T1__Full text Institutional Repository | Satya Wacana Christian University: Students’ Strategies to Overcome Their Anxiety in Oral Presentation T1 Full text
STUDENTS’ STRATEGIES TO OVERCOME THEIR ANXIETY IN ORAL PRESENTATION THESIS
Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
OEI STEFFI FERNANDA KURNIAWAN ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN SATYA WACANA SALATIGA 2016
i i
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
This thesis contains no such material as has been submitted for examination in any course or accepted for fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, this contains no material previously published or written by any others except due reference is made in the text.
Copyright 2016. Oei Steffi Fernanda Kurniawan and Gita Hastuti, M.A.
All right reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduces by any means without the permission of at least one of the copyright owners or English Language Education Program, Faculty of Language and Arts, Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, Salatiga.
Oei Steffi Fernanda Kurniawan:
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INTRODUCTION
Learning a foreign language can be so exciting. However, it can also be so
scary for those who are not brave enough to face the new challenges. The students
who have that kind of anxiety will worry about and fear of many things. Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) argued that foreign language anxiety s a specific anxiety i
that some people experience when learning or using a foreign language. Woodrow (2006) also argued that anxiety is clearly an issue in language learning and has a demoralizing effect on speaking English for some students. In this statement, the students seem to be over-concerned about their ability to perform in the foreign language, which then causes them to feel anxious.
This issue also happens in Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana. While many people think that students who enter English Language Education Program (ELEP) are those who must have better English knowledge and skills than other students in other faculties, in fact, many students in the FLA still have some problems regarding English. They might face anxiety too, especially when they do their presentation orally. I myself had done many presentations in front of both students and lecturers, but whenever it comes for me to present something, I still feel nervous, I sweat, my mind goes blank, and my voice trembles. Moreover, even though I have already prepared my presentation and I have known what I am going to say, usually when I come forward in the class to do the presentation, all of the words that I am going to say suddenly disappear. Then, when I asked my friends whether they still feel anxious when they do their presentations, most of them responded, “Yes”.
Considering the above problem, this should be resolved quickly because oral presentation takes a big part in the English language learning at the FLA. Almost in every course, there will be at least one individual or group presentation. Hence, the students are expected to find some ways to cope with the anxiety.
Based on the problem above, this research is aimed to answer these questions:
1. What makes English Language Education Program students feel anxious when they do a presentation?
2. What are English Language Education Program students‟ strategies to handle their anxiety? The objective of the research is to find out what makes the students feel
anxious and how they handle it. Possible varieties are examined from the participants‟ different batches and GPAs. This research expects to explore the differences and similarities in what makes the students feel anxious and the strategies used by different groups of students to cope with their anxiety.
Furthermore, this research is important because it could help the students who face anxiety problem in class to reduce their anxiety problem. The research is hoped to be beneficial for the anxious students because from the explanation and the result in this research, they can recognize what makes them anxious and they can try to apply the recorded strategies to help reduce their anxiety. The researcher also hopes that the language teacher could realize and be aware of the existence of the anxious students, so that they can help the students to reduce the anxiety problem.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Speaking and Oral Presentation
There are four skills that have to be learned in learning a language. Those are reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Yet this research focuses on speaking, especially the oral presentation because it is one of the skills that might cause anxiety the most.
Speaking. Penny (1996) believed that speaking skill is the most important one since foreign language learners are most of all interested in becoming actual speakers of a language. Therefore speaking seems to be the most important skill that should be paid attention to in the process of teaching and learning. Through speaking courses, the students will be given opportunities to practice a new language.
According to Gert and Hans (2008, p. 207), “through speaking, people have an intention that needs to be understood by both the speaker and the audiences.” In addition, Brown (1994) and Burns Joyce (1997) said that speaking was an interactive process of constructing meaning, which is comprised of producing and receiving information.
Oral presentation. In English speaking courses, the students are encouraged to speak the English language. In facilitating the students to be able to practice their new language, assigning students to do oral presentation has been an alternative. The definition of oral presentation itself, Baker (2000, p. 115) stated that “oral
Anxiety: Definition, Causes, Symptoms, and How to Overcome It
Definition of anxiety. Brown (2000) and Ellis (2004) stated that learning a foreign and a second language (FLL2) involves various interrelated factors, and FL anxiety is one of the affective variables that play an important role in learning a new language. It seems that anxiety becomes a normal human feeling where people are worried about or afraid of something, which may influence the process of learning a language. According to Wiramihardja (2004), “anxiety is a feeling which is generalized from fear and worries. It is an alert that something like danger or a terrible experience will happen”.
Similarly, Stevenson (2008) suggested that anxiety was a feeling of uneasiness and fear which usually accompanied by the feeling that something terrible would occur. In addition, Spielberger (1983) defined anxiety as the subjective feeling
What makes students feel anxious. If the students feel anxious, there must
be some causes behind it. Here the researcher gives 3 main points that can makes students feel anxious.
Fear of public speaking. According to Hadley (1992) most students experience anxiety when they need to perform in front of the class. Horwitz and Young (1991) added that anxiety occurred when learners learn a foreign language and they need to speak up. Research has shown that during a foreign language class, when students are speaking in front of their teachers and classmates, they experience anxiety the most. Kenneth Melvin (2008) as cited in Hsu, Tsu-Chia (2011) claimed that many people would feel greater nervousness when they are on the stage and afraid of interacting with the audience. More specifically, when the audience remains in silence, the speakers will get more anxious, and forget what they want to say. As Kurtus (2001) also stated in his paper, the reason most people get anxious when required to speak to a group is that they are afraid of looking foolish or stupid in front of many of their peers and important people. They are afraid their mind will go blank or their lack of speaking skill will lower the opinion others have of them because being humiliated can destroy a person‟s ego and confidence. Most of the experts here
Additionally, the result of the study done by Iizuka (2007) towards Japanese foreign students at a graduate school in America showed that many of them were anxious when speaking English with their peers and native speakers. The main reason for this was that they worried about being misunderstood and got stressed about making mistakes. They felt pressure about making language mistakes as well as presenting their opinions in front of their peers and teachers. Many of them felt uncomfortable about speaking in class and receiving questions they could not answer or not being able to explain themselves in English.
Lack of confidence. King (2002) stated that students were afraid of giving an oral presentation because they had no experience in public speaking and some of them did not have confidence in their abilities. Additionally, Drew and Bingham (2001) argued that lack of confidence in presenting and talking to an audience could
be attributed to a lack of familiarity with the content of the topic at hand. Therefore, lack of confidence really can make the students feel nervous and uneasy in speaking a language that they are not confident with.
Fear of negative evaluation. Some students might have the fear of negative evaluation, which was an apprehension about others‟ evaluation and the expectation that other people would evaluate oneself negatively (Watson Friend, 1969). Students are afraid of being ridiculed in front of their friends and of embarrassing
Besides those three main points of causes that provided by the researcher, there were some additions from Elliot and Chong (2005) about the other causes that could come out from the anxiety when the students did an oral presentation. Elliot and Chong mentioned that the causes were the presentation itself (the content, equipment and dealing with questions), personal attributes (communication aspects
e.g. stuttering, language, physical appearance, anxious disposition) and evaluation (self-evaluation, reactions of others and grades).
Symptoms of anxiety. The symptoms of anxiety can be seen during students‟ performance in delivering a presentation. Beatty (1988) pointed out that an individual might suffer from trembling knees, shaking voice, speaking quickly or slowly, or some might even have a flat voice when one‟s nervous symptom occurs. Furthermore, North Rives (2001) suggested that the symptoms include trembles, sweating, gastrointestinal discomfort, diarrhea, muscle tension, and confusion.
Likewise, a speech therapist Lanerfeldt (1992) also stated that irregular heartbeat, perspiration, stumbling and an inability to act are a few symptoms that block one‟s capacity to act and speak. Furthermore, Cubukcu (2007) also mentioned the symptoms of anxiety include negative expectations, worry about the performance, and distress about others‟ perceptions.
How to overcome anxiety. Tanveer (2007) argued that the most general idea to reduce anxiety was to make the language classroom environment less formal and more pleasant, where students can make faults without looking or sounding unskilled. It is essential for teachers to be friendly and make some fun class activities rather than being strict and uncared with the students. Indeed teachers should be more aware of the existence of anxious students and show empathy to them (Liu, 2009).
As an example to overcome the anxiety for the students, Kondo (1997) did in his research about the tactics for coping with language anxiety. For his research, he organized „Five-Cluster Solution‟ including: Preparation, Relaxation, Positive Thinking, Peer Seeking, and Resignation. The first, preparation, attempts at controlling the impending threat by improving learning and applying some study strategies (e.g. studying hard, trying to obtain good summaries of lecture notes). These strategies would be expected to increase students‟ subjectively estimated mastery of the subject matter, and hence reduce the anxiety associated with the language class. The second, relaxation, involves tactics that aim at reducing somatic anxiety symptoms. Typical items are „I take a deep breath‟ and „I try to calm down‟.
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The third, positive thinking is characterized by its palliative function of suppressing problematic cognitive processes that underlie students‟ anxiety (e.g. imagining himself giving a great performance, trying to enjoy the tension). These strategies are intended to divert attention from the stressful situation to positive and pleasant cues, and bring relief to the anxious student. The forth, peer seeking is distinguished by students‟ willingness to look for other students who seem to have trouble understanding the class andor controlling their anxiety. For the anxious student, the realization that others are having the same problem may serve as a source of emotional regulation by social comparison. The fifth, resignation is characterized by students‟ reluctance to do anything to alleviate their language anxiety (e.g. giving up, sleeping in class). Students reporting examples of resignation seem intent on minimizing the impact of anxiety by refusing to face the problem.
Relevant Studies
A study from Chandran, Munohsamy, and Rahman (2009) titled Anxiety in
Oral Presentation among ITB Students focused on what causes anxiety among ITB
students and how the students cope with their anxiety. The results revealed that the possible causes of anxiety among ITB students were insufficient preparation, fear of making mistakes, lack of confidence, fear of audience, insufficient knowledge, mental block and lack of confidence in language skill. From the students‟ perspective, practicing well is a common way to overcome anxiety during oral presentation instead of having a positive attitude and trying to relax.
Another similar study researching about students‟ anxiety and how to handle their anxiety is from Prastiwi (2006) titled Factors Contributing Students‟ Anxiety in Interpersonal Speaking Class in Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana. The results of this paper indicated that the students still experienced anxiety problem in secondforeign language, especially in doing individual presentation. Furthermore, factors that lead to students‟ anxiety were being afraid of making mistakes, lack of preparation, limited vocabulary, grammatical errors, lack of self-confidence, and friendsclassmates embarrassment. The strategy that helped them to reduce their anxiety is ensuring themselves that they can do it, and they have to get prepared well for the materials.
The Study
Method
The researcher used qualitative method to conduct her study about what kind of strategy that can be used to overcome students‟ anxiety in oral presentation. The reason why choosing qualitative was because the researcher did not want to limit the students answers only by giving them a closed-ended questionnaire, yet the researcher wanted to take various answers from the students through an open-ended questionnaire. As an addition, the researcher also conducted a simple interview because there was one interesting answer from a respondent who answered differently with the other students, when filling in the questionnaire.
Three questions investigated in the questionnaire were as follows:
1. Have you ever felt worried when you know that you have to do a presentation?
2. What made you feel worried?
3. What did you do to handle your worries so that you could present well?
a. During the preparation
b. While doing presentation
Context of the Study
The researcher conducted this study at English Language Education Program in the Faculty of Language and Arts in Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana. All students of ELEP have to give presentations in almost all of the courses. Although presentation is one of the main activities in the class, in fact the students in ELEP still feel nervous and anxious when they do their presentation. To take the valid data, the researcher chose the classes that include oral presentation as an evaluation in the class. Therefore, the classes were not just picked out randomly but were chosen on purpose. Additionally, the researcher spread the questionnaires to the classes in which students must were assigned to do some presentations, so that the data from the questionnaire were truthful and answered seriously.
Participants
This study was administered to the students of the English Language
Education Program in Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana. The researcher chose about
80 students from 4 batches in this program (2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015). Hence, the researcher only took 20 participants in each batch. The reason why the researcher chose 80 students from different batches was because the researcher wanted to know any possible differences or any interesting answers about what makes students usually feel worried or anxious and how they handle it, based on the differences of their batches and GPA.
Data Collection Instrument
For this study, the researcher used an open-ended questionnaire to collect the data. The reason was because the researcher wanted to gain as much information as possible from their perception and experience about anxiety, and not pegged only on the answers agree and disagree.
In the questionnaire, the researcher posed three questions as follows:
1. Have you ever felt worried when you know that you have to do a presentation?
2. What made you feel worried?
3. What did you do to handle your worries so that you could present well?
a. During the preparation
b. While doing presentation
Above those questions, the researcher also asked them to write down their student number and their GPA. (See Appendices). After studying the questionnaire results, the researcher did only one spontaneous interview out of curiosity with the background knowledge of this student and the reason of her answer. Thus, there was not a formal interview with a list of questions. The interview was done just to get additional information that was interesting from her answer.
Data Collection Procedure
After doing the piloting to 4 students in the end of February 2016, the real data collection was started in the beginning of March 2016. The 80 students completed the questionnaires at the end of March 2016. First, the researcher chose the classes for collecting the data. There were four classes that been chosen by using purposive sampling, namely Public Speaking (for collecting data from Batch 2015), Classroom Language Discourse (for collecting data from Batch 2014), Micro Teaching (for collecting data from Batch 2013), and Task Based Language Teaching (for collecting data from Batch 2012). In those classes, before distributing the questionnaires to students, they were informed that the survey would have no effect on their grade and their student numbers were not published. This was done to prevent from an action of teasing one another if there was a student with a low GPA, so I had to keep their privacy. First, I asked the students to write the student number, student batch, student GPA and student contact for asking more information. Then I asked them to read my explanation about the reason this questionnaire was held and
8 minutes.
Data Analysis Procedure
After all the data had been obtained, the researcher classified their problems and strategies in overcoming their anxiety based on their batches and GPA. The form of the classification was almost the same as what Kondo (1997) had done. Yet, this study was not that simple, because the students shared different answers about their anxiety.
The first phase, the researcher grouped the answers based on the same GPA of each batch. Second, the researcher also grouped the same answers. Here, the researcher did not write each answer from the students, but only the ones that were related to the study, as an example from 3 points of students‟ answers, the researcher only take one point which has the highest frequency number to be discussed thoroughly. Third, the researcher put the final data in the table. Then, for the interview data, the recording were transcribed and analyzed. In this part, the important and suitable answers would be taken from the data of the interview for the discussion.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
The data presented in this section were the responses to the questionnaires obtained from 80 participants of different batches in English Language Education Program with regard to the students‟ anxiety and the strategies that they used to handle the anxiety in oral presentation. In the questionnaire, the researcher did not use the word “anxiety” or “anxious” to avoid confusion. When conducting the piloting, the participants seemed unfamiliar with this word; therefore, I chose to use the word worry which is the closest synonym to anxiety.
The number at the end of every students answer means the frequency of the same answers to the question. Actually there were 20 participants in each batch, but since it was an open-ended questionnaire, the participants could mention more than one answer according to their experiences.
The analyses were classified into five groups; students‟ background experience, the factors causing why students feel anxious, the students‟ strategies during preparation, and the students‟ strategies while doing presentation. Under each table, the possible interpretation from the data is given. Indeed, there were a lot of matters that can make the students feel anxious, but in the discussion the researcher will only pick one or two points that become the main matterreason that makes them feel anxious.
The participants who had taken part in the data collection in this thesis were the students who had done some presentations before. That‟s why, their answers in this questionnaire could be said valid (those were based on their own experiences after they had had a few oral presentations). Indeed the students of batch 2015 were included, although they were first year students. Yet, when the researcher took the data they had done oral presentations at least three times in the Public Speaking class.
The data explanation below starts with questionnaire section which includes: Table 1 about yes or no question from the question number 1 in the questionnaire. Then, the explanation is continued with the classification of students‟ answers about what makes them feel anxious and how to handle their anxiety in Table 2, 3, 4, and 5. After that, this discussion would be ended by the result of the interview in the interview section.
Questionnaire Section
Table 1 is a summary to show the participants‟ responses to the first question in the questionnaire: Have you ever felt worried when you know that you have to do a presentation?
Table 1
A summary result of Question No.1
Q1: Have you ever felt worried when you know that you have to do a
Yes, I have (74)
No, because I have prepared it (4) No, as long as you are confident (2)
The data result as can be seen in Table 1 indicates that from 80 participants,
74 participants felt worried about having a presentation while the rest of the participants (six participants) did not feel anxious at all. This is in line with Hadley‟s (1992) claim that most students experience anxiety when they need to perform in front of the class. Horwitz and Young (1991) added that anxiety often occurs when learners learn a foreign language and they need to speak up. As for the 6 people who said they do not feel anxious while having a presentation, they shared their reasons. Four participants mentioned that they were not worried because they had prepared the presentation, and two participants claimed that they were confident enough to do the presentation.
Table 2 is about 20 students‟ anxiety in batch 2012. They were asked to
answer the questions: “What made you feel worried?” and “What did you do to handle your worries so that you could present well during preparation and while doing an oral presentation?”
Table 2 The results of the 20 students’ answers classified from Batch 2012 (Seniors)
(N= 2012
What are the strategies that the students of ELEP use to overcome their
What makes the students of ELEP feel
During Preparation
While Presentation
a. I did not have enough preparation
I only skim the material (read the
I do improvisation (1)
time (2)
material rapidly) (1)
I try to relax (1)
I prefer to take the easiest part in
I let a smarter friend in my
(N G P
b. I am afraid of getting difficult
presentation (2)
group answer the questions (3)
questions from the audience or
I reread the material again and
=11) A
2 lecturer (5)
over again (3)
-3 c. I get nervous in front of the class (4)
I prepare the notes (3)
I hold something to reduce
I take a deep breath (1)
nervousness (pen, paper, board
I calm myself down (1)
marker) (3)
I am joking with friends to reduce nervousness (1)
a. I am afraid of the strict lecturer (4)
I observe the characteristics of the
I do not look at the lecturers‟
teacher and how they give the
I follow their rules (1)
G (N P
I pray (2)
I think positively (1)
=9) A 3 b. I have too many materials to be
I keep practicing (3)
I focus on what I want to say (2)
presented (3)
c. I am not confident (2)
I prepare the material well (2)
I bring the notes (2) I only see my best friend‟s eyes
Based on the perception of the students whose GPA was 2.0 – 3.0, there were five students were being afraid of getting difficult questions from the audience. This case was similar as the research Iizuka (2007) has done. There, Iizuka stated that Japanese students who studied in America also felt uncomfortable about receiving questions they could not answer or not being able to explain themselves in English language. According to him, the main reason for his participants‟ anxiety was that they were worried about being misunderstood and got stressed about making mistakes. Iizuka still added that these students felt pressure about making language mistakes as well as presenting their opinions in front of their peers and teachers.
As these five students in this study knew that they sometimes felt anxious
about the questions which could be asked by the audience or lecturer, they would do these as the strategies that they usually used during the preparation: three of them reported that they would reread the material several times until they understood it so that they could answer the possible questions, and two of them preferred to take the easiest part in presentation. Meanwhile, during presentation, they would let the smarter friend in the group to answer the questions to avoid making mistakes.
From the group of senior students whose GPA was 3.0-4.0, four students reported that strict lecturers made them afraid to present their own material. It indicates that strict lecturers could make the atmosphere of the class itself uncomfortable for the students so they could not freely share their idea. Instead, they were afraid that the lecturers would be mad if they made a mistake. During the
The data in Table 3 was the summary of the anxiety of 20 students of Batch 2013 (the junior students). They also were asked to answer the questions: “What made you feel worried?” and “What did you do to handle your worries so that you could present well during preparation and while doing an oral presentation?”
From the group of students whose GPA was 2.0-3.0, four students said that they still felt anxious because they were not fluent in speaking English. In order to handle their anxiety, they kept practicing to deliver the material during preparation time. Two students also said that to handle their anxiety while doing an oral presentation they would keep talking and would not care about the grammatical errors during the presentation. Here, Mitchell (2009) also believed that keeping talking was
a very good strategy.
Table 3 The results of the 20 students’ answers classified from Batch 2013 (Juniors)
(N 2
What are the strategies that the students of ELEP use to overcoming
2 1 0 What makes the students of ELEP feel 3 their anxiety?
anxious? )
During Preparation
While Presentation
a. I am nervous in front of people (3)
I stay calm (1)
I do not stare at my friends‟
I drink coffee (1)
eyes (3)
I learn my part while listening to
= A b. I am shy because there are smarter
I keep practicing (4)
I try to be confident (1)
I prepare some notes (2)
I do not look into the -3 classmates‟ eyes (1)
I read my notes (1)
c. I am not fluent in speaking English (4)
I practice to deliver the material (4)
I just keep talking and do not care about the grammatical errors (2)
a. I forget what I am going to say (3)
I write all sentences that I am going
I improvise if I forget (2)
to present on a paper (3)
b. I feel pessimistic that my presentation
I keep practicing at home (2)
I try to be confident (1)
(N G P will satisfy the audience (3)
I ask someone to watch me and ask
I calm myself down (2)
= A
for feedback (1)
c. I am afraid of making mistakes (4)
I learn the material well (1)
I keep practicing at home (1)
I read my notes (2)
I record myself and then correct my
I do not talk too fast so that I
mistakes (1)
can think of what is next (2)
I reread the material (1)
Besides, from four students whose GPA was 3.0-4.0, they worried if they
would make mistakes while presenting their presentation. This result is similar with the previous study that Chandran, Munohsamy, and Rahman (2009) did. These experts also believed in their study‟s result that among ITB students were insufficient preparation, fear of making mistakes, lack of confidence, fear of audience, insufficient knowledge, mental block and lack of confidence in language skill would possibly causes of anxiety). As the strategy, from the students‟ perspective in ELEP, reading their notes and not talking too fast so that they could think of what should they said next.
Table 4 is about 20 students‟ anxiety in batch 2014. They also were asked to answer the questions: “What made you feel worried?” and “What did you do to handle your worries so that you can present well during preparation and while doing an oral presentation?” The result showed that 2014 students had the most various factors that made them feel anxious.
Table 4 The results of the 20 students’ answers classified from Batch 2014 (Sophomores)
(N 2
= 0 What are the strategies that the students of ELEP use to
2 1 What makes the students of ELEP feel
overcoming their anxiety?
) anxious?
During preparation
While presentation
a. I am not confident standing in front of
I pray (3)
I only look at someone
friends and the audience staring at me (4)
whom I am close with (1)
I just regard the audience
as stones (2)
I look around (ceiling and wall) (1)
b. I am worried of making a wrong
I memorize what I need
I just present what I
presentation (1)
to say (1)
know and clear, not mumbling (1)
I drink water (1)
I control the voice in
people) (7)
I go to the toilet (1)
order to hide the
I write some points in a
I do not look at the
I pray (1)
audience‟s eyes (2)
I have enough sleep and
I try my best (1)
eat what I want to reduce
I hold a piece of paper or
my worries (1)
an eraser or a marker (1)
I practice in front of the
I try hard not to show my
I listen to classic music
I move my hands and
before presentation (1)
feet so that I will not just stand like a statue (1)
G
(N P
a. I lack vocabularies (4)
I use my own words (3)
I use easy, not advanced,
I memorize what I should
words (4)
) -4
say (1)
I ask my friend who
Just be confident (1)
the material for the presentation (2)
understands the material
Keep talking relevantly
well (1)
and make sense (1)
I ask the lecturer about the for better understanding what I should say in presentation (1)
I read other materials for more knowledge of the presentation material (1)
c. I lack preparation (1)
I study the material and
I keep talking even
make some points
though just reading the
hurriedly before coming
I speak slowly while thinking (2)
d. I am worried about the presentation time
I use a timer (1)
I improvise (1)
(ex: 30 minutes presentation – what should
I make some points about
I say?) (1)
what I should present (1)
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From the group of students whose GPA was 2.0-3.0, five students of 2014 said that they have stage fright as their anxiety. Stage fright was often interpreted with nervousness or fear before public speaking or performance. It becomes a common thing that the students usually have when they need to do oral presentation if front of people. Based on the result, during the preparation, some students have different ways to overcome their anxiety such as drank water, went to the toilet, made a note (points that should they deliver), practiced in front of the mirror, listened classic music, prayed, had enough sleep and eat what they want. Additionally, they tried their best to deliver the presentation, so when doing the presentation, they also tried to overcome their anxiety as much as they could. Here, the students controlled the voice to hide the nervousness, they did not look at the audience‟s eyes, tried hard not to show their anxiety, moved their hands and feet so that they would not just stand like a statue, and they held a piece of paper, an eraser or a marker. This finding is in line with Kenneth Melvin„s (2008) claim (as cited in Hsu, Tsu-Chia, 2011) that many people would feel greater nervousness when they are on the stage and afraid of interacting with the audience.
The second one, four students were not confident standing in front of friends, moreover if the audience stared at them. It was undeniable that talking in front of a group of people can be a stressful activity (Baker, 2000), yet confidence itself was important for people so that they were able to speak. These ideas were supported by the other experts who said that lack of confidence can make the
To handle the lack of confidence, the students prayed before the presentation in order to have a smooth presentation, and while doing the presentation, they just regarded the audience as stones, and they would look around (ceiling and wall) or look at someone whom they were close with.
Furthermore, most of the students with the GPA of 3.0-4.0 still experienced the anxiety of lacking preparation and lacking vocabularies which usually happened or experienced by the students whose GPA was below 3.0. This phenomenon was also found in a study from Prastiwi (2006), in which the students commonly felt afraid of making mistakes, lack preparation, had limited vocabulary, often did grammatical errors, lack self-confidence, and had fear of friendsclassmates embarrassment in doing presentation. Then, in order to handle their lack, they used easy words (not advance words) and memorized what they should say helped them to reduce their anxiety.
Table 5 is about 20 students‟ anxiety in Batch 2015. They also were asked to answer the questions: “What made you feel worried?” and “What did you do to handle your worries so that you can present well during preparation and while doing an oral presentation?”
Table 5 The results of the 20 students’ answers classified from Batch 2015 (Freshmen)
What are the strategies that the students of ELEP use to
What makes the students of ELEP
overcoming their anxiety?
feel anxious? During Preparation
While Preparation
a. I feel nervous or my brain gets
I prepare some notes (2) I read my notes (3)
blank (3)
I try to understand the
I look at someone that can
material, not only memorizing
make me feel calm (2)
b. I am afraid of making
I write all what I will say in
I keep talking while peeping
grammatical errors (3)
the presentation with good
my notes (1)
grammar (2)
c. I am worried about technical
I check all the LCD, laptop,
I think positively (1)
problems (PPT or LCD) (4)
and also the cable data (1)
a. I am worried if the expectation
I pray (1)
I just keep talking (3)
of the flow of presentation will
I keep practicing (3)
I think positively (1)
be different with the reality (3)
b. I am afraid if my presentation is
I make my presentation as
I try to be confident (2)
(N G boring (4)
interesting as possible (4)
P
I makes some jokes to bring
= A 10)
up good atmosphere (2)
c. I am worried that I miss some
I am very anxious and still do
I just read the PPT slides (2)
points that should be important
not know what I should do to
I still do not know how to
in my presentation (3)
handle my anxiety (1)
handle my anxiety (1)
I make notes (points that I should deliver) (1)
Here, four students in Batch 2015 whose GPA was 2.0-3.0 still felt anxious
about the technical problem (LCD or PPT slides). The students‟ strategies to cope
with their anxiety are similar to Kondo‟s (1997) „Five-Cluster Solution‟ about preparation and positive thinking. In preparation, it attempts at controlling the impending threat by improving learning and study strategies. These strategies would be expected to increase students‟ subjectively estimated mastery of the subject matter, and hence reduce the anxiety associated with the language class. In the students‟ case, they were prepared about the PPT slides properly, then they also need to check all the LCD, Laptop, and the cable data before the presentation. For the students while they did the presentation, they would like to think positively that the presentation would go smoothly.
For the students with GPA 3.0-4.0, they were afraid if their presentation is boring. The strategy that the students in Batch 2015 used to cope their anxiety during the preparation was trying to make the presentation as interesting as possible. Moreover, during the presentation, the students said that they would try to be confident and make some jokes to bring up good mood. According to Kim (2014), putting some jokes or stories, inside the presentation was also a good option, because it could create a comfortable situation for the audiences
As an addition, in the last row of the table about anxiety in Batch 2015, there was a student who found herself feeling anxious every time she had to do oral presentation, yet had not found a way to overcome it. Because of that exciting
Interview Section
The interview was held on the 20 th May 2016. The subject for the interview was a respondent in Semester 2 of 2015 academic year. Below was the session about
a respondent from Batch 2015 who had the GPA 3.0-4.0 yet she still did not know how to overcome her anxiety. This interview was aimed to seek the deeper answer of this respondent about her reason why she wrote that kind of answer in the questionnaire.
In the interview, the researcher did not do any chitchat for the opening of the interview but the researcher directly asked two questions. For the first question about what makes her feel anxious when doing an oral presentation. Below was the real answer of the respondent in Indonesian. The English translation is provided afterwards.
"Sebenarnya, saya punya IPK tinggi karena saya bagus dalam kelas writing dan reading. Namun ketika di kelas diumumkan akan ada presentasi, saya memiliki perasaan cemas, bahkan dari awal semester saya khawatir tentang bagaimana saya harus presentasi berapa lama saya akan menyampaikan presentasi, dengan siapa saya akan melakukan presentasi, bagaimana jika saya mendapatkan pertanyaan yang sulit, apa yang harus aku pakai, apakah saya akan mendapatkan nilai yang baik dalam pelajaran ini. Itu sebabnya, dengan banyak kecemasan, saya juga merasa kesal bagaimana saya harus mengatasinya."(Siswi A, 2016)
“Actually, I have a high GPA because I am good at writing and reading courses. When the class comes with presentations, I have an anxious feeling even from the beginning of the semester, about how the presentation will be, how long it will be, with whom I will do the presentation, how if I get difficult questions, what I should wear, whether I will get a good mark in this lesson. That is why, with that much anxiety, I also feel upset how I should handle it.” (Student A, 2016, my translation)
The answer of Student A is in line with Elliot and Chong (2005) in determining the causes for presentation anxiety, which involves three main reasons: the presentations itself (the content, equipment and dealing with questions), personal attributes (communication aspects e.g. stuttering, language, physical appearance, anxious disposition) and evaluation (self-evaluation, reactions of others and grades).
Here, it appears that the anxiety of this student is much the same as the theory from Elliot and Chong (2005). On the other hand, she had tried many ways in order to overcome her anxiety, but she has not yet found the most suitable strategies. This condition was quite different from the other students who have already found their ways to handle their anxiety as explained in Table 2, 3, 4, and 5. Yet in this case, almost all of those strategies were not suitable for her.
"Saya pernah mencoba menggunakan catatan kecil, tapi itu tidak membantu saya. Sebenarnya, catatan kecil ini justru membuat saya bingung ketika saya menyadari ada poin yang terlewat. Pada kesempatan lain, saya telah benar-benar siap dengan materi, tetapi ketika saya melihat penonton menatapku, pikiran saya benar-benar kosong dan saya tidak tahu apa yang harus saya katakan, meskipun saya merasa cukup baik saat berlatih di rumah. "(Siswi A, 2016)
“Once I tried to use a small note, but it did not help me. Actually, it made me confused when I realized there were points that I had missed. In another chance, I was really well prepared with the material, but when I saw the audience looking at me, my mind was really blank and I did not know what I had to say, even though I was quite good while practicing at home.” (Student A, 2016, my translation)
From her experiences, it indicates that having a good GPA is not always identical with smart students who are great in every skill (speaking, writing, listening, and reading). It also shows that anxiety could be experienced by anyone, from freshmen to seniors, or from students with a low GPA to those with a high GPA. It could be my strong reason why this research should be conducted. I as the researcher hope that other students who feel the same way as this student will be able to get some strategies to handle their anxiety later based on the result of my research.
Data Interpretation
Table 6 provides the summary of top causes of anxiety according to students of different batches and GPAs, and the strategies they used to handle their anxiety. Based on the data collected, the researcher concluded that there were many worries that ELEP students faced about doing an oral presentation. More than that, regarding the distinction of anxiety from different GPA and batch, the researcher got quite interesting information. The anxiety that was felt by the students whose GPA was 2.0-3.0 could be seen that the students still thought about their own concerns. Many of them felt nervous (or had stage fright), not fluent in speaking English, worried about the technical problem (PPT or LCD), and afraid of getting difficult questions.
Some of the cases above is quite similar to the students from Chandran, Munohsamy, and Rahman study in 2009 titled Anxiety in Oral Presentation among ITB students who were insufficient preparation, fear of making mistakes, lack of confidence, fear of the audience, insufficient knowledge, mental block and lack of confidence in language skill.
Table 6 Data Interpretation
GPAs and
Strategy
Top Causes
Batches
During Preparation
While doing presentation
I am afraid of getting difficult
I prefer to take the
I let a smarter friend in
GPA = 2.0 – 3.0
questions from the audience or
easiest part in
my group answer the
I reread the material again and over again (3)
GPA = 2.0 – 3.0
I am not fluent in speaking English
I practice to deliver the
I just keep talking and do
material (4)
not care about the
Batch = 2013
grammatical errors (2)
I have stage fright (feel nervous in
I drink water (1)
I control the voice in
front of people) (7)
I go to the toilet (1)
order to hide the
I write some points in a
I do not look at the
I pray (1)
audience‟s eyes (2)
I have enough sleep and
I try my best (1)
I hold a piece of paper or
Batch = 2014
eat what I want to reduce my worries (1)
an eraser or a marker (1)
I practice in front of the
I try hard not to show my
I listen to classic music
I move my hands and
before presentation (1)
feet so that I will not just stand like a statue (1)
I am worried about technical
I check all the LCD,
I think positively (1)
GPA = 2.0 – 3.0
problems (PPT or LCD) (4)
laptop, and also the cable
I am afraid of the strict lecturer (4)
I observe the
I do not look at the
GPA = 3.0 – 4.0
characteristics of the
lecturers‟ eyes (2)
teacher and how they
I follow their rules (1)
Batch = 2012
give the assessment (2)
I think positively (1)
I pray (2)
I am afraid of making mistakes (4)
I learn the material well
I read my notes (2)
I do not talk too fast so
GPA = 3.0 – 4.0
I keep practicing at home
that I can think of what
is next (2)
Batch = 2013
I record myself and then correct my mistakes (1)
I reread the material (1)
GPA = 3.0 – 4.0
I lack vocabularies (4)
I use my own words (3)
I use easy, not advanced,
I memorize what I should
I am afraid if my presentation is
I make my presentation
I just being confident (2)
boring (4)
as interesting as possible
I makes some jokes to
Batch = 2015
bring up good atmosphere (2)
This is quite different from students who have GPA 3.0-4.0. Logically , the students having higher GPA, should have less anxiety than the ones with lower GPA, but interestingly here, the students with higher GPA precisely experienced more complex or more varied anxiety. Some of them are actually concern about the opinions of others towards them. For example, they are worried to have a boring presentation or a poor performance, afraid of the strict lecturer, lack vocabularies, and afraid of making mistakes that could not satisfy the audience and lecturer.
This finding is in line with Elliot and Chong (2005) about the causes that usually happen to the students in dealing with an oral presentation are the presentation itself (the content, equipment and dealing with questions), personal attributes (communication aspects e.g. stuttering, language, physical appearance, anxious disposition) and evaluation from others (self-evaluation, reactions of others and grades).
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