Overall Findings

When I began my action research project, I wanted to gain insight on why my non-native

speakers were not participating in the classroom as much as their native speaking counterparts.

As a result, I wanted to know how I could support them to increase their oral participation

because I knew the value that was placed on participation in western academic institutions and I

wanted them to be successful. Although I researched and studied theories on how to best support

students with their speaking skills, it was difficult when I had to translate these theories into

practice. However, through triangulating my data, which included my teaching journal, exit slips,

and student conferences, I learned about the impact of my intervention in terms of how it

supported non-native students oral participation in the classroom. Even though there are

limitations to the study which primarily was a result of the limited time frame allotted, the

overall study contains several important findings.

Based on my findings from phase I, I learned that it was not so much about the quantity

of oral participation, but that participation often was dependent on the topic of the discussion. In

addition, I learned that it was not sufficient to just ask the students to talk without giving them

specific scaffolds on how to participate, particularly as it pertained to responding to higher order

thinking skills of the discussion question elicited. In my phase I, I thought I could increase

student oral participation through the snowball activity in order for the students to get out of their

comfort zone as I believed that the students did not participate because they were shy. Through

this activity, I thought that they could meet new students they were not comfortable with. I

assigned the students to small groups with a mix of non-native and native speaking students in

hopes that they can feel more comfortable speaking in small groups and that their peers can help

support their understanding. However, the snowball activity did not meet my expectation as I
learned that it was not sufficient to just create small groups where students might feel more

comfortable participating. I learned that I needed to also model the expectations of their

participation in the discussions and help them to understand the content of the discussion through

the process of bridging.

In addition, through one-on-one student conferences, I was able to understand how

important it was for the students to feel valued by having their voices heard when they

participated in class discussions. I spoke individually to three different students and one that

stood out to me was Student B who mentioned,

It is not shy. Depend on like you know like some cultures are good and want to
show and then like some people make mistakes and misunderstand our culture. I will
speak to let them know but then like if you disagree with something and not want to hear,
I don't talk. (Student B)

Her response provoked my awareness in oral participation. Through one-on-one student

conference, she told me she would speak in discussion to clarify the misunderstanding of her

culture; however, when her classmates disagree with her, she would not speak because she feels

rejected. Before I had the opportunity to conference with the students, I thought many non-native

English speaking students are quiet because they are shy, not because they felt uninvited and

unaccepted. Through these conferences with them, I found out that the non-native English-

speaking students were not all shy and undetermined to talk during t class discussions.

Sometimes, they needed to feel accepted and feel validated to voluntarily participate in class

discussion.

In addition to this understanding about students need to feel heard, I also learned that it

was important to consider the content or theme that appeared to play a role on the participation

of non-native speakers in this classroom. I found that with the relevant topic, students were able

to answer why and how on their response to the handout called The Ultimate Cheatsheet for
Critical Thinking. The purpose of sharing the handout was for the students to understand the

details in the passage in order to support their analyzing and evaluating skills. When they

understand the details of the passage, it will be easier for the students to draw connecting lines of

place, events, and characters as they describe the relationship among them. As it is important to

have an explicit instruction for the students to follow, through phase I, I learned that NNS spoke

more when the topic of culture became the center point in the discussion. As a result, I found out

that I was able to increase the oral participation of non-native English speakers but not to the

extent to have higher order response because of lack of scaffolding.

Limitations of the Study. Because of the limited time frame, I was only able to conduct

one full phase I and just provide an action plan for phase II, which I would have really liked to

have the time to deliver and reflect on. Over three months, I was also embedded in a class under

a mentor professor which was not mine. Due to not having control of the direction of the class, it

was difficult and challenging to conduct my study. As a Graduate Tutor, I worked inside and

outside of the classroom to support the students needs and assisted the mentor professor with

course related materials. Having said this, there were not much time, where I dedicate to

conducting my study as I had to continue my responsibilities as a graduate tutor. My mentor

professor and I came to an agreement where she did support and guide me throughout my study,

but it was understandable how it was difficult for the mentor professor to squeeze in the time for

me to conduct my study. The class is an accelerated class where she had countless materials to

cover for the students to reach and prepare for the college level courses. However, I was pleased

with the learning I was able to derive from participating in this project, given limited time frame.

Furthermore, if the study has complete three full cycles of phase III, I believe the study

could have reached in a deeper understanding to fit the needs of the students to support on their
oral participation. Furthermore, for the future research, I look upon to carry on my evolution of

research question which is how I can effectively integrate the topic that is relevant to the students

and support their higher order response. Because the study came to a rest in continuing for phase

II, for the future research, I hope it gets carried on to explore and discover effective way to

integrate a topic that is relevant to the non-native English students and provoke higher order

response.