Assertiveness in Elt: a Review of Literature
Assertiveness in ELT: A Review of Literature
Nur’ain Balqis Binti Haladin
Faculty of Education
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia nurainbalqis@utm.my Noor Aireen Binti Ibrahim
Language Academy
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia naireen@utm.my According to Sigler, Burnett and Child (2008), in 1940s research on assertiveness started to gain the scholarly interest. In its early popularity, assertiveness was mainly focused on the differences in assertiveness based on gender and race of the communicator. A study done by Yong (2010) focuses on Assertiveness and Academic Procrastination of English and Communication Students at a Private University stated that students need to show high level of assertiveness as a way to excel in English and Communication Skills. Hence, assertiveness is believed could affect the students language proficiency and being communicative competent. This paper aims to gain more insights on assertiveness in English Language Teaching (ELT) by reviewing current research on assertiveness and education. The search for related articles was carried out via online databases using the keywords: assertiveness, assertive communication, such as Taylor & Francis, Science Direct and Proquest. There are several research done in order to investigate the effects of assertiveness in education regardless of any particular fields, especially in nursing. However, very few research have focused on assertiveness in ELT. Moreover, Mc Cabe and Timmins (2002) suggested further research is required to determine the need for and the benefits of assertiveness education. This paper will conclude with a discussion of a proposed study which will employ incorporating the teaching of assertiveness to the students.
Keywords: assertiveness, ELT, communicative competence and language
Nur’ain Balqis Binti Haladin
Faculty of Education
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia nurainbalqis@utm.my Noor Aireen Binti Ibrahim
Language Academy
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia naireen@utm.my According to Sigler, Burnett and Child (2008), in 1940s research on assertiveness started to gain the scholarly interest. In its early popularity, assertiveness was mainly focused on the differences in assertiveness based on gender and race of the communicator. A study done by Yong (2010) focuses on Assertiveness and Academic Procrastination of English and Communication Students at a Private University stated that students need to show high level of assertiveness as a way to excel in English and Communication Skills. Hence, assertiveness is believed could affect the students language proficiency and being communicative competent. This paper aims to gain more insights on assertiveness in English Language Teaching (ELT) by reviewing current research on assertiveness and education. The search for related articles was carried out via online databases using the keywords: assertiveness, assertive communication, such as Taylor & Francis, Science Direct and Proquest. There are several research done in order to investigate the effects of assertiveness in education regardless of any particular fields, especially in nursing. However, very few research have focused on assertiveness in ELT. Moreover, Mc Cabe and Timmins (2002) suggested further research is required to determine the need for and the benefits of assertiveness education. This paper will conclude with a discussion of a proposed study which will employ incorporating the teaching of assertiveness to the students.
Keywords: assertiveness, ELT, communicative competence and language