Common problems of oral presentations delivery by university students

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Common problems of oral presentations delivery by university students

Hromova Nataliia Mykhailivna

Ph.D in Psychology, Associate Professor, Chair of Foreign Languages, Educational and Scientific Institute of International Relations, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

Abstract

The problems of poor oral presentations performance by students in the academic environment have remained relevant for many decades despite multiple efforts of researchers to describe the causes and address the challenges of speaking in public. Speakers' personality characteristics, anxiety, extra linguistic communication skills, peer evaluation practice, critical thinking skills and focus on linguistic performance constitute the features which affect students' oral presentation performance. In order to define the commonest problems which students face while delivering presentations a survey was conducted in two parts: 1) an observation of 13 Italian students' oral presentations with the subsequent interviewing the participants about their attitude to delivering presentations and 2) an interview of 47 Italian and Ukrainian students about delivering presentations from the speaker's and the listener's points of view. The results of the observation showed that the commonest problems of oral presentation delivery were the following: the lack of speaker-audience contact, emphasis on linguistic features of the presentation delivery rather than communication with the audience, fear to look incompetent in front of the audience. The interviews found out that most students were more concerned about their own image of the speaker rather than the ways to convey information to the audience. Most students showed their reluctance to ask questions to the speaker and start a discussion, as well as the listeners' indifference towards the topic. These findings imply the necessity to create an integrated course of the effective communication principles and contribute forming the students' interactive presentation skills which could foster their successful education and career.

Keywords: audience, communication, interaction, oral presentation, performance, speaker.

Анотація

Громова Наталія Михайлівна доцент, кандидат психологічних наук, доцент кафедри іноземних мов Навчально-наукового інституту міжнародних відносин, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка, м. Київ

Загальні проблеми усних виступів з презентаціями студентів вищих навчальних закладів

Питання неефективних усних виступів студентів з презентаціями в умовах освітнього процесу залишаються актуальними протягом багатьох десятиліть, незважаючи на численні зусилля дослідників описати причини та шляхи подолання труднощів публічних виступів. Особливостями, які впливають на якість усних презентацій студентів, визначено такі: особистісні характеристики промовців, тривожність, навички екстралінгвістичного спілкування, практика оцінювання з боку колег, навички критичного мислення та концентрація головної уваги на мовному аспекті усного виступу. З метою визначення найпоширеніших проблем, які постають перед студентами під час публічних виступів, було проведено дослідження, яке складалось з двох частин: 1) спостереження за 13 виступами італійських студентів з наступними опитуванням щодо їх ставлення до усних презентацій та 2) опитування 47 італійських та українських студентів про особливості виступів з усними презентаціями з точки зору як промовців, так і слухачів. Результати спостереження показали, що найпоширенішими проблемами є відсутність спілкування між промовцем та аудиторією, наголос на лінгвістичних особливостях промови, а не на встановленні спілкування зі слухачами, страх виглядати некомпетентним перед аудиторією. Результати опитування виявили, що більшість студентів хвилювалась власним іміджем більше, ніж способом передачі інформації до аудиторії. Більшість студентів продемонструвала небажання ставити промовцю запитання та розпочинати дискусію, а також незацікавленість слухачів у темі виступу. Ці висновки свідчать про необхідність створення інтегрованого курсу для навчання студентів основам ефективних публічних виступів та сприяти набуттю ними навичок інтерактивного спілкування, що покращить як їх академічну успішність, так і професійне зростання.

Ключові слова: аудиторія, взаємодія, промовець, спілкування, усний виступ, успішність.

The problem setting

oral presentations university student

Oral presentations as a mode of assessment of students' ability to research and present information clearly to an audience are widely used in the sphere of education, in the course of English as a foreign language (EFL) in particular. Delivering presentations in public develops students' language proficiency, critical analysis, communication skills and problem-solving abilities. The supporters of the introduction of public speaking skills education claim that it brings more benefits to students both in the academic setting and the workplace. The competence in assessing and analyzing ideas, as well as planning and organizing information will lead students to success in their studies in college, improve their performance and, consequently, the grades and prepare for the challenges at work. Being a good communicator will significantly increase the chances for a graduate to be selected for a good job. Moreover, critical thinking skills which students acquire at public speaking courses help them to form and defend their standpoint and adjust their presentation delivery level to the level of the audience in order to get the necessary message across. The efficient communication skills contribute to success in all areas of studies and career making as they raise the awareness of human thinking process in general and can be applicable to any subject matter. Addressing speaking anxiety, or `stage freight', as one of the commonest factors impeding the speakers to deliver an effective presentation, will enhance the students' self-confidence. As most university learners still experience multiple difficulties while speaking in public, the causes need to be defined and addressed accordingly.

Recent research works and publications analysis

The researchers of public speaking mention a variety of factors affecting the presentation speaker's performance which include personal features, extra linguistic communication skills, anxiety, and the lack of oral presentation skills. Personality characteristics and their combinations affect students' performance while delivering oral presentations. The studies showed that extraverted students can compensate for their low level of speaking English. The enhanced ability of extraverts to cope with stress makes them more successful and efficient in oral presentation performance [1]. These findings go in line with the suggestion of G. Ockney that more extraverted students being more assertive and stress resistant possessed higher level of second language oral ability and could perform better in terms of fluency and communication skills [2].

Extra linguistic communication can also have a big influence on the listeners and sometimes cause even a greater effect that the words pronounced. So the speakers must be fully aware of how they express their ideas by using nonverbal patterns of communication. On the other hand, in some surveys students reported using non-verbal strategies to cover their nervousness and anxiety [3].

Not only speaking is important in effective communication between people but also effective and critical listening which can defend from manipulative strategies, unethical information and irresponsible messages. The researchers also insist on teaching students to give constructive critical feedback to their peers in responding to their presentations. The comments based on descriptive, interpreting and evaluating strategies show their engagement in the interaction and help the speakers to improve. Knowing the audience's interests and the level of their awareness of the presentation subject enhances the communication and helps the speaker to adjust, as well as to engage the audience by using relevant rhetorical devices in order to persuade, motivate and influence the listeners. The ultimate reason to study public speaking which the researchers mention is empowering oneself to be a leader [4].

The EFL teachers agree to the fact that oral presentations in class can be beneficial as they are student-centered and need the use of writing, reading, speaking and listening within this interactive activity. The speakers have to be able to respond to the possible questions from the audience while their peers need to be active listeners and check their understanding by asking those questions. Providing students with realistic language tasks such as communicating the ideas in a foreign language rather that practicing language structures as speaking drills makes more sense for language learners. Such real life situations where they have to discuss issues, explain them to their peers, and persuade them contribute to motivation for successful language acquisition and development of their research skills [5].

Findings concerning students' self-assessment results demonstrated that they mostly paid attention to their linguistic performance rather than the delivery of the presentation, its structure or the content [6]. Making students write their self-reflection reports on their delivering presentations helps them to notice their achievements and focus on the areas for improvement. The students get used to noticing the gaps they need to fill in during their future presentations and develop their functional language skills which contribute to more effective social interaction. Observing their own performance in delivering presentations video-recorded may also foster the students' awareness of perceived weaknesses, motivate them to improve accuracy in following presentations, and achieve better presentation effects [7; 8].

Peer evaluation is also regarded as an important part of communication in the classroom as it enables students to give feedback, express constructive criticism, anticipate possible questions and commentaries, and prepare to respond to them [9; 6].

On the other hand, exposure to peer evaluation leads to additional stress which some students experience and perceive as threatening to their self-confidence. Students' speaking anxiety caused by the fear of negative evaluation affects their performance and impedes setting the effective communication environment during a presentations stage. The lack of presenting information practice and the lack of confidence of the speaker leads to creating a weak and incompetent presenter image [10].

Some studies show the difference in perceiving the reasons of low performance during presenting information by students and by teachers. Students think that personal peculiarities usually affect their performance as well as a suitable environment while teachers consider oral presentation skills to be crucial for a successful communication [11; 12]. Most students do not possess necessary oral presentation skills and that has a negative impact on their language proficiency [13]. One of the possible solutions to this problem is encouraging and supporting students, informing them of the assessment criteria, acknowledging them with a model presentation and having a mock assessment discussion in order to prepare them for their own presentations and improve their communicative competence.

The above-mentioned findings prove the necessity to introduce a special training program in giving oral presentations which can help students to form public speaking skills. The surveys dedicated to students' perception of the necessity to take a delivering presentations class revealed that besides learning to present ideas many students see it as the way to keep their conversation skills up and as the extension to their conversation classes [7].

The aim of this research work is to reveal common problems university students experience during their oral presentations delivery. The main tasks are to observe students' oral presentations performance in the classroom setting, to interview participants about their perception and attitude towards delivering oral presentations and listening to the speaker, and to define the commonest problems which need to be addressed in order to make the presentations a more effective way of communicating information.

Methods and results

The survey included two parts: 1) presentations observations and 2) an interview in person aiming at defining the students' attitude to delivering presentations and the main strategies they used to manage the possible difficulties while speaking in public. The observations of 13 female Italian MA students giving their presentations took place at University of Perugia in Italy in November 2022 in their traditional format of studies. The students of the Cognitive semantics course delivered their presentations on topics they had chosen during the final three classes of the course. No separate preparatory course on oral presentations delivery was given to the students. The participants received all necessary instructions concerning the timing, structure and the format of the presentations beforehand and were fully aware of the assessment criteria. The presentations stage was followed by interviewing students about their attitudes to delivering presentations and listening to the speaker.

The students' speeches were observed by an independent teacher without any interference into an organization process of the presentations and grading by the examining teacher. The observer divided the assessment criteria into four main groups: 1) speech related features, 2) body related features, 3) psychological features, and 4) presentation organization related features. The first group included the volume of the speaker's voice, its speed, pitch variations, clarity, and management of pauses. The body related features group involved facing the audience, facial expressions, eye contact, use and position of arms and hands, and free moving of the speaker in the classroom. The third group, psychological features, comprised enthusiasm of the speakers, their confidence and the use of communicative strategies to engage the audience (humor, questions, surprising facts, etc.). The features concerning the organizational aspect of the presentation included familiarity with the content of the presentation and time management.

The assessment marks were given within the framework of 0-5 points expressing the degree of prominence or visibility of each feature. In the assessment of the volume of the voice 0 points means that the presenter spoke in a very low voice and could be hardly heard, while 5 points means that the speaker could be heard well from any part of the classroom. The pitch variations were assessed in terms of the speaker being monotonous (0 points) or using their voice to emphasize important information and draw the audience's attention to necessary facts (up to 5 points). The degree of speaking clearly and distinctively in order to convey the message to listeners was assessed from 0 to 5 points with the 0 denoting poor pronunciation and articulation and 5 points meaning excellent pronunciation and distinctive speech. Pauses management feature means the ability of the speaker to use pauses where necessary and address the unexpected ones with the assessment range from 0 points meaning poor pauses management skills to 5 points - the excellent ones.

Assessing body related features aimed at evaluating the speakers' skills in extra linguistic communication with the audience. The presenter's position facing or not facing the listeners was evaluated from 0 points for not facing them to 5 points for holding an open, facing the audience position. The facial expression included the range of emotions from boredom and indifference which scored 0 points to adequately vivid emotions corresponding to the message conveyed which scored up to 5 points. Eye contact which is considered very important in interpersonal communication and usually accompanying facing the audience position was evaluated from 0 points meaning keeping no eye contact with the listeners to 5 points meaning keeping it continually. The position of arms and hands and the ability to use them to a reasonable extent in order to attract the audience involves keeping arms open, not folded during the presentation. Taking this into account, the lowest assessment point was given for not using hands and arms at all and keeping the speaker's body in a closed position while the most effective use of them scored 5 points. The speakers' moving in the classroom was viewed as their ability to walk if necessary from one side of the room to another, approach the listeners, distribute materials, etc. and scored from 0 points in cases of keeping the speaker's legs crossed and holding a still position to 5 points if the speaker managed to hold the audience's attention by moving in the room purposefully.

The psychological features such as enthusiasm, confidence and engaging strategies also contributed greatly to communicating ideas to the listeners and making a presentation an interactive event. 0 points were awarded to a monotonous and passive speaker's behavior which did not create a positive feedback from the audience, while 5 points were given to an enthusiastic speaker able to engage the listeners into a process of discussion. The speaker's confidence leads to creating more persuasive and trustful effect on the audience, so a confident speaker could score 5 points, while anxiety and stage freight made the presenter look weak and pitiful thus scoring 0 points. The use of communicative strategies to keep the listeners engaged during a presentation was evaluated from 0 to 5 points depending on their presence and quantity in a presenter's speech. They could include jokes, unexpected turns, interesting facts, etc.

The organizational features such as the speaker's familiarity with the content of the presentation and time management showed the level of the speaker's preparedness for the speech with 0 points meaning the low level and 5 points high level. The familiarity with the topic could be seen in the answers the speaker gave to the questions from the teacher or the audience, and time management skills showed how well the speech was organized and if the speaker managed to meet all the requirements for the presentation.

The results of the students' presentations observations assessed by an independent teacher are shown in Table 1.

Table 1