To be able to apply the strategy, attractive teaching media which was up to date was needed. Here I used some current newspaper headlines that highlighted the issue and also a short video that was an excerpt of a TV news discussion about the topic.
Conclusion
Overall, the teaching plan was carried out well and all the teaching learning steps were done as planned. Based on my observation and the results of the students' assessment, I think the strategy that I used was effective as both of the learning objectives were reached. During the Think, Pair and Share activity, students were engaged and had no problems in formulating their viewpoints and sharing them both with a partner and in a big group setting. Here, I could see that their motivation to speak English was as expected. This can also be seen in the students' motivation assessment. At the end of the lesson, students were also able to come up with resolutions of the problems collaboratively. They even managed to compose some insightful ideas. This shows that they were able to think critically and see an issue from different points of view objectively.
I think there are two aspects that play an important role in the success of the strategy. The first one is the topic of the discussion, "Should students be allowed to use AI to do their assignments?" which is closely related to students' experiences in their daily life. This makes it easy for the students to compose their ideas both from the opponent and proponent side. The second aspect is the time given to the students before the speaking activities. By enabling students to prepare what they are going to say, they will feel less anxious and less afraid of making mistakes. The Pair activity is also another aspect that helps them feel more confident and less afraid of being judged.
In conclusion, although there are still some improvements that need to be done, the particular strategy used was able to solve the problem that was identified in my English classroom.
BibliographyÂ
Leyaley, R. (2023) Students' Passiveness in Speaking English: The Culprit behind the Silence in the Classroom. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 11, 98-111.
IMPROVING STUDENTS' MOTIVATION IN SPEAKING ENGLISH THROUGH ACTIVE LEARNING STRATEGY
Active Learning in Teaching English for Young  Learners
