TEACHING PUBLIC SPEAKING SKILLS TO ADULTS PUBLISKĀS RUNAS PRASMJU MĀCĪŠANA PIEAUGUŠAJIEM

Transcription

1 UNIVERSITY OF LATVIA FACULTY OF HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH STUDIES TEACHING PUBLIC SPEAKING SKILLS TO ADULTS PUBLISKĀS RUNAS PRASMJU MĀCĪŠANA PIEAUGUŠAJIEM MASTER THESIS Diana Jansone Matriculation card No. dj10021 Adviser: asoc. prof. Vita Kalnbērziņa RIGA 2016

2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor asoc. prof. Vita Kalnbērziņa for the useful comments, for the support and engagement through the writing process of this master thesis. Also, I would like to thank my wonderful colleagues who willingly participated in the teaching process and shared their joy, as well as, for trusting in me and helping me with my Master thesis. Finally, I would like to thank my loved ones, who have supported me throughout entire process. I will be grateful forever for your love. Thank you.

3 ANOTĀCIJA Publiskā runa tiek uzskatīta par visnozīmīgāko valodas aspektu. Turklāt, publiskā runa ir ļoti sarežģīts process, jo tas prasa spēju sazināties gan mutiski, gan neverbāli, tādēļ attīstīt publiskās runas iemaņas ir ļoti svarīgi. Ir dažādas mācību tehnikas, metodes, teorijas un uzdevumi, kuras var tikt izmantotas, lai attīstītu publiskās runas iemaņas. Šī maģistra darba mērķis bija izpētīt īpatnības runas iemaņu pasniegšanā pieaugušajiem, kā arī analizēt komunikatīvās pieejas teorijas un rast efektīvus veidus, kā attīstīt runas iemaņas ar dažāda veida aktivitāšu palīdzību. Maģistra darbā tika izmantotas teorētiskās un praktiskās pētījumu metodes. Teorētiskā literatūra par pētāmo problēmu tika atrasta, izlasīta un izanalizēta. Lai noskaidrotu, kā attīstīt publiskās runas iemaņas un kādas aktivitātes var tikt izmantotas publiskās runas iemaņu attīstīšanai, šajā darbā izmantotas sekojošās pētījumu metodes: teorētisko avotu analīze, uz anketēšanu balstīta aptauja, apmācāmo prasmju novērtēšana, kā arī apmācību izmēģinājums. Pētījuma laikā iegūtie rezultāti tika izanalizēti, kā arī tika izvērtēts apmācāmā progress. Darbā tiek izdarīti secinājumi, ka autora izstrādātās komunikatīvās pieejas mācību metodes palīdzēja dalībniekiem uzlabot angļu valodas izrunu, gramatiku, artikulāciju, kā arī fizisko izturēšanos, kura palīdz sniegt verbālo un neverbālo ziņojumu. Atslēgvārdi: publiskā runa, mācības, komunikatīvā pieeja, uz anketēšanu balstīta aptauja, aktivitātes, gadījumu izpēte

4 ABSTRACT Public speaking is considered to be the most significant aspect of a language. Moreover, public speaking is a very complex process because it demands the ability to communicate verbally and non-verbally, thus, it is very important to develop public speaking skills. There are different teaching techniques, methods, theories and activities which can be used for developing public speaking skills. The aim of this master thesis was to investigate the peculiarities of teaching speaking skills to adults, as well as, to analyse the theories of the Communicative Approach and to find effective ways of developing speaking skills with the help of different types of activities. The methods of research were theoretical and practical. All the necessary information on the topic was found, read and further analysed. The research methods used in the present paper are the analysis of the theoretical sources, the questionnaire based survey, observation and pilot teaching were conducted to find out how public speaking skills can be developed and what activities can be used for speaking skills development. The results were analysed and the adult's progress was identified. The conclusion that the Communicative Approach activities developed by the author of the present paper helped the participants improve their English pronunciation, grammar, articulation and physical behaviour, supporting the verbal and non-verbal message was made. Key words: public speaking, teaching, Communicative Approach, questionnaire based survey, activities, case study

5 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ESSENTIALS OF PUBLIC SPEAKING Verbal Behaviour in Public Speaking The History of Public Speaking Preparation Stages for Public Speaking Non-Verbal Behaviour in Public Speaking Facial Expressions and Eye Contact Gestures, Posture and Movements THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH IN TEACHING PUBLIC SPEAKING SKILLS Development of the Communicative Approach Types of Activities Used in Communicative Language Teaching The Roles of the Learner and the Teacher Assessing the Learner s Speaking Skills CASE STUDY OF PUBLIC SPEAKING SKILLS Research Methodology Research Context and Population Research Tools Analysis of the Results of the Questionnaire The First Lesson: Observation Teaching Activities The Second Lesson: Pilot Teaching The Third Lesson: Pilot Teaching The Fourth Lesson: Pilot Teaching The Fifth Lesson: The Achievement Test Analysis of the Results Obtained CONCLUSIONS THESES REFERENCES APPENDIX 1 Questionnaire APPENDIX

6 Activities on Verbal Communication Activities on Non-verbal Communication APPENDIX 3 Presentational Competencies Ratings APPENDIX 4 Activities APPENDIX 5 Permission for Teaching Adults... 75

7 INTRODUCTION Public speaking is considered to be an important and significant part of communication. When a person has good communication skills, his or her speech is persuasive and such skills can be used to make others change their mind or even lead a group of people, it will have an impact on social and personal life. Whether at work, at school or at the university, everyone had, has and will face the fact that he or she should present some material, or simply stand in front of the audience and speak. Speaking skills are taught first in kindergarten, then are developed at school, when the level of difficulties gradually grows starting from simple poems that are presented by small children and ending with great speeches produced by people who already know how to speak publicly. People are different, hence, there is no doubt that there are those who like to be in public, on a stage, for instance, actors or performers, and those, who do not like to speak in public, who are shy to express their own thoughts in front of others. Language is a channel of how ideas are transmitted from a speaker to a listener; it is through this transfer that people can communicate. According to Oxford Advanced Learner s Dictionary, the word language is defined as the system of communication in speech and writing that is used by people of a particular country or area. Speaking is one of the most important aspects in communication because through communication people exchange the information. Teachers know how to teach speaking skills, what techniques and methods to use to develop learners skills and motivate them to learn. While some people may naturally display good speaking skills, others may need to develop these skills further. There are plenty of methods and techniques that can be used to improve one s speech, to sound better and feel more comfortable when speaking in public. Teachers usually offer different activities that help learners improve their public speaking skills, starting from the beginner s level and continuing to the master s level. Learners are different, thus, the teacher always thinks about the audience, the age of the learners and their psychological peculiarities. To be a good public speaker means, for instance, to be an accurate user of the language, to know how to use body language and with what manner to speak. The present research is based on the theories about: 1) Teaching public speaking by Rozakis (1999), Bovee (2003), Moore (2011) and Livingston (2010) 1

8 2) The Communicative Approach by Richards and Rodgers (2001), Brown (1994), Howatt (1984), Larsen-Freeman (2000) and Harmer (2001) 3) Assessment of speaking skills by Brown and Yule (1983), William (1994) as well as Thornbury (2005) The goal of this Master Thesis is to investigate the peculiarities of teaching speaking skills to adults as well as to analyse the theories of the Communicative Approach to find effective ways of developing speaking skills with the help of different types of activities. The following hypothesis is put forward for the present research: the Communicative Approach activities developed by the author of the present paper help adult learners improve their English pronunciation, grammar, articulation and physical behaviour that support the verbal message being delivered to the audience. The enabling objectives to reach the goal of the paper are as follows: 1. to study and analyse the theoretical literature on teaching speaking skills to adult learners; 2. to examine speaking skills of adults in the selected group; 3. to select and design activities for speaking skills development; 4. to pilot the developed activities in the group; 5. to collect the data on adult learners skills before and after pilot teaching; 6. to process the obtained data and interpret the results; 7. to draw relevant conclusions. To reach the above goal of the research, the following research methods have been employed: 1. The theoretical method included the analysis of the theories concerning the peculiarities of developing teaching speaking skills to adults and the theories about the Communicative Approach. 2. The empirical method is based on a case study which included the questionnaire-based survey and a teaching process, as well as, quantitative and qualitative analysis of the obtained data. The data collection tools were as follows: classroom observation, analysis of teaching materials, the student speech evaluation, and teaching speaking skills to adults with the help of different activities developed by the author of the present paper. The paper consists of three chapters. 2

9 The first chapter discusses the concept of public speaking, providing information about the development of public speaking process as well as describing the body language and non-verbal communicative skills of the public speaker. The second chapter gives insight into the theories on the Communicative Approach and enumerates the main assessment criteria of the learner s performance during presentations. The third chapter delineates in-class activities that could be used to develop public speaking skills of adult learners, as well as, presents the results of the pedagogical observation of adult learners development of speaking skills during public speaking classes conducted within the framework of the present research. 3

10 1. ESSENTIALS OF PUBLIC SPEAKING The first chapter discusses the concept of public speaking, providing information about the development of public speaking process as well as describing the body language and non-verbal communicative skills of the public speaker Verbal Behaviour in Public Speaking According to Oxford Advanced Learner s Dictionary, the verb speak is defined as to talk to sb about sth; to have a conversation with sb., while make speech means to give a talk to an audience. Carnegie in his book The Art of Public Speaking elaborates on the essence of speech by stating that: Speech is simply a modified form of singing: the principal difference being in the fact that in singling the vowel sounds are prolonged and the intervals are short, whereas in speech the words are uttered in what may be called staccato tones, the vowels not being specially prolonged and the intervals between the words being more distinct. In speech we have likewise a variation of tones, and even in ordinary conversation there is a difference of from three to six semi-tones[ ] (2013:12-13). Although speaking is a complicated process, children start speaking at the very early age, excluding some cases when they experience psychological problems or have problems with their speech apparatus. Brown and Joyce believe that speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information (Brown, 1994; Burns and Joyce, 1997). Moreover, Van Duzer maintains that speakers skills and speech habits have an impact on the success of any exchange (Van Duzer, 1997). Speakers are aware of the patterns of specific discourse situations. For conversation to be successful, speakers should manage to follow some rules, such as turn-taking, rephrasing, providing feedback, or redirecting (Burns and Joyce, 1997). According to Oxford Advanced Learner s Dictionary speaking is the act or skill of giving a speech at a public event (2005:1468). The aim of a speech may be to persuade people to change their minds, for example in politics, to transmit information, or simply to tell something new as lecturers do it. At the same time, good speakers always follow their audience s emotions and try to change the listeners minds, to manipulate them. Bygate considers that speaking involves two types of skills, namely, basic (i.e. lower level motorperceptive skills of producing right sounds and using accurate grammatical structures), and 4

11 communicative strategies (such as what and how to get the meaning across) (Bygate, 1987:5). Bygate also considers that in public speaking there should be developed both perceptive and productive skills since public speaking is a productive skill aiming at communication (ibid). Communicator, talker, conversationalist: these are the words that refer to a person who talks or who is talking, especially in a particular way. In accordance with Oxford Advanced Learner s Dictionary, these words are defined in the following way: Speaker a person who is or was speaking; a person who speaks a particular language; a person who makes a speech. Communicator a person who is able to describe their ideas and feelings clearly to others. Talker a person who talks in a particular way or who talks a lot. Conversationalist a person who is good at talking to others, especially in an informal way. (2005:1468) The difference between these synonyms is that talker refers to a person who is talking about how much somebody talks or how well they talk, while speaker can be persuasive or good, but here the meaning is that a person is good at making speeches. For communication in a foreign language to be successful, a speaker needs to be familiar with linguistic and cultural backgrounds that are shared by native speakers and has to obey certain rules and conventions that are not written down anywhere, nor are easy to define (Harmer, 2001:246). In other words, this means that good public speakers know how to read the public and should be able to change the emotions of the listeners The History of Public Speaking People have studied rhetoric since the first written word has been written. McCoy in her book described the term Sophist and what roots it has (2008: ). Below, based on the McCoy s literature, the history of rhetoric is briefly discussed. Mesopotamians and Ancient Egyptians praised the ability to speak and considered wisdom to be at the same value. Time passed and rhetoric became a systematically changed and polished art when Greek came. Historians consider Athens as the place where the rhetoric appeared. At that time, there were mainly male politicians who should stand and speak in front of the public and speak persuasive, so that the audience would trust. Those who had the skill to speak well on public had the success. Therefore, it was necessary to teach and develop the speaking skills. The first schools were formed in the 5 th century by Sophists. The Sophists were people who taught others to speak in public. According to McCoy, Gorgias and Isocrates were the first who formed such 5

12 schools. In politics, rhetoric and the ability to look good and speak well, was always and still is considered to be a success for that person who has such skills. McCoy has also mentioned that at those times, learners paid money to study and master these skills. The fact is that sophists taught their learners how to make a strong argument if it was weak. However, in ancient Greece the word sophist had a negative meaning and it meant a person who manipulated the public in order to have financial gain. Aristotle and Plato criticized sophists because they lied to public. In fact, there were positive and negative sides, but still the Sophists influenced the process of developing rhetoric. McCoy pointed out that Socrates placed Sophists in intermediate position between philosophers and people: On the one hand, the sophist shares some characteristics with the many: he equates the necessary with the good, and he does not know the truth about justice. On the other hand, the sophist is different from the many since he is deliberate in his management of public opinion and self-aware in a way the many are not. While the sophist does not see opinions as objectively good or bad, he can potentially change others opinions if he learns how to work with the forces of public approval (2008:126). Turnbull points out that the most important for a good speaker is the communicative relationship between Self and Other (2014:161). Based on his theories, as well as, if to look back in Aristotle times it could be seen that over 2300 years ago Aristotle made a basis for public communication. It is worth mentioning that Plato, who was Aristotle s teacher, did not like the way how public speakers addressed their audience, how they manipulated and lied to it. However, Aristotle admired when one person addressed the audience. He saw the truth in this because he considered it to be an art that can be studied. Turnbull also considers that people are said to encounter each other through rhetoric and express their identities and differences, finding communion or repelling one another (2014:161). Turnbull also discussed that Aristotle believed that the art of public speaking consists of not only being persuasive but also having ethics. Importantly, Aristotle suggested ingredients of persuasion called Ethos, Pathos and Logos which have a different meaning. Turnbull prоvides the following formula which is the equalization of Ethos, Pathos and Logos in communication: L = ( E P), which means, the distance in terms of a question (Lоgos) = the distance between Ethos and Pathos. In other words, a speaker (ethos) negotiates a question (logos) with an audience (pathos) (2014:161). Each element is equal to another, thus, the emphasis is not put to one over the others. For instance, Aristotle emphasized оnly Logos and rational argument, Cicerо put emphasis on Ethos and Plato 6

13 emphasised Pathos because he wanted to show that it was possible to manipulate in rhetoric (2014:161). Meyer s theory that is described in Turnbull s book is explained in a different way, with Meyer connecting the theory of rhetoric with the theory of human nature where all three ingredients of persuasion are interlinked with great questions of humanity, including the questions of Self (ethos), the Wоrld (logos) and the Other (pathos) (2014:161). For people, speaking means interaction with one person or with a group of people with some feedback. The process of communication is conducted and understood both verbally and nonverbally. For example, one needs to follow and understand the other speaker and his or her reactions to predict what he or she is going to say. improvisation in this sense may be a very demanding task. It is worth noting that language is an original and unique treasure for the whole humanity. Although human beings have different forms of language and a great number of languages all over the world, they all are used to perfоrm important functions for communication. People communicate in order to learn, ask for help, express themselves, have fun or get new ideas. The human language is structurally organised: it has written and spoken forms, and it has grammar and syntax. It is a complex system, consisting of symbols which are learnt and taught. It can be claimed that people s system of communication is highly developed, humans can invent new words, speak about past, speculate about future and learn other languages Preparation Stages for Public Speaking When devising public speaking activities, the teacher should take into account several stages for the speaker to follow to make his or her speech effective, clear and persuasive. Selecting techniques for communication Before starting speaking, the speaker should be prepared, thus, this abstract is aimed at showing how to develop skills and techniques with the help оf which the speaker will be effective in public. In particular, this section deals with the following techniques: Presentation techniques Manipulation and persuasion Presentation techniques that are discussed below are the author s suggestions, and the practical part is based on the following information as well. Mastering the speech presentation technique is essential for developing speaking skills because it involves various aspects, including the use of voice and even the use of material that can help during the speech (such as palm cards). 7

14 By using these presentation methods, the speaker can achieve his or her communication goals more effectively. The speaker s voice appears to be the most important factor because the public tends to judge by listening to what is said and how it is pronounced. It may happen that the speaker can feel nervous, and the problems with the voice will show it. The voice should be trained to make the speech more effective, which means that the speaker should always control: Pace (the speed of the speech); Rhythm (stressed and unstressed syllables); Pitch (the highness or lowness of the voice); Volume (the loud or soft the voice is); and Pause (short breaks during the speech that help to stress some important information). Many authors underline that proper use of voice is one of the most important aspects of speech delivery in front of the business audience. For example, Tomalin suggests that the speaker should learn how to: - breathe before speaking tо have a proper level of pitch; - vary the speed by slоwing down for the most important points; - vary the vоlume by speaking more sоftly tо share personal information or louder tо emphasise key points; - stress important words; and - use silence for dramatic effect (2012: 52). Palm cards are small pieces оf paper with the key words of the speech. While giving a speech, it is pоssible to refer to these palm cards. The mоst important is tо have a look at the key word and then continue to contact with the audience, so that the eye contact does not disappear. Also, it is important to have these palm cards in one hand, so that the gestures could be natural and the body language would be appropriate. Manipulation and persuasion are other important goals of public speaking. The author of the present paper made a research of the effective techniques that the public speaker use. The speaker contacts the public through the language (the phrases, sentences, etc.) and it has an impact on each person. The speaker should also find out how the public reacts to the daily conversation. The persuasive techniques that are presented in the table below can help to establish contact with the public. Table 1.1 illustrates the most common techniques that professional public speakers use. The explanation and example of each technique are also provided. All the techniques demonstrated in 8

15 the table have been taken from different sources, collected and analysed. One of the selected public speeches was a public speech given by Steve Jobs (Online 6). The speech was analysed according to a number of criteria enumerated in Appendix 3. Table 1.1 Common techniques in public speeches Technique Explanation Example Competency 1: Direct appeal Personal pronouns that have the effect of the unity, common goals, ideas. you, us, we, our Competency 2: Words that appeal to Оur country is going through great difficulties Emotional patriotism, loyalty or today and I m going to give you five things that we appeal personal gain have to do to make America once again the land of the free, the home of the brave, and full of opportunity for you, and me, and for our kids. Competency 4: Telling stories Competency 5: Persuasive words Stories are the most important part of a good presentation. The use of strongly positive, emotional and positive words Today I am going to tell you three stories Easy, truth be told, strongly, promise, naively. Statistics and facts Competency 6: Tone Facts from life The manner or style of the language in the text Today I want tо tell you three stories from my life, that s it. No big deal, just three stories. Friendly, aggressive, positive, encouraging, persuasive. Competency 7: Visuals Expert quotes Body language, eye contact Statements by expert people to give authority to a point Looking at the audience. Clear speech. Touching a chin, touching nose. Once, philosopher said 9

16 Table 1.1 illustrates the most common techniques that professional public speakers use. The explanation and example of each technique are also provided. All the techniques demonstrated in the table have been taken from different sources, collected and analysed. One of the selected public speeches was a public speech given by Steve Jobs (Online 1). The speech was analysed according to a number of criteria enumerated in Appendix 3. Creating the speech It is important to plan and structure the speech. Jaffe provides the reader with instructions regarding the steps to be taken when preparing a speech: 1. Chооse a topic. 2. Cоnsider the audience and setting. 3. Identify the purpose. 4. Gather speech materials. 5. Structure your information. 6. Prepare your S.M.E. (start, middle and end). 7. Prepare palm cards. 8. Rehearse your speech (2007: 20-29). Belоw the steps mentioned earlier are described and explained. Jaffe s structure can be considered effective because it helps to prepare for speech better. Based on the following structure, the practice will be done. Participants will follow these steps to prepare their speeches: Step 1 When chооsing a tоpic for public speaking, it is important to choose the one that the person is interested in. It can be anything that the person already knows and wants to share with the audience. It is also important for the speaker to know the audience s wills. If there is prоblem in choosing topic, it is important to think about the field in which the person feels cоnfident. Step 2 The mоst important is the audience, people who will listen to the speaker. The listeners can be people of different social status, age, pоsition, etc. Thinking about the audience will help in choosing appropriate phrases, words, examples to make the audience interested in the topic. It is 10

17 also important to observe the audience s reaction and to think whether the delivered message is clear or not. Step 3 All ideas should be stored in a mind map because it is the best idea of how to gather and structure all the necessary information. First, the subject and the purpose of the speech should be decided upon. The easiest way how to do it is to take a piece of paper and to write the topic in the centre, placing all other ideas, thoughts and words related to the topic around it. It is not very important what it looks like, the most important thing is to develop the speech. Also, personal experiences and stories that might illustrate the topic can be added to make the speech more colorful. Step 4 Each tоpic needs to be researched. There are different types of sources where the information can be taken, for instance, libraries, books, newspapers, journals, internet and even interviews with people who are specialists in a particular field. When researching and looking for some important information, several questions can help in understanding what has been achieved and what needs to be done: What have I learned? What should I learn to make the speech effective? Where can I find materials? Does this particular information help me to achieve my purpose? How to use the information correctly? (2007: 20-29). Step 5 After the above steps have been taken, it is necessary to organise the information in a way that will suit the purpose of the speech. There are different purposes, for instance, to introduce something new to the audience, persuade or arise sympathy of the audience. The speech also needs to be well-structured, it should have a beginning, middle part and conclusion. The beginning should be brief and clear so that the audience will not be tired, and the subject and purpose of the speech should be introduced. The middle part consists of the topic and the purpose of the speech, with the examples that can support the purpose being provided. In conclusion, all the information should be summed up and the purpose of the speech needs to be achieved. 11

18 Step 6 This stage is the most important part in speech preparation. The beginning, the middle part and the conclusion of the speech should be discussed in details. When developing a speech, the appropriate language should be used to achieve the goal. Introduction has to be brief and clear so that the audience could easily understand the purpose of the speech. As it has been mentioned by Jaffe, questions, statistics, storytelling, or real life examples can be used (2007: 23). Also, it is important to pay attention to the fact that theatrical gestures, singing songs or using humdrum phrases such as The purpose of my speech is... should be avoided. The middle part of the speech should be linked to the introductory part so that the speech would appear coherent and logical. It is important to make the audience listen to the speech, thus, some facts that can support the ideas can be used. Also, the middle part should be effective as if the speech is spontaneous. Finally, the conclusion should be linked with the introduction and the middle part because when summing up the information that has been presented it is worth mentioning that it is the ending part of the speech. Step 7 The key words or short phrases can be written on palm cards. The palm cards should be numerated to avoid the confusing situation. There is no need to write the whole speech on the palm cards; only the main information should be accurately written because palm cards only help to concentrate during the public speaking. Step 8 Practising the speech is one of the best options how to better memorise it. The speaker could rehearse in front of a mirror or record and then listen to the speech. The rehearsal could help to avoid mistakes and better understand what should be improved. During practice, the following points will be taken into account: 1. Psychological stability when speaking in public; 2. The improvements of the voice and gestures; 3. The usage of palm cards; 4. Mindmapping; 5. Logical, coherent and short speech. 12

19 Devising preparation activities Preparation activities can be developed for the students to see how much they already know and what should be improved. According to Philips and Hooke, there are three M s of public speaking with the help of which the students can practise techniques and develop their skills. Students are asked to complete activities related to the three M s: Manner Matter Method (1998: 25-30). Manner is about how it is said. The aim idea is to be natural. Acting, singing or dancing are not allowed. Also, speakers can use the palm cards. The speaker should use the eye contact and gestures, but it should be natural. Voice should be clear and audible. Behaviour should be casual, similar to a conversation. Matter is about what is said. Speeches are written in simple words, and the speech should share the opinion about something. Also, speech should be about real life people, places or events. Method refers to the speech organisation and structure. According to the Philips and Hooke, there are three ways to begin a speech: Story Statement Question (1998: 26). The beginning of the speech should catch the audience s attention: the speaker can begin with a promise to explain something that the audience is very interested in or include some dramatic elements. The middle part should be clear and all examples and ideas should be linked together by means of carefully selected verbal signposts (previews, summaries and transitions). In the end, the arguments should be tied together. Also, the speaker should keep to the time limit. Both the beginning and the concluding parts of the speech should be interesting to properly connect with the audience. Williams calls such techniques jump start and finishing with a bang techniques (2008: 23). With regard to the concluding part of the speech, Hughes proposes several ideas of engaging with the audience in an interactive way: 1) Repeat the main points. 2) Thank the audience and invite questions. 3) Tell a story or a joke. 4) Give the audience a final task. 5) Ask the audience to applaud each other. 6) Ask the audience a question. 13

20 7) Give a quotation from someone famous. 8) Ask the audience to do something afterwards (2012: 30-32). As pointed out by Guffey and Loewy, the speech organisational pattern, delivery style, message content and supporting material in business public speaking will largely depend on the audience s age, gender, education, experience, professional background, and size. Loewy provides the speaker with the questions when preparing a speech: 14 Therefore, Guffey and How will this topic appeal to this audience? How can I relate this information to my listeners needs? How can I gain credibility and earn respect so that they accept my message? What would be most effective in making my point? Facts? Statistics? Personal experiences? Expert opinion? Humor? Cartoons? Graphic illustrations? Demonstrations? Case histories? Analogies? What measures must I take to ensure that this audience remembers my main points? (2010:337). Below one can find activities that can be effectively used by teachers to help students improve their public speaking skills. The activities, taken from Murphy (2002: 20-28), were adopted by the author of the present paper for better understanding of the students abilities in public speaking: Activity No. 1. Who s the audience? The purpose of this activity is to consider how audience influences the process of public speaking. It refers to the matter (see Appendix 4). The purpose of Activity No. 2 is to learn how to speak in public using the palm cards (the method) (see Appendix 4). The purposee of the last Activity No. 3 is to practise presentation skills (the manner). Also in the last activity, the speaker develops imagination and ability to improvise which is a very important skill in public speaking (see Appendix 4). During these activities, the speakers might receive different reactions from the audience. Therefore, one of the teacher s tasks should be to explain to them how various audience types could be effectively handled. Table 1.2 The Competent Speaker Speech Evaluation Form (adopted from Guffey and Loewy, 2010: 338) Audience members Friendly (liking topic) the Organisational pattern Delivery style Supporting material Use any pattern. Try something new. Involve the audience. Be warm, pleasant, open, using lots of eye contact and smiles. Include humour, personal examples and experiences.

21 Neutral Present both sides of the Be controlled. Use Use facts, statistics, (calm, issue. Use pro/con or confident gestures. expert opinion, and rational) problem/solution comparison and patterns. Save time for contrast. audience questions. Uninterested Be brief, presenting no Be dynamic and Use humor, cartoons, (having short more than three points. entertaining. Move colorful visuals, attention Avoid lengthy topics or around. Use expressive powerful quotations, spans) pro/con patterns. gestures. and startling statistics. Hostile Use a noncontroversial Be calm, speak evenly Include objective data (defensive, pattern, such as a topical, and slowly. If interrupted, and expert opinion. emotional) chronological, or politely ask to let you Avoid geographical strategy. finish. Keep control of humour. your presentation. Table 1.2 provides useful presentational techniques relating to the speech organisational pattern, delivery style and supporting material that can be exploited to meet different interests and needs of the audience. The author of the paper believes that at work, like in any other context, different behaviours can be displayed among the members of the audience, and speakers should be ready to use any of the above techniques to improve communication as soon as a problem arises. To maintain a good rapport with the audience, it may also be helpful to engage with it not from the position of a detached speaker but as part of the team. For example, the speaker can walk to different places in the room rather than stand behind the podium. It is also a good idea for the presenter to speak freely, without reading from notes or slides. Assessing the speech For better understanding of what has been done well during the speech and what should be improved, the speaker should be evaluated by the audience. Below is the public speaking assessment sheet which should be used and completed by other students. Based on the results, the weakest points will be selected and further worked on by the author of the present Master Thesis. The progress of this activity will be discussed in the empirical part. 15

22 Table 3.3 The Competent Speaker Speech Evaluation Form (National Communication Association, 2007: 12-15) Competency One Choosing and narrowing a topic appropriately for the audience and occasion. Competency Two Communicating the thesis and specific purpose in a manner appropriate for the audience and occasion. Competency Three Providing supporting material (including electronic and non-electronic presentational aids) appropriate to the audience and occasion. Competency Four Using an organisational pattern appropriate to the topic, audience, occasion and purpose. Competency Five Using language appropriate to the audience and occasion. Competency Six Using vocal variety in rate, pitch, and intensity (volume) to heighten and maintain interest appropriate to the audience and occasion. Competency Seven Using pronunciation, grammar and articulation appropriate to the audience and occasion. Competency Eight Using physical behaviours that support the verbal message. The public speaking assessment sheet has been developed based on the information taken from the National Communication Association (2007: 12-15). The Competent Speaker Speech Evaluation Form provided in Appendix 3 is a standardised and tested instrument to be used in assessing public speaking competency at the higher education level. It contains eight public speaking competencies, along which students are to be assessed during their speeches (excellent - satisfactory - unsatisfactory) (see Table 1.3). Appendix 3 provides the description of each of the above competencies in greater detail. The achievement test used in the empirical part of this research will test the selected audience s public speaking competencies based on the framework provided by the National Communication Association in the above Competent Speaker Speech Evaluation Form. This subchapter provided a glimpse of the history of speaking and briefly discussed the notion of speaking. In the following subchapter, the peculiarities of the body language and non-verbal communication in public speaking are discussed. 16

23 1.2 Non-Verbal Behaviour in Public Speaking Body language is the main concept which is taken into account when the speaker is speaking in public, thus, the importance of eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, posture and movements is discussed in this chapter. The very first things that the audience sees when a speaker is preparing to give a speech in public are eyes, face, gestures, posture and movements, in other words, people look at non-verbal means of communication. Esposito, Bratanić and Keller mention the following statistics for nonverbal communication based on different scholars studies: [ ] an early study conducted by Birdwhistell indicated that up to 65% of a message s meaning is communicated through non-verbal clues, while Mehrabian argued that in face-to-face communication non-verbal cues convey about 93% of the meaning [ ] Fromkin and Rodman similarly state that up to 90% of the meaning of a message is transmitted non-verbally (2007: 85). Indeed, the most important information is widely believed to be transmitted through nonverbal communication: the more the posture, movements, face expressions or eye contact responses to what the speaker is speaking about, the better the listener will understand what the speaker is speaking about. As highlighted by Wharton: Sentences are rarely uttered in a behavioural vacuum. We colour and flavour our speech with a variety of natural vocal, facial and bodily gestures, which indicate our internal state by conveying attitudes to the propositions we express or information about our emotions and feelings. Though we may be aware of them, such behaviours are often beyond our conscious control. [ ] Often, they show us more about a person s mental/physical state than the words they accompany; sometimes, they replace words rather than merely accompany them (2009:1). In Wharton s view, verbal communication is more than a simple coding-decoding process; rather, communication should be seen as an activity that involves the expression of utterances and recognition of intentions, often revealed through non-verbal cues (Wharton, 2009:2). According to Mehrabian, non-verbal communication is a synonym for non-verbal behavior which refers to actions as distinct from speech. It, thus includes facial expressions, hand and arm gestures, postures, positions, and various movements of the body or the legs and feet (1972:1). As a rule, when the person is speaking, he or she does not think about their body movements and face expressions, it happens subconsciously. However, the listener or the audience sees non-verbal communication and in some cases there can be misunderstanding between what the speaker is speaking about and what he or she really, albeit involuntarily, means. 17

24 Mehrabian (1972: 3) also mentions five categories of non-verbal behaviour proposed by Ekman and Friesen. The first category is emblem which refers to the nonverbal acts that can be translated into words, for instance, a handshake, a smile or a frown. The second category, illustrator, is a part of speech and serves the function of emphasis. Examples are head and hand movement or pointing gestures, etc. The third major category is affect display: Instead of focusing on primary affects (happiness, anger, surprise, etc.) [ ] we shall use a multidimensional scheme that subsumes these primary affects and their combinations [ ] (1972:3). The fourth category, regulator, refers to acts that help to initiate and terminate the speech of participants in a social situation. The last category, adaptor, refers to bodily needs, such as moving into a more comfortable position, or scratching. A public speaker has to know how to control movements and gestures in order to make the speech effective because the most important aspect is the contact with the audience. There are different body movements that deliver the real message, hence, the author of the present paper focuses mainly on facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, posture and movements. These elements have different functions, therefore, are similarly important because through these elements the real attitude and emotions can be understood. The discussion of the following elements will be provided in the next subchapters Facial Expressions and Eye Contact It is clear that the face that the speaker has while speaking can tell more about the person than simply what is said. Facial expressions are non-controllable and only specialists can control their non-verbal communication. Calero describes facial expressions in his study and the following advice should be taken into account: The best advice: Be careful of the looks you give and pay attention to the looks others give you (Calero 2005:63). People always judge others by the outlook, by the speech, by all the verbal and non-verbal communication because the brain perceives much more information with the help of the eyes and ears. As argued by Argyle, the most important non-verbal channel for expressing attitudes and emotions to other people is the face (1988:5). Also, research findings prove that the facial expressions that express emotions are happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, anger, disgust/contempt (ibid). Therefore, the face is the most expressive area for nonverbal communication. People spend a great amount of time looking at it during a discussion. The well-known idiom that first appeared in the 18

25 journal A picture is worth a thousand words is the absolute description of the importance of facial expressions. Eye contact helps to gain information quickly. For example, in interviewing, eye contact is very important and it gives the information about the interviewer and respondent/s relationship, as well as, their emotional condition. As highlighted by Webbink, Eye contact regulates conversation and signals the exchange of speaker and listener roles. It is occurs during 10 30% of the conversation. Eye contact is used to acknowledge or avoid the presence of others and can reveal information about attitudes, emotion, dominance and power in social relationships (1986:57). There is no doubt that eye contact is very important since it is the only way how the speaker and the listener can be emotionally connected. On the one hand, the longer the eye contact is between two people, the greater the intimacy is developed. On the other hand, it can be very rude to stare at the person, therefore, the speaker should always think what is polite and what is not. Eye contact is a significant factor in the persuasion process. Public speakers should know about the eye contact. Some tips how to behave in the audience have been discussed by Mozere in the course of Basics of Public Speaking Valo: 5176 at the University of Latvia. First of all, it is important to look at the audience. If it is a small audience, it is possible to look at each person in a short period of time. If it is a large audience, the speaker should imagine that the audience is divided into several boxes, so that it is possible to move from one box to another. One way to insure good eye contact is to look at the audience before you start to speak. It is absolutely correct if the speaker goes to the front and has a pause, smiles, looks at the audience, and then speaks. This helps to maintain good eye contact throughout the presentation as well as command immediate attention. It has been advised not to look and read the speech, but to have a good eye contact with the audience. The speaker can use note cards or some phrases can also be in the presentation, so that the word or phrase should trigger the thought in the mind and then the speaker can speak it. Therefore, the speaker should know and use the strategies and techniques for better performance. 19

26 1.2.2 Gestures, Posture and Movements Using gestures (especially hand movements) is an effective method of communicating. When used correctly, gestures can enhance a conversation by emphasising certain points. Gestures refer not only to movements of the hands but also to the entire body (posture). According to Amos, gestures always reveal the speaker s emotional state and temperament (2009:46). Not to distract the audience, the speaker has to control his or her gestures and use uncomplicated and clear hand movements. It is very important for the speaker to radiate calmness and confidence, which is why fewer gestures should be used even when some points of the speech are emphasised.bbesides gestures, the audience is able to openly read the speaker s posture and movements. It has to be remembered that people have always paid attention to gestures because bodily movements are subconsciously perceived by the brain, regardless of whether the person wants to perceive this information or not. The received information greatly influences the listeners understanding of the really implied message. Remland considers that the person can use posture to read the message or to transfer the message to another person. Since both posture and movements can greatly help understand the delivered message, they should be deliberately controlled by the speaker to avoid sending mixed messages (2006:512). In the world of business, the speaker s credibility and reliability are especially measured by his or her ability to coordinate verbal and nonverbal channels (ibid: 503). As it has been mentioned earlier, the course Valo: 5176 has discussed different topics related to communication, indicating that a good speaking posture brings different benefits to the speaker: it helps to breathe properly, project the voice effectively, decrease nervous tension and avoid distracting movements. The scholars Ekman and Friesen have extensively researched the issue of gestures and posture and have come to a conclusion that these are used to indicate different things, such as attitudes, status, affective moods, approval, deception, warmth, and other variables related to interaction with the other side (1967: 711). The development of public speaking as well as non-verbal communication have been discussed in the present chapter. The communicative approach in teaching public speaking skills will be discussed in the following chapter. 20

27 2. THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH IN TEACHING PUBLIC SPEAKING SKILLS The second chapter gives insight into the theories on the Communicative Approach and enumerates the main assessment criteria of the learner s performance during presentations. 2.1 Development of the Communicative Approach The Cоmmunicative Apprоach was founded in 1960 when Howatt, a British linguist, was researching approaches and came to the conclusion that most of the traditional approaches did not have basics for teaching functional and communicative aspects of language. Howatt stated that [ ] it was clear that the situational approach had run its course [ ] What was required was a closer study of the language itself and a return to the traditional concept that utterances carried meaning in themselves and intentions of the speakers and writers who created them (Howatt, 1984:280). It has also been pointed out by Larsen-Freeman that Students may know the rules of linguistic usage, but be unable to use the language (2001:121). This is a very important case for students to know how to use the language and to know linguistics itself. Later, Larsen-Freeman mentioned that communication is not only about expressing thoughts, but also helps to perform functions, such as promising, inviting and declining invitations within a social context (ibid). Many different approaches were used at that time and the mоst effective was Audiolingualism. Later, Audiolingualism was debated by many linguists because it was not proved that it was effective, thus, a new approach was developed. Without doubt, different approaches have different underlying methodology, but the existing approaches tended to develop certain skills rather than language awareness. The Communicative Approach (also referred to as Cоmmunicative Language Teaching (CLT)) focuses on learners ability to use the target language in any social context, not only in grammatically correct sentences. Nunan proposes the following general principles commonly defining Communicative Language Teaching: 1. An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language; 2. The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation; 3. The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language, but also on the learning process itself; 21

28 4. An enhancement of the learners own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning; 5. An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the classroom (Online 2). It can be argued that this approach is better than others because it involves simulation of real life situations in which learners can use the target language in the most appropriate way, being involved in active interaction, different discussions about problems, expressing points of view, etc. For instance, one option how to use this approach is to simulate the real life situation, whereby the person will use the language in the most convenient and meaningful way. Thornbury pays the readers attention to certain things that can be said in different situations. Thornbury considers that the aim of the teachers who use CLT Method is to teach people to invite and apologise, to agree and disagree, and at the same time their aim is also to teach them how to use conditionals and articles (2001:69). In the 1970s, it became clear for linguists that good communication involved not only linguistic competence but also other important issues. Practising grammar and reading alone did not teach learners how to use the language in different, close to real life situations. The new approach to language teaching gave teachers an opportunity to show learners how to use the language for various purposes. Taking into account the principles and methodology of CLT, teachers developed new syllabi for their students and contributed to the development of communicative language competences. Richards and Rodgers consider that the Communicative Approach pursues two main goals: a) to make communicative competence the goal of teaching; and b) to develop procedures for the teaching of the four language skills that acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication (2001: 155). According to Brown, the following four categories constitute the communicative competence: Grammatical competence Discourse competence Sociolinguistic competence Strategic competence (1994:227-28). Grammatical competence encompasses knowledge of lexical items and of rules of morphology, syntax, sentence-grammar semantics and phonology (1994:228). In other words, the aim of it is laid on the development of language awareness. Discourse competence is defined by Brown as 22

29 the ability we have to connect sentences in stretches of discourse and to form a meaningful whole out of a series of utterances (1994: 228). This generally refers to two types of processing information in discourse competence, namely, top-down and bottom-up processes. Furthermore, sociolinguistic competence relates to the knowledge of the sociocultural rules of language and of discourse (Brown, 1994: 228). Brown characterises sociolinguistic competence in the following way: it requires an understanding of the social context in which the language is used: the roles of the participants, the information they share and the function of the interaction (1994:228). Finally, strategic competence is attributed to the way we manipulate language in order to meet communicative goals (1994:228). Strategic competence is considered to be an important skill because native speakers often manipulate with the language, knowing which words to use in different situations to achieve definite goals. The development of the above communicative competences is undoubtedly an essential prerequisite for engaging in successful communication in the world of business. As highlighted by Guffey and Loewy, today s employers regard good communication skills to be indispensible for job placement, work performance, career advancement, and overall organisational success (2010:2). Excellent oral communication skills, including presentation skills, are often an important condition for job candidates, together with interpersonal skills, teamwork skills, critical thinking skills, and analytical reasoning skills (ibid: 3). If earlier communication skills were not necessary for some roles (e.g. in accountancy or finance), the new era of communication has brought significant changes for the way and frequency people interact. Guffey and Loewy believe that nowadays, professionals are expected to be able to understand other speakers, regardless of the differences in personal or cultural backgrounds. In any field, specialists must be able to communicate with others and explain their work tasks or results clearly, briefly and to the point (2010:4). Good speaking skills are useful at every career stage. According to Cole et al, Presentations have long become part of daily routine at work since they allow for communicating ideas verbally and visually to customers, suppliers, colleagues, work supervisor, and managers in a more effective manner (2007: 60-61). Guffey and Loewy added that when delivering public speeches, professionals certainly have to display their communicative competences not only to inform the audience, but also to influence their minds, or motivate action (2010: 336). Of course, possessing a sufficient level of grammatical competence (i.e. the language itself) is central to speech writing and presentation. However, only being equipped with sociolinguistic 23

30 competence (i.e. the knowledge of the context and the audience), the speaker is able to select an appropriate range of language items. As pointed out by Wallwork (2010: 11-19), business professionals have to employ the most commonly used terminology and simplified grammatical constructions, while quasi-technical terms, details, exceptions, unfamiliar paraphrase words, abstract nouns, generic quantities and unspecific adjectives should be avoided. Yet, it is discourse competence that is considered to pose most difficulty for a business professional. As Bhatia puts it: In many of the existing analyses of genre one tends to focus on typically identifiable and largely ideal instances of genres[ ] the real world of discourse is complex, dynamic, constantly developing and often not entirely predictable. There are regularities of various kinds, in the use of lexico-grammatical, discoursal, and generic resources; there are rhetorical situations, which often recur, though not exactly in the same form, or manner; there are expert and well-established users of language in specific disciplinary cultures who try to exploit, appropriate, and even bend generic expectations in order to be innovative and effective in their use of language (2004: 25). For the teacher, this means that he/she needs to find a balance between the usually simplistic and prescriptive language material specifically devised for classroom use and the real-world linguistic knowledge that had to be passed to adult learners. Thornbury also underlines the significance of pragmatic knowledge as an element of linguistic knowledge (2009:16). It is particularly important for adult learners, for instance Peery believes thatlearners who use language for a specific purpose of giving a speech in front of the audience in business settings and who themselves would prefer rationale and relevance behind other people s messages (2011:6). For the audience to understand the message correctly and easily, speakers should always follow Grice s cooperative principles that are defined by Thornbury: 1. Quantity: Make your contribution just as informative as required. 2. Quality: Make your contribution one that is true. 3. Relation: Make your contribution relevant. 4. Manner: Avoid obscurity and ambiguity. Be brief and orderly (2009: 18). 2.2 Types of Activities Used in Communicative Language Teaching Today, teachers can freely choose different types of communicative activities to allow learners to practise necessary speaking skills, such as sharing opinions, interacting, producing monologue, etc. According to Richards and Rodgers, the main premise behind using such activities in CLT is the 24

31 principle that learners should use the language for communication. In other words, communicative tasks should be mediated through language (2001:165). Nevertheless, Littlewood mentions other important principles of communicative activities, including the one which states that learners should focus not only on using the language for communication but also on individuality. In this way, peer learning and cooperation are brought to the forefront and, together with motivation, contribute to the creation of a positive, meaningful learning-friendly atmosphere in the classroom (1981:17-18). Littlewооd divides activities used in CLT into two categоries: pre-communicative and communicative (1981:17-18). Pre-cоmmunicative activities focus on the learner s ability to take part in communicative activities. To take part in such activities, the learner shоuld be equipped with necessary lexis and the knоwledge оf sentence cоnstruction. In communicative activities, in contrast, the learner firstly concentrates on the idea he or she wants to express and only then thinks about the sentence structure. In reality, hоwever, pre-communicative activities are used more оften because the teacher wants to find out the learners strengths and weaknesses to understand what shоuld be improved before practising communicative activities. Littlewood also distinguishes between the functional communicative activity and social interaction activitiy. The functional communicative activity enables learners tо use any language they knоw to speak, to exchange infоrmation, to share ideas, to sоlve the problems, etc. This activity shows hоw effective the learner is in cоmmunication rather than testing his оr her language knоwledge level. As a rule, functiоnal communicative activities can be used to describe cоntrastive pictures, work with maps, complete the missing parts in a dialogue, give instructions tо learners who are supposed to draw a picture, etc. Meanwhile, the social interaction activity enables the learner tо communicate by fоcusing on different aspects of sоcial interaction and choosing language means appropriate for the given context rather than exchanging inormation or simply interacting (1981:18). Presentations and talks can be viewed as the most useful communicative activities for practice with adult learners for several reasons. On the one hand, it is widely recognised that giving presentations is an integral part of everyday business routine, and professionals are required to continuously improve their presentation skills to enhance their performance (Powell, 2002: Freitag- Lawrence, 2003; Moss et al, 2007; Shofield and Osborn, 2011). On the other hand, Peery thinks that adult learners are increasingly self-directed in their learning and are eager to take part in activities that meet their needs for, and capability of, autonomy (2011: 6). 25

32 According to Thornbury, presentations and talks refer exactly to such types of activities that help learners achieve a greater degree of autonomy, language automaticity, fluency, accuracy, reliability and anticipation of the audience s reaction (2009: 89-90). It has to be noted that these activities maximally enhance language productivity and emphasise purposefulness of language use. But most importantly, they are challenging, interactive and authentic, and present good language material for all participants of communication (ibid: 91). Many authors (Mandel, 2000; Cole et al, 2007; Hughes, 2012) agree that presentations and talks help learners develop not only speaking skills, but also listening skills. For instance, Morley underlines that there is only one rule for being a good talker - learn to listen (Online 4). Public speaking is not only about how well a person speaks, but also how attentively the audience listens to the speaker. The listening process is known to be very complicated because the mind first receives the message and encodes its meaning, then it may be necessary to give a feedback to the speaker, and only after that if the process of exchanging information achieves a set goal, the public speech can be considered successful. According to Kline, [...] the first step in listening effectively is to recognize certain fallacies or false notions. The next step is to understand the process. Listening is a complex process - an integral part of the total communication process, albeit a part often ignored (Online 4). Kline also maintains that the public speaker and the audience depend on each other in different communication processes. The speaker can be said to have established and sustained good contact with the audience if his or her message is clear and people understand the topic. Only in this case the speaker will receive a feedback from the audience. 2.3 The Roles of the Learner and the Teacher Learners are widely believed to play a vital role in the learning process because it is not only about learning certain skills, but also about helping others to learn. The adult learner should feel that he or she is part of a team which has one aim and that he or she is responsible for communication. Indeed, work in teams has proven to effectively build the learner s confidence as speakers. It helps them feel that they can learn and keep up with their peers. Each learner knows their role in the conversation and if there is someone who has problems with this activity and according to Richards and Rodgers, the others should support them and do everything to try to help them eliminate the obstacles that prevent them from communicating, whatever those might be (2001:166). 26

33 CLT is recognised to be less a teacher-centred and more a learner-centred approach to language teaching. The role of the teacher in CLT is similar to the classroom manager, which means that the teacher coordinates the area which should be taught, divides the learners into groups, gives the task, expains if something is not clear, etc. The learners should feel confident and comfortable. It can be achieved by establishing and maintaining a supportive and friendly atmosphere, which in turn is possible when the teacher-learner relationships are good. CLT differs from other approaches in that the teacher analyses the learners needs and adjusts the teaching methodology to them. The teacher should understand that the learners are different and they have their own individuality. To help the learners in their learning, the teacher should take into consideration their strong and weak points. It is important to note that the teacher should also be able to reduce the level of anxiety which learners sometimes feel towards an authority, because it is important not to scary learners, but help them to learn. If the teacher wants his or her learners to become competent speakers, he or she should offer different activities to practise speaking skills. Speaking is a skill and mastering any skill takes ten, hundred or even thousand hours of practice. It would seem strange if the teacher narrows down the teaching process to simply presentation, some practice and written tests. Through using the language for expressing ideas and views, communication, oral interaction, the learner becomes more confident as a speaker but it is also necessary for the teacher to provide timely constructive feedback on the performance. These two criteria should always be in focus because building confidence in public speaking implies the evaluation of one s own performance as well. 2.4 Assessing the Learner s Speaking Skills Many scholars (Hughes, 1989; Heaton, 1990; Brown and Yule, 1983) agree that testing speaking skills is more difficult for the teacher than testing other language skills, such as reading, writing or listening. Perhaps, the main problem with speaking skills development in a group of adult learners is the necessity to test their communicative competences against set criteria regardless of differences in their levels of English language knowledge or personal skills and abilities. On the one hand, it may seem that adult learners can better apply their practical knowledge of public speaking in the classroom owing to their experience. On the other hand, it is impossible to 27

34 teach the whole group because individual adult learners needs may vary greatly and different areas should therefore be mastered. In addition, it has to be noted that scholars increasingly draw attention to the reliability and validity of speaking tests. For instance, assessment of speaking skills in Cambridge English language tests designed specifically for adult learners (FCE, CAE, CPE, BEC Preliminary, BEC Vantage, BEC Higher, etc.) requires the scoring of different aspects of a task (Hughes, 1989: 91). This problem is exacerbated by the fact that different authors propose different aspects to be accentuated during the assessment of speaking skills. For example, Ur emphasises the importance of assessing mainly accuracy and fluency in public speaking (1996:135). However, Thornbury argues that the degree of fluency an adult learner can show during a public speech can be immediately affected by the following factors: cognitive factors (familiarity with the topic, genre and interlocutors as well as mental processing demands); affective factors (self-consciousness and feelings towards the topics and/or participants); performance factors (mode of presentation, degree of collaboration, discourse control, planning and rehearsal time, time pressure, and environmental conditions, like acoustics or noise) (2005: 25-26). Therefore, Thornbury proposes the idea of assessing learners public speech based on broader criteria, such as: Grammar and vocabulary; Discourse management (i.e. how logical, coherent and structured the speaker s speech is); Pronunciation (the production of the sounds, stresses, intonation, pitch, pace, how clear the speech is, etc); Interactive communication (i.e. the will to continue conversation, whether it is interesting or not) (2005: ). Finally, testing oral communication skills in the English language classroom is widely recognised to have both advantages and disadvantages. Ur suggests that the main advantages of speaking skills assessment are as follows: 1) Testing oral communication actually concerns all language skills, including, but not restricted to, speaking. 2) Speaking skill has priority in communication. 3) A backwash effect may interfere in the teaching and learning processes: teachers and learners develop speaking skills and it is time consuming. 4) Students, whose speaking skills are better than writing skills, will be more stressed when completing a writing test (1996: 135) 28

35 Meanwhile, the main disadvantages of testing oral communication skills in the English language classroom are as follows: 1) To design a test for the students to express their ideas freely in a foreign language is a very complicated task. 2) It is easy to evaluate a written test rather than spoken language. 3) There are different criteria for assessment, but they cannot be strictly defined. 4) Each learner should be tested individually. (adapted from Ur, 1996: 134) This chapter aimed at researching different testing procedures as well as the assessment criteria of the learner s public speaking skills, which will be used in the empirical part. The pilot study will also be based on the types of activities discussed in the present chapter. The empirical part of this Master Thesis will focus on the practical implications for the development of adult learners communicative competences during public speaking activities. 29

36 3. CASE STUDY OF PUBLIC SPEAKING SKILLS The third chapter delineates in-class activities that could be used to develop public speaking skills of adult learners. The following chapter presents the results of the pedagogical observation of adult learners development of speaking skills during public speaking classes conducted within the framework of the present research. 3.1 Research Methodology Many case study researchers have proposed plans according to which research should be organised. For example, Simons and Yin (Online 5) suppose that the research process should consist of the following six steps: 1. Determine and define the research questions. 2. Select the cases and determine data gathering and analysis techniques. 3. Prepare to collect the data. 4. Collect data in the field. 5. Evaluate and analyse the data. 6. Prepare the report. According to Simons and Yin, case studies are complex studies as they involve the use of different sources, cases studies as well as qualitative and quantitative data that have to be thoroughly analysed in a research paper. 3.2 Research Context and Population The author of the present Master Thesis taught public speaking skills to five adults aged at work in Riga. Three men and two women participated in the teaching process in the office where the author of the present paper works. The main duties are to make withdrowals, to deposit money and to work with the customers who wish to use the service which the company offers. The participants were kindly asked to participate in the teaching process, as well as, the head of the company gave the permission for teaching adults (see Appendix 5). The first man, aged 25, is from 30

37 Finland, thus, the English language is not his native language, however, he uses the English language everyday and he did not face any problem during the teaching process. The second man, aged 21, knows six languages and he knows English perfectly. The third participant was a man, aged 24, he is studying at Riga s Technical University, therefore, he is more computer literate. This man has difficulties in communicating in English, however, he participated in the teaching process and made a good progress. The fourth participant is a woman, aged 24, she was studying at the University of Latvia and she graduated from Lithuanian Philology and she also knows Finnish and English languages. The fifth participant is a woman aged 27, her native language is Lithuanian, however, she uses four languages everyday: Latvian, Lithuanian, English and Russian. The participant s speaking skills were tested. The qualitative analysis in this Master Thesis was used for processing the data obtained. Activities were developed and offered to adults by the author of the paper. First, the learners were asked to go through the provided activities in the pre-teaching stage. Second, the learners were teaught by the author of the paper. Third, during the final stage, the learners went through the provided activities for the author of the paper to understand whether their public speaking skills successfully improved. The author used the printed versions of the activities to guide the learners in doing the tasks thoroughly. Each learner had handouts with the text of the activities and could follow and do the required task. The diagnostic test comprised different types of activities developed by the author of the paper that were described below in Chapter 3. On the one hand, the developed activities could seem very simple for the adult learners, but, on the other hand, completing the tasks the learners faced several problems. For instance, when doing the activities such as acting, quoting, tongue twisters and really listening, the learners had problems not only with the actual completing the activity, but also with speaking in public. All the speaking activities were performed together in the group to achieve better results. The participants were asked to present their speeches in front of their colleagues, and the experiment showed that the participants had perceived and learned a lot of useful information about public speaking techniques and skills while presenting their speeches and listening to the others. 31

38 3.3 Research Tools The author created a plan for the case study performed in this Master Thesis comprising the following parts: A questionnaire was devised to collect the learners opinions about their needs as well as to know what knowledge they already had. A diagnostic test was undertaken for the learners to show their public speaking skills. Steps for pilot teaching were planned. An achievement test took place after pilot teaching to see the learners progress. Relevant conclusions on the effectiveness of the used teaching methods were drawn Analysis of the Results of the Questionnaire The author of the paper devised a questionaire which helped to understand what the adult learners thought about the problem researched in the present paper as well as plan the steps for pilot teaching. The devised questionnaire can be found in Appendix 1. Because the author of the paper wanted to find out what problems with public speaking the adults might have experienced before being taught, the questionnaire was organised in a way to find out the most problematic fields of public speaking skills for the participants. The main fields accentuated in the questionnaire were as follows: 1. The participant s attitude towards public speaking (anxiety); 2. The participant s behaviour when preparing for public speaking (rehearsal, tongue twisters); 3. The participant s behaviour when giving a speech (language use, gestures, voice, palm cards). All the five participants completed the questionnaire and the results showed that problems mainly occured when they were giving a speech because they did not know how to persuade the public, what language to use, how to manipulate with the gestures so that the audience could understand the message being delivered. Likewise, the participants did not know that use of palm cards could significantly ease the speech organisation and delivery processes. 32

39 Figure 3.1 demonstrates the results of the questionnaire, showing that two participants (40%) were more worried about the preparation process, while other three participants (60%) marked that they were usually under stress when giving a speech: 70% 60% 60% 50% 40% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 0% attitude towards public speaking behaviour when preparing for public speaking behaviour when giving a speech The most problematic fields of public speaking skills Figure 3.1 The most problematic fields of public speaking skills Based on the obtained information, the author of the paper concluded that the correct language use, gestures, the usage of palm cards and manipulation with the voice should be trained more frequently to be fully mastered The First Lesson: Observation Training was done in the company where the author of the present Master Thesis works. The colleagues participated in the offered activities during the whole training period. Therefore, it can be stated that the set goals of the experiment were achieved. To avoid misunderstanding, the author firstly ran the diagnostic test to show to the participants how they could enhance their speaking skills by actively using gestures and palm cards as well as manispulating with the language, pronunciation, and voice. After that pilot teaching took place, during which the participants presented their developed speaking skills. It should also be noted that before team teaching the author of the paper discussed the devised plan of the teaching process with the group. Such an approach proved to be appropriate from the psychological point of view because the participants were ready to work on the development of their speaking skills and were able to demonstrate good results in the end. 33

40 Importantly, the author of the paper made recordings which later served as the basis for conducting a qualitative analysis of the participants performance during public speaking. More specifically, the results were analysed with the help of the computer programme FACETS The diagnostic test was primarily aimed at researching the participants ability to speak in public, thus, the first lesson served as an introductory lesson and the author focused only on the participants ability to demonstrate their skills. As it has been already mentioned, the participants had to show only their ability to manipulate with their voice, gestures, and how they used their language and palm cards. During this stage, a number of pre-communicative activities, introduced by Littlewood and described in Chapter 3, were practised. The activities were introduced in the following way: The participants prepared a short speech about their work, mainly, why it was good to work at the office. It was done to see how persuasive their speech was, how participants were behaving and feeling in front of the audience. Then the participants exchanged information with the public. It was important to see how the audience reacted to their speeches and who delivered their speech in the most effective way. Later, some questions were asked during the speeches not only to see how prepared the participants were, but also to make the situation more stressed to see whether the speakers could focus under stress and continue their speeches. The author of the paper proceeded with the tasks step by step so that the participants could concentrate and do everything in the right order. As the activities were similar to all participants, it was really interesting to see who was better in public speaking and how exactly he or she was able to cope. The results of the diagnostic test indicated those areas in which the speakers showed good presentation skills in accordance with the presentational criteria discussed in Chapter 3: choosing the topic that is appropriate for the audience; communicating appropriately to the audience; using the organisational pattern appropriate to the audience, topic, purpose; using voice appropriately, stressing the most important things; using pronunciation correctly, having the contact with the audience; and using appropriate physical behaviour (non-verbal communication) that supports the verbal message. 34

41 choosing an appropriate topic communicating appropriately to the audience using an appropriate organisational pattern using voice appropriately using pronunciation correctly using appropriate physical behaviour As shown in Figure 3.2, the strongest areas in the participants presentation skills were the ability to choose a topic that is appropriate for the audience (80%), use pronunciation correctly (80%) and use the organisational pattern appropriate to the audience, topic, purpose (60%): 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 80% 40% 60% 40% 80% 20% The stongest areas in the speakers presentation skills Figure 3.2 The stongest areas in the speakers presentation skills The above results also revealed the areas in the learners presentation skills that needed improvement, especially using appropriate physical behaviour (20%), communicating appropriately to the audience (40%) and using voice appropriately, stressing the most important things (40%). After pilot teaching, the results of the achievement test were to be compared with the results of the diagnostic test to see whether progress in the development of the learners public speaking skills had been made Teaching Activities On the basis of the questionnaire, the activities for developing adult s public speaking skills were developed. Public speaking is about speaking in front of an audience. It can be said that public speeches are more formal than daily conversations. For instance, in public, the speaker talks to the audience without being interrupted. The primary purpose of giving a speech in public is to communicate with the audience. Of course, public speaking has many other advantages, for 35

42 example, it gives the chance to communicate ideas, share knowledge or opinions with a larger group of people. Undoubtedly, every person has had an experience in public speaking in life. Someone wants to develop skills of a good public speaker, others need to do it. When developing public speaking activities, it is essential for the teacher to remember that any such activity should teach learners: speak clearly and fluently; express thoughts logically; speak confidently; use voice, gestures and words to communicate; and manipulate the audience s minds There are different activities with the help of which it is possible to develop public speaking skills. The activities that are discussed in the present subchapter are designed and created by the author of the present Master Thesis. Based on the developed activities, the practical part will be done. The author of the present paper developed two types of activities, the first type is for developing verbal skills and the second type is for developing non-verbal skills. The activities seen below were developed for the adults to develop their verbal skills: Activity 1. Quotations The aim of this activity is to interpret the meaning of the quotations and share opinion with the audience (see Appendix 2). This type of activity develops learner s independent work. First, the learner works individually and then shares ideas with the others. Moreover, when the person knows what to say in front of the audience, the risk that the speaker will be afraid of giving a public speech reduces. Public speaking skill needs to be developed. Activity 2. Really listening The aim of the activity is to practise looking at people while they speak, and understand whether the people are really listening to you (see Appendix 2). The speaker should discuss the feeling when someone is watching while the speaker is speaking and how it felt to look at someone while talking for a certain period of time. Activity 3. Acting The aim of this activity is to learn how to act properly being on a stage, as well as, to learn how to be an actor (see Appendix 2). It also helps to develop skills by modelling yourself on others. Activity 4. Tongue twisters 36

43 The purpose of this activity is to learn how to listen to oneself and control speech, even if there are mistakes (see Appendix 2). A good public speaker should have clear speech, however, some people have problems with that. In addition, the author of the present paper developed activities aimed at training the voice because a good public speaker should know how to manipulate with his/her voice. The activities on voice training for the participants were developed on the basis of information taken from the book by Rodenburg (1992). Also, the author of the present paper developed activities aimed at mastering non-verbal communication because it is an important skill that the public speaker should have. It is very important to understand the non-verbal messages because people perceive approximately 93% of the information non-verbally. Through nonverbal communication people can communicate and make decisions, even without realising it. For public speakers, non-verbal communication is very important because it is possible to send and receive wrong messages. The author of the present paper designed the following activities for the participants to develop their non-verbal skills: The main idea of the Activity No. 5 (see Appendix 2) was to communicate with people without saying a word. Activity No. 6 (see Appendix 2) gave students a great opportunity to act and read non-verbal messages. Activity No. 7 (see Appendix 2) was developed to show what happens when the person does not communicate or say anything. A person may have a good reason to be silent, and sometimes silence sends a stronger message than if the person really said something. During this activity, the participants were asked to communicate without saying a word, simply behaving in a way that showed their emotions The Second Lesson: Pilot Teaching The author of the present paper prepared a number of exercises with the help of which the adult learners public speaking skills could be improved (see Appendix 2). The second lesson lasted ninety minutes which allowed for working on the language use. During the practical lesson, the participants could work individually and in pairs. Activity No.1 (see Appendix 2) was connected with the language use and taught the learners how to manipulate with the language. 37

44 The activity comprised the following steps: 1. The author of the paper distributed the quotations from five speeches to the participants. Each participant had a different quotation. 2. The participants thought about the quotations individually and then discussed the quotations in pairs. 3. After the discussion, the participants were asked to work individually in finding out information about the quotations. 4. The fouth step was to prepare a short speech about the quotation and share the ideas with the others. This type of activity seemed to be useful from the author s point of view because it developed each learner s ability to interpret the quotation, to organise ideas as well as prepared everyone to speak in public and share ideas with the others in a logical and coherent manner. Activity No. 2 (see Appendix 2) was connected with listening and comprised the following steps: 1. First of all, the participants should practise standing in public without being stressed. 2. The participants worked individually and needed to think of a topic that could be familiar and interesting to all the participants. In this case, the topic was My job. 3. When the participants were ready with their speeches, they were asked to speak for half a minute about their topic, while the others were actively listening. 4. The participants performed the activity one by one. 5. When everyone practised their public speaking, the next step was to discuss the strong and weak points of each speaker. This type of activity appeared to be useful from the author s point of view because it helped to practise looking at people while they spoke and realise whether the audience was really listening to you. Activity No. 3 (see Appendix 2) was about acting in public and was performed following the procedure below: 1. The participants were asked to choose one person whom they considered to be a good public speaker (for instance, actors, researcers, bosses, etc.). 2. Then the participants were asked to observe that person s behaviour when speaking in public. 38

45 3. After that, the participants were asked to enumerate all the techniques that the person used when speaking in public. 4. The participants were asked to go in front of the group and speak about their job duties, trying to act like the person who had been observed. 5. When speeches and acting process were finished, the progress was discussed. The author of this developed activity believes that with the help of such an activity adults can learn how to behave in public correctly and how to use gestures appropriately. Activity No. 4 (see Appendix 2) followed three steps: 1. The author of the paper distributed the tongue twisters to the participants. 2. One by one, the participants were asked to produce the tongue twisters with the correct word order and pronunciation. Each tongue twister was practised twice. 3. Then, one by one, the participants produced the tongue twisters in front of the audience. The author developed this activity to help the learners to listen to themselves and to control speech even if there were mistakes The Third Lesson: Pilot Teaching The third lesson was similar to the previous one where the participants were engaged in activities with the help of which their public speaking skills could be mastered. During the third lesson, the participants also were working on their gestures. The lesson lasted for ninety minutes, during which the participants were asked to improvise and present a speech after training. Also, similar to the second lesson, the activities were developed by the author of the paper to be practised with the learners. Activity No. 5 (see Appendix 2) was offered to show to the participants how they could manipulate with gestures and project their ideas into the gestures. The activity comprised the following steps: 1. The participants worked in pairs. 2. The author distributed the dialogue so that everyone had it. 3. Participant A read the lines aloud and participant B answered non-verbally (by using gestures without saying a word). 4. For the activity to be more challenging, each participant B received a note with a word or phrase describing a state (e.g. to feel sick, to be happy, to feel guily, to be in a hurry, to have a headache, etc.). 39

46 5. The participant A then had to guess what the participant B was answering and what kind of emotion or state he/she had. Activity No. 6 (see Appendix 2) developed the learners imagination and ability to interpret the bodily movements and gestures of the person. From the author s point of view, this exercise gave the participants a great opportunity to act on the stage as well as not to afraid of the audience and read the non-verbal messages of people. The procedure was as follows: 1. The participants were divided into two groups (A and B). The first group (A group) was acting as actors in a film. The task was to show a scene, for instance, of cleaning the house, working in the office, etc. 2. The other participants (group B) were guessing and writing a scenario of the movie. 3. Each scene lasted approximately for 10 minutes. 4. After the scene, the author of the paper together with the participants discussed the scenario and compared what had been shown and what the participants from the group B guessed. Activity No. 7 (see Appendix 2) was developed to show what could happen when a person did not communicate or say anything. It was an activity familiarising the participants with silence that might send a stronger message than if the person really said something. The activity had the following procedure: 1. The author of the paper explained that the silent message could be effectively delivered in communication. 2. The participants were asked to work in pairs. 3. The first person was speaking and doing wrong things, while another person was silent, however, expressing some emotions with the help of gestures or facial expression. 4. The second person had to guess what kind of emotion the first person had. Activity No. 7 allowed the participants to train their ability to read another person s intentions: 1. The author asked the participants to form a circle and one person stood in the middle of the circle. 2. During this activity, all the participants were silent and were not allowed to speak. 3. The person who was standing in the middle of the circle was exchanging places with those participants who formed the circle by using eye contact and other non-verbal communication techniques. 40

47 3.3.6 The Fourth Lesson: Pilot Teaching This lesson was similar to the previous one and the participants were engaged in several activities on developing their ability to manipulate with the voice. Also, similarly to the previous lessons, the activities in this part of pilot teaching were developed by the author of the paper specifically for practice with the participants. Since the author of the paper had graduated from the music school, the knowledge about how to manipulate with the voice was used in the development of the activities. The fourth lesson lasted for ninety minutes. 1. Activity No. 8 was aimed at basic vocal warm up. The author of the paper together with the participants did the following steps: 2. Hum your favorite tune. 3. With the help of the piano, the participants produced a scale (do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do). 4. The participants made some movements with the jaw to make the muscles relaxed. Activity No. 9 was aimed at practising breathing because it constituted an important part of vocal training. In the author s opinion, the public speaker should always have the lungs full with the air to produce a good voice. The participants followed the instructions below: 1. Stand up, shoulders back, and hands on your stomach. 2. Breathe in through your nose and fill up your abdomen first 3. Hold this breath and count to Exhale slowly keeping the ribs expanded. The participants were reminded that, while breathing, the shoulders should not be going up and stomach should be going out. The position should be straight. Activity No. 10 aimed at voice relaxation. It seemed to be an important activity because a relaxed voice should sound more confident and controlled. The participants did the following: 1. Stand up and place a hand lightly on a throat muscles and speak in a normal tone. 2. Yawn. Open the mouth wide. Finish the yawn with a hummmm, prolonging the mmm for several seconds. 3. Move thelaw jaw from side to side and continue humming with the lips closed. 4. Repeat this activity five times. The above activities were repeated during the whole teaching process to train the vocal cords enough to produce a good speech. 41

48 3.3.7 The Fifth Lesson: The Achievement Test The pedagogical observation showed that the learners managed to complete all the tasks and develop necessary speaking skills within the given period of time. The learners progress was achieved owing to their active participation in all the activities developed by the author of the paper for this research. The participants realised that improving public speaking skills was a very important task to work on because they all were the face of the company who presented its products to clients. The results showed that it had been easy for them to understand what they should do and why. After the completion of the teaching process, the audience evaluated each participant alongside certain criteria mentioned in the evaluation sheet, which is provided in Appendix 3. Thus, the framework for analysing the learners achievements in public speaking skills development during the conducted pilot teaching was based on the following criteria: Method (speech organisation and structure): choosing and narrowing a topic appropriately for the audience and occasion; communicating the thesis and specific purpose in a manner appropriate for the audience and occasion; providing supporting material (including electronic and non-electronic presentational aids) appropriate to the audience and occasion; using an organisational pattern appropriate to the topic, audience, occasion and purpose; Matter (what is said): using language appropriate to the audience and occasion; using verbal signposts (previews, summaries and transitions) to ensure text coherence and lay emphasis; using pronunciation, grammar and articulation appropriate to the audience and occasion; Manner (how it is said): using vocal variety in rate, pitch, and intensity (volume) to heighten and maintain interest appropriate to the audience and occasion; using physical behaviours that support the verbal message (eye contact, facial expressions, posture, gestures, movements). The proposed framework can be graphically illustrated as follows (see Figure 3.3): 42

49 Speech Organisation Persuasive Communication Audience Verbal Cues Non-Verbal Behaviour Occasion METHOD Topic Purpose Structure MATTER Language Verbal Signposts Pronunciation Grammar Eye Contact Facial Expressions Posture Gestures MANNER Supporting material Articulation Movements Vocal Variety Figure 3.3 Framework for analysing the learners achievements in public speaking skills development during the conducted pilot teaching (see Appendix 3) Below one can find the analysis and interpretation of the results of the achievement test. Firstly, the participants had to evaluate the ability of each speaker to choose and narrow a topic appropriately for the audience and occasion. As illustrated in Figure 3.4, four speakers (80%) excellently managed to select and present their topics appropriately for the purpose, time constraints, and the audience s needs, and only one speaker (20%) demonstrated satisfactory skills in selecting and presenting a topic which was purposeful but was not very interesting for some members of the audience: 43

50 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 80% 20% 0% Excellent Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Competency One: Choosing and narrowing a topic appropriately Figure 3.4 Choosing and narrowing a topic appropriately for the audience and occasion Secondly, the participants were to share their thoughts on the ability of the speakers to communicate their thesis and its specific purpose in a manner appropriate for the audience and occasion. As shown in Figure 3.5, all the speakers (100%) excellently managed with the task of communicating their ideas clearly and professionally: 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 100% 0% 0% Excellent Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Figure 3.5 Communicating the thesis and specific purpose in a manner appropriate for the audience and occasion Competency Two. Communicating the thesis and specific purpose appropriately Thirdly, the participants assessed their peers skill to support their speeches with different material, including electronic and non-electronic presentational aids. It turned out that three speakers (60%) were admired for using high-quality supporting material to draw the audience s 44

51 attention most effectively, whereas the supporting materials of the other two speakers (40%) were found to be moderately interesting for the audience although they were logically linked to the purpose of the speech (see Figure 4.6): 70% 60% 60% 50% 40% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Excellent Satisfactory Unsatisfactory 0% Competency Three. Providing appropriate supporting material Figure 3.6 Providing supporting material (including electronic and non-electronic presentational aids) appropriate to the audience and occasion When listening to their peers speeches, the participants had to evaluate the suitability of the speeches organisational patterns to the selected topic, purpose, audience and occasion. As illustrated in Figure 3.7, all the speakers (100%) had delivered carefully structured speeches, characterised by logical and coherent linkages between the discussed ideas: 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 100% 0% 0% Excellent Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Competency Four. Using an appropriate organisational pattern Figure 3.7 Using an organisational pattern appropriate to the topic, audience, occasion and purpose 45

52 Nevertheless, the participants admitted that their peers choice of language was rather limited, although it met the general aim to provide some information relevant to the chosen topics. Although no jargons or inappropriate statements were employed, not all speakers could display exceptionally clear and vivid language. Only two speakers (40%) used linguistically rich language, while the other three speakers (60%) language was plain (see Figure 3.8): 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 60% 40% 0% Excellent Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Competency Five. Using appropriate language Figure 3.8 Using language appropriate to the audience and occasion With regard to the speakers ability to use vocal variety when presenting their speeches, it was generally rated high. As it can be seen in Figure 3.9, almost all the speakers (80%) delivered their speeches in excellent voice, ensuring that all the audience members could hear the speaker and understand his ir her message clearly. Only one speaker (20%) experienced occasional problems with voice, which might be expressed through weakness in pace, volume, or pitch, which made it more difficult to understand the message than during the presentations of the other speakers: 46

53 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 80% 20% 0% Excellent Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Competency Six. Using vocal variety in rate, pitch, and intensity (volume) Figure 3.9 Using vocal variety in rate, pitch, and intensity (volume) to heighten and maintain interest appropriate to the audience and occasion When evaluating their peers pronunciation, grammar and articulation during public speaking, the participants acknowledged that the majority of speakers (80%) could properly form sounds without confusing the audience with wrong pronunciation or grammatical errors. Only one speaker was found to display acceptable articulation, with few pronunciation or grammatical errors (see Figure 3.10): 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 80% 20% 0% Excellent Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Competency Seven. Using appropriate pronunciation, grammar and articulation Figure 3.10 Using pronunciation, grammar and articulation appropriate to the audience and occasion 47

54 Finally, the speakers were evaluated in relation to their non-verbal behaviour. It was underlined that the majority of the speakers (80%) used appropriate posture, gestures, body movements, facial expressions and sought to establish and maintain eye contact with the audience. The group agreed that such proper non-verbal behaviour helped support the message and enhance the speakers credibility throughout the audience. Only one speaker (20%) was considered to use acceptable rather than excellent non-verbal skills, which nonetheless enabled the audience to understand the message behind the speech (see Figure 3.11): 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 80% 20% 0% Excellent Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Competency Eight. Using physical behaviours that support the verbal message Figure 3.11 Using physical behaviours that support the verbal message 3.4 Analysis of the Results Obtained The results of the first part of the achievement test prove that adults may have good presentation skills that help them deliver speeches rather successfully but it is always useful to develop public speaking skills further, especially for people working in business. The results show that practice in public speaking improves the following skills: choosing an interesting topic; structuring the speech logically and coherently; using relevant supporting material; resorting to the use of vivid, grammatically correct language; using good pronunciation and articulation; controlling one s voice; and 48