Using Gongyeh to Help Mitigating Hong Kong EAL Undergraduate Students’ Fear of Oral Presentation

In Hong Kong, oral presentation is an essential part of the undergraduate experience as it is a common form of assessment. In oral presentations, students are typically required to stand and present to an audience (Sullivan, 2009) to enhance and showcase their learning. Public speaking anxiety is one of the most prevalent forms of anxiety disorders (Bartholomay & Houlihan, 2016), and is widespread among diverse cultures (Hassal et al., 2000). Previous research conducted in different parts of the world has found that many students experience fear and anxiety in public speaking (E.g. Dwyer & Davidson 2012; Ferreira Marinho et al., 2017; Kondo & Yang, 2004; Le Febvre et al., 2018; Lee et al., 2024; Nash et al, 2016; Tsang 2020). The aims of this study are to investigate the effectiveness of using Gongyeh, a real time presentation peer feedback and recording platform, in reducing the anxiety experienced by students in individual oral presentations, and to investigate whether the use of Gongyeh could lead to better audience engagement. The study is conducted within the context of a compulsory university course titled "The Art of Persuasion," which aims to develop students' persuasive speech skills in English for effectively expressing their points of view in various settings. This work-in-progress study builds on the project of Lee et al., (2024) and further modifies the questionnaire developed by Hook et al. (2008) to measure students' levels of speech anxiety at the beginning of the course and after their Final Presentation. Invitation to voluntarily participate in this study was sent to 19 classes using Gongyeh and 19 classes using alternative peer feedback methods such as document based peer feedback forms or Moodle Workshop. Students will receive training and hands-on experience with their assigned feedback method in Week 9 or 10 of the 13 week course. Their Final Presentations are scheduled in Weeks 12 and 13. Gongyeh allows students to receive constructive and useful feedback through time-synchronized peer comments on videos of their presentations. Additionally, the platform enables audience members to provide encouragement through comments and emojis, potentially fostering a more supportive environment for presenters. Statistical analysis will provide evidence of the overall effect of the level of anxiety and their performance and whether there is any statistically significant impact after the use of Gongeyh compared to traditional feedback methods. The study will examine: 1. Changes in self-reported anxiety levels before and after using Gongyeh or alternative feedback methods 2. Quantity and quality of peer feedback provided through each platform or method 3. Students’ perceptions of the usefulness of time- synchronized comments (Gongyeh) versus other feedback formats. 4. The impact of encouraging comments and emojis on presenter confidence in the Gongyeh group. The findings of this study are expected to shed light on the understanding of the speech anxiety faced by EAL undergraduates and the effectiveness of Gongyeh in enhancing students’ presentation skills and audience’s engagement. This study provides evidence that public speaking fear among EAL students should be acknowledged and informs future course design to better prepare students for oral presentations assessments. The results will be particularly relevant for English across the curriculum initiatives, as they demonstrate how technology can be integrated into language learning and assessment in content-based courses like "The Art of Persuasion"and other disciplinary courses.