Portfolio for week 7:

EFFECTIVE REMEDIES FOR PUBLIC SPEAKING ANXIETY IN EFL ORAL PRESENTATION

CLASSES FOR SECOND- YEAR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN VIETNAM
Research question: - What does public speaking anxiety mean?

- What causes public speaking anxiety?

- What are the effects and remedies for public speaking anxiety?

* Finalize your study design:

1. Research type: A Quantitative research approach is suitable for this study because it allows for the
collection and analysis of numerical data. This approach can help:

● Measure anxiety levels: By using standardized tools, we can assess how anxious students
are about public speaking.

● Compare groups: Statistical methods can be used to determine if there are differences in
anxiety levels between first and third-year students.

● Identify patterns: Analyzing the numerical data can help us understand trends and
relationships related to public speaking anxiety, such as the influence of certain factors or
the effectiveness of various interventions.

2. Inquiry Strategy: For research on effective remedies for public speaking anxiety in EFL oral
presentation classes, selecting a Survey research is a high suitable choice. This method allows for
statistical analysis, such as correlation tests, t-tests, or regression analysis, to determine whether the
observed changes in anxiety are statistically significant Additionally, this approach allows us to
readily compare two distinct courses within the same academic discipline to observe the extent to
which anxiety levels shift when speaking in front of a crowd.

3. Samling: Specific random/ probability samling (Cluser Sampling)

- The population/ responders: 50 random second-year students and 50 random third-year students
majoring in English Pedagogy, Thai Nguyen University School of Foreign Languages.

Steps:

1) Dividing the population into clusters: Second-year university students majoring in English
Pedagogy in SFL.

2) Randomly selecting a certain number of clusters: Second- year English Pedagogy students class A,
B and Third- year English Pedagogy students class A, B.

3) Sampling all students within the selected clusters.

- The quantitative strategy enables you to produce concrete, measurable results that can be
generalized to other similar populations, ensuring the findings from your study have a broader
impact on EFL pedagogy. The statistical outcomes will also lend credibility and reliability to your
recommendations for best practices in reducing public speaking anxiety in educational settings.

- By dividing the population into clusters (the second- year students and third- year student majoring
in English Pedagogy), we can tailor our research to the unique needs and experiences of this
particular group. This approach can reduce the cost and time required for data collection while still
ensuring a representative sample of the target population.

* Reflections on interviews:
Interviewing:

❖ One of the commonly used methods of data collection in the social sciences. Any person-to-
person interaction, either face to face or otherwise, between two or more individuals with a
specific purpose in mind is called an interview. It involves asking questions of respondents
and recording their answers. Interviewing spans a wide spectrum in terms of its structure,
from highly structured to extremely flexible. (Ranjit Kumar).
❖ Since the late 19th century (in journalism) and the early 20th century (in the social sciences),
the conversational process of knowing has been conceptualized under the name of
interviewing. The term itself testifies to the dialogical and interactional nature of human life.
An interview is literally an inter-view, an interchange of views between two persons (or
more) conversing about a theme of mutual interest (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015).
Conversation in its Latin root means "dwelling with someone" or "wandering together with."
Similarly, the root meaning of dialogue is that of talk (logor) that goes back and forth (dis)
between persons (Mannheim & Tedlock, 1995, p. 41).

Type of Research Interview:

1) Structured Interviews:

In structured interviewing, the interviewer asks all respondents the same series of
preestablished questions with a limited set of response catego ries. There is generally linle
room for variation in responses except where open-ended questions (which are infrequent)
may be used. The inter viewer records the responses according to a cod ing scheme that has
already been established by the project director or research supervisor. The interviewer
controls the pace of the interview by treating the questionnaire as if it were a theatrical
script to be followed in a standardized and straightforward manner. Thus, all respondents re
ceive the same set of questions asked in the same order or sequence by an interviewer who
has been trained to treat all interview situations in a like manner. There is very little
flexibility in the way questions are asked or answered in the struc tured interview setting.
Instructions to interview ers often include some of the following guide lines

● Never get involved in long explanations of the study, use the standard explanation
provided by the supervisor.
● Never deviate from the study introduction, sequence of questions, or question
word-ing.
 ● Never let another person interrupt the interview; do not let another person answer
for the respondent or offer his or her opinions on the question.
● Never suggest an answer or agree or disagree with an answer. Do not give the
respondent any idea of your personal views on the topic of the question or the
survey.
● Never interpret the meaning of a question; just repeat the question and give
instructions or clarifications that are provided in • 1 training or by the supervisors.
● Never improvise, such as by adding answer categories' or making wording changes.

(By Andrea Fontana and James H. Frey, 2000)

2) Unstructured Interviews:
Unstructured interviewing can provide a greater breadth of data than the other types,
given its qualitative nature. In this section we discuss the traditional type of
unstructured interview: the open-ended, ethnographic (in-depth) interview. Many
qualitative researchers differentiate between in-depth (or ethnographic) interviewing
and participant observation. Yet, as Lofland (1971) points out, the two go hand in hand,
and many of the data gathered in participant observation come from informal
interviewing in the field.
Other types of Unstructured Interviewing:
● Oral History: The oral history differs from other unstructured interviews in
purpose, but not methodologically. The oral collection of historical materials
goes back to ancient times, but its modern-day formal organization can be
traced to 1948, when Allan Nevins began the Oral History Project at Columbia
University (Starr, 1984, p. 4).
● Creative Interviewing: Close to oral history, but used more conventionally as a
sociological tool, is Jack Douglas’s (1985) "creative interviewing." In creative
interviewing, these reports go well beyond the length of conventional
unstructured interviews and may become "life histories," with interviewing
taking place in multiple sessions over many days with the subject(s).
● Postmodern Interviewing: One such way is polyphonic interviewing, in which
the voices of the subjects are recorded with minimal influence from the
researcher and are not collapsed together and reported as one, through the
interpretation of the researcher. Instead, the multiple perspectives of the
various subjects are reported and differences and problems encountered are
discusse.
● Gendered Interviewing: As Ann Oakley (1981) cogently points out, both the
interviewers and the respondents are considered faceless and invisible, and they
must be if the paradigmatic assumption of gathering valuefree data is to be
maintained. Yet, as Denzin (1989a, p. 116) tells us, "gender filters knowledge";
that is, the sex of the interviewer and that of the respondent do make a
difference, as the interview takes place within the cultural boundaries of a
paternalistic social system in which masculine identit;ies are differentiated from
feminine ones.
 3) Semi- Structured Interviews:

The semi-structured interview is a method of research commonly used in social sciences.

Hyman et al. (1954) describe interviewing as a method of enquiry that is universal in social
sciences. Magaldi and Berler (2020) define the semi-structured interview as an exploratory
interview. They further explain that the semistructured interview is generally based on a
guide and that it is typically focused on the main topic that provides a general pattern. In
addition, Megaldi and Berler (2020) argue that the semi-structured interview, despite its
topical trajectories provided prior to the interview, enables a researcher to go deep for a
discovery.

Steps of Conducting a Research Interviews:

Beck and Manuel (2008) break down interviewing as a research method into a series of steps:

1. Identify participants. Once participants are known to you, make sure you build enough time into
the project to schedule the interviews. Meeting everyone’s needs can be time consuming.

2. Decide on the type of interview (in person, telephone, etc.).

3. Decide on the facilities in which to conduct the interviews. This may be out of your control if you
decide to meet the participants on their own turf. If you do travel to meet participants, be mindful of
the potential risk involved. Ensure someone knows where you are and consider developing a
fieldwork policy if your organization does not have one.

4. Check and test your equipment. The last thing you need is a voice recorder with dead batteries.

5. Design an interview schedule that is well-paced and that includes topics to explore.

6. Obtain formal signed consent.

7. Pace the interview, giving adequate time for each question and response.

8. Follow proper protocol which is usually determined prior to beginning the research at the ethics
approval stage.

Factors to Consider When Choosing an Interview Format:

● Research question: Consider how the interview format will best address your research
question.
● Data requirements: Determine the type of data you need to collect and which format is
most suitable.
● Participant characteristics: Consider the participants' comfort level with different interview
formats.
● Researcher experience: Assess your own skills and experience in conducting interviews.
By carefully considering these factors, we can choose the most appropriate interview format for
your research and ensure that you collect high-quality data.

REFERENCES:

THE INTERVIEW

From Structured Questions to Negotiated Text (Andrea Fontana and James H. Frey,
2000)http://www.iot.ntnu.no/Innovation/Norsi-Common-Courses/Lincoln/Fontana%20&%20frey
%20(2000)%20interview.Pdf

Hannabuss, S. (1996), "Research interviews", New Library World, Vol. 97 No. 5, pp. 22-30.
https://doi.org/10.1108/03074809610122881

Beck, S. E., & Manuel, K. (2008). Practical research methods for librarians and information
professionals. New York, NY: Neal-Schuman

IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSR-JRME) e-ISSN: 2320–7388, p- ISSN: 2320-
737x Volume 12, Issue 1 Ser. V (Jan. – Feb. 2022), 22-29 www.iosrjournals.org