| Author: | Gao, Fei |
| Title: | Metaphor use in describing English public speaking anxiety by Chinese university EFL learners |
| Advisors: | Tay, Dennis (ENGL) |
| Degree: | DALS |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Subject: | English language -- Spoken English -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- China Public speaking -- Psychological aspects Speech anxiety Metaphor Discourse analysis Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Faculty of Humanities |
| Pages: | xv, 266 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | This study aims to explore metaphor use in describing English public speaking (EPS) anxiety among Chinese university English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. Metaphor is frequently used to describe complex emotional states, mental processes, and difficult experiences (Kövecses, 2003). Public speaking anxiety (PSA) has been investigated in the stages of anticipation, confrontation, adaptation, and release, which occur before, during, and after giving a public speech (e.g., Behnke & Sawyer, 2001). However, EPS anxiety experiences in different speech types are largely underexplored. Consequently, the exclusive focus on EPS anxiety in one speech may result in less comprehensive interpretations and explanations of the experience of EPS anxiety. This study focuses on EFL learners’ EPS anxiety experiences in a semester and aims to enhance comprehension of those experiences and provide a holistic view of EPS anxiety. This investigation is based on the discourse dynamics approach (Cameron & Maslen, 2010) and the sociocultural theory (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006). Specifically, this research hopes to answer the following questions: 1. How do students make use of metaphors in their descriptions of EPS anxiety experiences? 2. What is the relationship between the three-component construct of EPS anxiety, speech types, and emotional valence in the metaphorical representations of EPS anxiety in a semester? 3. What factors influence EPS anxiety among Chinese EFL students? The present research adopts a mixed-methods research design (Creswell, 2009). Fifteen EFL learners were interviewed to present their EPS anxiety experiences in three speech types. A blended approach (combining naturalistic and elicited metaphors) was employed in the interviews. A questionnaire was first piloted in two universities located in mainland China and then administered to the participants. Metaphor use in describing EPS anxiety by participants from interviews was compared against their psychometric scores of EPS anxiety in questionnaires to gain a better understanding of EPS anxiety experiences. EPS anxiety is mainly conceptualized through the six vehicle groupings: FORCE, BURDEN, CONTAINER, LIVING ORGANISM, MOVEMENT, and DECENT, with a dominance of the FORCE metaphor. A mixed-method analysis that combines categorical data analysis and discourse analytic methods was used to examine relationships between the three-component construct of EPS anxiety, emotional valence, and speech types in participants’ metaphorical representations of EPS anxiety. No three-way interaction was found, but all three probable bivariate relationships between the three-component construct of EPS anxiety, emotional valence, and speech types of metaphorical expressions were found to have possible significant correlations with corresponding effect sizes. Besides that, the results indicate the dynamic changes in physiology, cognition, and behavior of EPS anxiety, reflecting varying attitudes towards EPS anxiety. The present study has theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical contributions. Theoretically, this study investigates the metaphorical representations of EPS anxiety by combining the dynamic discourse approach for metaphor and sociocultural theory in the Chinese EFL learning context. Methodologically, the triangulation of multiple measurement instruments provides a deeper understanding of EPS anxiety in second language (L2) communication. The study also provides useful implications for improving the teaching of EPS courses in similar contexts. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7794.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 2.05 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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