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1 – 10 of over 68000
Article
Publication date: 20 December 2021

Bee Choo Yee, Abdullah Mohd Nawi and Tina Abdullah

The sudden pandemic of COVID-19 has caused disruptive innovation in all areas of business including education. Despite the educators’ and students’ acceptance and readiness in the…

Abstract

Purpose

The sudden pandemic of COVID-19 has caused disruptive innovation in all areas of business including education. Despite the educators’ and students’ acceptance and readiness in the new normal, the traditional face-to-face (FTF) public speaking has been shifted to online courses to suit the current needs. This study aims to examine whether there were differences between online and FTF pubic speaking in the students’ anxiety level, speech performance, as well as their perceptions of the challenges in the implementation of online public speaking courses as a potential to disruptive innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

This pilot study was a mixed method research that involved a purposive sampling of two groups of 39 students in higher education. The instruments used were questionnaires of self-report anxiety, speech performance test and observation.

Findings

The findings show that the students preferred the traditional FTF rather than the online mode for public speaking courses. The challenges of internet connection and the lack of a live audience were their main concerns in online public speaking. It also provides a potential for disruptive innovation that could take into consideration of a live audience in university online courses.

Originality/value

This study provides the potential of public speaking course as a disruptive innovation. This brings implications for the innovators, marketers and educators to think of the online courses/programmes that can be best implemented while embracing the changes and the new normal of COVID-19 brings for student learning.

Details

foresight, vol. 24 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-6689

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 26 August 2019

Danielle R. Leek and Carl J. Brown

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to assess the avenues through which traditional notions of information literacy skills shape oral communication curriculum and to identify…

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to assess the avenues through which traditional notions of information literacy skills shape oral communication curriculum and to identify steps that can be taken to transform the experience of students in the public speaking classroom so that they are offered an opportunity to develop understandings of how they use information to learn.

Approach – This chapter engages in an analysis of teaching materials and best practice scholarship used in the traditional college public speaking classroom. An informed learning perspective is applied to this corpus to identify the ways in which an information literacy skills approach is reflected in current practice.

Findings – The analysis highlights the prevalence of an information literacy skills approach throughout the oral communication curriculum. Textbooks, assignment types and guidelines, along with grading rubrics and instructor feedback all perpetuate a skills approach. Outside class support, including peer tutors and library instruction, also contribute to a focus on information literacy over informed learning.

Implications – Informed learners are better prepared to engage and apply information across contexts and to use information to continue learning. Informed learners are reflective on the knowledge they gain through information use. Therefore, this chapter concludes that public speaking courses, along with the communication centers and libraries that support oral communication instruction, should embrace an informed learning approach to the development of course materials, assignments, and teaching.

Originality/value – Suggestions for reframing public speaking curriculum and support from the informed learning perspective are provided.

Details

Informed Learning Applications: Insights from Research and Practice
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-062-2

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 February 2017

Philip Kwaku Kankam and Samuel Osarfo Boateng

The anxiety that usually comes with a speaking performance is said to be both personal and situational. Researchers have over the years sought to understand how the combined…

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Abstract

Purpose

The anxiety that usually comes with a speaking performance is said to be both personal and situational. Researchers have over the years sought to understand how the combined effects of personal traits of an individual and situational conditions such as the nature of the speaking environment, the size of the audience and negative perception over the outcome of a speech, affects a person’s ability to effectively communicate. While studies on speech-related anxiety in the academic environment is not new (Basic, 2011; Behnke et al., 2006), the attention of many of these studies has focused on students rather than lectures/instructors. While this study is not the first to focus on the role of lecturers in reducing the incidence of speech anxiety, the purpose of this paper is to stress the role of lecturers in reducing speech-related anxieties and its attendant effects on the academic and professional performances of students. It was found out that most speech-related anxiety is largely situational, rather than personal. The study found that out of fear of being negatively evaluated, students became highly apprehensive when asked to perform a speech-related task in the classroom. This, the study found, can potentially have adverse effects on the academic and professional performance of students. Most importantly, the study established the significant role of lecturers in managing a friendly and pleasant environment that facilitate speaking and positive learning outcomes. As Varron (2011) asserts: “the teacher is the one that facilitates the whole process of leaning and create favorable environment, where there is a smooth flow of communication.”

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 40 respondents from the School of Communications of the African University College of Communications were sampled for the study. The selection of only communication students was premised on the study’s quest to unravel the irony inherent in the fact that those communication students that are by their training required to be voluble, tend to be apprehensive, especially under the classroom situation. Doing this was to inevitably help to find out whether or not there is a relationship between an individual’s career choice and the behavioral tendencies such a person is likely to exhibit. Again, the fact that communication students are more competent to speak on issues regarding any subject on communication makes them an ideal choice for this study. A stratified probability sampling method was used to group the sample into various layers (levels). The study using stratified sampling grouped the various respondents into their various levels (strata) and sampled ten respondents from each level. This was to help the study ascertain whether or not any relationship existed between a student’s level and the level of their speaking apprehension. A questionnaire, close and open ended, was employed as the study’s principal instrument for data. Each respondent was given a questionnaire each to respond to. A “descriptive statistical measure was used to describe the characteristics of the sample, whereupon conclusions were generalized for the entire study population.” In addition, graphs, charts, and frequency tabulation made from the coded data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, after which the corresponding interpretation was assigned. To ensure accuracy, data were coded, entered, and cleaned. Tables and figures from the SPSS helped in making the results of the study easier to interpret and understandable.

Findings

The outcome of the administered questionnaire indicated that negative evaluation was caused by lack of adequate preparation, inferiority complex, fear of derision and needless comparisons among students. In respect of how fear of derision causes anxiety, it was found that fear of derision stifles students’ desire to be heard, makes students timid and prevents class participation. On the issue of why some student were deficient in the use of English language, it was found that poor reading habits, overuse of vernacular, obsession with the use of pidgin and apprehension following from the fear of making mistakes were the major causes.

Originality/value

The authors consider the proposed study original both in conceptualisation and design. The main question being interrogated stems from identified gaps in the literature and the study intends to fill these knowledge gaps. The study’s originality stems from the fact that there is paucity of information on the subject of study in the context of Ghana.

Details

International Journal of Public Leadership, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4929

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 December 2007

Lyall Crawford

Abstract

Details

Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2077-5504

Article
Publication date: 18 April 2018

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

Design/methodology/approach

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Findings

Appreciative inquiry can help enhance public speaking performance by identifying and building on inner strengths of individuals involved. The process takes speakers through four distinct phases during which they are transformed by consideration of past, present and future states to improve various aspects of public speaking and become more self-assured.

Practical implications

The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations.

Originality/value

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent, information and by presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Details

Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal, vol. 32 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7282

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 April 2023

Yoko Hirata

This study aims to explore if and to what extent an online avatar-assisted virtual classroom can work to alleviate groups of Japanese university students’ anxiety around giving…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore if and to what extent an online avatar-assisted virtual classroom can work to alleviate groups of Japanese university students’ anxiety around giving spoken presentations. It also explores how to create a more inclusive language learning environment and encourage interaction between the students in the virtual classroom.

Design/methodology/approach

A self-reported survey compares the same group of students’ responses to three learning contexts: an everyday in-person or conventional English learning classroom; an online videoconferencing-based classroom, via Zoom; and an online “virtual” or avatar-based classroom simulation, via the software “Gather”.

Findings

The findings suggest that the avatar-assisted virtual classroom helps students experience the least amount of fear and apprehension when speaking out loud in English and improves their speaking confidence. Similar to the findings in terms of everyday in-person lessons, the overwhelming majority of students attending Zoom lessons showed high levels of anxiety toward speaking out loud.

Originality/value

Challenges making use of the target language remain a persistent source of stress for Japanese students. The global shift toward online learning and the associated technologies have created opportunities to experiment with novel approaches to teaching. The discussion considers the data in the context of online classroom environments and existing speaking anxiety research. While the sample size is small, this study seeks to provide a safe and non-threatening learning environment for disadvantaged and diverse students, as well as suggestions for further research.

Details

Interactive Technology and Smart Education, vol. 20 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-5659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1986

Barbara Schlüter‐Kiske

Are special seminars for women merely another feminist ploy, or are they aimed at activating new target groups? Are they just another sign of emancipation? Do women project as…

Abstract

Are special seminars for women merely another feminist ploy, or are they aimed at activating new target groups? Are they just another sign of emancipation? Do women project as well as men? These are some of the questions which provide food for thought on the subject of women and public speaking.

Details

Women in Management Review, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0964-9425

Article
Publication date: 7 August 2018

Susan Cridland-Hughes, Jacquelynn A. Malloy and Angela Rogers

The purpose of this study is to explore the use of policy debate as a frame for developing critical participatory literacy skills focused on student engagement with current events.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the use of policy debate as a frame for developing critical participatory literacy skills focused on student engagement with current events.

Design/methodology/approach

Using dialogism as a frame for a discussion-based course (Bakhtin, 1982; Reznitskya, 2012) and self-study as a methodological structure (Samaras, 2011), they explore the iterative process of shaping a policy debate curriculum across three separate cohorts. In the process, they share reflections and insights about what they learned about their assumptions as teachers.

Findings

Instructors offer recommendations for structuring literacy practices that are dialogic and focused on student voice and policy activism. Specifically, authors suggest focusing attention to discussion activities, an emphasis on critical dialogue, where students engage with the ideas of others, and the practice of constant facilitator reflection to determine whether they have continued to center student voices and ideas in the classroom.

Originality/value

This study is key for beginning to understand how to put students in conversation with complex political decisions and for helping youth develop confidence in their ability to critique and evaluate those decisions as members of the larger society.

Details

English Teaching: Practice & Critique, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1175-8708

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2023

Muneera Muftah

Communication apprehension (CA) is the fear or anxiety about communicating. In addition, self-perceived communication competence (SPCC) refers to the learners' perception of their…

Abstract

Purpose

Communication apprehension (CA) is the fear or anxiety about communicating. In addition, self-perceived communication competence (SPCC) refers to the learners' perception of their competence. CA hampers individuals' ability to communicate effectively in various communication contexts, which has an impact on their employability. Confident communicators with effective communication skills are important issues for graduation as well as desirable attributes for recruiting agencies. Given that employers value graduates who can communicate effectively in the workplace without any apprehension, this study was designed to determine the levels of CA and SPCC among final-year non-English major undergraduate students in Saudi Arabia and the extent to which SPCC could affect their CA when speaking in English with implications for their employability as the next generation of workers.

Design/methodology/approach

Two survey questionnaires were administered to 70 non-English major undergraduate students in their final year employing probability random sampling to measure their CA level and to assess their SPCC in different English as foreign language (EFL) contexts. Pearson's correlation and linear regression analysis were used to investigate the relationship between CA and SPCC. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics in SPSS 21.

Findings

The findings indicated a medium level of SPCC and CA. Moreover, the correlation formula revealed that there was a moderately significant association between learners' SPCC and their CA (r (70) = −0.524, p < 0.01). Through regression analysis, it was found that their SPCC could predict 27% of the variance in their CA. The moderate effect of SPCC on CA implied that students could be prepared to cope and perform in the workplace.

Originality/value

Without communication, the establishment and evolution of the human community are unattainable. This aspect is more evident and crucial in the list of graduate objectives and needed outcomes for future career endeavors. The findings encourage instructors and course designers to provide many learning opportunities in pleasurable learning environments to raise students' perceptions of their competence, in turn enhancing their confidence to speak in English and ensuring a smooth transition from academia to the workplace. Based on the findings, several suggestions for future studies in the EFL context are presented.

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. 13 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 January 2024

Dawood Ahmed Mahdi

This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of Language Enhancement Program (LEP) activities in enhancing the oral communication skills of English as a Foreign Language (EFL…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of Language Enhancement Program (LEP) activities in enhancing the oral communication skills of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students at King Khalid University.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed-method study design was used. Simple random sampling techniques were adopted to recruit the study participants. For the survey, a total of 58 male students were recruited and for interviews, 20 male students were selected. The 58 participants were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The traditional method was adopted to teach the control group, while LEP activities were conducted to teach the experimental group.

Findings

A post-test was conducted to examine the oral communication skills of the participants of the experimental group. The scores of both groups were analyzed using a t-test value at a significant level of 0.05. The content analysis method was adopted to assess the enhancement of the oral communication of the students enrolled in the LEP. The questionnaires and interview results showed that the LEP program has a central focus on improving students' oral communication skills.

Research limitations/implications

It is limited to the EFL students at King Khalid University.

Practical implications

LEP is a good program and can be implemented in Saudi Universities.

Social implications

Students can interact with one another through the LEP activities that promote their English proficiency as well as their personality characteristics.

Originality/value

The paper spells out the role of LEP activities in improving students' oral communication in English and students' opinions about LEP activities in enhancing their English language in different types of communicative contexts. Further, it suggests some pedagogical implications for overcoming the difficulties faced by EFL students in various communicative contexts.

Details

Saudi Journal of Language Studies, vol. 4 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2634-243X

Keywords

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