain information, which will be gathered through surveys, checklists, and observation checklists for later analysis and interpretation. In addition, the information will be organized in graphs and tables to make its representation more understandable for future investigations about the topic. The population involved in this project is seventy two students of the mentioned subject. Moreover, at the end of this project, the researchers will provide some tips on how to overcome the challenges that students may face when speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom.
INDEX
INTRODUCTION_________________________________________________________i ABSTRACT _________________________________________________________________ 4 CHAPTER I _________________________________________________________________ 7 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM______________________________________________7 1.1. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM ________________________________________8 1.2 OBJECTIVES __________________________________________________________ 11
1.2.1 GENERAL OBJECTIVES ___________________________________________________________ 11 1.2.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES ____________________________________________________________ 12
1.3 JUSTIFICATION ________________________________________________________ 12 1.4 SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH ____________________________________________ 13 CHAPTER II _______________________________________________________________ 15 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ________________________________________________ 15 2.1 PUBLIC SPEAKING ANXIETY ___________________________________________ 16 2.2 THE HIDDEN PSYCHOLOGY BEHIND THE FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING ___ 17 2.3 TWO BIGGEST MYTHS ABOUT THE FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING _________ 18 2.4 MAKING MISTAKES ON ORAL PRODUCTION ____________________________ 19 2.5 LANGUAGE ANXIETY __________________________________________________ 21
2.5.1 Definition and Types of Anxiety ___________________________________________________ 23 2.5.2 Second or Foreign Language Anxiety _______________________________________________ 24 2.5.3 What Causes Language Anxiety? ___________________________________________________ 24
2.6 COMPONENTS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANXIETY AND RELATED CAUSAL FACTORS ________________________________________________________________ 25
2.6.1 Communication Apprehension (CA) ________________________________________________ 26 2.6.2 Test Anxiety ___________________________________________________________________ 28 2.6.3 Fear of Negative Evaluation ______________________________________________________ 29
2.9 TIPS TO OVERCOME FEAR WHEN SPEAKING IN PUBLIC _________________ 38 CHAPTER III _______________________________________________________________ 41
3.1 HYPOTHESIS __________________________________________________________ 41 3.2 VISUALIZATION OF VARIABLES ________________________________________ 41 CHAPTER IV _______________________________________________________________ 44 METHODOLOGY __________________________________________________________ 44
4.1. Type of Study and Design _________________________________________________________ 44 4.2. Sampling Procedure ______________________________________________________________ 45 4.3. Preliminary Phase _______________________________________________________________ 45 4.3.1 Approaching the Field of Study ____________________________________________________ 45 4.3.2. Diagnostic Study _______________________________________________________________ 46 4.3.3. Definition of the Problem ________________________________________________________ 48 4.4. Planning Phase __________________________________________________________________ 49 4.4.1. Literature Review ______________________________________________________________ 50 4.4.2. Operationalization of Variables ___________________________________________________ 52 4.4.3. Data Collection Instruments ______________________________________________________ 52 4.4.4. Validation of Data Collection Instruments ___________________________________________ 55 4.4.5 Validity and Reliability ___________________________________________________________ 55 4.4.6. Ethical Aspects ________________________________________________________________ 56
REFERENCES _____________________________________________________________ 64 APPENDIXES ______________________________________________________________ 66 Appendix A_________________________________________________________________ 66 Appendix B _________________________________________________________________ 67 Appendix C _________________________________________________________________ 68 Appendix D_________________________________________________________________ 69 Appendix E _________________________________________________________________ 72 Appendix F _________________________________________________________________ 74 Appendix G_________________________________________________________________ 77
CHAPTER I
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Nowadays, it is essential to learn the English language. Every day English is used more in almost all areas of the knowledge of human development. Practically, it can be argued that it is the language of the world. Currently, 4,000 million people speak English as their native language, and more than 1,000 million non-native speakers use it for work or studies (The importance, 2011). People learn English either as ESL (Language as a Second Language), or EFL (English as a Foreign Language), depending on the environment they live in. For many non native English students, to learn how to speak the language is a very challenging task since it demands a commitment of willingness to practice the language constantly. However, many non-native English students have fear of speaking the language because of the thought that they may end up speaking English incorrectly, which may make them look foolish in front of an audience (Steward, 2011). Certainly, during the learning process of English as a foreign language, the development of the oral skill is affected by anxiety and fear of speaking in public. Advanced English II students of the University of El Salvador Western Multidisciplinary Campus have not been the exception; lately, through interviews and observations carried out with them, the research team found out those English students have fear of speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom.
not practice the target language. Certainly, the students accepted their fear of speaking English inside and outside the classroom. However, they confessed that they have not found the ways in which they can cope with this situation. Moreover, in a survey conducted to one of the Intensive Advanced English II groups at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador, the research team disclosed that: 19 students out of 28 expressed that they do not speak English all the time inside of the classroom. 14 students out of 28 stated that they do not practice their English outside the classroom. 21 students out of 28 expressed that they feel fear or anxiety when speaking English in public. 20 students out of 28 stated that they do not feel confident with their level of English. 17 students out of 28 stated that their teachers make them feel nervous when speaking English in front of everyone. In a semi-structured interview administered to the head of the English Language Department at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador semester II-2013, she established several good remarks about the fear that Intensive Advanced English II students experience when speaking English inside and outside the classroom. She, for example, clarified that students do have fear or anxiety when speaking English in public. She explained that this
fear or anxiety happens because students barely practice the language outside the classroom, and because students are afraid of making mistakes when speaking English in public. Besides, she expressed that students have not understood that the most natural way of learning a language is by making mistakes. She mentioned that students, most of the time, are afraid of speaking English because teachers tend to overcorrect them. Teachers are always after students mistakes, she said. Teachers should give strategies on how to cope with students challenges instead of concentrating themselves on every mistake that students make. Moreover, she expressed that Intensive Advanced Englis h II students do not possess enough vocabulary they need to express their ideas. That is why, students feel unconfident when they have to speak English. The head of the Department, moreover, said that the fear or anxiety that students have can affect their academic development not only in their grades, but also in their performance at the end of their major since she has observed that when students reach the fifth year of the major, some students speak very well, but some others speak really poorly. Finally, she stated that in some cases, students do not have clear objectives of what they are doing, and they do not practice the English language. Therefore, students results will be bad grades and performance. What the head of the department stated is clearly reflected not only on students performance inside and outside the classroom, but also on their grades. For example, the average grade of one of the Advanced English groups in the role-play evaluation was five point sixty four. Twenty students out of thirty-six passed the evaluation. However, their grades were not satisfactory because the majority of them passed the evaluation with a grade of six. The highest grade was
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nine, and the lowest grade was three. In contrast to students oral examinations, their written examination remained almost the same in their first written test. In here, the average grade was four point thirty three. Eight students out of 36 passed the written test. The highest grade was seven, and the lowest was two. From these oral and written examination results, researchers inferred that students fear of speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom can affect not only their oral skills but also their written skills. According to the precise assumptions that the head of the English language department stated, the remarks that Intensive Advanced English II students shared in the interviews, and survey, and according to Intensive Advanced English II students grades in their first oral and written examinations, the purpose of this research study is to find out the possible answers for the questions: Why are Intensive Advanced English II students of semester I-2014, at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador, afraid of speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom? And how does being afraid of speaking English in public hinder Intensive Advanced II students academic success?
1.2 OBJECTIVES
1.2.1 GENERAL OBJECTIVES a) To identify the main reasons why Intensive Advanced English II students of Semester I-2014, at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador, are afraid of speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom
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b) To determine the consequences of this phenomenon on Intensive Advanced English II students of Semester I-2014, at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador c) To help Intensive Advanced English II students of Semester I-2014, at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador, in a little extent to cope with their fears of speaking English by providing some tips . 1.2.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES a) To find out if nervousness and anxiety affect students performance when speaking English in public b) To ascertain if the lack of practice of the English language outside the classroom lowers students grades in oral evaluations c) To reveal how much time students practice the target language outside the classroom d) To provide some tips to help students overcome the challenges they may have when speaking English in public
1.3 JUSTIFICATION
This investigation is of great importance since it will provide a broader understanding of the main reasons why Intensive Advanced II students of Semester I-2014, at the University of El Salvador Western Multidisciplinary Campus are afraid of speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom. This investigation, moreover, will help to determine the consequences that this phenomenon has on the students academic development and success. Therefore,
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this research study will be also helpful for English teachers since once the reasons and consequences of students fear of speaking in public are disclosed , they will be able to create suitable strategies and to choose a methodological approach on how to help students cope with their fear of speaking inside of the classroom. In this way, English teachers will contribute to decrease this phenomenon, and also to boost an accurate enhancement in students speaking skills. Besides, this investigation is worth carrying since it will provide students with tips and recommendations on how to enhance their speaking English in public. Through this investigation, not only students who will study Advanced English II during 2014 will be favored, but also students who will study Advanced English II during the following terms since it will contribute with useful data on how the fear of speaking English in public affects English students proficiency. Finally, this study will provide some recommendations and ideas for further studies or investigations on students fear or anxiety when speaking English in public outside and inside the classroom.
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that the financial issue will not be a bounder. Other Intensive Advanced English II students of other Campus are not going to be included because of the lack of resources to commute. The researchers in this study will pursue the main reasons why Intensive Advanced English II students are afraid of speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom. Besides, the researchers will be focusing on the type of oral practices the students have in their classes, and the time that Advanced English II students employ to practice their English daily. Besides, the researchers will focus on investigating whether Advanced English II students study in groups or not. The techniques that researchers will use in this investigation are observation, interview, and survey. In addition, the tools and techniques that researchers are going to use to collect the data are a checklist, a questionnaire and a survey.
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International Language, and it is also the second language of many countries in the world. Therefore, we can realize the importance of this language in communication. By knowing English, we can travel to different countries and communicate with the citizens of most such countries in this globe, without any confusion in expressing our feelings and thoughts. Another important fact of the English language is that it creates greater job opportunities. As we know, in this modern world, businesses are targeting at qualities of employees, and knowing English is one of those qualities. Consequently, if we possess enough knowledge about it, we will have more chances to get a good job. Hence, we can predict that the English language will continue to develop and bring us more advantages in the near future and, maybe someday, English will be the only language in the world (The Importance, 2013).
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Many students who experience public speaking anxiety have low self-esteem (Katz, 2,000). In addition to the emotional aspects of public speaking anxiety, there are often physical symptoms as well. These symptoms are associated with anxiety, and include trembling or shaking, cold clammy hands, shaky voice, rapid heartbeat, sweating, blushing, dizziness, shortness of breath, digestive discomfort, or forgetting something you know or were about to say.
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but by the audiences reaction to our performance. Or put simply, we are afraid that our nervousness will interfere with our ability to perform and we will end up embarrassing ourselves. Accepting our fear helps us to take proactive steps in addressing stage fright and letting the adrenaline rush work for you, not against you.
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This author also asserted that fear is not only a normal reaction to a public speaking event, but actually boosts our performance. Psychologists agree that some amount of fear heightens your awareness, improves your concentration, sharpens your thinking and gives you an energy boost. It is fear that allows most speakers to perform better during the actual presentation than during practice.
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important to make students conscious of the role that mistakes play in the development of a language. As Jianing, (2007), (cited in Castrilln, 2010, p. 24), explains in her work, many English students believe that if they make mistakes or fail to find appropriate words to express themselves, they will lose face. To protect themselves from being laughed at, they are reluctant to speak English. So there is the vicious circle: the less they speak, the less they improve their speaking skills, and the more they are afraid of speaking. Jianing, (2007) also states in her study that foreign language learners tend to lose interest in what they learn if they find they make little progress. Additionally, fear of making errors and losing respect are some of the factors that influenced university students willingness in participating in classroom oral communication (Lin, 1998), (cited in Castrilln, 2010). However, Essberger, (2007), (cited in Castrilln, 2010, p. 24), highlighted the importance of making mistakes, he stated that students should make mistakes and in that way, they would be aware of what is happening in their utterances, Essberger, (2007), concluded that The person who never made a mistake never made anything. So when students know that they have made a mistake, they know that they have made progress. When students are freed of the need to interpret expectations and figure out task organization, they can concentrate on and take risks in learning. In relation with this, Hernandez, (2005), (as cited in Castrilln, 2010, p. 24) states that:
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According to Stryker and Leaver (1997) language learning has been compared to learning to ride a bike or learning to play an instrument. Even though it is widely recognized that the best way to develop these skills is by doing them, and not by just studying them or performing exercises and drills, traditional foreign language classes resemble a music class in which the students spend time practicing scales and theory instead of playing real pieces. This is what very often happens in any English courses, where students have to deal with grammar rules when writing or reading, but most of the time, they do not face oral communication, so they do not get practice enough in the target language and they become afraid of talking in front of others. The interactional opportunities offered by the different activities developed in the classroom and the active participation of the students in English classes should help them to improve oral communication skills and develop the oral abilities to communicate fluently in different contexts. As Kozuh, (2004), (cited in Castrilln, 2010, p. 25), explains, communication is a skill much like swimming if people don't get into the water and actually swim, their swimming will not improve. The importance of speaking skill is also highlighted by Cotter, (2007), (cited by Castrilln, 2010), when he states that humans need language for communication after all, and that primarily means speaking no matter the mistakes students might have when orally interacting with peers or other people.
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prevents some people from performing successfully in science or mathematics, many people find foreign language learning, especially in classroom situations, particularly stressful. When anxiety is limited to the language-learning situation, it falls into the category of specific anxiety reactions. Psychologists use the term specific anxiety reaction to differentiate people who are generally anxious in a variety of situations from those who are anxious only in specific situations. Researchers have identified several specific anxieties associated with school tasks such as test taking and with academic subjects such as mathematics or science. Second language researchers and theorists have long been aware that anxiety is often associated with language learning (Hortwitz & Cope, 1986). I always feel nervous when speaking English. I feel bad in my mind because I wonder why I cant speak English very well. My English is not good enough; I cant express myself very well. According to Horwitz (1986), (as cited in Tanveer, 2007, p.1), such statements are commonly uttered by foreign language learners and are too familiar to the foreign language teachers. These statements indicate an important problem that the majority of students face in learning and particularly speaking a second or foreign language. Many learners express their inability and sometimes even acknowledge their failure in learning to speak a second/foreign language. These learners may be good at learning other skills but, when it comes to learning to speak another language, they claim to have a mental block against it. What, then, hinders or stops them to succeed in learning a second/foreign language?
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For Guiora, (1983), (as cited in Tanveer, 2007, p. 1), in many cases, students feeling of stress, anxiety or nervousness may impede their language learning and performance abilities. Theorists and second language acquisition (SLA) researchers have frequently demonstrated that these feelings of anxiety are specifically associated with learning and speaking a second/foreign language, which distinguishes L2/FL learning from learning other skills or subjects. Both teachers and students are aware and generally feel that anxiety is a major hurdle to be overcome when learning to speak another language. Learning a language itself is a profoundly unsettling psychological proposition because it directly threatens an individuals self-concept and world-view.
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language (Horwitz, 2001), (as cited in Tanveer, 2007, p. 4). Within social contexts, language anxiety may be experienced due to extrinsic motivators, such as different social and cultural environments, particularly the environments where L1 and L2/FL learning takes place. The target language is a representation of another cultural community; there is a predisposition among some people to experience such anxiety because of their own concerns about ethnicity and foreignness (Schwartz & Scovel, 1991), (as cited in Tanveer, 2007, p. 5). The social status of the speaker and the interlocutor, a sense of power relations between them, and gender could also be important factors in causing language anxiety for L2/FL speakers. A further detailed investigation of these factors could potentially assist language teachers to alleviate anxiety in the classroom setting and to make the classroom environment less anxiety-provoking and hence to improve learners performance in the target language (Horwitz & Young, 1991), ( as cited in Tanveer, 2007, p. 4-5).
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the concept of second/foreign language anxiety, providing an insight to comprehend the sources or causes it can originate.
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apprehension is but one of these factors, the others can lead to communication apprehension. Daly, (1991), (as cited in Tanveer, 2007, p. 12), presents five explanations in the development of CA which can offer an insight into the issue of understanding what causes language anxiety for EFL/ESL learners. In the first place, he explains CA in terms of genetic disposition indicating that ones genetic legacy may be a substantial contributor to ones anxiety. Later in 1997, McCroskey, (cited in Apaibanditkul, 2006), (as cited in Tanveer, 2007), stated that children seem to be born with certain personality predispositions towards CA. Secondly, he explains CA in terms of reinforcement and punishment related to the act of communication. He asserts that individuals who from early childhood are greeted with negative reactions from others in response to their attempt to communicate develop the sense that staying quiet is more highly rewarded than talking. This can suggest, according to behaviorist learning methodology that the negative reactions to learners errors by language instructors can reinforce their fear of making mistakes and future attempts to communicate. Related to this cause is the inconsistent and random pattern of rewards, punishments, and non-responses for engaging in the same verbal activity. Another explanation Daly (1991), (as cited in Tanveer, 2007, p. 12), focuses on is the adequacy of peoples early communication skills acquisition. Thirteen children who receive a wealth of early experience of talking are more likely to be less apprehensive than those who receive less opportunities of communication. The last perspective he emphasizes is that the children who have been exposed to appropriate socialinteractive models of communication are generally less
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apprehensive than those who have been exposed to inadequate or less interactive models. All these five explanations suggest that the development of CA in individuals results from nature or their surroundings. In case of situational CA, the causes are numerous. According to Richmond and McCroskey, (as cited in
Tanveer, 2007, p.12), these causes vary from one person to another or from
one situation to another. Buss (1980), (as cited in Tanveer, 2007, p. 12), lists novelty, formality, subordinate status, conspicuousness, unfamiliarity, dissimilarity, and degree of attention as the major sources of situational CA. Communication apprehension obviously plays a large role in second/foreign language anxiety. People who are apprehensive speaking in groups are likely to be even in more trouble when doing so in a second/foreign language class, where in addition to feeling less in control of the communicative situation, they also may feel that their attempts at oral work are constantly being monitored. This apprehension is explained in relation to the learners negative self perceptions caused by the inability to understand others and make himself/herself understood. McCroskey (as cited in Apaibanditkul, 2006), (as cited in Tanveer,
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from a fear of failure. Test anxiety is quite pervasive in language classrooms because of its continuous performance evaluative nature. Unfortunately, for highly anxious students, second/foreign languages, more than any other academic subject, require continual evaluation by the instructor. It is also important to note that oral testing has the potential to provoke both test and oral communication anxiety simultaneously in susceptible students (Horwitz, 1986), (as cited in
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the meaning of words more clearly and fluently. If they do not know the meaning of words, they will not be able to speak, write and translate anything into English. The students can be said to be gaining progress in English, the mastery of vocabulary (Fariska, 2010).
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2. Heard the word, but cannot define it 3. Recognize the word due to context or tone of voice 4. Able to use the word but cannot clearly explain it 5. Fluent with the word its use and definition Whether in ones native language or a second language, the acquisition of new vocabulary is a continuous process. Many methods can help one acquire new vocabulary. Although memorization can be seen as tedious or boring, associating one word in the native language with the corresponding word in the second language until memorized is still one of the best methods of vocabulary acquisition. By the time students reach adulthood, they generally gather a number of personalized memorization methods. Although many argue that memorization does not typically require the complex cognitive processing that increase retention. It does typically require a plethora of repetition. Other methods typically require more time and longer to recall (Fariska, 2010). Some words cannot be easily linked through association or other methods. When a word in the second language is phonologically or visually similar to a word in the native language, one often assumes they also share similar meanings. Though this is frequently the case, it is not always true. When faced with a false cognate, memorization and repetition are the keys to mastery. If a second language learner relies solely on word associations to learn new vocabulary, that person will have a very difficult time mastering false cognates. When large amounts of vocabulary must be acquired in a limited amount of time, when the
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learners need to recall information quickly, when words represent abstract concepts or are difficult to create as a mental image, or when discriminating between false cognates, rote memorization is the method to use (Fariska, 2010).
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2.8 MOTIVATION
Motivation is an important factor in learning a second and foreign language (Gardner, Scarcella & Oxford, 1992), (as cited in Lucas, Pulido, Miraflores, Ignacio, Tacay, & Lao, 2010, p. 3). It is defined as the individuals attitudes, desires, and effort (Gardner, Tremblay & Masgoret, 1997), (as cited in Lucas, et al, 2010, p. 3). Moreover, Ryan and Deci (2000), (as cited in Lucas, et al., 2010, p. 3), define motivation as concerning energy, direction, persistence and equifinality-all aspects of activation and intention. In the field of second language acquisition (SLA), motivation has been identified as one of the key factors that determine L2 achievement and attainment. It serves as an impetus to generate learning initially and later as a sustaining force to the tedious process of acquiring a target language (Cheng & Dornyei, 2007), (as cited in Lucas, et al, 2010, p. 3-4).
assessment techniques and instruments thus bringing L2 motivation research to reach its zenith in the field of research (Dornyei, 1994), (as cited in Lucas et al, 2010, p. 4-5).
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In their early institution of L2 motivation, Gardner and Lambert, (1972), (as cited in Lucas, Pulido, Miraflores, Ignacio, Tacay, & Lao, 2010, p. 5), suggested that an individuals motivation to learn an L2 is nurtured by both attitudes toward the L2 community and the goals, or orientations, sought through the acquisition of the L2. These researchers identified two classes of motivation. First, integrative motivation refers to a desire to learn the L2 in order to have contact with, and perhaps to identify with, members from the L2 community. This orientation can be contrasted with the instrumental orientation, which refers to a desire to learn the L2 to achieve some practical goal, such as job advancement or course credit (Noels, Pelletier, Clement & Vallerand, 2000), (as cited in Lucas et al, 2010, p. 5). Ryan, Kuhl and Deci (1997), (as cited in Lucas et al, 2010, p. 5), introduced the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) which they defined as an approach to human motivation and personality that utilizes traditional empirical methods while employing a metatheory that highlights the importance of humans evolved inner resources for personality development and behavioral self-regulation. This approach examines peoples inherent growth tendencies and innate psychological needs that are the basis for their self-motivation and personality integration, as well as for the conditions that foster those positive processes.
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Intrinsic motivation (IM) refers to motivation to engage in activity because it is enjoyable and satisfying to do. Ryan and Deci, (1985), (as cited in Lucas et al, 2010, p. 6), believe that intrinsic motivation is founded upon innate needs for competence and self-determination. They hypothesize that when people are free to choose to perform an activity, they will seek interesting situations where they can rise to the challenges that the activity presents. By striving to meet these challenges, learners develop a sense of competence in their abilities. Ryan and Deci (2000), (as cited in Lucas, Pulido, Miraflores, Ignacio, Tacay, & Lao, 2010, p. 6), posit that no single phenomenon reflects the positive potential of human nature as much as intrinsic motivation, which is defined as the inherent tendency to seek out novelty and challenges, to extend and exercise ones capacities, to explore, and to learn. Developmentalists acknowledge that from time of birth, children, in their earliest and healthiest states, are active, inquisitive, curious, and playful, even in the absence of rewards. The whole construct of intrinsic motivation describes this natural inclination toward assimilation, mastery, spontaneous interest, and exploration that is so essential to cognitive and social development and that represents a principal source of enjoyment throughout life (Ryan & Deci, 2000), (as cited in Lucas et al, 2010, p. 6). Ryan, Kuhl and Deci (1997), (as cited in Lucas et al, 2010, p. 6), also argued that despite the fact that humans are liberally endowed with intrinsic motivations, it is clear that the maintenance and enhancement of this inherent propensity requires supportive conditions, as it can be readily disrupted by various non-supportive conditions. Thus, their theory of intrinsic motivation does not
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concern what causes intrinsic motivation, but rather, it examines the conditions that elicit and sustain, versus subdue and diminish this innate propensity. Although intrinsic motivation is an important type of motivation, it is not the only type of the term extrinsic motivation refers to the performance of an activity in order to attain some separable outcome, and thus, contrasts with intrinsic motivation, which refers to doing an activity for the inherent satisfaction of the activity itself motivation (Deci and Ryan, 1985), (as cited in Lucas, Pulido, Miraflores, Ignacio, Tacay, & Lao, 2010, p. 7). In contrast to intrinsically motivated behaviors, extrinsic motivation (EM) are those actions carried out to achieve some instrumental end, such as earning a reward or avoiding a punishment. This type of motivation does not necessarily imply a lack of self-determination in the behaviors performed. Vallerand (1987), (as cited in Lucas et al, 2010, pp. 7-8), maintained that different types of extrinsic motivation (EM) could be classified along a continuum according to the extent to which they are internalized into the self-concept (i.e., the extent to which the motivation is self-determined).
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the feeling associated with attempting to realize a goal or master a task. And IMstimulation refers to motivation based on the sensations stimulated by doing a task, i.e. fun and excitement (Carreira, 2005), (as cited in Lucas, Pulido, Miraflores, Ignacio, Tacay, & Lao, 2010, p. 8).
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looking at the slides too much. The audience is the focal point of their speech. Visuals are merely a tool to convey a message. Besides, speaking towards the screen or the wall makes it hard for their listeners to hear them. They do not have to stick their hands in their pockets. They have to hook their thumbs under their belt, or engage in other creative diversions as they speak. They need to answer any questions as succinctly and briefly as possible. Not everyone may be interested in this specific question. They do not have to diminish or underestimate their audience. Even if they are a world-known experts in their area of expertise, it is still not a good idea for them to use phrases like this is probably new to you or you probably dont know what this means, unless they are sharing groundbreaking news that nobody has heard of. They have to be their best selves. Too often, people giving business presentations believe that to look professionally they need to act or speak in a certain way, a stiff way. There is a huge difference between being professional and being downright boring. Share something real about themselves, either in words or delivery, which connects them to their listeners. They need to have fun. If a speaker is relaxed and enjoying every moment of their speech, it will make the speech much more enjoyable for the audience as well. They need to connect with people after the presentation. At the end of the speech, instead of recoiling backstage and doing a vicious
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deconstruction of every little mistake made during the presentation. They have to talk to people, answer questions, accept invitations, exchange business cards, network, and so on (Nikitina, 2011, p. 45 - 46).
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CHAPTER III
3.1 HYPOTHESIS 3.2 VISUALIZATION OF THE STUDY
General Objectives 1. To identify the main reasons why Intensive Advanced English II Students of Semester I-2014 at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador, are afraid of speaking English in public inside and Specific Objectives 1. To find out if nervousness and anxiety affect students performance when speaking English in public. 2. To ascertain if the lack of practice of the English language outside the classroom lowers students grades Hypothesis Intensive Advanced English II students of the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador do not like to speak English in public inside and Units of observation Intensive Advanced English Students Intensive Advanced English Teachers Variables Definition of Variables Indicators 1. Level of class participation a) Quality of class participation b) Students attitude when asked 2. Practicing the language outside the classroom Instruments Time 1 Hour 1.Checklist 2.Observation checklist 3.Questionnaires 1 Hour 1 hour
A feeling of not liking to speak, practice, or make use of the target language
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outside the classroom 2. To determine the consequences of this phenomenon on Intensive Adavanced English II students of semester I-2014, at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador.
in oral evaluations. 3. To reveal how much time students practice the target language outside the classroom. 4. To provide some tips to help students overcome the challenges they may have when speaking English in public.
outside the classroom because of internal factors and psychological issues which affect their performance in their oral skill.
1. Amount of vocabulary Intensive Advanced English Students Intensive Advanced English Teachers Facts or situations that exist or happen inside a person and influence the outcome of his or her acts a) reading habits b) limited access to literature 2. Motivation a) unclear objectives 1.Checklist 2.Observation checklist 3.Questionnaires
Internal factors
3. To help Intensive Advanced English Students of Semester I-2014, at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador, in a little extent to cope with their fears of speaking English by providing some tips.
1. Fear of speaking English Intensive Advanced English Students Intensive Advanced English a) Glossophobia b) management of the topic c) anxiety 2. Performance in their oral skill
Psychological issues
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CHAPTER IV
METHODOLOGY
In order to find out the answers for the questions Why are Intensive Advanced English II students of semester I-2014, at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador, afraid of speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom? And how does being afraid of speaking English in public hinder Intensive Advanced II students academic success? the researchers will execute an investigation called Diagnosis of the Main Reasons for Intensive Advanced English II Students of Semester I-2014, at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador to be Afraid of Speaking English in Public inside and outside the Classroom. These steps are very carefully organized and meticulously described as follows.
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affect their academic success, a descriptive and an explanatory study will be conducted. The study will consist in identifying the main reasons why Intensive Advanced English II students of Semester I-2014, at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador, are afraid of speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom, how those factors affect their academic success, and providing tips to overcome the different problems Intensive Advanced English II students face when speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom.
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English in public. It was revealed that due to this phenomenon, the students were not actively participating in their English classes activities. This problem seemed to be increasing as time passed by because more and more students felt fear or anxiety when speaking English in public. Therefore, the students got low grades in their oral evaluations. This led researchers to try to build rapport with some of those students who had had lower grades in their oral activities. So, the researchers offered students their help to speak English whenever they wanted to practice the target language. This rapport built a good researcher-student relationship that later would give researchers a good insight into the problem because these students became key participants in the investigation. To inquire more about the students oral performance, the research team will send two letters of permission to get the oral examination grades of the Intensive Advanced English II students during semester I-2014 to the head of the Foreign Language Department. In order to begin the actual research process, the researcher will also ask, in the written form, the consent of all the participants, mainly teachers and the corresponding authorities, to conduct the necessary observations, to administer observation checklists, to administer surveys, and to administer checklists to the population under investigation.
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designed by the researchers. In October 2013, an Intensive Advanced English I group was selected as sample to conduct the diagnosis survey. In order to contact the students of this group, the researcher asked the teacher in charge of the group so that they could pay a visit to the students and conduct the survey. The semi-structured interview addressed to the head of the English Department consisted of three questions. The first question was aimed to get general information on the main factors why Intensive Advanced English II students are afraid of speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom. The second question aimed to know how those factors of being afraid of speaking English in public affected students academic success. The third question helped to find out the possible strategies that students could take in order to decrease this phenomenon. This semi-structured interview had as mail goal to have a general perspective of the reasons and consequences of the students fear of speaking English. The reason why this interview was carried out with the head of the department was that she has a great deal of experience working with English students since the basic levels until the advanced ones. The structured interview conducted with eight Intensive Advanced English II students consisted of six open questions. These questions were addressed to get general information about the attitude of the participant when speaking English in public. The first question was aimed to find out the feelings of the students towards speaking English in public. The second question was aimed to find out if the students experienced fear when speaking English in public. The third question had the objective to find out the main reasons why the students had fear of speaking English in public. The fourth question had the purpose of discovering if the students had self-confidence when speaking English in public. The fifth
47
question was addressed in order to know if they considered that they had the enough amount of vocabulary to speak fluently. The last question had the purpose of finding out if students had created groups to practice their English. The students under this interview were chosen randomly among all the Intensive Advanced English groups. The last element of the diagnostic study was the diagnosis survey in which thirty five students of an Intensive Advanced English II group were involved. In this survey, ten questions were addressed to the students with the purpose of gathering general information on the possible main reasons why the students were afraid of speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom. Also, this survey was aimed to discover if the students practice the target language frequently. This data collected in this survey certainly proved and confirmed the assumptions expressed in all the previous diagnosis interviews.
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English, they have difficulties when performing oral evaluations, so this fact lowers their grades. In fact, the results of the preliminary diagnosis showed that the biggest problem that students face stems from not having good communication skills (oral production and aural understanding), not having rich active vocabulary repertoire, and not having the enough intrinsic motivation to practice the target language inside and outside the classroom. Once students started classes during semester II-2013, a non-participant observation was carried out in two of the four groups of Intensive Advanced English to verify whether students showed the same fear or anxiety when speaking English in public or not. Therefore, the objectives of this research study were formulated aiming to determine the main reasons why Intensive Advanced English II students of Semester I-2014, at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador, are afraid of speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom, to determine the consequences of this phenomenon on Intensive Advanced English II students, and to provide some tips to help students overcome the challenges they may have when speaking English in public. Truly, they were focused on attacking the roots of the phenomenon to enhance Intensive Advanced English students speaking skills by identifying the main factors why they are afraid of speaking English in public, and by providing the consequences of this phenomenon and providing tips for students to overcome their fear or anxiety when speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom.
49
information necessary to build a solid theoretical framework. Once the problem was cleared, it was necessary to define all the variables to be measured in the project; in this manner, the investigators consulted different sources to offer information about the fear or anxiety of speaking English in public. Starting from this point, the researchers critically analyzed all this information, proposing their own points of view of the theory collected in order to create instruments taking into account their validity and reliability that will measure the extent of the main reasons why Intensive Advanced English II students are afraid of speaking English in public.
www.scribd.com, a database that contains dissertations, research reports, theses, and other important documents related to the field of study. If the documents are available on PDF format, they can be downloaded from the website which helps to avoid piracy. This information was then reviewed to get important data related to the topic of study. Data that failed to describe or to relate to the topic was discarded.
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First of all, the theoretical framework contains data related to the process of public speaking anxiety and the tips and techniques used when speaking in public. Second, it explains the hidden psychology behind the fear of public speaking. This talks about all the reactions that our mind causes to our body when experiencing fear of speaking in public. Later, it describes the two biggest myths about the fear of public speaking. Then, it describes how making mistakes in oral production helps English students improve their abilities to speak English. After that, it discloses what language anxiety causes in students public speaking. This part starts by presenting some statements that directly reflect the negative attitude students take when they are afraid of speaking English in public. Then, it
continuous with the definition and types of anxiety that mainly affect students speaking English in public. Later, it talks about the second or foreign language anxiety and what causes it. Then, it displays the different components of foreign language anxiety and some other related factors, and it explains something about the communication apprehension, which is an important aspect that may allow the reader understand in a better way how auditory problems may affect the oral communication process. After that, it explains how the fact of being evaluated when speaking English may cause anxiety in students as well. In addition to the previous factors, it also mentions some sociocultural-factors that may strongly cause nervousness or anxiety in students when speaking English. In this phase of the methodology, points like errors in social settings, and intercultural/interethnic communication apprehension (ICA) are described in detail. Finally, it illustrates the last part of the methodology that is the manifestation of language anxiety and its effective reduction. This last part suggests a variety of strategies to cope with language anxiety on academic settings. At the same time, it provides some tips to
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overcome fear when speaking in public. It suggests that the speaker relax before getting up to talk, greet the audience with a smile, make the speaker self be heard, claim attention, dont stick the speakers hands in his/her pockets, answer any questions as succinctly and briefly as possible, among others. All the above-mentioned aspects were carefully searched in the available literature to build a theoretical framework that describes and strongly relates to the field of study. These factors were also included to operationalize the variables of the hypothesis that were included at the end of the theoretical framework.
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interview. The surveys contained questions which helped us as a guide to know how Intensive Advanced English II students are dealing with the performance of the language. Moreover, these surveys popped up questions that gave an amount of time that the students involved in this research practice the target language (question number four). The close-ended surveys contained ten questions in which Intensive Advanced English II students had just to mark yes or no to answer those questions (Appendix C). On the other hand, the interviews were carried out in the surroundings of the Foreign Language Department at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador. The other instrument that the researchers applied in order to gather data was the questionnaire in which some important questions such as: How do you feel when speaking English in public? Do you feel fear when speaking English in public? Do you feel confident with your level of English? Do you study English in groups with your classmates? were addressed to students. In this questionnaire, students were exposed to six questions that helped falsify not only the variables, but also the hypothesis of this investigation due to the importance of the interviewees answers to the questions presented in the (Appendix B). It is worth mentioning that these interviews were recorded to later review and analysis of the information the Intensive Advanced English students voluntarily provided to the researchers. In this research study, in order to collect the essential information for the reliability of this work one tool and two techniques will be used. The tool that is going to be used is a checklist (Appendix E) which contains seventeen statements that have to deal with students attitudes and feelings towards speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom. Some of the statements, for example, are: I never feel quite sure of myself while I am speaking English. I can feel my
53
heart pounding when I am going to be called on to speak English in public. And I am afraid that other students will laugh at me while I am speaking English. All these statements will be rated by the students in a scale from one to five. This scale is described as follows: 5 (strongly agree), 4 (agree), 3 (undecided), 2 (disagree), and 1 (strongly disagree). All the data collected with this tool will be essential to accomplish the established objectives in this research study. Moreover, one of the techniques that is going to be used is a survey (Appendix F) which contains fifteen questions that have to dea l with students study habits, and reactions when speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom. Some of the questions are: Do you speak English outside the classroom every day? Do you like reading? Do you like speaking English outside the classroom? Fifteen questions have two alternatives which are yes and no and two are multiple answer questions which will serve to determine how much time students practice English. The purpose of this technique is to find out whether Intensive Advanced English II students practice the language outside the classroom, and whether they possess reading habits, techniques to increase their vocabulary, and at the same time, are motivated to speak the English language. The other technique that will be used is an observation checklist (Appendix G) that is structured with ten statements that are rated with a scale of 1 (never), 2 (rarely), 3 (most of the time), 4 (always). The researchers will be in charge of rating these statements through the observations that they will made in the classrooms. Some examples of the statements are: Students are willing to speak in class. Students asked questions to clarify their doubts. and Students volunteer to participate in oral activities. Moreover, the observation checklist contains a space for the researchers to take notes of what they observe in class.
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The main purpose of this observation checklist is to observe students level and quality of class participation as well as their attitude when asked. All the meaningful information collected through this questionnaire will be quite important to achieve the principal goals of this investigation.
55
degree to which inferences can legitimately be made from the operationalization in the study to the theoretical constructs on which the operationalization was based. Second, they will use criterion-related validity, which is the validity that looks at the relationship between a test score and an outcome. The tools need to be represented in order to be measured and to be explained taking into account that those results were related to the theoretical framework. For making results reliable, the researchers will apply the test-retest reliability measuring the correlation between scores of two administrations. This correlation between scores is going to help the researchers to obtain two general results and these results will be compared to set the behavior of Intensive Advanced English students when speaking English in public.
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carried out taking into consideration the descriptive and explanatory paradigms, all data will be processed and analyzed after collecting and comprising the results generated by the surveys, questionnaires, and checklists.
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students to fulfill the surveys appropriately. The investigators will give students thirty minutes to answer such survey. If the two days are not enough to finish the surveys, the researchers will ask the Intensive Advanced English II teachers for some more time in order to finish such task. The third day, the researchers will develop the checklist. To do this, the investigators will arrive at the classroom (or the place where it will be done), and they will have students read the instructions and then mark the parameter they consider most suitable. In order to fulfill this, the researchers will make sure students understand what they are asked to do, by explaining to them the directions. If that day some students are not able to fulfill the checklist for any reason, the investigators will look for them the next day in order to agree the day and time for having them carry out such checklist. The fourth day, the investigators will conclude with the development of the tools by carrying out the observation checklist. To get this tool done, the strategy used will be performed in a different way compared to the previous tools. Each of the members of the research team will observe three classes of the two groups of Intensive Advanced English II. The research team will focus their observation on students level and quality of participation, and students attitudes in class. Moreover, the investigators wi ll take notes on the aspects already mentioned. Consequently, every answered instrument will be checked before classifying information in order to avoid misunderstandings with unclear answers, incomplete filled instruments, or missing data that could generate any inconsistency when analyzing the collected data.
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4.5.2. Data Processing During the data processing, the researchers will use the SPSS software to classify and organize all the data obtained during the research study. All the results from the observation checklist, surveys, and checklists will be treated in order to show the data collected, and Microsoft Excel 2010 will be used to generate different frequency tables and graphs to interpret the results. Furthermore, the investigators will use Intensive Advanced English II students grades in order to compare and contrast all the results of their oral evaluations. Moreover, Intensive Advanced English II students oral evaluation grades will be obtained by writing a letter to the coordinator of Administracin Acadmica at the Western Multidisciplinary Campus of the University of El Salvador. In this way, the investigators will be able to analyze the different results to test the hypothesis previously stated. Later, Microsoft Excel 2010 will be used to generate different frequency tables and graphs to interpret the results.
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inside and outside the classroom. This data also will be helpful to provide possible solutions, recommendations, tips, and strategies to overcome students challenges in their speaking skill.
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CHAPTER V
5.1 TIMETABLE
Month Responsible Activity Preliminary Phase Research team formation Choosing the topic Approaching the field of study diagnostic study Definition of the problem Planning Phase Theoretical framework Methodology Research team Research team Research team Spt. Oct. Nov. Dec. Feb. Mar. Apr Jun. July. Aug. Spt. Oct.
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Incorporation of the suggestions made by the thesis Research advisor team Field notes Execution Phase Collection of data Treatment of data Analysis of data Writing the final Report Oral Presentation Research team Research team Research team Research team Research team Research team
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5.2 BUDGET
5.2.1 Supplies
Type of supply
Name Pens Pencils Printer ink Printer paper Stapler Printer Cartridges
Cost per item $0.15 $0.15 $ 10.00 black ink, and $15 color ink $ 5.00 / pkg $1.00 $ 20 (black) and $25 color
Number of items
Office supplies
15 10 2 1 pkg 1 1
Total: $78.75
5.2.2 Services
Cost
Total
$0.025 / page * 10000 copies $250.00 $29.00 a month $150.00 $29.00 $500.00
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REFERENCES
Castrilln, V. (2010). Students perception about the development of their oral skills in an English as a foreign language teacher-training program. Colombia. Retreived October 18, 2013 from http://repositorio.utp.edu.co/dspace/bitstream/11059/1911/1/372452C355.p df Fariska Putri, Helena. (January 6, 2013). The Importance of Vocabulary in English Learning. University of IBN Khaldun Bogor-Indonesia. Retrieved Sunday, November 10, 2013, from http://universityofibnkhaldunbogorindonesia.blogspot.com/2010/01/importance-of-vocabulary-in-english.html Horwitz, M., & Cope J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. The modern language journal. Retrieved March 17, 2014, from http://hyxy.nankai.edu.cn/jingpinke/buchongyuedu/foreign%20language%20 classroom%20anxiety.pdf Lucas, I., Pulido, D., Miraflores, E., Ignacio, A., Tacay, M., & Lao, J. (Febraury, 2010). A study on the intrinsic motivation factors in second language learning among selected freshman students, Vol. 4. Retrieved 02:50, November 09, 2013, from http://philippine-esl-journal.com/V4_A1.pdf
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Nikitina, A. (2011). Successful public speaking. Russia. Ventus Publishing Aps. Retrieved October 20, 2013 from http://www.palaumoe.net/palauguidance/docs/FBCS_docs/resctr_docs/succ essful-public-speaking.pdf Katz, L. (2000). Public speaking anxiety. UTM Counseling and Career Services Retrieved March 17, 2014, from http://frst211.forestry.ubc.ca/files/2013/01/Public-Speaking-Anxiety.pdf Stewart, D. (2011). How to speak English without fear Retrieved 16:50, October 10, 2013, from http://www.ehow.com/how_7942349_speak-english-fear.html Tanveer, M. (2007). Investigation of the factors that cause language anxiety for ESL/EFL learners in learning speaking skills and the influence it casts on communication in the target language. Retrieved 04:50, October 17, 2013, from http://es.scribd.com/doc/46596022/Thesis-M-Tanveer The importance to learn English. (January 2011). Retrieved 18:20, October 10, 2013, from http://www.buenastareas.com/ensayos/The-Importance-To-LearnEnglish/1383710.html What is the Importance of English Language in this modern world? (2013, March) Retrieved, 04:50, October 17, 2013, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/What-Are-The-Importance-Of-English 1476114.html
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APPENDIXES
Appendix A
Diagnosis Interview addressed to the Head of the Department
UNIVERSITY OF EL SALVADOR WESTERN MULTIDISCIPLINARY CAMPUS FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT RESEARCH METHODS IN ENGLISH
Objective: to gather information about the factors that affect Intensive Advanced English II students public speaking and academic development. 1. Which are the main factors why advanced English students are afraid of speaking English in public outside and inside the classroom? 2. How do such factors affect the students' academic success? 3. How could students possibly overcome those problems?
66
Appendix B
Diagnosis Interview addressed to English Students
UNIVERSITY OF EL SALVADOR WESTERN MULTIDISCIPLINARY CAMPUS FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT RESEARCH METHODS IN ENGLISH
Objective: to find out Intensive Advanced English II students feelings and factors that hinder their speaking in public inside and outside the classroom 1. How do you feel when speaking English in public? 2. Do you feel fear when speaking English in public? 3. Which are the reasons why you are afraid of speaking English in public? 4. Do you feel confident with your level of English? 5. Do you think that you have the enough amount of vocabulary to speak English fluently? 6. Do you study English in groups with your classmates?
67
Appendix C
Diagnosis Survey addressed to English Students
UNIVERSITY OF EL SALVADOR WESTERN MULTIDISCIPLINARY CAMPUS FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT RESEARCH METHODS IN ENGLISH Objective: to find out if Intensive Advanced English II students are afraid of speaking English in public inside and outside the classroom. Direction: Mark the answer that best applies for you. 1) Do you speak English all the time inside the classroom?
2)
classroom?
3)
4)
5) English in public?
6)
7)
9)
Does your teacher push you to speak English all the time?
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10)
Appendix D
EXPERT VALIDATION SHEET
Validator`s Name _____________________ Date of Validation: __________ Remarks __________ Direction: Please indicate the rating of the items found by checking the line of each corresponding items. The questionnaires rating will be based on the following scale: 5- Excellent (E) 4- Very Good (VG) 3- Good (G) 2- Needs Improvement (NI) 1- Poor (P) Items 5 I. Clarity of Instructions and Items a. The instructions given were written in simple, specific, clear and comprehensible manner. b. Questions in each item were written in brief, concise and unambiguous way. c. The words and concepts utilized in the questionnaire can be well understood by the respondents. d. Questions were written in an affirmative approach. e. Each item has avoided sentences with double negatives as well as double-barrels. 4 Scale 3
____
____
____
____
____
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II. Accuracy and Suitability of Items a. The range of information to be provided included all significant aspects of the study. b. The number of item per area category is suitable and has represented enough questions. c. The questions were designed to measure what is supposed to be measured. d. Informed consent for the respondents/ proper authority were adequately provided. e. The researchers strictly follow the ethical standards of nursing research such as respondents right to anonymity or confidentiality, right to data disclosure and protection from harm is guaranteed. Items III. Objectivity and Evaluation Rating System a. Each item questions require specific and measurable answer. b. Possible biases on the part of data collectors have been adequately controlled. c. Scoring and coding adapted for the questionnaire is appropriate and objective for the items. d. Responses options covered all significant alternatives.
Scale ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____
IV. Over-all Presentation and Organization ____ a. The questionnaire is neat and organized. b. Questionnaires layout and format appeared to be in well- ____ made draft. c. Words and other items are free from clerical and grammatical ____ errors. V. Attainment of Purpose a. The objectives of the study are congruent with the information ____ needs of the intended respondents. b. The instrument as a whole fulfills the objectives for which is ____ was constructed.
____ ____
____ ____
____ ____
____ ____
70
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Appendix E
CHECKLIST THAT WILL BE ADDRESSED TO INTENSIVE ADVANCED ENGLISH II STUDENTS FROM LICENCIATURA EN IDIOMA INGLES OPCION ENSENANZA, SEMESTER I-2014.
UNIVERSITY OF EL SALVADOR WESTERN MULTIDISCIPLINARY CAMPUS FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT RESEARCH METHODS IN ENGLISH
Statements
Students opinions
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13 1 14 2 15 3 16 4 17 18 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12
I feel anxious while waiting to speak English. I never feel quite sure of myself while I want to speak less because I feel shy am speaking English. while speaking English. I tremble that Iand am going dislike when usingknowing my voice body to be called on to speak English. expressively while speaking English. when I my have to speak I start have totopanic coordinate movements English in advance. while speaking English. In a speaking I can get so nervous I find it hard toclass, look at the audience in my I forget things I know. eyes while speaking English. I get If nervous and confused when I am Even I am well-prepared, I feel anxious speaking English. I am afraid that other students will laugh at me while I am speaking English. It is hard for me to express my ideas in a logical order when speaking English in public. I can feel my heart pounding when I am going to be called on to speak English in public. It embarrasses me to volunteer to go out first to speak English. I enjoy the experience of speaking English. The more speaking tests I have, the more confused I get. Certain parts of my body feel very tense and rigid while speaking English.
(4) Agree
(3) Undecided
(2) Disagree
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19 20
about speaking English. I keep thinking that other students are better at speaking English than I am. I feel confident while I am speaking English.
21 22
Appendix F
SURVEY TO BE ADDRESSED TO INTENSIVE ADVANCED ENGLISH II STUDENTS OF LICENCIATURA EN IDIOMA INGLES OPCION ENSENANZA, SEMESTER I2014.
UNIVERSITY OF EL SALVADOR WESTERN MULTIDISCIPLINARY CAMPUS FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT RESEARCH METHODS IN ENGLISH
DATE:
________________
RESEARCHER:
_______________________________
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Objective: to find out whether Intensive Advanced English II students possess reading habits, techniques to increase their
vocabulary, and at the same time, are motivated to speak the English language.
4. Do you think the level of vocabulary you possess is coherent with the
course you are taking?
5.
8.
oral skill?
75
Never
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Appendix G
OBSERVATION CHECKLIST THAT WILL BE ADDRESSED TO INTENSIVE ADVANCED ENGLISH II STUDENTS FROM LICENCIATURA EN IDIOMA INGLES OPCION ENSENANZA, SEMESTER I-2014.
UNIVERSITY OF EL SALVADOR WESTERN MULTIDISCIPLINARY CAMPUS FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT RESEARCH METHODS IN ENGLISH DATE: ________________________ TIME: __________________________ CLASS OBSERVED #________
OBSERVER: _______________________________________________________
Statements
Scale
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Never (1) 1 2 3 4 5
Rarely (2)
Always (4)
Students are willing to speak in class. Students ask questions to clarify their doubts. Students speak the target language in class. Students volunteer to participate in oral activities. In oral activities developed in pairs or in groups, students use the target language and engage themselves in the activities. Students give meaningful answers when asked in class. Students participate willingly when asked. Students speak the 75 percent of the class.
6 7 8 9
Students show disgust when they are asked to speak in class. 10 Students deviate the teachers activities so that the teacher speaks most of the time.
Comments:
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