Tasks and their Efficacy on Improving Students’ Self-confidence in Oral Interactions
Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 PhD in ELT, Ministry of Education, Astara, Gilan, Iran
2 M.A. in Educational Management and PhD Student in Educational Sciences, Ministry of Education, Langarud, Gilan, Iran
Abstract
The present study was conducted with the aim of improving the students' self-confidence in oral interactions by the use of tasks. This was an action research. The population of the study was all female senior high school students in Lavandavil in the academic year of 1400-1401, and the sample which was chosen based on purposive sampling was 28 tenth grade Science major students at Alzahra High School. To solve the problem of students' self-confidence, we adopted tasks in the form of information gap, opinion exchange, storytelling and problem solving activities, and to collect data, we applied a checklist, Griffee's standard self-confidence questionnaire, and an opinion survey. By adopting tasks, the average scores of students’ self-confidence increased from 23.57 to 50.53, which according to the cut-off line of Griffee's questionnaire (30) indicate improvement of the students' self-confidence in classroom. In addition, increasing students’ speaking skills, improving their performance, and increasing the skill of asking questions are among the most important results of this research. The results obtained show that teachers teaching different languages, by using appropriate new methods including meaningful communicative activities (tasks) in the classroom and teaching, can help students to improve their self-confidence for oral interactions.
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