NEAR EAST UNIVERSITY
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
IMPROVING PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETENCE OF LOW-ACHIEVING STUDENTS USING SEVERAL NLP TECHNIQUES: A MIXED-METHODS APPROACH
A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction
of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Educational Sciences
Oksana Nazarova
Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Çise Çavuşoğlu
Nicosia
July 2013
Committee in charge:
Assist. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kurt, Chair
Assist. Prof. Dr. Çise Çavuşoğlu
Assist. Prof. Dr. Doina Popescu
NEAR EAST UNIVERSITY
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
IMPROVING PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETENCE OF LOW-ACHIEVING STUDENTS USING SEVERAL NLP TECHNIQUES: A MIXED-METHODS APPROACH
MASTER THESIS
OKSANA NAZAROVA
NICOSIA
July 2013
NEAR EAST UNIVERSITY
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
IMPROVING PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETENCE OF LOW-ACHIEVING STUDENTS USING SEVERAL NLP TECHNIQUES: A MIXED-METHODS APPROACH
MASTER THESIS
OKSANA NAZAROVA
SUPERVISOR: ASSIST. PROF. DR. ÇISE ÇAVUŞOĞLU
NICOSIA
July 2013
We certify that we have read the thesis submitted by Oksana Nazarova titled “Improving public speaking competence of low-achieving students using several NLP techniques: A mixed-methods approach” and that in our combined opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts.
Assist. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kurt
Head of the Committee
Assist. Prof. Dr. Çise Çavuşoğlu
Supervisor
Assist. Prof. Dr. Doina Popescu
Committee Member
Approved for the
Graduate School of Educational Sciences
Prof. Dr. Cem Birol
Director of Graduate School of Educational Sciences
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all materials and results that are not original to this study.
Name, last name: Oksana Nazarova
Signature: ......
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to express the great appreciation to my supervisor Assist. Prof. Dr. Çise Çavuşoğlu for teaching me everything I know about scientific research. She continually and convincingly shared her ideas about this research project and patiently helped me to write the thesis. Her doctoral dissertation called The Trouble with Turkishness”?: (Invisible) Turkish Cypriots in a Turkish School in London showed me a great example of an academic research study and helped not to stop in my progress and never say that what has been done is good enough to leave it in that form. Assist. Prof. Dr. Çise Çavuşoğlu, thank you for your support and excellent feedback!
I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Head of the English Language Teaching Department Assist. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kurt, due to whom I gained most of the knowledge I have about the teaching process. I am grateful to Assist. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kurt for always keeping the door open for all students to walk in with any questions and for creating a supportive atmosphere in the department. Thank you for helping me with the SPSS program.
I would like to thank Dr. Asliye Dağman who challenged me to rethink my inaccurate models of world in her courses. Each of your lectures gave me the feeling of flying thoughts. Thank you for this opportunity to be taught by an outstanding teacher.
I would like to thank Dr. Doina Popescu who was caring and supportive all these years of my studying in the department. Thank you for the course of Linguistics.
I wish to acknowledge the help provided by the course instructor, and I also thank all the students who participated in this study for giving me a chance to see their deep fears, for sharing with me personal information that constitutes this thesis.
My special thanks to my mother Zeynab Nazarova, my husband Timur and his parents Nadejda and Albert Rakhmatullins, my good friends Alime Churlu and Arzy Emirova for all their support and love.
Finally, I would like to thank Allah for giving me the ability to complete the graduate program and for helping me to find support of all these people.
To Zeynab Nazarova
ABSTRACT
IMPROVING PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETENCE OF LOW-ACHIEVING STUDENTS USING SEVERAL NLP TECHNIQUES: A MIXED-METHODS APPROACH
Nazarova, Oksana
MA, Program English Language Teaching
Supervisor, Assist. Prof. Dr. Çise Çavuşoğlu
July 2013, 166 pages
Public speaking competence is essential to acquire for all teachers. At the same time, we know little about what factors affect the process of mastering public speaking competence and what are the tools that can help EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students to overcome difficulties they face in speech courses (De Grez, Valcke, & Roozen, 2009). This study attempted to extend the knowledge on students’ public speaking competence development by analysing the factors that influence it and examining the effectiveness of some interventions (i.e., Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) techniques of well-formed outcomes, modeling, and ‘as-if’ frame) in supporting students to gain proficiency in that field. Thus, a mixed methods approach was adopted to effectively answer all of the research questions posed. The level of language proficiency, foreign language anxiety, self-reported public speaking anxiety, general communication apprehension, prior experience with public speaking, and motivational factors were found to a certain extent affect the students’ development of public speaking competence. It was found that NLP techniques could influence the ‘motivation’ dimension of the concept of competence for low-achieving students.
Keywords: public speaking competence, NLP techniques, English as a foreign language, pre-service teachers
ÖZ
BAZI NÖRO-DİLBİLİMSEL PROGRAMLAMA YÖNTEMLERİ KULLANILARAK DÜŞÜK BAŞARI GÖSTEREN ÖĞRENCİLERİN KAMUYA YÖNELİK KONUŞMA BECERİLERİNİN GELİŞTİRİLMESİ: BİR KARMAYÖNTEM YAKLAŞIMI
Nazarova, Oksana
Yüksek Lisans, İngilizce Öğretmenliği Anabilim Dalı
Danışman, Yrd. Doç. Dr. Çise Çavuşoğlu
Temmuz 2013, 166 sayfa
Kamuya yönelik konuşma yeterliği bütün öğretmenlerin edinmesi gereken temel bir olgudur. Buna karşılık, kamuya yönelik konuşma yeterliğini edinme sürecini etkileyen faktörler ve İngilizce’yi yabancı bir dil olarak öğrenen öğrencilerin karşılastıkları zorlukların üstesinden gelmelerine yardımcı olabilecek araçlar konusunda da çok az bilgi bulunmaktadır (De Grez, Valcke, & Roozen, 2009). Bu çalışma öğrencilerin kamuya yönelik konuşma yeterliklerinin gelişimi olgusunu etkileyen faktörleri analiz ederek ve bazı nöro-dilbilimsel programlama (NDP) araçlarının (‘iyi biçimlenmiş sonuçlar,’ ‘modelleme’ ve ‘mış gibi çerçevesi’) öğrencilerin yetkinliğini arttırmaya ne derecede yardımcı olabileceğini inceleyerek bu alandaki bilgi dağarcığına katkıda bulunmayı amaçlamaktadır. Dolayısıyla, belirlenen araştırma sorularını etkili bir şekilde cevaplayabilmek için araştırma deseni olarak bir karma yöntem yaklaşımı izlenmiştir. Dil yeterlilik seviyesi, yabancı dil kaygısı, kendi rapor edilen kamuya yönelik konuşma kaygısı, genel iletişim korkusu, önceki kamuya yönelik konuşma deneyimi ve güdüsel faktörlerin öğrencilerin kamuya yönelik konuşma yeterliklerinin gelişimini belli açılardan etkilediği araştırmanın bulguları arasındadır. Kullanılan NDP araclarının düşük başarı gösteren öğrencilerin yeterliklerinin ‘güdüleme’ boyutunu olumlu yönde etkileyebileceği de araştırma sonunda ortaya çıkmıştır.
Anahtar kelimeler: kamuya yönelik konuşma yeterliği, nöro-dilbilimsel programlama yöntemleri, yabancı dil olarak İngilizce, öğretmen adayları
TABLE OF CONTENTS
APPROVAL OF THE THESIS III
DECLARATION IV
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS V
ABSTRACT VII
ÖZ VIII
LIST OF APPENDICES XIII
LIST OF TABLES XIV
LIST OF FIGURES XV
ABBREVIATIONS XVI
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1
Background of the Study 1
Problem of the Study 6
Aim of the Study 7
Limitations 7
Conclusion 8
CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW 10
Public Speaking Competence 10
Knowledge on the art of speaking 12
Public speaking skills 12
Motivation to learn and to perform competently 13
Factors Affecting the Public Speaking Competence Development in an EFL Context 14
Low language proficiency 14
Anxiety related to the speaking publicly in a foreign language classroom 15
NLP in Education 17
Criticism of NLP 20
The Use of NLP to Enhance Public Speaking Competence 23
Well-formed goal conditions 25
Modeling 26
‘As-if’ frame 28
NLP and Motivational Interviewing 28
Conclusion 30
CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY 31
Description of the Context 32
Research Design 34
Experimental component of the study 36
Qualitative component of the study 38
Interviews 39
Observations 40
Reflective essays 40
Artefacts 41
Role of the Researcher 41
Participants 42
Non-treatment group participants’ profiles 43
Treatment group participants’ profiles 45
Profiles of the non-attending students excluded from the statistical analysis 47
Data Collection Procedures 48
Materials 52
Data Analysis 54
Conclusion 55
CHAPTER IV. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 56
Findings 56
Effects of introducing the NLP techniques on treatment group students’ achievement levels 56
The relationship between the quality of students’ public speaking performances and variables related to their backgrounds, total preparation time, and communication apprehension 63
Age, gender, years of learning English, previous experience with public speaking, and preparation time 64
Communication apprehension and public speaking anxiety.. 70
Problems behind low achievement and suggestions for overcoming them: Qualitative data analysis 72
Non-motivational factors 73
Low oral and academic language proficiency 73
Foreign language anxiety 77
Age 78
Communication apprehension 80
Public speaking anxiety 81
Motivational factors 86
Lack of attention leads to inadequate preparation and practice 86
Perceived irrelevance of the course as an explanation for poor attendance 90
Sufficient preparation and practice together with confidence results in good performance 91
Being intrinsically and extrinsically motivated leads to satisfaction with a course 93
The participants’ suggestions on how to make a public speaking course more beneficial 94
Influence of participants’ relationships on their speaking performance 96
Discussion 99
Factors affecting the public speaking performances of the students.. 99
Changes in students’ public speaking performances after the treatment 103
The effect of the introduction of several NLP techniques on general communication apprehension and public speaking anxiety 104
The factors behind low achievement in a public speaking course: The sources of students’ motivational problems 106
Conclusion 110
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 111
Summary of the Findings 111
Effect of some NLP techniques on treatment group students’ public speaking competence 111
Factors affecting the performances of the treatment and non-attending group students 112
The sources of students’ lack of motivation in a public speaking course 115
Practical Implications 116
Recommendations for Further Research 117
Conclusion 118
REFERENCES 119
APPENDICES 136
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix A. Public Speaking Competence Rubric (PSCR), PSCR Individual Student Score Sheet, and Proficiency Rating Scale 136
Appendix B. Listening Quiz 141
Appendix C. Course Outline 146
Appendix D. Direct Observation Assessment Form Used in addition to the PSCR to Assess Final Exam Speeches 147
Appendix E. Requirements for the Final Speech (Cards) 148
Appendix F. Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA) (McCroskey, 1970) 154
Appendix G. Behavioural Assessment of Speech Anxiety (BASA) (Mulac & Sherman, 1974) 157
Appendix H. List of Interview Questions 159
Appendix I. Personal Report of Communication Apprehension-24 (PRCA-24) (McCroskey, 1982) 160
Appendix J. Students’ Speech Topics 162
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Assigning students to the specific predefined groups based on the PSCR scores and attendance 37
Table 2. Descriptive statistics for within-group differences in PSCR scores 61
Table 3. Correlations among the pre- and post-test scores and the PRPSA1, PRPSA2, PRCA-24 scores 71
Table 4. Factors leading to the treatment group students’ low performance 73
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Regression-discontinuity design with approximately 0.4-point treatment effect 61
Figure 2. Correlation of students’ performance scores with the years of learning English (statistically non-significant) 64
Figure 3. The relationship between students’ performance scores and previous experience with public speaking (statistically significant only for the post-test scores) 65
Figure 4. Negative correlation between students’ overall preparation time and years of learning English (statistically significant) 66
ABBREVIATIONS
ARCS: Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction (Keller’s ARCS model (1987))
BASA: Behavioural Assessment of Speech Anxiety (Mulac & Sherman, 1974)
CA: Communication Apprehension
EFL: English as a Foreign Language
ELT: English Language Teaching
FLA: Foreign Language Anxiety
GPA: Grade Point Average
NLP: Neuro-Linguistic Programming
POWER: Positive, “Own role,” “What specifically,” Evidence, Relationship (a framework for goal setting (Day & Tosey, 2011))
PRCA-24: Personal Report of Communication Apprehension-24 (McCroskey, 1982)
PRPSA: Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (McCroskey, 1970)
PSA: Public Speaking Anxiety
PSCR: Public Speaking Competence Rubric (Schreiber et al., 2012)
SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable/Agreed-upon, Realistic, Time-based (a framework for goal setting (Doran, 1981))
SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
VAKOG: Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic, Olfactory, Gustatory
XVI
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This study was initiated based on my own experience of lack of presentation skills training as a student. Moreover, I observed the difficulties other prospective teachers faced from the position of a teacher in this respect. Thus, I became interested in public speaking competence and factors affecting it. This chapter provides a description of the topic of the thesis and outlines the reasons for conducting such a study. In this introductory thesis to the study, first, my previous experiences of public speaking (in)competence will be explained. Then, public speaking competence as being the main concept of this study will be discussed, followed by presentation of some Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) techniques to enhance it. This chapter also provides information about the aim and limitations of the study conducted in order to investigate the effectiveness of several NLP techniques for overcoming the problems students have in relation to public speaking.
Background of the Study
Before coming to study in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), I did not give any academic speeches, nor did I make presentations using PowerPoint slides. I even do not remember whether we had any speaking activities when attending a Basic English Language Course in the Department of Print Journalism in my alma mater. Of course, there were opportunities to practise public speaking or to speak instead of reading from the paper in front of my classmates in the seminars, but there were no requirements for such practices to develop public speaking competence (especially in a foreign language) in that particular environment, where I received my specialist degree. However, my mother, who is a school psychologist, noticed that in the past five years, there has been an increase in the demand for all students to develop
1
9
public speaking skills in my hometown system of education. When I came to the TRNC, the first thing that I was asked to do at the English Preparatory School was to give a speech about myself in front of my classmates. Proceeding to the English Language Teaching Department, I was required to prepare presentational aids and give academic speeches for each of the courses I was enrolled in. Then I thought that performing in front of others is so challenging and difficult because of my low English language proficiency and lack of previous experience with public speaking. However, I noticed that most of the local students, despite continuous learning and practising public speaking skills and some of them being highly proficient in English, still experienced difficulties in such performances. Even after training in preparing visual aids in a course called Language Teaching Materials Adaptation and Development, and constant emphasis in almost all undergraduate and graduate courses on developing students’ communication competence, most of my classmates seemed not to show advanced public speaking competence. I am making this judgement based on my own experience. One and a half years earlier, I experienced excessive anxiety while giving an important speech. This was despite the fact that I considered public speaking skills as one of the primary skills for prospective teachers to acquire, that I gave extended speeches whenever possible, and that I had a quite good knowledge on speaking skills after studying at the Department of English Language Teaching. Unfortunately, poor performance affected my final grade for that course. I still remember my hands trembling, voice going up and down, and my thoughts becoming so confused that I was forced to read text from the paper in my hands.