VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOIUNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIESFACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES wlles CAO THI BAO NGỌC IMPLEMENTING “GALLERY WALK” TO REDUCE ENGLISH L
Scope of the Study “ad
This research was conducted in a non-English majored class 10 at a high school in Hai Phong in 9 weeks in the school year 2022-2023 34 students in that class participated in the research In addition, it is noteworthy that although foreign language anxiety may occur in different language classroom activities and skills like writing, listening and reading, the principal concern of this research was limited to any manifestations of anxiety that may be triggered during the process of producing oral utterances, which was a major problem for the researcher’s learners Additionally, in this research, speaking was only considered in the language classroom settings, not in testing conditions and out of class situations Moreover, the only treatment in this research was Gallery Walk.
In light of the objectives, this action research utilized pre- and post- questionnaires and interviews as main data collection instruments The researcher employed both quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods to draw conclusions. Quantitative method concerns with calculating participants’ anxiety levels when producing oral utterances both prior to and following the time the teacher applied Gallery Walk and students’ responses to the application of Gallery Walk Accordingly, statistical data such as mean, standard deviation and significance level were obtained Meanwhile, qualitative method, specifically content analysis, was utilized to analyse the interview transcripts to discover further information about students’ experiences and attitudes towards the use of the technique.
The findings of this study not only have theoretical contributions but also have implications for future practice In terms of theory, the study adds to the existing literature of ways to deal with English speaking anxiety of EFL learners The outcome of this study can act as a source of reference for other researchers that are also interested in innovating their own teaching practices to help students overcome speaking anxiety barriers, especially when their students are high school students in an EFL environment.Practically, this is a useful reference for the teacher-researcher to find out suitable interventions to alleviate students’ speaking anxiety levels, thereby encouraging her students to participate more actively in English speaking lessons and improve their speaking performances Other teachers in the school can change their perspectives regarding the importance of reducing speaking anxiety and to what extent it can be done through the use of Galley Walk It can also be of benefit to students as they are exposed to a more creative and interactive activity of practicing speaking and become less anxious and more confident when expressing their ideas in English.
This paper is composed of five major parts:
Chapter 1: Introduction gives a general summary of the study with reasons to conduct the study, research aims and objectives, research questions, methodology, scope, its contributions as well as and the organization of the thesis.
Chapter 2: Literature review offers definition of some key constructs and gives a critical review of some previous studies relating to anxiety in its broad term and English speaking anxiety to be specific, and the application of Gallery Walk in EFL classrooms.
Chapter 3: Methodology demonstrates the research context, participants, research design, research approach, the instruments and procedure of data collection as well as data analysis.
Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion describes, analyzes and discusses the findings from the collected data based on the three research questions Interpretation of the results of the research is also covered in this chapter.
Chapter 5: Conclusion gives a summary of the key issues examined in the thesis This part also mentions some limitations of the study and also puts forward some recommendations that further studies can take into consideration.
The References and Appendices are presented after this chapter.
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This section outlines definition of key constructs in the study and gives a critical review of some previous studies relating to language anxiety, especially English speaking anxiety, and the application of Gallery Walk in EFL classrooms.
Speaking is a speech production that constitutes an essential part of our everyday activities, according to Thornburry (2005:8) Among four language skills, Ur (2000) considers speaking to be the most significant and highly necessary for effective exchange of information Speaking refers to the act of generating and conveying meaning in various circumstances through the use of both verbal and nonverbal cues (Chaney & Burk, 1998) According to Hughes (2006), speaking is the primary means of language acquisition for children, a daily activity for the majority of individuals, and the primary driver of language change.
According to Bashir, Azeem, and Dogar (2011), speaking refers to more than just speaking aloud but refers to communicating the message verbally Brown (1994) and Burns and Joyce (1997) share the same idea of regarding speaking as an interactive process requiring acknowledging, processing, and generating in order to construct meaning The speakers process what they see, generate new information, and then impart it to the listeners before making spoken utterances Pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary are the three mechanical areas of knowledge that are involved in speaking.
It is the capacity to employ appropriate vocabulary in the appropriate sequence, with the proper pronunciation and function (transaction and interaction) It involves understanding turn-taking, speaking pace, the relative roles of interlocutors as well as the meaning of the duration of pauses after each turn It is the capacity to recognize when, how, and to whom someone is communicating, under what conditions, and with what intent.
At its most fundamental level, speaking can be described as a four-stage cognitive process that comprises conceptualization, formulation, articulation, and self-monitoring.
It is a productive and engaging ability (Horwitz & Cope, 1995; Liu & Xiangming, 2019).Given how quickly this procedure is completed, it seems that the speakers will find it challenging to regulate every phase at once Additionally, the learner's automaticity is required for the phases to be completed successfully, which might present some serious obstacles and cause them to get nervous when speaking spontaneously in class (Huang, 1998) As a result, most EFL learners find speaking to be quite demanding and anxiety- inducing Putri (2020) also discovers that students' self-perceptions regarding English contributed to their difficulties speaking the language in class More specifically, they think that speaking English is difficult In addition, some students say that they are uncomfortable speaking in front of the class because of issues with their performance in class Learners are terrified of making mistakes since they feel uneasy pronouncing words correctly in English and worried about their peers making fun of them.
Anxiety is among the most well-documented when it comes to psychological elements involved in language learning Its description encompasses both overt behavioral traits and introspective emotions According to Spielberger (1983), "anxiety" is characterized as a condition of unpleasant emotions that include tension, worry, apprehension, and uneasiness when the autonomic nervous system is stimulated.
Different scholars categorize anxiety in different ways Dérnyei (2005), for example, classifies anxiety into two sub-categories: debilitating and facilitating anxiety. While debilitating anxiety is detrimental and may obstruct performance and accomplishment, facilitating anxiety is seen to be beneficial for students since it assists learners to fully concentrate on the task, thus performing better Another way of classification is trait, state, as well as situation-specific anxiety (Spielberger, 1983; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991) While trait anxiety is a lasting inclination towards nervousness in a variety of contexts and is thus considered an innate attribute of individuals, state anxiety refers to the unpleasant feelings experienced in reaction to certain temporary events such as sitting an exam or delivering a speech The other type, situation-specific anxiety, can be understood as a subset of trait anxiety and is restricted to a certain context This sub-type of anxiety is often steady within a specific situation over time but varies depending on the situation.
2.2.2 Foreign language anxiety (FLA) a Definition of FLA
Horwitz et al (1986) recognizes foreign language anxiety (FLA) as a dynamic construct of situation-specific anxiety that is primarily distinct from other forms of anxIety The term describes a particular set of feelings, beliefs, perceptions about oneself as well as behaviors which arise as a result of the uniqueness in the process of acquiring a foreign language One distinctive feature of foreign language learning in formal settings that is likely to provoke language learners’ anxiety is the incapacity to effectively communicate their views and thoughts in the intended language, which can cause a threat to one's self-image and self-confidence The difficulty in pronouncing words properly or utilizing correct grammatical structures is another concern since it might result in unfavorable judgements from others Furthermore, not being able to comprehend verbal and written input might cause embarrassment and confusion For many students, these kinds of worry contribute to making the experience of learning a foreign language particularly unpleasant (Horwitz et al., 1986) MacIntyre (1999) also shares the partially similar point of view when he describes FLA as the negative emotional responses that language learners exhibit throughout the process of acquiring or utilizing a foreign or second language. b Theoretical frameworks of FLA
Significance E4
The findings of this study not only have theoretical contributions but also have implications for future practice In terms of theory, the study adds to the existing literature of ways to deal with English speaking anxiety of EFL learners The outcome of this study can act as a source of reference for other researchers that are also interested in innovating their own teaching practices to help students overcome speaking anxiety barriers, especially when their students are high school students in an EFL environment.Practically, this is a useful reference for the teacher-researcher to find out suitable interventions to alleviate students’ speaking anxiety levels, thereby encouraging her students to participate more actively in English speaking lessons and improve their speaking performances Other teachers in the school can change their perspectives regarding the importance of reducing speaking anxiety and to what extent it can be done through the use of Galley Walk It can also be of benefit to students as they are exposed to a more creative and interactive activity of practicing speaking and become less anxious and more confident when expressing their ideas in English.
Organization Of the tẽ€S1S - - c1 1132101133111 91111 1111 11 111 1H 1H ng ng rệt 5
This paper is composed of five major parts:
Chapter 1: Introduction gives a general summary of the study with reasons to conduct the study, research aims and objectives, research questions, methodology, scope, its contributions as well as and the organization of the thesis.
Chapter 2: Literature review offers definition of some key constructs and gives a critical review of some previous studies relating to anxiety in its broad term and English speaking anxiety to be specific, and the application of Gallery Walk in EFL classrooms.
Chapter 3: Methodology demonstrates the research context, participants, research design, research approach, the instruments and procedure of data collection as well as data analysis.
Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion describes, analyzes and discusses the findings from the collected data based on the three research questions Interpretation of the results of the research is also covered in this chapter.
Chapter 5: Conclusion gives a summary of the key issues examined in the thesis This part also mentions some limitations of the study and also puts forward some recommendations that further studies can take into consideration.
The References and Appendices are presented after this chapter.
LITERATURE RIEVIYM GHI 004089084 6 2.1 Speaking 0 ÔỎ 6 2.2 Foreign language speaking aXI€ẨY -. - tk TH TH TH ng ng re 7
Speaking is a speech production that constitutes an essential part of our everyday activities, according to Thornburry (2005:8) Among four language skills, Ur (2000) considers speaking to be the most significant and highly necessary for effective exchange of information Speaking refers to the act of generating and conveying meaning in various circumstances through the use of both verbal and nonverbal cues (Chaney & Burk, 1998) According to Hughes (2006), speaking is the primary means of language acquisition for children, a daily activity for the majority of individuals, and the primary driver of language change.
According to Bashir, Azeem, and Dogar (2011), speaking refers to more than just speaking aloud but refers to communicating the message verbally Brown (1994) and Burns and Joyce (1997) share the same idea of regarding speaking as an interactive process requiring acknowledging, processing, and generating in order to construct meaning The speakers process what they see, generate new information, and then impart it to the listeners before making spoken utterances Pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary are the three mechanical areas of knowledge that are involved in speaking.
It is the capacity to employ appropriate vocabulary in the appropriate sequence, with the proper pronunciation and function (transaction and interaction) It involves understanding turn-taking, speaking pace, the relative roles of interlocutors as well as the meaning of the duration of pauses after each turn It is the capacity to recognize when, how, and to whom someone is communicating, under what conditions, and with what intent.
At its most fundamental level, speaking can be described as a four-stage cognitive process that comprises conceptualization, formulation, articulation, and self-monitoring.
It is a productive and engaging ability (Horwitz & Cope, 1995; Liu & Xiangming, 2019).Given how quickly this procedure is completed, it seems that the speakers will find it challenging to regulate every phase at once Additionally, the learner's automaticity is required for the phases to be completed successfully, which might present some serious obstacles and cause them to get nervous when speaking spontaneously in class (Huang, 1998) As a result, most EFL learners find speaking to be quite demanding and anxiety- inducing Putri (2020) also discovers that students' self-perceptions regarding English contributed to their difficulties speaking the language in class More specifically, they think that speaking English is difficult In addition, some students say that they are uncomfortable speaking in front of the class because of issues with their performance in class Learners are terrified of making mistakes since they feel uneasy pronouncing words correctly in English and worried about their peers making fun of them.
Anxiety is among the most well-documented when it comes to psychological elements involved in language learning Its description encompasses both overt behavioral traits and introspective emotions According to Spielberger (1983), "anxiety" is characterized as a condition of unpleasant emotions that include tension, worry, apprehension, and uneasiness when the autonomic nervous system is stimulated.
Different scholars categorize anxiety in different ways Dérnyei (2005), for example, classifies anxiety into two sub-categories: debilitating and facilitating anxiety. While debilitating anxiety is detrimental and may obstruct performance and accomplishment, facilitating anxiety is seen to be beneficial for students since it assists learners to fully concentrate on the task, thus performing better Another way of classification is trait, state, as well as situation-specific anxiety (Spielberger, 1983; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991) While trait anxiety is a lasting inclination towards nervousness in a variety of contexts and is thus considered an innate attribute of individuals, state anxiety refers to the unpleasant feelings experienced in reaction to certain temporary events such as sitting an exam or delivering a speech The other type, situation-specific anxiety, can be understood as a subset of trait anxiety and is restricted to a certain context This sub-type of anxiety is often steady within a specific situation over time but varies depending on the situation.
2.2.2 Foreign language anxiety (FLA) a Definition of FLA
Horwitz et al (1986) recognizes foreign language anxiety (FLA) as a dynamic construct of situation-specific anxiety that is primarily distinct from other forms of anxIety The term describes a particular set of feelings, beliefs, perceptions about oneself as well as behaviors which arise as a result of the uniqueness in the process of acquiring a foreign language One distinctive feature of foreign language learning in formal settings that is likely to provoke language learners’ anxiety is the incapacity to effectively communicate their views and thoughts in the intended language, which can cause a threat to one's self-image and self-confidence The difficulty in pronouncing words properly or utilizing correct grammatical structures is another concern since it might result in unfavorable judgements from others Furthermore, not being able to comprehend verbal and written input might cause embarrassment and confusion For many students, these kinds of worry contribute to making the experience of learning a foreign language particularly unpleasant (Horwitz et al., 1986) MacIntyre (1999) also shares the partially similar point of view when he describes FLA as the negative emotional responses that language learners exhibit throughout the process of acquiring or utilizing a foreign or second language. b Theoretical frameworks of FLA
When investigating the literature, the researcher discovered several theoretical hypotheses, models and theories that different scholars used to analyze this phenomenon Among them, some of the most influential models included Krashen’s affective filter hypothesis (1981), Horwitz et al.’s theory of FLA (1986), Sparks and Ganschow’s linguistic coding differences hypothesis (LCDH) (1991) and Kim’s FL classroom environment model (2002).
Affective filter hypothesis pointed out how affective factors such as motivation, confidence and anxiety may involve in the language learning process (as illustrated in Figure 2.1) Krashen (1981) argued that the affective filter tended to increase in artificial language environments such as foreign language classrooms Learners suffer from stress and anxiety, which created a mental block, hindering the processing and the absorption of the new input The teacher’s role is to lower the affective filter to create a low-anxiety and supportive learning environment in which students can easily comprehend the language input without being disrupted by emotional barriers.
— Acquired ———+ Output input = —>+:—> knowledge Device (LAD)
Figure 2.1 The Affective Filter Hypothesis (Krashen, 1981) Horwitz et al (1986) are credited as the first to conceptualize FLA as a situation- specific anxiety form emerging due to the uniqueness of the language learning process. They posited that this type of anxiety is distinctive from any other kinds of anxiety experienced in other academic contexts It means that generally anxious students have a likelihood to suffer from FLA, but even those who excel in other subjects may feel frustrated in language classrooms In their model, Horwitz et al identified three components that are closely related to FLA, which are communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation and test anxiety This model can be exemplified in Figure 2.2.
Fear of negative eign language anxiety evaluation
Figure 2.2 Foreign language anxiety model (Horwitz et al., 1986).
Sparks and Ganshow proposed a different conceptualization of FLA in 1991 by developing LCDH In their belief, the ability to learn a foreign language is determined by the competence to learn the native language (language aptitude) As a result, students with linguistic disabilities will also encounter challenges in acquiring any other languages In other words, the anxiety when learning a foreign language is a consequence of students’ poor performances in their native language The summary of the hypothesis can be explained in Figure 2.3 in which the proficiency levels of all languages are related.
Figure 2.3 The Linguistic Coding Differences Hypothesis Model (Sparks &
Ganschow, 1991) Another influential model in the field of FLA is Kim (2002)’s model She first proposed the three components that affected students’ levels of anxiety, which are production anxiety, aural and evaluation anxiety as well as literacy anxiety Later, after several interviews with language instructors and learners, she added two other components: culture-related and instructor-induced anxiety Kim’s refined model can be represented schematically as shown in Figure 2.4:
Figure 2.4 FL classroom environment (Kim, 2002) After thoroughly considering all the theoretical models, the researcher decided to choose Horwitz et al (1986)’s theory of FLA (Figure 2.2) as the theoretical framework for this current study due to several reasons First, the other three models do not fit with the researcher’s aims and contexts Affective Filter Hypothesis does not fully explain
10 the complex interplay between affective variables and language learning as the hypothesis just generalizes learners’ experiences Meanwhile, anxiety is a multifaceted construct which is influenced by different factors like individual differences, social and cultural aspects, which is overlooked in this model In addition, Sparks and Ganschow’s views on FLA do not match the situation of participants in this study since all possessed sufficient language learning competence Besides, the researcher believed that poor language ability is just among the causes of FLA and FLA is independent of the native language abilities Lastly, although Kim’s model discusses important aspects of FLA, the research found it hard to distinguish the components for examination since they seem to overlap each other Moreover, Horwitz et al.’s theory of FLA is a well-established framework that has been widely utilized and supported by empirical studies in the field.
It offers a comprehensive insight into FLA since it encompasses different factors contributing to anxiety in language learning situations The description of each component is detailed with statements of manifestations, which makes it easier for the author to apply, interpret and analyze the collected data In addition, it aligns well with the specific scope that the researcher aimed at, which is any anxiety triggered within language classrooms. c Components of FLA
33Ÿ.- 7 2.2.2 Foreign language anxiety (FA) - c 11v SH TH ng ng rệt 7 2.2.3 Foreign language speaking anxiety (FLSA) se 14 2.3 Gallery in nh 4ầ Ầ
Previous studies on FLA and FLƯŠ À .- -.- - 6 5 E511 91 9121191 1 9v vn nh ey 20 2.5 Previous studies on the application of Gallery Walk in teaching English
Numerous research works have pointed out that anxiety is a significant obstacle to students' language acquisition (Ehrman, 1995; Dérnyei, 2005; Wang & Chang, 2010;
Oztekin, 2011) This anxiety arises when speakers believe their oral performance is unclear and inaccurate (Brown, 2001) While beneficial anxiety may trigger action and lead to success, inhibitory one can result in distress, frustration and is a barrier to success (Pertaub, Slater, & Carter, 2001) Given this nature, there have been many studies in the field exploring the level of FLA among language learners, some factors leading to anxiety, its impacts on the students’ process of learning a language as well as potential strategies to deal with this phenomenon.
Several studies have used Horwitz's Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale to examine the prevalence of FLA in English language classrooms After reviewing previous studies in the field, it is noticeable that learners experienced differing degrees of anxiety in SL/ FL classes Huang (2004) discovered a significant degree of speaking anxiety among Taiwanese university students studying EFL In a similar vein, Liu and Jackson (2008) studied 547 EFL students in China and discovered that speaking anxiety was a factor in the learners’ reluctance to interact in foreign language sessions Ay (2010) also concluded that advanced level of anxiety was reported for productive skills like
20 speaking This was similar to the results of Oztiirk (2009); Heng, Tianjian (2010),
Abdullah & Yosaf (2012), and Guo et al (2018) A moderate anxiety level when speaking in class with test anxiety as well as fear of receiving negative evaluation acting as dominant triggers was identified by Akkakoson (2016) among 282 Thai university students of English in a conversation course Meanwhile, when investigating the anxiety profiles of 199 Chinese middle school students aged 12 to 16, Liu (2018) discovered a low anxiety level among the majority of participants The explanation for this discovery was the fact that Liu’s research involved learners who had early and constant exposure to English since they had English-speaking courses with native speakers, which was unlike most of the aforementioned research in which students received English language instruction as a foreign language provided by non-native teachers.
Furthermore, it has been shown that this psychological state while speaking English hinders learners' oral communication skills In an effort to determine whether FLSA and students' speaking accomplishments were correlated, Dalkili¢ (2001) investigated 126 Turkish freshman EFL learners and a significant negative relationship was found and students could not utilize fully their language capacity This finding was substantiated by other researchers (Gadner, 1985; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991; Liu, 2007; Wu & Lin, 2014; Al-Khotaba et al., 2019) In a research conducted by Liu (2007), using different data collection instruments such as observations, surveys, interviews and reflective journals to triangulate the results, anxiety and reticence when using English orally in classroom-learning circumstances, as well as certain underlying causes like self-esteem, personality, willingness to communicate, and personality traits, were extensively explored His findings confirmed the idea that various levels of language competency correspond to various speaking anxiety levels Shao et al (2013) and Syamsuri and Bancong (2022) provided an explanation for this correlation, indicating that whenever a person felt anxious, there was negative cognition, which can reduce language-learning capacity and make them unable to express their points of view in the foreign language, thus negatively affecting their speaking performances Learners wasted their precious cognitive resources on task-irrelevant processing caused by high anxiety levels rather than the task itself, hence disrupting information processing, limiting concentration and impeding language performance and acquisition. Nevertheless, as more access to and more chances to speak in the foreign language are
21 provided, students are less burdened by anxiety and become more confident when speaking (Liu & Xiangming, 2019).
Previous studies are also concerned about possible variables leading to learner’s speaking anxiety FLSA is exacerbated by both learner-internal and external factors Numerous internal factors have been found to be closely related to FLSA, including language proficiency, self-confidence, use of language strategies, motivation, gender, age, and willingness to communicate (Dewaele, 2013; Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014; Lu
& Liu, 2015; Boudreau, MacIntyre & Dewaele, 2018; Dewaele & Alfawzan, 2018) For instance, Horwitz et al (1986) discovered that students' self-perceived low competence as a result of their unfamiliarity with the language was what kept them from speaking in class Therefore, the more exposure and access to the FL the learners have, the lower their FLA level is (Liu, 2007; Liu & Jackson, 2011) Higher levels of anxiety are associated with a decreased use of more effective language learning techniques (Lu & Liu, 2015) and a greater reluctance to speak in foreign languages (Liu & Jackson, 2008; Liu, 2017) Linguistic, educational, cultural, personality and psychological factors also play a role Some examples involve peer pressure, fear of being laughed at or negatively evaluated, low language proficiency, difficulty in understanding input, fear of making mistakes, poor pronunciation, shyness, strict teachers, unfamiliarity with the environment, and competitiveness (Young, 1990; Price, 1991; Liu & Jackson, 2011; Gregersen & MacIntyre, 2014; Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014; Alshahrani & Alshahrani, 2015; Liu, 2016) It was also found that lack of self-esteem was among the major factors behind the learners’ nervousness and unease while interacting in English (Sidhu et al., 2016; Khan, 2015) Furthermore, Pekrun (2019) asserted that if students had negative past experiences of speaking English, they might develop established responses that gave them the impression that speaking in English was a menacing circumstance.
Besides, learner-external factors like the learning environments also contribute to FLSA Zhang's (2001) study found that Chinese language learners in Singapore who were taught under communicative teaching method were less worried than those who were taught using grammatical translation, the conventional approach This case demonstrated the significance of instructional strategies and approaches on students’ levels of FLSA Similar observations were presented in Oxford (2002): Students who learned English as a foreign language (EFL) had a more tendency to experience anxiety
22 when required to communicate in English in the language classroom because of restrictions on their use of the learnt language, insufficient exposure to the language, as well as inadequate opportunities to speak the language in their daily environment. Meanwhile, Shirvan and Taherian (2021) believed that being able to utilize the language on a regular basis alleviated the feelings of anxiety among students Additionally, EFL teachers put much emphasis on the introduction of grammatical rules instead of language use (Lochana & Deb, 2016) What was taught in English lessons was restricted to proper vocabulary and grammatical structures based on a certain English standard rather than instructing students in how to produce language in different communicative situations Exercises remained at the sentence level, and only demanded the repetition of similar structures from learners (Katemba & Buli, 2018) As a result, there was no genuine interaction within the English language classroom and students failed to use the target language in meaningful contexts (Khamkhien, 2010) Accordingly, the majority of EFL students might be proficient readers and listeners, but when it comes to productive skills especially speaking, they failed to demonstrate a satisfying proficiency (Abrar et al., 2018; Johana & Rico, 2014) The fact that learners were not familiar with the practice of speaking English led to extreme frustration and stress when they were required to do so Previous studies also indicated that students’ speaking proficiency and confidence in the target language could both be enhanced when they were provided with enough exposure and practice (Liu, 2018) Additionally, FLSA and the classroom's social atmosphere are also inter-related as Effiong (2016) found that perceived unfriendliness from teachers and classmates could trigger FLSA among learners.
Recent studies into the matter yielded the similar results as they found that speaking anxiety occurred due to learner-internal and learner-external factors In a qualitative research on university students in Indonesia, through interview results, Bogodad, Mappewali and Thamrin (2021) defined several contributing factors for students’ English speaking anxiety These factors can be classified into those coming from teachers (threatening behaviors, incomprehensible input and demanding acts), from students (insufficient knowledge and skills, fear of being negatively evaluated, low self-confidence and fear of making mistakes) and from classroom environment (lack of genuine interaction in the targeted language and unsupportive classmates) This was supported by Mobarak (2020), who found leading factors behind students’ FLSA: fear
23 of negative evaluation, fear of others’ perceptions, fear of communication, low self- esteem and low language proficiency.
Moreover, how to alleviate the adverse effects of FLSA on students has also been an increasing concern for researchers According to Horwitz et al (1986), English language instructors should make an effort to minimize anxiety-inducing situations and de-stress language acquisition process In response to this recommendation, a large number of researchers have tried various approaches to lower students’ levels of FLSA which include in-class practices, activities and instructor behaviors Various coping strategies to handle FLA have been recommended such as cognitive (cooperative learning and allowing time for preparation), affective (using praise, encouragement and show empathy to boost self-esteem) and behavioral (offering more practice and more access to the target language) To exemplify, five strategies to deal with FLA were identified by Kondo and Ying-Ling (2004), namely relaxation, preparation, positive thinking, resignation and peer seeking Meanwhile, Ustuk and Aydin (2018) (as cited in Pratiwi et al., 2022) attempted paralinguistic cues to help students overcome their fear of making mistakes, low self-confidence, being humiliated and communication apprehension Nagahashi (2007) utilized cooperative learning on 38 Japanese university learners and discovered that their FLSA symptoms were radically alleviated after a twelve-week intervention of more pair and small group work Further, Galante (2018) and Akwaree & Kulsirisawad (2018) implemented drama activities for students, which resulted in a lower classroom anxiety level Technology is also introduced to facilitate teachers in decreasing FLA levels such as digital gameplay (Reinders, 2014), voice thread application (Ataiefar & Sadighi, 2017), videos (Lu et al., 2019) and WeChat (Xiangming et al., 2020) (as cited in Pratiwi et al., 2022) All of these studies suggested that students’ FLSA could be alleviated and students would be more willing to communicate if the teaching programs could stimulate learners’ language use.
In Vietnam, in recent years, English language anxiety and specifically speaking anxiety has also received great attention from researchers Among the first to investigate this issue, Tran (2012) and Tran et al (2013) confirmed that EFL tertiary students considered FLA a hindrance to their English learning and they experienced more negative impacts than positive ones Meanwhile, Tran (2022) were concerned about variables leading to students’ fear of learning speaking as well as potential coping
24 strategies for 150 non-English major first-year university students She drew a conclusion that students were majorly hindered by negative self-evaluation as they believed that they lacked necessary vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation to express their opinions Besides, teachers and the classroom-related environment played a minor part in triggering anxiety, largely from the negative evaluation and mistake correction. Ways that were suggested by Tran (2022) to alleviate the situation was to create a friendly and supportive environment in which diverse teaching methods were applied, students were equipped with necessary knowledge and preparation time as well as had numerous opportunities to speak Other studies into speaking anxiety were conducted by Le and Tran (2020) and Le (2023) who showed interests in measuring the anxiety levels among university students, the factors causing them and their relationship with their English performances They concluded that the participants had a moderate level of speaking anxiety and the major factors causing speaking anxiety are from the students themselves which included fear of being laughed at, fear of making mistakes and lack of confidence An explanation was provided for this finding, in which Vietnamese people have a personal trait of not wanting to show their own weaknesses to others Like many other studies in the field, the research pointed out that the higher the anxiety level, the lower speaking proficiency Similarly, when investigating freshmen, Ho and Truong (2022) found a moderate anxiety level, and it hampered students’ oral performances like forgetting things and being frozen when dealing with questions However, unlike some previous studies in which peer factor was prominent, the students in the studies preferred working with peers In addition to affecting their performances, speaking anxiety was also detrimental to students’ willingness to engage in communicative activities in English classrooms; therefore, they had fewer chances to speak and improve their speaking skills (Hoang, 2022) Furthermore, some Vietnamese researchers also investigated the coping strategies that students utilized to minimize the influences of speaking anxiety For example, Le and Nguyen (2023) discovered that freshmen EFL learners in their study adopted five kinds of strategies: positive thinking, peer-seeking, relaxation, preparation, and resignation, among which preparation was used most frequently.
2.5 Previous studies on the application of Gallery Walk in teaching English
Gallery Walk has been utilized a lot in teaching English and is proven to be effective in promoting students’ learning outcomes in terms of different language aspects For example, when investigating how Gallery Walk contributed to students’ reading skills, Elshinta (2017) found out that this strategy was beneficial in improving students’ reading achievements as well as engagement in the lesson The study by Lopez and Ortega-Dela Cruz (2022) showed that, in comparison to students receiving conventional method of instruction, those who received instruction utilizing the Gallery Walk technique demonstrated improvements in their reading comprehension A similar result was also found by Bahtiar, Akib and Burhanuddin (2020) when they investigated
43 10" grade students as they concluded that Gallery Walk technique created a favorable impact on students’ reading comprehension in terms of understanding main ideas and supporting details Another skill, writing, was also reported to be improved thanks to the technique In a study involving learners from a junior high school, Mulyani (2014) concluded that those who studied announcement text writing using the Gallery Walk methodology outperformed those who learned it with more traditional methods.
However, the skill that was mostly associated with Gallery Walk in the field was speaking An enhanced level of speaking skill was found by Anwar (2015); Widaryanti (2019) after applying this technique Likewise, Namaziandost et al (2018) compared the performance of students who received Gallery Walk and those who followed the ordinary program and they found out that the experimental group outperformed their counterparts, which indicated that the technique improved students’ speaking ability A positive indication was also found by Othman and Mohdradzi (2020): Students’ speaking skills rose by 25% and their vocabulary and grammar increased by 19% when they were exposed to Gallery Walk teaching model in their speaking classes This result provided justification for the fact that when students interacted with their groups and visited the galleries, it allowed them to gain a lot of knowledge An improvement in general speaking performance as well as pronunciation and fluency was also discovered in an action research by Hakim, Anggraini, and Saputra (2019) on 30 students in an Indonesian high school Students showed their ability to elaborate and defend their ideas more clearly and confidently with better sentence construction An improved smoothness and pronunciation following the application of Gallery Walk was also the conclusion by Bahar, Latief, and Mallapiang (2022).
METHODOLUOOYY d 0-5 5< G 5 999090 98008950.9 8040.0404066 32 3.1 Restatement of research qU€SfIOTNS .- - G2 3 E191 9 119511911 1 1 1 kg rey 32
Participant n6
Participants included 34 Grade 10 students (5 males and 29 females), English non-major students Those students had undergone at least eight years of learning the language by the time the study was carried out and in order to enter the school, they had to take an extra English test besides the one administered by the city’s Department of Education and Training Therefore, the participants generally possessed quite a good command of English, especially in terms of vocabulary and grammar However, during secondary school years, they did not have many chances to practice speaking and this skill was excluded in the final term exam Many of the participants acknowledged that they were anxious when being called to present ideas in English and hesitated to raise their hands to answer teachers’ questions.
The participants were selected based on the method of convenience sampling.
They were the learners in one of the classes that the researcher was in charge of during the school year The researcher particularly selected 10" graders to be the subjects of this research because during the time that the study was conducted, they were the first to learn the new English textbook in high schools, so she found that it would be appropriate to attempt some new teaching techniques Moreover, 10TM grade students were not under as much pressure as their seniors for university entrance exam or the exams for gifted students, as a result, they could participate more actively in the English lessons and engage more with the new teaching technique.
The researcher adopted action research for this study Cohen and Manion (1994) defined action research as an intervention, often on a small scale, in how the real world operates and a careful analysis of its effects In action research, after having identified a problematic situation in their language class, the teacher makes a deliberate intervention with a view to changing or improving the practice (Burns, 2009) Action and investigation are combined in action research The investigation is the basis for action, and researchers derive necessary knowledge by critically analyzing the action (Fischer
& Phelps, 2006) The reason for this selection was because it offered her the framework to assess and reflect on her own teaching Moreover, this research design fitted the researcher’s situation when she detected a problem when observing her students speak English and hoped to improve the current situation At the same time, action research is suitable to explore innovative intervention strategies and evaluate their effects to
34 alleviate the problems that she discovered in her classrooms In this way, the researcher could make decisions on a suitable teaching approach as well as refine her teaching practice continuously, a crucial step for professional growth.
The researcher followed the four-step action research model that was devised by Kemmis and McTaggart in 1988:
Figure 3.1 Action research spiral model by Kemmis and McTaggart (1988)
As can be seen from the figure, the process consists of a spiral of two cycles, each of which comprises four stages: Plan, Action, Observe and Reflect Following this model, after observing the current situation as well as investigating the students’ initial speaking anxiety levels through an anxiety questionnaire and in-person interview, the researcher planned the application of Gallery Walk in her lessons for 9 weeks to improve the current situation of high speaking anxiety among students The plan was then implemented as the intervention and the researcher observed and made notes of the effects of the planned actions and any problems in the first cycle that needed to be addressed After that, on the basis of the observation, the researcher reflected on the whole process and made some modifications to the original plan for the second cycle based on the identified problems The four steps were repeated.
The researcher made a decision to carry out the second cycle in her study because of a number of justifications First, as the researcher’s main objective was to identify an
35 effective technique to help her students overcome their FLSA, the second cycle allows her to refine the intervention based on the insights acquired from the initial cycle By constantly reflecting, refining and improving the implementation of the technique according to observations and feedbacks, the researcher is able to develop a more efficient solution to address the problem Second, another cycle of the research process enables the researcher to verify and validate the findings gained from the first cycle, increasing the reliability of the research outcomes Furthermore, the researcher aims at a sustainable improvement in practice As a consequence, it is necessary to monitor the long-term impacts of the technique in the second cycle In this way, the researcher can assess the efficacy over time as well as discover any unintended consequences or areas that need additional refinement.
The intervention was conducted for 9 weeks during semester 2 of the 2022-2023 school year In the first meeting, the teacher informed and asked for permission that students would participate in the research The researcher introduced how Gallery Walk would be conducted with a video and explanations The video was an animation to illustrate the steps in an exemplary Gallery Walk session After that, in each meeting, students were asked to participate in Gallery Walk in lessons of different language aspects and skills.
Each meeting was conducted as follows:
(1) The teacher distributed a set of reading materials and a list of issues that students needed to address throughout the lesson.
(2) The teacher divided the learners into different groups according to the number of questions and assigned each group to be in charge of a reading material and a question.
(3) The students discussed in group about the content of the reading material, answered the assigned question and prepared a poster for their station The teacher went around to provide assistance and guidance if necessary.
(4) The teacher displayed the product of each group in different corners and asked the students to take turns to present in their station or go to all other corners to note down answers to questions in the list (each turn lasted for around 5 minutes).
(5) The teacher and the whole class discussed all the questions together to check understanding and draw conclusions.
The first cycle started in the first week and lasted for 4 weeks In week 5, the researcher evaluated the whole process and made some adjustments in the way lessons were conducted in the second circle From week 6 to week 9, the modified action plan was implemented to the students The researcher continued to observe how students performed during the application of Gallery Walk By the end of the 9° week, the questionnaires and interviews were re-administered, from which she collected the data, evaluated the teaching technique, reflected the improvement and drew some conclusions.
The details of the action plan in the two cycles are provided in the description of each week as follows.
Cycle 1: Instructing and familiarizing students with Gallery Walk
Week 1 — 4: In the first cycle, the researcher prepared four meetings that students would participate in a Gallery Walk session, each lasting for two to three consecutive periods In order to make sure that the lessons still assisted the students in achieving the overall objectives of the school curriculum, the researcher incorporated Gallery Walk as a teaching activity in almost every lesson of different skills and made an attempt to match the topic of Gallery Walk discussions and the authentic reading texts with the existing topic in the textbook The teacher believed that in this way, the students could still grasp the necessary knowledge and vocabulary needed in the original lesson for the examination and at the same time, they could develop mixed skills in one lesson with reading, listening, writing and speaking.
In the first meeting, students discussed the solutions to different problems associated with gender equality (Unit 6 — Reading lesson) They were divided into three groups corresponding with three issues which are child marriage; low pay for women and a lack of education for girls.
In the second meeting, four groups of students were in charge of four different international organizations that Vietnam was a part of (UN, UNICEF, UNDP and WTO) (Unit 7 — Getting started) They had to introduce to other classmates what the organization is, when it was formed, what its aims are and some facts about it.
In the third meeting, students were required to provide information about one of the UNICEF’s programmes in Vietnam (Unit 7 — Speaking lesson) There were four groups, each receiving a reading a text about a programme launched by UNICEF in Vietnam: Better Business for Children, Child Protection, Child Survival and Development and Education for Disadvantaged Young People.
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in English in the classroom, their perceived reasons of the anxiety and the extent to which the anxiety affected their speaking performance in their opinion Questions are adapted from the interview protocol of Oztiirk and Giirbiiz (2014).
I Do you think speaking English is an anxiety provoking factor in language learning process?
2 If yes, what kinds of situations cause stress or anxiety on you while speaking
English? If no, what are some factors that make you comfortable with speaking English?
3 Do you think that speaking anxiety affects your speaking performance?
For the second time, 10 students were selected to be interviewed to identify their attitudes towards Gallery Walk This time, the teacher chose those who had the most significant changes in their anxiety levels (both negative and positive) after the intervention to explore how Gallery Walk influenced their speaking experiences This selection of interviewees enabled the researcher to explore which aspects of Gallery Walk technique were most effective in alleviating speaking anxiety among participants and which aspects required further considerations The results from the second interview contributed to validating the outcomes of the intervention Moreover, when examining both cases of increasing and decreasing anxiety levels, the researcher could identify students’ specific challenges, needs and preferences so that she can refine or tailor the intervention for different groups of learners in the future Moreover, interviewees representing a range of responses offered diverse experiences and attitudes to the teaching technique, thus enhancing the relevance and generalizability of the findings. For the second interview, the questions were related to the implementation of Gallery Walk by the teacher in her English language sessions.
1 To what extent do you enjoy participating in Gallery Walk lessons?
2 Which aspects of Gallery Walk do you like/ dislike the most? Why?
3 To what extent do you think Gallery Walk help reduce your anxiety in speaking
The researcher carried out this research during the school year of 2022-2023 as follows: During the semester 1 (which corresponds to the lessons from Unit 1 to Unit 5
46 in the textbook), the teacher got familiar with the students and only used textbook materials and traditional methods for teaching speaking.
When the first semester culminated, the researcher introduced the aims of the research, distributed the anxiety questionnaire and instructed students on how to complete the questionnaire as well as provided any clarification if necessary. Participants were also informed in advance that their answers would be kept confidential and utilized only for the purpose of the research, which helped them feel at ease while filling out the questionnaire Following the results from the questionnaire, 10 students with exceptional speaking anxiety levels were selected for the first interview to get insights into the students’ experiences and to form a basis for a suitable intervention technique in response to students’ needs.
After nine weeks of conducting the lessons using the new pedagogical technique, the research re-administered the anxiety questionnaire to see whether their anxiety levels were reduced Besides, the researcher also disseminated an attitude questionnaire to gauge students' perceptions of Gallery Walk In addition to the questionnaire, a semi- structured interview was carried out to help the researcher better understand the views the students had about the technique Ten students whose speaking anxiety levels had changed the greatest were chosen for a follow-up interview that lasted for five to six minutes Their responses would help the researcher confirm the accuracy of the questionnaire's findings.
3.7 Data analysis a For the quantitative data
By summing the values of each item in the questionnaire (Strongly disagree: 1, Disagree: 2, Not Sure: 3, Agree: 4, Strongly Agree: 5), the anxiety ratings of each student before and after the intervention were determined, ranging from 17 to 85 The participants were also categorized into high, moderate and low anxiety level according to their score Students who scored higher than 57 on the speaking anxiety scale had a high degree of speaking anxiety, those who scored between 28 and 57 had a moderate level, and those who scored below 28 had a low level (Oztiirk & Giirbiiz, 2014).
Table 3.5 Interpretation of speaking anxiety levels (Oztiirk & Giirbiiz, 2014)
05 signified that no difference was identified in the results.
Similarly, as for the attitudes of students towards the activity, the researcher added the value of each statement with 5 assigned to the strongest agreement and | to the strongest disagreement to find out the total score of each student The researcher also calculated mean scores and standard deviation, and then categorized the mean scores as follows (adopted from Paranapiti, 2014): a mean score of over 3.5 out of 5 indicated a positive attitude, 2.5 — 3.5 signified a neutral one and a score below 2.5 indicated a negative attitude.
Table 3.6 Interpretation of attitude questionnaires (Paranapiti, 2014)
