Speaker
Description
In this session, the presenter will share the results of a study examining whether students feel that they receive positive peer support during classroom presentations and how this effects their perceived and actual performance. Speaking activities can be one of the most face-threatening activities conducted in language classrooms (Osboe et al., 2007).
Participants will gain insight into how adding salient positive peer support to existing teaching practice could improve the speaking performance of students.
Abstract
Recent assessments show that the speaking ability ranking of Japanese has been steadily decreasing with a wide gap appearing between Japan and neighboring Asian nations such as China and South Korea (Education First, 2025). It is therefore essential for language teachers to investigate ways to improve the speaking skills of students in Japan. Ensuring that students feel they have the support of their peers could provide such means. Speaking activities can be one of the most face threatening activities conducted in language classrooms (Osboe et al., 2007). In foreign language learning anxiety research, fear of negative appraisal is one of the most commonly cited factors affecting language learners anxiety (Horwitz et al., 1986). From the perspective of self-efficacy, positive peer support is a powerful driver of self-efficacy formation (Bandura, 1994, 2012).
This presentation will share results of ongoing teacher research examining Japanese university students’ perceptions of peer support and reactions during English presentations. Data was collected through exit questionnaires of students’ perceptions of their own performance, their actual performance and students’ perceptions of peer reactions. The next step is to analyze the data to investigate the relationships between these three variables.
Participants of this presentation will gain insight into how student perceptions of performance and peer appraisal compare with actual performance. And consider the implications for improving their teaching practice to ensure students feel they are receivers of positive peer support.
References
Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. In V. S. Ramachaaudran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human behavior (Vol. 4, Issue 1994, pp. 71–81). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/SpringerReference_223312
Bandura, A. (2012). On the functional properties of perceived self-efficacy revisited. Journal of Management, 38(1), 9–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206311410606
Education First. (2025). EF EPI EF English Proficiency Index. www.ef.com/epiwww.efset.org
Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70(2), 125–132. https://doi.org/10.2307/327317
Osboe, S., Fujimura, T., & Hirschel, R. (2007). Student confidence and anxiety in L2 speaking activities. Proceedings of the Independent Learning Association 2007 Japan Conference: Exploring Theory, Enhancing Practice: Autonomy across the Disciplines., 1–11. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e3d5/1187bd4b90a3fa570e25baf33a4cf71a5e57.pdf
Keywords
Peer-support
Speaking Anxiety
Short summary
In this session, the presenter will share the results of a study examining whether students feel that they receive positive peer support during classroom presentations and how this effects their perceived and actual performance. Speaking activities can be one of the most face-threatening activities conducted in language classrooms (Osboe et al., 2007).
Participants will gain insight into how adding salient positive peer support to existing teaching practice could improve the speaking performance of students.
| Scheduling preference | Anytime on Saturday or Sunday |
|---|---|
| Title | Effect of peer support on speaking task performance. |