Page 82 - The SpeakTeach method - Esther de Vrind

Chapter 4. Perspective of the students - adaptivity
& Bjork, 2004), and this iterative process can provoke positive feelings by giving the students
control over the learning process.
Affect creating loop
According to Carver and Scheier (2000: 1717; 2012: 32), feelings arise during the process of self-regulation as learners compare their current performance to the desired situation. Learners evaluate how well they are doing at reducing discrepancies over time, and the negative or positive feelings resulting from this evaluation of progress over time may in turn influence the learning process. Negative feelings such as stress, fear of failure and anxiety may hamper the learning process (Boekaerts, 2010; Bandura, 1997). Especially for speaking skills, research has shown that anxiety often plays an important negative role (Cheng, Horwitz & Schallert, 1999, Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986; Simons & Decoo, 2009;). The threat to one's self-image is the main cause of speaking anxiety (Horwitz et al., 1986). A safe environment and insight in one’s own capacities help to reduce anxiety (Horwitz et al., 1986; Simons & Decoo, 2009).
Several positive effects of self-assessments have been reported. De Saint Léger and Storch (2009), for instance, found that self-assessment of speaking skills has positive effects on self-confidence and on the willingness to communicate orally in class. By giving students insight and the opportunity to control their own learning process, positive feelings can be provoked and anxiety can be reduced. Ownership of students’ own learning process can have a motivational effect (Blanche, 1988; Cauley & McMillan, 2010). In assessments, students are given some control over their learning by giving them the opportunity to reflect on the criteria for the task and on the steps needed to meet the learning goal (Cauley & McMillan, 2010). Furthermore, the opportunity to perform the same task several times helps them to get a better grip on their own learning process (Bygate, 2001) and to perceive progress. The iterative process of monitoring and improving may result in self-efficacy which in turn generates positive feelings about self-regulation of speaking skills (e.g. Bandura, 1997).
4.2.3 Design Principles
The aim of this study was to contribute to the goal of guiding students to become autonomous learners in learning to speak foreign languages and to provide concrete design principles to support this leaning process adaptively. In the previous section we described requirements
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