Speaker
Short summary
This talk introduces a simple lesson warm-up activity. Firstly: students share any good news or bad news in pairs or groups. Secondly: the teacher asks students to share news with the class. Intended benefits of each step, and solutions to possible problems, will be discussed with classroom anxiety (Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986). Unintended benefits reported by students are discussed along with Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2002) and Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1997).
References
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. W H Freeman.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2002). Handbook of Self-Determination Research. University of Rochester Press.
Horwitz, E.K., Horwitz, M.B. & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70 (2), 125-132.
Abstract
This talk introduces a simple lesson warm-up activity involving students speaking in pairs or groups. A two-step warm-up activity was introduced for a fifteen-week long semester at two Japanese universities as an ice-breaker at the start of every lesson with the added intention of getting the students thinking in English. Step one: students discuss any “Good News” or “Bad News” from the morning or from their week. Step two: after a few minutes of private discussion, the teacher then randomly asks three students in turn to tell the class their news, with the teacher adding any follow-up questions or comments.
The intended benefits of each step will be explained in relation to foreign language classroom anxiety (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986), followed by solutions to some problems that can arise. Several unintended benefits reported by students post semester will also be discussed, such as helping students think about and improve their lives and increasing their sense of relatedness (Deci & Ryan, 2002) with their classmates and the teacher. In addition, students’ positive comments about speaking self-efficacy will be discussed in relation to the four themes of Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1997), specifically: performance accomplishments, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological states.
The presentation concludes with how teachers can influence students’ positive mindset with the types of comments they make and the way they make them and suggest some improvements to the warm-up activity to decrease student anxiety.
Keywords
speaking Warm-up
self-efficacy
classroom anxiety
| Scheduling preference | Anytime on Saturday or Sunday |
|---|---|
| Title | The intended and unintended benefits of a simple speaking warm-up activity |