Facilitating English Learners’ Speaking: Toastmasters Meeting as a Format for the ESL Speaking Class

Speaking skills come upfront in teaching English due to rapidly growing global demand for professionals with adequate level of the language proficiency. New approaches to teaching speaking are needed to meet these demands. The article describes how Toastmasters meeting format was utilized in a speaking course for the students at a Turkish university. The project had a twofold objective: to incorporate the format to the speaking course and investigate the effect of such a classroom environment on students’ preparedness for speaking assessment and their speaking anxiety. The paper presents the rationale, timeline, and components of the class. Engagement of the participants in a meaningful project and speaking activities in a non-threatening atmosphere contributed to improving students’ oral communication skills and decreasing speaking anxiety. Such format is believed to be beneficial for university level students in their academic progression.