Taken from http://inbusinessmag.com/in-business/the-growing-skills-gap#.VsiJnvnhDIU
Literature Gaps and Research Questions in Public Speaking for EFL Learners By Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano School of English Faculty of Social Sciences Universidad Latina de Costa Rica Saturday, February 20, 2016 Post 213
Comprehending that blended learning methodologies are swapping traditional teaching practices in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classrooms, the teaching of public speaking can be improved exponentially with the addition of blended practices. Traditionally, public speaking has been “taught” and “practiced” in situ, that is, within the four walls of a classroom, but to empower learners, a different approach to work and get feedback with the aid of technology and peer feedback can be more viable for deep learning than simply stepping to the front of a class and deliver a speech. Who can oppose the idea that blended learning and teaching cannot account for a different approach to promote public speaking with a better tint of pronunciation? Working on a “hasty” but “emphatic” literature review on peer assessment in blended learning scenarios aiming at help EFL students improve public speaking and pronunciation, the scholar scene is –at this point- rather barren than fruitful. Phillips
& Scott (2013) have divided studies in two main groupings, those that “focus on the linguistic competence of the speaker” and those concerning “with the characteristics of effective feedback” ranging from “theoretical considerations of the cognitive and motivational factors” to peer feedback. However, none of the studies Phillips & Scott (2013) mention actually deal with blended learning scenarios where lots of web media is used (e.g. video). Peer feedback where class partners can rewind presentations to provide mates with suggestions and positive criticism for improvement is not yet considered in the EFL lookout or belvedere of possibilities to provide feedback in a more LMS-oriented EFL teaching environment in higher education. For Burkert & Wally (2013), “learners need to be given a say in their language study in choosing both their learning goals and the methods of teaching and learning.” Most often what happens is that there is an “imposition” by instructors on traditional methods mediated by classroom speeches for public speaking skills and pronunciation grading. EFL learning goals in higher education can now be grounded on blended learning settings that can also allow students to set their “learning goals” validated not only by an instructor but by peers. But, as stated above, none of this is actually mentioned or stated in recent EFL feedback provision to learners. As quoted by Burkert & Wally (2013), “according to Holec, the autonomous learner must take ‘resposibility for all the decision concerning all aspects of his learning’.” But this responsibility in blended education has not yet been researched to find out what the say learners have to state is. Pfandl-Buchegger, Landsiedler, & Insam (2013) encourage language trainers to “integrate more pronunciation work into their teaching by heightening their awareness of the importance of good, clear pronunciation for the learning process as a whole.” But once again, the encouragement to work on pronunciation through blended learning scenarios is not accounted in recent studies, either. Though “feedback checklists can be adapted according to the needs of the learners or the
current stage in the learning process” (Pfandl-Buchegger, Landsiedler, & Insam, 2013), are language instructors moving towards the new trend on blended education to this adaptation, even to include peers in the feedback provision to classmates? There is no reason why the monitoring of speech by means of students’ video recordings cannot be done by peers, too. “As we want our students to develop critical thinking skills and skills for evaluating language input and new information, peer assessment is another very form of assessment and giving feedback” (PfandlBuchegger, Landsiedler, & Insam, 2013) that can also be employed in EFL blended education. If scholars and researchers are re-examining feedback in higher education, they also need to reconsider how it is provided in Blended Education settings. “Underpinning this re-examination is the important recognition that, if feedback processes are to enhance learning, we must move beyond a view of feedback as transmission and acknowledge the active role that students must play in such processes” (Nicol, Thomson, & Brelin, 2014). And this “active role” also goes beyond the traditional classroom and instruction that learners are getting; feedback in higher education EFL courses needs to be seen from the blended learning lenses to potentialize deep learnig in public speaking and pronunciation. This literature review of feedback in language teaching is not yielding results on the current trend of blended education. Scholarly articles do include feedback research and the provision of pronunciation and public speaking feedback for students, but none of them actually deals with feedback in blended classrooms. It is for this reason than it needs to be considered the following research question to try to yield some light into this shady spot in EFL education: How can peer assessment in blended learning scenarios benefit language learners in public speaking and pronunciation acquisition?
What can be the benefits behind the answering to the research question? To start with, the benefits for the field of EFL can be divided fourfold mostly pertaining to learners. By means of replaying the question learner autonomy in virtual learning environments can be explored and see how language trainees see themselves in this current way of learning. The search for an explanation can provide us certainty of teaching practices for young adults in higher education appertaining to language teaching and learning. Answering the question can give us an idea of language performers’ provision of meaningful feedback in public speaking and pronunciation to foster deep learning. Finally, the response to this inquiry can also give us an idea of how peer coaching in blended education can be fruitful for pupils and how relevant it can be for teaching professionals to explore more this area of learning. When asked about the challenges to find answers concerning this research question, no much can be said. Since this is a research project in education, funding cannot be claimed to be a challenge. This can be done by means of surveys and inclass observations and analysis of data provided by learners through the university platform. The same can be stated about data collection; the population needed for this project is available and should not be labeled as a challenge for a research project like this one. Since lots of participants are not necessary, this can be called a case study in education in one’s EFL classroom. The only true challenge to ponder is the time that will be needed to design, develop, and analyze the data coming from this project.
References Burkert, A., & Wally, J. (2013). Peer Reviewing in a Collaborative Teaching and Learning Environment. In M. Reitbauer, N. Campbell, & S. Mercer (Eds.),
Feedback Matters: Current Feedback Practices in the EFL Classroom. Frankfurt am Main, DEU: Peter Lang AG. Retrieved February 6, 2016
Nicol, D., Thomson, A., & Brelin, C. (2014). Rethinking feedback practices in higher education: a peer review perspective. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, Vol. 3(No. 1), pp. 102-122. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/026129382013795518 Pfandl-Buchegger, I., Landsiedler, I., & Insam, M. (2013). Feedback on Pronunciation. In M. Reitbauer, N. Campbell, & S. Mercer (Eds.), Feedback Matters: Current Feedback Practices in the EFL Classrrom. Frankfurt am Main,DEU: Peter Lang,AG. Retrieved February 6, 2016 Phillips, M., & Scott, N. (2013). Giving Feedback on EFL Learner Presentations. In M. Reitbauer, N. Campbell, & S. Mercer (Eds.), Feedback Matters: Current Feedback Practices in the EFL Classroom. Frankfurt am Main: DEU: Peler Lang AG. Retrieved February 6, 2016