Appreciative Inquiry Approach and its Effects on English Oral Communication Skills of Teacher Education Students

Abstract

Good oral communication skills are necessary to help people understand and process information in a clear manner. Aspiring language teachers must be able to exemplify good verbal ability to become competent in their fields. Therefore, it is important to develop a future teacher’s ability to communicate in English. This study investigated the effects of the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) approach on the oral communication skills of teacher education students in a local college in Laguna, Philippines. Appreciative Inquiry is defined as the art and practice of asking questions that strengthen a system’s capacity to heighten positive potential; it focuses on doing more of what is already working, rather than focusing on fixing problems (Whitney & Cooperrider, 2011). A group of 11 student participants were given treatment in the form of an intervention workshop that followed the 4D cycle model of Appreciative Inquiry. Results revealed a significant impact in the students’ motivation to improve their oral communication skills. The intervention sessions had a positive effect on their self-confidence and eagerness to proceed with specializing in English language education. Their notion of their own personality that reflected negative self-talk was observed to have been significantly transformed into high self-esteem and determination. Feedback from the post-intervention interview suggested that the AI approach is a viable method that can be used in the classroom setting to build a safe learning space for students who engage in second language acquisition because the sessions give out a sense of fulfilment, positive reinforcement, and self-paced success. It is recommended that teachers employ AI techniques in their teaching-learning plans to sustain their students’ motivation in pursuing Teacher Education and to support their varying needs and preferences based on the strengths they already possess.