| Abstract |
In ESL classrooms, speaking is a major problem faced by students as many
exhibit fear of speaking in English. This matter is of much concerned among
educators because oral fluency in English is important to relay correct
messages. A study carried out on 529 undergraduates from two public
universities in Sarawak found that factors which affect anxiety in speaking
English are ‘Communication Apprehension’, ‘Fear of Negative Evaluation’ and
‘Test Anxiety’ (Sim, Yeo & Lau, 2018). Hence, Speaking Chess is developed
to establish a teaching learning environment in a game-based situation. The
objectives of Speaking Chess are to motivate and inculcate students’ interest
to speak English, boost their self-confidence and enhance their soft skills in a
non-threatening environment. Speaking Chess comes in a set of coloured
pieces, a magnetic board (with tracks and home zones), a set of cue cards
with themes, and a 6-sided dice. The game can be played by two to four
players. Players throw dice to decide the sequence. The number obtained
indicates the steps to move the piece in a clockwise direction. Each time after
moving the piece, a cue card will be picked; and the player has to speak for 2
minutes on the theme indicated on the card. The player that reaches ‘Home’
first is the winner. The game has potential for commercialization as there are
limited speaking board games in the market. It is also portable and cost
effective. It can be linked to the English language syllabus in the primary,
secondary, tertiary and ESP levels as speaking is taught and tested in these
levels. It can be adopted by language instructors in all levels of ESL
classrooms to create a student-centered teaching and learning environment
with students having the leading roles in playing the games and teachers as
facilitators. |