Teaching speaking: Activities to promote speaking

Teaching speaking Activities to promote speaking SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HOÁ TRƯỜNG THPT YÊN ĐỊNH 1 SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM TEACHING SPEAKING ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE SPEAKING Người thực hiện Lê Thị H[.]

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HOÁ TRƯỜNG THPT YÊN ĐỊNH SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM TEACHING SPEAKING: ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE SPEAKING Người thực hiện: Lê Thị Hà Chức vụ: Giáo viên SKKN thuộc mơn: Tiếng Anh THANH HỐ NĂM 2018 SangKienKinhNghiem.net TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS I PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Scope of the study Methods of the study .2 PART B: CONTENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Review of Language Skills 1.2 What is speaking and Why teach speaking skill? 1.2.1 What is speaking? 1.2.2 Why Teach Speaking Skill? 1.3 Elements of successful speaking .4 1.3.1 Inputs: 1.3.2 Skills: .4 1.3.3 Knowledge: 1.4 Principles in teaching speaking 1.4.1 Beginning Levels 1.4.1.1 Limit the objectives to avoid overwhelming the learners 1.4.1.2 Mix the speaking activities with comprehension work .5 1.4.1.3 Provide activities which involve dialogues and functional use of the language 1.4.1.4 Do not emphasize the significance of mistakes .5 1.4.1.5 State the purpose/ goal of the activity to the student .6 1.4.2 Intermediate and Advanced Levels 1.4.2.1 Focus on and work toward real spontaneous speech: 1.4.2.2 Design activities which encourage natural interaction between speakers .6 1.4.2.3 Place students in pairs , triads or small groups 1.4.2.4 Provide topics of interest to the students 1.4.2.5 At the advanced level, especially in free production , allow only speech in the target language (English) CHAPTER 2: THE CURRENT SITUATIONS .7 IN TEACHING ENGLISH SPEAKING AT YEN DINH HIGH SCHOOL .7 i SangKienKinhNghiem.net 2.1 An overview of the current situation of teaching and learning English at Yen Dinh High school 2.2 Findings from the current situations .7 2.2.1 Results from asking questions 2.2.2 Results from observation 2.3 Solution CHAPTER 3: ACTIVITIES THAT PROMOTE SPEAKING 3.1 Always present yourself as an English speaker, right from the start 3.2 Interrupting story .9 3.3 Interviews 3.4 Role play 10 3.5 Find someone who 10 3.6 Twenty questions 11 3.7 Brainstorming 12 3.8 Providing a dialogue 12 CHAPTER 4: EXPERIMENT AND RESULT 13 4.1 Participants 13 4.2 Data collection instruments .13 4.3 Results 13 4.3.1 Results from the test .13 4.3.2 Results from the questionnaires .14 4.3.3 Results from observation .15 4.4 Findings .15 PART C: CONCLUSION .16 Suggestions for further study 16 Conclusion of the study .16 REFERENCES 17 APPENDIXES I APPENDIX 1: SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS IN TEACHING SPEAKING I APPENDIX 2: SOME MORE OTHER ACTIVITIES CAN BE USED TO TEACH SPEAKING SKILL I APPENDIX 3: TALKING ABOUT THE WEATHER IN ENGLISH III APPENDIX 4: TALKING ABOUT YOUR FREE TIME AND HOBBIES IN ENGLISH IV APPENDIX 5: HOW TO DESCRIBE A PERSON IN ENGLISH .V ii SangKienKinhNghiem.net PART A: INTRODUCTION Title: “Teaching speaking: Activities to promote speaking” Rationale As you know education plays an important part in developing society Learning a foreign language is necessary in a modern world Every student has to learn a foreign language when they are studying at college or university Nowadays more and more people learn English because it is thought to be an “international language” Most of high schools in our country teach English Is teaching English effective in the Upper Secondary schools? Are pupils interested in learning English? What is the aim of teaching English? There are so many questions that we-the teachers of English -have to answer Teaching English not only teach pupils how to read a word or how to speak a sentence in English but also provides pupils knowledge about English people, England, culture, famous people, some problems that the world are facing with v.v There are many things to teach in teaching English Beside three aspects: pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary, there are four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing All these things are very important in teaching and learning English Among these, speaking is the most distinguishing feature of human beings from the other living creatures because it is the natural state of language that all human beings are born to speak their native language In learning a second or foreign language, most of the learners find speaking the most difficult skill to have a success because it needs oral communication that consists of both speaking and listening In the part speaking was not considered much in language learning and teaching Primarily, learning structures, rote memorization of sentence patterns and vocabulary, and using literary language were of great importance Grammar Translation Method defends this However, in the mid-nineteenth century, by the travelling, the trade and interpersonal connections of Europeans, the primacy of grammatical and literacy language decreased, and the use of conversational skills increased Nowadays, with the rapid development of economy and technology which makes people in the world closer and closer, more and more people recognize the importance of speaking skill I have been teaching English in a Upper Secondary School for a few years As far as I observed, most of the language teachers’ lessons are taken up with grammar We teach grammar and we think that our students have learnt it In examinations we test what we taught in written English so the results become very well The students can answer all the written questions about the grammar topic However, when you ask a simple question orally, they have difficulty in answering it They cannot use their knowledge of grammar for their verbal communication Generally speaking, language is a tool of communication If you cannot speak, all your effort is in vain Thus we have to give importance to seeking in SangKienKinhNghiem.net our English lessons right from the beginning because there is no use of knowledge about of a language without having the skill of using it As I stated I have been teaching English for a few years and during this time period I have observed that many of the students have difficulty in speaking English although they are very successful in grammar Most of the students are silent and not want to say anything or cannot say anything Participation may be dominated by certain students Therefore, the question came to my mind Why? Why are the students successful in grammar but not in speaking Then I wanted to have a research on this topic with the hope to build up the habit of speaking for students and design activities to motivate their students to learn in the most efficient ways Aims of the study The specific aims of this study are as follows: - Give out the principles for teaching speaking skill - Put forward some activities that promote speaking - Apply these techniques in some specific lessons to my bit in innovation English Teaching methodology and raise the quality of English teaching and learning Scope of the study This study aims to examine the effective techniques on the development of learner’s communicative skills in speaking English in Yen Dinh school, which is located in the countryside where teaching and learning conditions are limited My students pay much attention to other subjects, but not English So I only choose some methods that I think can apply to the students in the Secondary Schools in the countryside as my school Methods of the study To gain effectiveness of the aims the researcher has just mentioned above, the following methods were used: - Survey questionnaire for students in class 10A3 and 10A5 at Yen Dinh High School to collect information about their views of the current situations and their feelings about lessons which are used motivated activities - The results of tests to check the speaking ability of the students in class 10A3 and 10A5 at Yen Dinh High School -Beside these instruments, classroom observation is used to record more information from teachers and students during lessons - Constant discussions with the supervisor and colleagues are of great significance SangKienKinhNghiem.net PART B: CONTENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Review of Language Skills For the purpose of analysis and instruction, language has been divided into different skill areas These can be discussed in the framework of how we learned our first language A child first learns to practice language through the skill of listening Later, a child uses language by speaking, combined with listening Then, when school begins, children learn the skills of reading and writing The first two skills, listening and speaking, are called the oral skills The last two, reading and writing, are called the literacy skills As learners grow in their language ability and use, the different skills are often integrated with each other so that they are being used in coordination with each other In conversation, when one person is speaking another is listening After listening and understanding, the hearer respond by speaking In an academic setting, while students are listening, they may also be writing notes or reading a handout However, for the purpose of teaching language, we may divide language into the various skill areas and concentrate on one at a time This study focuses on teaching the skill of speaking I begin with speaking because second (foreign) language learners often neglect or have difficulty with oral production (speaking) Some learners have memorized hundreds of words and many grammar rules, but they still cannot speak well Many learners can read better than they speak This is very much unlike a child who learns to listen and speak long before learning to read and write After learning to speak, it is easier to develop reading and writing skills in the foreign language classroom However, language teachers have found it difficult to develop their student’s speaking skill 1.2 What is speaking and Why teach speaking skill? 1.2.1 What is speaking? Speaking is “the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts” (Chaney, 1998, p.13) 1.2.2 Why Teach Speaking Skill? In today’s teaching climate, it is easy to forget the importance of oral language, or speaking and listening skills With all the focus on reading and writing to prepare for students to take part in GCSE examination, sometimes teachers neglect this more basic aspect of language! Yet students need to learn speaking skill and have opportunities to practice making their voices heard in a safe and constructive environment Speaking skill is important because: - Skilled speakers can effectively present their own points of view - Skilled speakers are often better readers and writers - Skilled speakers are more confident participants in a variety of contextsboth in and out of school SangKienKinhNghiem.net - Skilled speakers are able to advocate for themselves and get their academic and emotional needs meet 1.3 Elements of successful speaking To speak English well, a learner must know (knowledge) and know how to (skills) many things 1.3.1 Inputs: - interesting topic - ideas and questions to respond to - teacher’s and students’ enthusiasm - personal experiences - listening - readings - short video clips - memories 1.3.2 Skills: - being able to pronounce clearly - being able to organize and develop ideas in real time - being able to produce chunks (phrases) - being able to ask for clarification - being able to check understanding 1.3.3 Knowledge: - knowledge of grammar systems - knowledge of appropriate language - knowledge of suitable exchange patterns - knowledge of phonology - knowledge of topic - awareness of what the listener knows and is interested in 1.4 Principles in teaching speaking The following principles are divided into two groups: Beginning Levels, and Intermediate and Advanced Levels It is important to remember that the goal in language use is natural communication and the principles for the beginning levels point to and prepare for the principles given for the intermediate and advanced levels It is all too easy to be satisfied with unnatural or repetitive speech But the goal is natural communication in which real information is transferred through speech 1.4.1 Beginning Levels 1.4.1.1 Limit the objectives to avoid overwhelming the learners - Provide the students with enough structured practice so they can begin interacting at a basic level - This will reduce students fear and encourage more speaking SangKienKinhNghiem.net - Later, more free conduction can come after structured practice Example of structured practice for a beginner: Teacher asks: What is he wearing? Student answers: He is wearing _ Example of a non-structured assignment: Teacher asks: Please describe what he is wearing Student: ??? (Such an open-ended question can overwhelm a student if they have not first been prepared through adequate practice) 1.4.1.2 Mix the speaking activities with comprehension work - When the students listen before they speak, it leads to more natural speech - Comprehension work fosters an interaction between speaking and listening - Remember, we listened first before we began speaking, so speaking should involve listening as well Example using comprehension work: Teacher has students first listen to or read a dialogue The class can discuss the meaning of difficult words After understanding the text, they can practice the dialogue (Speaking, or rather reading aloud, without understanding has very little benefit There is often no comprehension involved in reading aloud.) 1.4.1.3 Provide activities which involve dialogues and functional use of the language - Focus on language use rather than knowledge about language - Functions involve a focus on meaning - Dialogues are more concrete and controlled than less structured drills Example of knowledge about a language: A student can describe the structures and parts of speech in a language Example of knowing how to use a language: A student can introduce himself or herself, great others, request information, apologize, etc 1.4.1.4 Do not emphasize the significance of mistakes - This encourage students to speak without fear of correction - This increases focus on meaning and communication rather than grammatical correctness (though such structural errors can also hinder communication.) - Corrections should especially focus on problems affecting clear communication or language already taught to the students SangKienKinhNghiem.net 1.4.1.5 State the purpose/ goal of the activity to the student - This provide a context or focus to help comprehension - It also allows the learners to concentrate on the task and understand why they are doing it Examples of purposes in speaking “Now we will practice describing our friends” “ In this exercise we will learn to talk about clothing.” “ In this activity we will practice asking for information.” 1.4.2 Intermediate and Advanced Levels 1.4.2.1 Focus on and work toward real spontaneous speech: - Avoid form-bases drills (repetitious or grammar- based exercises) - Remember real speech is most often unrehearsed or unpracticed Examples of questions leading to real spontaneous speech: What did you last night? What did you eat for breakfast this morning? What you think about the new television program? 1.4.2.2 Design activities which encourage natural interaction between speakers - Human speech most often involves interaction (Monologues are rarely used) - Interaction integrates speaking and listening 1.4.2.3 Place students in pairs , triads or small groups - Smaller groups, and pairs are student-centered - This increases the quantity of speech spoken by students - This decreases the vulnerability of the students and lowers their anxiety level 1.4.2.4 Provide topics of interest to the students - Interesting topics increase student motivation - This also fosters a focus on meaning (and their personal feelings and thoughts) - It is good to ask students what they are most interested in 1.4.2.5 At the advanced level, especially in free production , allow only speech in the target language (English) - This greatly increases the amount of English spoken - Having a clear guideline reduces the temptation of students to “hide” in their native language SangKienKinhNghiem.net - Students may dislike this but should be discouraged from using their own language without the teacher’s permission CHAPTER 2: THE CURRENT SITUATIONS IN TEACHING ENGLISH SPEAKING AT YEN DINH HIGH SCHOOL 2.1 An overview of the current situation of teaching and learning English at Yen Dinh High school The study was conducted with students in grade 10 at Yen Dinh high school Most of them have been learning English for at least years at secondary schools 2.2 Findings from the current situations To find out some current situations in teaching and learning English speaking at Yen Dinh high school, the researcher surveys the current situations by asking questions and observation The researcher found out some following results 2.2.1 Results from asking questions Most of the students did not know what to say They could not get the ideas Besides, they had so few words to express their opinion Some students were always silent in class and did not want to say anything In speaking lesson, many students might be inhabited by fear of making a language mistake Some of them complained that they did not understand what to in speaking activities They also had difficulty in pronouncing, they were afraid of mispronunciation Sometimes, they got trouble in grammar, they could not put the verbs in the correct tenses Besides a small number of the students believed that they were very bad at English when they were at lower high school And they thought that they cannot put the words in correct order In addition, a number of the students could not remember all structures ,students could not apply all structures correctly Besides, having a small number of the students said that the lack of teaching aids at school is other difficult of them The researcher asked students about the main causes of these difficulties Most of the students said the method that teacher used is not suitable In addition, they don’t know the good way to learn English structure, English vocabulary, pronunciation Meanwhile some them were bad at English speaking when they studied at lower school and they also thought that the lack of learning aids at school is other main reason that they have difficulties in studying English speaking 2.2.2 Results from observation  Results from the teacher Most of the teachers think that speaking is not very important They only teach grammar and the meaning of words to prepare the students to take part in GCSE in which speaking skill is not tested Almost the teacher applied the traditional methods such as: translation, audio-lingual or using PPP model SangKienKinhNghiem.net Besides, the teacher used extra-board or handout However, the applying of these traditional method hasn’t been done effectively yet About classroom management The teacher asked the students to work individually most of the time Sometimes, the teacher asked them to work in pairs Sometimes they had to work in groups There were no leader of groups, as a result, every member in the group was not appointed particular requires  Results from the students In my observation, I realized that most of the students never raised their hands in lessons They were not willing to practice They only practiced when being asked They sat in silence and the teacher usually took notices of better students Moreover, most of the students felt unconfident when being asked to practice They showed their worry Nobody wanted the teacher to call his/her name in practice speaking In summary, from the results of asking questions and observation, the researcher found out some problems in teaching and learning English speaking at Yen Dinh High School Firstly, almost the teachers not pay great attention to teach speaking skill so they use traditional method in teaching English speaking Secondly, most of the students not feel interested in learning speaking They think they need to be good at grammar They not pay attention to studying because they not have opportunities and motivation to study The classroom’s atmosphere makes them feel uninterested in the lessons According to the classroom observation, very few students contribute to the lessons They only practice when the teacher asks When being asked, all students want the teacher to change the teaching method by applying variety of activities to make the lesson become more interesting 2.3 Solution In this part, the researcher provided some activities to help students study English speaking more effectively Because of limited time, I only give some activities that I have used during my teaching and I see that these activities are very useful They help my students become more active in speaking lesson CHAPTER 3: ACTIVITIES THAT PROMOTE SPEAKING 3.1 Always present yourself as an English speaker, right from the start Teachers have to present themselves as an English speaker right from the start because firstly students have taped new teachers from the first meeting Teachers should not give up to speak in English anyway, even if students did not understand the teacher, teachers have to use pictures, gestures, facial expressions and etc to get their message across, to wit to make incomprehensible things clear to students, but in English SangKienKinhNghiem.net Teacher can ask students some questions before starting any English lessons For example: - Who is in duty today? (if students cannot understand the question, teacher can explain in another way or use some gestures to make students understand) - Who is absent today? - What’s the weather like today? What activity you like doing most in this hot/cold/warm/nice weather? - Did you watch a very exciting football match on television last night? (if student answer “yes”, teacher can ask: please tell your friends something about that football match (teacher can ask questions and student answer the questions about the football match) - (After Tet holiday, teacher can ask students ) How was your Tet holiday? What did you during Tet holiday? What is your most favorite activity? - Teacher can ask students some questions about the events happening in the school, the neighborhood, in their country, or in the world, …… 3.2 Interrupting story This is very a very interesting activity in this students have a chance to practice speaking, listening, and other skills In this activity, teacher or a student tell a story that students know When telling the story the story- teller includes some wrong information Other students listen to the story When they hear it if they recognize the wrong information, they will stop the story and correct it I use this activity in Task 2- Speaking lesson of Unit 1- Tieng Anh 10 Choose a good student to present before class This student pretends to give the wrong information or wrong order from the pictures The others will stop him and correct or give the correct order Example: Quan often gets up at 2p.m At 2.15p.m., he watches TV (wrongcorrect) At 5p.m., Quan goes to the stadium by bus(wrong- correct) After that he plays football with his friends At 6.30p.m., he goes home At 6.45p.m., he does his homework (wrong- correct)…… 3.3 Interviews In this activity, a student is in the role of a doctor, a famous person, or a football player, … comes in front of class Others ask questions I use this activity in Task 1or Task 3- Speaking lesson of Unit 1- Tieng Anh 10 Teacher invites one student to the board and others will ask him questions about his timetable or about what he does every day Here are some suggested questions: - What time you have a physics lesson on Monday? - What lesson you have at …… on…….? - What you often at 8p.m every day? SangKienKinhNghiem.net - What time you often watch TV? - How often you go swimming? - Do you often go shopping? When you go shopping and who you often go with? - Do you like studying chemistry? - When you play sports? - Do you often help your mother with the housework? What kind of housework you often do? - ……………… 3.4 Role play In this activity, students pretend they are in various social contexts and have a variety of social roles In role-play activity, t6he teacher gives information to the learners such as who they are and what they think or feel Thus, the teacher can tell the student that “You are David, you to the doctor and tell him what happened last night, and ……” I use role-play activity in teaching Task 2- Speaking lesson of Unit 3Tieng Anh 10 Imagine you are a journalist, use the cues give to interview a classmate about his or her background or that of a person you know well Change the roles when you have finished Example: A: Good morning, I am working for Thanh nien Newspaper I’d like to ask you some questions Is it O.K? B: Good morning That’s fine A: When were you born? B: …………………………… A: Where were you born? B:………………………… 3.5 Find someone who Students will give information or ask information from friends and then present it before class After that teacher or a student will ask: Who? And other students will answer who that is I can use this activity when I teach Speaking lesson of Unit1- Tieng Anh 10talking about someone’s daily routine  Step 1: Students prepare a table Has a history Help mother Watches TV Likes English … lesson on with every night Friday housework Hoa Mai Nam … 10 SangKienKinhNghiem.net  Step 2: Students go around, ask their friends and fill/ tick in the table  Step 3: The teacher will call some students to report Example: - Nam likes English - Hoa often has a history lesson on Friday - Nam often watches TV every night - Nam often helps his mother with housework - …………  Step 4: The teacher will ask students: - Teacher: Find someone who likes English - Student: Nam likes English - Teacher: Find someone who has a history lesson on Friday - Student: Hoa and Mai often have a history lesson on Friday - Teacher: Find someone who often watches T.V every night - Student: Nam and Hoa watch T.V every night - Teacher: Find someone who helps mother with the housework - Student: Nam and Mai often help mother with the housework …………………………… I also use this activity when teaching Speaking lesson of Unit 3, Unit 6, Unit 12- Tieng Anh 10 3.6 Twenty questions This activity is carried out as follow:  step 1: Teacher gives a word or a phrase about a something/ event/ someone/ … (e.g a name of a city/ a name of an organization/…….)  step 2: Students have to find out what it is by giving Yes/No questions Teacher can set a limit about the number of the questions which depends on the difficulty of the topic When teaching Speaking lesson of Unit 7- Tieng Anh 10, I use this activity as follow:  Step 1: The teacher writes one of the kind of media on a piece of paper  Step 2: Students in groups (2 groups) will ask Yes/No questions until they find out what the kind of media is (Only in questions) Example: - Does it provide information and entertainment orally? - Do we receive information from it through eyes? - Does it have beautiful pictures? - Do we use it for entertainment? - …………………………… 11 SangKienKinhNghiem.net 3.7 Brainstorming In this activity, students will give words, ideas about the topic given by the teacher The ideas are developed naturally For example: Unit 12: The Asian Games- Part B: Speaking- Tieng Anh 11 After studying part A: reading, students have some main information about The Asian Games And to give students a chance to get some more information about this multi-sport event so that they can have a lot of information and have an interest to study part B: speaking I use the technique “Brainstorming” I divide the class into groups and ask each group to find out as much as possible about the Asian Games before the lesson such as: - Game number - Host country (cities, …… ) - Time (from…….to) - Countries took part in - Number of sports, name of sports - Number of medals (gold, …… ) - New record - Famous athletes - Official songs (I usually get students these at home before class) With this, students have a large amount of information, and they can use this information to make the ask and answer in Task more interesting Therefore, the lesson will be less boring 3.8 Providing a dialogue With the guide of the teacher, students can make a dialogue by themselves and the practice and substitute practice This is quite easy activity and familiar so students are rather interested in it For example:  For Speaking Part of Unit 13: Films and cinema - Tieng Anh 10 From the information provided in the text book, students will combine into a dialogue and then make many other dialogues by substituting and then practice Such as: - A: What kind of film you like? - B: I like science fiction films - A: Why you like them? - B: Because they are very interesting - A: How you find about war films? - B: I find them really boring - A: Which you prefer, cartoon films or thrillers? - B: It is difficult to say but I suppose I prefer cartoon films to thrillers  For Speaking Part of Unit 2: School Talks - Tieng Anh 10 12 SangKienKinhNghiem.net In this period of speaking, it’s very difficult to use variety of activities The best and the most effective techniques is providing a dialogue (pair work) after giving students some suggestions  Step 1: Introduce to students some expressions used in starting a conversation and closing a conversation Such as: - Starting: Good morning!/ Hi It has been nice to meet you/ How is everything at school/ How are you? /…… - Closing: Nice talking to you but I have to go/ Catch you later/ See you again/ See you son/ Good bye  Step 2: Provide them some topics for practice (the weekend, the weather, the holiday, last night’s program, plan for next week, …….) ( Note: Students only use some of the above expressions in their speaking) CHAPTER 4: EXPERIMENT AND RESULT 4.1 Participants I chose two classes, 10A5 and 10 A3, to a control experiment In class 10A5, I use mainly pictures and translation I also use a lot of Vietnamese when teaching In the other class, I only use English while teaching speaking skill and I also use variety of activities I let students play games, make interviews, play roles,……during the first term in order to know whether using many kinds of activities to promote speaking skill is effective or not 4.2 Data collection instruments  Observation was used to check the interest of the students in studying speaking after the experiment  A test was used to check the result of the students in two classes about speaking  The questionnaire for 42 students in class 10A3 about the students’ attitudes towards the speaking lesson after the second term 4.3 Results 4.3.1 Results from the test You can compare the difference in the result of the end second-term test between these two classes Table 1: Student’s result after the speaking test Class 10A3 Class 10A5 Mark Number pupils Scale (%) Number pupils Scale (%) Below 0 20 5 11,9 15 37,5 16,7 20 10 23,8 12,5 10 23,8 7,5 16,7 2,5 10 7,1 0 13 SangKienKinhNghiem.net It can be seen from the table that the number of students who get bad marks (below 5) in class 10A3 is fewer than that in class 10A5 Whereas, the number who get good marks (mark and mark 10) in class 10A3 with 10 students in total is much more than that in class 10A5 with only student In general, students’ result in the class where the teacher used some promoting activities is much better It means that suggested techniques that the researcher use in teaching speaking is really effective 4.3.2 Results from the questionnaires Table Students’ attitudes towards teachers’ variety promoting activities Opinion Agree Disagree The new teaching method makes the 41 1 speaking lesson more comfortable 97.6% 2.4% The new teaching method helps me speak 41 English more confidently 97.6% 2.4% The new teaching method helps me 38 remember my vocabulary better 90.4% 9.6% The new teaching method helps me 39 remember grammar structures which I 92.8% 7.2% have learned before The new teaching method helps me write 40 English more correctly 95.2% 4.4% The new teaching method does not help 41 me learn English better than the old 2.4% 97.6% method The new teaching method is very difficult 41 for me 2.4% 97.6% The new teaching method is appreciate only with students who learn well 2.4% 41 97.6% As shown in table, 97.6% of the students who took part in the experiment felt that learning speaking was very comfortable with the variety of promoting activities which is one of necessary and useful factors in language learning and language teaching While only 2.4% of them disagree Regarding the effectiveness of the new teaching method, the majority of students (97.6%) said that the new teaching method helped them speak English more confidently, although 2,4% of them found that it was not effective Similarly, 90.4% of them recognized that these activities helped them remember vocabulary, although 9.6% of them disagreed 14 SangKienKinhNghiem.net 4.3.3 Results from observation During teaching lessons, I observed the students’ attitude in class I saw many students raising their hands to contribute to the lessons With the aim of proving English teaching and learning, the teacher tried to use a lot of activities in their lessons The teacher used some techniques to present knowledge, the teacher only translated into Vietnamese very little In these lessons, although the teacher used English mostly, the students still understood what the teacher said The teacher only used Vietnamese when there were some difficult words or structures Therefore, the effectiveness of these lessons was better than before The students were asked to work in pair or group basing on the content of each activity In these lessons, the teacher used some activities to teach the structures The teacher taught speaking English lesson through variety of promoting activities As a result, students were very interested in lessons They showed their excitement about these activities Thank to these activities, students contributed to the lessons very well The class’s atmosphere became interesting According to the researcher’s observation, in lessons that teachers used these promoting speaking activities, students not only contributed to the lessons but also practiced speaking well They showed their confidence when present their ideas before class Moreover, students can know some grammar structures clearly about the form and the usage of these structures In addition, they remember the structures easily and apply these structures to exercises correctly Most of them are excited in speaking lessons 4.4 Findings From the results of observation, survey questionnaire, and test, the researcher found out some findings about the effectiveness of using many different activities in teaching English speaking in class 10A3 at Yen Dinh high School after experiment Most of the students felt interested in speaking lessons They paid attention to studying The classroom’s atmosphere makes them feel comfortable in the lessons Moreover, the teacher usually asks them to work in pairs or groups, so they have more chance to interact with their friends to get or sharing their knowledge According to the classroom observation, most of the students contributed to the lessons They are not bored with speaking English any longer Many students raised their hand to take part in the language games and to practice When being asked, all the students wanted the teacher to change the teaching method They wanted the teacher to continue use many other activities in the speaking lessons 15 SangKienKinhNghiem.net PART C: CONCLUSION Suggestions for further study I have tried my best to carry out this study but the study still remains some problems which need to be solved because of the limited knowledge, and little experience The following recommendation is made for further study  I only mentioned mainly teaching speaking lessons in Tieng Anh 10 The study should focus on Tieng Anh 11, especially Tieng Anh 12  The researcher should be carried out with a large number of participants and in longer time  In this study I suggested the activities for students in my school which is located in the countryside where the students’ ability to speak English is not very good The study will be more convincing if we carry out the study with the students who can speak English better Conclusion of the study Teaching speaking is a very important part of second language learning The ability to communicate in a second language clearly and efficiently contributes to the success of the learner in school and success later in every phase of life Therefore, it is essential that language teachers pay great attention to teaching speaking Rather than leading students to pure memorization, providing a rich environment where meaningful communication takes place is desired With this aim various speaking activities such as those listed above can contribute a great deal to students in developing basic interactive skills necessary for life These activities make students more active in the learning process and at the same time make their learning more meaningful and fun for them In my study, I mentioned some common problems in teaching and learning English speaking at Yen Dinh High School and gave out some activities I myself had used when teaching students in my school and seeing that these activities really made my students study speaking skill more effectively I hoped to receive further comments and advice to make it better XÁC NHẬN CỦA THỦ TRƯỞNG ĐƠN VỊ Thanh Hóa, ngày 15 tháng năm 2018 Tôi xin cam đoan SKKN viết, khơng chép nội dung người khác LÊ THỊ HÀ 16 SangKienKinhNghiem.net REFERENCES 1 Ron Foreth, Carol Forseth Ta Tien Hung, Nguyen Van Do “Methodology hand book for English teachers in Vietnam Celce-Murcia M.2001 Teaching English as Second or Foreign Language (3rd ed) USA: Heinle&Heinle The British Council and the Ministry of Education and Training “English Now” - issue 15-April 2009 Chaney, A.L., and T.L Burk 1998 Teaching Oral Communication in K8 Boston: Allyn&Bacon Baruah, T.C 1991 The English Teacher’s Handbook Delhi: Sterling Publishing House Brown, G and G Yule 1993 Teaching the Spoken Language Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Harmer, J 1984 The Practice of English Language Teaching http://w.w.w.oxfordonlineenglish.com 17 SangKienKinhNghiem.net ... IV APPENDIX 5: HOW TO DESCRIBE A PERSON IN ENGLISH .V ii SangKienKinhNghiem.net PART A: INTRODUCTION Title: ? ?Teaching speaking: Activities to promote speaking? ?? Rationale As you know... in speaking Then I wanted to have a research on this topic with the hope to build up the habit of speaking for students and design activities to motivate their students to learn in the most efficient... the principles for teaching speaking skill - Put forward some activities that promote speaking - Apply these techniques in some specific lessons to my bit in innovation English Teaching methodology