Article

The Toastmasters Approach:

An Innovative Way to Teach Public Speaking to EFL Learners
in Taiwan

Sun Yu-Chih
Institute of TESOL
National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
sunyc@mail.nctu.edu.tw

Abstract ■ Toastmasters is a widely recognized international club that aims to

develop and enhance the art of public speaking by offering participants educational
programmes and chances to speak before groups. This article reports on the inte-
gration of the Toastmasters approach to an EFL oral-communication class in
Taiwan. As both the author of this study and the teacher of an EFL course, I organ-
ized the course content and the course delivery that this paper describes. At the end
of the semester, the participants completed a written questionnaire that asked their
opinions about the effectiveness of this unorthodox teaching approach. Students
enthusiastically reported that they had improved their proficiency in public speaking
and that they had made gains in various skill areas. Drawing on these experiences,
this article addresses the value of a Toastmasters approach to foreign-language
curricular design.

Keywords ■ EFL speaking, oral communication, public speaking, speech communi-

cation, Toastmasters International.

Introduction
Learning to speak and communicate are major reasons for learning English
worldwide (Bassano and Christison 1987; Nunan 2003; Richards and
Renandya 2002). Communication is often a basic factor that employers
consider when evaluating job applicants (Osborn and Osborn 1991; Huckin
and Olsen 1991). Studies show that oral-communication skills correlate
highly with employment success (Huckin and Olsen 1991; Osborn and

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Regional Language Centre Journal 39.1

Osborn 1991). Because speaking is used for many different purposes, and
each purpose requires different skills (Richards and Renandya 2002), it is
important to teach students of ESL/EFL (English as a second language/
English as a foreign language) how to use English in both formal settings
and informal settings.
Public-speaking skills are keys to success in workplaces that span many
different disciplines (Payne and Carlin 1994). For example, in Huckin and
Olsen (2001), public speaking was ranked fourth out of 38 categories of
the most-needed skills for an engineering career, as identified by partici-
pants in the engineering discipline. The major benefits of public speaking
can be divided into the following three areas: (1) personal and social bene-
fits, (2) academic benefits, and (3) career benefits.
For personal benefits, public-speaking skills enable a person to com-
municate more effectively, to influence others’ beliefs and behaviour, and
to build self-confidence (Verderber and Verderber 2003; Osborn and
Osborn 1991). Furthermore, public-speaking skills can provide positive
social benefits to a person by strengthening, in general, his or her impact
on society and, in particular, his or her ability to voice opinions (Payne
and Carlin 1994; Osborn and Osborn 1991).
In an academic setting, first-year college students usually arrive on
campus with little or no formal public-speaking experience (Verderber and
Verderber 2003). Thus, appropriate public-speaking training can yield
appropriate public-speaking skills and, together, can help students succeed
academically. After all, public presentations and group discussions are
common activities in academic settings.
In addition, Bygate (1987) pointed out that public speaking can help
students (1) improve memory retention, (2) make appropriate adjust-
ments to public speaking on the basis of feedback received from others,
and (3) enhance motivation for learning. Public speaking can also pro-
mote learners’ speaking and listening abilities (Jaffe 2001).
Research indicates that public-speaking skills offer important career
benefits. Good communication skills aid in job searches and in promo-
tion to leadership positions (Verderber and Verderber 2003; Huckin and
Olsen 1991; Ping and Weiping 2004). Speech instruction for employees
is sometimes required for those who want to advance to higher positions
(Payne and Carlin 1994). In short, mastery of public speaking can help
people become more capable, more active, and more responsible in
careers, academics, and socialization (Osborn and Osborn 1991; Zarefsky
1996).
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The Toastmasters Approach

Despite these many advantages that derive from the development of

effective public-speaking skills, most students view public speaking as the
most anxiety-provoking classroom activity (Payne and Carlin 1994). For
ESL/EFL learners, the situation may be even worse because the public
speaking is in a foreign language. As revealed in Young’s (1990) study,
the student’s primary source of anxiety is not speaking in a foreign lan-
guage (a task that is, itself, highly conducive to anxiety) but speaking in
front of the class. Therefore, knowing how to help non-native speakers
of English deal with speech anxiety has long been a major concern of
teachers of public speaking (Ellis 1994; Young 1990; Verderber and
Verderber 2003).
Toastmasters International is a non-profit organization that offers an
educational programme in which students can develop and enhance their
public speaking. The first Toastmasters programme was founded in the
United States in 1924. To date, there are nearly 200,000 members,
spanning 10,000 clubs in more than 90 countries worldwide. Among the
10,000 clubs, about 115 clubs are in Taiwan (Toastmasters 2006). Most
of these clubs, including those clubs located in EFL regions, use English
as a communication language. Therefore, the club serves two main pur-
poses: it is a place in which students not only undergo public-speaking
training but also practice their skills in English oral communication.
The average number of Toastmasters participants per club ranges
from 20 to 30, with two-hour meetings held weekly or twice a month.
Participants proceed through a series of ten speaking assignments de-
signed to develop a basic foundation in public speaking. There is no
instructor in a Toastmasters club. Instead, members ‘learn-by-doing’;
that is, members learn autonomously by hosting a variety of sessions in
the meeting, by delivering prepared speeches, and by evaluating each
other’s oral presentations. Each meeting offers each member different
roles to play, including (1) officiator of meetings, (2) joke teller, (3) pre-
senter of impromptu speeches, (4) presenter of prepared speeches, and
(5) speech evaluator. This Toastmasters design of roles and of agendas
rests on an environment that is cooperative, supportive, and dynamic. It
would be, therefore, interesting to apply this design to EFL speech
classes in Taiwan.
Even though the Toastmasters programme offers systematic training
for effective public-speaking skills, there is a paucity of research on the
integration of the Toastmasters approach into the language classroom
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and, in particular, on the efficacy of this integration. The current study

examines and reports on how the Toastmasters training model can be
effectively integrated into an EFL speech class.

Method
Participants
Eighteen undergraduate students (nine males and nine females) who were
not English majors and who were attending a research-oriented university
in Taiwan participated in the study. The university’s language require-
ments for students who are not English majors include a four-credit
freshman-level English course and a two-to-four-credit elective language
course. (The specific requirements depend on the specific school in ques-
tion.) For the elective courses, students are offered a variety of options:
literature; news; academic writing; oral-communication skills; advanced
listening; and survival English, as well as corresponding courses in Japa-
nese, French, German, and so on. This study’s participants enrolled in
a course on English oral-communication skills. In fact, more than 40
students attended the first class meeting. However, after the instructor
briefly introduced the course objective (public-speaking training), more
than half of the students withdrew from the class. The final class size of 18
turned out to be an ideal class size for a Toastmasters-based speech class
because this size enabled each student to play at least one role at each
class meeting.

Course Description
The primary objective of this course was to enable students to improve
their public-speaking skills. Students were expected to complete assigned
speaking tasks, visit one of the local Toastmasters clubs, and then submit
an observation report. In each weekly two-hour class meeting, the first
hour was devoted to the development of public-speaking skills and of
related knowledge. The course content and the course activities were such
that students read articles about public speaking, watched video demon-
strations of speech delivery, discussed related issues, and role-played. The
second hour was based on the Toastmasters meeting agenda (see Appen-
dix). The Toastmasters meeting agenda identifies ten different roles, and in
this course, the students were assigned their weekly role at the beginning
of the semester. Table 1 describes each role.
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The Toastmasters Approach

Table 1. Roles in Toastmasters Meetings

Role Description of Role

1. Sergeant-at-Arms Serves as master host and arranges room and equipment
for each meeting.
2. Toastmasters of the Act as the host and conduct the entire meeting.
Day Introduce participants and each session Master. Give
concluding remarks at the end of the meeting.
3. Joke Master Tells a one-minute memorized humorous story.
4. Master of Table Prepares and issues a topic and randomly selects
Topics meeting attendees who then respond to the topic in an
impromptu manner. Collects and calculates voting for
the Best Table Topic Speaker of the Week.
5. Prepared Speech Presents a prepared speech on a given topic.
Speaker
6. General Evaluator Evaluates incidents that take place throughout the
meeting.
7. Speech Evaluator Gives an oral evaluation of one of the prepared
speeches.
8. Timer Explains the timing rules and keeps track of time for
each participant throughout the meeting.
9. ‘Ah’ Counter Notes words and sounds that speakers use as a pause
filter during a meeting.
10. Grammarian/Word Shares new words, phrases, or grammar rules with
Master students and encourages students to use them during the
meeting.

Basically, the meeting proceeds as follows: (1) Introduction Session—

Sergeant-at-Arms calls meeting to order (30 seconds); (2) Rules Session—
Timer reports the time requirement for each session (1 minute); (3) Joke
Session—Joke Master invites 3 or 4 students to tell a joke (7 minutes); (4)
Prepared Speech Session—each speaker presents a prepared speech for 4
or 5 minutes (17 minutes); (5) Table Topics Session—the Master of Table
Topics invites 3 or 4 speakers to present impromptu speeches (9 minutes);
and (6) Evaluation Session—members consider three speech evaluations,
the ‘Ah’ Counter’s report, the Grammarian/Word Master’s report, the
Timer’s report, the Master of Table Topics’ report, and the General Evalua-
tor’s report (10 minutes). Figure 1 illustrates the Toastmasters meeting
procedures and the interactions among the different roles.
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Sergeant-at-Arms

Joke Master Presenter 1, 2, 3, 4

Prepared Speaker (1)

Toastmasters
Prepared Speaker (2)
of the Day
Prepared Speaker (3)

Master of Table Topics Presenter 1, 2, 3, 4

Speech Evaluator (1)

Speech Evaluator (2)

Speech Evaluator (3)

General Evaluator
‘Ah’ Counter

Grammarian

Timer

Master of Table Topics

Figure 1. Procedures and Roles in a Toastmasters Meeting

Most students were assigned to at least one role per meeting. For
those who did not have any assigned role to play on a specific week, it
was still likely that the Table Topic Master or Joke Master would call
upon them during the Table Topics Session (impromptu speeches) or the
Joke Session.
The following specific practices characterized this study’s in-class
Toastmasters meeting. First, at the end of each Table Topic Session, the
participants voted for the Table Topic Speaker of the Day and the
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The Toastmasters Approach

instructor awarded the winner with a certificate as an encouragement.

Second, after students delivered their prepared speeches, the instructor
gave each speaker individualized written comments on areas that needed
further improvement. Third, students were required to attend at least
one Toastmasters club meeting outside of class, to write down their
observations of the meeting, and to hand in the written observations.
Finally, each in-class Toastmasters session was videotaped. Each student
reviewed the video recordings of himself or herself and, during mid-
terms and finals, submitted written self-observations about his or her
strengths and weaknesses. This study’s expectations were that such a
well-structured and interactive procedure would help students to over-
come their stage fright, to enhance their public-speaking skills, to practice
oral-communication skills in English, to improve self-confidence, and to
develop leadership skills.

Evaluation Instruments
I created a questionnaire to gather information on student attitudes and
student perceptions relative to the Toastmasters-based speech class. The
questionnaire was a 33-item, 5-point Likert scale whose responses ranged
from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Also, the questionnaire
contained 2 ranking questions and 1 open-ended question.
The 33-item Likert-scale questions corresponded to one of the fol-
lowing five subscales: (1) English-language improvement; (2) public-
speaking improvement; (3) affective perspective; (4) social perspective;
and (5) overall evaluation. Below is a brief explanation of each of the
five subscales.
The first subscale measured whether or not the Toastmasters approach
improved the participants’ language skills (listening, speaking, reading,
writing, vocabulary, and pronunciation). A high score on these items indi-
cates that the participants considered the approach helpful in improving
their English abilities.
The second subscale measured participants’ perception of how their
experience of the Toastmasters approach benefited their public speaking.
Questions in this category addressed five topics: stage manner; stage fright;
expression; organization skills; and critical thinking. A high score on this
scale indicates that the students considered the Toastmasters approach
beneficial to public speaking.
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The third subscale measured students’ affective perspective. A high

score on this subscale indicates that the Toastmasters approach created a
supportive and warm atmosphere in which students could develop self-
esteem and self-confidence.
The fourth subscale measured students’ perceptions of social factors
relative to the Toastmasters approach. A high score on this subscale indi-
cates that the students considered the Toastmasters approach a strength-
ener of leadership skills and of social skills.
The fifth subscale measured whether the participants held positive
overall attitudes toward the Toastmasters approach or negative overall
attitudes toward the approach. A high score on this subscale indicates that
the students held positive attitudes toward the approach.
The last part of the questionnaire contained two types of questions:
the ranking type and the open-ended type. For the two ranking questions,
students were asked to rank both their role preferences for the Toast-
masters meeting and the degree to which the roles were helpful. As for
the open-ended question, the students were asked to summarize their
experience of the Toastmasters approach. All items on the questionnaire
measured student perceptions of the effectiveness of the Toastmasters
approach.

Results
Figure 2 illustrates how the Toastmasters approach enhanced students’
learning. Table 2 reports each subscale’s descriptive statistics for the effec-
tiveness of the Toastmasters approach. Overall, the students responded
positively to the in-class Toastmasters approach. Among the five sub-
scales, the subscale measuring affective impact received the highest mean
score. That is, the participants believed that their use of the Toastmasters
approach promoted confidence, reduced speech anxiety, and encouraged
further practice and learning. Next to affective factors, improvement of
public-speaking skills scored second highest. The following section pro-
vides a closer analysis of each subscale.
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The Toastmasters Approach

Affective Impact Public-speaking Skills

Enhance self-confidence Reduce stage fright
Reduce speech anxiety Improve body language
Feel safe and supported Be able to express oneself

Toastmasters Approach

Social Skills Language Skills

Promote leadership skills Improve speaking skills
Develop bonds with classmates Hone listening skills
Conduct meetings competently Boost vocabulary/writing skills

Figure 2. Effects of Toastmasters Approach on Public-speaking Development

Table 2. Descriptive Statistics of the Effectiveness of

the Toastmasters Approach in Language Learning

Subscale Mean SD
Language skills 3.94 0.42
Public-speaking skills 4.51 0.54
Affective impact 4.53 0.40
Social impact 4.13 0.62

In terms of language-skills improvement, speaking and listening skills

received higher mean scores than did other skills. The least improved
skills were writing, grammar, and reading skills (see Table 3). The results
indicate that a Toastmasters approach improves oral production and oral
communication.
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Table 3. Descriptive Statistics for Improvement of Language Skills

Items Mean SD
Speaking skills 4.53 0.52
Listening-comprehension skills 4.13 0.64
Vocabulary skills 4.00 0.53
Pronunciation skills 3.93 0.88
Reading skills 3.47 0.83
Grammar ability 3.47 0.74
Writing skills 3.40 0.74

With regard to public-speaking improvement, as shown in Table 4,

students rated public-speaking skills higher than 4.0 on the 5-point Likert
scale. Overcoming stage fright, using body language, and learning to
express oneself received mean scores higher than 4.6. These results
indicate that the Toastmasters approach, which involves hands-on public-
speaking experience, improves public-speaking skills.

Table 4. Descriptive Statistics for Improvement of Public-speaking Skills

Items Mean SD
I have learned to overcome stage fright. 4.80 0.41
I have learned to use body language in public 4.73 0.46
speaking.
I have improved my ability to express ideas. 4.60 0.63
I have learned to organize speech writing. 4.27 0.80
I have improved spontaneous speech skills. 4.27 0.80
I have learned to listen effectively. 4.25 0.56
I have learned to give an evaluation. 4.18 0.45
I have learned to deliver different types of speeches. 4.11 0.65
I have learned to use vocal variety in speech. 4.02 0.48

In terms of affective impact, results show that the Toastmasters ap-

proach boosted student confidence relative to students’ presentation of
public speeches (see Table 5). All items in this category received scores of
4.00 or greater on the 5-point Likert scale. The students reported increases
in confidence, in interest, and in emotional support among classmates.
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The Toastmasters Approach

Table 5. Descriptive Statistics of Affective Impact

Items Mean SD
I have developed confidence in my public speaking 4.80 0.41
skills.
I have become interested in public speaking. 4.67 0.49
Toastmasters has taught me how to encourage others. 4.53 0.52
My experience of the Toastmasters approach has 4.47 0.52
boosted my self-confidence.
My anxiety toward public speaking has lessened. 4.40 0.74
Toastmasters is beneficial for my future career 4.40 0.74
development.
Public-speaking experience will increase the likelihood 4.13 0.64
that my public speaking is successful.
Toastmasters gives me a sense of achievement. 4.07 0.70

Student responses to general questions about their experience of the Toast-

masters approach (see Table 6) indicate that the experience was valuable,
enjoyable, and helpful. Most of them stated that, in the future, they might
participate in a Toastmasters club and would encourage others to join
similar activities.

Table 6. Descriptive Statistics of Overall Perception of the Toastmasters Approach

Items Mean SD
I consider Toastmasters to be a valuable experience. 4.87 0.35
Overall, the Toastmasters approach helped me. 4.73 0.46
I will encourage others to join similar activities. 4.60 0.51
Overall, I enjoyed the Toastmasters-based speech class. 4.53 0.64
I intend to continue with Toastmasters club meetings after 4.33 0.72
the class is finished.

On the basis of the students’ responses, Table 7 lists the rank order of
two areas of interest: students’ preferences for roles in the in-class Toast-
masters meetings, and students’ perception of these roles’ helpfulness.
Regarding the students’ preferred roles to play, the rankings are, in
descending order, Prepared Speech Speaker, Master of Table Topics,
Toastmasters of the Day, General Evaluator, and Speech Evaluator.
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Regarding the students’ perception of degree of helpfulness, the rankings

are, in descending order, Prepared Speech Speaker, Toastmasters of the
Day, Speech Evaluator, and Master of Table Topics. General Evaluator.
It is interesting to note that the rankings for the sixth, seventh, and eighth
least favorite roles are in the exact same order as the corresponding
rankings for least helpful roles: Joke Master (ranked in sixth place), ‘Ah’
Counter/Grammarian (ranked in seventh place), and a tie between
Sergeant-at-Arms and Timer (each ranked in eighth place).

Table 7. Rank Order of Preferences for and Helpfulness of Toastmasters Roles

Toastmasters Roles Degree of Preference Degree of Helpfulness

Prepared Speech Speaker
Master of Table Topics
Toastmasters of the Day
General Evaluator
Prepared Speech Evaluator
Joke Master
‘Ah’ Counter/Grammarian
Sergeant-at-Arms
Timer
1 1
2 4
3 2
4 6
5 3
6 6
7 7
8 8
9 9

The results reveal that students ranked the Prepared Speech Speaker as
the most popular and the most helpful post even though it involved the
most pressure and the most preparation time. One plausible explanation
for this role’s popularity is that the prepared speech is the most common
speech genre encountered by most students in their current academic and
future career endeavours. Therefore, opportunities to practice prepared
speeches helps fulfill the students’ instrumental motivation to learn to
speak in public.
The role of Master of Table Topics (spontaneous presentation) ranked
second in terms of preference and fourth in terms of helpfulness. Two
interrelated factors may explain the overall popularity of the role: first, the
Master of Table Topics enjoyed the ‘privilege’ of selecting a topic for
each impromptu speech, and second, the Master of Table Topics could
choose the classmates who would deliver a one-minute speech on the
topic. Impromptu speeches always evoked lots of fun and laughter, and
this fact, too, may explain why students enjoyed the role so much. The
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‘Toastmasters of the Day’ role ranked second in terms of helpfulness and

third in terms of preference. This role was the leading emcee for the entire
meeting. Students who assumed the role had to introduce each session’s
master, wrap up the meeting, and make comments about spontaneous
happenings throughout the meeting. In general, this role is very challeng-
ing and requires the role-player to be a critical listener, a critical thinker, a
reflective observer, and a strong leader.
The role of Prepared Speech Evaluator ranked third in terms of help-
fulness and fifth in terms of preference. The person who assumes this role
should be able to listen critically and intensively to speeches and should
provide insightful comments about the speeches. Students viewed this role
as stressful but helpful.

Qualitative Results
The qualitative data results of the Toastmasters-approach survey have
yielded findings similar to those in the quantitative survey. I placed those
responses into the following four categories: (1) public-speaking skills; (2)
language-learning skills; (3) leadership; and (4) affective relationships and
social relationships.

Public-speaking Skills
Most students mentioned that the Toastmasters approach helped them
acquire skills needed for public speaking. Those skills were (1) over-
coming stage fright, (2) preparing a speech, (3) delivering an impromptu
speech, (4) realizing the importance of body language, (5) speaking
naturally, (6) interacting with the audience, and (7) presentation style.

Language-learning Skills
The responses indicate that students held positive attitudes toward the
Toastmasters approach in nearly all areas of language learning, including
(1) opportunities to speak English, (2) ability to carry on a conversation or
a discussion, (3) speech delivery, and (4) daily-life uses of English
speaking. Regarding listening ability, students seem to have believed that
the Toastmasters approach provided them with a rich environment because
they had to listen critically to classmates’ presentations in order to provide
oral comment. As for writing ability, the Toastmasters approach offered
students the chance to organize and write speeches.
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Leadership
One of the major purposes of Toastmasters is to provide leadership
training. The current study’s participants indicated that they made progress
in leadership in terms of (1) learning how to conduct a meeting, (2) devel-
oping courage as the Toastmasters of the Day, and (3) becoming more
observant.

Affective Relationships and Social Relationships

In terms of affective relationships and social relationships, evaluation
responses suggest that the greatest student satisfaction from the course was
a feeling of increased confidence in public speaking. Moreover, Toast-
masters provided the students with an environment in which they could
interact socially and could form new friendships. Several students com-
mented that the class was memorably enjoyable, and some of these stu-
dents stated that the class was their best college experience. In addition to
in-class relationships, students appreciated the encouragement that they
received while attending a formal off-campus meeting of a Toastmasters
club. Some students reported that they were surprised to learn that there
were so many local people enthusiastic about public speaking in English
and so willing to share this enthusiasm with others. One student even
mentioned, ‘I think students in our university can learn a lot from those
Toastmasters club members off campus because their attitude about
learning English and public speaking is much better than ours’.

Conclusion
Results of the study indicated that students consider public speaking a
learnable skill. The results that support this generalization are manifold:
after one semester of using the Toastmasters approach to public speaking,
this study’s students exhibited an overwhelmingly positive response to the
approach. Because the Toastmasters approach integrates various tasks into
each meeting, this study’s students reported improvement not only in their
public-speaking skills but also in their English proficiency, their affective
competence, and their social competence. Results concerning language-
skills progress (i.e. listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary, pro-
nunciation, and communication) indicate that the students considered the
Toastmasters approach an effective facilitator of their English abilities.
Students also reported improvement in public-speaking issues (i.e. body
language, stage fright, expression, idea development, organization, and
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The Toastmasters Approach

vocal variety). The Toastmasters approach also helped students develop

self-confidence and motivation for public speaking by fostering suppor-
tive, warm interpersonal relationships. Students also developed better
leadership skills by acting as the host of a meeting or as a speech evalua-
tor. Similar findings are also evident in the qualitative data concerning
student attitudes toward the Toastmasters-based approach to the speech
class.
On the basis of this study’s results, I propose that the Toastmasters-
based speech class differs from traditional speech classes in the following
ways.

1. Cooperative Learning. In a Toastmasters-based speech class, learners

work together by playing different roles at a meeting. This cooperation
leads to a learning environment that is more positive and more facilitative
than the learning environment in traditional speech classes. And among
the learners in a Toastmasters-based speech class, this cooperation pro-
motes social relationships that are more positive than those that are char-
acteristic of traditional speech classes.

2. Autonomous Learners. In a Toastmasters meeting, students need to

consider how to perform their role on their own and even need to conduct
research that strengthens the content of their speeches. Self-directed
learning activates learner motivation, but this learning is uncharacteristic
of traditional speech classes. In other words, Toastmasters-based instruc-
tion empowers students to become independent learners whereas tradi-
tional speech classes transform students’ learning into an outcome that
depends chiefly on a single instructor or a single text. Indeed, owing to
recorded video clips of in-class speeches, the Toastmasters approach can
transform students into their own instructors by enabling students to
evaluate their own strengths and weaknesses. Such transformations are
absent from most traditional speech classes.

3. Student-centered Approach. Students in this study’s class reported that

they preferred student-directed, student-centered learning over teacher-
dominated instruction. This dramatic finding consequently suggests that,
unlike traditional speech classes, the Toastmasters approach meets the
needs of students. In the latter setting, learners lead the class according to
their meeting roles while the teacher serves only as a facilitator and
mentor.
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Regional Language Centre Journal 39.1

4. Authentic Learning Environment. A Toastmasters-based speech class

creates an authentic meeting environment that helps learners transfer what
they have learned to real-life situations. By being exposed to an authentic
meeting of a Toastmasters club, this study’s students learned how to make
formal presentations, conduct a meeting, and even respond to a request
for an impromptu speech. These students clearly recognized and highly
appreciated this kind of authentic exposure, which does not feature promi-
nently in traditional speech classes.
For future applications of this model, I would suggest that ESL/EFL
programmes in colleges or universities not limit their speaking classes to
conversation alone. A Toastmasters-based speech class can significantly
reduce stage fright and can significantly promote active learning in public
speaking. Educators could adopt the mentor system used in some Toast-
masters clubs and could apply it to classroom practices. Some of these
mentors could be students in the class, members of local Toastmasters
clubs, other skilled public speakers, or native English speakers.
In summary, public speaking is important not only for native English
speakers but also for those learning English as a foreign language. Incor-
porating the Toastmasters approach into speech classes provides them an
effective means for training students. Students not only glean the benefits
of better public-speaking skills but also grow in English proficiency, moti-
vation, and interpersonal relationships. Further replication of this study in
other foreign-language classes is highly recommended.

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130
Regional Language Centre Journal 39.1

APPENDIX

Meeting Agenda

Time Speaker Task Duration

16:40 Sergeant-at-Arms Call meeting to order 1 Minute

Introduce Toastmasters
16:41 Toastmasters Call on Timer to explain today’s time 1 Minute
requirements
16:42 Toastmasters Call on Joke Master 7 Minutes
16:49 Toastmasters Introduce Speaker 1 30 Seconds
16:50 Speaker 1 Prepared speech 1 4-5 Minutes
16:55 Toastmasters Introduce Speaker 2 30 Seconds
16:55 Speaker 2 Prepared speech 2 4-5 Minutes
17:00 Toastmasters Introduce Speaker 3 30 Seconds
17:01 Speaker 3 Prepared speech 3 4-5 Minutes
17:06 Master of Table Conduct Table Topics (impromptu speaking) 7 Minutes
Topics Call on Timer to announce qualifiers for voting 30 Seconds
Conduct vote for best Table Topics 30 Seconds
17:14 Toastmasters Introduce General Evaluator 30 Seconds
17:15 General Evaluator Call on Speech Evaluator 1 1 Minute
Call on Speech Evaluator 2 1 Minute
Call on Speech Evaluator 3 1 Minute
Call on “Ah” Counter or Grammarian/Word 1 Minute
Master
Call on Grammarian/Word Master 1 Minute
Call on Timer 1 Minute
Call on Master of Table Topics (announce winner 2 Minutes
and give overall evaluation
of meeting)
17:23 Toastmasters Turn meeting over to the Presiding Officer (the 5 Minutes
Teacher)