IMPLEMENTING THE TOASTMASTERS TRADITION IN THE L2 CLASSROOM

Abstract

This paper examines L2 learners’ perceptions on the usefulness of the Toastmasters tradition in the speaking classroom. A typical Toastmasters meeting comprises participants making impromptu speeches, delivering prepared speeches, running the meeting, introducing people, and evaluating various participants’ performance. The authors carried out a series of Toastmasters meetings in their Professional Communication Skills classes at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS from July to December 2004. Questionnaire were distributed to 65 learners who participated in this study. The findings indicate that learners perceive the Toastmasters meetings as useful in providing them with a platform to enhance their speaking skills. The paper concludes with a discussion on the pedagogical implications of the findings.