Article Type : Research Article
Authors : Bsharat TRK
Keywords : Mapping strategy; Speaking skills
A mind map is an effective and enjoyable way to teach,
learn, and improve speaking skills in an effective and enjoyable environment
for teachers and students. The present study aimed to explore the perspectives
of EFL teachers towards utilizing a mapping strategy for developing students'
speaking skills. The study adopted a full qualitative method using
semi-structured interviews. The study sample consisted of 5 English language
teachers from Palestine. The study results indicated that the mapping concept positively
and significantly influences EFL learners’ English-speaking performance. In
addition to enhancing speaking skills, mapping contributed to the building of
self-esteem in speaking English, strengthening cooperation among students,
increasing speaking skills, gaining a deeper understanding of speaking skills,
increasing engagement, and developing creativity. Additionally, mapping
strategy enriches brainstorming of situations to practice English speaking, as
well as organizing these situations thematically.
The significance of mind mapping strategies in enhancing students' speaking skills has garnered substantial attention in the field of English language teaching. This study aims to explore the importance of utilizing the mind mapping strategy to enhance students' speaking abilities, as perceived by English language teachers in Palestine. The study investigates teachers' perspectives regarding the influence of mind mapping on improving students' speaking skills within the Palestinian educational context. Previous studies carried out [1,2] emphasize the need for innovative pedagogical approaches to enhance language learning outcomes. Traditional methods often focus on grammar and vocabulary instruction, while neglecting the development of speaking proficiency. In contrast, mind mapping offers a learner-centred methodology that promotes active participation and facilitates effective communication. As articulated [3,4] mind mapping serves as a visual technique that helps individuals organize and connect their thoughts and concepts, providing a structured framework for refining and presenting speaking skills. Mind maps serve as visual representations of knowledge, aiding in idea organization and enhancing students' ability to express themselves fluently. In the Palestinian context, students encounter challenges in improving their speaking skills due to limited exposure to English-speaking environments. [5] Note that the Palestinian students primarily prefer to communicate in Arabic, with English often taught as a foreign language. Insufficient exposure to English beyond the classroom setting can hinder the acquisition of authentic speaking abilities. [6] Emphasize the lack of contemporary teaching materials, up-to-date curricula, and access to multimedia resources in many schools, impeding engaging speaking practices. Furthermore, the ongoing political situation in Palestine can disrupt the education system and lead to socio-economic obstacles. These factors collectively create an environment where consistent and effective English language instruction faces challenges [7] further suggests that cultural norms and traditions in Palestine might discourage open communication, especially in a foreign language, resulting in a lack of confidence among students when practicing English speaking. Additionally, Palestinian English teachers might not consistently receive comprehensive training in modern English teaching methodologies which affects their effectiveness in teaching speaking skills to students [8].More importantly, the perspectives and attitudes of English language teachers towards the impact of mind mapping on students' speaking abilities in Palestine remain relatively unexplored. Thus, the current study aims to address this research gap by conducting a case study that investigates English language teachers' perspectives on the effects of mind mapping on students' speaking proficiency. Through an exploration of teachers' experiences and opinions, this research aims to shed some light on the influence of mind mapping as a pedagogical tool within the Palestinian context. The study examines how teachers perceive the influence of mind mapping on students' speaking skills, including their observations on student engagement, fluency, coherence, and confidence in oral communication. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to the existing body of knowledge on effective language teaching methodologies in Palestine. It is hoped that the findings may provide valuable insights into the perceptions of English language teachers regarding the impact of mind mapping on students' speaking skills. The outcomes of this research may inform English language teaching practices and curriculum development in Palestine, promoting the integration of innovative strategies to enhance students' speaking abilities. Through investigating teachers' perspectives, this research seeks to provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of mind mapping as a pedagogical tool, contributing to the improvement of English language teaching.
Figure
1: The
structure of Mind mapping (Salai, 2014).
The
Speaking skills
The speaking skills can be comprehensively understood from diverse viewpoints and sources. According to [9] the speaking skills encompass the capacity to communicate information, thoughts, and viewpoints verbally clearly and proficiently. [10] Elaborates that these skills involve not only organizing and structuring ideas logically and coherently but also adapting language and style to align with the intended audience and communication's purpose. [11] Adds that the speaking skills entail employing suitable vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation to accurately convey meanings. Engaging with [12] effective speaking skills extend to interactive and meaningful conversations, active listening, and appropriate responses. Further emphasizes that speaking skills are important for establishing rapport, nurturing relationships, and expressing emotions and intentions, both in social and professional contexts.
Importance
of the Speaking Skills
Effective communication relies significantly on
proficient speaking skills, within personal and professional realms. The
following key aspects underscore the significance of adept speaking abilities:
Mind mapping serves as a visual technique for
organizing and structuring information effectively. This method involves
crafting diagrams that illustrate the interconnections among concepts, ideas,
or tasks centred around a core theme. By utilizing branches, keywords, images,
and colours, it portrays relationships and hierarchies, thereby enhancing
understanding, memory retention, and the generation of ideas [14]. Mind maps
offer a comprehensive outlook on intricate subjects, fostering innovative thinking
in the process.
The Procedure of Making a Mind
Mapping Strategy
To
construct an efficient mind map, you can adhere to a systematic process
outlined. This guide offers a step-by-step approach to developing a mind
mapping strategy:
By adhering to this systematic approach, you can craft a meticulously organized and visually captivating mind map that effectively conveys your notions and concepts.
Teaching Speaking through Mind
Mapping
The
use of mind mapping as an instructional method for enhancing speaking abilities
proves to be efficacious. [19] Asserted that mind mapping serves as a valuable
approach, aiding learners in orchestrating their thoughts while refining their
oral communication skills. Pribadi defines mind mapping as a visual tool
facilitating the structured and interconnected arrangement of information. This
technique entails the utilization of keywords, images, and branching to depict
concepts and their interlinkages.
Benefits of Mind Mapping in
Teaching Speaking
Pribadi
discussed various benefits of mind mapping as follows:
1-Enhances
comprehension: Mind maps help learners to understand and remember information
more effectively.
2-Promotes
critical thinking: Organizing thoughts in a visual manner encourages learners
to think critically and analyse relationships between ideas.
3-Facilitates
brainstorming: Mind mapping enables learners to generate and organize ideas
before speaking.
4-Improves
speaking fluency: By having a clear structure, learners can express their
thoughts more coherently, leading to improved fluency.
Strategies for Teaching Speaking
through Mind Mapping Based on [20]
Methodology
To
achieve the study objectives, the researcher used a qualitative approach to
comprehensively analyse how mapping strategies impact students' speaking
skills, as perceived by English language teachers in Palestine. The main
objective is to attain a thorough comprehension of mind mapping in English
speaking skills lessons. As [21] suggest, qualitative methods such as
interviews and open-ended surveys facilitate the collection and analysis of
in-depth data, thereby enabling a profound exploration of the impact of mapping
strategies on students' speaking skills. The selected participant for this
study is an English class teacher, chosen to represent the perspective of
educators. This ensures a focused and context-rich investigation [22].
Figure 2: Shows the Emerging Theme from the Research Findings.
Data Collection
The data collection process involves utilizing
semi-structured questions to gather teacher's perspectives regarding the impact
of mapping strategies on students' speaking skills. These questions are
designed to elicit detailed and nuanced responses, providing valuable insights
into the subject matter. The chosen methodology enables the exploration of the
complexities and subtleties of the phenomenon under investigation [23-26]
Data Analysis
Thematic data analysis, assisted by NVivo software,
was employed to analyse the collected data by holistic analysis. This
systematic approach allows for the identification of recurring themes,
patterns, and significant insights within the teachers' responses. By organizing
the data into themes, a coherent and structured representation of the teachers'
perceptions is achieved, enhancing the overall validity and reliability of the
study's findings [27, 28].
Findings
This section presents the data interpretation collected from the interview conducted with five English language teachers. The interpretation was based the influence of mapping strategy on students' speaking skills from the English language teachers’ perceptions in Palestine. The research methodology followed an analytical approach called holistic analysis to analysis the data collected.
The
interviews with the purposeful sample of English language teachers concerning
the use of mind mapping to teach speaking skills in English language and method
of implementation revealed that, the participants used mind mapping in many
situations while teaching English language especially when teaching the
speaking skills.
“Well,
I used the mind mapping a lot in teaching English language especially the
speaking skills” (T1).
T1
also added that the reason why she adopted mind mapping come from the fact that
students are mostly weak in speaking English even though they can read and
write, however students find it difficult to express themselves.
“Our
students tend to be weak in speaking skills, although they can write English,
listen, and read but they can’t express themselves in English” (T2).
The
participant stated that mind mapping enhances teaching speaking skills in
various ways such as helps students think more creatively and communicate more
effectively and students are more comfortable to speak English.
“First
of all, mind mapping helps students think more creatively and communicate more
effectively. Furthermore, they overcome the problem of speaking in public and
the loss of confidence in speaking English” (T3).
She
also added that mind mapping also increases motivation to learn the language,
inspires interest as a result, the student becomes more receptive and
cooperative an educational environment which results to better grades in exams.
“Mind
mapping also increases motivation to learn the language. Additionally, mind
mapping is a visual representation of words, ideas, tasks, or other items
connected to and arranged. By radially surrounding a central keyword or idea,
it inspires interest as a result, the student becomes more receptive and
cooperative an educational environment. Furthermore, students tend to get
better grades in exams. Additionally, they are more creative and remember
things better” (T4).
The
participant had good understanding of the use of mind map by implementing a
speaking skill map to aid her teaching which she considered fun, enjoyable, and
it was evident that it busted the confidence of the students.
“I
have many experiences practicing mind mapping in the classroom with my students
and there were amazing, enjoyable and there is a lot of fun. For example, when
teach them about how to talk about themselves, I draw a big circle in the
middle on the board then many other circles in each one a question and start to
answer the questions, they have fun and speak English in a simple way without
shying” (T5).
The
used of mind mapping in classroom activities were only during English language
lesson and during speaking skills activities, according to the participant.
“I
use it a lot with my students to encourage them to practice the English
language and to speak English” (T3).
According
to the participant, there are many challenges in adopting the mind mapping such
as limited time, lack of confidence to speak before peers, fear of mistakes,
and limited experience in implementing mind mapping among English teachers.
“There are many challenges in adopting the mind mapping such as the time the students’ needs time to respond especially the students who are weak in their achievements in the English language and some students are very shy to speak the language Infront their class mates because they afraid of making mistakes, also we as teachers we need to take workshops about mind mapping strategy in ministry of education in Palestine” (T1).
Findings on the influence of mapping strategy on
students' speaking skills revealed that, the Palestine English teachers’ uses
of mind mapping to teach speaking skills in English language and general
English language. This finding supports Rao that states that mind mapping
promotes speaking skills empower individuals to articulate their ideas,
thoughts, and viewpoints with clarity, efficacy, and confidence. This study
also revealed that Mind mapping was implemented to assist students who weak in
speaking English and are difficult to express themselves which was supported by
Razeq study that identified cultural norms and traditions in Palestine
discourages open communication, especially in a foreign language, resulting in
a lack of confidence among students when practicing English speaking.
Subsequently the findings revealed that the
implementation of mind mapping enhanced speaking skills among students in
Palestine and enhanced creative communication and students were able to speak
English comfortably. Ibrahim, Rao, Chou attested to this fact that mind mapping
promotes English proficiency and skilful communication among students. Mind
mapping increases the motivation to learn English language and improve speaking
skills, enabling students to actively participate in classroom discourse,
present their notions, and engage in collaborative learning which resulted in
better grades in exams. Finally, these
studies revealed some limitations which were identified by that participant as
limited time to implement mind mapping, mind mapping was limited to English
language alone, lack of confidence to speak before peers, fear of mistakes, and
limited experience in implementing mind mapping among English teachers in
Palestine. This finding was similar [29]
study which identified that the use of mind mapping technique is unfamiliar to
most English language teachers and students feel uncomfortable and find it
difficult to draw even a plain mind map when first using mind-mapping at class.
The research findings demonstrate the significant
influence of mapping strategy on students' speaking skills in Palestine. The
utilization of mind mapping as a teaching tool for English language and general
speaking skills is supported by several scholars, including Rao, who highlighted
how mind mapping empowers individuals to express their ideas with clarity and
confidence. Moreover, the study reveals that mind mapping is particularly
beneficial for students struggling with English speaking due to cultural
barriers, as identified by Razeq. The implementation of mind mapping not only
enhances speaking skills but also encourages creative communication, as
substantiated by Ibrahim, Rao, Chou. The technique also boosts motivation,
active classroom participation, and collaborative learning, leading to improved
exam performance. However, the findings also identified some limitations such
as time constraints, limited focus on English language, lack of confidence,
fear of errors, and teacher inexperience in using mind mapping in Palestine schools.
This mirrors the observations of Marunevich, Shefieva, and Bessarabia, who
found that both teachers and students initially struggle with the unfamiliarity
of the mind mapping technique.