A STUDY ON ESP STUDENTS’ PUBLIC SPEAKING ANXIETY

i HANOI UNIVERSITY ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES DEPARTMENT -oOo A STUDY ON ESP STUDENTS’ PUBLIC SPEAKING ANXIETY (Word count: 2080 words) Teacher: Trần Thúy Hằng Student: Bùi Hải Anh Nguyễn Mai Liên Class: 5Q-17 Course: ESP 2017 Date: ii 17/05/2018 i ABSTRACT In the modern world, speaking anxiety is not a new problem, and many people still have this kind of anxiety despite their effort to overcome it Students are no exception The fear they suffer from is due to the limitation of the ability to give a formal speech in front of a crowd As the title suggests, this paper aims to reflect on the fear of public speaking among ESPD's students Based on data obtained from a small - scale research carried out within Hanoi University, our project's team analyze and assess the various characteristic of the anxiety Specifically, symptoms of the fear that are common Some causes, and measures to help students reduce the effect of public speaking fear It is hoped that this empirical research could be a useful reference for students to deal with speech anxiety i Table of Contents Introduction: Method Results Discussion of finding: a Symptoms of speaking anxiety: b Causes of speech anxiety: c Techniques to overcome fear of public speaking: 5 Recommendation: 6 Conclusion: References Questionnaire .8 ii LIST OF FIGURE Figure 1: Do students have troubles with public speaking? Figure 2: Symptoms of speaking anxiety Figure 3: Causes of speaking anxiety Figure 4: Rate of methods to reduce speaking anxiety iii i Introduction: In the modern world, speaking skill, especially public speaking skill, has become very crucial to a successful man or woman Furthermore, public speaking can help people build up their confidence and courage to express themselves in front of many people Unfortunately, for so many people all around the world, public speaking is one of the most common fears As a result, they may have difficulties when entering university or seeking a well-paid job because, in that environment, public speaking is one of the most necessary skills This issue will be indicated in our research, which focuses on examining the impacts of speaking anxiety on students, specifically, some methods to reduce anxiously Public speaking began to show up in approximately 2,500 years ago in Greece and Rome, where public political participation is highly valuable Because of that, public speaking is a crucial tool (Communications, 2012)After a few decades, public speaking has become more and more popular, is not just for politician anymore, now everybody needs it We use this skill in several fields and for dozens of purpose such as work, study, debate, persuade others However, public speaking anxiety still becomes some of the most common fears in the modern society "Statistically speaking, out of every four people fear public speaking, and women are susceptible to it more than men, with 75% and 73% of self-identified sufferers respectively" (Flaxington, 2015) Similarly, other psychologies also said that about 60% of speakers who have to give a speech in front of people have gloss phobia - formal term for speaking anxiety (Ed.D., 2012) Bearing this in mind, this research paper which based on the data from students of ESPD, Hanoi University will focus on answering three central questions First, to what extent public speaking anxiety affects ESPD students’ performance? Secondly, what are the causes of speech anxiety? And finally, how can they get control of this anxiety to get a better presentation Method The data used in this report is acquired from a survey carried out within Hanoi University A questionnaire consisting of multiple-choice questions was designed concerning our three research questions for the students to fill in All the questions were divided into three main groups Firstly, the first two questions were designed to tell how often you give a speech Next, five questions are set up to determine the symptoms and causes of speaking anxiety Last, two questions were presented to give out some useful techniques for students to combat speech anxiety Results This section outlines the results of the survey conducted to discover ESPD student's opinions of the public speaking Intending to determine whether students suffer from presented stress The participants of this project are categorized into two groups: students who take the trouble to give a speech and the students who have not encountered this problem As expected, the acquired results reflect the causes and symptoms of speaking anxiety among ESPD students Of the 50 ESPD students who were questioned, 98% of respondents reported that they have presentation lessons two times a week and their time for preparation is quite hard, so that makes them more stress besides other assignments This survey will focus on the causes of their speaking fear, then classified the symptoms and how have ESPD students deal with it As can be seen from figure 1, page 2, a large part of students have responded that they worry about their public speaking abilities while this figure of students who was comfortable or to be in two minds about giving speech accounted for just a minority, which accounted for a fourth compared to students who said “Yes” This bar chart illustrates the proportion of symptoms that affect students while giving a speech It is clearly seen that most of the students get troubles when speaking in front of a crowd Just only in 50 students said that they don’t have any symptoms above The bar chart also shows the explanations of why students of ESPD have speaking fear These reasons below are the six main factors that have been collected by 50 ESPD students response As can be seen from the chart, fearing of going blank and dissatisfaction with the abilities are the two biggest reasons for Public speaking anxiety among ESPD’s students Each of them is chosen by a quarter of the total, followed by a nearly data of poor or insufficient preparation According to large part of participants doing this survey, knowing the room and concentrating on the visual aids are not necessary to them whereas they pay much more attention to prepare the material (90%), practice many times (81%) and master their body language (81%) Discussion of finding: a Symptoms of speaking anxiety: On the whole, students of ESPD admit that they have troubles with public speaking Based on Figure 1, p.2, a mass majority of them think that they have public speaking anxiety, whereas only over ten percent of the total said they not have any trouble with public speaking Specifically, for those who answer the survey that they have speech anxiety, shaking, squeaky voice and rapid heartbeat are the main symptoms that appear when the anxiety affects them, each of these symptoms accounted for about 95% (Figure 2, p.2) Unfortunately, these signs are straightforward to be seen and noticed by the audience; furthermore, those signs may lead to the worst part when giving a speech forget the scrip Besides three symptoms have been mentioned above, four remain ones also take up quite a high portion While sweating and panic attack makes up about a quarter of the total, utter voice together with uncontrollable behavior rank at the second place with over a half of tick from the participants (Figure 2, p.2) No surprises, all these symptoms are very usual and familiar and have been mentioned by experts in this field For example, the University of Pittsburgh (2008) studied that "Some of the most common symptoms of speech anxiety are shaking, sweating, and butterflies in the stomach, dry mouth, rapid heartbeat, and squeaky voice.” On the other hand, students who said that those symptoms, which listed in the survey, not affect them mean that "The speakers that look relaxed and confident have simply learned how to handle their anxiety and use it to enhance their performance.” b Causes of speech anxiety: Most people encounter some speech anxiety when they have to giving a speech in front of a group In fact, public speaking is many people’s nightmare Speech anxiety can cover from a slight feeling of “nerves” to a nearly incapacitating fear Some of the most typical symptoms of speech anxiety are sweating, shaking, butterflies in the stomach, rapid heartbeat, utter voice, and panic attack (figure 2, p.2) Hence, according to the result of the speaking fear causes (figure 3, p.3), we divide into six main reasons that students in ESPD usually to meet in difficulty The most significant reason chosen by 50 students is fearing of going blank (66%) which means they often worry about the awkward silence when they suddenly forget the scripts Following this reason, there are some another core causes of speaking anxiety, especially in the consciousness of their abilities The disappointment of skills and lack of preparation are accounted a considerable proportion (62% and 58% respectively) Experiencing speech anxiety is normal A majority of students gets nervous when they have to give a speech or doing presentation lessons, even expert speakers Therefore, it is believed that other factors such as uncontrollable body language(42%), past failures( 40%) and comparing to others (50%) could be solve easily if students accept to change their mind According to research about speaking anxiety (Pittsburgh, 2008), most of the fear is not obvious to the audience Students may feel like they are shaking uncontrollably though people in the audience probably cannot even tell Gain the confidence of the fact that they would be the only one who knows how nervous they are Amateur speakers commonly feel that the people in the audience are notably critical and want them to fail This is very rarely the case Anxiety decreases as a speech progresses Speech anxiety is usually worst right before a speech and at the beginning of the speech Most students find that once they get through the opening their anxiety begins to decrease and confidence increases c Techniques to overcome fear of public speaking: When trying to overcome public speaking anxiety, students of the ESPD have been attempting many measures, which recommended from friends, the Internet and even from him or herself after each presentation Based on that fact, a rank of technics was involved in the quiz, students of ESPD rate methods to show what the core measures in their opinion is what For a large part of the participants, they choose to prepare the material is the most important thing to have a great speech and avoid speaking anxiety, which is highlighted by the fact that 91% of the students of ESPD mark this method is the most important among nine measures that given in the quiz At the same time, practice for several times before giving a speech in front of a crowd and master body language are both stood at second position with 81% of the total (Figure 4, p.4) These figures are not different from what previous researchers have done, all of the three methods above are in the top tips that are highly recommended (Tracy, n.d.) Another technics that also essential to students is how they choose a topic, throughout the survey, it is clear that the participants are more comfort and confident if the topic is familiar or interest to them This method was highlighted in the research of the University of Pittsburgh in 2008 and in Meanwhile, 20 out of 50 students who participate in this survey think that know the room is not essential implies that students of ESPD tend to focus on technics that directly help them boots their self-confident Similarly, the number of students select to get to know the audience as not a necessary method for them is quite high, just after knowing the room (Figure 4, p.4) This result directly from the causes of the anxiety, because most of the participants not feel satisfied with their body language and their ability, so they are easier getting nervous in front of a large crowd, where many people are judging their ability Recommendation: As it can be seen from the result, ESP students usually focus on some methods that directly improve their speaking ability like practice and prepare carefully on the content of the speech or choose a topic that interest them instead of spend time on the visual aid or how to fight back the anxiety (Figure 4, p.4) Because of that, this part of the research will give students other options to reduce stress besides what they have known and familiar with The first choice is “Eliminate Fear of Rejection” (Tracy, n.d.) and other similar technics such as “Identify the cause of your nervousness” or “Set realistic expectations” (Pittsburgh, 2008) All these technics are some ways to help reduce the fear of public speaking before giving a speech At the same time give the speaker a motivation to try harder in the next presentation Because "Nearly everyone gets nervous when they have to give a speech or a presentation, even experienced speakers." (Pittsburgh, 2008) so try some methods that focus on identifying your fear may help students find better ways to eliminate those fear before and during the speech Conclusion: In conclusion, we fully hope that the results of our study can concern more students in developing their skills when giving the speech These subjects, as we have found out from the limitations of our own research, are extremely worthy of farther and more indepth investigations All in all, ESP students get difficulties in facing presentations with high frequency during a term This assumption derives from the findings of the surveys, which indicate that a large part of these students needs to solve the problems of public speaking While exploring the causes to find the reasons why students usually under stress of presentation lessons, we recognize that there would also be variations depending on different situations and symptoms Because presentation is a crucial skill for our own life, so giving for students useful techniques is one of expectation of this research References Communications, B (2012, December 21) https://courses.lumenlearning.com Retrieved from History of Public Speaking: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundlesscommunications/chapter/history-of-public-speaking/ Ed.D., B K (2012, Feb 28) https://www.psychologytoday.com Retrieved from Stop Procrastinating and Overcome Your Public Speaking Anxieties: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-and-sensibility/201202/stopprocrastinating-and-overcome-your-public-speaking-anxieties Flaxington, B D (2015, March 16) https://www.psychologytoday.com Retrieved from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/understand-otherpeople/201503/overcoming-fear-public-speaking Pittsburgh, t U (2008, 21) http://www.speaking.pitt.edu Retrieved from Speaking in Disciplines Tracy, B (n.d.) https://www.briantracy.com Retrieved from 27 Useful Tips To Overcome Your Fear Of Public Speaking: https://www.briantracy.com/blog/public-speaking/27-useful-tips-to-overcomeyour-fear-of-public-speaking/ Questionnaire Public Speaking Anxiety We are Bui Hai Anh and Nguyen Mai Lien, ESPD’s students, English for Specific Purpose Department, Hanoi University We are doing a research project on Hanoi University Students, especially ESP students This questionnaire is intended to help us gather information for the research project about Puplic Speaking Anxiety We sincerely appreciate your opinions,which are apparently crucial to the completion as well as the quality of our paper Please give us some personal information such as name, class at the bottom of the questionnaire so that we can classify and evaluate the results more carefully Thank you very much for your cooperation ! _ 1.How frequent you give a speech ? 1- I have a little time to give a speech week 3- once or two times a 2- once or two times/month week 4- More than times a Hardly Usually How much time you usually spend on preparing for your speech? 1- less than one week 4- more than weeks 2- about one week 5- lots of time 3- more than one week Little time Lots of time Before giving a speech, you feel butterflies in your stomach 1- Strongly agree 2- Agree 3- Neutral 4-Disagree 5disagree Strongly Strongly agree disagree Strongly While giving a speech, which following symptoms you have ? ( you can choose more than option) o Shaking o Sweating o Rapid heartbeat o Squeaky voice o None of these o Others (in detail) Do these symptoms affect your speaking ability in negative way? o Yes o No ( go to question 8) o Not sure (go to question 9) If Yes (Those symtoms above affect you), what troubles you have? o Forget the scripts o Utter voice o Uncontrollable behavior o Panic attack o Others ( please specifize) What are the causes for speaking anxiety in your opinion? o Disastisfaction with the ability o Comparing ourselves to others o Physical reaction o Fear of going blank o Concern that others are judging o Poor or insufficient preparation o Past failures o Others If No ( Those symtoms don't affect you), which ways that you think can avoid Public speaking anxiety among presenters when giving a speech ? ( you can choose more than one option) o Be confident in themself, in what they have already prepare o Pay attention to the body language o Practice many times o Others ( please give us some specific suggestions) : 9.Which one you think important when giving a speech ? ( tick (x) to where you choose) Techniques Not important Prepare carefully Know the material Get to know the audience Select topic of interest to you Gain experience Practice makes perfect Know the room Project your voice Concentrate to the visual aids and animation Practice body language 10 Important Very important ... https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-and-sensibility /20 120 2/stopprocrastinating-and-overcome-your-public-speaking-anxieties Flaxington, B D (20 15, March 16) https://www.psychologytoday.com Retrieved... approximately 2, 500 years ago in Greece and Rome, where public political participation is highly valuable Because of that, public speaking is a crucial tool (Communications, 20 12) After a few... (Flaxington, 20 15) Similarly, other psychologies also said that about 60% of speakers who have to give a speech in front of people have gloss phobia - formal term for speaking anxiety (Ed.D., 20 12) Bearing