This study explored the usefulness of public speaking and debating
activities for an English as a second language (ESL) classroom, and the ways Japanese students developed their oral English skills in a public speaking and
debating class for advanced ESL students. Focusing on one recurrent speech
event, individual oral presentation, the study examined the kinds of language
and rhetorical features the Japanese ESL students acquired in the class, and processes by which they were socialized into the appropriate use of their target
language to work on the public speaking activities in that particular classroom
context.
Taking an ethnographic research approach, the study employed a variety
of data collection methods: administering a questionnaire, observing a classroom
for three months and interviewing participants of the study. Six Japanese
students consisting of five females and one male, and one ESL instructor who
was a native speaker of English, were the participants of this study.
Five language and rhetorical features were introduced to the class as
necessary skills for conducting an individual oral presentation. The students
learned these aspects mainly through the instructor's explicit teaching, including
scaffolded interaction between the instructor and the students, and applied them
to their individual presentations. The results of a descriptive analysis revealed
that some of these language and rhetorical features taught in the class were
exactly parallel to certain principles of rhetoric in English, and that a recurrent
pattern in the instructor's teaching style included modeling, joint negotiation
between teacher and students or among students, and students' independent
construction. With consistent feedback, this cyclical instructional process
facilitated the development of the students' public speaking skills in their target
language. Finally, the students' and the instructor's perception of their gains, and
the value of this particular course were discussed. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/5886 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Niiyama, Miki |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 8620639 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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