Problem statement

Motivation is the main aspect that is needed in a classroom when the purpose is to want
to teach a new language, both, we have been able to appreciate and observe, how
students have little motivation to acquire new knowledge related to English, it does not
happen in all cases, of course, but it is what we have been able to observe the most, is the
pattern that has more predominance in both courses, despite having different courses and
in different schools.

We, as pre- service teachers, have observed a lack of motivation in the students also
related with the anxiety and self-confidence that involves the oral production inside the
classroom. The lack of motivation is a matter of each student, this depends on previous
experiences related with the involvement of the L2 teaching. The climate inside the
classroom is something that, in the same way, has a lot to do with how committed the
students are, in terms of motivation, if the classroom really gives them the confidence to
express themselves freely and as they are, making use of the English language.

Objectives:

● Research objective: The research aims to determine a methodology to decrease

the levels of anxiety and improve the self-confidence in oral abilities of Talca's
students belonging to public school.
● Specific objectives: - To analyze the main reasons for anxiety and self-confidence
in the classroom.
- To recognize students’ abilities in an oral production and the effect of anxiety on
them.
- To design instances of reflection on anxiety and the problem with self-confidence.
Methodological framework:

Anxiety and low self-confidence are a problem that has been present in the classroom for
many years and with the passage of time, anxiety is more and more present in students,
significantly increasing the number of students who have it, generating various problems
in them, such as: the level of performance that they have, and affecting the confidence
they have in them as well. As a pre-service teacher, the way we had to observe these two
problems was through classroom observation and field notes. During the first weeks of
our practicum, we could not immediately observe the level of anxiety and low confidence
that they had about them, but as the weeks went by, it was something that was very
present inside the classroom, specifically at the time that students had to speak or expose
any content.

Field notes:

● Students do not feel able (embarrassed) to read a text in English.

● Students mock when a classmate speaks in English.
● Students can work in groups, with enthusiasm and following the instructions given
by the teacher.
● Student says textually "it makes me anxious to speak in front of everyone".
● Low self-confidence is very present in the classroom, in every activity.
● Students don’t enjoy speaking in English
● Students feel ashamed to speak in English because they don’t want that their
classmates made fun of them when they speak
● Students feel more confident when they say words out loud with other classmates
● Students work with enthusiasm when they work in pair (someone who make them
feel confident)
● Students prefer to participate actively in class with their classmates, rather than
working alone.
Action plan:

Week Learning objective

Week 1 By the end of the intervention, students will be able to understand the
objective by taking a pre-speaking test about activities they do in their free
time.

Week 2 By the end of the intervention, students will be able to produce sentences
orally about their daily routine with their classmates using the verb to be.

Week 3 By the end of the intervention, the students will be able to manage different
techniques to decrease the anxiety levels when they speak in front of their
classmates.

Week 4 By the end of the intervention, the students will be able to give an oral
presentation using different verb tenses.

Week 1: During this session students were evaluated orally with the speaking part about
activities they do in their free time. During this activity, students were explained the
objective of this pre-test, the teacher clarified that this test did not have a mark. Then, the
teacher will ask each student a question related to different activities they do in their free
time. The answers were recorded by the teacher for future analysis.
Week 2: During this session, the teacher will start the class saying different sentences for
example “hello, my name is...” or “ I’m from…” showing the use of the verb to be, the
students were explained the grammar structure of the verb to be and were given
examples. Then, the teacher asked them to work in pairs. The learners had to introduce
themselves and then talk about their daily routines using the verb to be.
Week 3: During this class, students were introduced to different techniques that they can
use to decrease their anxiety levels. Then, the teacher will project a video, related with
techniques that students can use before they present in front of the class. Then, the
teacher will ask the whole class to interact with the video and start making the students
practice the different techniques.
Week 4: During this class, the teacher explained the use of the different verb tenses, gave
them different examples, and asked them to solve a short question. then, the teacher will
ask them to work in groups, each group will create a brief role play in which they will use
the different verb tense seeing in class, after preparing this, each group would use one of
the different techniques presented in the previous class before their presentation, after
this the group of students will have to present it in front of their classmate.