Discussion of General Findings

In Study 1, a new instrument for the assessment of secondary school students’

presentation competence, the Tübingen Instrument for Presentation competence (TIP), was developed. It was based on rhetorical theory and in line with previous instrument approaches.

To learn more about the instrument’s quality, it was examined whether the TIP had appropriate psychometric properties in terms of objectivity, reliability, and validity. In terms of objectivity, the interrater reliability, as measured by ICCs, exhibited adequately high values for the majority of items. The language-related items had the lowest ICCs. This is in line with other studies (e.g., Herbein, Golle, Tibus, Schiefer et al., 2018). Only the items with adequately high ICCs were used for further analyses. With regard to reliability, test-retest measures were conducted using a semi-standardized design. Despite this non-optimal study design, the correlations between the two measurement points ranged from low to high. The high values for most items indicate that the TIP is stable over time. The low correlation values for the other items require further examination. Regarding validity, the exploratory factor analysis revealed factors representing the assumed presentation facets. Further validity examinations revealed moderate to high correlations between the TIP and experts’ live ratings of presentation competence. This correspondence is a strong indicator that the TIP measures what it intends to measure:

presentation competence. In addition, the correlations between the TIP and students’ self-reports were small to moderate. This is line with previous findings (e.g., Aryadoust, 2015;

Carrell & Willmington, 1996) and further confirms the validity of the TIP. Likewise, the negative correlations between the TIP and speech anxiety were in line with previous studies (e.g., T. Brown & Morrissey, 2004), confirming the assumed negative association. Furthermore, the correlation between the TIP and students’ grades in German language arts supports the concurrent validity of the TIP. In summary, the findings provided evidence that the TIP with its rhetorical basis is a valid instrument for assessing secondary school students’ presentation competence. It goes above and beyond previous presentation competence instruments by extending the target group to secondary school students. In addition, the examination of the TIP’s psychometric quality included reliability measures, such as stability, validity measures and experts’ live ratings, which were not addressed in psychometric examinations of other instruments. Hence, this study fills a research gap in terms of the lack of instruments for secondary school students and combines empirical educational research with rhetorical theory and practice. However, the TIP still requires further development and examination. This study could not empirically confirm the presentation facets deduced from rhetorical theory because

not all items could be included in the analysis due to low ICC values. In addition, the examination of the TIP showed that language items are difficult to assess.

The goal of Study 2 was to extend research on determinants of presentation competence by focusing on the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and secondary school students’ presentation competence. In order to achieve this goal, presentation competence was assessed using two kinds of external ratings (video ratings and experts’ live ratings) as well as self-reports. The study found a robust positive association between Extraversion and presentation competence measured via external ratings as well as via self-reports. There was also a negative relationship pattern between Neuroticism and presentation competence measured via self-assessment measures. These relationships are based on correlation analyses as well as regression analyses controlling for the other Big Five personality traits, sex, and gender. Comparing the two assessment perspectives, i.e., external ratings and self-reports, revealed that the two approaches also result in different findings and indicate that different Big Five dimensions play different roles depending on the measurement perspective. Both external ratings and self-reports have their benefits. Self-reported presentation competence measures self-perceived presentation competence that determines future communication behavior.

External ratings reflect the audience’s perspective and are considered to represent a more objective perspective that determines the success of the performance in contexts such as school.

In this study, applying the two perspectives resulted in different findings. The results indicated that different personality dimensions of the Big Five play a role depending on the measurement perspective. This is useful information for instructors, who can apply these findings to adapt their instruction to individual needs. The study showed that Extraversion is crucial for presentation tasks from the external rating perspective. This contrasts with existing findings concerning the correlation between personality traits and school achievement in general for secondary school students. These studies found that Conscientiousness is the strongest predictor for school achievement in general. In sum, the present dissertation contributes to extending previous research on determinants of presentation competence, such as speech anxiety or self-efficacy, by investigating personality traits. In addition, the examination of the relationship between presentation competence and personality traits found robust relationship patterns for the target group of secondary school students’ and focused on presentation tasks beyond the specific context of second language learning. Explicitly focusing on the oral task of delivering a presentation showed that the personality trait Extraversion seems to play a crucial role in completing presentation tasks.

The goal of Study 3 was to examine the effectiveness of a short presentation training program for secondary school students. The training took place at the Presentation Academy of Youth Presents, a national presentation contest for secondary school students in Germany. This study found treatment effects on the presentation facet addressing the audience, as well as on the items “the speaker ends the presentation convincingly with a conclusion” and “the speaker has formulated an appropriately clear scientific question” (assessed via video ratings).

According to Cohen’s classification (1988) effect sizes, the treatment effects in this study are considered small. No significant treatment effects were found on the presentation facets body language & voice and visual aids as well as on the three single items related to the presentation facets of structure, content credibility and language use. These effects follow the pattern found in previous studies focusing on the higher education context (e.g., De Grez, Valcke, & Roozen, 2009b; Gring & Littlejohn, 2000). In line with these studies, the results imply that students can more easily change and improve the structure of a presentation than they can change their body language & voice. Alongside these effects on external ratings, the self-report measures of presentation competence pointed to self-perceived improvements in body language & voice as well as language use. These findings are partly in line with other studies (e.g.; Bower et al., 2011; Mowbray & Perry, 2013). Comparing the findings from both measurement perspectives reveals a salient difference. On the one hand, this indicates that evaluation studies focusing on only one perspective cannot be generalized to the other perspective. On the other hand, external ratings provide the more objective perspective on treatment effects. With respect to self-reports, a future research question concerns the reference points students used when assessing themselves. In summary, this effectiveness study provides insights into empirically testing presentation training programs for secondary school students. The research question addressed whether early promotion in secondary school via a short presentation training is beneficial. The findings indicate that some facets of secondary school students’ presentation competence can be changed through a short intensive training program. Nevertheless, the training did not have an effect on all of the presentation facets and also focused on a highly selective sample of secondary school students. This limits its generalizability.