Investigating the Role of Self-Talk Practice in Developing Spontaneous Speaking Confidence Among Foundation Students at a Private University in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Successful spontaneous conversation is an essential skill for an ESL learner. Spontaneous conversations become difficult as they involve instant thinking and processing. This study investigates whether self-talk would be an efficient strategy to improve the confidence level in spontaneous conversations in ESL learners. The study was done among a group of students from SLIIT City Uni, semester 1 February intake batch. A Mixed method was used in a pre-test/post-test design for data collection, namely pretest and post-test. A self-talk intervention was implemented over a period of seven days between these interview sessions. The findings indicated a significant improvement in ESL Learners’ confidence levels during spontaneous conversations following the implementation of the self-talk strategy. In this study, the qualitative analysis complemented the quantitative findings, and several important recommendations were proposed based on the integrated results.