FROM ANXIETY TO CONFIDENCE: PERMA-BASED LEARNING WITH AI SUPPORT FOR ARGUMENTATIVE SPEAKING DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Students from non-English majors often experience anxiety when using English as a medium of instruction, particularly in speaking tasks that require academic argumentation. This issue is also relevant to students of the Primary School Teacher Education Program (PGSD), who may need to use English in future teaching contexts. This paper reports a preliminary study as the first stage of a larger research project on the implementation of PERMA-based learning with AI support to assess speaking for academic purposes. The participants were 42 regular undergraduate students of the Primary School Teacher Education Program (PGSD), batch 2024, in their fourth semester, enrolled in the English for Learning course. The study aimed to improve students’ argumentative speaking skills and readiness to use English in future classrooms.

This research employed a qualitative design using data triangulation through classroom observation, student reflections, and speaking performance records. At the beginning of the program, many students reported anxiety and low confidence because English was rarely used in daily communication. However, through PERMA-based learning, students gradually became more comfortable due to support from the lecturer and peers. They also used AI tools to review and improve their speaking performance before class sessions and uploaded learning summaries to Google Classroom. Over time, students showed clear progress in pronunciation, speaking fluency, and self-confidence.

The findings indicate that the integration of PERMA-based learning and AI support created a positive and motivating learning environment that reduced anxiety and enhanced students’ argumentative speaking ability. These results demonstrate promising potential for wider implementation in future research on speaking for academic purposes.