Effects of changing classroom physical space in speaking tasks in reduced-size classes

Abstract

In speaking practices in Hong Kong schools, students are commonly arranged in a semi-circular examination set-up in groups of four or five. This set-up can be associated with examination stress and language learner anxiety. This exploratory study, conducted in the author’s own English language classroom with five Form 5 (Grade 11) local EFL students in a local school, therefore seeks to investigate whether different physical classroom space and organisational layouts mediated positive outcomes in students’ speaking performance and whether they were sustained when students reverted to the more conventional examination setting. It was seen that classroom setting may affect students’ perception of the teacher-student hierarchy and their association with the lesson context, which in turn may affect their performance. Although there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ layout, this research sheds light on how changing the classroom physical space may reduce student anxiety. This has a practical importance in key areas such as school-based assessments in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education, as teachers are required to ‘create opportunities for students to demonstrate their best oral language … in a more relaxed and familiar setting’ (HKEAA, 2009). The author suggests that classroom design, alongside other pedagogical decisions, should be considered while planning classes.