The influence of improvisation activities on speaking confidence of EFL student teachers

• Main Authors: Anke Zondag, Annelise Brox Larsen, Tale Margrethe Guldal, Roland van den Tillaar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cappelen Damm Akademisk NOASP 2020-08-01
• Series: Nordisk Tidsskrift for Utdanning og Praksis
• Subjects: teacher education; efl/elt; reluctant speaker; speaking confidence; improvisation activities; oral communication
• Online Access: https://utdanningogpraksis.no/index.php/up/article/view/1879/4329

The purpose of the present study was to explore the application of improvisation activities in English teacher education, specifically to investigate their influence on the student teachers’ confidence when speaking English spontaneously. The improvisation activities consisted of storytelling, conversations and status expressions. Data were drawn from both pre- and post-questionnaires and retrospective texts. The statistical findings showed significant improvements in the student teachers’ level of speaking confidence and degree of relaxation while speaking English. The findings of the qualitative analysis confirmed this, and participants stated that the fun, collaboration and high degree of engagement had helped to increase their speaking confidence. The combination of the findings indicated that the improvisation activities had been a valuable method for increasing the speaking confidence of the EFL student teachers. The pedagogical implication is that teacher educators should consider including improvisation activities in their EFL courses.