| Abstract |
Speaking anxiety is common among ESL learners. Over the years, educators have been continuously looking for strategies to help students overcome their speaking anxiety so that they can grasp the English communicative skills for use in their studies. In Sarawak, majority of the undergraduate students in two public universities encountered 'Communication apprehension', followed by 'Fear of negative evaluations', 'Test anxiety' and ‘Comfortable to use English in ESL classroom’ (Sim, Yeo &Lau, 2018; Lau, Yeo & Sim, 2019). A teaching aid which can assist in conducting effective teaching methods in order to help students to overcome their speaking anxiety is needed. Speaking board game, which comprises of a magnetic board, a dice, four game pieces and a set of cue cards, is designed to suit the aforementioned needs. It can be played by two to four players from age 12 and above. To start the game, players throw the dice to decide the sequence. The players with the largest number will move first; and the number obtained by the player will indicate the steps to move the piece in a clockwise direction. Then, the player picks a cue card after moving the piece; and he or she has to speak for two minutes on the theme indicated on the card. If all the players agree on to his or her speech, the player can lay the piece on the track and the turn can be passed to the second player. The player that reaches 'Home' first is the winner. This game is recommended to be used as an essential teaching tool for speaking practices in all levels of ESL classrooms. Speaking board game has commercialization potential as it is portable and cost effective. Besides promoting speaking skills, this game also activates learners' schemata by training them to think critically and creatively within the time frame given. |