International Teleconference on Technology and Policy for Supporting Implementation

of COVID-19 Recovery Plan in Southeast Asia (ITTP-COVID19)

INCORPORATING COLLABORATIVE AND SELF-DIRECTED ORAL FLUENCY-

BUILDING ACTIVITIES TO ADDRESS FILIPINO GRADE 8 STUDENTS’
ANXIETY IN ENGLISH AND IMPROVE ORAL FLUENCY

Julius Anthony P. Denosta*1, Carissa T. De Guzman2, Lord Wyron D.C. Borromeo3,

Almelyn R. Labay4, Roman Gerard N. Loreto5 , Nevin Matthew P. Uy6 and
Lizamarie C. Olegario7
1-7College of Education, University of the Philippines Diliman,
Quezon City, PHILIPPINES.
(E-mail:1 jpdenosta@up.edu.ph, 2carizdeguzman@gmail.com,
3ldborromeo@up.edu.ph, 4 arlabay@up.edu.ph,
5rnloreto@up.edu.ph, 6nevinpuy@gmail.com,
7lcolegario@up.edu.ph)

ABSTRACT
In an eight grade English class in a public high school in the Philippines, students were
reportedly struggling with their English communication skills, particularly in speaking. The
limited speaking opportunities in the English classroom negatively affected the students’
confidence and oral fluency in speaking. This action research investigated how incorporating
collaborative oral-fluency building activities and self-directed activities help address students’
anxiety in speaking English and improve their oral fluency. A four-week intervention program
was implemented to an online class of 40 students held during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data
was collected through observations during online synchronous sessions and transcription of
audio recordings of asynchronous student reflections. Qualitative analysis of data revealed the
following results: thematic analysis of students’ reflections showed that collaborative learning
activities helped address anxiety by providing a safe space for students to participate in
speaking activities and connect with their classmates. Students gained more confidence in
speaking after the intervention as they perceived their experience in English class positively.
In terms of oral fluency, an analysis of observations made during synchronous classes showed
that students exhibited progress in their use of the English language, vocabulary, pace, pauses
and completeness of delivery of their speech in English. The intentional inclusion of
collaborative learning activities in designing learning experiences in English, as well as
further studies on improving oral fluency during impromptu conversations in class and in
various modes of learning are recommended.

Keywords: collaborative online learning, language anxiety, oral fluency

INTRODUCTION
Despite the longstanding use of the English language for teaching and learning in the
Philippine classrooms, it has been consistently noted that academic performance of students
in English is poor. The recent results from Programme for International Student Assessment
(PISA) reported that Filipino 15-year old students ranked among the lowest in terms of
performance in reading, mathematics and science (OECD, 2018). The current national
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achievement test results also confirm the very low mastery level of students in English.

The focus of teaching English in the country is often about the mastery of grammatical
structures and application of language skills mainly in written form. In the classroom students
rarely have opportunities to practice their oral communication skills and improve their oral
fluency. In eight grade English classes in a public high school in Quezon City, students are
reportedly struggling with their English communication skills. Students are having difficulty
with composing ideas, as well as articulating these ideas in English. Students would often
switch codes when explaining, and grammatical errors are often observed when students
attempt to speak in class.

A significant factor to this current concern in the teaching and learning of English is the very
limited number of opportunities available to students to practice their oral communication
skills. With the current situation of online learning due to the pandemic, students meet only an
hour a week for learning English. With the present concern of having limited opportunities to
practice oral communication skills, this action research attempts to find ways in helping public
school students in the eight grade address their anxiety in speaking in English and improve
their oral communication skills, particularly their oral fluency.

The problem that the researcher intended to investigate is outlined in the following statement:
How does incorporating collaborative oral-fluency building activities and self-directed
activities address Filipino Grade 8 students’ anxiety in speaking English and improve their oral
fluency?

By intentionally incorporating collaborative oral-fluency building activities during

synchronous sessions and self-directed activities during asynchronous sessions while setting
up parameters to establish a safe, non-threatening English-speaking classroom, the intervention
aims to help students lessen their anxiety in using English orally and eventually, exhibit fluency
by being able to deliver their ideas substantially to the audience.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Fluency in speaking, which is commonly termed as “oral fluency”, is usually associated with
the flow and continuity in speech performance, and to what extent one’s speech production is
smooth and automatic (Rossiter et al, 2010). Pangket (2019) mentioned that oral proficiency
is affected by three primary factors: 1) cognitive, which deals with conceptualization,
formulation or finding appropriate words to be used; 2) linguistic, which involves
pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary; and 3) affective, which refers to learners’ motivation
and level of engagement to practice oral communication skills.

In the review of fluency-building activities suggested by Kellem (2009) and Rossiter et al

(2010), it is inevitable to consider that these activities are social in nature, and require
interaction between teacher and student and among students themselves in order to work. A
study by Alrayah (2018) examined the impact of incorporating cooperative learning activities
in the oral fluency of English as Foreign Language (EFL) students in Sudan. Various
cooperative learning activities (Jigsaw, Round Robin, Three-step interview, Role Play and
Numbered Heads) have been incorporated in a one-month learning program of the
experimental group, and reported that the use of such activities had a positive influence in
increasing oral fluency, particularly in the following aspects: use of varied vocabulary and
expressions, grammatical structures, speaking smoothly and accurate pronunciation.
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of COVID-19 Recovery Plan in Southeast Asia (ITTP-COVID19)

Two studies that were recently conducted (Buitrago, 2017; Ahmad & Yunus, 2019) highlight
the positive impact of collaborative learning strategies in promoting oral fluency. Following
the intervention stages as mentioned by Buitrago (2017) and Ahmad and Yunud (2019) can
serve as models for creating a purposeful intervention for the current research locale.

While collaborative learning activities promoted support, teamwork and enthusiasm to

complete the learning activities, the inclusion of self-directed learning strategies helped
students to become invested in their own learning process, become aware of their own progress,
plan future steps and implement their personal learning strategies. The inclusion of self-
directed activities which was heavily concerned with self-reflection amplified the benefits of
the intervention in the study (Buitrago, 2017).

In addressing language anxiety, Ahmad and Yunus (2019) noted that the intervention included
an agreement to establish the English class as an English-speaking zone, where students can
safely practice expressing themselves in English. Participants noted in their interviews that
initially, everyone was conscious of the mistakes that they were making, but the agreement
eventually helped establish a relaxed and safe environment where they could regularly
practice their speaking skills. Adopting the establishment of the English zone where students
would agree in a contract about the use of the language and expected behavior towards others
can be beneficial in addressing the language anxiety of Filipino students in the chosen research
locale.

Learners of both foreign language and second language are likely to exhibit anxiety in studying
another language, and this can interfere and negatively affect the language acquisition process.
In their study, Gacho and Hajan (2019) investigated language anxiety among Filipino college
students. Language anxiety is often caused by the following factors as identified by Horwitz et
al et al. (1986) in their primary study: 1) communication apprehension, which is anticipating
fear brought by communicating with people; 2) test anxiety, a type of performance anxiety
related to the fear of failing an assessment; 3) fear of negative evaluation, or the fear and
avoidance of being evaluated negatively by teacher and fellow learners; and 4) anxiety caused
by learning environment, where the learning activities, the methods the teacher uses to teach
and peer pressure trigger the anxiety of the learner. The study revealed that students were most
anxious when they were asked to speak or answer teacher’s questions without adequate
preparations. They were also highly anxious when they needed to speak in front of their
classmates who were perceived to have better English skills. This study highlights the need for
creating a “safe” speaking environment free of negative judgment and immediate, unpleasant
correction where students will become more motivated to initiate conversations in English.

METHODOLOGY
This study was conducted in a grade eight English class in a public high school in Quezon City
Philippines. To adjust to the changes brought about by the covid-19 pandemic, this class
regularly met for one hour every week to conduct synchronous activities. Asynchronous
activities to supplement learning were often assigned to students on a weekly basis. Criteria
laid out in the previous sections of the study, such as the limited opportunities to practice oral
communication skills during class and students being hesitant or anxious and often having
difficulty speaking in English were all evident in the chosen locale where the intervention was
implemented.
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The researcher-designed intervention program intended to address two target outcomes: first,
to address students’ anxiety in expressing themselves in English, help them confidently deliver
their ideas and increase their initiative in conversing with others in English; and second, to help
students improve their oral fluency, that they would be able to completely deliver their ideas
in English. In order to achieve these outcomes, the intervention program was also divided into
two main parts: establishing a safe space for speaking in English for the affective outcome, and
a modified instructional plan for the intentional integration of collaborative learning activities
during synchronous sessions. Due to the pandemic brought about by Covid-19, this study was
conducted when students’ classes were delivered through online distance learning and was
conducted for four weeks only, covering two learning units of two sessions each.

This study utilized two main sources of data: first, the personal audio recordings of students to
see if there were changes with their perceived anxiety or confidence in expressing themselves
in English; and second, the observation notes made during synchronous sessions to note if
manifestations of oral fluency were present and if there noticeable changes throughout the
intervention program. At the end of each unit, selected students were invited to join a focus
group discussion to gain feedback from students about their learning experiences, to further
explore their thoughts and feelings during English class, and seek suggestions to be
implemented in the future sessions. The FGD was recorded and responses of the students
helped modify the implementation of the intervention program.

The two main sources of data were analyzed through the following procedures: thematic
analysis for the transcription of audio recordings and observation analysis for the observation
notes written during observation of synchronous sessions throughout the intervention period.
For the personal audio recordings of students, these recordings were transcribed. Afterwards,
these transcriptions were read for initial or open coding. Several readings of transcriptions
helped create, clarify or change codes, and patterns and relationships were considered in
creating categories (axial coding). The categories that were identified helped build the themes
emerging from the data. For the observation notes created during observation of synchronous
sessions, a summary of what was observed were provided, as well as a detailed analysis on
how the observations connect with and explain students’ changes in oral fluency and
confidence in expressing themselves in English.

RESULT & DISCUSSION

Two major themes generated from the thematic analysis of the transcriptions are presented
here, as well as the corresponding categories and substantiations for each category.

Providing Safe Space for Participating Through Speaking

The first major theme generated from the students’ reflections is that the collaborative learning
activities intentionally integrated into the learning sessions helped them perceive participation
in such activities positively, and allowed them to interact more with their classmates.

Perceiving participation in English class activities positively. During the intervention period,
students were given group activities synchronously and asynchronously which gave way to
more interaction and communication among them. For the four sessions, many students had
mentioned that group activities were the ones that they enjoyed the most. Many of them were
happy to have the group activities as avenues for social interaction, for having positive
experiences working with their group mates, and for their output being made richer in content
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because they were able to share ideas with each other and produce a work that exceeds their
expectations. One student, “Mary”, shared in her audio recording, “I enjoyed groupings
because we had shared our ideas… we were happy because we had a variety of ideas we shared
and put it in our answers.”

Table 1. Categories related to providing safe space for participating through speaking

Categories Associated Codes

Perceiving participation in enjoyed group activity the most, happy for variety of ideas
English class activities shared, obedient and cooperative group mates, grateful for
positively output that are beyond expectations

Communicating more with group activities as a way to connect with classmates and
group members friends, being able to communicate with group members,
sharing of ideas, open with each other

In addition, one student also shared that group activities became enjoyable for her because it
helped her establish a relationship with her peers despite the current situation. In her audio
recording, “Claire” shared,
“...mas gusto ko po ang group activity… kasi po doon po nakakapag-usap po kami
kasi po diba po ngayon puro chat na lang po yung nangyayari kasi po puro online
naman po …” (I prefer group activity because we get to talk to each other, because
now we are limited to chat because all activities are online.)

These experiences of the students during the group activities were also evident in a study by
Al-Nouh and Taqi (2014) as they found out that the majority of the participants in their study
felt delighted in working with their group mates and socializing with others. Also they were
more motivated to work and accomplish the tasks.

Communicating more with group members. Social interaction among students has been
limited due to restrictions in online learning. Thus, the students found group activities helpful
in getting to know their classmates and being able to connect with them. Many students also
mentioned that they enjoyed the group activities because they were able to share their ideas.
As noted by Alrayah (2018), the group activities gave students the opportunity to be actively
involved in the learning process. By sharing, evaluating and synthesizing their ideas, students
were able to learn from one another and appreciate everyone’s ideas and contributions. Some
students also mentioned having open communication with group members to discuss plans and
assignment of tasks. One group leader, “Kyla” shared in her audio reflection how efficient their
group was in accomplishing the task because the members were attentive and cooperative:
“…my experience so far are wonderful. Our planning went fast since we
discussed it early. My groupmates […] really takes my warning seriously. I’m
so happy about it. They become more open to me and the actors shoot quickly
too, same with the editing.”
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Sharing ideas and discussing with their classmates how to go about the tasks during group
activities engaged students in using the target language in authentic, pragmatic, and meaningful
purposes (Alrayah, 2018).

Several students also noted that the group members supported and helped each other. In the
first FGD, some students mentioned that their classmates opened up about the difficulties they
encounter in class. For instance, “Anton” shared, “There are people who will chat me na ang
hirap magsalita ng English. Kinakabahan daw po sila” (There were people [who said in the
group chat] that it was difficult to speak in English. They said they were nervous). Aside from
being open and being able to empathize with their classmates, many students also reported how
they extended help to one another. For instance, in the second FGD, a group leader shared how
she helped her group members in translating from Tagalog to English or vice versa. “Kyla”
said, “Yung groupmates po ‘pag ‘di nila alam yung English, sinasabi nila sa akin. Ako po ang
nagiging translator ng group” (When my group-mates do not know [the terms in] English, they
tell me. I became the translator of the group). Another student, “JC”, shared about helping each
other during recitations, “May GC kami ng friends; ‘pag may natatawag sa amin
nagtutulungan kami” (My friends and I have a [group chat]; we help each other when [the
teacher] calls on one of us). Sharing about these language difficulties and insecurities and
seeking or offering help to address these problems indicate that students have established trust
and rapport with their group-mates. The same had been observed in other similar studies.
Fischer (2014) observed that after implementing a series of group activities and panel
discussions, “students developed stronger bonds […] and became more willing and able to help
each other.” This would help establish a safe and supportive environment for language
learning, particularly practicing speaking.
Gaining Confidence in Speaking

The second major theme generated from the codes ultimately describes how the integration of
collaborative and self-directed learning activities impact one’s anxiety in speaking. Clearly,
the activities helped students gain more confidence in speaking as they have seen the learning
experience during English class as positive and allowed them to practice their skills.
Gaining confidence in speaking. After four weeks of intervention, all students reported that
they gained more confidence to speak in English. When asked to share in class and in the focus
group discussion, the students reported being more prepared in what they are going to say and
they felt less anxious when sharing their opinion publicly:
“Mahirap po kasi wala akong confidence para mag-recite ngayon po mayroon
akong confidence. (It’s hard because I’m not confident in participating in class
but nowadays, I’ve become more confident)”

Students have become more motivated to try speaking and accepted that making mistakes is
part of improving and becoming better. “Annie” shared this in her recording: “I realized that
[…] I need to be confident. There’s no need to be afraid of speaking. And, it is okay to have a
mistake but keep moving forward.”

These responses are confirmed by the observations made during synchronous sessions where
more and more students were reciting in class as the sessions went by. Nadiah, Arina, and
Ikhrom (2019), agreed that the one thing that is needed for the development of self-confidence
in public speaking is practice. One of the sessions tackled literature analysis which is a form
of storytelling, in which Nadia, Arina, and Ikhrom (2019), state that another preparation to
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build self-confidence is storytelling. Speakers can choose an interesting topic to tell. Then,
speakers can do storytelling with family or close friends before speaking in public.

Table 2. Categories related to gaining confidence in speaking

Categories Associated Codes

Gaining confidence in more confident in speaking, less hesitant to speak, more

speaking confident with choice of words, nervousness decreased,
motivated to practice speaking, no longer afraid to speak,
self-awareness on one’s speaking abilities and weaknesses,
belief that one can overcome shyness in speaking

Positive experience in great and fun experience, inspiring and heartwarming story
English class from class, gained knowledge, improvement in expressing
oneself

Helpful environment encouraging and supportive teachers, being asked to speak

English all the time, audio recordings as most helpful for
practice

Furthermore, the increased confidence in speaking could be attributed to the intentional

integration of collaborative learning activities during synchronous sessions and self-directed
learning activities during asynchronous sessions. The inclusion followed the principles
recommended by Kellem (2009) in designing fluency building activities: (1) repetition, which
was seen when students were able to use repetitively the words and concepts that they were
learning in various activities during and outside the sessions; (2) increased speaking time,
clearly seen as most of the class time were allotted for students to be able to discuss ideas with
each other rather than the teacher doing all the talking during a synchronous session, and asking
them to make oral outputs, such as personal audio reflections, rather than requiring them to
submit written outputs outside class; preparation before speaking; (3) preparation before
speaking, where guide questions for discussion were given beforehand and written planning
through accomplishing group worksheets and posting answers in their group chats were
encouraged; (4) use of familiar and motivating topics and (5) ensuring appropriate level were
considered in using examples for propaganda techniques and selecting the reading material in
which students would be able to relate with easily.

For the sixth principle which is to teach the use of formulaic sequences, this was later
incorporated in the intervention as suggested by a participant during the first group discussion
to further help them be mentally prepared when answering questions during discussions. By
then, activities were provided not only with guide questions but also with prompts to help
students structure their answers when giving responses. Finally, for the seventh principle which
is imposing time limits, this was implemented but was not strictly followed as extensions to
accomplish the group activities were given during the sessions. It was expected that students
would need longer time for brainstorming ideas, which would be accomplished in a faster way
had these activities been assigned individually.
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Positive experience in English class. Students found the class to be fun and great in helping
them improve their skills and confidence. Aside from learning various concepts, students were
able to connect with the materials that they used in class, such as the story of The Aged Mother
which they found to be personally “inspiring and heartwarming.” According to Barr (2016),
much of the research that does exist shows that students’ perceptions of classroom climate at
the postsecondary level have a great impact on learning, motivation, satisfaction, and
achievement. While the students are not at the postsecondary level, it still applies to them.

Helpful environment. Finally, students mentioned that the way the English class was being
handled helped them become less anxious in speaking and learning English. The reminders
and encouragement given by the teacher helped “Kyla” to become a little braver in expressing
herself in English:
“Lastly, I feel cheered up. The way of Ma’am De Guzman and Sir Julio cheering
us to express our thoughts in English and don’t be afraid committing a mistake
just really cheered me up to not be afraid speaking in English.”

Turano (2005), found that a large factor in teacher effectiveness is being able to establish
positive relationships with students. A teacher, who cannot communicate with his or her
students, will not be effective. Effective teachers create a helpful environment which helps
their students. Students also found it helpful to be asked to speak in English during the entire
class. Even though it was the source of difficulty for many, eventually they deemed it to be
helpful in trying out speaking in class.

Apart from collaborative learning activities in class, the audio recordings which were done as
an asynchronous activity were reported to be helpful since it provides an opportunity outside
class to still practice their speaking skills. Structuring the English class that set agreements
with students to feel safe in expressing themselves freely and to learn to accept mistakes helped
them lessen their communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation and anxiety
brought by the learning environment, which are the specific language anxieties evidently
affecting them as identified in their personal audio reflections.

In the focus group discussion with students who were identified as most anxious, four out of
six participants agreed that the Safe Space reminders given at the start of the class and which
were consistently enforced by the teacher helped in alleviating their feelings of anxiety towards
speaking. “Kyla” was able to summarize the sentiments of the group:
“Nakatulong siya sa akin nang sobra-sobra kasi nakakakaba po pero pag
nabasa mo yung reminders, nakakawala ng kaba.” (It helped me so much
because I really find [speaking in English] terrifying, but whenever I read
the reminders, it soothes my anxiety.)

The thematic analysis of transcriptions of audio reflections of students generated two main
themes that answer the question, “How does incorporating collaborative and self-directed
learning activities address students’ anxiety in speaking English?” First is that these activities
provide a safe space for students to participate through speaking activities, which helps them
perceive participation in the English class activities as a positive experience, and provides
avenue for them to connect with their classmates despite the limitations of their current setup.
Second, collaborative and self-directed learning activities helped students gain confidence in
speaking. Building a safe space for students to freely try to express themselves in English made
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them less hesitant to speak and become aware of their own potential for becoming better at
speaking.

Oral Fluency in Asynchronous Tasks

To confirm the findings observed during synchronous sessions, comments on the personal
audio reflections for the selected six students in terms of the identified factors for oral fluency
were also generated. The following provides a summary of the common changes among the
participants for each oral fluency metric.

Language. The guide questions given for their audio reflections were structured to start at
being very guided (statements that they need to fill in the blanks for their answers) to more
open-ended (what, how and why questions that asked them to elaborate their answers). At the
beginning sessions of the intervention, it was clear that students answered with very simple
statements that used very simple words. One participant illustrated this difference very clearly.
Prior to the intervention, she used the stem given and provided a direct answer:
“(I can finally say I’m good at speaking English when) I’m able to speak
confidently and with correct grammars.”

By the end of the intervention, this participant was able to fully explain her answer to a question
completely:
I feel a little confident now at speaking in English because I realized that
there’s nothing bad at making mistakes and… shyness and awk... shyness
and awkwardness in speaking English will pass. It will also help us in the
future when we travel around the world or apply for work because knowing
English language increases your chances of getting a good job and a
multinational company within your home country or for finding work
abroad.

When code-switching between Filipino and English language was the major concern during
synchronous sessions, length of sentences and appropriate usage of the words were considered
for their asynchronous recordings. Statements given by the students tended to be longer, and
use of varied and appropriate words, subject-verb agreement and lesser grammatical errors
were observed.

Vocabulary. Changes from the repetitive use of limited, simple words and the occurrence of
many contractions in their sentences to the use of varied, more fitting choice of words were
observed in the students’ answers. The increase in their vocabulary, particularly their ability to
use the words learned in class appropriately in their statements were noticed.

Pace. Since these students were identified as the most anxious ones in their English class, it
was common observation for all to speak slowly and with a staggering pace at the initial stages
of the intervention. Unfamiliarity with the task and transition from written tasks to oral
activities contributed to this initial slow pace in speaking.

Eventually, students were observed to have better, free-flowing cadence in the way they
delivered their responses, with less instances of prolonging initial or final word sounds and
putting inappropriate stress on certain syllables.
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Pause. In their audio recordings, students were initially found to either not take the time to
pause at all and later on finding difficulty to continue what they wanted to say, or putting
inappropriate pauses somewhere in their sentences. However, changes for some students were
observed as a few of them learned to strategically use pauses to emphasize their answers and
chunk words into meaningful phrases.

Completeness of Delivery. Corresponding to the observations for language and vocabulary,

answers given by the students in the first few recordings were simple and direct to the point.
Later on, students were able to elaborate their answers, by using their personal experience in
class or communicating what they were thinking or feeling during a particular experience in
the intervention. Some delivery of answers were noticed to be circular in the beginning, but
the same students learned to provide coherent answers that directly respond to the question
being asked, and being able to give appropriate justification for their statements.

To sum up the observations for asynchronous reflections, it was clear that the selected students
had observable improvement in their oral fluency. As they became more acquainted with the
repetitive process of recording themselves while speaking, results for this observation
correspond with the improvements observed in their synchronous sessions. Students were able
to use varied words in their sentences, and began to have a more confident pace in speaking
while being able to use pauses strategically to give emphasis in their answers. Finally, from
giving simple statements that directly answer questions, students eventually practiced various
ways for elaborating their answers. As they increased their confidence in speaking, their
fluency also had remarkable improvements after the intervention.

CONCLUSION
There were several aspects of the intervention that were found to be most helpful in addressing
language fluency problems. First, establishing a safe and supportive learning space for
speaking helped students increase their engagement in classroom activities. This corresponds
to the recommendations made by several studies to create an accommodating and welcoming
environment to help students be at ease when practicing their communication skills (Gatcho &
Hajan, 2019; Ahmad & Yunus, 2019; Fischer, 2014).

Second, by designing the activities to be collaborative in nature, lessened feelings of anxiety

could be attributed to the collaborative feedback that students experienced in their learning
process. Being able to consult with one another in formulating their group answers and
presentations, more confidence was gained in expressing their answers that were earlier
approved and supported by their peers. The collaborative activities specifically addressed these
anxieties by helping students be more prepared by going through several consultations and
rehearsals with their peers. While their understanding of subject matter was being polished by
learning from the ideas of others, students also obtained models in speaking provided by their
more confident and fluent classmates, as well as their group leaders who provided ample
guidance to their members.

Three aspects of the intervention were considered to be greatly beneficial in improving the oral
fluency of the students: first, the inclusion of collaborative activities in both synchronous and
asynchronous activities provided many and varied opportunities for students to practice their
speaking skills. Teachers of English language are invited to consider the benefits of
incorporating collaborative and self-directed learning activities in their English
classes.mLearning a second language can be threatening to many Filipino students, particularly
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in speaking, so educators are challenged to transform their classrooms into safe and free spaces
to practice their speaking skills. Designing speaking activities to be more collaborative can
help students be more at ease with their classmates and be prepared during class presentations.

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