(LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ) A Comparative Analysis among Several Types of Communicative Activities to Reduce Pre-Intermediate Level Learners’ Anxiety in Speaking English at Ha Noi Foreign Language Teaching Center

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE *** *** DƯƠNG THỊ NHÀN A Comparative Analysis among Several Types of Communicative Activities to Reduce Pre-Intermediate Level Learners' Anxiety in Speaking English at HaNoi Foreign Language Teaching Center Phân tích so sánh số hoạt động giao tiếp nhằm làm giảm lo lắng người học nói tiếng Anh trung tâm Anh ngữ sư phạm Hà Nội M.A MINOR THESIS Field: Code: English Methodology 60.14.10 HÀ NỘI – 2011 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE *** *** DƯƠNG THỊ NHÀN A Comparative Analysis among Several Types of Communicative Activities to Reduce Pre-Intermediate Level Learners' Anxiety in Speaking English at HaNoi Foreign Language Teaching Center Phân tích so sánh số hoạt động giao tiếp nhằm làm giảm lo lắng người học nói tiếng Anh trung tâm Anh ngữ sư phạm Hà Nội M.A MINOR THESIS Field: Code: Supervisor: English Methodology 60.14.10 Nguyễn Thu Lệ Hằng, M.A HÀ NỘI – 2011 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………… .i Abstract……………………………………………………………………………… ii Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………iii List of Tables and Charts………………………………………………………………………vi List of Abbreviations………………………………………………………………………… vi PART ONE: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………… 1.1 Rationale of the Study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Scope of the study 1.4 Methods of the study 1.5 Research questions 1.6 Design of the study 1.7 Definitions of Terms PAT TWO: DEVELOPMENT……………………………………………………………….5 Chapter I: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………………… 1.1 Overview of Communicative Language Teaching 1.2 Foreign Language Anxiety 1.2.1 Definitions of Foreign Language Anxiety 1.2.2 Possible Sources of Foreign Language Anxiety 1.2.3 Effects of Foreign Language Anxiety in Language Learning 1.3 Communication Activities 10 1.3.1 Definitions of Communicative Activities 11 1.3.2 Benefits of Communicative Activities in Teaching Speaking English 11 1.3.3 Some Types of Communicative Activities 12 1.3.3.1 Role – Play 13 1.3.3.2 Information – Gap 14 1.3.3.3 Discussion 14 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com v 1.3.4 Using Communicative Activities to Reduce Learners’ Anxiety in Speaking English………………………………………………………………………………… 15 1.3.5 Summary 16 Chapter II: METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………………… 18 2.1 Research methods 18 2.1.1 Rationale for Action Research 18 2.1.2 Questionnaire Survey 19 2.1.3 Observational Method 20 2.2 Research Design 21 2.2.1 Action Research Procedure 21 2.2.2 Subjects of the Study 23 2.3 Summary 23 Chapter III: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS……………………………… 25 3.1 Pre-action research survey 25 3.1.1 Classroom observation 25 3.1.2 The Pre- Questionnaire 27 3.2 Action plan implementation 30 3.2.1 Role-play activities 30 3.2.1.1 Samples of role-plays 31 3.2.1.2 Procedure of a role-play activity 31 3.2.1.3 Reflection on implementing the activity 32 3.2.1.4 Findings and Notice 33 3.2.2 Information gap activities 33 3.2.2.1 Sample information gap activities 33 3.2.2.2 Procedure of an information gap activity 34 3.2.2.3 Reflection on implementing the activity 34 3.2.2.4 Findings and Notice 35 3.2.3 Discussion activities 35 3.2.3.1 Sample discussion activities 35 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com vi 3.2.3.2 Procedure of a discussion activity 36 3.2.3.3 Reflection on implementing the activity 36 3.2.3.4 Findings and Notice 37 3.3 Observation Results 37 3.4 Post action research survey 39 3.5 A Comparative Analysis of Some Communicative Activities to Reduce Learners’ Anxiety in Speaking English 42 3.6 Summary 43 PART THREE: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………45 Summary of the Study 45 Limitations of the study 46 Suggestions for further research 46 References…………………………………………………………………………………….48 Appendices…………………………………………………………………………………… I Appendix 1…………………………………………………………………………… .I Appendix 2…………………………………………………………………………………….III Appendix 3…………………………………………………………………………………… V Appendix 4…………………………………………………………………………………….VI Appendix 5………………………………………………………………………………… VIII Appendix 6…………………………………………………………………………………… X TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com vii List of Tables Table 1: The causes of the learners’ anxiety in speaking English Table 2: Some communicative activities used in speaking lessons Table 3: The learners’ feeling about CA used in speaking lessons Table 4: The learners’ feelings after participating in communicative activities in speaking lessons Table 5: Effectiveness of reducing the learners’ anxiety in speaking English through communicative activities List of Charts Chart 1: I feel anxious when speaking English in class Chart 2: The learners’ participation extreme in communicative activities used in speaking lessons Chart 3: The learners’ interests in communicative activities List of Abbreviations CAs: Communicative Activities CLT: Communicative Language Teaching FL: Foreign Language AR: Action Research SD: Standard Deviation M: Mean TEMOC: Techniques that Encourage and Measure Oral Communication TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the Study Nowadays, with the development of technology and information together with the spread of globalization, English becomes a global language because it is broadly used in various fields of our life such as in technology, business, commerce, communication and so on As a result, learning English for communication skills has created a huge demand for teaching and learning English around the world The fact shows that communicative approach of teaching English is preferred in learning English Teaching English is not only on linguistic competence of the language learners but also on the development of their communicative ability Therefore, in order to develop the learners‟ communicative ability, teachers need to create a good classroom environment which motivates their speaking activities In recent years in Vietnam, English has been playing a very important role in the development of the country firstly because it is an international language and secondly it is also seen as a mean to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between Vietnam and other countries Consequently, more and more people desire to know and focus on English to keep pace with the update development in technology in the world Therefore, English is not only widely taught at schools, universities, but it also is taught at many foreign language centers as part-time classes and others In Ha Noi, there are more and more English centers established everywhere with a lot of learners Most of them are students, engineers, or workers, who come to the centers with the hope to have a good command of English to use it effectively in all four skills Regarding speaking skills, the majority of learners agree that this macro skill is always at the top of their demand for many aims such as passing oral examinations at universities, having good communications, getting good jobs, etc However, most of second language learners experience varying degrees of anxiety when asked to express their views in front of other people This is true even when their language abilities are rather good In fact, there is an excessive amount of anxiety negatively influencing many language learners‟ behaviors and educational outcomes Campbell and Ortiz (1991: 159) show that language anxiety among university students to be „alarming‟ and estimate that up to one half of all language students experience debilitating levels of language anxiety TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com As a teacher of English in Ha Noi Foreign Language Teaching Center for nearly two years, I have found that learners would like to speak English a lot but they lack confidence in speaking and they are usually passive and find it challenging while communicating with English-speaking people In speaking lessons, there are hardly many communicative activities for teaching speaking English used by teachers Consequently, learners are too shy or even keep silence and nothing in speaking lessons Moreover, they think that speaking English is very difficult for them and they become fed up with learning this skill In fact, the attempt to create a negotiating and students-centered learning atmosphere in English by teachers is usually unsuccessful The achievement of effective communicative teaching becomes a daily headache to all English teachers here Inevitably, the lack of learners‟ participation in speaking activities leads to the teacher-centered learning in English lessons and learners‟ anxiety in learning a second language, especially in speaking English These reasons actually drive the researcher to the study “A comparative analysis among several types of communicative activities to reduce Pre- intermediate level learners’ anxiety in speaking English at HaNoi Foreign Language Teaching Center” with the aim of suggesting some communicative activities to reduce these learners‟ anxiety in speaking English 1.2 Aims of the study This study aims at suggesting some communicative activities to reduce learners‟ anxiety in speaking English and compare which activities are the most effective for them In order to achieve these aims, the following objectives are established: - Firstly, to review the real situation of teaching and learning speaking skills at Ha Noi Foreign Language Teaching Center - Secondly, to investigate the current activities used in teaching speaking English at this center - Thirdly, to suggest some communicative activities to reduce pre-intermediate level learners‟ anxiety in speaking English at this center - Fourthly, to make a comparison about which activities have effects on reducing learners‟ anxiety in speaking English 1.3 Scope of the study To reduce learners‟ anxiety in speaking English, teachers can make use of various TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com activities and a number of techniques should be done However, within the framework of this M.A Minor Thesis, it is too ambitious to list all communicative activities to reduce learners‟ anxiety in speaking English Therefore, this research only focuses on three communicative activities (that is, role-play, discussion, and information gap) and then compares their effects on reducing learners‟ anxiety in speaking classes Moreover, due to the limit of time, only a foreign language center in Hanoi is chosen for the research All of 20 learners chosen are studying in a Pre-intermediate level class 1.4 Methods of the study In order to complete this research, qualitative method will be used The participants of the study are the learners at Ha Noi Foreign Language Teaching Center More specifically, the researcher planned classroom observations and did questionnaires consisting of pre-questionnaire and post-questionnaire to gather in-depth information about the real situation of teaching and learning speaking skills and which communicative activities used in their speaking lessons It is believed this method will bring about a complete look into this research 1.5 Research questions The study is to apply some communicative activities and compare them with the aim of finding out the most effective one to reduce learners‟ speaking anxiety at Ha Noi Foreign Language Teaching Center To achieve this aim, answers to the following questions are sought: + Which speaking activities have been used in teaching speaking skill at this center? + Which will be the most effective one, among three communicative activities-, roleplay, discussion, and information gap- to reduce Pre-intermediate level learners’ anxiety in speaking English? 1.6 Design of the study This minor thesis consists of three main parts: Part One, INTRODUCTION, presents the rationale, the aims, scope, methods, design of the study, and definitions of terms Part Two, DEVELOPMENT, is composed of four chapters as follows: - Chapter One, Literature review, is concerned with a brief review of knowledge about overview of communicative language teaching, foreign language TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com anxiety, communicative activities and benefits of using communicative activities to reduce learners‟ anxiety in speaking English - Chapter Two, Methodology, is about the research method, research design, data analysis and the rationale for using five activities - Chapter Three, Data Presentation and Analysis, is the part relating to preaction research survey, action plan implementation, observation results, post-action research survey, and a comparative analysis of communicative activities to reduce learners‟ anxiety in speaking English Part Three, CONCLUSION, consists of four sub-parts: Summary of the study, Limitations of the study, and Suggestions for further studies 1.7 Definitions of Terms - Communicative Language Teaching (CLT): CLT is an approach to the teaching of second and foreign languages that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language It is also referred to as “communicative approach to the teaching of foreign languages” - Foreign language anxiety: This is considered as “a distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of the language learning process” - Communicative activities (CA): include any activities that encourage and require a learner to speak with and listen to other learners, as well as with people in the community These communicative activities contain a communicative purpose in any situations and a concentration on language content not language form and communication without teachers‟ interference - Action research (AR): is the first and foremost situational, being concerned with the identification and solution of problems in a specific context The aim of action research is to improve the current state of affairs within the educational context in which the research is being carried out - Comparative analysis: This term refers to comparing two or more things to get some certain results TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 37 interested in discussion, but then they only spoke a little English and turned out to use Vietnamese because they lacked the necessary vocabulary to express their ideas Some weaker learners were reluctant to say anything Three weeks after that, the learners did the activity of the discussion for the second time They were asked to discuss about the ways to give out some advice to someone As a result, the discussion was very successful with the active learners In fact, the topic was interesting and attractive to the learners Moreover, they had been brainstormed vocabulary before, so most of them were willing to speak English in class to give out their advice Two weeks later, the learners did the activity of discussion for the third time The topic for discussing this time was quite difficult to my learners, that is, making a complaint about the new camera The learners, however, did it quite well as they were familiar with the ways of discussion and had a certain amount of vocabulary Weaker learners – Minh and Phuong- were trying their best to take part in the discussion with the help and encouragement of their classmates and the teacher In conclusion, discussions given out by the teacher in this study encourages the learners to have a good speaking skill, especially to be clear and logical while giving out the ideas or objecting to the opposite viewpoints In addition, they provided many opportunities for weaker learners to speak English in class 3.2.3.4 Findings and Notice Most of the learners in my class, on the one hand, are young people They participated in the discussions actively with the aims of winning the others They were extremely willing and interested in giving their ideas about topics given out by the teacher Therefore, discussion is one of the good techniques used in reducing the learners‟ anxiety in speaking English On the other hand, the timing needs paying attention to in the discussion activity The teacher does not let the learners discuss too much It is better if the teacher sets a time limit and reminds the learners of the time Moreover, the teacher need pay attention to the participation and contribution of members in groups so that better learners not dominate in groups and every learner has chances to speak English 3.3 Observation Results My direct observation during my teaching gives me a real picture of what I want to TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 38 find out the fact of the learners‟ speaking skill in class In the speaking activities, I, on the one hand, found that most of the learners took part in the activities They spoke a lot and fluently On the other hand, three of them (Phuong, Doan, and Minh) were not really willing to join the speaking activities All the observation results are illustrated in the tables with two headings: learners‟ attitude toward the speaking activities, the times of learners‟ speaking in class (see sample Observation checklist in Appendix 4A) Using observation checklists helps me assess the learners‟ behavior more easily With each activity, I concentrated my observation on six learners between and minutes only Moreover, I made a clear plan to observe the same learners for the second time in order to get some clear evidence of their progress The results of my observation are synthesized briefly in the “observation results” table (see appendix 4B), based on the observation checklists As the information in the table, it clearly shows the learners‟ attitude (1) towards the speaking activity observed while doing the activities in pairs or groups and the times of speaking English in class “W” means that the learner was willing to take part in the activity when speaking English in class “R” refers to the learners‟ reluctance in speaking English “A” reveals that the learner actively participated in the activity More particularly, the learner grasped all the opportunities to practise speaking as well as gave his/her opinions when a question was given out In general, the learners were interested in doing the activity, listening to the others‟ ideas, working cooperatively in pairs or groups in order that they finished the activities the most effectively To mark the learners‟ participation in speaking activities, I based on the Techniques that Encourage and Measure Oral Communication (TEMOC) suggested by Hadley (2002) In his study, the author gives out that TEMOC brings about some educational value when being used in Japanese colleges or universities Therefore, TEMOC seems to be the only valid measure of FL learners‟ oral proficiency that I can use in this study During my classroom observation, I gave my learners points each time they start speaking English One point was given to the learners each time they made questions in English for a task or spoke English in simple words/ sentences conveying the topics Two points were given to the learners each time when they produced long or complex sentences, or answered questions that call for greater use of the target language Learners earned three points when volunteering to be a spokesperson of a groups-basked task, or attempting to answer TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 39 questions which were considered challenging For example, when the learners participated in an information gap activity to ask and answer questions about Mario and Chantal, the learners‟ participation results were marked as below: Linh (St13): “How old is Chantal?” point Phuong (St14): “35 years old.” point Linh (St13): points “Oh, she isn‟t young anymore Where is she from?” Phuong (St14): “She‟s from Marseilles in France.” point Linh (St13): “Well, It‟s very beautiful How many people are there in her family?”3points Phuong (St14): “Four people in her family.” point Linh (St13): points “She is a teacher, isn‟t she?” Phuong (St14): “Right” point Linh (St13): point “What does she often in her free time, Phuong?” Phuong (ST14): “She goes to the gym and she goes to holiday home in Biarritz.” points Linh (St13): “Thanks a lot, Phuong Good bye.” point In conclusion, the teacher‟s notes in the observation sheets helped reflect on my own teaching English as well as got equivalently certain information about my learners‟ speaking ability Therefore, I was able to assess and adjust what to and the ways to help the learners reduce their anxiety in speaking skills with the best results 3.4 Post action research survey In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the action research, the post questionnaire survey is conducted after the implementation of the action plan This second survey includes five questions The first question aims to find out the learners‟ feelings about using communicative activities in speaking lessons The second one is to investigate how often the learners take part in communicative activities with the four extreme such as always, often, sometimes, or never Question three examines the effects of using three communicative activities with the aim of reducing the learners‟ anxiety in speaking English Question four asks which communicative activities the learners like in their speaking lessons And the last one in the questionnaire allows the learners to give out their personal judgment on using communicative activities to reduce their anxiety in speaking English The post questionnaire survey was delivered to twenty learners after the teacher had applied three communicative activities (role play, gap information, and discussion) in TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 40 speaking lessons The learners were asked to complete it honestly in one week Additionally, I also explained it to them very clearly that anything they said would be helpful to me, as good points will be expanded and bad ones will be eliminated or got rid of completely in the future step by step In order to collect the desirable information, the author synthesized he data in the tables below This data, to some extent, illustrates three communicative activities help reduce the learners‟ anxiety in speaking English and improve their oral skills The learners‟ answers to question one show the way they feel about communicative activities (CA) in their speaking lessons Table 3: The learners’ feeling about CA used in speaking lessons Question Very interesting Interesting No idea Boring Very boring Number of learners 13 0 The percentages (%) 65% 35% 0% 0% 0% From the table above, we can see that the number of the learners found communicative activities interesting is very high 65 % of them said they were very interesting and 35% stated that communicative activities were interesting Surprisingly, none of the learners answered that CAs were boring or very boring It can be concluded that communicative activities bring about good effects on encouraging the learners‟ speaking ability in my class Chart 2: The learners’ participation extreme in communicative activities used in speaking lessons Sometimes 5% Never 0% Always 25% Oftern 70% TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 41 When investigating on the extreme the learners took part in communicative activities in speaking lessons, most of the learners (70%) answered that they often joined in the activities 25% of them confessed that they were always involved in communicative activities Only 5% admitted that they sometimes did More interestingly, none of them gave out the answer that they never participated in CAs Question three asks the learners about their feelings on three communicative activities used in class as the chart below 17 18 Number of the learners 16 14 14 12 10 Role-play Information gap Discussion Com m unicative activities Chart 3: The learners’ interest in communicative activities For this question, the learners had to answer which communicative activities they liked in their class More specially, they could choose more than one option Results collected from the questionnaire show that discussion is the learners‟ favorite activity, which was chosen by 17 of twenty learners The second rank is role-play because 14 of twenty learners agreed that they liked it in their speaking lessons of the learners accepted that they were interested in information gap activities All this data proves that discussion activity is the most favorite one in my class Table below summarizes the learners‟ answers to question five about their feelings after taking part in communicative activities in speaking lessons Table 4: The learners’ feelings after participating in communicative activities in speaking lessons Number of the learners The percentage (%) Less anxious More anxious More confident Others 18 90% 0% 10% 0% TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 42 A big percentage of the learners (90%) said that after participating in communicative activities in their class, they were less anxious than before Surprisingly, two of twenty learners (10%) answered that they were more confident in their speaking English None of them expressed that they were still anxious or more To sum up, most of the learners in my class agreed that communicative activities had great effect on reducing their anxiety in speaking English They became more confident in their speaking activities They could practise English with their friends or even with the teacher anytime or at any task 3.5 A Comparative Analysis of Some Communicative Activities to Reduce Learners’ Anxiety in Speaking English In this part, the author of the study creates a comparative table about three communicative activities to find out which one is the most effective to reduce the learners‟ anxiety in speaking English To make a specific comparison about three communicative activities used in speaking lessons to reduce the learners‟ anxiety in my class, I design the table below in details Table 5: Effectiveness of reducing the learners’ anxiety in speaking English through communicative activities Communicative Activities N M SD Very A little effective effective Not Undecided effective Not effective at all Role-Play 20 3.52 = 45% = 30% = 25% = 0% = 0% Information 20 2.45 = 35% = 20% = 30% = 15% = 0% 20 4.77 12 = 5% = 0% = 0% Gap Discussion = =35 % 60% N = Numbers of the learners; M = Mean; SD = Standard Deviation From the table above, we can see that the questionnaires were delivered to the same number of the learners with all three communicative activities The Mean for three activities are the same (4) However, when referring to Standard Deviation (SD), the difference is shown more clearly Most of them agreed that discussion were of a great effect in reducing their speaking skill (60%) 35% of the learners stated that discussion were a little effective Only 5% TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 43 expressed that they did not decide, and no one showed that it were not effective to reduce their speaking English The SD of this activity is quite high (4.77) This proves that the number of the learners agree that discussion greatly influence in reducing their anxiety in speaking English About the role-play activity, 45% of them confessed that role-play activity were a little effective on reducing their anxiety 30% of the learners expressed that this activity had a little effective on reducing their speaking skill However, the number of the learners confessed that they did not express whether the role play activity had good effects on reducing their anxiety in speaking English or not was 25%, which is quite high The SD 52 expresses that the dispersion of the difference from the learners‟ answers is extremely big Nevertheless, this rate is lower than that of discussion Therefore, role-play activity is less effective than discussion in reducing the learners‟ anxiety in speaking English For the information gap, only 35% said that information gap one was very effective 20% of them said that it were a little effective More surprisingly, 15% of the learners agreed that the information gap activity did not have effects on reducing their anxiety in speaking The number 2.45 is the information gap‟s SD This figure reveals that the difference of the learners‟ answers is low; even it is the lowest among three communicative activities Most of the learners confessed that information gap hardly helps them reduce their anxiety in speaking English It can be concluded that most of the learners agree the discussion activity has the best effect on reducing their anxiety in speaking English The answers for this activity have a quite big difference with the SD of 4.77 The role-play activity ranks the second as 45% of the learners confirmed that it is very effective in reducing their anxiety The information gap one is in the last position since 15% of the learners said that it is not effective in reducing their anxiety in speaking English 3.6 Summary Chapter three describes and discusses in detail what I actually did in my study The findings of the study can be drawn out as follows: The learners at Ha Noi Foreign Language Center are often anxious in their speaking lessons The learners‟ opinions were revealed in the pre-questionnaire They were lack of vocabulary and structures and not confident enough to speak English in class Moreover, TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 44 the speaking activities used in their class were often pairs/ groups, role –plays and interviews Meanwhile, pairs and groups are used the most often in their class After implementing the action research, the information collected through observation and post questionnaires gives clear evidence that the learners are more confident and active in the communicative activities given out in their class Their favorite activity is discussion in speaking lessons Moreover, they confirm that discussion really brings about great effect on reducing their anxiety in speaking English It also proves that the author has been going in the correct direction to improve the learners‟ speaking skill at this center TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 45 PART THREE: CONCLUSION After doing class observations, delivering pre-questionnaire as well as implementing an action research, the researcher leads to the final part of the study, which is devoted to summary of the study, limitations, and suggestions for further study Summary of the Study English becomes an international language and is broadly used in various fields of our life Therefore, learning English for communication is very necessary for all learners and teachers in many countries, in general, and in Vietnam in particular Speaking skill is of a great importance in teaching English In fact, most of the learners in Vietnam, especially at Ha Noi Foreign Language Center, feel anxious in speaking English This has great effects on their communicative competence The study is aimed at investigating which communicative activities used in teaching speaking English at Ha Noi Foreign Language Center as well as implementing three communicative activities to reduce the learners‟ anxiety in speaking English The two questionnaires were raised to reach the aims of the study With the use of pre-questionnaire and post-questionnaire for twenty learners along with the observation sheets, the author of the study has collected the data to the two research questions For the first research question, “Which speaking activities have been used in teaching speaking skill at this center?”, I have found that pairs/ groups, role-plays and interviews were often used in speaking lessons Moreover, the learners were not interested, but anxious in speaking English They often kept silence during their speaking period or even passive in speaking skill After implementing three communicative activities in speaking lessons in my class at this center, I have collected some valuable information through post-questionnaires and class observations The learners become more confident in speaking English in class with three communicative activities given out in the study Most of them are active to join in speaking activities In other words, their speaking skills are much improved In order to answer the second research question, “Which will be the most effective one, among three communicative activities-, role-play, discussion, and information gap- to reduce Pre-intermediate level learners’ anxiety in speaking English?”, the author also makes a comparative table and gets a valuable result That is, discussion activity has the TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 46 most effect on reducing the learners‟ anxiety in speaking English among three communicative activities implemented in the study Limitations of the study This study inevitably has limitations due to the reliability of the findings First, the choice of subjects for this study was conducted at one class with only twenty participants in a center That is, this may focus on some samples at the center As a result, it may limit the generalization of certain conclusions drawn from the findings Second, using the questionnaires in this study may bring about some limitations The learners are asked to choose from a number of pre-prepared options instead of being asked to give their own ideas freely To a certain degree, this format might have affected and limited these learners‟ expressions of ideas concerning why they felt anxious when speaking English and which communicative activities are used in their class Third, learners‟ perceptions about English anxiety may have individual meaning developed from personal context, experience, and knowledge Therefore, the findings of the study may not be able to provide a representative picture of the entire population of learners at Ha Noi Foreign Language Center Consequently, we need to be cautious when generalizing the research findings Last, only three communicative activities are implemented in the action research, which may not lead to general results for the learners at the center Therefore, the findings of the study may be applied for only this class in the center Though the research is still a long way from perfection and there remain limitations, it is believed that this study will positively contribute to the using of some communicative activities in teaching speaking for learners not only at Ha Noi Foreign Language Centers but also at other centers with the aim of reducing learners‟ anxiety in speaking English Suggestions for further research Since no single research design is complete, this study cannot cover everything in the field of reducing the learners‟ anxiety in speaking English Many untouched issues can be interesting topics for further research such as: - Using communicative games to reduce learners‟ anxiety in speaking English - Using many communicative activities in large multilevel classes - Drawbacks of communicative activities and their solutions TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 47 In conclusion, I believe that this study provides some meaningful insights for foreign language teachers and researchers with respects to learners‟ interests in foreign language learning Most importantly, I believe that the findings of the study can increase mutual understanding between teachers and learners, help teachers generate better strategies to alleviate learners‟ anxiety in speaking English, and therefore push their speaking skill better and better TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 48 References 1……… Communicative Language Teaching Retrieved on 14th April 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communicative_language_teaching Al-Mutawa, N & Kailani, T., (1989) Methods of Teaching English to Arab Students Longman Group Ltd Bailey, K (1983) Competitiveness and Anxiety in Adult Second Language Leaning: Looking at and through the Diary Studies In H Seliger and M Long (Eds.), Classroom-Oriented Research in Second Language Acquisition (pp 67-102) Rowley: Mass Newbury House Burden, P., (2004) The Teacher as Facilitator: Reducing Anxiety in the EFL University Classroom JALT Hokkaido Journal, 8, 3–18 Campbell, C., & Ortiz, J (1991) „Helping Students Overcome Foreign Language Anxiety: a Foreign Language Anxiety Workshop‟, in Horwitz, E K., & Young, D.J (Eds.) 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The Modern Language Journal, 75, 426-439 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ... of gathering information about teaching, rather than a way of evaluating teaching; although generally observation is associated with evaluation He goes on saying that “the observation of classroom... Effects of Foreign Language Anxiety in Language Learning It can be said that language anxiety is regarded as a simple transfer of other general kinds of anxiety such as trait anxiety to language learning... A Comparative Analysis of Some Communicative Activities to Reduce Learners’ Anxiety in Speaking English In this part, the author of the study creates a comparative table about three communicative