Open Collections

Language socialization of Japanese ESL students in an advanced public speaking and debating class

University of British Columbia

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.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-03-11

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.

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/5886

Language and Literacy Education

University of British Columbia

UBCV

DSpace