Poetry out loud: fostering ESL learners public speaking skill / Sharina Saad ... [et al.]

The prospect of standing in front of peers and holding forth on an academic topic for longer than two seconds is frightening to many. When it comes to oral presentations, many of the students seem to have public speaking anxiety. PSA can negatively affect grades and attendance and can have quelling effects on student participation and motivation. Yet, speaking well in public is an indispensable skill. Students who are fluent tend to excel at extracurricular activities, athletics, and social clubs, and they get better jobs opportunities. In college and in the workplace, individual and group presentations have become rigor. So, effective public speaking is something the researchers try to prioritize with students, despite occasional shrieks of terror. To increase confidence and fluency, Poetry out Loud is an innovation with contemporary poetry for the young learners. The innovation consists of two interventions with ESL learners which were firstly compilation of poetry called “The Colors of Love” which was introduced to have students start by reading some poems together as a class. Then students were introduced to a poetry website “Hello Poetry” to choose a poem that they enjoy and then practice reading their poems aloud in pairs, experimenting with expression, volume, and speed. Once students have one more round of practice, the students share their poems aloud with the class using creative videos. A focused group interview revealed that by giving students a chance to read poems out loud together as a class and to each other helped to improve students' confidence and oral language skills, as well as their reading fluency.