IMPROVING STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL THROUGH TASK BASED LEARNING a CASE STUDY OF 10THGRADE STUDENTS AT TAY HIEU HIGH SCHOOL

1 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI LIEU IMPROVING STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL THROUGH TASK- BASED LEARNING : A CASE STUDY OF 10THGRADE STUDENTS AT TAY HIEU HIGH SCHOOL Major: Theory and Methods of English Language Teaching Code: 60.14.01.11 MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION Supervisor: Tran Ba Tien, Ph.D Nghệ An, 8/2017 i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is my own work The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission, and have not been published elsewhere Author Nguyen Thi Lieu ii ABSTRACT This study deals with the fundamental learning activities for improving learners’speaking skill as they are applied by students in the contexts of taskbased activities The activities are interacted with students with the help of the task based learning (TBL) as an educational tool to create an meaningful class to meet the need of students’ motivation and learning styles for their participation in speaking the target language Based on the theoretical and practical findings, some kinds of task based activities and their use in teaching students’ speaking skill would be also introduced To achieve the above aims, in this study the action research method is employed with forty students’ class taught by TBL approach The findings of the study indicated that TBL is an effective approach for developing students’ speaking skill The participants showed great interest towards TBL which helped to increase students’ comfort level and selfconfidence when dealing with the English speaking target Task-based learning is really encouraging for students mainly because the tasks are real, interactive and require them to work in groups, which they prefer especially the tasks they often apply mimically their real-life Furthermore, the results of the analyses of the survey questions confirmed that learners had positive attitude towards TBL, as they provided the students often with a lot of interactive activities which created an environment that was fun, enjoyable and effective for improving the students’ speaking skill iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without the support of many people First, and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and deepest appreciation to Dr Tran Ba Tien, the supervisor of this thesis for his advice, support and encouragement, especially for the permission to try out this experimental study in the Teaching English as a Foreign Language at Tay Hieu high school This research would not be possible without him, and this success would not have been achieved This is also a chance for me to express my warmest thanks to my teachers at the Department of Foreign Languages, Vinh University, Nghe An, for their useful knowledge conveyed via interesting lectures My heartfelt thanks to my colleagues, friends, especially my beloved family They understand and encourage me during my studies at Tay Hieu high school I feel greatly indebted to them for their essential help and encouragement iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP .i ABSTRACT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv Page iv TABLE OF TABLES v TABLE OF FIGURES v Chapter INTRODUCTION .1 v TABLE OF TABLES Table Students encounter problems about TBLT (n= 40)Error: Reference source not found Table 4.2 Students’ perception about TBLT (n=50) Error: Reference source not found Table 4.3 Students’ ideas about effectiveness of TBL Error: Reference source not found TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 4.1 Students encounter problems about TBLT Error: Reference source not found Figure 4.2 Students’ perception about TBLT Error: Reference source not found Figure 4.3 Students’ ideas about effectiveness of TBLError: Reference source not found Chapter INTRODUCTION Rationale Nowadays English becomes more and more important in the daily lives of the Vietnamese people for many years due to its influence on education, careers and economics Therefore, developing speaking skills in English for learners to communicate with foreigners confidently is necessary in this modern stage, along with understanding differences in culture and holding positive attitudes towards using English ( Genc & Bada, 2005) Bailey and Savage (1994) state that to communicate on a daily basic skill that also helps an English learner become a good reader and writer spontaneously Moreover, Ellis (2003) states that the main purpose of a learner studying English as a Second Language (ESL) is to reach a personal goal to achieve success The Ministry of Education of Vietnam is focusing on new standards for English in school curriculum design The new standards are absolutely flexible, and offer teachers opportunities to determine the suitable methodology to be used They added that the aim of the new curriculum is to raise four domains of language learning like access to information, social interactions, in obtaining and presenting information, and in developing appreciation of the English language and its literature In recent times, when speaking about teaching and learning English, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thien Nhan showed a quite challenging vision: How to turn the capacity of English use of Vietnamese people in the next 10 to 15 years become a strength Responding to global challenges, English has been placed in the curriculum from primary to advanced levels According to the draft Development Strategy 2008-2020, English will be a compulsory elementary course (from grade 3) in the Vietnam education system Problems in teaching and learning English as a foreign Foreign language (TEFL) are the concerns of not only teachers but also learners This problem is partly affected by teaching methods, i.e many Vietnamese instructors teach English by lecturing and focusing on grammatical rules instead of language use They often provide insufficient opportunities for learners to practice English Making the situation worse, not only teachers but also learners frequently use Vietnamese throughout English classes Another obstacle to EFL learners is that Vietnamese teachers mainly make use of the traditional teacher- centered approach in which teachers control learning and teaching process According to Ruso (2007), students not like teachers who spend most of the class time lecturing Lecturing time make learners less eager to work because they not like being passive in classroom As a result, the students have limited input to learning process Learners encounter more other difficulties in learning English Many EFL learners cannot effectively use English in conversation Although many of them have learned English for ten years, they still cannot practice it in real life situations They tend to avoid using target language and cannot apply it in genuine communication Hashim (2006) shows that learning a language flourishes most when learners are in positive environment and are given chances to communicate in authentic situations Effectively, it has been suggested that teachers abandon the traditional teaching approach and change it into communicative language teaching (CLT) (Lochana and Deb, 2006) A field of CLT is task- based learning This is a practical approach to the learning process, using different tasks and challenges for learners to think freely and develop their competence Task- based learning offers diverse advantages by helping learners develop cognitive processes, creative thinking and problemsolving skills Many learners say that when performing a variety of tasks, they have opportunities to use language communicatively They also state that it is enjoyable doing tasks within in group, and this help them learn language ( Lochana and Deb, 2006) Research demonstrates that task- based learning has been considered as an alternative methodology to solve the crisis of teaching English Oxford (2006) states that task-based learning and teaching is an exciting field which provides enormous riches if explored by teachers in their dual roles as instructors and action researchers In addition, Muller (2006) holds that after using task- based learning, teachers can be confident that they are meeting institutional requirement and facilitating the development of genuine communication skills among students The task based language teaching approach views the learning process as a set of communicative tasks that are directly linked with the curricular goals and purposes This is a good approach because provides learners real practice with the target language but we think it is impossible to learn applying only this approach Task- based learning provides many advantages in teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) because it offers language experience in the classroom Task- based learning places the students in real world situation, so the learning skills can be applicable to real situations In addition, Task- based learning implies that an oral communication is essential for doing a specific task The learners are also exposed to as much of the foreign language as possible in the order to merely observe it Willis (1998) holds that the taskbased learning framework, combined with tasks and texts provides learners rich exposures to language more opportunities to use it themselves Throughout the task cycle, emphasis is on learners’ understanding and expressing meaning to complete tasks 73 A: What should we with dying fish? In my opinion, they died because of oil spilled from tankers B: If I were a local administer, I would prison these tankers’ boss A: Of course, you are smart B Thank you for nice comment Methods of teaching: Pre- task Teacher asks students about the water pollution at Cua lo beach Teacher: How often you go to Cua lo beach? Students: ………………………………………………………… Teacher: Do you like to go to the beach? Students: ………………………………………………………… Teacher: Which sea beach you usually go? Students: ………………………………………………………… Teacher: What you when you see a polluted beach with a lot of dusts? Students: ………………………………………………………… Teacher pre- teaches the new vocabulary and the language and students pronounce it Teacher let students Task in pairs Student A and student B discuss on putting the actions in the order of importance and then say what they should or should not to protect Cua Lo beach A: We should place rubbish and plastic bags in proper dustbins B: We should use water sparingly and not pollute it Task Student A A Put the actions in the order of importance and then say what you should or should not Pollution things Rubbish and plastic bags Water Endangered fish species Fishing lines and nets should proper dustbin use water sparingly punish the money dispose properly Shouldn’t …………………… …………………… …………………… 74 Herbicides, pesticides and be allowed …………………… - Be a smart shopper fertilizers …………………… - Choose seafood seafood …………………… responsibly …………………… Task Student B B Answer your partner’s questions about some threats of the health of our ocean Then discuss the consequences and ask your partner for offering solutions to protect Pollution things Rubbish and Consequences solutions plastic make sea polluted …………………… kill fish and other bags …………………… Water pollution sea animals …………………… Endangered fish species Lose biodiversity Fishing lines and nets Endanger sea …………………… Herbicides, pesticides plants and animals …………………… and fertilizers Decrease in animal …………………… seafood populations …………………… Harm the sea environment Teacher assigns students to draw colorful pictures or take photographs or search for Internet about the pollution of some beaches where they visited and practice to discuss the consequences that may occur and offer some possible solutions During – task Teacher divides the students into groups of three to task 2: Group 1: To survey the causes of Cua lo beach Group 2: To survey the consequences of these causes Group 3: To offer the solutions for the consequences 75 Teacher brings the information from the survey to create Cua lo beach simulation situation Change role of giving the causes and consequences and offering the solutions with partner using pictures or photos that students maker by themselves Students use the language The students can give more different ideas to other beaches in Vietnam Each group does Task and then make the causes, consequences that they survey They emphasize “should” auxiliary verb for example, should place rubbish and plastic bags in proper dustbins but should not use herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers harming the environment After that, they show their work in front of the classroom Plan Students prepare to report about the problem during the task and how to solve the problem Report 10 Students report and share ideas about the task of each group When each group presents their tasks, students and teacher should write the problems Post- task Language analysis 11 Each group tells their problems during asking and answering the solutions to reduce the ocean pollution 12 Teacher re- teaches vocabulary and sentences and then, students practice accurately Practice 13 Students task to match the consequences and solutions Task Match the activities and solutions Colum A Colum B Activities Possible solutions 76 Litter Rubbish and plastic bags a Put in prison Fish for endangered species b Punishment Use herbicides, pesticides and c Place them in proper dustbins d Keep only the fish to eat and fertilizers Kill whales, sharks for food and release the rest e Be a smart shopper medicines f Choose the seafood responsibly Use water sparingly Spill oil from factory or company 14 Teacher divides students to simulation activities 15 Teacher assigns a beach simulation situation in any beach or in an ocean Materials and Sources: Real things Microsoft Word Microsoft powerpoint Tasks 1-3 Evaluations: LESSON PLAN Unit 12: Music Grade: 10 Topic: Music Time: periods Goal: Students can use Wh- questions to ask and answer questions about music Enabling Aims: To enable students to pronounce the vocabularies correctly 77 To enable students to ask and answer questions about music To enable students to state preferences and give reasons about music Vocabulary: keep, cheer up, Walkman, classical music, relaxing, band, musician and piece of music Structure: Wh- questions: To ask and answer information about music Functions: A: Hello, today we will talk about music Do you like singing? B: Yes, I How about you? A: Me, Music is my favorite thing I often listen to it whenever I’m free B Who is your favorite singer? A: My Linh, she has a beautiful voice And you ? B: I like Le Quyen A: What kind of music you like? B: I like Bolero music A … I like country music A and B will search Internet for information about the singer, the kind of music, the songs that they prefer and then tell the partner METHOD OF TEACHING Pre- task Teacher asks students for anything about music the students like Teacher: Do you like listening to music? Students: ………………………………………………………………… Teacher: How often you listen to music? Students: ………………………………………………………………… Teacher: What kind of music you like? 78 Students: ………………………………………………………………… Teacher: Who is your favorite singer? Students: ………………………………………………………………… Teacher: Why you like this kind of music? Students: ………………………………………………………………… Teacher: Can you sing ? Students: ………………………………………………………………… Teacher: Are you angry with people listening to music loudly? Students: ………………………………………………………………… Teacher pre- teaches the new vocabulary and the language and students pronounce it Teacher lets students Task in pairs You will ask and answer four questions after reading what Ha Anh says in task Question 1: What kind of music does Ha Anh like? Question 2: Why does she listen to it? Question 3: What is her favorite band? Question 4: When does she listen to music? Task 1: Ask your partner for information about Ha Anh and write them down Teacher assigns students to take some photos about the favorite singer or prepare a piece of music they like to listen and practice to ask and answer information of this kind of music During - task Task 2: working in groups Teacher will give each group some kinds of music, each group will choose their favorite kind Then, they will divide the group member by themselves to search for information all things about it Students get the available information about their kind of music (Rock and roll, classical music, bolero, Jazz, and so on.), and then, take turns to ask and answer their experiences Teacher divides the students into groups of to task 2: to survey information of kind of music, favorite singer, musician, which songs Students can choose to survey the information in any ways they can ( Internet, newspaper, news …) 79 The teacher brings information from the survey to create a city simulation situation Change role of asking and answering with your partner using pictures, photos or videos that students make themselves Students use the language The student can express the favorite music Each group does Task and then makes the music’s information, write information or products that they survey They emphasize the feeling verbs such as like, love, prefer to express preferences After that they show their work in front of the classroom Plan 10 Students prepare to report about the problem during the task and how to solve the problem 11 Students report and share ideas about the task When each group presents their tasks, students and teacher should write their problems Post- task Language analysis - Each group tells their problems during asking and answering the information about a city - Teacher re- teaches vocabulary and sentences and then, students practice accurately Practice 12 Students task to make comparison between A and B by using the connectors such as both … and; but Then practice the dialogue 13 Teacher divides students to simulation activities while choosing any kind of music they prefer Then, they must give reasons why they prefer it 14 Teacher assigns a city simulation situation in the classroom Materials and Sources: Handouts Real things Pictures or photos about some kind of music, some famous singers or some well- known songs and their musicians Tasks 1-3 Evaluations: 80 LESSON PLAN Unit 14 world cup Grade: 10 Topic: World cup Goal: Students can use past simple to report the World Cup the students have ever watched Enabling Aims: To enable students to pronounce the vocabularies correctly To enable students to ask and answer the questions about a football match they have ever seen To enable students to talk about the World cup winners while using the information from a table Vocabulary: held, champion, host country, defeat, penalty, runner- up, final, quarter final and score Structure: The past simple tense Functions: A: Hello, you like football? B: Yes, I like football very much How often you watch the football match? A: I sometimes watch the football match on the television B: Which teams you like most? A: I like Manchester Liverpool team B Who is your favorite footballer? A: I like most David Beckham A and B watch together four pictures of four national football teams that played in the semi- final 2010 World Cup then ask each other to name these 81 national football teams ( The Germany national football team, the Spain national football team, the Uruguay national football team and the Dutch national football team) Methods of Teaching: Pre- task Teacher asks students about the World Cup they have just seen Teacher: How often you watch football match on television? Students: Teacher: Do you like watching football match in direct? Students: Teacher: Where you watch football match? At stadium or on television? Students: Teacher: Which teams you like most? Students: Teacher: Why you like this football team? Students: Teacher pre-teaches the new vocabulary and the language and students pronounce it Teacher lets students task in groups Each group chooses the national football team they like the best and give reasons why they like Group 1: Germany Group 2: Spain Group 3: Uruguay Group 4: Dutch Task 1: There are four cards for four groups ,they must complete the handouts by asking and answering the others in their group from information from chart such as: 82 Card Card Card Card Task Ask your partner for World Cup 2010 and answer your partner’s questions A: Hello, did you watch the World Cup 2010? B: Yes, I’ve watched it It’s an interesting world cup I’ve never seen before A: Which teams played in the World Cup 2010 quarter final? B: Germany, Spain, Uruguay, and Dutch A: Which teams played in the World Cup 2010 final? B: Spain and Dutch A: Which team became the champion in the World Cup 2010? B: It’s Spain A: What was the score of the world cup 2010 final? B: 1-0, Spain is 1, Dutch is A: Who was the captain of the Dutch national football team in World Cup 2010? B: It was Robin Van Persie A: Who was the captain of the Spain national football team in World Cup 2010? B: It was Iker Casillas A: Where was the World Cup 2010 held? B: The World Cup 2010 was held in South Africa 83 Teacher assigns students to watch a national football team and practice to retell it in pair During- task Teacher divides the students in pair to Task 2; To survey the team, the footballer, score, winners in each football team Students can choose to survey national football team in Vietnam Teacher brings the information from the survey to create a football match simulation situation Change role of asking and answering with your partner using the cards that students make themselves Students use the language The students can watch together a football team they like Each group does task and then makes the football teams’ list, write the list and the footballers and the scores that they survey They emphasize the past simple for example, played , defeated After that, they show their work in front of the classroom Plan Students prepare to report about the problem during the task and how to solve the problem Report 10 Students report and share ideas about the task of each group When each group presents their tasks, students and teachers should write their problems Post- task Language Analysis 11 Each group tells their problems 12 Teacher divides students to simulation activities 13 Teacher assigns a beach simulation situation in any beach or in an ocean Materials and Sources: 14 Real things 15 Microsoft Word 16 Microsoft powerpoint 17 Tasks 1-3 84 Evaluations: LESSON PLAN Unit 15: Cities Grade: 10 Topic: Cities Time: periods Goal: Students can use the comparative structures to compare two cities Enabling Aims: To enable students to pronounce the vocabularies correctly To enable students to compare two cities To enable students to state preferences and give reasons about a beloved city Vocabulary: convenient, reserved, formal, prefer Structure: Wh- questions: To ask and answer information about a city Comparative structures: To compare two cities as… as 2…more … than 85 3…… adj+ er than Functions: A: Hello, today we will talk about the favorite city Would you like to visit Vinh city? B: Oh, I would like to visit this city How about you? A: I like the best Ho Chi Minh City B Have you ever been to HCM city? A: Yes, Last summer, I went there with my parents It is a modern big city B How about this city? People, landscape, entertainment center… A: I think it is a beautiful and interesting city you should visit this summer B That’s a good idea! A and B will search Internet for information about Ho Chi Minh City and Vinh city Then they compare these cities METHOD OF TEACHING Pre- task 15 Teacher asks students for any city to visit Teacher: Which city you want to visit? Students: Teacher: When can you want to go to there? with whom? Students: Teacher: How about the city? Students: Teacher: Why you choose this city to visit? Students: Teacher: Do you understand the Saigon people say? Students: 86 Teacher: Do you have any difficulty when taking a trip to HCM city? Students: 16 Teacher pre- teaches the new vocabulary and the language and students pronounce it 17 Teacher let students Task in pairs Students complete the table by matching information given in column B Task 1: Ask your partner for information about a city and write them down A 10 11 12 B When was the city ……… ? people What is the ………… like? area What are the……………… like? population How many ………… are there? 10 founded What is the ……… of the city? 11 parks What is its ……… ? 12 transport 18 Teacher assigns students to take some photos about the city they choose to visit and practice to ask and answer information of the city During - task Task 19 Teacher will give each pair two cards which have no full filled information about New York and London Students work in pairs ( each student must hide his card from his partner) 20 Students read the available information about two cities (New York and London), and then, take turns to ask and answer to fill the cards under the teacher’s control with the time limit ( about minutes) Cards Student A Student B Student C Student D 21 Teacher divides the students into groups of to task 2: to survey information of people, park entertainment, food and drink, landscapes of that city Students can choose to survey the information in any ways they can 22 The teacher brings information from the survey to create a city simulation situation Change role of asking and answering with your partner using pictures, photos that students make themselves 23 Students use the language The student can describe the favorite city 87 24 Each group does Task and then makes the city’s information, write information or products that they survey They emphasize the comparative structures such as larger, as big as, higher buildings After that they show their work in front of the classroom Plan 25 Students prepare to report about the problem during the task and how to solve the problem 26 Students report and share ideas about the task of each group When each group presents their tasks, students and teacher should write their problems Post- task Language analysis - Each group tells their problems during asking and answering the information about a city - Teacher re- teaches vocabulary and sentences and then, students practice accurately Practice 27 Students task to make similar comparisons between London and New York Then practice the dialogue 28 Teacher divides students to simulation activities while choosing a city they prefer Then, they must give reasons why they prefer it 29 Teacher assigns a city simulation situation in the classroom Materials and Sources: Handouts Real things Pictures or photos about London and New York Tasks 1-3 Evaluations: Comments: ... demonstrates that task- based learning has been considered as an alternative methodology to solve the crisis of teaching English Oxford (2006) states that task -based learning and teaching is an exciting... What are problems that the students often encounter when performing Task -based activities? What is the students? ?? perception of learning the speaking skill through Task -based learning? Does Task -based. .. Tanasarnsanee (2002), compares teaching Japanese language using the 3Ps and task -based learning approaches 29 The result shows that learners who learned Japanese language through taskbased learning