Nguyen Thj Que Tap chi KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE 79(03) 117 121 THE EFFECTS OF COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH ON THE PERFORMANCE IN ENGLISH OF THE SELECTED SOPHOMORE STUDENTS OF COLLEGE OF SCIENCES THAINGUYEN UNIV[.]
Nguyen Thj Que Tap chi KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE 79(03): 117-121 THE EFFECTS OF COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH ON THE PERFORMANCE IN ENGLISH OF THE SELECTED SOPHOMORE STUDENTS OF COLLEGE OF SCIENCES - THAINGUYEN UNIVERSITY Nguyen Thi Que College of Sciences - Thai Nguyen University SUMMARY Communicative Approach refers to the beliefs and theories of the language teaching, which emphasize that the goal of language teaching is communicative competence This is quite a new method of teaching English for teachers of Thai Nguyen University in general and of College of Sciences in particular Therefore, this study sought to answer the question of whether Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) improves the performance in English of selected second year students of the College of Sciences Thai Nguyen University in the first semester of Academic Year 2009-2010 Two groups of students experienced two different teaching methods namely traditional method and CLT participated in the study Pre-test means scores showed no significant difference between the control and experimental groups while comparisons of the posttest means scores showed significant differences in the achievement The study concluded that use of various activities in CLT in teaching English helps motivate and enhance EEL students' learning and mastery of English communication Key words: Communicative Approach, communicative competence, effectiveness, significant difference, achievement, sophomore students College of Sciences, Thai Nguyen University INTRODUCTION English has nowadays gained itself the status of a world language, an international language, or a lingua franca in almost all settings Knowing English well means holding a golden key lo open the great world of knowledge, culture, technology, sciences etc Nguyen [3] stated that since our Party and Slate have adopted a policy of multilateralization and diversification of external relations, particularly as Vietnam is now a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the teaching and learning of foreign languages are facing new requirements, in terms of size, scope, new training methods characterized by high quality, in order to meet the need for socioeconomic development of the country in the renewal period General speaking, more attention is drawn to teaching of how to communicate, rather than applying the old methods, which was simply lo provide foreign language knowledge (principally teaching how to translate a document) for students Tel; 0963 888 288 Email: quenguyentnu agmail.eom However, it comes as no surprise that the capacity of using English as a means of communication of Vietnamese learners is still under acceptable level, which is really a tough issue for our educators lo think over And after four years of experience in teaching English at Thai Nguyen Universit}', College of Sciences, the researcher does agree that one of the factors that deter the improvement in possessing good English skills of students at the university comes from teachers' sides Despite the fact that today's generation of students enjoys new educational methods that focus more on the growth of the individual rather than mere academic achievement, most of the teachers at the university in particular and in Viet Nam in general still prefer applying the traditional method with "bookish practice" [4] that no longer motivates students in learning And therefore, choosing a suitable and appropriate method to stimulate and improve students' English competence, especially communicative competence is always of the author's concern Of all the prominent methods in teaching English that the writer has so far known 117 Nguyen Thj Que Tap chi KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) or Communicative Approach has proved to be widely accepted in different parts oflhe world as the priority in teaching and learning a foreign language It is because of the fact that CLT came into existence with the stress placed upon language competence, which can be understood as the "unconscious intuitions about language" [2] and communicative competence or the "internalized knowledge of the situational appropriateness of language" Canale [1] mentioned about the main focus of CLT, which is the "What" and the "How" the English language is taught to learners He also emphasized that more focus would be placed on the use of language for communication of meaning than learning language structures, forms and vocabulary Ultimately, the "What" aims towards "communicative competence", the use of language 'accurately' and 'appropriately' Meanwhile, the "How" deals with the specific techniques and procedures used to unconsciously 'acquire' and consciously 'learn' a language through communication Consequently, the CLT is really an appropriate approach in teaching English to students The application of this method in teaching - learning process is expected to enhance students' achievement in English Thai Nguyen city where the writer works is one of the educational centers of Viet Nam However, as being located in a mountainous area, the teaching facilities and teaching methods have not yet been upgraded College students of the College of Sciences come from different parts of the country with dissimilar habits and styles in learning English, let alone some are completely illiterate in English And to non-native teachers of English, leaching a foreign language to college students, especially teaching oral communication is really a big challenge In recent years, new generation of worldwide teachers has tried to apply modern methods in teaching English in order to make the lessons less monotonous And CLT is one of the 118 79(03): 117-121 methods of choice A positive signal is that teachers and educators in many countries in the world and several big cities of Viet Nam such as Ha Noi capital Ho Chi Minh city, and others have claimed the improvement in students' performance when using this method in teaching English With the hope of finding suitable methods in teaching English to students as well as testing the effectiveness of this method in this disadvantaged region, the researcher bravely experiments CLT in her teaching The question to rise when applying CLT in teaching English is that what particular communicative activities are considered appropriate to most students in a class Since there is no single activity that is claimed best for all students and all teaching fields, hence, the combination of varied activities in CLT is taken into serious account in teaching English here Of all the aforementioned observations, together with the researcher's own interest in teaching English, the Effects of Communicative Approach on the English Performance of the selected sophomore students of the College of Sciences of Thai Nguyen University has been chosen as her study SUBJECT AND METHODOLOGY An experimental design specifically the matched groups design was used to find out the effects of Communicative Approach in teaching English Two comparable sections of Second Year College of Sciences students were used as respondents of the study The results of their English scores, second semester of the first year 2008-2009; as well as their age and gender were used for matching purposes There were 30 students for each group The control group was subjected to the traditional method while the experimental group was exposed to Communicative Approach The study was conducted at College of Sciences, Thai Nguyen University during the first semester oflhe second year Bachelor in the Academic Year 2009-2010 A teacher-made achievement test was validated and administered as a pre-tests and post-test to both groups i Nguyen Thi Que Tap chi KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE The t-tesl of dependent sample means was employed to compare the pre-test mean of the two groups and post-test mean of the two groups The t-tesl of dependent sample means was also used to compare the pre-test and post-test mean of each group 79(03): 117-121 control and experimental groups were 29.23 and 32.6 respectively The t-tesl showed that there is a significant difference in the post-test of the two groups as shown equal to 2.106 The result proved that Communicative Approach is more effective in improving students' competence in English than the traditional method FINDINGS The following are the findings of the study: I There is no significant difference on the pre-test mean scores of the two groups using Communicative approach and the traditional approach There is a significant difference between the mean score of students in the pre-lesl and in the post test scores using the traditional method The control group obtained the mean score of 25.36 while the experimental group gained 25.13 in the mean score When subjected to ttest, the result revealed that there was no significant difference between two groups in the pre-test Therefore, the two groups were homogeneous at the beginning of the study The pre-test mean score of the control group was 25.36, while the post-test mean score of this group was 29.23 The low scores in the pre-test was due to the fact that the students had little knowledge about the subject matters that were still to be discussed And the gain scores somewhat revealed their acquisition of previous study When subjected to l-lest, the result showed that there is a significant difference between pre-lesl mean scores and post-test mean scores of the respondents in the control group 2.The mean score of students in the post-test using the Communicative approach differs significantly from that of those using the traditional approach After the treatment period, the two groups were given a post-test The mean scores oflhe Table T-test Results of the Pre-test Scores of the Control and Experimental Groups Groups Control Experimental Mean Scores 25.36 25.13 Mean Difference 0.23 t-computed 0.159 t-tab a = 0.05;df=58 1.67 Remarks Not Significant Note: t-tah; t value tabulated; df; degrees of freedom Table T-test Results of the Post-test Scores of the Control and Experimental Groups Groups Control Experimental Mean Scores 29.23 32.6 Mean Difference 3.37 t-computed -2.106 t-tab a = 0.05;df=58 1.67 Remarks Significant Note: t-tab; t value tabulated: df: degrees of freedom Table T-test Results on the Pre-test and Post-test Scores of the Control Group Control Group Pre-test Post-test Mean Scores 25.36 29.23 Mean Difference 3.87 t-computed -6.87 t-tab a = 0.05;df^29 1.699 Remarks Significant Note: t-tah: l value tabulated; df; degrees of freedom 119 Tap chi KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE Nguyen Thj Que 79(03): 117-121 significantly higher than that of students using the traditional method The mean score of students in the pre-test differs significantly from that in the post-test using Communicative approach The hypothesis indicating thai there is a significant difference between the pre-test scores and the post-test scores of the control group using the traditional method is also supported in this study The pre-test mean score of the experimental group was 25.13, while the post-test of this group was 32.6 When subjected to t-test it was revealed that there is a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores at 0.05 probability level The hypothesis that the mean gain scores in the post test significantly differ from those in the pre-test of students using Communicative Approach is supported Students exposing to Communicative Approach performed better than those using the traditional method And the hypothesis that students in the experimental group using Communicative Approach perform better than those in the control group using the traditional approach is also supported RECOMMENDATIONS The mean gain scores of the control and the experimental groups were 3.87 and 7.47 respectively The t-test proved that there is a significant difference in the mean gain scores between two groups The results also revealed that the students being taught with Communicative Approach performed better than those being exposed to the traditional method of teaching English The hypothesis that there is a significant difference in the pre-test scores of the two groups using Communicative Approach and Traditional Approach is not supported in this study Based on the conclusions of this study, the following recommendations were drawn: The results of the study prove that the mean scores of students using Communicative Approach is significantly higher than those of students using the traditional method Therefore, teachers of English in the College of Sciences in particular and teachers in Vietnam in general may adapt Communicative Approach in their teaching with regard to applying different activities following this method to motivate and improve student's skills in English The h)pothesis that the mean gain scores in the post test of students using Communicative Approach significantly differ from those using the traditional method is supported, ll is evident that the mean score of students using Communicative Approach is The study also reveals that there is a significant difference between the pre-test scores and the post-test scores of the control group using the Traditional Method Hence, this method is still favorable for teachers lo integrate in their leaching CONCLUSIONS Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions were drawn: Table T-test Results on the Pre-test and Post-test Scores of the Experimental Group Experimental Group Pre-test Post-test Mean Scores 25.13 32.6 Mean Differenc 7.47 t-computed 11.019 t-tab = 0.05; df=29 1.699 Remarks Significant Note: l-tah; t value tabulated; df; degrees offreedom Table T-test for Two Independent Samples for Mean Gain Scores Groups Mean Gain Scores t-computed 3.87 Control -4.087 7.47 Experimental Note: t-tab; t value tabulated; df degrees offreedom 120 t-tab a = 0.05; df=58 1.67 Remarks Significant i Nguyen Thi Que Tap chi KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE The results infers that success in leaching English lo students may depend not so much on the teachers' competency or the students" capability but more than the approaches and strategies that the teacher may use As a consequence, it is recommended that teachers of English take into serious consideration all the conditions to apply these innovative approaches as well as combine harmoniously different methods in their leaching so that they could facilitate the students" learning to reach their utmost acquisition oflhe language 79(03): 117-121 REFERENCES [I] Canale M (1993) From Communicative Competence to Communicative Language Pedagogy; In: Jack C Richards & Richard W.Schmidt (Eds.) Language and communication London: Longman 5''' printing [2] Noam Chomsky (2005) On Nature and Language Cambridge University Press [3] Nguyen Hu> Can (2007) Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages In Vietnam: The Current Silualion and some Solutions English Foreign Language Journal [4] Phan Le Ha (2004) University' Classrooms In Vietnam; Contesting the stereotypes English Language Teaching Journal TOM T A T HIEU QUA CUA PHtTOTVG PHAP DAY HOC GIAO TIEP DOI VOI KHA NANG SLT DUNG TIENG ANH CUA SINH VIEN NAM THTf HAI TRlTOTVG OAI HOC KHOA HOC, DAI HOC THAI NGUYEN Nguyen Thi Que Trudng Dgi hoc Khoa hoc - Dll Ihdi Nguyen Dudng hudng day hgc giao tiep (CLT) bao gdm nhung ly thu\et ve giang day ngdn ngu' dd nhan manh muc tieu can hudng tdi ciia viec day ngdn ngu" dd la kha nang giao tiep cua ngudi hgc Day la mdt phuong phap kha mdi me ddi vdi giang vien tieng Anh cua Dai hgc Thai Nguyen ndi chung va Dai hgc Khoa hgc ndi rieng Do dd nghien ciru tap trung giai dap cau hdi lieu rang CLT cd cai thien kha nang tieng Anh cua sinh vien nam thu trudng Dai hgc Khoa hgc Dai hgc Thai Nguyen cua hgc ky I nam hgc 2009-2010 Hai nhdm sinh vien dugc giang day bang hai phuong phap truyen thdng va phuong phap day hoc giao tiep da tham gia thu nghiem nghien cuu Diem trung binh trudc thii' nghiem cua nhdm khdng cd su khac biet dang ke diem trung binh sau thu- nghiem phuong phap the hien su khac biet rat Idn kha nang sir dung tieng Anh cua nhdm Ket qua cua de tai cho thay viec su dung da dang cac hoat ddng theo dudng hudng day hgc giao tiep giang day tieng Anh thuc su tao ddng luc hgc tap va nang cao kha nang su dumz tiens Anh cua sinh vien Tel: 0963 888 288, Email: quenguyenlnuagmail.com 121 ... PHtTOTVG PHAP DAY HOC GIAO TIEP DOI VOI KHA NANG SLT DUNG TIENG ANH CUA SINH VIEN NAM THTf HAI TRlTOTVG OAI HOC KHOA HOC, DAI HOC THAI NGUYEN Nguyen Thi Que Trudng Dgi hoc Khoa hoc - Dll Ihdi Nguyen... nam thu trudng Dai hgc Khoa hgc Dai hgc Thai Nguyen cua hgc ky I nam hgc 2009-2010 Hai nhdm sinh vien dugc giang day bang hai phuong phap truyen thdng va phuong phap day hoc giao tiep da tham gia... giang vien tieng Anh cua Dai hgc Thai Nguyen ndi chung va Dai hgc Khoa hgc ndi rieng Do dd nghien ciru tap trung giai dap cau hdi lieu rang CLT cd cai thien kha nang tieng Anh cua sinh vien nam