How Extroversion and Introversion Affect Students on Speaking English 0

How Extroversion and Introversion Affect Students

on Speaking English

Introduction
The way you perform can show your personality. The others can know you are
extrovert or introvert person. As the teacher, you can see this situation clearly in the
classroom. When we have the communication with the students, we can understand their
personality and when we ask the students to make presentation or do something in front of
the classroom, the personality can be described clearly. And the special thing is, the
personality affects on one person’s life a lot, it affects the way he or she communicates, the
way he or she interacts with the other people in classroom in particular and in the society in
general. That is the reason why the teachers have to understand the personalities of their
students clearly so that they can help them to improve from that personality.
As the English teacher in a foreign language center, I am concerned about this
problem. Most of the Vietnamese learners who study English, they are introvert and some of
them are extrovert but not many. When we in this situation, what can we do? We cannot
ignore them, and just help them to improve writing and reading. We know that when we
study a language, we want to communicate with the native speakers, so there are two
important skills that the teachers should focus on are speaking and listening and the most
important one is speaking. We can feel how disappointed if we cannot say anything with a
foreigner. If a foreigner asks us a question, what shall we do? Just smile? Or we understand
what he or she says however, because of the personality, we cannot reply him or her. Some
people are very extrovert; they say a lot however, the others cannot understand them. As the
teacher, we understand the difficulty the learners have, it is because of their personalities, we
cannot ignore, and we have to do research to find out their problem and from that problem,
we can help them. Om one hand, if they are extrovert, it is very good for them to have a
communication in English with everybody they meet, however, they should focus on some
points to make the conversation longer and the way they express their opinion. On the other
hand, most of the students are very introvert; they are shy when they speak a foreign
language although they understand how to answer some questions. So, we have to encourage
them, motivate them and help them to find out the way to overcome that personality so that
 How Extroversion and Introversion Affect Students on Speaking English 1

they can become successful not only in classroom environment but also in working
environment and in social life.
I do this action research in my classroom, so that I can understand my students
clearly, who are extrovert and who are introvert. How these personalities affect them on
studying English especially on speaking. And from that point, I shall find out the way to help
them to improve their strengths or overcome their weaknesses so that they can have the best
results in studying English and the most important one is speaking.
 How Extroversion and Introversion Affect Students on Speaking English 2

Literature Review

Definition of introversion and extroversion

There have been a large number of studies attempting to examine what is extroversion
and introversion. In general, according to Carl Jung (n.d), “extraversion is ‘the act, state, or
habit of being predominantly concerned with and obtaining gratification from what is outside
the self’. Extraverts tend to enjoy human interactions and to be enthusiastic, talkative,
assertive, and gregarious. They take pleasure in activities that involve large social gatherings,
such as parties, community activities, public demonstrations, and business or political groups.
Acting, teaching, directing, managing, brokering are fields that favor extraversion. An
extraverted person is likely to enjoy time spent with people and find less reward in time spent
alone. They enjoy risk-taking and often show leadership abilities. An extravert is energized
when around other people. Extraverts tend to "fade" when alone and can easily become bored
without other people around. Extraverts tend to think as they speak. When given the chance,
an extravert will talk with someone else rather than sit alone and think.” And on the other
hand, Carl Jung also mentioned “Introversion is ‘the state of or tendency toward being wholly
or predominantly concerned with and interested in one's own mental life’. An introvert is
energized when alone. Introverts tend to "fade" when with people and can easily become over
stimulated with too many others around. Introverts tend to think before speaking.”
Thus, punishment plays an essential role in determining the action occurring in a
given situation.

Characteristics of each type

According to Fremont, T., Means, G. H., & Means, R. S. (1970), the characteristics of
extroversion are “warmth, seeking novelty and excitement, gregariousness, assertive,
cheerful, talkative, enjoys being the center of attention and action oriented”. Besides that, we
also have “social/outgoing, likes groups, parties, energized by interaction, expressive &
enthusiastic, volunteers personal information, distractible, has many friends and easy to
approach. Moreover, extraversion is associated with leadership behavior. Since extraverts are
more likely to assert themselves in groups, it makes sense that these individuals often take on
leadership roles when working with other people. Research has also shown that extraverts are
less likely to experience anxiety over negative feedback. Those high in extraversion are often
described as having a very positive outlook on life as well as being friendly, energetic and
 How Extroversion and Introversion Affect Students on Speaking English 3

highly adaptable. All of these tendencies can serve a person well, particularly in certain social
situations.
Now we shall continue with introversion, according to Jill D. Burruss and Lisa
Kaenzig (1999), there are some characteristics of introvert people such as “be territorial, be
happy to be alone, become drained around large groups of people; dislike attending parties,
Need time alone to recharge, prefer to work on own rather than do group work, act cautiously
in meeting people, be reserved, quiet and deliberate, do not enjoy being the center of
attention, do not share private thoughts with just anyone, form a few deep attachments, think
carefully before speaking, see reflection as very important, concentrate well and deeply,
become absorbed in thoughts and ideas, limit their interests but explore deeply, communicate
best one-on-one, get agitated and irritated without enough time alone or undisturbed, select
activities carefully and thoughtfully.”
We know clearly about the characteristics of extroversion and introversion so we can
have the ways to help students to improve their speaking.

How extroversion and introversion affect on students’ English speaking

According to Sherrelle Walker (2012), “extroverts tend to be more visible to their
teachers and classmates. They shine brightly. They are often natural leaders and may be the
first ones to raise their hands and speak up with quick answers. While such a desire to interact
is an excellent asset, it can also result in responses that are not fully thought through. The
extrovert might be the first one to enthusiastically jump into a project, but may do so before
gaining clarity on direction and goals. But when it comes to staying energized to learn,
interacting with others gives them a real, palpable boost.” And she also stated that “introverts
can be quiet in a bustling group setting, they may not be as visible to their teachers and
classmates. In classrooms, such students take their time to get acclimated to new settings or
new people. They might not speak up in large discussions, but they work well on their own
and often excel in small groups. Unlike extroverted individuals, introverts recharge by taking
quiet time to process their experience away from the group. Their effectiveness can be a
significant strength, taking learning deeper.”
 How Extroversion and Introversion Affect Students on Speaking English 4

Methodology
I have been teaching English in Vietnam- Australia Language Center for 2 years and
after studying from some articles, some educators on the Internet, I do my research in my
classroom. This is not the same as state schools or private schools; it is just a center so the
amount of the students in each class is from 15 to 20 students. This is a good environment for
both teachers and students to practice English.
My problem is about helping introvert students overcome their personalities to speak
English better and the extrovert students can perform fluently and perfectly when speaking
English, so all of my students in my class will participate in this research and there are 18
students in my class. After doing the literature review, I want my students to do some
activities during four weeks and after that I shall collect the result.
Firstly, I want all of my students to do the survey I give them so that I can understand
in details about their personalities, who are extrovert and who are introvert.
Secondly, nowadays everyone has cell phone, so I want them each week will record
once about every topics they like, at least they have to speak 6 sentences and speak loudly
and clearly. However, the following weeks the students have to speak more than 10
sentences. Before recording their voice, the students have to write down what they record and
after recording, they have to give the writing task to the Vietnamese teacher and speaking
task to the native teacher. Both Vietnamese and native teachers will help students correct their
mistakes. When I use this activity, the extrovert students, they are confident, eager to follow
every task I gave, however, they do not speak English well, and the introvert students they are
shy, they think very carefully before they open their mouths to speak English. So, this one
will help both groups to develop and control their speaking.
Thirdly, in class, I give my students more activities such as: pair work, group work
and make presentation. In pair and group, the students have to use all English to discuss the
topics, share opinions and read more texts in English from the easy to difficult levels. At the
first two weeks, I divided my class into two groups, extrovert students and introvert students;
I gave them the same tasks and watched the way they performed; and the last two weeks, I
combined 2 groups, some extrovert students go to join with introvert students and vice versa.
When the students who are extrovert worked together, they talked a lot, shared ideas even
argued in that group, but the introvert students are different, they first just kept silence, they
wrote first, when they thought that idea was perfect, they spoke out but it rarely happened.
They wasted a lot of time. And in the last two weeks, I combined two groups, there was a
 How Extroversion and Introversion Affect Students on Speaking English 5

different change. The extrovert students helped the introvert ones speak by asking questions,
encouraged them to share their ideas.
Finally, I give my students another survey so that they can value their speaking skill
after four weeks and I have an evaluation to evaluate my students.
When doing this research, I gain the permission from the native teacher; he agrees to
spend 15 minutes after class each day to correct my students’ speaking task.
 How Extroversion and Introversion Affect Students on Speaking English 6

Findings and Discussion

Findings
As I watched and listened to my students during the research, it was apparently very
early that they try their best to use English totally in class, speak loudly and slowly and
developing their presentations. Students went to class on time and they were eager to
volunteer to make presentation. About the extrovert students, they are very active, they are
eager to join in every activity in class. One more important thing about this group is they try
to control their speaking. They try not to use body language, or use word by word or translate
from Vietnamese into English; they try to put their English in the correct structure. On the
other hand, the introvert students, they are not too shy now, they can stand at the front and
say something in English, it is not loud enough but the teacher and classmates can listen to
and understand them. When they worked in pair or in group, they tried to discuss in English,
sometimes they used a little Vietnamese.
The pre and post survey showed an increase in my students’ enthusiasm for speaking
English. In the pre – research survey, 90% of the students are introvert students; they felt shy
when they spoke English not only with the native speakers but also with Vietnamese people
such as their classmates and Vietnamese teachers, only 10% of students belongs to the
extrovert group, while the post- research showed 70% of the students were enthusiastic or
very enthusiastic about speaking English especially making presentation. This is show that
they are developing in speaking English in spite of being introvert or extrovert. The extrovert
group is more confident and better in using English; the introvert group can overcome their
shyness and be interested in English especially speaking.
When the students were asked to record their voice and wrote what they record, the
first week, there were a lot of mistakes in their writing and the native teacher also said that
they missed the final sounds they had some problems about the pronunciation. The native
teacher corrected each student. But two weeks later, they improved a lot. Their writing was
better, had less mistakes than before and they wrote more sentences than before. About the
introvert group, they were not shy to hand in their writing task and the native teacher said
they were improving but still had mistakes in pronunciation; the extrovert group is better. The
native speaker and me gave them more difficult tasks so that they could perform their ability.
The students were questioned before and after the research about their likes or dislikes
during four weeks to help them overcome the shyness and be more confident in speaking
English. The students’ responses all centered on the techniques to improve speaking English,
their responses made reference to the teachers, pair work, group work, make presentation etc.
 How Extroversion and Introversion Affect Students on Speaking English 7

They also mentioned the content in their likes and dislikes so I think this research had an
effect on the results of this study.
However, there were some incidents during three weeks of the research. During the
first week, 4 students missed class one day because of their personal things. These 4 students
missed class, but they kept handing in their recording to me.
The second and the third week of the study, most of the students were late from class.
Most of the students in my class were taking the second semester exam at their universities at
that time, so they went to class late and they missed some activities in speaking, reading and
also listening.
Enthusiasm for this study was also reflected in students’ comments during and after
the study. Some of these comments were as follow:
 “It is a lot of fun when we do some activities in speaking
English. I need more games or activities to improve my speaking. I am not shy
anymore”
 “I feel more confident when making presentation. Thanks my
teachers for correcting my voice and my writing”
 “I am confident enough when I speak English, however, I
cannot have a fluent communication; after some weeks with some activities, I
am interested in participating in, I can speak English more fluently. Thanks to
my teachers.”
 “ My teacher gives us the interesting topics so that we can use
our own English to share ideas”
 At the beginning, I am very shy, I hate speaking English and I
do not want to speak with my classmates, however, when my teacher
encourages me to join in some activities in class and some outdoor activities. I
am more inured; I can practise English with my friends, ask teacher in English
and sometimes I volunteer to make presentation”
Discussion
My findings showed the opinions of my students after four weeks participating in this
study, most of them develop their English speaking with each other and with teachers and the
native speakers, they are more confident than before. This shows that the introversion and
extroversion affect students on speaking; however, when we understand the problem, we can
develop from that point; we can develop the strengths and overcome the weakness.
 How Extroversion and Introversion Affect Students on Speaking English 8

The results of this study support the notion that the students who are more confident
in speaking English were increased. It makes my students go to class more often, they feel
enthusiastic when studying English. They use almost English in class more naturally. They
are eager to get acquainted with some native teachers in my language center. Some of my
students are confident to make presentation in their class at university. The students, who are
introvert, understand their weaknesses, they try to overcome, and they follow my instruction
so they can perform better and more confident.
I believe that everyone who studies English can speak English confidently even
though what personalities they have; if they have their will to rehearsal and they are no longer
shy. I use New English File to teach them, I just create some activities or some topics for 2
groups, one is extrovert students and one is introvert students to discuss depending on this
course book. After three weeks, thanks for their cooperation and effort; they can take the
initiative to speak with the others such as their friends, new friends or native speakers.
This active research was made possible through the cooperation of my colleagues. By
helping my students correct their pronunciation, intonation, encourage them, motivate them
to get out of their private, each of them has improved in presentation in details and in
speaking in general. The difficulty encountered in this research was the students have not
used English in academic ways.
This active research not only increased my introvert students’ enthusiasm for
overcoming shyness in speaking English and motivated the extrovert students, but it also
encouraged me in teaching. During the pre-study period, I began to question the introvert and
extrovert students when speaking to my students so that I can understand their personalities
clearly. Once I began, however, I found myself looking forward to the development and the
improvement of my students in speaking English confidently.
 How Extroversion and Introversion Affect Students on Speaking English 9

References

- AskDefine – Define Extraversion. Retrieved 5 May 2013 from

http://extraversion.askdefine.com/
- Extroverted and Introverted Preference. Retrieved 5 May 2013 from
http://www.mypersonality.info/personality-types/extraverted-introverted/
- How to evaluate speaking skill? Retrieved 5 May 2013 from
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/forum-topic/how-evaluate-speaking-skill
- Extroversion – Introversion Test. Retrieved 5 May 2013 from
http://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm?idRegTest=697
- Vo Ngoc Han (2013). How to overcome the shyness in speaking English.
- What is extraversion? Retrieved 5 May 2013 from
http://psychology.about.com/od/trait-theories-personality/f/extraversion.htm
- Jill D. Burruss and Lisa Kaenzig (1999). Introversion: The Often Forgotten
Factor Impacting the Gifted. Citation from the Virginia Association for the
Gifted Newsletter. Retrieved 5 May 2013 from
http://www.sengifted.org/archives/articles/introversion-the-often-forgotten-
factor-impacting-the-gifted
- Sherrele Walker (2012). Introverted Students in the Classroom: Nurturing
Their Hidden Strengths. Retrieved 5 May 2013 from
http://www.scilearn.com/blog/introverted-students-classroom-nurturing-
strengths.php
 How Extroversion and Introversion Affect Students on Speaking English 10

Appendices
Survey 1 (before doing the research)
Dear students, in order to help you to improve your English. Please take a moment to
complete this survey to let me know your personalities. After you complete this survey, hand
it in to me. Your responses will be kept strictly confidential by me. What you have to say is
very important to me.

Please tick () in the box you choose:

Most of the Often Sometimes Rarely Almost
time never
When I go out socially,
it's usually with a large
group of friends.
In conversations or at
meetings, I plan what
I’m going to say before
I eagerly share my
thoughts and feelings
with other people.
I am very talkative.
I enjoy spending time
alone.

Completely Mostly true Somewhat Mostly Completely

true true/false false false
Before making a
decision, I need a
lot of time to think
things through.
I’m a private
person.
I enjoy telling
people about
myself.
After being with a
large group of
people, I need
 How Extroversion and Introversion Affect Students on Speaking English 11

some time to
myself.
I prefer keeping
my thoughts and
feelings to myself.

Exactly A lot Somewhat A little Not at all

like me like me like me like me like me
I tend to hide my
feelings from others.
I have difficulty
expressing my thoughts
and ideas to other
people.
People often approach
me for help or advice.
I offer my time, skills
and knowledge freely to
other people.
I present myself to others
in ways that are very
different from whom I
really am.
When conversing with
others, I can’t seem to
find anything interesting
to talk about.
I make friends easily.
I love being the center of
attention.
I speak and act with
confidence
I have a strong drive to
succeed.
I tend to go along with
what others say rather
than disagree.
When talking to
 How Extroversion and Introversion Affect Students on Speaking English 12

someone I am very
upfront and
straightforward.
I know just what to say
to get a good
conversation going.
I go out of my way to try
new things.
People tell me that I'm
easy to talk to.
When people give me
negative feedback, I get
upset or depressed.

(Resource: Extroversion and Introversion Test of Queendom)

 How Extroversion and Introversion Affect Students on Speaking English 13

Survey 2: (after doing this research)

Evaluation:
Student’s name: __________________________
Teacher’s comments:
_____________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

Excellent Good Fair Need improve

Clarity of thought
Clarity of expression
Fluency and Coherence
Vocabulary and Grammar
Pronunciation
Interaction

Survey 3: (after doing this research)

Date: ____________
 How Extroversion and Introversion Affect Students on Speaking English 14

Student name: ____________________ Class: ______________________

ASSIGNMENT REPORT

1. Six sentences (or more) you write in English:

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
2. Topic of your presentation: (send to my email your presentation):
_______________________________________________________________
Your comments:
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________