英文专业学生的公共演讲焦虑:案例与策略

张 婷

(四川外国语大学 英语学院，重庆 400031)

Introduction

Public speakinghas become one of the basic courses in English majors’curriculum in English departments of Chinese universities，aiming at enabling students to articulate important issues in real life，to persuade audiences with the objective language，and to enhance cultural communication．Though acquiring better language proficiency than normal ESL students，English majors are still confronted with speaking anxiety．Speaking in front of people has always been a universal human fear，①According to Fensholt(p．25)，among“The 14 Worst Human Fears”collected in the 1977 Book of Lists，speaking before a group ranks the first．but it is especially acute for second language learners．Besides，the lack of a public speaking tradition and the cultural reluctance to publicize personal opinions has moved Chinese students further from the stage．What are the idiosyncratic forms of speaking anxiety for a Chinese English major?What causes them?What hypothetical solutions can be recommended?My observations，findings，and propositions will be given in the following sections．

Cases and Causes

In my firstPublic Speakingclass，the students were invited to the platform to talk about a picture or a word shown randomly on the screen．Each one was required to speak for a full 2 minutes which became a lengthy and“scary time”for most of them．The majority struggled to control their faltering sounds，some tried to collect their thoughts by repetitive articulations，and the others stammered out a few words for the first minute and，unable to say more，waited for the end of the second minute．

The anxiety shown in the extemporaneous speech is a common social phobia that stems from speakers’lack of confidence and“overestimates of the probability and cost”of negative outcomes(Nelson，Deacon，Lickel＆ Sy，2010:282)．For example，speakers may be scared by the probability of appearing foolish，boring the audience，or receiving harsh criticism．In the case of ESL students，language fluency adds to the burden．The students are overwhelmed by the fear of blanking at appropriate ideas，words，and expressions，or making grammatical errors．

If it is impossible for the students to feel comfortable in giving impromptu speeches，can we assume that speaking anxiety will be eliminated if a speech is delivered only after being written and memorized?I held optimistically to this hypothesis for several class periods．However，it was later found out that even in prepared speeches，anxiety prevailed．This anxiety falls into two situations．The first involves students who could not deliver memorized speeches in a rhetorical way;the audience could easily tell that the speaker was reciting a prepared text，word for word and sentence for sentence，without natural eye contacts or emotional interactions．Their nervousness showed that the texts were not well engraved in the mind and that their brains might turn blank at any moment．One might impute their bad memory to the stage fright，saying that the overwhelming stress they feel on the platform caused them to forget what they had kept in mind previously．However，a close study of the speech texts the students have written down showed that in 2/3 of them the structure was not well arranged．For example，one paragraph could not contribute to the thesis，a sentence could not contribute to the main idea of the paragraph，and two paragraphs focused on similar ideas without logical development，etc．

The root of the problem，then，is related to logic．This problem does not only exist in my classroom but has become a shared concern among Chinese teachers of English．For example，Minghua Hou(2008)，in his survey on aPublic SpeakingCourse at Yangtze University，reveals the identical problem:“students practiced English only for the purpose of the practice，without the knowledge on how to reason effectively，utilize evidences，and organize opinion”(67)．Obviously，reasoning and organizing has become the“Achilles’heel”of many Chinese learners of English．This was further evidenced by a class session of sample-speech reading where I had my students analyze a speech Alexander the Great made in 326 B．C at Hydaspes River in India．This speech aimed at motivating the conqueror’s soldiers to continue their morale for a further extension of his empire．Most of the students recognized the emotional and ethical power Alexander infused into the speech;however，only a few understood the logical potency therein;for example，the rationalization of the military course and its bearing on the persuasiveness of the speech was barely noticed．Like many Chinese students，they suffered from a deficiency in logic，which，being a natural outcome of an oriental culture that tends to think holistically rather than analytically，explains why they could not remember their written texts．Logic is the rational framework whereby a speaker weaves words into sentences，sentences into paragraphs，and paragraphs into texts;this framework also provides a structure for memory．If a speech is not logically encoded into the mind，the mind can never decode it effectively．

The second issue found in prepared speech is not as common as the first one but leads to a more subtle area of rhetoric．One of my best students in the class was an amazingly diligent girl who could accomplish each of her speech-writing tasks satisfactorily，with reasonable logic，fine style，and cogent persuasion．Though eloquent in all her writings，she could hardly deliver them confidently，and was despairingly puzzled why all the flows of her thoughts had gone away on the stage．The reason for her severe stage fright is complicated;however，it is surely not because she is a bad writer．As pointed out by Cicero(2001)through Crassus:“the better the［speaker］，the more profoundly is he frightened of the difficulty of［speaking］，and of the doubtful fate of［speaking］，and of the anticipation of an audience”(306)．Good writers，though brilliant at composing，might suffer more from speaking anxiety．Psychologically，the student was such a good writer that she had a clearer prospect of the complexity of combining logical，ethical，and emotional appeals into an organic whole．The prospect，though originating from her good knowledge，transformed into extra pressure which kept her from good delivery．She knew the standards and principles of an excellent speech so well that she was not only the speaker but her own harshest critic;this self-criticism was the obstacle in the way of her speaking．

The speaking anxiety faced by my English major students，as described above，comes from the overlapping of problems in the realms of rhetoric and ESL learning．In other words，only by setting the second language issue in the context of rhetorical instruction and broadening the perspectives to cultural，psychological and pedagogical features，can we find the ways to solve the problem of public speaking anxiety for Chinese English majors．

Suggestions on Ways of Alleviating the Symptoms

Overcoming anxiety is a systematic project，which asks for a preparatory design encompassing teaching content，method，and assessment．Such a well-framed syllabus will provide a suitable setting for building students’confidence to conquer their speaking anxiety．

Selection of Speech Topics

Aiming at alleviating speaking anxiety，the teacher should set up a schedule of exercises to help students develop their selfidentification as persuasive and promising speakers．According to Richard Whately’s(2001)propositions on the choice of subjects，a student who“has hardly any information，and no interest”and who“knows little，and cares still less”(1012)will form“a habit of stringing together empty commonplaces，and vapid declamations—of multiplying words and spreading out the matter thin，—of composing in a stiff，artificial，and frigid manner”(1013)．Such students will find themselves so alienated from the art of oratory that they will lose both confidence and passion．

A very formal or classical topic in the Western rhetoric tradition，such as“Virtue is the middle way between vices”(Whately，2001:1013)，cannot fit well into the syllabus of a Chinese students’public speaking class．Even English majors with adequate vocabulary and expressions do not have sufficient knowledge or information in the topic to make full use of their language skill to make a persuasive speech．Hence，this kind of topic might form psychological burdens or even repulse，causing a student，according to Whately(2001)，“string together vague，conveying no distinct ideas to his own mind，and second-hand sentiments which he does not feel”(1013)．The students will find the exercises to be both dreary and abstruse，which will only increase their speaking anxiety．

For Chinese English majors we may arrange the topics accordingly:for the first third of the semester，sample speeches and topics which are fun and have the most information and vocabulary;during the middle of the semester，speeches and topics that use ideas，concepts，or vocabulary learned in other courses during the same semester;and，at the end of the semester，less familiar topics or speeches which require preparatory research before delivery．With the increasing difficulty of topics，the teacher needs to bear in mind this principle:only when students have mastered the topics at one level are they encouraged to go further into more complex and unfamiliar topics．

Emphasis on Logic Analysis

Since Chinese students are less trained in logical analysis，as shown above in the case of prepared speech，the teacher needs to offer more opportunities for them to discover the logical development of sample speeches，learn approaches to organize a speech，and deliver a speech with the assistance of logic．When exposing students to different kinds of speeches，a surface reading is not sufficient，but a delving into the logical framework and its function is required．By leading the students to read and analyze excellent speeches，we help them become familiar with various approaches to logical organization，such as chronological，topical，cause—effect—solution，etc．，and help them realize the joint working of logical，emotional，and ethical appeals in the speeches．We may also require them to use one of these approaches to reorganize their drafted speech，and suggest they jot down or draw the logical outline as a visual aid in their stage performance．

Peer-supportive Process

Speakers not only receive scrutiny or judgment from the audience，but also try to identify with the audience in order to achieve persuasion．Kenneth Burke’s(2001)A Rhetoric of I-dentification elaborated on the connection between“identification”and“persuasion”:“a speaker persuades an audience by the use of stylistic identifications;his act of persuasion may be for the purpose of causing the audience to identify itself with the speaker’s interests;and the speaker draws on identification of interests to establish rapport between himself and his audience”(1340)．In order to complete the“stylistic identification，”the speaker needs to calculate the audience’s interest，demographic situations，and expectations before the speech，while during the speech he might be influenced by their responses and the mutual interactions．This“identification”squeezes the student speakers

，in which they face the challenge of having to win over the audience in a second language．But if their listeners are on a similar level with them in language acquisition，they won’t criticize their fellow speakers so harshly，and will be more supportive，reducing the psychological burden thrust upon them．Therefore，the information about the sharing of speech anxiety on both the speaker and the audience should be the first thing to teach in the course，so that the students can understand the universality of speech fright and learn not to overestimate negative outcomes of failing a speech．

Furthermore，if we involve the audience in the pragmatic process of speech training，with the aim of establishing a peersupportive practice mode，we can expect a fear-reducing classroom．But how indeed shall we involve the audience in the practice?John M．Murphy(1991)suggests that while working in dyads or small groups，individual students can be provided with multiple opportunities for revising and elaborating their presentations through a process of delivering the same topic a number of different times to different members of the class．(55)

In the case of that student who could write down her speech excellently but would freeze up delivering them in front of the class，she may start from speaking to a small group，from which she could gain experience and get feedback．If the feedback is positive，her confidence would be enhanced;if the feedback is negative，she would realize that the cost of making a mediocre speech is not as scary as she thought．If we expand the group size consecutively，then the speaker would have the experience of not only speaking in front of several people but also to a large group，which would not only sharpen her skill through repeated practices but also reconfirm the infeasibility of overestimating the“severity of the actual occurrence of feared outcomes”(Nelson et．al，2010:287)．In a Public Speaking class，this peer-supportive process will help students associate the speech delivery process with a risk-diminishing prospect and thus gain a better sense of their potential for being successful speakers．

Formative Assessment

Since a Public Speaking class is full of efforts of persuasion，expectations of constructive responses，and potential risks of losing one’s confidence，the student speakers are crave for supports not only from the peer but also the teacher．There is a kind of social phobia at the prospect of receiving comments or criticism from others．As defined by M．F．Fensholt(2006)，“social phobias are elicited by exposure to certain types of social or performance situations，especially situations that are perceived to involve scrutiny or judgment by others”(23)．This requires the teacher to be particularly cautious in his class activity assessment．By this token，the traditional summative assess-ment is not suitable in the evaluation process of the course．Summative assessment tells students how well they are learning by grading them with accurate scores．But unsatisfactory scores would dampen students’confidence standing in front of an audience．Well-designed formative assessments，on the contrary，would lead to different results．As defined by Fisher and Frey(2007)，“Formative assessments are ongoing assessments，reviews，and observations in a classroom．The results of formative assessments are used to modify and validate instruction”(4)．Formative assessment aims to promote students’performance by providing feedback instead of calculating their achievement by grading．

Based on the presupposition that“formative assessment moves student forward in their learning”(Fisher＆ Frey，2007:20)，I would suggest the following points in using formative assessment in Public Speaking．First，change grading to provide feedback in the form of comments，which should emphasize the success of a speaker;for example，the speaker could be given three positive comments but only one corrective suggestion．Second，have the speaker，his peers，and his teacher all assess his performance together，and first talk about the successful aspects of the performance．Third，individualize each student’s goal for the course．After several rounds of feedback，the teacher should help a student identify his advantage and disadvantage in public speaking;the teacher then help him set up personalized goals．For a student with high proficiency in oral communication，the teacher could encourage him to choose more complex and unfamiliar topics;while for a student who has lower language proficiency and usually lower confidence，the teacher may suggest that he decrease the complexity of his task before he is prepared well enough for more demanding tasks．

Conclusion

The practice of oratory，one of the earliest concerns and subjects in the Western rhetorical tradition，encounters new problems when transplanted to a Chinese classroom．The speaking anxiety of Chinese English majors is a crucial issue of“disacclimatization”in the process of the transplantation．In dealing with anxiety，the initial aim is to arouse students’interest and confidence．Thus，it is the teacher，playing the role of the“transplanter，”who has to find ways to correlate and tackle the linguistic，rhetorical，and cultural issues involved，so that the students will understand，appreciate，imitate，and recreate the rhetorical tradition of the other language．The solutions that I have suggested in this paper—appropriate topics，a peer-supportive process，an emphasis on logical training，and formative assessments—all aim at giving support to advanced second language speakers．Through such a multidimensional support system，our speakers can be expected to fulfill their“stylistic identification”within a context full of dynamic linguistic and cultural conflicts．

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［3］Fensholt，M．F．The Francis Effect:The Real Reasons You Hate Public Speaking and How to Get Over It［M］．Ontario:Oakmont Press，2006．

［4］ Fisher，D．＆ N．Frey．Checking for Understanding:Formative Assessment Techniques for Your Classroom［M］．Alexandria:Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development，2007．

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