Assessing the Effects of a Public Speaking Course on Native and Non-Native English Speakers

Basic Communication Course Annual Volume 28 Article 12 2016 Assessing the Effects of a Public Speaking Course on Native and Non-Native English Speakers Tara Suwinvattichaiporn Arizona State University Melissa A. Broeckelman-Post George Mason University Follow this and additional works at: http://ecommons.udayton.edu/bcca Part of the Higher Education Commons, Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons, Mass Communication Commons, Other Communication Commons, and the Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons Recommended Citation Suwinvattichaiporn, Tara and Broeckelman-Post, Melissa A. (2016) "Assessing the Effects of a Public Speaking Course on Native and Non-Native English Speakers," Basic Communication Course Annual: Vol. 28 , Article 12. Available at: http://ecommons.udayton.edu/bcca/vol28/iss1/12 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Communication at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Basic Communication Course Annual by an authorized editor of eCommons. For more information, please contact , . Suwinvattichaiporn and Broeckelman-Post: Assessing the Effects of a Public Speaking Course on Native and N 87 Assessing the Effects of a Public Speaking Course on Native and Non-Native English Speakers Tara Suwinyattichaiporn Arizona State University Melissa A. Broeckelman-Post George Mason University According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2012), more than 1 in 5 people living in the United States speak a language other than English at home. In the 2012-2013 academic year, a record high of 819,644 international students came to the United States to study in U.S. colleges and universities (Institute of International Education, 2013). Furthermore, many universities are working to increase international student recruitment and partnering with corporations that recruit international students in an attempt to offset budget shortfalls. Taken together, these numbers suggest that we have more students than ever before who are Non-Native English Speakers (NNES) in our college and university classes, and the NNES student population is likely to increase. This is becoming increasingly salient in our public speaking classes as communication departments and Basic Course Directors must make decisions regarding how to best help NNES develop strong public speaking skills. At the same time, these students might also still be learning many of the linguistic structures and nuances of the English language as well as the cultural expectations for communication practices. In response, one of the key questions Basic Course Directors should Volume 28, 2016 Published by eCommons, 2016 1 Basic Communication Course Annual, Vol. 28 [2016], Art. 12 88 Assessing a Public Speaking Course ask is whether or not it makes sense to offer separate, protected sections of public speaking for NNES and Native English Speakers (NES). Some universities have developed segregated or protected sections of public speaking classes for NNES, English as a Second Language (ESL), or international students, often using previous research that suggested that such students typically have higher levels of communication apprehension and anxiety (Burroughs, Marie, & McCroskey, 2003; Cyphert, 1997; McIntyre & Gardner, 1991) and are less willing to communicate (Burroughs, Marie, & McCroskey, 2003) when speaking in their second language as justification for doing so. On the campus where this study was conducted, all students are integrated into regular sections of a highly standardized public speaking classes, and although there is a high proportion of NNES students in public speaking classes due largely to being a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) in a diverse urban setting, we have not typically seen obvious differences in student speaking performances based on students’ primary languages in past assessments. However, since one of the underlying course goals is to reduce communication apprehension and increase communication confidence as well as communication competence, we wanted to find out whether our existing integrated course structure was meeting those needs effectively for all of our students in order to decide whether there was evidence to suggest that we should consider teaching separate versions of our public speaking class for NES and NNES, as many other campuses do (e.g., Arizona State University, George Mason University). The goal of this study was to find out whether there was a difference in the benefits of a tradiBASIC COMMUNICATION COURSE ANNUAL http://ecommons.udayton.edu/bcca/vol28/iss1/12 2 Suwinvattichaiporn and Broeckelman-Post: Assessing the Effects of a Public Speaking Course on Native and N Assessing a Public Speaking Course 89 tional public speaking course for NES and NNES by assessing changes in Communication Apprehension (CA), Self-Perceived Communication Competence (SPCC), and Willingness to Communicate (WTC) as a result of taking our integrated public speaking course. LITERATURE REVIEW While some scholars have made recommendations about how to best teach NNES in public speaking courses, little research has actually been conducted to test the effectiveness of each of these strategies. Rubin and Turk (1997) suggested that there are four primary options for accommodating NNES in public speaking courses: (1) place NNES in an intensive English program instead of or before letting them take public speaking, (2) mainstream NNES into regular public speaking classes, (3) develop special sections of public speaking specifically for NNES staffed by instructors with additional training in teaching linguistically diverse populations, or (4) develop a reformed, culturally inclusive public speaking class that integrates cross-cultural competence throughout the curriculum. Likewise, Burroughs (2008) advocates for a three-tiered approach for working with NNES in public speaking courses: (1) develop a one-unit communication lab course to accompany the existing courses, (2) develop a new course for highly apprehensive and NNES, and (3) develop a Center for Communication Skills to provide personalized assistance. Despite these recommendations, the relative effectiveness of these approaches has not yet been tested. Volume 28, 2016 Published by eCommons, 2016 3 Basic Communication Course Annual, Vol. 28 [2016], Art. 12 90 Assessing a Public Speaking Course NES and NNES According to the Dictionary of Language Teaching of Applied Linguistics, “a NES is a person considered as a speaker of his or her native language, the language which a person acquires in early childhood because it is spoken in the family and/or it is the language of a country where he or she is living” (Richards, Schmidt, Kendricks, & Youngkyu, 1992, p. 241). For the purposes of this study, we are defining NES as individuals who speak English as their first language and as a primary medium of communication. NNES will be defined as individuals who acquired a language other tha (...truncated)