Research on psychology factors affecting the effectiveness of the presentation process in english for non english majors

Speaking in English for the English Foreign Language classroom is not easy because students have to speak in a new language with high self-confidence.. 3/.How do non-English majors overc

HO CHI MINH CITY PEOPLE’S COMMITTEE

SAI GON UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGUES

SUBJECT: METHOD OF WRITING RESEARCH PAPERS

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

RESEARCH ON PSYCHOLOGY FACTORS AFFECTING THE

EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PRESENTATION PROCESS IN ENGLISH FOR

Supervisor: Bùi Nguyễn Nguyệt Minh

Ho Chi Minh City, 05/2023

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Scoring Scheme for Research Proposal

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1 INTRODUCTION

In the 21st century, the English language has become an inseparable part of the educational curriculum in most countries where English is used as a second or foreign language (Akbari, 2015) As English is becoming the language of the global business, educational institutions are beginning to recognize its importance in their curriculum English has become an essential component of learning in many countries, with students being taught English from a young age It has been proven that early exposure to the language has a beneficial effect on both academic and professional success later in life It

is not only students who will benefit from increased exposure to English as it is becoming increasingly popular as a lingua franca among professionals Companies are now looking for employees who have at least basic competence in written and spoken English, and those with advanced skills can expect greater opportunities for career advancement The rapid rise of English as an international language means that educational institutions must work hard to ensure that their students are receiving comprehensive instruction in the language if they are to remain competitive With this in mind, it is clear that English is set

to become even more important in educational curriculums around the world over time Therefore, it has led to lectures in English nowadays becoming more popular Not only majors students but also non-English majors have English presentations in their learning process Nonetheless, it can be an intimidating experience for many, but especially so for non-English majors Speaking in English for the English Foreign Language classroom is not easy because students have to speak in a new language with high self-confidence Speaking fluently can show that they get good proficiency in learning a foreign language Commonly students feel nervous, not confident, and anxious This phenomenon is called foreign language anxiety According to Gardner & Macintyre (1993) Whether it is giving a presentation in class or participating in a meeting with colleagues, fearlessness

of presentation is something that all non-English majors must learn to master For non-

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English majors, presentations can be a daunting task Without the ability to communicate fluently in English, presenting to an audience can seem like a daunting task It's easy to

be overwhelmed by the fear of making mistakes or not knowing what to say and can lead

to feelings of inadequacy and unease Fortunately, there are some ways that non-English majors can overcome their fears and become successful presenters With practice, preparation, and confidence building strategies, it is possible for anyone to become an effective presenter regardless of their language background

It is crucial to identify the psychological aspects that influence oral performance in order to help learners become more effective speakers In order to increase the oral performance of EFL students, it is necessary to find solutions to get beyond this challenge Additionally, teachers should be aware of the barriers preventing their students from speaking English fluently so that they can devise new strategies for assisting students in overcoming these obstacles(Pinter,2006).This research is carried out to find out the answers to these questions

Research questions:

1/.\What caused non-English majors’ fear in presentation?

2/.What degree do psychological elements play in the presenting scores of non-English majors?

3/.How do non-English majors overcome their fear of public speaking?

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

What is a presentation?

A presentation conveys information from a speaker to an audience Presentations are typically demonstrations, introduction, lecture, or speech meant to inform, persuade, inspire, motivate, build goodwill, or present a new idea/product.( "presentation | Definition of presentation in English by Oxford Dictionaries” Oxford Dictionaries | English Archived from the original on September 26, 2016 Retrieved 2018-01-23.)

What are psychological factors?

Psychological factors refer to the processes that operate at the individual level, which impact the mental state of the individual, thereby influencing behaviors

Psychological factors include the processes operating at an individual level, which impact the mental state of an individual Psychological factors refer to the elements present in one’s personality that can either enhance or weaken the ways one might think and behave For instance, something that is as simple as a conversation can be affected by one’s psychological factors, in that it can be easy or difficult depending on them

Psychology is the study of the mind and human behavior, and therefore psychologists explore all these factors, from cognition, perception, emotion, motivation, attitudes, intelligence, subjective experiences, and personality to the functioning of the brain

Psychological factors

Ariyanti (2016) researched that there are several psychological factors which become the barriers for the students in performing their speaking, they are anxiety, fear of making mistakes, shyness, lack of motivation, and lack of self-esteem Ayub and Lodhi (2016)

found that students are eager to communicate in the target language, but they are unable

to do so due to inferiority complexes, personality conflicts, and low self-esteem

In another case study carried out by Juhana (2012) in Indonesia to identify psychological variables that prevent students from communicating, as well as the origins of the difficulties and potential strategies to overcome the factors According to the findings, psychological reasons such as fear of making a mistake, shyness, anxiety, lack of confidence, and lack of desire prevent students from speaking in English class

“Referring to the results of the research, it can be concluded that the psychological factor does negatively affect students’ English speaking performance Most of the problems that the students were complaining about were the causes of their reluctance from speaking English: (1) Fear of making mistakes (2) Feeling shy (3) Feeling hesitated (4) Lack of confidence while speaking English.” (Haidara, 2016)

According to Thornbury (2005), most studies have been undertaken to find effective variables in language learning, however these studies have only detected three kinds of these factors: motivation, anxiety, and self-confidence However, the psychological factors can be further categorized into six factors that are discussed next

Lack of Confidence

Lack of confidence speaking and being nervous are frequently associated with your fear

of being judged or not feeling good enough In contrast, Al-Hebaish (2012) said that a lack of general self-confidence led to a lack of motivation to try for high-quality oral performance The study's findings also emphasized the need of building general self- confidence among language learners in order to improve their oral skills Language teachers can focus on increasing their pupils’ self-confidence by creating a supportive classroom climate that encourages them to talk and participate in oral activities without fear They can assist students in recognizing and dealing with their concerns They can

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promote positive thinking while combating negative attitudes and beliefs They should create a pleasant and amusing mood throughout oral activities; plan fascinating activities that allow more time and opportunity; and focus on the positive (Al-Hebaish, 2012)

Lack of Motivation

Without question, motivation plays a significant influence in the success or failure of learning a second language Learning is a life-long process, and learners find it pleasurable and gratifying when they can establish the long-term motivation required for success According to Krashen (1988), integrative motivation, defined as a desire to be like respected members of the community who speak the second language, is expected to correlate with skill in both tasks The presence of integrative motivation should drive the acquirer to interact with speakers of the second language simply out of curiosity, resulting in intake For similar reasons, a low filter for integratively driven acquirers is predicted Beside, instrumental motivation, defined as the desire to gain competence in a language for utilitarian or practical reasons, may also be related to competency Its presence will motivate performers to communicate with foreign speakers in order to attain particular goals Interaction will be valued by the integratively motivated performance Interaction is always useful for the instrumentally motivated performer While integrative motivation predicts a weak affective filter, instrumental motivation predicts a stronger filter With instrumental incentive, language acquisition may stop after enough is learned to complete the task Furthermore, instrumentally driven workers may learn only the parts of the target language that are required.( Krashen, 1988) Amoah and Yeboah ( 2021) further emphasizes that English debating clubs or organizations should

be encouraged for EFL students They motivate themselves again by communicating with English speakers, viewing native English movies, news, documentaries, Ted presentations, and so on, in order to build a desirable atmosphere that would assure English oral fluency

Martin Ford's (1992) comment is well put in my opinion: “There are no magic motivational buttons that can be pushed to ‘make’ people want to learn, work hard and

act in a responsible manner Similarly, no one can be directly forced to learn something facilitations, not control, should be the guiding idea in attempts to motivate

humans”

Lack of Self-Esteem

Your self-esteem is your view of yourself Low self-esteem can interfere with your enjoyment of life as well as your capacity to attain long-term and short-term goals It can also have a negative impact on both mental and physical health

Students with low self-esteem are unable to examine their performance, whereas students with high self-esteem are aware of their weaknesses and strengths (Braine, 2018)

Furthermore, Alarabai (2017) states that students that have poor self-esteem are frequently isolated from their classmates To accomplish this, the instructor must foster a sense of belonging among students The teacher can encourage students’ peer interaction with one another by involving them in activities that occur both within and outside of class He or she may create a group activity for all students, or he or she may invite a couple of nice and welcoming pupils to spend time with solitary students during recess or lunchtime

Shyness

According to Encyclopedia of Psychology: People of all ages struggle with shyness Shyness is a personality trait that results in behaviors ranging from feeling anxious at a party to having a severe fear of others listening to you on the phone Educators with classroom experience are familiar with the shy or introverted students that are conspicuously quiet in class and avoid being in the spotlight in general Shy pupils are at

a significant disadvantage in a communication-based EFL classroom because students

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must utilize English as a tool for communication They find it challenging to speak in front of people They have a poor opinion of themselves, which will impact how motivated they are to communicate The same thing occurs when they are asked to answer a question in a foreign language or desire to speak in that language Shy people may hesitate, halt frequently, or even try to leave the situation During public speaking, the non-verbal aspects observed by the voice, speech rate, gestures or facial expressions directly influence the speech and provide meaning to what is said On the other hand, research shows that shyness reduces the expressiveness of public speech Shy individuals generally present altered non-verbal aspects of communication, such as lack of voice projection, reduced voice volume, accelerated speech speed, lack of eye contact with the interlocutor, use restrained, withdrawn gestures and tense posture So, shyness has an impact on how well students speak English orally in class

Anxiety

Despite being competent in their field of work, professional’s worldwide struggle due to lack of good public speaking skills Their assessments and appraisals are often not depictive of their professional competitiveness; therefore, it is important for students to overcome public speaking anxiety before they transition from academic life to professional life (Farhan, 2017)

According to Spijck (2011), 80 out of every 100 people experience anxiety when giving a speech in front of a large or small audience Speaking in front of others is the top phobia for four out of every ten people, frequently more terrifying than dying Nearly all experts characterize it as an irrational fear that is easily dispelled

According to Horwitz et al (1986), students who experience any type of anxiety in the classroom may display similar psycho-physiological symptoms like trepidation, worry, and dread, as well as trouble concentrating, forgetfulness, increased sweating, and palpitations Additionally, these students might skip class or put off doing their

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homework as avoidance behaviors According to research (Kleinmann, 1977; Steinberg

& Horwitz, 1986), these symptoms have an impact on speech production in terms of the grammar structures used, the communication techniques used, and the length of compositions

Using class interactions and multiple oral presentations to increase the students’ self- confidence and motivation, which in turn decreases their speaking anxiety and improves their communication skills Class interaction has its roots in the constructivist theory of learning Therefore, teachers need to create a non-threatening environment of less or no anxiety This may help students to overcome the apprehension of speaking in an ESL classroom

Fear of making mistakes

According to several researchers, one of the main things that can prevent people from speaking English fluently is the fear of making mistakes (Nunan, 1999; Robby, 2010; Yi Htwe, 2007)

Varying terms are used in the literature to describe a fear of public speaking and are often used interchangeably, such as stage fright (Bippus et al Citation1999) A more recent study of undergraduate students in the US found that 64% reported a fear of public speaking (Ferreira Marinho et al Citation2017) Public speaking fears of university students have been described in the literature as internal and external fears (LeFebvre, and Allen 2018)

The fear of being judged is an external fear that related strongly to the fact that many students felt uncomfortable standing up and speaking in front of an audience:

‘Don't like people looking at me’

‘Standing up in front of people’

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“Talking in front of a large audience’

‘Fear of standing up in front of a group of people who are focussing on me’

Related to standing up in front of an audience the overwhelming response was that students felt they were being judged

This feeling of ‘being judged’ may limit a student’s ability in oral assessments when they

are assessed and graded on their presentation This overriding fear may limit the ability to demonstrate knowledge and understanding, intellectual skills and fully address the oral presentation assessment guidelines Further to formal oral assessments, the concern of

‘being judged’ may limit active learning with respect to asking questions and interacting with peers during seminars and other learning opportunities Being perceived favorably becomes a greater priority than participating in a learning opportunity or communicating with the group

A qualitative study on self-described fears related to public speaking from university and college students in the US (LeFebvre, LeFebvre, and Allen Citation2018) identified 12 common themes from students on an introductory communication course that included both internal and external fears An important finding from this research was that internal fears accounted for 25% and external fears 75% of student public speaking anxiety Overall, the most commonly reported fear by students (30%) was the external fear

‘audience responses’, related to perceived attitudes from the audience towards the

speaker These perceived attitudes that students found challenging included judgement from the audience, being the focus of attention and no interaction from the audience

The fear of being judged is an external fear that related strongly to the fact that many students felt uncomfortable standing up and speaking in front of an audience (Woodley et

al, 2021)

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Solutions

To begin with, overcoming shyness is achievable, but it may not feel easy Here are some trusty tips to help you come out of your shell:

The greatest way to go is in little stages

Remember the good aspects of yourself

Change your emphasis

Don't reject all social interactions

Improve your social abilities

In addition, recognize that the fear of making mistakes (or appearing silly) is real Acknowledge your fear and understand that you, like the rest of us, are fallible Then you can develop new coping strategies to deal with it

Don't be afraid of (or ashamed of) your fear

When you worry, you should be looking for answers rather than dwelling on the presence

of a threat Direct your anxiety into actions that will lessen the possibility of failure

Apart from that, one of the primary causes of lack of confidence is overthinking and negative self-talk To overcome this problem, you should engage in the following activities when you have free time: go jogging, gym, or any physical activity, read books

or novels

Rewarding yourself is another approach to increasing your self-esteem

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