Page 144 - The SpeakTeach method - Esther de Vrind
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Chapter 6. General conclusions and discussion
6.1 Aims and research questions
Guiding students to become autonomous learners in learning to speak foreign languages is an important goal in foreign language education (Holec, 1981; Lee, 1998; Little, Dam & Legenhausen, 2017), but difficult to realize in regular classroom settings in secondary schools. The objective of this thesis was to design and evaluate an approach for self-regulated learning of speaking skills that is adaptive for secondary school students and practical for teachers in their regular teaching practice. The main research question addressed in this thesis was therefore: What are the design principles for an approach for self-regulated learning of speaking skills in a foreign language that is adaptive for students and practical for teachers?
In order to answer this main question, a pilot study was conducted into a possible adaptive approach in which self-evaluation by students, one of the design principles of the adaptive approach, was tested in the classroom (Chapter 2). Then on the basis of the pilot and further literature, the adaptive approach was developed and tested in the classroom. Chapter 3 reported on the development of a practical adaptive approach for teaching speaking skills in a foreign language, and the evaluation of its practicality. Chapter 4 reported research into the adaptivity of the approach for students. Chapter 5 focused on another aspect of practicality, i.e. the investigation of how teachers could be supported to expand their teaching repertoire with variants of the adaptive approach and could follow individual learning routes. The main findings per chapter are summarized below (6.2) and followed by answering the main research question (6.3). Theoretical implications, limitations and suggestions for further research are discussed in 6.4. Finally, in 6.5, practical implications are specified.
6.2 Main findings per chapter
Main findings chapter 2
The pilot study in chapter 2 reported on self-evaluation by students as a design principle for a possible adaptive and practical approach for speaking skills in a foreign language, which was based on a review of the research literature. The study explored whether the students’ self- evaluations, each containing a diagnosis of a recording of their own speaking performance, a plan for improvement, desired working format or request for teacher’s assistance, could help teachers to gain insight into individual students’ needs regarding speaking skills and to adapt their intended feedback to meet these needs. The results of this pilot study showed that the
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