"I am just shy and timid": Student teachers’ explanations for their performances of their presentations

Abstract

As part of the research on motivation, causal attribution studies have an important role in predicting andimproving academic performance since controllable and uncontrollable attributions have an effect onlearners’ future actions. Following this path, the present qualitative study investigates the attributionsof students in an English Language Teaching (ELT) program for the performances of their presentationsas part of an oral communication skills course. Upon the completion of the course, a total of 83 secondyear ELT students scored their performances out of 10 and provided explanations for their performances.This data set illustrated their attributions and estimated future achievements. Data analysis consisted oftwo phases: first, the students were divided into two groups based on the perceived successes of theirperformances, and secondly, their explanations were examined with content analysis. The initial analysisshowed that 20 students scored themselves as less successful and 63 students scored themselves assuccessful. It revealed that the less successful group attributed their performances mostly to their moodand lack of effort, both of which are categorized in the internal attributions. In contrast, the successfulstudents attributed their performances to effort, mood, and strategy use, all of which fell into the internalcategory as well. From these results, it can be concluded that the learners had a higher locus of control inthat they attributed their performances to mostly internal attributions. In addition, providing immediateteacher feedback and creating a classroom environment for vicarious learning were effective forincreasing learners’ effort and motivation for their presentations. These findings may imply that teachersfocus on providing immediate feedback and create an effective classroom atmosphere that will probablylead to vicarious learning.