How is personality connected to speaking skills?

Graduation Thesis

Presented to

the Faculty of the Department of

English Language and Literature

Notre Dame Seishin University

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirement for the Degree

Bachelor of Arts

by

Yurina Nakano

2018

Contents

Abstract ⅳ

Chapter One: Personality and Speaking Skill 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Big five personality 2

1.2.1 Introduction 2

1.3 Speaking skill 4

1.3.1 What are speaking skills? 4

1.3.2 Speaking test 5

1.3.3Who is the good English speaker? 5

1.3.4 How to improve the four criteria? 7

1.3.5 The level of speaking skills 8

1.4 Previous research 10

1.5 Research Questions 11

1.6 Conclusion 11

Chapter Two: The Questionnaire and The Speaking test 13

2.1 Introduction 13

2.2 The experiment 13

2.2.1 Introduction to the experiment / questionnaire 13

i

2.2.2 Method 14

1) Subjects 14

2) Test design 14

3) Procedure 15

2.3 Results 16

2.3.1 The results of the students’ background information of English 16

2.3.2 Students’ personality when they speak English 21

2.3.3 The data for the self-assessment of speaking test 25

2.3.4 The data for students’ assessment of speaking test by researcher 27

2.4 Summary 28

Chapter Three: Discussion 29

3.1 Introduction 29

3.2 Summary of the results 29

3.3 Discussion of the results 30

3.3.1 Analysis of students’ background information of English 30

3.3.2 Analysis of relationships between personality types and

speaking skills 30

3.4 Research questions 34

3.5 Implications 35

ii

3.6 Limitations of the Experiments 36

3.7 Further research 36

3.8 Conclusion 37

References 38

Appendices 40

iii

AbstractEnglish plays a significant role as an international common language in the

world today. The world population has reached about 7 billion people, and 25% of them

speak practical English. That is, one in four people in the world speak English. 22% of

these speak English as natives, 78% of them speak English as a second language. Even

though we are in Japan, we use and see English in many situations, and it can be

expected the number of opportunities to use English will increase year by year. Japanese

people usually study English from junior high school, however some people are good at

speaking and some people are not. Why does this difference occur? It is said that

personal factors are closely connected with English acquisition.

The aim of this thesis was to find out the connections between personality traits

and speaking skills, and see if there were some differences between good speakers and

poor speakers of English.

In Chapter One, we presented the definition of the big five personality traits

and reviewed what we know about speaking skills. We also looked at the advantages

and disadvantages of each personality trait, and several points to judge who are

supposed to be good speakers. Furthermore, we discussed how to improve those points,

and found a scale at 9 levels of speaking skills, which showed how well people speak

English.

In Chapter Two, we looked at the results of the self-assessment questionnaire,

and English speaking test. The self-assessment questionnaire was taken by university

students, and they were asked their speaking ability and their personality when they

speak English. We classified their personality into five types; Openness to experience,

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Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. An English speaking

test referred to IELTS speaking test, and was all done in English. After the speaking test,

they rated their own score, and the researcher marked their score.

In Chapter Three, we analysed the results of the self-assessment questionnaire,

and individual speaking test. We could find good speakers were highly motivated to

improve their speaking skills, and so they had many opportunities to speak English,

compared to poor speakers. We found that their motivation and chances to use English

was the key to divided English learners into good speakers and poor speakers.

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Chapter One: Personality and Speaking Skill

1.1 Introduction

The importance of English has been increasing year by year even though

people live their own countries, because globalization is progressing in the world today.

English plays an important part as an international common language. There are many

people who speak English as a native, or as an official language, and a quasi-official

language in modern times.

Japan is no exception to this situation, because the Japanese market is

shrinking due to Japan’s declining population, therefore companies should advance

overseas. In fact, English is used as a common language in Japanese business, so we

have many opportunities to use English than before. The spread of the Internet, and the

increase in foreign workers could be given as examples. In this way, learning English is

significant for Japanese.

In Japan, we usually start studying English when we enter junior high school,

but many people now study English before the junior high school these days. However

some people are good at speaking English, and some people are not. Why does this

difference happen?

These days, personal factors like personality, mindsets, motivation, learning

strategies, feelings, gender and age are focused on, because people think these things are

closely connected with English acquisition.

There seems to be a relationship between personality and one’s speaking skill.

To know which personality types are good English speakers have can help notice who is

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learning English. Of all those things, this thesis will focus on personality, and one’s

speaking skills.

Especially, we would like to focus on Japanese English learner’s speaking

skills. In addition, they may be some differences between good speakers and poor

speakers. By finding out these things, we can help people to improve their speaking

skills effectively. In this chapter, we will look at general ideas of personality, and

learner speaking skills.

1.2. Big five personality

1.2.1 Introduction

What is personality? It is “individual differences in characteristic patterns of

thinking, feeling, and behaving” (American Psychological Association, 2017).

Nowadays, there are many models of personality type, but the Five Factor Model has

become and established theory in the field of personality psychology. Goldberg, (1990;

1992) proposed it, and based on many studies it is known to be effective universally

regardless of the country and culture. These five characteristic factors are called The

Big Five, and the ideas is features of human personality can be captured

comprehensively and fully. The five factors identified as primary factors of personality

are: Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and

Neuroticism. Together, they form the acronym OCEAN. Each personality trait is

characterized by six individual facets. There are some personality check tests based on

the Big Five. Let us look at them in detail below.

1. Openness to experience

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This type is characterized by these facets: fantasy - have a vivid imagination,

aesthetics - believe in the importance of art, feelings - experience emotions intensely,

actions - prefer variety to routine, ideas - like complex problems, and values - tend to

vote for liberals. People with openness to experience tend to be curious, creative, and

adventurous. They have wide interests, so they enjoy learning new things.

2. Conscientiousness

This type is described as competent – they complete tasks successfully, order –

like order, dutifulness – follow the rules, achievement-striving – work hard, self-

discipline – get chores done right way, and deliberation – avoid mistakes.

People with conscientiousness tend to be honest, and have a strong will. They are

methodical, always plan well, and tend to keep going and going, so they don't like leave

things in the air.

3. Extraversion

This trait includes characteristics such as warmth – they make friends easily,

are gregarious - love large parties, they show assertiveness and take charge. They are

active and always busy. They seek excitement, love excitement, and positive emotions –

and radiate joy. Extraverts are said to be sociable, excitable, and energetic. They like to

communicate with people, and attract attention from others.

4. Agreeableness

Their individual facets are trust – they trust others, they are compliant – would

never cheat on taxes, altruistic – make people feel welcome, straightforward – easy to

satisfy, modest – dislike being the center of attention, and tender-minded. They

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sympathize with the homeless. These people are all about cooperation, kindness, and

honesty. They are also tolerant. They tend to try to work well with others.

5. Neuroticism

People with this personality includes the attributes like anxiety – worry about

things, hostility – they get angry easily, depression – they often feel blue, are self-

conscious and easily intimidated, impulsive and eat too much, and vulnerable so they

panic easily. People with this personality tend to be sensitive, irritable, and instability.

They can become emotionally unstable and feel stress easily.

The Big Five said human personality traits can be classified into five traits:

Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and

Neuroticism. It forms ones’ personality comprehensively.

1.3 Speaking skill

1.3.1 What are speaking skills?

The speaking skill is the level at which people speak English. People who have

high speaking skill tend to be able to express themselves clearly, and communicate with

people without any difficulty. However, there are many ways to measure good speakers,

such as grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, intonation, accent, and diverse points the

basic of English. They just might have mastered those points. There are many ways to

judge who really the good speakers supposed to be.

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1.3.2 Speaking test

There are many different ways to measure speaking ability, and so there are

many tests to measure speaking skills, such as TOEIC Speaking Test, TOEFL, SST, and

IELTs. Of all those things, we would like to focus on International English Language

Testing System, IELTS because it is authorized as a global standard test for testifying to

English speaking skills by over 140 countries and over 10,000 educational institutions

in the world today.

1.3.3 Who is the good English speaker?

There are many ways to define a good English speaker. For example, people

who can attract attention from others, talking logically, and using a full range of

structures naturally and appropriately. However, according to the British Council, Japan

IELTS website (https://www.britishcouncil.jp/exam/ielts/prepare/test-tips ) , good English

speakers should be able to do several things such as the following. There are four

criterions: 1. Pronunciation, 2. Lexical Resource, 3. Grammatical Range and Accuracy,

and 4. Fluency and Coherence.

1. Pronunciation

Focus on the accuracy and variety of pronunciation features, which includes

individual sounds. Stressing the wrong syllable in a word is a frequent error, and so look

carefully what it sounds. At the same time, we should care about sentence stress, and

intonation. Sentence stress means the way that some words in sentences are emphasized

and slightly louder. Intonation is the pitch of one’s voice changing. Moreover, we

should have the skill of chunking. Chunking talking is able to talk in chunks of words,

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which have short silences in between.

2. Lexical Resource

This refers to how many words people know and can use it right way. The

wider the range of vocabulary, the better candidates will score. We should use

vocabulary effectively including the right collocation. It is the words combine in a

language to produce speaking naturally. We should use words appropriately depending

on the situation such as the positive, neutral, or negative associations some words have,

such as slim, thin, and skinny. It is also important to use fewer common vocabulary or

expressions. For example, “Today is a very sunny day.” We can say “blisteringly hot”,

“sweltering”, and “boiling” instead of “very sunny”. Paraphrasing can show our skills.

3. Grammatical Range and Accuracy

The range of grammar includes being able to use a variety of complex

structures. These are sentences with multiple bits of information. Their ability is

determined by not just the number of grammatical mistakes, but also how seriously

these mistakes block the communication.

4. Fluency and Coherence

This refers to one’s ability to speak at length including organizing ideas

logically and appropriately signposting them. Signposting is the use of words or phrases

that indicates the direction of one’s thoughts. It also refers to one’s ability to express

opinions and to discuss about issues without long pauses or repetition of the same words

and keep the flow of conversation stability.

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We should test people based on these four topics, and mark in a comprehensive

way from a viewpoint of how much an examiner who is native English speaker can

understand. Just having only one of those skills is not regarded as important.

1.3.4 How to improve the four criteria?

If we use those four criteria with good valance, our speaking skills would make

a rapid progress for sure. However, it might be difficult to improve without any hints,

and so IELTS showed several ways to improve those four criteria. Some key points are

blow.

1. Pronunciation

To find out how English intonation, sentence stress, and rhythm, are different

from our native language, and be sure we understand the effects of those on meaning.

We should learn the correct words stress for express ourselves clearly. Listening to a

variety of English resources will help to become familiar with a range of pronunciation

features. Even if not listening closely, having it as a background can help to get used to

another language. Do not rush when we speak English is another key point, because we

might skip sounds or words. It is better to speak clearly. Record speaking can be very

useful, especially for improve chunking skill. Try to apply the different features of

pronunciation in English.

2. Lexical Resources

Try to have many opportunities to meet new vocabulary as much as we can.

Reading is quite effective way, because when we see the unknown words, we can check

what it means at once. In addition, learn collocation and synonym are important key.

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Seeing words in their context helps learning the meaning usage in collocation.

Synonyms are words or expressions, which have similar meanings. To memorize these,

group vocabulary in the related subjects and learn these together is good way rather than

making long lists of unrelated words. Make word cards and test it are also useful. If we

cannot find the right words, keep try to paraphrase it and explain what we mean. Even if

it takes a little longer, it will help for improving.

3. Grammatical Range and Accuracy and 4. Fluency and Coherence

To identify errors that we made, record speaking and listen it repeatedly. Then,

practice very carefully for make sure that we can use the right tenses. .

Try to speak at length and just make sure we are signposting what we say. We

can do this by thinking of reasons, effects, comparisons, supporting examples, and

personal experiences. Practices such as recording are effective way, talking about

different topics and then listen it. Check for linking expressions, collocations, hesitation,

words we may be repeating, and times when we speeches slow. This will help improve

fluency.

1.3.5 The level of speaking skills

According to IELTS, it classified speaking skills on a scale from 1 to 9, and

these show how people speak English. IELTS is developed so that it can evaluate all the

level of speaking skills. The level is from Non-user, Intermittent user, Extremely limited

user, Limited user, Modest user, Competent user, Good user, Very good user, and Expert

user. The following is from the Eiken.or.jp website (undated),

Level 1: Non-user

It is basically impossible for them to communicate in English. They just

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enumerate bits of easy words.

Level 2: Intermittent user

They have great difficulty to communicate clearly. They only express very

basic information by enumerating words and use short platitudes, to cope with the

necessity of the occasion under the familiar situation. It is hard for them to

understand conversation and sentences in English.

Level 3: Extremely limited user

They convey and understand only general meaning in very familiar situations.

They speak slowly and hard to keep conversation.

Level 4: Limited user

They show their basic ability only under the familiar situations. However, the

errors of understanding and expression are frequent. They cannot use complex

language.

Level 5: Modest user

They speak English partially, and so they manage to understand the overall

meanings in most situations. However, it would be expected that they often make

mistakes in conversation. They should be able to handle basic communication in

their own field.

Level 6: Competent user

There are some errors like inaccuracy, inappropriately, and misunderstandings,

but generally, they manage to use English effectively. In particularly, they are able

to use very complex structures in familiar situations.

Level 7: Good user

They are willing to communicate in English, but they sometimes speak

inaccurately and inappropriately. Moreover it would be possible to

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misunderstanding depends on the situation. They generally handle complex

structures well, and understand conversations in details.

Level 8: Very good user

They have enough skills to communicate in English. They speak fluently and

develop topics coherently. In unexpected situations, they cope with flexibly. They

use complex sentences naturally and speak coherently, but it still includes some

mistakes.

Level 9: Expert user

They have a good enough command of English. They speak appropriately,

accurately, and fluently. They also show complete understanding.

In this way, English levels can be divided into 9 levels in detail. The IELTS

results are designed to be simple and easy to understand. It scored by band descriptors

of speaking.

1.4 Previous research

This section will look at how personal factors and speaking skills are connected

each other through seeing previous research.

Okuno (2013) studied how good and poor speakers differ in their learning

style, and the big differences between them. She found that how the learner’s studying

way differs of good or poor English speakers. There was no definite answer for the

differences in learning style between them, but all good speakers had experienced study

abroad, and all poor the speakers had never experienced it. Furthermore, good speakers

tended to have more chances to use English than poor speakers did.

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Oka (2014) studied the connection between personality and English level. She

found that there was no clear relationship between them. However, the subjects who

noticed they change their personality when they speak English tended to have higher

TOEIC scores than subjects who did not.

1.5 Research Questions

We have seen what personality is, and some features of measuring the English

of non-native speakers above. In the next two chapters, we will look at the some

relationships between them in a questionnaire and a speaking test. There are several

research questions for this thesis.

1. How is personality connected to speaking skills?

2. What is the difference between good and poor speakers?

1.6 Conclusion

In Chapter One, we looked at what personality is, what the speaking skill is,

and some features of good English speakers. We also looked at the advantages and

disadvantages of each personality, and how to improve the English skill. In Chapter

Two, we will ask subjects about their background of English, and give a questionnaire

about their personality when they speak English. In addition, we will test students’

speaking skills by individual speaking test. The test will judge who are good speakers

and poor speakers. We will also see if there are some differences between them.

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Chapter Two: The Questionnaire and The Speaking test

2.1 Introduction

In Chapter One, we looked at the Big Five Personality traits and the speaking

skill. In this chapter, we will look at the results of a questionnaire and a speaking test to

see if there is relationship between personality traits and speaking skills, and if there are

some differences between good speakers and poor speakers by looking at the results of

speaking test and questionnaire.

2.2 The experiment

2.2.1 Introduction to the experiment / questionnaire

The aim of this questionnaire was to find out what personality a subject has

when they speak English. This questionnaire was divided into two sections. Section 1,

asked general background information of students, especially for speaking skills. In

Section 2, there were questions to ask the students’ personality when they speak

English. The students’ speaking skills were given a speaking test to judge who were

good speakers and poor speakers to see if there are some differences between good and

poor speakers. This is going to be checked by individual interviews in English referred

to IELTS test.

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2.2.2 Method

1) Subjects

The subjects were 30 female senior subjects in Notre Dame Seishin University.

They were all in the Department of English Language and Literature. Their ages were

from 21 to 22 years old. They have studied English for at least 9 or 10 years. 63.3% of

them had been abroad before, and 84.2% of these had had some time studying abroad.

Their results were used to find out the relationships between personality and speaking

skills.

2) Test design

There were two types of experiments, a questionnaire and a test were used. The

questionnaire was divided into two section. The first section had eight questions about

general background information of students, especially for speaking skills, such as their

motivation for speaking English, and their thoughts for English. The second section was

a check test of personality when they speak English. There were 25 questions, and each

questions had five choices to answer. Those questions found out one’s personality when

subjects speak English. The aim of this questionnaire was to find the subjects’ thought

for learning English and judge the subjects’ personality when they speak English. Both

of the test instruments are in the appendices,

An IELTS speaking test was given all in English. The speaking test consists of

an oral interview between the test takers’ and an examiner. All Speaking test are

14

recorded. The test time is 11 to 14 minutes. There are three parts to the test and each

part fulfils a specific function in terms of interaction pattern, task input and test takers

output. In part 1, the examiner ask the test takers general questions on some familiar

topics, such as home, family, work, studies, and interests. To ensure consistency,

questions are taken from a script. This part lasts 4 to 5 minutes.

We will investigate the students’ speaking ability in general conversations

referred to IELTS speaking test. Therefore, we use 1st part of IELTS speaking test. The

researcher marks the students’ speaking score in terms of four criterion which were

referred to IELTS speaking test in Chapter One. There are four criteria, Pronunciation,

Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Fluency and Coherence, and

each criterion will score 0 to 9 bands. The researcher talked to the 30 subjects one by

one, and asked them questions such as about heir family, neighbors, studies, job, free-

time, interests, fashion, food, music, sports, travelling, and dream, for 4 to 5 minutes.

The speaking theme examples are in the appendix. I recorded each conversation and the

researcher marked their English skills. In addition, the subjects rated themselves on how

they feel about their English speaking ability on a scale of 0 to 9 bands on four criteria.

Each score was assigned at the end of the speaking test. The students’ self- assessment

will see if there are some differences from the assessment by the researcher.

3) Procedure

In order to collect the data, the subjects were asked to complete the

questionnaire. This questionnaire was made using Google Forms, and it is in the

appendix. There was no time limitation to fill in it. They could answer the questionnaire

anytime, anywhere. The speaking test had a time limitation about five minutes. This was

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all done in the same university. The test was scored by using speaking test sheet which

is in the appendix. The data were put in graphs and Excel, and analyzed to find out the

subjects’ personality when they speak English, and to look for any relationships

between personality and speaking skills, and some differences between good speakers

and poor speakers.

2.3 Results

2.3.1 The results of the students’ background information of English

The following shows the subjects thought for English. First, we will look at the

data for the subjects’ general background for English.

Figure 1: The data for the most important ability the subjects thought

Figure 1 shows that most subjects thought speaking is the most important

ability. However, a fourth part of subjects thought listening is the most important ability.

Even though the number of subjects who thought writing ability is the most important

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are low, no one chose reading ability.

Figure 2: The data for the thought of subjects’ speaking ability

Figure 2 shows no one thought their speaking ability was quite good and only

3.3% of them thought it was good. A fourth of them thought their speaking ability was

middle. Over 50% of them thought their speaking ability was not good.

Figure 3: The data for level of confidence when subjects speak English

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Figure 3 shows most of the subjects chose their level of confidence when they

speak English are low. The rest of subjects chose middle, however no one chose their

level of confidence are high and quite high.

Figure 4: The data for subjects’ motivation to improve their speaking ability

Figure 4 shows most of the subjects thought speaking is the most important

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ability in the previous question, but just 56.6% of them have high motivation to improve

their speaking ability.

Figure 5: The data for how often subjects speak English in a week

47%33%

7%13%

How often do you speak English in a week?

0

1-30 minutes

31-60 minutes

More than 1 hour

Figure 5 shows about half of the subjects had no opportunity to speak English,

and 33% of them spoke English 1-30 minutes in a week. 7% of them spoke English 31-

60 minutes, and 13% of them had chances to speak English more than 1 hour in a week.

Figure 6: The data for how subjects improve their speaking skills

Others

Record yourself speaking

Think in English

Sing, or listening to foreign songs

Learn vocabularies and slangs

Talk with others

23%

10%

17%

50%

53%

77%

How do you improve your speaking skill?

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Figure 6 shows 77% of the subjects talk with others to improve their speaking

skill, and about 50% of them learn vocabulary and slang, sing or listening to foreign

songs. 17% of them think in English, and 10% of them record themselves speaking.

23% of them chose others.

Figure 7: The data for experiences abroad

Figure 7 shows over half of the subjects had been abroad before.

Figure 8: The data for the purpose of visit

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84%

16%

If yes, what was the purpose of your visit?

Study abroadTrip

Figure 8 shows most subjects had been abroad for study English, and the others

for travel.

2.3.2 Students’ personality when they speak English

The following tables show the subjects’ personality when they speak English

by percentage for each question and how they how they felt which were fit to them.

They will all be discussed in Chapter Three.

Table 1: Data for the subjects’ personality when they speak English

1 2 3 4 5

Strongly agree AgreeNeither agree or

disagreeDisagree Strongly disagree

　Questions about when you speak English, 1 2 3 4 51. I don’t get depressed. 20% 40% 3% 37% 0%

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2. I’m not worried about whether I can speak English well.

0% 13% 10% 73% 3%

3. I rarely get nervous. 0% 13% 30% 50% 7%4. My mood rarely changes. 7% 23% 17% 50% 3%5. I feel excited. 20% 43% 30% 7% 0%6. I like talking in an excited way. 33% 30% 13% 23% 0%7. I’m pleased when I attract attention from others.

13% 20% 37% 27% 3%

8. I try to take control of the conversation. 13% 20% 37% 30% 0%9. I really love to talk to others. 60% 23% 13% 3% 0%10. I prefer to talk in a busy place. 30% 30% 13% 27% 0%11. I want to follow the rules of grammar. 10% 43% 30% 13% 3%12. I think carefully before I speak. 3% 50% 17% 30% 0%13. I try to do my best. 47% 53% 0% 0% 0%14. I don’t feel like giving up if I face troubles. 7% 70% 13% 10% 0%15. I have a sense of responsibility to my friends and myself. E.g. When I need to speak English, I should do so.

13% 53% 20% 13% 0%

16. I try hard to understand others. 63% 33% 3% 0% 0%17. I pay careful attention to others when I talk. 57% 43% 0% 0% 0%18. I talk to people by gauging their reaction. 53% 37% 3% 7% 0%19. I enjoy talking with others. 70% 27% 3% 0% 0%20. I often start conversations with strangers. 40% 27% 13% 20% 0%21. I’m curious about new things. 23% 63% 7% 7% 0%22. I’m open-minded. 10% 27% 27% 33% 3%23. I have many topics that I can talk about. 13% 33% 27% 23% 3%24. I like to learn new things. 37% 57% 0% 7% 0%25. I’m interested in many topics. 27% 53% 17% 3% 0%

Question Nos. 1-4:

60% of the subjects do not get depressed, and 37% of the subjects get

depressed. 76% of the subjects worried about whether they can speak English well.

Over 50% of the subjects get nervous, and change their mood.

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Question Nos. 5-6:

63% of the subjects feel excited and talking in an excited way. Only 7% of the

subjects do not feel excited, and 23% of the subjects do not talk in an excited way.

Question No. 7:

33% of the subjects are pleased when they attract attention from others, and

30% are not pleased. The numbers are spread.

Question No. 8:

33% of the subjects try to take control of the conversation, and 30% do not try

so.

Question No. 9:

83% of the subjects really love to talk others, but 3% of the subjects do not like

to do so.

Question No. 10:

60% of the subjects prefer to talk in a busy place, but 27% do not prefer so.

Question No. 11:

53% of the subjects want to follow the rules of grammar, and 26% do not think

so.

Question No. 12:

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53% of the subjects think carefully before they speak and 30% do not think so.

Question Nos. 13-14:

All the subjects try to do the best, but not all the subjects do not feel like giving

up if they face troubles.

Questions No. 15:

66% of the subjects have a sense of responsibility to others and themselves,

and 13% do not have it.

Question Nos. 16-19:

Almost all the subjects try hard to understand and pay careful attention to

others. They talk to people by gauging others reaction and enjoy it.

Question No. 20:

67% of the subjects can often start conversation with strangers, but 20% of the

subjects cannot do so.

Question No. 21:

86% of the subjects are curious about new things, and only 7% are not so.

Question No. 22:

37% of the subjects are open-minded, and 36% are not.

Question No. 23:

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46% of the subjects have many topics that they can talk about, and 36% do not

have it.

Question Nos. 24-25:

94% of the subjects like to learn new things, and 80% are interested in many

topics. Only 7% do not like to learn new things.

Table 2: Students’ personality type when they speak English

Openness to Experience Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism

2 4 4 18 2

Table 2 showed how many subjects belonged to which personality traits when

they speak English. The subjects were classified into five personality traits based on the

results of Table 1. According to Table 1, two subjects belonged to Openness to

Experience type, four subjects belonged to Conscientiousness type, four subjects

belonged to Extraversion type, eighteen subjects belonged to Agreeableness type, and

two subjects belonged to Neuroticism type.

2.3.3 The data for the self-assessment of speaking test

Table 3: The data for student self –assessment of their speaking ability

#Fluency

and Lexical

ResourcesGrammatical

Range and Pronunciat

ionTotal

Speaker level

25

Coherence Accuracy1 4 4 4 5 17 c2 5 5 5 4 19 c3 5 4 5 4 18 c4 4 3 4 5 16 d5 5 5 4 5 19 c6 5 3 4 6 18 c7 4 3 2 2 11 c8 5 5 5 5 20 c9 5 4 4 4 17 c10 6 5 5 6 22 b11 3 4 4 3 14 c12 5 5 6 5 21 b13 4 4 4 3 15 c14 5 4 5 4 18 c15 4 3 4 3 14 c16 5 4 5 4 18 d17 4 4 5 4 17 c18 1 1 1 1 4 d19 4 4 5 4 17 c20 4 3 3 3 13 c21 4 4 3 4 15 c22 5 3 4 4 16 c23 4 3 3 2 12 d24 4 3 4 4 15 c25 3 3 3 2 11 d26 5 4 5 5 19 c27 4 5 4 4 17 c28 6 5 5 6 22 b29 6 4 4 6 20 c30 6 4 3 4 17 c

Each total score was added up of these four features to get an overall rating.

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The maximum score is 36. The average two best subjects scored 22 points, and the

worst student scored four points. Top five students’ personality types were Extraversion

and Agreeableness.

3 subjects thought b) I am quite a good speaker, 22 subjects thought c) I am an

average speaker, and 5 subjects thought d) I am weaker than average speaker.

2.3.4 The data for students’ assessment of speaking test by researcher

Table 4: The data for student assessment of their speaking ability by researcher

Student Name

Fluency and

Coherence

Lexical Resource

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

Pronunciation Total

1 4 4 5 5 182 3 3 4 4 143 4 4 4 4 164 4 4 4 4 165 6 5 6 6 236 5 6 5 5 217 4 4 5 4 178 4 4 4 4 169 5 4 4 5 1810 8 8 8 9 3311 2 2 3 3 1012 9 8 9 9 3513 4 4 4 4 1614 4 3 4 4 1515 4 4 5 4 17

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16 4 5 5 4 1817 4 4 4 4 1618 6 6 7 6 2519 4 4 4 4 1620 4 4 4 4 1621 3 3 4 4 1422 4 4 4 4 1623 2 3 3 4 1224 4 4 5 5 1825 5 4 4 4 1726 4 4 5 5 1827 4 4 4 4 1628 6 7 7 6 2629 8 8 9 9 3430 6 6 7 7 26

Each total score was added up of these four features to get an average rating.

The maximum score is 36. The best student scored 35 points, and the worst student

scored 10 points. Top five students’ personality types were Extraversion and

Agreeableness.

2.4 Summary

In this chapter, we saw the results of two sections of the questionnaire and the

individual speaking test. We found that subjects’ feelings for English and their

personality when they speak English. We also could know their speaking skills by the

individual speaking test. We are going to discuss them in Chapter Three and explain

what the results mean in detail.

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Chapter Three: Discussion

3.1 Introduction

In Chapter One, we looked at some kinds of personality types and speaking

skills. We could understand that human personality can be divided into big five traits

according to various features. In addition, we could learn that common points of good

English speaker. In Chapter Two, we looked the procedure of the questionnaire,

speaking test, and its overall data. Now, we will discuss the results from the

questionnaire and find answers to the research questions.

3.2 Summary of the results

In Chapter Two, we looked at results of the questionnaire, which was

composed of two sections. Section 1 was questions about students’ general background

information, especially for speaking skills; Section 2 was questions about their

personality when they speak English. We could divide subjects into five personality

types from the data of Section 2. We also looked at results from speaking test about the

students’ self-assessment, and assessment by the researcher. By comparing these data,

we could find the answer of the two research questions. Research Question 1 was “How

is personality connected to speaking skills?” The result showed that there were no clear

relationships between personality type and speaking skill. Research Question 2 was

“What is the difference between good and poor speaker?” The result showed there were

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several differences between them.

3.3 Discussion of the results

3.3.1 Analysis of students’ background information of English

In chapter Two, we looked at the results of the questionnaire, which was

divided into two sections. In Section 1, we found that subjects thought speaking is the

most important skill, and about half of them were highly motivated to improve their

English skills. There were no subjects who thought their English skills were quite high,

and over half of them thought their speaking ability was not good. Therefore, most of

the subjects have low confidence when they speak English.

3.3.2 Analysis of relationships between personality types and speaking skills

In Section 2, we looked at their personality types when they speak English. In

addition, we looked at results about assessment by the researcher, and students’ self-

assessment from individual speaking test.

Table 5: The data for the students’ personality types and assessment of speaking test by

the researcher

scoreOpenness to

experience (2)

Conscientious

ness (4)

Extraver

sion (4)

Agreeablen

ess (18)

Neurotici

sm (2)

Worst 5 0 0 1 3 1

Middle 20 2 4 0 13 1

Top 5 0 0 3 2 0

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According to Table 5, the top five speakers had Extraversion and

Agreeableness. In contrast, worst five speakers had Extraversion, Agreeableness, and

Neuroticism. The middle speakers belonged to Openness to experience,

Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

Table 6: The data for the students’ personality types and self-assessment of speaking test

scoreOpenness to

experience (2)

Conscientious

ness (4)

Extraver

sion (4)

Agreeablen

ess (18)

Neurotici

sm (2)

Worst 5 1 1 0 2 1

Middle 20 1 3 2 13 1

Top 5 0 0 2 3 0

According to Table 6, the top five speakers had Extraversion and

Agreeableness. On the other hand, the worst five speakers had Openness to experience,

Conscientiousness, Agreeableness and Neuroticism. The middle speakers belonged to

Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and

Neuroticism.

Through these results, we could not say definitely that there were clear

connections between personality types when they speak English and speaking skills.

However, according to Table 5 and 6, the top speakers tended to belong to Extraversion

type and Agreeableness type. Through the results of speaking test, good speakers were

well-balanced when tested on four criterion.

Compared to the results of assessment by the researcher and students’ self-

assessment, subjects tended to rate lower their speaking skills than researcher did, but

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good speakers scored their speaking skills were higher than poor speakers were. The

personality traits of worst five speakers were slightly different, however personality

traits of top five speakers were all same in both assessments.

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Table 7: The data for the background information of good speakers and poor speakers

　 Top five speakers 　 　 　 Worst five speakers 　

What do you think of your speaking ability?

Quite good Good Middle Not good BadQuite

goodGood Middle Not good Bad

0% 20% 60% 20% 0% 0% 0% 20% 60% 20%

What is your level of confidence when you speak English?

Quite high High Middle LowQuite

low

Quite

highHigh Middle Low

Quite

low

0% 0% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% 20% 40% 40%

What level is your motivation to improve your speaking ability?

Quite high High Middle LowQuite

low

Quite

highHigh Middle Low

Quite

low

40% 60% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 60% 40% 0%

How often do you speak English in a week?

0 minutes1-30

minutes

31-60

minutes

More

than 1

hour　

01-30

minutes

31-60

minutes

More

than 1

hour　

0% 20% 20% 60% 80% 20% 0% 0%

Have you ever lived in, been to, or studied abroad in an

Yes No Yes No

100% 0% 60% 40%

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English speaking

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Table 7 said that good speakers had slightly higher confidence for their English

skills and had mostly higher motivation than poor speakers did. Moreover all good

speakers had been abroad before, and had more opportunities to speak English in a

week even they were in Japan. In contrast, poor speakers had a little chance to speak

English in a week.

3.4 Research questions

1. How is personality connected to speaking skills?

There was no clear relationships between personality types and speaking skills,

however subjects with Extraversion tend to get high scores. 60% of the subjects have

Agreeableness when they speak English. It can be expected that Agreeableness person

try hard to understand others because they are sympathetic, and attempt to get along

well with others. When they speak English, people should pay careful attention to

communicate with others because English is not their mother tongue. Therefore, over

half subjects belonged to Agreeableness.

2. What is the difference between good and poor speakers?

There were several differences between them. According to the questionnaire

and test results, the top five subjects had a high motivation for improving their speaking

ability, and had a slightly high confidence when they speak English compared to the

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worst five students. In addition, self-assessment of their speaking ability showed that

good speakers were scored higher on their speaking ability higher than poor speakers

were. All of the top five subjects had experienced study abroad before, and it was longer

than others did. They had more opportunities to speak English even they were in Japan.

The speaking test was based on 4 points: fluency and coherence, lexical

resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation, the top five subjects

could use those points well. They could speak fluently what they want to talk about.

They used many discourse makers and they were good at saying things in other words,

so even they did not know the words, they could paraphrase it. On the other hands, poor

speakers could not use those 4 points well, they spoke with long pauses and used simple

vocabulary to convey information. It can be said that their motivation and chances to

using English might relate to this question.

3.5 Implications

We looked at the results of the questionnaire and speaking test in Chapter Two

and discussed about results in this chapter. According to these results, it could be

expected that the big five personality have just a slightly affect one’s speaking skill.

That is, there is a fair possibility of being a good English speaker for every English

learner. In this thesis, we found that good English speakers had frequent opportunities to

use English even they were in Japan. They put themselves in the situations in which

they will use English. Furthermore, good English speakers were well-balanced on the

four points: fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy,

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and pronunciation. If the balance inclined to one side, it would be hard to say they were

good speakers. To be good speakers, we should provide frequent opportunities to use

English as speaking, and improve those four points with good valance.

3.6 Limitations of the Experiment

There were several limitations of the questionnaire. All subjects were female

who major in English at Notre Dame Seishin University, because there are some

differences between males and females, so we could easily guess that the result will

likely be influenced by gender, if males had taken the personality questionnaire and the

speaking test. Moreover, if the subjects were from various majors, probably we could

not get appropriate data.

3.7 Further research

In this thesis, we asked 30 subjects who majored in English at the same

university. We asked them about the questionnaire and divided them into five

personality types. However, the number of subjects who belonged to each personality

type varied widely, and so it was difficult to analyze data correctly. Therefore, we

should have same number subjects of each personality type group next time.

Furthermore, speaking ability might have connections with several personal factors such

as mindsets, motivation, and learning strategies. We can research more like which

personal factors are good speakers have. To find out these things might help our

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learning effectively.

3.8 Conclusion

We discussed and analyzed the connections between personality and speaking

skills, and the differences between good speakers and poor speakers in this thesis. We

could find that there were no clear relationships between personalities and speaking

skills, in other words, learners have equal opportunities to be a good English speaker.

Good speakers have slightly higher motivation for improving English than poor

speakers, and so they should urge to put themselves in the situation to use English on

their own. To improve speaking skills, we should have more opportunity to use and

speak English consciously, and improve their English with good balance.

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References

Papers

Goldberg, L. (1990). An Alternative "Description of Personality": The Big-Five Factor Structure Journal of Personality and Social Psychologs Vol. 59, No. 6, 1216-1229 7

Oka, M.（2014）：Do people adopt a different personality when they speak English?

Thesis presented to Notre Dame Seishin University

Okuno, K.（2013）：How do good and poor speakers differ in their learning style?

Thesis presented to Notre Dame Seishin University

Websites

British Council, 2017. 『ビデオ：IELTS 受験のヒント』.https://www.britishcouncil.jp/exam/ielts/prepare/test-tips.Accessed July 30, 2017

IELTS. 2017 What is IELTS?https://www.ielts.org/. Accessed July 29, 2017

Robby, B. (2017). The Big Five Personality Traits and What They Mean to Psychologists.

http://bigthink.com/robby-berman/the-5-personality-types-and-why-you-care.

Accessed July 21, 2017

公益財団法人日本英語協定協会（2017）. Information for Candidates.http://www.eiken.or.jp/ielts/test/pdf/info_for_candidates_japanese.pdfAccessed July 30, 2017

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藤島寛・山田尚子・辻平治郎 (2005)　『５因子性格検査短縮版（FFPQ-50）の作成』パーソナリティ研究　第 13 巻　第 2 号　Pp.231-241.

文部科学省（2014）.『今後の英語教育の改善・充実方策について　報告～グローバル化に対応した英語教育改革の五つの提言～』.

http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chousa/shotou/102/houkoku/attach/1352464.htm. Accessed August 16, 2017

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Appendices

Appendix AThe questionnaire (self-assessment)

Name

Q1. What is the most important ability do you think?a. Writing b. Listening c. Speaking d. Writing

Q2. What do you think of your speaking ability?a. Quite good b. Good c. Middle d. Not good e. Bad

Q3. What is your level of confidence when you speak English?a. Quite high b. High c. Middle d. Low e. Quite Low

Q4. What level is your motivation to improve your speaking ability?a. Quite high b. High c. Middle d. Low e. Quite Low

Q5. How often do you speak English in a week?a. 0 b. 1~30 minutes c. 31~60 minutes d. More than 1 hour

Q6. How do you improve your speaking skill?

a. Talk with others b. Record yourself speaking c. Think in Englishd. Sing, or listening to foreign songs e. Learn vocabularies and slangsf. others

Q7. Have you ever lived in, been to, or studied abroad in an English speaking country?a. Yes b. No

Q8. If yes, what was the purpose of your visit, and how long did you stay there?

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Appendix BPersonality type test

All these questions are about your personality when you speak English. What do you usually feel when you speak English? Please imagine you are speaking English now, and answer these questions please.

Use this chart as you answer.1 2 3 4 5

Strongly agree AgreeNeither agree or

disagreeDisagree Strongly disagree

　Questions about when you speak English, 1 2 3 4 51. I don’t get depressed.2. I’m not worried about whether I can speak English well.3. I rarely get nervous.4. My mood rarely changes.5. I feel excited.6. I like talking in an excited way.7. I’m pleased when I attract attention from others.8. I try to take control of the conversation.9. I really love to talk to others.10. I prefer to talk in a busy place.11. I want to follow the rules of grammar.12. I think carefully before I speak.13. I try to do my best.14. I don’t feel like giving up if I face troubles.15. I have a sense of responsibility to my friends and myself. E.g. When I need to speak English, I should do so.16. I try hard to understand others.17. I pay careful attention to others when I talk.18. I talk to people by gauging their reaction.

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19. I enjoy talking with others.20. I often start conversations with strangers.21. I’m curious about new things.22. I’m open-minded.23. I have many topics that I can talk about.24. I like to learn new things.25. I’m interested in many topics.

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Appendix CTest general speaking skill

Speaking themes examples

1. Where are you from?2. Where do you live now?3. What is your most favorite place at home?4. Tell me about your home life5. What is your thesis about?6. Which country do you want to travel?7. How are you going to spend this summer vacation?8. What did you do last weekend?9. What do you usually do after school?10. Please tell me about your hobby, or favorite things.11. Do you have a part-time job?12. What do you like to do in your free time?13. What kind of food do you like?14. Do you like sports?15. Have you ever been abroad?16. What was the best part of the trip?17. Will you stay Okayama after graduate?18. If you could be another person, who do you want to be? Why?19. Who is your ideal person? (It does not matter male or female.)20. Anything

Topics: Family, Neighbors, Studies, Job, Free-time, Interests, Fashion, Food, Music, Sports, Travelling, Dream

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Speaking test sheet

Name:

Rate yourself based on a scale of 0 to 9.

Band

Fluency and Coherence

Lexical Resourc

e

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

Pronunciation

Not at all 0Extremely bad (極めて悪い)

1

Very bad (とても悪い)

2

Moderately bad (そこそこ悪

い)3

Slightly bad (おおむね悪

い)4

Slightly well (おおむね良

い)5

Moderately well (そこそ

こ良い)6

Very well (とても良い)

7

Extremely well (極めて良い)

8

Perfect 9

Circle one.

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I think I am 　 　 　

a b c d

a very good speaker

quite a good speaker

an average speaker

weaker than average speaker

Thank you for your time and help.Yurina Nakano

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