Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS assessment criteria for an effective EFL presentation of english majors at hanam teachers training college problems and solutions

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ BÍCH HẠNH ASSESSMENT CRITERIA FOR AN EFFECTIVE EFL PRESENTATION OF ENGLISH MAJORS AT HANAM TEACHERS TRAINING COLLEGE PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS (CÁC YẾU TỐ ĐÁNH GIÁ CHO BÀI THUYẾT TRÌNH HIỆU QUẢ CỦA SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG SƯ PHẠM HÀ NAM VẤN ĐỀ VÀ GIẢI PHÁP) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Hanoi - 2011 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ BÍCH HẠNH ASSESSMENT CRITERIA FOR AN EFFECTIVE EFL PRESENTATION OF ENGLISH MAJORS AT HANAM TEACHERS TRAINING COLLEGE PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS (CÁC YẾU TỐ ĐÁNH GIÁ CHO BÀI THUYẾT TRÌNH HIỆU QUẢ CỦA SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG SƯ PHẠM HÀ NAM VẤN ĐỀ VÀ GIẢI PHÁP) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor: Vũ Mai Trang , M.Ed Hanoi - 2011 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration ……………………………………………… Page i Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………… ii Abstract………………………………………………………………… iii Table of contents…………………………………………… iv List of abbreviations …………………………………………………… vi List of figures and tables vii PART A: INTRODUCTION…………………… 1 Rationale of the study……………………………………………… Purpose of the study………………………………………………… Research questions ………………………………………………… Methodology …………………….…………………………………… Significance of the study …………………………………………… PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW Oral presentation …………………………………………………… 1.1 Definitions of oral presentation…………………………………… 1.2 Types of oral Presentation ……………………… ………………… 1.3 Oral Presentations in classroom settings ………………………… Introduction to needs analysis……………………………………… 2.1 Definition of needs analysis………………………………………… 2.2 Types of needs analysis……………………………………………… Assessment …………………………………………………………… 10 3.1 An overview of classroom assessment ……………………………… 10 3.2 Presentation assessment …………………………………………… 11 3.3 Washback of classroom assessment on students …………………… 12 Document study on assessment criteria for oral presentation 14 CHAPTER II: THE STUDY ………………………… 16 Sampling ……………………………………………………………… 16 1.1 Students ……………………………………………………………… 16 1.2 Teachers ……………………………………………………………… 16 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 1.3 Output standards for English language students (teaching and non-teaching)………………………………………………………………… 17 1.4 Applying EFL oral presentations in HTTC context ……………………… 17 Data collection …………… ………………………………… 18 2.1 Instruments ………………………………………………………… 18 2.2 Procedures ………………………………………………………… 19 2.3 Data analysis ……………………………………………………… 19 CHAPTER III: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ……… 20 Types of oral presentation assessments used to evaluate EFL oral presentations of English majors at HTTC ………………………………… 20 Criteria used to evaluate EFL oral presentations of English majors at HTTC ……………………………………………………… 21 Current situation of making EFL oral presentation of English Major at HTTC from teachers’ evaluations ………………………… 23 3.1 The strengths…………………………………………………… 23 3.2 The weaknesses ……………………………………………… 23 A suggested Evaluation Sheet for oral presentation ……………… 27 Implications and suggestions …………………………………………… 28 5.1 For the students ………………………………………………………… 28 5.2 For the teachers………………………………………………………… PART C: CONCLUSION …………………… 31 34 Conclusion of the study ……………………………………… ……… 34 Limitations and Suggestions for future research……………………… 35 REFERENCES 33 36 APPENDIX I I LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a foreign language HTTC: Hanam Teachers Training College LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Page Figure ……………………………………………………………… Figure ……………………………………………………………… 12 Table ………………………………………………………………… 14 Table ………………………………………………………………… 23 Table 3………………………………………………………………… 28 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A INTRODUCTION This part presents rationale of the study, purpose of the study, research questions, method, and significance of the study Rationale of the study Presentation activities have recently been cast light on in EFL (English as Foreign Language) classrooms as an innovative means of developing students’ skills in public speaking and hence promoting their motivation in English Presentations are a great way to have students practise all language systems areas (vocabulary, grammar, discourse and phonology) and skills (speaking, reading, writing and listening) They also build confidence, and presenting is a skill that most people will need in the world of work The students who are good presenters are better communicators, since they are able to structure and express their ideas clearly However, the assessment of oral presentation is not an easy task for all teachers In fact, assessing oral presentations can present a challenge to teachers Presentation assessment criteria consist of many factors: language, content, delivery, and visual aids, etc It is not easy for teachers to clearly delineate these factors to their learners before undertaking any assessment activities in class In a classroom setting, teachers establish the criteria for assessment themselves They also have the responsibility of judging students’ presentation performances However, according to Otoshi and Heffernan (2008) if only one teacher accesses student’s presentation, it can raise reliability issues As such, there is a good possibility that an instructor’s assessment is not objective or consistent enough to meet the needs of his or her learners Moreover, many researchers agree that if learners are explicitly aware of the criteria used to assess them, they will be better able to apply the method of evaluation to their own learning styles, and thereby to their own benefit as learners Further, students are able to comprehend and critically assess marking criteria that they understand clearly, and have more difficulty comprehending marking criteria that are imposed on them by teachers The development of the criteria is just as important as the assessment itself Therefore, it is important to publish clear and understandable assessment criteria for presentations to make sure that students are fully aware of them before they make In this way, they know about what they are expected to do, so they can focus better on the skills in a manner that they know is appropriate It is not helpful and sometimes stressful for students if they have to guess the basis for their assessment because they not know how their teacher LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com is going to mark them As a result, it is important for EFL teachers to reconsider the purposes of each oral presentation, the students, and the required learners’ presentation skills to build their own evaluative criteria for oral presentation Oral presentation is an effective communicative activity that has widely adopted by EFL teachers at Hanam Teachers Training College (HTTC) to promote oral proficiency of their English majors However, when oral presentations are assigned in class, the teacher will get either complete silence or grumbles from students who find the idea of oral presentations frustrating and intimidating Students are overwhelmed with the research and communication skills that are necessary for a successful presentation Some serious students who invest time and effort into an oral presentation not always get the intended outcomes Other students try to get through the ideal as quickly as possible, but not improve their speaking skills under such stressful situations Thus, oral presentations can be a time-consuming project with no guarantee of a satisfactory performance Being an English teacher at HTTC for nearly five years, I have also used oral presentation as a form to promote the speaking ability of my English majors However, I find it not easy to access their performance because, like many other EFL teachers at my college, we often take a ready-made oral presentation rubric or checklist to mark the presentation Yet using the rating criteria based on native speakers’ standards to measure learners’ oral proficiency was not suitable for the actual use of English in the context where English is taught as a second language Because it would not be appropriate simply to provide a standard list of assessment criteria that would guide the marking of any presentation because what is valued in a presentation might differ The above-mentioned problems are the researcher’s primary concern and the motivation for doing the thesis on the topic: “Assessment criteria for an effective EFL presentation of English majors at Hanam Teachers Training College Problems and solutions.” Purpose of the study This research is designed with a purpose to build up a set of assessment criteria for teachers to evaluate oral presentations of English majors at HTTC In order to implement such purpose, firstly, the researcher investigated which criteria used by teachers at HTTC in evaluating EFL oral presentations Secondly, she tried to find out the problems and the strengths of English majors at HTTC in making oral presentations Then she studied LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 10 documents on different assessment criteria used by experts, educators, researchers, and other teachers to assess presentations Finally, basing on these, the researcher suggested a set of criteria for assessing presentations of HTTC English majors, which are suitable with the needs of both the teachers and the students of HTTC Research questions Based on the purposes of the study, this study sought to answer the following three major questions: 3.1 What are the assessment types and criteria being used by teachers at HTTC to evaluate EFL presentations of English majors? 3.2 What are the current strengths and problems of English majors at HTTC in making EFL oral presentations? 3.3 What assessment criteria should be used to evaluate EFL presentations of English majors at HTTC? Methodology The study has been conducted in the form of a case study, using observations, semi – structured interviews and document study as instruments of data collection Significance of the study Although studies of applying oral presentations in EFL context are numerous in many Western and Asian countries, such studies of criteria in oral presentations in Asia and in Vietnam are still scarce The study is undertaken to find out criteria used by teachers and the current strengths and weaknesses of English majors, as well as the criteria learnt from document study to set up suitable criteria for marking EFL presentations in Vietnamese context, particularly at HTTC Therefore, firstly, this study is practical and useful for both teachers and students at HTTC In addition, it contributes to enrich the research on this area in the context of university English classrooms in our country The findings and implications of this study will be of much help and can be used for reference of researchers, educators, teachers and students LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 11 PART B DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter consists of three parts: oral presentation, introduction to needs analysis, assessment and document study on assessment criteria for oral presentation Oral presentation 1.1 Definitions of oral presentation Oral presentation skills are important in nearly every career Scientists and engineers present at conferences, to students, to their peers, etc Administrators and managers may give talks to committees about their work, or to groups of people in training As for students, presentation skills can lead to new opportunities in employment and in education A presentation is defined in the 7th edition of Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2005:1190) as “an act of showing something or of giving something to somebody” or “a meeting at which something, especially a new product or idea, or piece of work is shown to a group of people” Presentation means: “ a short talk by one person to a group of people introducing and describing a particular subject” (Retrieved from http://www.englishclub.com/teflarticles/english-speaking-practice-presentations.htm) According to Jing (2009, p.iii), “Oral presentation is an important skill to convey one‟s ideas in communication.” Kaul (2005, p.41) also asserts, “Presentations are ideas, concepts or issues that are talked about or shared with a group of people or an audience” Generally, a presentation is a formal talk to one or more people that "presents" ideas or information in a clear, structured way Oral presentation is a means to show knowledge, give a lecture, be tested in a classroom, and build confidence to speak to an audience A presentation consists of four basic elements: the presenter, the audience, the message and the tools 1.2 Types of Oral Presentations There are many ways of classified types of presentation Some people may define them basing on the purposes Some may define them basing on the manners of delivery However, the most common types of presentation given by Whatley (2001) are the followings Firstly, he mentions informative presentation Informative presentation brings the audience up to date on projects or events, telling how things are going, or provides information about products and procedures, rules and regulations, and operations, etc LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 33 introverted and not very confident As a result, speaking in front of the whole class and teachers is a difficult experience They have lots of difficulties in nonverbal communication such as: - No eye contact with audience, as entire report is read from notes It is common knowledge that eye contact is critical to building trust, credibility, and rapport However, far too many students have a habit of looking at everything but the audience a wall, a ;desk, a computer, and slides on the screen, a window or even a tree outside the window - No movement or descriptive gestures They distract the audiences with physical mannerisms Some students even stand in front of the audience with hands in his pockets or pulling his hair, scratching his head and arm, or swaying back and forth, all reflect nervousness or insecurity These habits inspire no confidence in the speaker 3.2.6 Visual aids Using visual aids helps a lot in oral presentations However, students not think highly of them and not know how to take advantages of their visual aids Often, they use photos, pictures or in some presentations, they use slides but not very successful These are due to: - Small and unclear inappropriate photos, pictures - Too many words on a slide - Small font size of words on a slide - Too many slides for a presentation - Colorful slides, etc Another point with visual aids is that students often have technical problems Sometimes presenters not know why their power point, their music or their video does not work 3.2.7 Handling Question and answer The students often not perform well at this session When the audience, especially the teacher raises a question, they not know how to react if they not have the answer Sometimes, the answer is out of the topic or unrelated, etc 3.2.8 Others As remarked by most teachers, the students often lack the skill of performing They also not know how to organize the presentation well Although many linking words and phrases used for oral presentation are available, they not use them appropriately in the presentations LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 34 Above all, lacking of confidence and enthusiasm are big problems Most students feel so nervous to stand in front of the audience that they forget what they want to present although they have prepared very carefully at home Some also present in a monotonous voice, showing no interest in the presentation, which much disappoint the audience A suggested Evaluation Sheet for EFL presentation There are many sample evaluation worksheets in the literature of student assessment, in appendices of prepared textbooks as well as Internet sites However, it is imperative that teachers design their own tailor-made evaluation sheet that will suit their specific ESL context The ESL teacher then needs to adapt characteristics from these worksheets and the descriptors that are selected can then be explained to their students or be user-friendly Therefore, from researching documents, reading books, and all the criteria that are available online and being used by HTTC teachers as well as studying and interviewing, observing the teachers about the strengths and weaknesses of students at HTTC when they make oral presentations, the researcher find it necessary to design an evaluation sheet that is the most suitable for both the teachers and her students The following is a suggestion for criteria used in evaluating oral presentation: Criteria Mark Comment Content (30%) Organization (5%) Verbal skill (15%) Pronunciation Vocabulary and Grammar Voice quality Nonverbal skill (15%) Eye contact Facial expression Gesture and body language Visual aids (15%) Anxiety management (10%) Questions and answers management (10%) Table This evaluation sheet can have several purposes First, the instructor can use it as a grading tool Second, if it is given to students prior to their presentation, it will help them LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 35 focus on what is needed for good presentations Third, by having students who are not presenting fill out the evaluation sheet as a peer review, it can reinforce good presentation skills Implications and suggestions The investigation has found out that the students still have many difficulties in making oral presentation and the teachers have difficulties in assessing students’ performance These difficulties may have bad results in the successful of applying oral presentation in EFL in HTTC context Therefore, on the basis of the findings, the following part will offer some implications and suggestions for students and teachers to overcome these difficulties 5.1 For the students It is the common knowledge that to become effective presenters, students should adopt good presentation strategies because the presentation strategies are the tool to improve the presentation competence Therefore, to be a more effective presenter, students should pay more attention to the followings: 5.1.1 Content In order to give a good content of a presentation, students must always bear in mind question “What should I say?” They must know clearly about objective of their presentation It is also advised that being prepared is by far the most important element for a successful presentation Preparation is the key to giving an effective presentation In the preparation step, according to Dwyer (2000), students should write the presentation, rewrite it for the ear, practice and revise it, organize the visual aids 5.1.2 Organization The students should organize their presentations in a logical structure Most presentations are organized in three parts Introduction, Body of the presentation and Conclusion, then followed by questions In the Introduction, students should welcome audience, introduce subject, explain the structure of presentation, and explain rules for questions In the Body of presentation, they had better present the subject itself Finally, in the conclusion, they should summarize the presentation, thank audience and invite questions Students are advised not to read their presentations because reading a text is boring and will send audience to sleep Therefore, presenters had better use notes to remember everything they need to say LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 36 5.1.3 Verbal skill Pronunciation In order to have better pronunciation at an EFL presentations, students are advised to practiced carefully at home They should check the pronunciation of the words in the dictionary, record by tape or video to check it repeatedly if possible Vocabulary and grammar If presenter wants the audience to understand the message, their language must be simple and clear So students should use short words and short sentences, talk about concrete facts rather than abstract ideas, use active verbs instead of passive verbs, and not use jargon, unless they know that their audience understands it Throughout the presentation, presenters should put up signposts telling audience which point they have reached and where they are going now Voice quality The first thing an audience will notice when the speaker begins is the tone and inflection of the speaker’s voice While most people understand that a monotone dialogue is disastrous to a message, few of us consciously vary the volume and pace of our speech to preclude such a delivery However, one of the major problems of the English majors at HTTC was that most of them spoke at a monotonous voice and the volume was always complained as too soft and made the audience could not follow the presentation Therefore, paying more attention to the volume of the speaker is necessary According to Carolyn (2001), by increasing and decreasing volume on important words, speeding up or slowing down the tempo of our conversation, and effective use of pausing, a student can force the audience to adjust their listening skills to match the new pace, thus preventing listeners from becoming too comfortable with what’s happening and from going into automatic listening mode An added advantage is that it requires the listeners to remain more attentive, which, in turn, improves the chances that they will actually hear and understand what is being said To improve the volume of the voice, students can use the voice exercise suggested by Emdem and Becker (2004) In short, in order to be able to be heard clearly, presenter should try to vary his voice as: - Speed: student can speak at normal speed, can speak faster, can speak more slowly, and can stop completely! Silence is a very good technique for gaining audience’s attention LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 37 - Intonation: student can change the pitch of his voice He can speak in a high tone or in a low tone - Volume: student can speak at normal volume, loudly or quietly Lowering the voice and speaking quietly can again attract audience's interest 5.1.4 Nonverbal skill It is common knowledge that 55% of a presentation is delivered via non-verbal information, such as eye contact, facial expressions, gestures and body movements Eye contact Since the visual sense is dominant for most people, eye contact is an especially important type of nonverbal communication The way presenters look at someone can communicate many things, including interest, affection, hostility, or attraction Eye contact is also important in maintaining the flow of conversation and for gauging the other person’s response Therefore, students should practice establishing eye contact with audience to make them feel included, spend several seconds looking at one person before moving r visual focus to another person and they should not maintain eye contact of longer than 3-5 seconds because it can make a participant uncomfortable Facial expression The human face is extremely expressive, able to express countless emotions without saying a word In addition, unlike some forms of nonverbal communication, facial expressions are universal The facial expressions for happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust are the same across cultures So students are advised to use facial expressions to show concern, enthusiasm, empathy, and understanding and smile naturally as much as possible to gain audience’s attention Gesture and body language Students should gesture naturally, not mechanically and be careful not to make unnatural hand movements that could be interpreted as culturally offensive They should not make erratic or unorthodox movements, like bouncing, rocking, pacing, or other distractions 5.1.5 Visual aids It is also common knowledge that 80% of what we learn is learned visually (what we see) and only 20% is learned aurally (what we hear) This means that visual aids are an extremely effective means of communication There are many advantages in using visual aids during the presentation Visual aids can create a powerful effect, help keep students' attention, and LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 38 illustrate main ideas However, the disadvantage of overusing visual aids is that the attention of the audience will be divided and students may stand aside and have visual aids take their place Therefore, students must remember the basic rule is to use visual aids to support the presentation, not to dominate it 5.1.6 Anxiety management Emdem and Becker (2004, p.29) states, “the single most important message about nerves is that they are a good thing Be grateful for your nerves and don‟t try to get rid of them.” As a result, students should recognize and accept the signs of nervousness They can reduce nervousness by knowing content and presentation ahead of time and rehearse several times prior to presenting They are also encouraged to breathe deeply and slowly before beginning in order to establish composure or pause frequently to take a deep breath during presentation and direct attention toward a friendly face occasionally for reassurance 5.1.7 Questions and answer management In reality, most students are afraid of this part They are always scared of being asked by friends and teachers However, this is a very important part because how the presenters handle questions from an audience can often be the deciding factor as to how their presentation is received Then it's absolutely vital to handle questions well Fairweather (2005) an international business speaker suggested “9 Tips for Handling Public Speaking Questions” as followings: - Be prepared for questions - Make it clear at the start - Never finish with questions - Listen - Thank the questioner - Repeat the essence of the question - Answer to everyone - Keep it simple - Don't bluff or bluster 5.2 For the teachers According to King (2002):“Working with students on oral presentations is a challenging job for teachers” because it not only involves training in other disciplines such as speech communication and public speaking, but also demands more of teachers in terms of time and LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 39 effort in lesson planning and teaching strategies… The teacher in this case is “the guide, organizer, consultant, resource person, and supporter.” He also added that the teacher's role in oral presentations not only involves 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 the holding of Q & A sessions, providing feedback on the sequencing of ideas, and evaluating their performance Race et al (2005, p 79-80) provided some advice in assessing presentation for the teachers as followings: “- Be clear about the purposes of the student presentation - Make the criteria for assessment of presentation clear from the outset Students will know what is expected of them - Get students involved in formulating or weighting the assessment criteria This can be done either by allowing them to negotiate the criteria themselves or by giving them plenty of opportunities to interrogate criteria the teachers share with them - Ensure that students understand the weighting of the criteria This will help them to know what are the most important aspects of their presentations - Give students some prior practice at assessing presentations - Let the students have a mark-free rehearsal - Involve students in the assessment of their presentations When given the chance to assess each other presentation, they take them more seriously and will learn from the experience Students merely watching each other’s presentation tend to get bored and can switch off mentally If they are evaluating each presentation using an agreed set of criteria, they tend to engage themselves more fully with the process and in doing so, they learn more from the content of each presentation - Ensure that the assessment criteria span presentation process and the content of the presentation sensibly - Make up grids using the criteria that have been agreed Allocated each criterion a weighting and get all the groups to fill in the grids for each presentation The average peerassessment mark is likely to be at least as good an estimate of the relative worth of each presentation as could be the view of single tutor doing the assessment …………………… LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 40 - Consider assessing using video tapes This can allow the presenters themselves the opportunity to review their performances, and can allow teachers to assess presentations at a time most suitable to them In addition, teachers also should give students regular and useful feedback Teachers should give more praise, compliments, encouragement than criticism Moreover, they also should invite feedback and compliments from the audience It is very helpful for the presenter because often it is very difficult for him to evaluate himself on the stage In conclusion, the teacher plays a very important role in the success of students’ presentations Therefore, they need to help the students to improve the competence of giving effective presentation LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 41 PART C CONCLUSION This chapter provides summary of study, limitations and suggestions for further research Conclusion of the study In this study, the researcher attempted to answer four major research questions: (1) What types of oral presentation assessments and criteria are being used by teachers at HTTC to evaluate EFL oral presentations of English Majors?, (2) What are the current strengths and problems of English majors at HTTC in making EFL oral presentations?,(3) What are the assessment criteria being used by experts, educators, researchers and other teachers to evaluate presentation? and (4) What the assessment criteria should be used to evaluate EFL presentations of English Majors at HTTC? From the results discussed above, the major findings of the study were drawn Firstly, the teachers at HTTC are using two types of oral presentation assessment They are checklists and rubrics The sources of the checklists or rubrics are varied They may be taken online, from the book or the teacher decided to design one for her own Whatever the case, the teachers are still not satisfied with the checklists or rubrics they are using and want to have a better evaluation sheet to help them assess the oral presentation more easily Secondly, the researcher has found out that the English major students at HTTC have both strength and weaknesses However, the weaknesses are far outweighed the strength They include the weaknesses in pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, volume and pace, nonverbal skill, using visual aids, handling question and answer session, and others… Thirdly, the researcher has done document study to investigate criteria used by experts and researchers Lastly, basing on the experience of the researcher, the criteria being used to assess oral presentations at HTTC as well as researching documents and books, the researcher has suggested a sheet of evaluative criteria for evaluating the performance Moreover, the researcher also suggested some solutions, which are hoped to help both the students and teachers to overcome the difficulties in applying oral presentation in EFL lessons Overall, what has been discussed in this study might be beneficial to both teachers and students in learning and teaching English, especially in term of communication skill LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 42 Limitations and Suggestions for future research Since not many researches on the same problems have been done in the world as well as in Vietnam, this study was designed to provide a starting point for future research This study is not without the limitations due to time constraints and the scope of the study It only investigated the criteria used by the teachers, the strengths and weaknesses of students’ oral presentation from the point of view of the teachers Therefore, it is very necessary to call for further research on the problems of oral presentations from the perspective of the students In addition, the researcher only gave a suggested evaluation sheet in this study Due to the scope of the study, she has not had enough time to check the validity and reliability of the criteria However, it is admitted that the researcher would be interested in carrying out deeper investigation into the application of the given criteria in HTTC context as well as the using of the given criteria as a sheet for peer assessment LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 43 REFERENCES Bailey, K.M (1999) Washback in language testing Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey, RM-99-4 Carolyn J L (2001) Effective Speaking and Presentation PM : JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2001(32-35) Cassell, C., & Symon (1994) Qualitative methods in organizational research United Kingdom: Sage Publications Ltd Cheng, L (2005) Changing language teaching through language testing: A washback study Cambridge University Press Cheng, Y.C (2008) A review of washback and its pedagogical implications VNU Journal of Science, Foreign Languages 25 (2009) 257-263 Council of Ontario Directors of Education (2006) Consistency in classroom assessment – support materials for educators Retrieved on September 23rd 2009 from www.ontariodirectors.ca/pdf/CCA-Final.pdf Cowling ,J D (2007) Needs analysis: Planning a syllabus for a series of intensive workplace courses at a leading Japanese company English for Specific Purposes 26 (2007) 426-442 Crowl, D A (2005) Oral Presentations Retrieved on July 23rd 2009 from www.chem.mtu.edu/~crowl/cm4851/OralPresentations.pdf Dwyer, J (2000) The business communication handbook New Jersey: Prentice Hall 10 Emdem, J & Becker, L (2004) Presentation skills for students New York: Palgrave Macmillan 11 Earl, D., Katz, S., Campbell, G., Gilbert, P., Abrahams, C C., Nicklen, R., Markley, T (2006) Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind Citizenship and Youth 12 Fairweather, A (2005) tips for handling public speaking questions Retrieved on June 27th 2010 from www.ezinearticles.com/?9-Tips-for-Handling-Public-Speaking-Questions 13 Ha, Nguyen Thi Van (2007) A study on oral presentation difficulties of second-year English majors of Phuong Dong university in the speaking lessons and solutions Unpublished MA dissertation, CFL,VNU 14 Hales, J., Allen, T., Brooks, M., Cashdan, S., Clark, M., Connolly, M., … Roberts, A (2001) Language Skills Handbook On-line Edition Retrieved on June 27th 2010 from http://www.etsu.edu/scitech/langskil/credits.htm#copyright 15 Hill, M.D (1997) Oral Presentation Advice Retrieved on June 27th 2010 from http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~markhill/conference-talk.html LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 44 16 Hovane, M (2010) Teaching Presentation Skills for Communicative Purposes Retrieved on 28th December, 2010 from website http://www.kansai-u.ac.jp/fl/publication/pdf_forum/8/04_mark_35.pdf 17 Jennifer, C Z Effective Oral Presentation Skills Retrieved on June 28th 2009 from www.well-run.com/images/effectiveoralpres.pdf 18 Kandil, A.(2004) Needs analysis and the Arab learners Retrieved on May 25th 2010 from http://ilearn.20m.com/research/needs.htm 19 Kaul, A (2005) The effective presentation-talk your way to success Sage publications Inc, California 20 Kaur, S (2005) Suggestions for Teaching Public Speaking and Evaluating Speeches The Internet TESL Journal, Vol XI, No 7, July 2005 Retrieved on June 27th 2009 from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Kaur-PublicSpeaking.html 21 Kikuchi, K Student and teacher perceptions of learning needs: A cross analysis Retrieved on May 10th 2010 from http://jalt.org/test/kik_1.htm 22 King, J (2002) Preparing EFL Learners for Oral Presentations The Internet TESL Journal, Vol VIII, No 3, March 2002 Retrieved on June 10 th 2010 from http://iteslj.org/Lessons/King-PublicSpeaking.html) 23 Kusumoto, J (2008) Needs analysis: Developing a teacher training program for elementary school homeroom teachers in Japan Retrieved on April 20th 2010 from http://www.pdfgeni.org/fd/Needs-Analysis-in-Language-learning -Teaching-pdf.html 24 Jing, L (2009) Application of Oral Presentation in ESL Classroom of China Retrieved on April 20th 2010 from www.minds.wisconsin.edu 25 Lowe I (2009) Need Analysis Retrieved on April 20th 2010 from www.scientificlanguage.com 26 Marmienė, A (2006) The impact of the delivery of prepared PowerPoint Santalka Filologija Edukologija,106-109 Retrieved on April 20 th 2010 from www.vgtu.lt/upload 27 Mertler, C.A (2001) Designing scoring rubrics for your classroom Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 7(25) Retrieved on April 20 th 2010 from http://PAREonline.net/ 28 Moskal, B M (2003) Recommendations for developing classroom performance assessments and scoring rubrics Practical 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Retrieved on May 17th 2010from www.kumagaku.ac.jp/teacher/~judy/gyoseki/12.doc 42 www.cdhanam.edu.vn 43 www.englishclub.com/tefl-articles/english-speaking-practice-presentations.htm LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 46 APPENDIX 1 OBSERVATION FORM Teacher:…………………………… Subject:…………………… Class:……………………………… Time:……………………… Room:……………………………… Date:……………………… No Student’s Presentation name name Strength Weaknesses Note SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW What type of criteria are you using to evaluate EFL presentation? What criteria are you using to evaluate EFL presentation? LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 47 APPENDIX A SAMPLE FINAL SPEECH EVALUATION FORM Name: …………………………………………………………………… (Make a check in the appropriate column Good OK Needs Comments work Topic Interesting process? Appropriate for a general academic audience Introduction Adequate? Attention-getting? Organization Clear organization strategy? Used organization indicator statement when appropriate? Linking words (signposts) Smooth, coherent speech flow? correct use of time expressions and other connectors? Conclusion Adequate? Smooth, not abrupt? Eye contact and facial expressions Focus on the audience Contact with all the members of the audience ? Friendly facial expression? Gestures and other body movements? Hands free and expressive? Body posture relaxed rather than stiff? No distracting body movements? Voice Good volume? Confident? Relaxed? Pace Not too fast or too slow? Smooth rather than halting or hesitant? Pronunciation (Specific comments) Other comments? (Reinhart, S.M, 2002, p.18-19) LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ... luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a foreign language HTTC: Hanam Teachers Training College LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES AND. .. the thesis on the topic: ? ?Assessment criteria for an effective EFL presentation of English majors at Hanam Teachers Training College Problems and solutions. ” Purpose of the study This research... current strengths and problems of English majors at HTTC in making EFL oral presentations? 3.3 What assessment criteria should be used to evaluate EFL presentations of English majors at HTTC? Methodology