Rationale for the study
Attitudes have been frequently reported as one of the most essential factors affecting students’ achievements in EFL classrooms Language attitude has great influence not only on language learning and acquisition but also on learners’ choice and use of language A positive attitude toward learning the English language is one of the leading predictors of success in gaining fluency Besides, in the Vietnamese educational system, since the shift from the teacher-centered to the learner-centered approach in recent years, the role of learners has been put on more emphasis in every aspect of education, such as teaching methods, material development, learners’ proficiency assessment, etc At every level of teaching English, the student is at the center Therefore, it can be said that understanding of learner’s attitudes is one of the keys to the success of our English teaching process
The Vietnamese Prime Minister’s Decision 1400/QĐ-TTg, promulgated on September 30th, 2008, on the approval of the Project entitled “ Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the National Education system, Period 2008-2020” has emphasized the teaching and learning a foreign language, particularly English with the goal that “by the year 2020 most Vietnamese youth whoever graduate from vocational schools, colleges and universities gain the capacity to use a foreign language independently This will enable them to be more confident in communication, further their chance to study and work in an integrated and multi- cultural environment with variety of languages” Thus, the ability to communicate is the most important goal that communicative language teaching aims to reach
Having students give oral presentations in front of class is one typical example of learner-centered, communicative activities that has been widely included in teachers’ plans to satisfy the demand of English teaching in this stage There is a considerable amount of research which confirms that presentation skills are essential skills not only because of their popularity in most working places but also a lot of benefits they bring to learners, namely, bridging the gap between language study and language use, using the four language skills in a naturally integrated way, helping students to collect, inquire, organize and construct information, enhancing team work, and helping students become active and autonomous learners (Nguyen, 2009)
At Quang Ninh University of Industry (QUI), English is a compulsory subject Within the credit-based system, especially in large classes, oral presentations receive much attention from the management as well as the English teaching staff However, in reality, the ability to do English presentations of the students in general, accounting students in particular, was still far from satisfaction
With the experience of four-year teaching EFL at QUI, I can see that my students showed different attitudes towards doing English presentations Some showed their favorable attitudes and wanted to improve their presenting abilities while others felt uncomfortable and under pressure Therefore, I would like to do a research on this issue to clarify this problem
For all that have been mentioned, I have decided to choose the topic “A study on students’ attitudes towards doing English presentations at Department of Accounting at Quang Ninh University of Industry” for my minor thesis Hopefully, my efforts in doing this research can contribute effectively to the teaching and learning of presentation skills at QUI.
Aims of the study
This study is conducted to explore the accounting students’ attitudes towards delivering presentations in English Therefore, the aims of the research are:
to discover the students’ attitudes at Department of Accounting at QUI towards doing English presentations
to find out the reasons why they had those attitudes.
Research questions
To translate the aims into reality, two research questions are raised for exploration as follows:
(1) What are the attitudes of the students at Department of Accounting at QUI towards doing English presentations?
Significance of the study
The study is conducted with the expectation that its results will be useful for both students and teachers of the English division at QUI Most importantly, it is hoped to bring the detailed and full view on their students’ attitudes towards and expectations for their English presentations as well as the reason why they had those attitudes Based on the findings, some suggestions are given in order to help students develop interest and promote positive attitudes towards doing English presentations This will be effective for them to accomplish English language proficiency.
Methods of the study
To fulfill the above aims, the survey approach was selected It is worth noting that survey methods have been strongly supported to study wide variety of issues that impinge on language learning, including the changing demographic contexts, the institutional settings in which L2 professionals function, the policies that affect learning and teaching, program administration, teacher preparation, attitudes of teachers and professors toward language varieties, classroom practice, target language norms, and students language use and growth (Johnson 1991:105)
The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods to collect and analyze data However, a questionnaire was developed as a primary research instrument Besides, interviews for students were used to obtain data to supplement and cross-validate the students’ responses to the questionnaire
The study was carried out in the following steps:
First, a questionnaire was designed and delivered to students to investigate their attitudes towards doing English presentations and reasons for such attitudes
Second, interviews with some students were designed to get supplementary information and make the data collected more reliable
Then, the data was collected, sorted and analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively to obtain realistic results
To end with, pedagogical implications for enhancing students’ positive attitudes in giving English presentations will be proposed based on the results found from all data collection instruments.
Scope of the study
The study focuses on attitudes towards oral presentations in English in the classroom context of 96 first-year non-English major accounting students at QUI
Because of limited time, the study was not carried out on a large scale However, I do hope that the findings and recommendations of the study will be of some help to both teachers and students of English in the process of teaching and learning oral presentation skills so that students will have better oral presentation skills.
Design of the study
The study is organized into three main parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion
Part A - Introduction - presents the rationale, aims, research questions, significance, methods, scope and design of the study
Part B - Development - consists of three chapters:
Chapter I - Literature Review - provides the theoretical background for the field of the study It focuses on two main points: attitudes and presentations To begin with, issues related to oral presentations such as definitions, advantages, characteristics, etc., are explored Next, learners’ factors influencing on students’ success in language learning as well as doing presentation skills are taken into consideration Then, it is concerned with some major issues regarding attitudes, language attitude, the roles of attitudes and factors affecting attitudes in language learning Finally, previous studies related to the topic are summarized
Chapter II - Methodology - presents the overall picture of how the research was carried out The first part describes the context where the study was conducted
The second one mentions the selection of research instruments Then, the overview of data collection procedures and method of data analysis is given
Chapter III - Data analysis and discussion - provides analysis of the data collected through the research procedure described in chapter II The analysis of the data is presented in two parts: the first part is the results from the questionnaire for students and the second one is from the students’ interviews
Part C - Conclusion - summarizes the main points presented in the study, makes some recommendations to effectively promote the students’ attitudes in doing English presentations, points out some limitations of the study and makes some suggestions for further study.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Oral presentations
Oral presentation is an extension of oral communication skill There are many ways to propose its definition According to Josef (1998), presentation means
“a short talk by one person to a group of people introducing and describing a particular subject” Barker (2000: 113) maintains that oral presentation is like a formal conversation Brian (2002: 5) also asserts, “A presentation is a transmission of a message” In the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2010: 1190), a presentation is defined as “an act of showing something or of giving something to somebody” Peter and Graham (2006: 4) agree with the idea stating that “By presentation we mean a talk or speech given by a presenter (sometimes more than one) to an audience of two or more people” Generally, it can be said that oral presentation or public speaking is a form of communication which is intended to convey certain ideas, messages and information in a clear, structured way
The term presentation in the above definitions is shown in general understanding, but in my study, presentations done in English lessons by accounting students are focused According to Comfort (1995), presentation in this case is considered as a popular kind of activity where a student (students) give(s) a presentation on a topic of their own choice or given by the teacher Such talks are not designed for informal spontaneous conversation but they are subject matter oriented; because they are prepared, they are more “writing like”
1.1.2 The advantages of student presentations
Effective oral presentation skill is essential in education, social and professional life If properly guided and organized, oral presentations provide a learning experience and teach lifelong skills that will be beneficial to ESL/EFL students in all school subjects, and later in their careers (Meloni &Thompson,
1980) Doing presentation is really a very good learning experience as students need more practice in English before they graduate Chivers and Shoolbred (2007: 2) claim, “There are many reasons why students are asked to give presentations and these will be influenced by your academic course and situational and organizational factors”
Oral presentation is a way of developing the students’ ability to practice
King (2002: 402) affirms many advantages of student presentations It’s oral presentation that can help bridge the gap between language study and language use
In oral presentations, students use all the four skills in natural integrated way
Besides, presentations help them to collect, inquire, organize, and construct information Thanks to doing presentations, team work will be enhanced and students will learn both actively and autonomously King (2002: 402) also concludes that, “ Having students give oral presentation in a front of their class in one of the learner-centered activities that has been widely include in teachers’ lesson plans to improve students’ oral proficiency”
To be more specific, Chivers and Shoolbred (2007: 8) provide advantages gained from student presentations as below:
Student-centred participation in their learning
Developing new knowledge and different perspectives on a topic
Practice in a known environment/situation
Increasing confidence to speak and present in front of an audience
Improving marks earned for a module assessment
Developing a wide range of communication and presentation skills
Preparation for skills needed in the workplace
An exchange of roles and perspectives from audience to presenter
In short, making an effective oral presentation has great contribution to students’ ability to communicate with others As a result, their learning English will become easier and more effective According to Emden and Becker (2004: 1),
“developing the abilities to speak to an audience is one of the greatest benefits you’ll ever get from your time in further or higher education.” Then oral presentation is one of the important parts of teaching a foreign language, especially in the university environment
A presentation is effective when the speaker(s) make(s) all the people involved achieve their research objective Moreover, effective oral presentation must make the audiences get interesting and useful information and they will enjoy their times while listening to the speakers Sometimes, students may remember more of the content of their peers’ presentations than the content delivered by the lecturers They may also remember the content of their own presentations more than the content of lectures they have attended
Chivers and Shoolbred (2007: 20-21) claim that in order to prepare and delivery an effective presentation, these characteristics are very important:
In other words, making a presentation in English can be difficult and demanding because it has content, structure and needs preparation Thus, in oral presentation, it is necessary for students to know how to prepare and structure their presentation carefully In addition, they need to know how to deliver it because this will make its content much more effective
1.1.4 Oral presentation skills in the language classroom
As a matter of facts, presentation skills are extremely useful in the language classrooms After completing a project, a presentation is a channel for students to share with others what they have learned It is also a chance to challenge and expand on their understanding of the topic by having others ask questions
Presentations can also form a natural part of task-based learning By focusing on a particular language point or skill, the presentation is a very practical way to revise and extend lesson, pair and group work The audience can also be given a task, for example, a set of questions to answer on the presentation, which is a way of getting students to listen to each other (Pham, 2011) In the class rooms, oral presentations can also be carried out as class activity Students work in a small group to discuss a topic After the discussion, each representative from each group will present his/ her group’s ideas or each member will take turn to be responsible for each part of the presentation
Vo (1994, cited in Nguyen, 2009) gives suggestions for teachers when assigning oral presentations, in which the procedure of oral presentation should come as below:
1 At the beginning, let students know that all of them will have chances to speak in front of the class
2 Put up a large calendar so that students can choose the date they prefer
3 After the break of every class session, have one student come forward and speak about his/ her topic
4 The teacher sits in the audience during the speech
5 Time limit for each student should be about five minutes
6 Let other members of the class raise their questions and comment until the speaker has finished (if the presenter has difficulty in answering the audience questions, the teacher and other students can help)
7 After each speech, give the speaker some feedback (it is highly recommended that compliments should come before criticism in order not to discourage the speaker)
In brief, teaching oral presentations skills is not an easy task for teachers as they are required to play a lot of different roles at the same time They must have structured plan and appropriate method of teaching and giving feedback in order to make oral presentations can be beneficial and enjoyable activities for learners
1.1.5 Factors affecting students’ oral presentation
Oral presentation is not an essay task According to Barker (2000: 113)
“Speaking to groups is notoriously stressful activity” In her study, Nguyen (2009) investigated and concluded that students’ oral presentation can be affected by these following reasons:
Ur (1996) defines language proficiency in terms of accuracy and fluency; if a learner has mastered a language successfully, that means that he or she can understand and produce it both accurately (correctly) and fluently (receiving and conveying messages with ease)
Regarding to speaking skill in general and presentation skills in particular, accuracy and fluency are the two most concerning aspects Accuracy involves the correct use of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation whereas fluency means the ability to use the language with ease
Individual factors affecting on students’ success in language learning
The mastery of language varies greatly from learner to learner Obviously, each student is an independent individual with certain characteristics Under the same circumstance, some gain much higher proficiency in their English skills while others do not make any progress In recent years, some of the researchers have established the significant role of factors affecting in second language learning
Ellis (1985) explained for this issue: “The general factors that influence second language learning are: age, aptitude and intelligence, cognitive style, attitudes, motivation and personality” Narayanan et al (2008: 485-512) states that if the learner wants to foster linguistics skills effectively he/she needs to be highly motivated, positive attitude towards the language, low language anxiety and suppose to have a good amount of TL exposures” Lightbown and Spada (2013: 75) claim that “many of us believe that individual differences that are inherent in learner can predict success or failure in language learning” They believe that learners possess characteristics such as personality, intelligence, aptitudes, ages, attitudes and motivation which can determine more or less successful language learning
Among the diverse and composite individual differences and learner variables in learning a second language, the role of students’ attitudes have recently been spent considerable attention by many scholars They approved that the learners benefit from the positive attitudes, and negative attitudes may lead to decreased standard of proficiency in the language Positive attitudes are related to learners’ success in language learning The measurement of language attitudes provides information which is useful in language teaching and language planning This motivates me to design a study on investigating students’ attitudes towards English presentations.
Attitudes
There have been many definitions of attitude proposed to describe its essence Gardner (1985) maintains that “attitude is an evaluative reaction to some referent or attitude object, inferred on the basis of the individual’s beliefs or opinions about the referent” It can be understood that people’s beliefs or perceptions can lead their attitude favorably or unfavorably to an object
In more details, Gardner (1985) states that attitudes have cognitive, affective and conative components The cognitive component refers to the individual's belief structure, the affective to emotional reactions, and the conative to the tendency to behave toward the attitude object
This idea is shared by Wikipedia, in which attitudes are judgments and they develop on the ABC model: Affect, Behavior and Cognition It further explains that the affective response is an emotional response that expresses an individual’s degree of preference for an entity The behavioral intention is a verbal indication or typical behavioral tendency of an individual The cognitive response is a cognitive evaluation of the entity that constitutes an individual's beliefs about the object
More interestingly, this source reveals that most attitudes result from either direct experience or observational learning from the environment
Looking from a different angle, Brown (2000: 180) also suggests that
“Attitudes, like all aspects of the development of cognition and affect in human beings, develop early in childhood and are the result of parents’ and peer’s attitudes, contact with people who are different in any number of ways and interacting affective factors in the human experience” Here it seems that attitude is formed through a long process and it is affected by many factors in the daily lives of each person
I myself find the following concept of attitude clear and convincing: An attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's degree of like or dislike for something Attitudes are generally positive or negative views of a person, place, thing, or event - this is often referred to as the attitude object (Wikipedia - online dictionary)
In short, attitude can be understood as a mental state that plays a crucial role in behaviors of human beings Attitude has a considerable influence on the feelings, thinking and beliefs of an individual towards everything around Every reaction and response toward certain things of people depends greatly on attitudes
Learning a language has a close relation to the attitudes towards the languages In the Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics (2010: 314), language attitudes are defined as the attitude which speakers of different languages or language varieties have towards each others’ languages or to their own language
Expressions of positive or negative feelings towards a language may reflect impressions of linguistic difficulty or simplicity, ease or difficulty of learning, degree of importance, elegance, social status, etc Attitudes towards a language may also show what people feel about the speakers of that language Having the same idea, Holmes (1992, cited in Pham, 2013), believes that attitudes in the context of language learning are defined as the way people look at the language, the class and the people, and the culture of language Especially, language attitude is distinguished from general attitudes by the fact that language attitudes are precisely about language (Pham, 2014) In other words, language attitude refers to attitude people hold towards language
This study concentrates on exploring students’ attitudes towards only one respect of learning language - doing English presentations
1.3.3 Roles of learners’ attitudes in language learning
Many researchers have proved that there is a reciprocal relationship between learners’ attitudes and their language learning Lightbrown and Spada (1999) state that attitude is fundamental to the success or failure that we experience in learning
Depending on the learners’ attitudes, language learning can be a source of enrichment or a source of resentment Agreeing with the role of attitudes, Brown (2000: 181) believes that language learners benefit from positive attitudes while negative attitudes may lead to decreased motivation and unsuccessful attainment of proficiency He continues that “positive attitudes towards the self, the native language group, and the target language group enhanced proficiency” Sahin (2005:
41) holds a view that there is a significant correlation between students’ attitudes and their achievement in English lessons, which suggests that attitudes towards target language may be taken as a predictor of achievement In his study, Karahan (2007: 84) finds out positive language attitudes let learners have positive orientation towards learning English He asserts when students hold the positive attitudes, they become more active in their learning process, so their positive attitudes can help them access to the target language easier
It is clear that learners’ language attitudes are decisive factors in successful language acquisition I am of the same opinion that students having positive attitudes may speed up their language learning and see themselves achieving higher result In this study, students’ attitudes towards doing English presentations are explored Its results are expected to suggest some strategies that encourage students’ positive attitudes and limit their negative ones
1.3.4 Factors affecting learners’ attitudes towards language learning
Language attitude has recently received remarkable attention from many language researchers They share the opinions that attitudes are clearly influenced by many factors in the students’ upbringing (Gardner, 1985: 43)
According to social psychologists, “attitudes are individually driven”
(Kumaravadivelu, 2006: 38) Different individuals develop different shades of attitudes In the Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics (2010: 287), individual learner factors that have been frequently identified as possible causes for differential success include age, aptitude, motivation, cognitive style, the use of learning strategies, and personality However, the concept of individual differences is rather loose, containing certain core variables and many optional ones When addressing individual differences, one needs to select personality, ability/aptitude, and motivation to start with as these are invariably seen as principal learner variables (Dửrnyei, 2005: 7) It seems clear that the internal factors associated with students’ personal traits are the principal factors affecting students’ attitudes
In addition to the individual’s personal dispositions, there are at least two external forces that appear to shape the learner’s language-learning attitude: environmental and pedagogic The environmental factor includes social, cultural, political and economic imperatives that shape the L2 educational milieu The pedagogic factor shapes how teachers, learners and the learning situation interact with each other to trigger positive or negative attitudes in the learner (Malcolm, 2006: 39) Focusing on this issue, Pham (2014) inferred that students’ attitudes are affected directly from factors associated with teachers (teachers’ behaviors and teachers’ practices) and learning environment (learning conditions and materials)
In other words, external factors associated with teachers and learning environment play a vital role in influencing students’ attitudes
In the case of this study, internal factors related to students’ personal traits and external factors related to teachers and learning environment are considered as determinant factors directly influencing students’ attitudes.
Review of previous studies related to students’ language attitudes
The issues of students’ attitudes towards learning foreign language in general and learning English in particular have widely aroused the interest of teachers and researchers all over the world Since the beginning of this century, there are increasingly more researches done on different aspects of this field
Choy and Troudi (2006) investigated the changes in students’ attitudes towards learning English in a Malaysian college and found that there were differences in students’ attitudes towards learning English in secondary school and college This study suggested that the school social environment and the family background influence students’ attitudes towards learning English
Karahan (2007) conducted a study to examine the relationship between language attitudes and its use in Turkey using a questionnaire adapted from previous studies on language attitudes as the only method The findings indicated that the subjects recognized the importance of the English language but had only mildly positive attitudes towards learning the language
Noursi (2013) carried out a study entitled Attitudes toward Learning English:
The case of the UAE Technology High School to investigate whether the students’ attitudes is affected by the teacher’s nativity The findings revealed that teacher’s nativity did not influence students’ positive orientation toward the language
In Iran, after studying the relationship between medical students’ attitude towards English language learning and their English language proficiency, Bagheri and Andi (2015) affirmed that there was a small positive correlation between students' language attitudes and their English language proficiency
While the findings of many researchers, such as Tamimi (2009), Tanni
(2015), identified students’ attitudes toward the English language, Zainol et al
(2012) investigated Libyan secondary school students’ attitudes towards learning English and concluded that the participants showed negative attitudes towards learning English Studies reviewed show that although the dominant attitude towards English is positive, a range of different types of attitudes has also been reported in a good number of studies
At Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies, a large number of M.A theses have been done on students’ attitudes towards various aspects in English learning and teaching For example: Students’ attitudes towards English grammar learning: The case of Do Son Continuing Education Centre, Hai
Phong city (Khuc, 2010); Students’ attitudes towards learning to speak English at
Ly Thai To High School, Bac Ninh (Ba, 2012); A study on students’ attitudes towards learning to speak English and their classroom speaking practices at Northern Water Resource College (Pham, 2013) A recent study titled An investigation into the first-year students’ attitudes towards learning English listening at faculty of Electrical Engineering Technology, Hanoi University of Industry was conducted by Pham (2014) The data for the analysis was collected from two sources: students’ questionnaire and teachers’ interviews The results of the research showed that students had negative attitudes towards learning English listening Also, some suggestions were recommended in order to increase students’ positive attitudes to their learning
However, there has been no study on the students’ attitudes towards doing English presentations up to now Some theses concerning presentations have just specifically aimed at exploring other aspects For example: Factors affecting oral presentations of the second-year English major students at Hanoi University of Industry (Nguyen, 2009); An investigation on the difficulties in making business English oral presentation of the first year non-major English students at Faculty of Accounting at Dai Nam University and some solutions (Nguyen, 2010); Assessment criteria for an effective EFL presentation of English majors at Hanam Teachers Training College Problems and solutions (Pham, 2011); etc.
METHODOLOGY
Setting of the study
2.1.1 A brief overview of QUI and English Division at QUI
QUI has a history of nearly 60 years in training the labor force mainly for the coal companies, factories from within and outside Quang Ninh province
Nowadays, its field is extended to many other majors such as Business Administration, ICT, Mechanics, etc Like many other universities in Vietnam, QUI considers English as a compulsory subject
English Division of QUI consists of 10 teachers whose ages range from 28 to
45 All of the teachers are graduated from the University of Foreign Languages and 70% of them have acquired MA degree at University of Languages and International Studies, VNU Teachers of English at QUI have applied various teaching methods according to the skills and the level of students they are in charge of At present, within the credit-based system, especially in the condition of large classes, oral presentations receive much attention from the management as well as the English teaching staff In reality, though the teachers always maintain their enthusiasm in their teaching, they still admit that the ability to do English presentations of their students was still far from satisfaction
The students at QUI come from different parts of Vietnam, but mostly from Quang Ninh province They are admitted into QUI either based on the results of the National High School Exam as prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training or their academic performances in high school Normally, the students do not have to take an English language proficiency test to be admitted into QUI All are non-English major students The general situation is that the majority of them do not pay much attention to study English They learn English just to pass the exams
Besides, students learn English in almost isolated environments from English native speakers, so they hardly get any chance to communicate with foreigners both inside and outside classrooms Consequently, the students are unable to speak the language They are often doing better at writing and grammar exercises but they have little communicative ability and lack necessary skills and techniques to be successful in communication Furthermore, from my classroom observation, discussion with other teachers and my own experiences, I found that most students often feel shy in the public and they are embarrassed when being asked to work in peers, groups in speaking lessons Their verbal production, whether oral or written, is limited to occasional, isolated words or groups of words Many of them claim that among four skills, speaking is regarded to be the hardest for them
2.1.3 A brief description of the English course and material
Currently, there are two stages for the English courses at QUI The first stage is General English which provides general knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, phonology and develops language skills with the focus on speaking skills This stage is allocated into two terms; each term lasts for 60 periods Like many other English Departments at non-English major universities in Vietnam, the English Division at QUI also chooses the student’s book New Headway Pre-intermediate
(Third edition) by John and Liz Soars published by Oxford University Press in 2010 to teach students of General English There are 12 units in this course-book dealing with 12 common topics in life: Friends; Lifestyles; Mysteries; Places; Hopes and Ambitions; Favourites; Fame; Do’s and Don’ts; Travelling; Inventions; Dreams;
Jobs Each unit is organized into seven parts: Language Focus, Vocabulary and Everyday English, apart from four basic English skills: Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing Sometimes, speaking parts of the unit are integrated into others The course-book occasionally provides some activities for students to speak and work in groups or pairs to practice the grammar in Language Focus The total time duration for students to practice their speaking skills is around 2 periods per unit After the first stage, students are expected to improve their communicative competences and enhance other skills to have good background knowledge in the second stage The aim of this stage is to focus on English for Specific Purposes specialized knowledge directly related to their jobs Depending on discipline areas, the materials for ESP are selected and designed to use by QUI teachers These materials mainly focus on in enhancing students’ specilized vocabulary, reading and translation.
Participants of the study
In order to achieve the aims of the study, about 100 freshmen of Accounting major in general English classes (DH.K8) were selected to participate in the study
These students are 18 years old and have been studying the second term at QUI
Few students had high results in the 1 st English final term tests All of them have spent more than 7 years studying English After graduating from high schools, these students have general knowledge of grammar and an active vocabulary which they can use mostly in written forms However, their presenting abilities are limited
Hence, when they become the first year students of non-English major in the university, they have to deal with many difficulties in doing English presentations
Especially, a problem of the large numbers of students is that they have a tendency to become passive in English class and depend largely on the given course book and the teachers The reason for choosing students of Accounting major at QUI is that these students have better English background knowledge in comparison with other students here Some choose English in the combination of admission subjects.
Research instruments
To obtain data for the study, two instruments were employed: survey questionnaire and follow-up interviews
This study used a questionnaire as a primary research instrument The reason for choosing questionnaire is that of all the research instruments, questionnaire is the most commonly used format; it is the least expensive which can be sent to a large number of respondents and can allow easy and quick data collection (Hoang Van Van, 2015)
In this study, the questionnaire adopting a five-point Likert scale was prepared based on findings of many researchers, such as Emden & Becker (2004);
Reinhart (2002); Narayanan et al (2008); Al-Nouh et al (2015) Especially, it was adapted and developed from Attitude Questionnaire of Narayanan et al (2008) and Means and Standard Deviations for EFL college students’ perceptions of the difficulties in oral presentation of according to personal traits of Al-Nouh et al
The questionnaire consists of 44 items (criteria) which fall into three major categories: A, B and C
Category A consisting of 6 items is designed to explore students’ attitudes towards learning English by checking the reasons why they learn the language
Category B consisting of 18 items is designed to explore students’ attitudes towards doing English presentations in three sub-scales of students’ attitude factors:
Students’ awareness about the importance of English presentations; Students’ feelings about doing English oral presentations; Students’ activities in periods having presentations
Category C consisting of 20 items is designed to explore the determinant reasons affecting students’ attitudes towards doing English presentations The 12 first items are designed to explore internal factors related to students’ personal traits The 8 left items are designed to explore external factors related to teachers and learning environment
All items were written in both English and Vietnamese to ensure that students can fully understand the questions and respond explicitly, without having difficulties in expressing their ideas
Besides the questionnaire, this study used interviews to obtain data to supplement and cross-validate the students’ responses to the questionnaire This study was aimed at finding out the students’ attitudes towards doing presentations and the reason for their attitudes It is not of naturalistic inquiry by nature, therefore,
I choose the structured interview, in which the “agenda is totally predetermined order” (Nunan, 1992) in order to achieve consistence Since the purpose of the follow-up interview here was to have more in-depth information, two groups of students, each consists of five students, were selected from the questionnaire respondents Students in the 1 st group are the most achievable students while those in the 2 nd group are the least achievable ones
To delve deeply into the issue, the interviewees were asked three questions about 1) the importance of presentations skills, 2) their feelings about doing presentations, and 3) the factors promoting their positive attitudes For convenience of analyzing data, those questions were asked one-by-one to all students interviewed and they answered in turn The interviews were recorded under the students’ permission for the purpose of the study The students were allowed to speak in Vietnamese so that the researcher can elicit more information from the subjects The interviews’ data was qualitatively analyzed after gathering.
Data collection procedure
The procedures of data collection were as follows:
1 Stating the aims and delivering hard copies of the questionnaire to the students
2 Gathering back the questionnaire after ensuring that all items in the questionnaire were fully evaluated
3 Conducting interviews with the selected students
4 Sorting and analyzing the data collected.
Methods of data analysis
Data collected from the questionnaires was quantitatively calculated using Microsoft Exel for statistics and converted into percentages For convenience of presentation and observation, the evaluation of each item was analyzed and presented following the order: the number of students and the percentage that number accounts for out of the total of 96 students participating in the survey The qualitative analysis was conducted with interview data.
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Data analysis of students’ questionnaires
Table 1: Summary of students’ attitudes towards learning English
A Why do you learn English?
2 English is a compulsory subject at university 0≈0% 0≈0% 7≈7.3% 41≈42.7% 48≈50%
3 English is necessary for my future 0≈0% 2≈2.1% 15≈15.6% 32≈33.3% 47≈49%
4 I can enjoy music, films and stories in English 14≈14.6% 18≈18.8% 44≈45.8% 17≈17.7% 3≈3.1%
5 I can communicate with foreign people 0≈0% 0≈0% 24≈25% 53≈55.2% 19≈19.8%
* (1= strongly disagree; 2= disagree; 3= neutral; 4= agree; 5= strongly agree)
As can be seen from Table 1, most of the participants have a negative attitude towards learning English The result shows that, of all 96 participants, only 14.6% learnt English because English is their interest while 32.3% of them disliked learning it and 53.1% held a neutral attitude towards learning English
Remarkably, 92.7% students learnt English was to pass the final exam (50% strongly agree, 42.7% agree) and 82.3% (49% strongly agreed and 33.3% agreed) accepted that English was good for their future A relatively great proportion of students (75%) responded that they learnt English because it is an important means of communication This demand is connected with the position of English as an international language Some of them learnt English for the purpose of entertainment (20.8%) These results suggest that students’ motivation for learning English arises to a large extend, not only from the requirements of their university but also for demands of contemporary Vietnam in general It may be concluded that although students held a negative attitude towards learning English, they did have motivation to study the English
3.1.2 Students’ attitudes towards English presentations Table 2: Summary of students’ awareness about the importance of English presentations
I How important is English oral presentation skill to you?
8 Enhancing confidence to speak in front of a group of people
9 Widening knowledge of both the topic and English
10 Helping prepare for skills needed in the future workplace
11 Improving communication skills and oral proficiency
* (1= strongly disagree; 2= disagree; 3= neutral; 4= agree; 5= strongly agree)
Although only 14.6% of students asked are interested in learning English, a large number of them realized the importance of English presentation skill Table 2 showed that a fairly high percentage of participants (68.8% including 27.1% strongly disagreed and 41.7% disagreed) did not consider English oral presentation skill as a waste of time Items 7 to 12 explained the reasons why mastering English presentation skill was important to students Of all participants, 82.3% agreed that the importance comes from the fact that presentation skill helps enhance confidence to speak in front of a group of people, 85.4% shared the view that the importance originates from the reason that oral presentation may widen their knowledge of not only the topic given but also the English language Besides, 71.9% considered presentation skill as a means to improve communication skills and oral proficiency
However, not all students had good awareness of English oral presentation’s importance Indeed, 15.6% of the participants agreed and 6.2% strongly agreed with item 7 It means they feel that doing English presentations is unimportant at all It is not surprising to receive the responses from the participants in this item because a common problem among students at QUI is that students might work in mining areas with no foreigners around them to use English presentations This also explains why only a small number of participants (26%) accepted that presentation skill can help prepare for skills needed in the future workplace Besides, as students at QUI only have to do written tests in English, they do not need to pay much attention to oral presentation skills
In sum, statistical analysis from students’ responses in Table 2 indicated that the students had clear perceptions of presentations More percentage of them recognized the significance as well as the advantages of English presentation skills
3.1.3 Students’ feelings about doing English oral presentations Table 3: Summary of students’ feelings about doing English oral presentations
II Which of the following most impresses your feeling about the oral presentations in your English lessons?
* (1= strongly disagree; 2= disagree; 3= neutral; 4= agree; 5= strongly agree While the majority of students understood the importance of doing English presentation skills (as shown in Table 2), students’ feelings about English presentations sound very dull 85.5% of the students asked said that English presentations is boring 95.8% of the students considered doing presentations is stressful According to the findings in Table 3, very few of them indicated that doing presentations in English lessons is interesting or relaxing Especially, only 4.2% of students feel it is effective and no one had other ideas The numbers are quite clear to reflect students’ negative attitude towards doing English presentations currently
3.1.4 Students’ activities in periods having presentations
Table 4: Summary of students’ activities in presentation periods
III What do you often do in periods having presentations?
19 Listening to the presenters attentively 9≈9.4% 25≈26% 9≈9.4% 34≈35.4% 19≈19.8%
20 Joining in presenting groups eagerly 25≈26% 49≈51.1% 14≈14.6% 8≈8.3% 0≈0%
22 Skipping class on presentation days 0≈0% 37≈38.5% 50≈52.1% 5≈5.2% 4≈4.2%
23 Discussing the topics in pairs/ groups in Vietnamese 4≈4.2% 14≈14.6% 35≈36.4% 34≈35.4% 9≈9.4%
* (1= strongly disagree; 2= disagree; 3= neutral; 4= agree; 5= strongly agree
Table 4 showed the students’ activities in presenting periods Astonishingly, although students did not show much enjoyment in presentation skills, more than a half of the respondents, which accounts for 55.2%, listened to the presenters attentively in presenting periods However, the percentage of students joining eagerly in presenting activities in class is very low with 8.3% There were still many students (44.8%) not taking part in or paying attention to presenting activities but doing other things Some (9.4%) even admitted that they skipped class on presentation days It was understandable due to the fact that many students do not like the idea of oral presentations They showed the disappointing low level of their interest in presentation skills In addition, in the English presenting class, 44.8% of them preferred discussing the topic given in Vietnamese It means that they might know the topic given but found difficult to express it in English Others added that they felt very anxious and never presented anything if not being forced to do by the teachers or members in their presenting groups This is another result that shows students’ negative attitudes towards doing English presentations
In brief, almost all of the students did not show their interest in doing presentations in English even though they were aware of its important role Thus, it seems to be hard for students to improve their presenting skills when they were not interested in and they themselves did not want to involve in presenting activities
3.1.5 Reasons affecting students’ attitudes towards oral presentations in the classrooms
The aims of this section were to explore the determinant reasons causing those above students’ attitudes Both the internal factors, pertaining to students themselves and external factors, comprising of teachers’ factors and learning environment’s factors which were suggested to affect students’ attitudes were all taken into consideration
3.1.5.1 The influence of internal factors on students’ attitudes Table 5: Summary of internal factors affecting students’ attitudes towards doing English presentations
C How do you agree that these following reasons may affect your attitudes towards doing English presentations?
25 My English speaking ability is not high 0≈0% 7≈7.3% 0≈0% 38≈39.6% 51≈53.1%
27 I find hard to have right words showing ideas in English
28 My knowledge of the topics is limited 10≈10,4% 39≈40.6% 9≈9.4% 24≈25% 14≈14.6%
29 I feel embarrassed during oral presentations 5≈5.2% 10≈10,4% 8≈8.3% 54≈56.3% 19≈19.8%
30 I am unable to remember points to present 2≈2.1% 3≈3.1% 5≈5.2% 53≈55.2% 33≈34.4%
31 I feel nervous even if I’ve prepared well beforehand 4≈4.2% 11≈11.4% 7≈7.3% 52≈54.2% 22≈22.9%
33 I’m afraid of failure in oral presentations 11≈11.5% 17≈17.7% 5≈5.2% 34≈35.4% 29≈30.2%
34 I need to read from my notes during presenting 1≈1% 8≈8.3% 0≈0% 54≈56.3% 33≈34.4%
35 I do not give enough rehearsal 9≈9.4% 18≈18.7% 0≈0% 55≈57.3% 14≈14.6%
36 I spend a little time for preparation 14≈14.6% 17≈17.7% 0≈0% 48≈50% 17≈17.7%
* (1= strongly disagree; 2= disagree; 3= neutral; 4= agree; 5= strongly agree)
It can be seen from the students’ answers that the first main factor having impact on students’ oral presentations is related to personal traits realized by both the language proficiency and personal characteristics
In terms of language proficiency, items 25 to 28 clarify its influence on students’ attitudes As mentioned in the previous chapter, most of students studied English at high school They had a chance to study General English before studying at QUI It worth noting that the participants are considered having higher English proficiency than other students here However, they still admitted that they found themselves unable to use English for communicative purposes Based on item 25, a large percentage of respondents (92.7 %) shared the same point of view that their limited speaking ability was identified as the major factor Linguistic difficulties such as lack of oral fluency and vocabulary knowledge (statements 26, 27), were further emphasized in the results Although students know quite well of the topic presented, a large number (73.9%) admitted they were unable to find out right words expressing their ideas in English and almost all (97.9%) faced great difficulties in pronunciation This reflects a culture of learning that emphasizes rote memorization of grammar rules and vocabulary lists and lacks opportunities for interaction Thus, obviously low level of language proficiency, especially in speaking, was a reason for students’ unfavorable attitudes in their presentations
In terms of characteristics, as stated in the literature, presenter plays the most important role in making the success of his oral presentation Feelings of anxiety, apprehension and nervousness have great contribution to the level of success of a presentation Oral presentation during which students stand up and talk in front of people is considered an anxiety-provoking situation The results shown in the Table
5, from item 29 to 33, indicated students’ apprehension of oral presentations
Making up a large proportion, 77.1% of students felt they were nervous when presenting even when they have preparation in advance Likewise, 76.1% of students reported that they got embarrassed during presentations Most participants (89.6%) reported their disability to remember the points to present and afraid of failure (65.6%) Item 34 supports by showing a large number of students (90.7%) had the need to read from notes during their presentations Unsurprisingly, only a small number of students, 3.1%, could deliver the presentation confidently Lack of rehearsal for the presentation was agreed by a significant percentage of students (71.9%) They, account for 67.7%, also spent little time preparing their presentations This problem partly causes their anxiety A possible explanation for students’ characteristics could be their low language proficiency In reality, they confided that they could give a good oral presentation in Vietnamese but they were impossible to do it in English Besides, their laziness might be the main cause for their weakness
In conclusion, students’ personal traits greatly affects their negative attitudes towards oral presentations in the class However, practicing can help students gain confidence and overcome their shyness to perform better
3.1.5.2 The influence of external factors on students’ attitudes Table 6: Summary of external factors affecting students’ attitudes towards doing English presentations
C How do you agree that these following reasons may affect your attitudes towards doing English presentations?
37 My teacher gives little encouragement 24≈25% 41≈42.7% 9≈9.4% 15≈15.6% 7≈7.3%
38 My teacher is unwilling to explain when we have problems on presentations
39 My teacher is unfair in assessing 26≈27.1% 43≈44.8% 5≈5.2% 16≈16.7% 6≈6.2%
40 My teacher clarifies the evaluation criteria 28≈29.2% 68≈70.8% 0≈0% 0≈0% 0≈0%
41 My teacher supplies few instructions 16≈16.7% 14≈14,6% 9≈9.4% 49≈51% 8≈8.3%
42 My teacher gives detailed comments 24≈25% 35≈36.5% 8≈8.3% 19≈19.8% 10≈10.4%
43 I do not have chances to give presentations in class and outside class
44 There is not enough multi- media equipment in class 9≈9.4% 43≈44.8% 19≈19.8% 17≈17.7% 8≈8.3%
* (1= strongly disagree; 2= disagree; 3= neutral; 4= agree; 5= strongly agree)
Apart from the internal reasons in previous parts, items 37 to 42 in Table 6 show students’ views on the influence from teachers Overall, the results showed that teachers’ behaviors had positive impacts on students’ attitudes in their learning of presenting skills Under a quarter of students kept negative views about their teachers’ behaviors showed from items 37 to 39, in which 67.7% disagreed that the teachers gave little encouragement; 71.9% objected the idea that when they had problems on presentations, teachers were unwilling to explain Furthermore, only 22.9% of respondents complained that their teachers gave unfair evaluation to their learning outcomes From my own experience, such good behaviors of teachers in class could contribute to the result of the students’ oral presentations In short, the figures in this table indicated that the students were generally content with the teachers’ encouragement, enthusiasm or assessments In other words, it can be seen that in this case, teacher’s behaviors in class did not cause students’ negative attitudes in doing presentations
Data analysis of students’ interview
In the interview, students in the 1 st group were coded as S1, S2, S3, S4, S5 while those in the 2 nd group were coded as S6, S7, S8, S9, S10 The contents of the interview are summarized and analyzed below:
Consistent with the questionnaire results, for the first question “Do you agree that oral presentation skills are very important to you? Why or why not?” most students said “Yes” To explain for their answers, they said that oral presentation skills were very important for them and helped them improve their speaking skills in front of a group of people, get more ideas and deeply understand of the topic presented, enhance their confidence, provide necessary skills in future jobs Especially, one student in group 1 affirmed that good presentation skills could shorten the path to the success in the future He also added that the better one’s presentation skill was, the more easily that person could persuade the others
However, there were two students answered “No” to this question One felt that doing English presentations was unimportant at all because of the fact that after graduating, he might work in mining areas with no chance of using English presentations One thought that presentation skills did not affect his marks in English subject Both students were in the second group
When asked question 2 “Do you enjoy participating in doing presentations in English lessons? Why or why not?”, nine of ten interviewees claimed that they were not interested in taking part in doing presentations in English lessons It seemed that they only did if they were forced to do When asked to give their opinions in front of the class, they were often over unconfident and nervous One even admitted that her heart pounding when speaking in front of a group in spite of being well- prepared in advance This result clearly showed that students had negative attitudes towards doing English presentations in class Concerning possible factors affecting presentation attitudes, students themselves were aware that their lack of linguistic knowledge was the main factor hindering For instance, they were weak in pronunciation and difficult to find appropriate words expressing ideas in English
Lack of self-confidence, lack of practice and shyness are other main factors
Besides, students informed that they did not get evaluation form from their teachers
They were only given some structures used in a presentation such as opening, concluding, organizing the ideas Last but not least, students said that they did not understand the requirements to try better because the teacher only gave them general evaluations such as “good”, “well done” or “not very good” without many clear explanations and examples after they finished presenting Therefore, it could cause students’ boredom and demotivate them as well
On the other hand, only one student confirmed that she felt eager and took part in doing presentation activities actively This student was were pretty good at English and they tried to learn English well to go abroad after graduation This view supported the results from the questionnaires that high level of ability and motivation can foster students’ positive attitudes However, such type of students with high proficiency was very few at QUI, only one or two in each class
Responding to the third question concerning what could be recommended to promote positive attitudes, most students shared the same idea that it was important to improve their knowledge of English They believed that if one student learnt well, that student could do presentations well and might have positive attitudes
They also pointed out that personal endeavor and interest played an important role in fostering students’ positive attitudes towards their learning Only when the students themselves felt eager, did they actively take part in the presentation activities Besides, many students suggested practice was essential, both to improve skills generally and to make the best of each individual presentation When students spent more time preparing carefully for their presentations, rehearsing the speech, they would achieved success in presenting Gradually, they became more active and confident and would build up positive attitudes Last but not least, students believed that if they received more enthusiastic guidance of teachers, they would surely felt less fear of delivering presentations
In summary, in line with the questionnaire results, the interviews with students affirm that students have negative attitudes to doing presentations Many reasons lead to this problem, mainly from students themselves However., there is a strong likelihood that different strategies could change their attitudes.
Discussion
Most results gained from the two instruments are in accord with each other
The answers are students at Department of Accounting at QUI have negative attitudes towards doing English presentations despite having a clear perception of the significance as well as the necessity of learning presentation skills Based on the data analysis, there were some factors leading to students’ negative attitudes
Firstly, the study highlighted the effect of personal traits realized by both the language proficiency and personal characteristics on their attitudes towards doing presentations Obviously, low level of language proficiency, especially the poor vocabulary or limited pronunciation in speaking was a reason for students’ unfavorable attitudes in their presentations The majority of students often felt nervous and unconfident when doing presentations Through students’ interviews, it is worth noting that that those who belonged to the higher English proficiency group tended to show their positive attitudes towards learning while limited ability was a barrier which could lead students to negative attitudes in their doing presentations
Students’ interest in doing presentation skills partly affected their attitudes to their learning It was said from the study that when students did not show their interest in learning English in general, doing presentations in particular, they had a tendency to be passive in their studying They seldom had a habit of preparing, practicing or only did when they were forced to do Thus, when students did not find anything interest in language learning, they could have unfavorable attitudes towards learning the target language As a result, it was crucial to find some ways to arouse students’ interest and accordingly, positive attitudes might be stimulated Secondly, it could be drawn from the results of the study that the teachers’ behaviors in this case did not cause negative effects on students’ attitudes because most of the students expressed their satisfaction with them However, the findings indicated that teachers’ practices brought unfavorable attitudes to the majority of the students because they lacked of instructions, comments and clear evaluation criteria from teachers Therefore, teachers should pay more attention to their teaching duties to support students develop presentation skills and limit students’ negative attitudes as well Furthermore, learning conditions were considered a factor accounting for their attitudes The time constraints and large class size prevented students from having chances to deliver presentation in the class It is unsurprising when students claimed that they had too few opportunities to practice outside class This might drive them to negative attitudes
Students admitted that their attitudes could be changed thanks to different strategies such as increasing English proficiency, promoting interest, spending more time for preparations, practicing appropriately with the help of the teachers These things would be the most useful to help them achieve success in presenting
Recapitulation
This study was presented with the aim to investigate students’ attitudes towards doing English presentations at Department of Accounting at Quang Ninh University of Industry Two research questions were raised at the beginning:
(1) What are the attitudes that students at Department of accounting at QUI hold towards doing English presentations?
(2) Why do they have such attitudes towards doing English presentations?
The author conducted in terms of both theory and practice To gain the theoretical background, relevant literature involving the study was reviewed Then the data for analysis was collected from two common instruments, namely questionnaire and interview
The results of the research showed that students had negative attitudes towards doing English presentations There were some reasons behind their unfavoured attitudes Also, some suggestions were recommended in order to enhance students’ positive attitudes towards doing English presentations.
Implications
Oral presentations can be a face-threatening activity However, with structured planning and organization, oral presentations can be a beneficial and enjoyable activity for learners Accordingly, their positive attitudes could be built
Below are some recommendations offered for both the students and the teachers at QUI:
2.1 For students 2.1.1 Improving knowledge of English
As revealed from the study, one of the factors that affect most negatively the students’ oral presentation skills is their English language proficiency The students themselves were clearly aware that their lack of linguistic knowledge, such as limited vocabulary, grammatical structures and knowledge of the given topics was the main reason hindering them from giving good presentations and making them afraid of performing this skill Therefore, it was important to improve their knowledge of English, especially vocabulary and pronunciation However, the success relied mainly on their personal endeavor and self-study Students must be willing to learn and have high responsibility in their own learning They must understand well the nature of the learning process They need to be aware that teachers can not teach them unless they themselves are prepared to take some of the strain It is very practical that in current time, students work in mining areas with almost no need of English However, they have the right to believe that they might be more successful, have better jobs in the future in somewhere else Besides, in the modern time, mastering English is one of the key that may help them In order to do that, they should try to perfect their English knowledge, not except English presentation skills as much as possible They should train themselves to be successful language learners who possess some or all of the characteristics: A willingness to listen; A willingness to experiment; A willingness to ask questions;
A willingness to think about how to learn; A willingness to accept correction (Harmer, 1998) Obviously, when students are eager or goal-oriented, they can become active in their learning Thus, they themselves can create favorable attitudes to doing presentations as well
Speech anxiety is another major problem that leads to students’ oral presentation failures It is understandable as Barker (2000: 116-117) stated that
“Every presenter - indeed - every performer - suffers from nerves” However, the author also maintained that “If you can support your nerves with solid preparation, you can channel your nervous energy into the performance itself Prepare well, and you will be ready to bring the presentation to life” He also advised presenters “not to try to dispel the nerves, but to use them”
From the study, it can be seen that students did not prepare adequately for their oral presentation sessions in the classroom To be able to overcome shyness, nervousness as well as to gain confidence, students have to make sure to be well- prepared for their presentations They can follow these four steps, suggested by Dwyer (2000: 200-204): (1) writing the presentation, (2) rewriting it for the ear, (3) practicing and revising it, and (4) organizing the visual aids Among such above steps, practicing and revising practice are essential, both to improve skills generally and also to make the best of each individual presentation Reinhart (2002: 12) confirms that practice will help students feel better prepare and thus more confident
They will have fewer hesitations and will be able to remember the contents of the speech better, so as to deliver the presentation fluently without notes Gradually, confidence will come automatically Accordingly, it may limit students’ negative attitudes to their learning In fact, “once you’ve made a successful presentation, you will gain enormously in confidence This in itself means that you are likely to make an even better presentation next time” (Emden.& Becker 2004: 1) Thus, it is advisable for students not to wait until the last minute to write or practice their speech They can use checklists suggested by Emden & Becker (2004) to have better preparation for their presentation before class (see Appendix 7)
2.2 For teachers 2.2.1 Providing students with linguistic knowledge
Due to their low proficiency, the students had to deal with a lot of difficulties in oral presentation skill emerging negative attitudes It is teachers who know for sure what the students need to be aware of when preparing for or delivering a presentation Thus, helping students to improve their linguistic competence is considered the essential job of all the teachers when teaching the skills First, teachers should revise grammatical structures, the pronunciation and vocabulary for better presentation Second, they should provide students with a wide range of oral activities and pronunciation exercises focusing on stress and intonation regularly
The fact that teachers provide linguistic knowledge students need in advance means to provide the students with more confidence and opportunities to practice their oral presentation Moreover, the results of the study show that when learners have an incomplete concept of learning process, they will learn and perceive the target language passively and negatively It is up to teachers to encourage students to take charge of their own learning by guiding them, by being available to disscuss invidual plans of study The most important thing, however, is to be sensitive to their own expectations of learning and acts accordingly (Harmer, 1998) Therefore, teachers can gradually help students be aware that learning is an active process and develop extensive learning habits outside the classroom
2.2.2 Equipping students with presentation skills
When oral presentations are assigned in class, lack of experience is usually the main producer of student stress and nervousness Experience builds confidence, which is vital to effective oral presentations Some prerequisite skills are important in building students confidence for oral presentations Otherwise, students will feel that the teacher has just dumped them into the sea to struggle for survival (King, 2002: 406)
In order to help students effectively cope with their fear of oral presentations, it is essential for teachers to acknowledge that speech anxiety is perfectly normal
Having an open discussion on speech anxiety will assist students to feel that they are not alone Teachers should create a supportive learning atmosphere, encourage interaction skills and cooperative learning skills Students can gain more confidence if they have thorough preparation, therefore, teachers should let them have enough time for preparing In addition, the teacher’s evaluation form should be given to students while assigning the work It can be used as a guideline for students to prepare their presentations In this way, students are informed in advance of the criteria by which their presentations will be evaluated It is quite helpful for students to know the teacher's expectations and grading criteria The teacher may need to work with the students to develop the evaluation criteria in the form of a checklist to be used in the classroom (see Appendix 8) King (2002: 407) stated that “The teacher’ s role in oral presentations involves not only preparing detailed guidelines, organizing groups, helping students to select topics, guiding their research and helping them learn the use of various visual aids, but also holding Q & A sessions, providing feedback on the sequencing of ideas and evaluating their performance”
Although the researcher has invested much effort in the study, limitations are unavoidable First and foremost, the participants in this study were only Accounting students studying at the time the thesis was done, not all students at this department
The generalization of the study results beyond the participants, therefore, should be cautioned
Another limitation of this study is that it does not mention any change in students’ attitudes Attitudes should be investigated best through a longitudinal study rather than in a very limited time since participants’ responses can be changeable from time to time depending on environmental and specific individual factors However, due to the limited time for data collection, this study can only describe the attitudes of participants in a specified time frame
Moreover, due to the time constraint, the researcher did not gain teachers’ reflections on students’ presentation attitudes Within the researcher’s limited practical experience in teaching and knowledge of this field, the suggestions given may be subjective and incomplete, leaving the issue open to debate
This study is limited in that the results cannot generalize beyond the research participants Hence, further studies can be conducted with a wider range of population and cover larger and deeper aspects of English presentation skills
In addition, a longitudinal study about students’ attitudes should be carried out to explore whether there is any change of attitudes in the learning process or not
Furthermore, it is believed that attitudes of language learners may affect their proficiency in language learning, so future studies are suggested to more deeply delve into the relationships between attitudes and learning achievements
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