Presentation performance influential factors and practices for improvement among english major students an giang university

ABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate the influential factors affecting in doing academic presentation performance for English majors at An Giang University and the activities they h

AN GIANG UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

HUỲNH THỊ NHƯ NGÂN DTA151091 ‖ DH16TA UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

PRESENTATION PERFORMANCE: INFLUENTIAL FACTORS AND PRACTICES FOR IMPROVEMENT AMONG ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS AT AN

GIANG UNIVERSITY

SUPERVISOR

LE DO THAI, M.A

Contents

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv

DECLARATION v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT vi

ABSTRACT vii

TÓM LƯỢC viii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale of the study 1

1.1.1 Theoretical background 1

1.1.2 Contextual background 3

1.2 Research aims 4

1.3 Research questions 5

1.4 Significance of the study 5

1.5 Limitation of the study 5

1.6 Organization of the study 6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 7

2.1 Presentation 7

2.1.1 Definition 7

2.1.2 The components of a presentation 9

2.1.3 Types of oral presentations 10

2.2 Purposes of academic presentation 12

2.2.1 Advocacy/persuasion 12

2.2.2 Training 12

2.2.3 Teaching and learning 13

2.2.4 Informing 13

2.2.5 Assessment 14

2.3 Benefits of presentations 14

2.3.1 Student-centered participation in their learning 14

2.3.2 Develop new knowledge and perspectives on a topic 15

2.3.3 Practice in a known environment/situation 15

2.3.4 Increasing confidence to speak and present in front of an audience 15

2.3.5 Improving marks earned for a module assessment 15

2.3.6 Developing a wide range of communication and presentation skills 15

2.3.7 Preparation for skills needed in the workplace 16

2.4 Factors affecting the presentation performance 16

2.4.1 Linguistic factors 16

2.4.2 Psychological factors 16

2.4.3 Cognitive factors 17

2.4.4 Role of teacherss 18

2.5 Pressures and problems of giving presentations 19

2.6 Ten steps for preparing your successful presentation 19

2.7 Overview of previous studies 20

2.8 Summary of the literature review and justification of the study 21

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 23

3.1 Research design 23

3.2 Participants and sampling methods 23

3.2.1 Participants 23

3.2.2 The pilot study 26

3.3 Instrumentation 26

3.3.1 The questionnaire 26

3.3.2 Interview 28

3.4 Procedure of data collection 28

3.4.1 Administering the questionnaires 28

3.4.2 Administering the interviews 29

3.5 Procedure of data analysis 30

3.5.1 Analysis of the questionnaires 30

3.5.2 Analysis of the interviews 30

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 31

4.1 Students’ perceptions of factors influencing their presentation performance 31

4.1.1 Cognitive factors 31

4.1.2 Linguistic factors 33

4.1.3 Psychological factors 35

4.1.4 Role of teachers 37

4.2 Students’ activities to improve their presentation performance 39

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 42

5.1 Summary of the findings and discussions 42

5.2 Conclusions 43

5.3 Implications 45

5.3.1 For students 46

5.3.2 For teachers 49

5.3.3 For the university 51

5.4 Recommendations 52

REFERENCES 55

APPENDICES 60

APPENDIX 1 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS 60

APPENDIX 2: INTERVIEW 64

APPENDIX 3: PROTOCOL OF RESPONSES TO THE INTERVIEW 65

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 3.1 The participants of the study according to class 24

Table 3.2 The distribution of the population of the study according to gender……….…24

Figure 3.1 Distribution of students by gender………25

Figure 3.2 Distribution of students by class……… 25

Figure 3.3 Distribution of students by their GPA……… …25

Table 3.3 Number of items according to the domains……… 29

Table 3.4 Realiability Statistics of the questionnaire……… 31

Table 4.1 Descriptive Statistics of Cognitive Factors………32

Table 4.2 One-Sample Test of Cognitive Factors 32

Table 4.3 Students’ perceptions of cognitive factors in their presentation performance 32

Table 4.4 Descriptive Statistics of Linguistic Factors 33

Table 4.5 One-Sample Test of Linguistic Factors 33

Table 4.6 Students’ perceptions of linguistic factors in their presentation performance 34

Table 4.7 Descriptive Statistics of Psychological Factors 35

Table 4.8 Students’ perceptions of psychological factors in their presentation performance 35

Table 4.9 Descriptive statistics of Role of teachers 37

Table 4.10 One-Sample Test of Role of teachers 37

Table 4.11 Students’ perceptions of role of teachers in their presentation performance 38

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AGU: An Giang University

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

GPA: Grade Point Average

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the thesis titled “Presentation performance: influential

factors and practices for improvement among English-major students at An Giang

University” represents my own work and that it has not been previously submitted to any other university or institute in application for admission to degrees or other qualifications

_

May 2019 Huynh Thi Nhu Ngan

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

After completing my study, I learnt many language skills and specialized

knowledge that are very important to develop my English competence Apart from the efforts of myself, the success of this study largely depends on the encouragement and guidelines of many my beloved people I would like to send my gratitude to people who have contributions to help me in completion this study

First of all, I would like to thank the Foreign Language Department of An Giang University for allowing me to do the study for my graduation and providing me with regulations and necessary information for the study

I am deeply indebted to my kind supervisor, Mr Le Do Thai, who supported and helped me to lighten my study up His amazing support has been a blessing to

me His encouragement and professional insights have inspired both my

personal and professional development Moreover, he is a great role model for all

educators, scholars, and educational administrators

I am extremely thankful to all the participants who spent time to provide me rich and detailed data for the study to value the research findings

Finally, I wish to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my family and friends whose love and best wishes have always been a source of inspiration,

encouragement and motivation for me to successfully complete this study

An Giang, April 30th , 2019

Huynh Thi Nhu Ngan

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to investigate the influential factors affecting in doing academic presentation performance for English majors at An Giang University and the activities they have been doing to improve it The participants of the study included two hundred EFL students and eight EFL students for interview were randomly selected to participate

in the study The data, both qualitative and quantitative, were collected through

questionnaires and semi-structured interviews The results of the study show that four clusters of factors (cognitive, linguistic, psychological factors and role of teachers)

influence the presentation performance of English majors at AGU at certain levels as perceived by the students The study also find out certain activities that English majors frequently do to improve their academic performance

The research has drawn some important conclusions and provided

recommendations for students, teachers and further research

Key terms: academic presentation, presentation performance, influential factors

TÓM LƯỢC

Nghiên cứu này nhằm mục đích điều tra những nhân tố có sức ảnh hưởng đến việc làm bài thuyết trình của sinh viên chuyên ngành Ngôn ngữ Anh ở trường Đại học An Giang và các phương pháp những sinh viên này đã và đang làm để cải thiện phần thuyết trình của mình Tham gia ngiên cứu bao gồm hai trăm sinh viên ngành Ngôn ngữ Anh trả lời bảng câu hỏi và tám sinh viên khác trả lời phỏng vấn được chọn lựa ngẫu nhiên theo các khóa học Cả dữ liệu định tính và định lượng đều được thu thập thông qua bảng câu hỏi và phỏng vấn Các kết quả của nghiên cứu chỉ ra bốn nhóm nhân tố (nhận thức, ngôn ngữ, tâm lý và vai trò của giáo viên) có ảnh hưởng đến bài thuyết trình của sinh viên chuyên ngành Ngôn ngữ Anh tại trường Đại học An Giang ở các mức độ nhất định theo cách đánh giá của sinh viên Nghiên cứu cũng tìm ra các phương pháp cũng như các hoạt động mà sinh viên chuyên ngành Ngôn ngữ anh thường thực hiện để cải thiện phần trình bày báo cáo của họ

Nghiên cứu đã rút ra những kết luận quan trọng và đưa ra những kiến nghị hữu ích cho sinh viên, giáo viên và những nghiên cứu tiếp theo

as effectively as possible when learning English Idrus and Salleh (2008) point out that an effective communication is identified as a manner which is clear, fluent and which holds the audience’s attention both in group and individual (p.62) Upon realizing the

importance of mastering good English communication skills, oral presentation will be one of the most essential academic courses to strengthen their speaking abilities (Al-Hebaish, 2012) It is suggested that good presentation and communication skills are important for all English and non-English majors to be successful in their future career (Girard, Pinar & Trapp, 2011) Therefore, in the introduction of Soureshjani (2013), he notes that “making a good oral presentation is an art that involves attention to the needs

of your audience, careful planning, and attention to delivery” (p 166)

A study conducted by Girard, Pinar and Trapp (2011) states that student

presentations bring many potential benefits in learning English to both presenters and non-presenters (p.77) Presentations contribute to a positive and active classroom

atmosphere that gives students the opportunity to establish an identity with interesting background and special knowledge (Masmaliyeva, 2014, p.146), and increases greater class interaction and participation More importantly, students can improve in listening and public speaking skill, even critical thinking skills so that presenters enhance

flexibility and proficiency in speaking English All presenters and non-presenters gain professional knowledge from the research they perform as well as different perspectives about the course material by observing the other presenters’ strengths and weaknesses to develop better communication and presentation skills Getting non-presenters pay

attention and being engaged in the learning experience is a challenging to ask peer

evaluations (Girard, Pinar & Trapp, 2011, p.77, 78) In addition to academic benefits, it produces involvement in students in every class and makes them self-regulated As the conclusion of Masmaliyeva (2014), oral presentations increased students’ motivation, confidence, sense of community, ownership over learning, speech fluency and accuracy (p.152)

Teachers obtain benefits from oral presentations as well (Al-Issa & Al-Qubtan, 2010) Teachers’ genuine interest in students is stimulated from listening to their students and discover students’ empty vessels that need to be filled with knowledge It makes teachers be responsible for students’ learning that create an environment welcoming an inquiring mind, accepting partial knowledge and tolerating mistakes (Masmaliyeva, 2014, p.146) Another benefit from a study by Al-Issa & Al-Qubtan (2010) says that teachers can create a more learner-centered classroom based on oral presentation in which learners’ knowledge and experiences are considered as more authentic content (p.147)

According to Girard, Pinar and Trapp (2011), presentations are a popular part of many courses at colleges and universities in order to improve learning of course material (p.77) And oral presentation is conducted by a presenter to an audience from

investigating and practicing speech about a topic that is not memorized and read from notes (Leven & Topping, 2006) Oral presentation can be identified by three main

elements: the first is to be prepared in information outline of a topic and spoken from notes; the second involves visual aids and graphics; the third is given to a participating audience, asking question and engaging in dialog in classrooms (Soureshjani, 2013,

p.166) In the analysis of Al-Hebaish (2012), learners described it as one of the most stressful courses they have ever had Consequently, many previous studies have focused

on the oral presentation performance of students in foreign or second language

classrooms and factors affecting oral presentation Besides, Chermahini, Ghanbari and Talab (2013) have provided a definition of academic performance, in which it is

academic achievement that is evaluated by achievement test in English designed and made by the teacher of English course

The broad accepted use of the term presentation performance refers to completion

of a presentation with application of knowledge, skills and abilities In other words,

presentation performance is considered as presentation achievement through

examinations or assessments that is challenging academic literature and affected by social, psychological, economic, environment and personal factors (Ali et al., 2009) to a produce

a well-educated, completive and skilled person (Mushtaq & Khan, 2012)

1.1.2 Contextual background

My observation process may include both preparing and giving presentations of courses in English The observation helps observe exact attitude and behaviour of English majors in presenting in order to answer the following questions: How do English majors prepare and work in group for the presentation? How do they feel and think about the importance of doing presentations in every class? What impacts does the presentation cause anxiety and pressure on them? what will they do to deal with those obstacles? What subjective and objective elements make a perfect presentation?

The researcher observed that English majors at An Giang University (AGU)

suffered stress and encountered many difficulties in doing the presentation performance

in classroom despite many potential benefits from oral presentation in English In the reality, English majors at AGU consider giving presentations as passively reciting lessons

in class instead of learning and creating further their topic of the presentation actively The students have the tendency to only concentrate on their own field of the presentation and ignore the others’ performance that lead to their boredom and become unfocused on the course material Even worse, oral presentation wastes a large amount of time for preparing a task performance and English majors are able to face academic stress that ruins motivation and interest in learning English, especially speaking English, of English majors at AGU Besides, in-group presentation causes conflicts in grades and division of work That is why many English majors at AGU are still under lack of professional

knowledge, self-confidence, English speaking and presentation skills every time they are

in need to communicate in English in both classroom and real-life situation despite many oral presentation performances required

Academic stress is defined by Krishan Lal (2014) as “a mental distress of

anticipated frustration associated with academic failure or even unawareness to the

possibility of such failure” (p.123-124) Students have to face many academic demands such as school examinations, answering questions in class, showing study progress, competing with classmates, fulfilling teachers and parents’ academic expectations

Academic stress acts as a negative predictor of academic performance in school that may include fear of falling coursework, finding motivation, time pressures, financial worries and academic ability

King (2002) investigates that most English majors find oral presentation

challenging and encounter difficulties such as lack of proficiency in using English

correctly as well as lack of confidence when speaking in front of an audience That is why students often feel frustrated and intimidated each time oral presentations are

assigned to them Dornyei and Kormos (2000) point out that the challenge results from trying to convey their thoughts and at the same time understand what is said despite limited language ability However, promoting oral communication skills is completely overlooked instead of practicing in real-life situation In addition, English majors have few chances to apply their English language knowledge in class to the outside world As

a result, many graduates are unable to express themselves or engage in real conversation (Al-nouh, Abdul-Kareem & Taqi, 2015, p 137-138) According to Macan, Shahani, Dipboye, and Phillips (1990), in trying to read all the course materials, meet paper

deadlines, and participate in extracurricular activities, students may become overwhelmed with feelings that there is not enough time to complete all their work adequately (p.760) Therefore, oral presentation is a time-consuming and pressure activity

research Moreover, it finds many solutions and recommendations to handle influential factors so that English majors can easily attain academic achievement

1.3 Research questions

This study is conducted to answer the following questions:

(1) What are influential factors encountering English majors in doing presentation

performance in class at AGU from their perspectives?

(2) What have English majors at AGU been doing to improve their presentation

performance, as in their self-reports?

1.4 Significance of the study

This study is essential to English majors in order to find out influential factors as well as difficulties that make the presentations in English recently become stress and boredom on English majors in spite of the importance of the presentation As a result, English majors will identify shortcomings and causes of themselves in presenting to remove those obstacles and confidently improve speaking skills

This study is also significant to lecturers, especially teachers of English, so that they recognize their students’ difficulties on presentation and develop useful teaching methods or effective curricula for English majors

1.5 Limitation of the study

There are certain limitations of this study

Firstly, the sample size of the last-year students taken in this study was very small that is only 23 students while the last-year students are the participants who should be investigated further because of the large number of their presentations If this study is being carried out again with large sample size, the result might be improved more than existing study

Secondly, this study should include more other relative factors that affect the student performance that can improve the results and find out more difficulties from the perception of English majors

1.6 Organization of the study

Through this study, the researcher explores influential factors hindering in

presentation in English that lead to pressure for English majors at AGU This study is organized into five chapters Chapter 1 gives a brief overview of theoretical background and contextual background of the study; it explains the major emphasis on oral

presentation performance, especially difficulties; it introduces research aims, research questions and organization of the study Chapter 2 analysis a literature review of

perceptions and negative factors of affecting oral presentation from related studies and clarify the gaps among those studies Chapter 3 explains the research methodology used

in this study, which includes research design, participants, instrumentation and procedure

of data collection and data analysis Chapter 4 reports the results of the statistical data analysis through answers in questionnaires and interview from English-major

perspectives Chapter 5, which is the last chapter, presents discussion and conclusions drawn from the findings of the study It also provides implication, limitations and

recommendations

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Presentation

2.1.1 Definition

Steve Mandel (2000) states that a presentation is a type of speech that is usually given in a business, technical, professional and scientific environment Presentation is a common part of many courses at colleges and universities to improve learning of course material (Girard et al., 2011) They say that presentation has both positive and negative aspects toward students They are the first researchers who discover perceptions of

presentation benefits for presenters and non-presenters

Soureshijani (2013) suggests that “presentation is one of the most fundamental prerequisites for many language courses or subjects matters that are presented via the medium of second language” (p.166-167) That is why previous studies have focused on the oral performance of students in foreign or second language classrooms and the factors affecting oral presentation in teaching and learning second language Moreover, a

presentation is identified by three main elements through a study of Soureshjani (2013) The first main element is prepared in outline form and spoken from aids or notes This presentation type has anxiety at a low level The second one normally involves visual aid and graphics such as slideshow by power point The last element usually centers on a participating audience, asking questions and engaging in dialog as in most classrooms This type makes students more stressful and fearful during whole presentation time Similar to Soureshjani’s study, Jing (2009) states that presentation is a common

requirement in many courses They may be short or long, include slides or other visual aids, and be done individually or in a group

Another definition from Levin and Topping (2006) shows that presentation is planned and practiced carefully that is not memorized or read from notes but is

introduced by a presentation to an audience To sum up, presentation is a long process of research and practice that is an effective communicative activity to promote oral

proficiency (King, 2002)

According to Joughin (2007), presentation can be developed from three

perspectives The first aspect shows presentation as a transmission of the ideas of others

to a passive audience (an audience just listen to a presenter’s speech); presentation as an imparting of the material studied from which students seek to make their own points, and presentation as a position to be disputed and depended by persuading the audience In the second perspective, the audience is actively judging students’ performances and students reply to audience questions that will make them experience some stress In the third

perspective, students are aware that they are the focus of attention, which creates even more pressure than in the first two situations

In EFL context, Al-Hebaish (2012) claims that presentation is one of the courses introduced to English majors in order to enhance their speaking abilities English majors described it as one of the most stressful courses they have ever had because Morita (2000) sees presentation as a challenging and complex activity in terms of interaction and mental processes and suggests more research to be conducted The challenging results from trying to convey their thoughts and at the same time understand what is said despite

limited language ability (Dornyei & Kormos, 2000) Linguistic problems were seen as the most challenging during presentation (Zappa-Hollman, 2007), especially in academic presentations

El-Enein (2011) points out that presentations are called academic presentations when they deal with college and university life, and deal with courses that are taught in the university sections and academics Academic presentation is an activity through

which the presenters orally communicate with the audience In other words, an academic presentation is a form of public speaking in which students orally present academic

contents to the ideas

In EFL context, academic oral presentation involves oral communication using English as a foreign language Students may experience more anxiety in a foreign

language class because they encounter many various difficulties affecting their English ability negatively in oral presentation Morita (2000) shares that both native and

nonnative speakers have linguistic and psychological difficulties with academic

presentations Therefore, it is common that English majors at AGU find academic

presentation difficult to brainstorm, express and communicate in English Moreover, speaking activity is considered as the most anxiety activity which is the same as

presentation in English classroom

Academic presentation includes complex and constant decision-makings for the students from the preparation to the presentation It also includes contradiction between the student and instructor about the purpose and evaluation of academic presentation that makes more students’ anxiety about understanding materials, explaining and presenting

to the instructor and peers Constant negotiation and decision making create the

successful presentation (Wu, 2008)

2.1.2 The components of a presentation

Siddons (2008) states three components of a presentation: the presenter, the

audience and the presentation itself They are the important components and have to be combined perfectly with each other to create a successful presentation In other words, when a presentation is being conducted, the presentation needs to be constructed well and delivered interestedly by the presenter in order to impress and excite the audience

(Wallwork, 2010) Thus, it is very important to prepare the presentation carefully to get the best results

Apart from three components above of Siddons, the instructor or the teacher should be added into the components of a presentation because the suggest and evaluation

of the instructor also affect the process of the presenter’s presentation

In terms of structure, Lundeberg (2009) divided a presentation into three parts: the introduction, the body and the conclusion The introduction is the most important part of your presentation as its primary purpose is to capture the attention of the audience It will

be more interesting if you use your imagination well that shows creativity and originality The body is the main part of your presentation because this is where you explain your topic and where your information is presented The organization of the body is usually critical so that the audience follow what you are saying or doing The audience must know what is being done, how it is being done, and why it is being done Your

conclusion is the part to summarize or highlight the main points in the presentation

In terms of the evaluation form, many previous studies mention three components

to make an effective presentation: content, design, and delivery Writing your content has

to make sure that information leads to major points, and your content is logical, simple, and clear that is what your audience needs and wants to know Designing presentation including background, images, layout and colors is legibility, and your design

complements your content Furthermore, engaging your audience with eye contact and your energy is important to win delivery It is necessary to emphasize major points with your voice and body expressions In general, a presentation is a collaborative effort to write the content, design the presentation, and deliver it

2.1.3 Types of oral presentations

Al-Issa and Al-qubtan (2010) affirm that oral presentations can be divided into three types: controlled, guided, and free This depends on several factors such as choice

of topic, time for the presentation, grammar, vocabulary, method of presentation, and learners’ proficiency levels

2.1.3.1 Controlled

 Students’ Proficiency Levels:

In a controlled oral presentation, the students’ language proficiency is usually from beginner to elementary Hence, the teacher has to confine the topics to either what is

in the textbook or something he or she feels the students can present with ease

 Presentation Methods:

The choice of presentation method is another important factor Hence, the teacher can ask learners to prepare their short oral presentations on paper and read them to their classmates The aim behind implementing the controlled presentation should be to

provide opportunities for young students to gain confidence in taking the floor, and to practice the target language

 Assessment:

It is recommended that students not be assessed during the controlled oral

presentation stage, because few of the items mentioned in the assessment sheet

2.1.3.2 Guided

 Students’ Proficiency Levels:

As far as a guided oral presentation is concerned, the students can be classified as

at the lower-intermediate or intermediate level of English proficiency Therefore, they can be guided in terms of the topics that would suit their language level Making such errors can sometimes have negative effects on the students’ confidence

 Aids and Materials:

Students with this level of English proficiency can be guided to prepare their work using PowerPoint slides Research has shown that oral presentations that use visuals are more persuasive, more interesting, more credible, and more professional

2.1.3.3 Free

 Students’ Proficiency Levels:

In the free type of oral presentations, students are expected to have

upper-intermediate to advanced levels of proficiency students are usually capable of

demonstrating ability to use complex language and can be allocated longer presentation time than their lower level counterparts They also demonstrated high confidence and efficiency in handling most of the post presentation questions

 Asking and Answering Questions:

Students giving the free type of oral presentations can handle questions from their classmates after they have completed their presentation And if the class is streamed (with

students classified according to their linguistic competence), the audience can form sophisticated questions

2.2 Purposes of academic presentation

There are many reasons why students are asked to give presentations and these reasons are influenced by academic courses and organizational factors (Chivers &

Shoolbred, 2007) The purpose of the presentation will influence its content, structure and design Almost the purposes of the presentation may be helpful to many various fields that depends on the researching of the presenter

The primary purposes of academic presentation are:

2.2.1 Advocacy/persuasion

This presentation usually involves persuading members of the audience to take some action or make a decision or an agreement For examples, you are giving a

presentation in order to:

• join a social activity

• vote for an individual

• sell a product or service

• become the best candidate for the job

This type of presentation will need a combination of relevant factual content

delivered in a convincing and confident style Some emotions such as enthusiasm or passion may be used in your delivery and deal effectively with their comments, manage the crowd and limit any negative reactions

2.2.2 Training

This type of presentation includes examples where students demonstrate their skills

in the use of equipment and their skills as a trainer or teacher These types of

presentations may be used to practice, demonstrate and eventually assess the level of these skills and techniques

Examples:

• Demonstrating the use of an equipment

• Demonstrating a procedure

• Demonstrating your communication skills as a trainer

• Demonstrating professional practice such as an interview technique, counselling skills or classroom management techniques

Presentations can also be used on these courses as opportunities for practice and rehearsal before the student is formally assessed and expected to perform in real life situations and develop the key skills needed for proficiency You may gain more benefit from preparing and delivering your presentations

2.2.3 Teaching and learning

Almost all presentations should have some elements of teaching and learning as part of their purpose The content of this presentation is usually focused on a topic area relevant to a course or module being studied

A few examples where presentations are used for:

• Developing a deeper understanding of a topic or text

• Covering specific areas of the curriculum in more detail

• Explaining an experiment or a process

It may also involve further exploration of the topic by looking at different

perspectives This helps the presenters to develop deeper knowledge and the audience to broaden their understanding of the topic and may be the reason why the academic has included presentations in the module

2.2.4 Informing

In some circumstances this could be seen as similar to teaching but the aim of this type of presentation could be to communicate as much information as possible in the time available The purpose of the presentation may be to:

• Describe a new policy

• Outline a set of instructions

• Give a progress report on some research or development

This type of presentation is used in many organizations where students or

employees are expected to report progress of a project Many employers expect academic courses to have provided opportunities for students to develop their presentation skills so that they could communicate effectively in the organizational environment

2.2.5 Assessment

Academic presentations are frequently assessed and may be awarded a percentage

of the marks that contribute to the overall module mark and credits However, some presentations may not be assessed but used as an opportunity for students to practice and further develop their presentation skills There is a tension here for students, as most presentations need quite a lot of preparation time

Al-Issa and Al-Qubtan (2010) show that academic presentations can be assessed subjectively or objectively, formally or informally by teachers, peers, the presenting students, and the audience Students are being assessed for the marks of their

performance through the checklist including use of audiovisual aids, body language, eye contact, voice, presentation time, natural delivery, fluency and accuracy, the structure of the presentation and so on Moreover, peer assessment is that learners enjoy doing and it fosters their confidence and intrinsic motivation Thus, students are sometimes

encouraged and guided to learn from their peers and their own mistakes

Some students focus on marks earned rather than experience gained from

presentations The others think they may be better communicators and presenters in their use of speech, visuals or technology than in a written mode

2.3 Benefits of presentations

Chivers and Shoolbred (2007) and Al-Issa and Al-Qubtan (2010) profoundly explored the benefits of academic presentations through a variety of purposes

2.3.1 Student-centered participation in their learning

Presentations offer variety and challenges that contrast with regular delivery by an academic lecturer Students can sometimes be more willing to learn from the poor and good performances of their peers than from their teachers Presentations can also be used

as an effective form of peer learning Students can make decisions on their own by

choosing a topic, designing and organizing their own performance that develops students’ creativity and self-discipline

2.3.2 Develop new knowledge and perspectives on a topic

Presentations offer opportunities for developing skills and knowledge together This process can strengthen learning and enthusiasm for further knowledge If the

presentation is effective, the audience should have learned something new and increased their interest about the topic The presenter and audience exchange different perspectives each other on the topic and may take a debate as a method to practice skills and find out new insights

2.3.3 Practice in a known environment/situation

Presentations offer opportunities for students to practice performing in a fairly safe environment When you have to prepare several presentations on a course, you will begin to develop the essential skills

2.3.4 Increasing confidence to speak and present in front of an audience

Well-managed presentations, as part of academic courses, can be used

developmentally to improve both skills and confidence levels You may be able to

demonstrate your personality in an active way Presentations can help you to be noticed and stand out from the rest of the group, even enable you to show your individuality With regular presentation, you will improve your confidence and enter employment with the interpersonal and communication skills

2.3.5 Improving marks earned for a module assessment

Sometimes, presentations give you opportunities for earning a higher percentage

of marks than for written work alone Students who prefer to speak rather than write, may

be better communicators and presenters in their use of speech or visuals than in a written mode This is because presentations use different intelligences in addition to the linguistic intelligence needed for essays and reports Students can be given extra marks through their good answer about the topic

2.3.6 Developing a wide range of communication and presentation skills

You may need to think about figure out your own skills and preferences for how you communicate Presentations can help you to communicate using different media formats or appropriate verbal and non-verbal language These observations and criticisms

can provide useful reflection and recognition of what makes presentations an effective learning situation for them This reflection can improve future performances and be used

in the wider application of job interviews and appraisals

2.3.7 Preparation for skills needed in the workplace

Many enterprises seek confident candidates and use presentations as a part of their selection procedures Some organizations use staff presentations frequently for progress reports, staff appraisal and development Preparing and delivering presentations as a student can help you to be a more competent and confident candidate for interviews They offer opportunities to develop your team working and project management skills

2.4 Factors affecting the presentation performance

There are a range of factors that inhibit the learners from presenting in English proficiently These factors do not operate in isolation but are intertwined

2.4.1 Linguistic factors

Linguistic factors include several features like pronunciation, grammar and

vocabulary According to Latha (2012), grammatical competence can help learners apply and perceive the structure of English language correctly that will lead them to their fluency It has also been observed that learners find it difficult to transfer the correct grammar to their speaking (Larsen-Freeman, 2001) Pronunciation also plays an

important role in presentation Mispronouncing a single sound or wrong use of stresses and intonations can cause misunderstandings Exposure to a variety of vocabulary is essential for speaking ESL learners often have to search for an appropriate word that fits into the context/content Listening also plays an important role in the development of presentation abilities, especially listening to and answer the questions from teachers and peers Speaking is very closely related to listening Doff (1998) says that learners cannot improve their speaking ability unless they develop their listening skill Learners should comprehend what is uttered to them in order to have a successful dialogue When

students talk, the other students respond through attending by means of the listening process That is to say, speakers have to play the role of both listeners and speakers

2.4.2 Psychological factors

The psychological factors related to speaking are anxiety, shyness, self-esteem, motivation, fear of making mistakes, lack of interest and many more Anxiety is the

psychological factor that most pervasively obstructs the learning process Worrying about being "wrong, stupid, or incomprehensible" completely ruins learners' presentation performance (Brown, 2001) Most of ESL learners are nervous in class (Liu, 2006), especially when they are asked to speak in class without any readiness Too much

nervousness makes learners tongue-tied or lost for words which completely affects their achievement in foreign/second language classroom (Zhang & Jia, 2006) They are shy of the attention that their speech attracts They are also worried about being criticized or losing face in front of the rest of the class The result is that they either make a lot of mistakes despite having a good knowledge of the topic or they totally keep silent ESL learners should be motivated to speak bravely in order to improve their speaking

competence because motivation is probably the most important factor that educators can target in order to improve learning Motivation is one of the factors that influence success

or failure in learning a language, particularly a second language or foreign language (Gardner, 2006) Making mistakes is a natural process of learning a language but it causes potential threat to one’s ego These threats disappoint the learners to talk in

English Learners believe that it is not possible to achieve fluency or mastery of the language This lack of confidence prevents them from learning the speaking skills

Eventually they lose interest and give up

2.4.3 Cognitive factors

Learning theories are the bases which help teachers and educators to understand diverse factors of individual difference in perceiving information; encoding information; transferring information; scanning the representation of the information; and working memory capacity There are also individual differences in styles of remembering,

thinking, and judging, and these individual variations Differences in the above factors are brought together to suggest that individuals have different cognitive styles and are different in intelligence, ability, personality, and achievement It seems that our cognition influences our intellectual abilities; skills; personalities; teaching and learning; and performance According to Messick's (1993) definition of cognitive factors are

“characteristic modes of perceiving, remembering, thinking, problem solving, decision making that are reflective of information processing regularities that develop in congenial ways” While intellectual abilities are primarily concerned with the ability to learn,

cognitive factors are primarily concerned with differences in the ways of learning

Strategy may be learned and developed Cognition, by contrast, is static and relatively built features of the individual with various labels of cognitive styles

teachers should build an excellent rapport with their students It is the duty of the teachers

to make the learners aware that making mistakes is a learning process Teachers should turn their fears into challenges and challenges into success by introducing many

interesting and engaging activities in the classroom Teaching and learning can be more meaningful if they integrate many elements in their approaches Thus, an attempt has been made in this study to focus on those factors that have prevented or affected the learners’ motivation to speak English confidently and effectively

King (2002) claims that working with students on oral presentations is a

challenging job for teachers because it not only involves training in other disciplines such

as speech communication and public speaking, but also demands more of teachers in terms of time and effort in lesson planning and teaching strategies They need to be

psychologically prepared for autonomy and responsibility The teacher needs to help students create a supportive learning atmosphere, develop interaction skills, and

cooperative learning skills and apply computer/technology in enhancing teachers’

facilitative skills should be emphasized (King, 2001) In short, the teacher is the guide, organizer, consultant, resource person, and supporter The teacher’ s role in oral

presentations involves not only preparing detailed guidelines, organizing groups, helping students to select topics, guiding their research and helping them learn the use of various visual aids, but also holding Q & A sessions, providing feedback on the sequencing of ideas, and evaluating their performance Those are Step-by-step procedures of how to prepare students for successful oral presentations from the teacher’s aspect

Besides, making active classroom environment plays a significant role in making

a student take part in speaking activities The atmosphere of the class, the size of the class,

the arrangement of seats and many other class-related factors affect the motivation of the students It has been observed that students are usually happier and more active in a small class Teachers pay more attention to each pupil and learners get more involved in the speaking activities On the other hand, mixed ability class is another factor which hinders the language acquisition process In these classes, the strong and quick learners are often seen to be dominating the weak learners Therefore, teachers must give equal behaviour and conditions for every student in the class

2.5 Pressures and problems of giving presentations

This study is intended to provide students with positive advice and encouragement

It will be useful to outline some of the problems to reduce or even remove students’ fears The following statements are perspectives of students about presentations according to Chivers and Shoolbred (2007)

• I would prefer to write an essay rather than deliver a presentation!

• I only seem to learn from the content of my own presentations but not when I have to listen to other students There is no point attending the other presentations!

• I do not know enough about the topic to give a presentation!

• There is so much information on the topic I cannot decide what to include and what to leave out!

• I am nervous of using technology in public

• I am always nervous about speaking in a public situation

• Group presentations are usually a problem I usually feel that I do more of the work than other group members!

• I think I could earn higher marks for an individual presentation than for a

group presentation!

2.6 Ten steps for preparing your successful presentation

Emden and Becker (2004) show that good preparation and planning are essential for successful presentations The quality of your presentation usually reflects the amount

of preparation the student has done Many students feel overwhelmed with the work

needed for a presentation and may not know how to approach the task Some students underestimate the amount of preparation needed to give their academic presentations" Thus, the authors explained that students should follow the ten-step plan:

1- Read and re-read the briefing details for the presentation

2- Create a task list or mind map

3- Create a time chart

4- Review your existing knowledge of the topic

5- Research and read to gain new knowledge

6- Decide on the balance of the content

7- Find relevant examples

8- Identify your audience

9- Create the content, visual aids and documentation

10- Rehearse the presentation

2.7 Overview of previous studies

Morita’s (2000) study is an ethnographic study conducted in a Canadian

university This study finds that academic oral presentation was challenging for both native and nonnative speakers, for different reasons The study shows that for native speakers, they experienced psychological difficulty This refers to low confidence as a presenter For non-native speakers, they reported experiencing three types of difficulties – linguistic, sociocultural, and psychological The study indicates that although the non-native speakers were perceived to have displayed advanced English proficiency, the speakers themselves regarded their own English skills as the main source of difficulty Sociocultural difficulty refers to the quick-paced, less controlled classroom interaction, compared to the one in the non-native speakers’ home country Lastly, the psychological difficulty was their own inferiority complex, and this was related with the linguistic and sociocultural difficulties Thus, it is not surprising that these EFL students find oral activities difficult because they are required to use a foreign language to think and to express themselves Not only was speaking difficult, such difficulty may well accompany

anxiety The study clarifies that nonnative speakers reported experiencing linguistic, sociocultural and psychological difficulties with academic oral presentations Therefore,

it is reasonable to suspect that English foreign language speakers who engage in

academic oral presentations may experience anxiety and difficulty that stems from the linguistics, the language and the complex task of communicating in public

Wu’s (2008) study is an exploratory study that was conducted on students’

behavior and belief about academic oral presentations The study shows that five

Taiwanese TESOL graduate students were studied The study finds that academic oral presentations involved complex and constant decision-makings for the students from the beginning – the preparation stage, to the final stage – the presenting stage The study indicates that based on a student’s account, the presenting stage was likely the most anxiety provoking stage because much of the decision-making was required immediately Moreover, the study also shows that a discrepancy existed between the instructor and the students about what constitutes an academic oral presentation and its goal This may also contribute to students’ anxiety about oral presentations because students were likely uncertain about the quality of their preparation and performance The researcher explains that oral presentation is a common task in graduate seminars in which presenters lead seminar discussion In this study, an oral presentation may seem to be a straightforward activity involving understanding the assigned material, summarizing it and presenting it

to the instructor and classmates However, the research shows that oral presentation requires frequent practice and decision making for it to be successful

2.8 Summary of the literature review and justification of the study

The previous studies that were related to academic oral presentation sheds lights

on some essential issues that seek to pinpoint the difficulties of the academic presentation and find the possible solutions Some studies focused on the role of psychological and social factors that contributed to students’ ability in giving academic oral presentation such: peers’ response, audience familiarity, self-perceived oral proficiency, self-perceived accuracy of pronunciation, and self-perceived personality Other studies mentioned that role of teachers and communicative competence in English are the important factors primarily affecting academic presentation If the students have strong communication skills, it increases the performance of the students that may be positive in the open

learning Almost all of the previous studies agreed on the same idea that psychological and social difficulties have more influence in giving academic oral presentation than linguistic difficulties, even to native speakers of English language

Unlike other researchers, the researcher in this study tried to shed light on the factors as well as difficulties encountering English majors at An Giang University in giving academic presentation performance Moreover, first-hand data were collected to find out points of weakness and strength in order to achieve an active giving of the

academic presentation This study showed that cognitive factors played an important role

in giving the academic presentations In addition, psychological factors also were

considered as a part from the important affects encountering English majors at An Giang University

The researcher makes use of the previous studies in expecting different difficulties encountering EFL learners in giving presentation performance The researcher explains in this study that there were different kinds of difficulties encountering English majors in giving academic presentations

The study highlights the importance of giving academic oral presentations for EFL learners at An Giang university Therefore, the researcher recommended to increase the courses that develop the students’ abilities in speaking skill which could be a key factor to improve English majors in oral communication skills in general

The results of this study indicate that both English majors and their instructors at

An Giang University agree that the cognitive factors play a significant role in giving their good presentation performance It is very important to set up or create specific criteria for the academic presentation That is why this study examines factors as well as difficulties about cognitive, linguistic or psychological aspects in order to get overlook about them and find the suitable solutions and recommendations for the successful presentation performance

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes the methodology of the research The chapter includes five parts: the research design, participants and sampling methods, instrumentation, data collection methods and data analysis

3.1 Research design

The aim of this study is to figure out influential factors and solutions for

improving the presentation performance among English-major Students at An Giang University through the perspectives of students As for this intention, the descriptive study was carried out Brown and Rodgers (2002) define the descriptive research as "A research that describes group characteristics or behaviors in numerical terms" (p.117) They maintain that "the descriptive statistics are those statistics used to analyze

descriptive research data, usually in terms of central tendency and dispersion"

In this study, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected As for the quantitative data, a self-reported questionnaire consisting of four sections was used to collect data from EFL students The qualitative data were gathered through interviews conducted with the students chosen randomly at An Giang University, with EFL students and through the open-ended questions in the questionnaires

3.2 Participants and sampling methods

3.2.1 Participants

There were four groups of participants in this study The first group which made

up the largest number was the first-year students (91 students) from DH19TA1 and DH19TA2 The second group was the second-year students (59 students) from DH18TA The third group was the third-year students (27 students) from DH17TA and the last group was the last-year students (23 students) from DH16TA Almost the third-year and last-year students have the hard subjects and the number of presentations more than the first-year and second-year students Among these groups, the first group is required both IELTS qualification and other language qualification for graduation, so it will have more motivation for practicing English as well as presentation

Table (3.1) shows the participants of the study according to class

Table 3.1 The participants of the study according to class

Classes Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Table 3.2 The distribution of the population of the study according to gender

Gender Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

English-Figure 3.1 Distribution of students by gender

Figure 3.2 Distribution of students by class

Figure 3.3 Distribution of students by their GPA

As shown in Figure 3.1, the percentage of female (82%) was higher than the

percentage of male (18%) who took part in the study According to Figure 3.2, the year students accounted for the largest number among four grades 45.5% In the study, the students were also required to provide data in relation to their average score in recent term Figure 3.3 reported the percentage of students’ GPA (Grade Point Average) in the latest semester The number of students getting 3.60 – 4.00 accounted for 1% in DH16TA

first-It can be clearly seen that there was a wide range of academic levels within these students

3.2.2 The pilot study

The pilot sample of the study consisted of 10 students including two students of each class, which were out of the participants of the study The pilot study aims to ensure the reliability and the stability of the interview card in the study

The sample of the study consisted of 200 students They formed a proportionally convenience sampling method to participate in the study These students included from the first-year students to the last-year students studying English Linguistics from the English Language Department of An Giang University According to curriculum and learning requirement of English majors, the majority of the students gave and are still giving academic oral presentation in many courses and in their current English courses,

so they had a previous experience delivering the academic oral presentation

3.3.1 The questionnaire

The researcher used a questionnaire in English as a main instrument to achieve the aims of the study Therefore, the researcher depended on different sources to construct the questionnaire:

a) Previous studies in general;

b) Asking an open question to students to express the factors affecting them in giving the academic oral presentations;

c) Theoretical framework

The questionnaire was developed to identify the main influential factors

encountering students in giving the academic presentation performance through the

perceptions and expectations of EFL students The questionnaire consisted of 40 items classified into four domains:

The first domain included factors related to cognitive factors that depend to

individual perception; the second domain included linguistic factors such as

pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar; the third domain included psychological factors related to interaction with audience, confidence and ; the last domain included factors related to role of teachers The response options for each question in the survey were rated according to a five-point Likert scale: Strongly disagree(1), Disagree(2), Neutral (3), Agree(4), and Strongly agree (5)

The items of the questionnaire were adapted based on the theory of the previous studies of Whai and Mei (2015), Phuong (2018) and Girard et al (2011)

Prior to administering, the questionnaire underwent many changes It was read and corrected by the supervisor who had experience in ESL teaching Finally, in the main scheme students were asked to complete the questionnaires in the classroom To ensure the reliability of student’s responses to the research, clear instructions were given before delivering the questionnaires

The first draft of the questionnaire consisted of 30 items The researcher modified some items in the light of the modification of referees After modification, the number of items became 40 divided into four domains The researcher added ten items

Table 3.3 Number of items according to the domains

Contents No of items Questions

performance and methods to improve presentation for English Majors

The researcher depended on different sources to construct the interview card:

a) Previous studies in general;

3.4 Procedure of data collection

3.4.1 Administering the questionnaires

Before conducting the questionnaires, my instructor had carefully examined the validity for each question

During the period of the questionnaire was adapted, some examples were added because the students might find it hard to understand them Then the final version was established, and it was piloted on some students Before that, the researcher has a

personal contact with the study population in order to explain the purpose, relevance and importance of the study, as well as to clarify any questions that the learners had

After evaluating the reliability of the questionnaire thanks to IBM SPSS 20

Software with Cronbach’s Alpha 0.88 which indicated a high level of internal reliability The questionnaire was administered to a total of 200 students on April, 23 of whom were from class DH16TA (seniors), 27 from class DH17TA (juniors), 59 students from

DH18TA class (sophomores), 46 students from DH19TA1 and 25 students from

DH19TA2 (freshmen) The students were provided with information about the study and how to fill in the questionnaires There was a little problem with many first-year students, who did not understand clearly the statements of the questionnaire in English, because of limitation of their vocabulary It took approximately 20 minutes for the students to

complete it

3.4.2 Administering the interviews

The researcher also carried out a semi-structured interview with some respondents

in the study in order to further support and explain the quantitative findings The

interview questions elicited information such as the respondents’ perceptions of the importance of oral presentations and influential factors in oral presentations

The researcher chose randomly eight of 200 students who had done the

questionnaire of the study to interview for providing more detailed information and explaining clearly why they had chosen such options Each interview took the

interviewees approximately 15 minutes

The schedules were set up in convenience of the interviewees The researcher assured the interviewee of confidentiality as no authorized persons would have access to their answers The researcher both recorded and wrote down the responses immediately

As for the data obtained from the interview, they were transcribed and coded into

categories Eight respondents (two respondents from each grade) were selected for the interview using the convenient sampling method

At the end of the interview, the researcher gave sincere thanks again to the

respondents for their contribution in the study