Rationale
Courses in (listening and) speaking skills have a prominent place in language programmes around the world today Ever-growing needs for fluency in English around the world as a consequence of the role of English as the world‟s international language have given priority to finding more effective ways to teach English (Richards, 2009) Vietnam is not out of this current trends for English teaching and learning
The needs for meeting job requirements put students majored in business to enhancing their language skills and ability for international business communication However, the current situation of teaching and learning now in Vietnam is of critical problem to solve resulting from inappropriate teaching materials and instructional techniques Here comes the same context to what happens in the teaching and learning ESP at Vietnam University of Commerce The traditional method being applied now is mainly teacher-centered and lecture- oriented, which commonly results in the passivity and non-involvement in speaking activities of students From all of the above, finding appropriate methods is an urge that the teachers here are striving for
Willis and Willis (2007:1) asserts that “…the most effective way to teach a language is by engaging learners in real language use in the classroom This is done by designing tasks – discussions, problems, games, and so on – which require learners to use the language for themselves.” Other language researchers and practitioners like Candlin (1987), Swain (1995) and Hutchinson and Walter (1987) all agree that TBLT could bring good opportunities for students to master their language skills through numerous and useful kinds of tasks
From this suggestion and above initial problems, the author decided to develop a quasi-experimental research on the use of task-based approach in teaching speaking for the 2 nd year English majored students at Vietnam University of Commerce.
Aims of the study
This was a quasi-experiment research of which purpose was to investigate the influence of implementing task-based approach on the second-year-English- major students at Vietnam University of Commerce (VUC) Specifically, it addressed the following research question:
- How do second-year English major students at Vietnam University of Commerce benefit from the implementation of the task-based approach?
The focus of the study is not only on student‟s achievement in their speaking skills but also on their changes in learning attitude and motivation.
Scope of the study
The study was conducted on 40 second-year English major of the English Department of Vietnam University of Commerce and restricted to the first half of the first semester of 2013-2014 The intervention lasted for about one month and a half with five contacts, each a week.
Significance of the study
The study was conducted to find out whether the TB approach fits the needs of enhancing second-year students‟ speaking ability As a result, the teachers at VUC are persuaded to adopt this approach in their teaching not only speaking but other language skills.
Method of the study
The sample consists of 40 students of the early second year in English Faculty of Vietnam University of Commerce The students were selected randomly according to their credit registration at the end of the first year
The class were to receive TB instruction following an oral pre-test and then another post-test to check the effect of the new approach on speaking ability
The class were taught by the teacher who is qualified and has 5 years of experience in teaching business English at VUC b Instrumentation
A quasi-experimental research were employed in this minor thesis to find out the attitudes and motivation of 2 nd year students toward speaking as well as the influence of TBLT on their speaking ability
In order to collect sufficient and relevant data for the study, two research techniques were implemented:
- Using an oral pre-test and a post-test to evaluate the teaching and learning results
- Conducting a semi-structured questionnaire to investigate how the students are interested in the intervention c Procedures
The steps of the study are executed as follow:
1 Administer the first oral test to check the current speaking ability of the participants
2 Implementing the TB instruction to the selected group of participants with a detailed schedule
3 Issuing a survey questionnaire to check students‟ attitudes, understanding of the experiment period
5 Analyze the data and discuss the findings
The study consists of three parts:
Part A – Introduction presents the rationale, aim, scope, significance and method of the study
Part B – Development: this part comprises of three chapters:
- Chapter 1: Theoretical Background and Literature review cover the overview of the literature in which relevant theoretical background and reviews of related studies concerning Business English, speaking skills and task-based language teaching (TBLT)
- Chapter 2 – Research Method continues with the research method including the participants of the study, the instrumentation, the methods and procedures of data collection and data analysis
- Chapter 3 – Findings and Discussion demonstrates the findings accompanied by data analysis and discussion
Part C – Conclusion recapitulates the major findings of the study and represents further recommendations for the implementation of TBLT
CHAPTER 1 – THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW
Business English has been receiving much concern from ESP practitioners, learners and language researchers Orr (2002) sees Business English as a subfield that focuses on the development of communicative competence for business settings, also known as target situations or situated contexts in business
Business English is a rapidly growing field within the area of English language Teaching (ELT) and ESP (English for Specific Purposes) It is a straightforward term that is widely used and readily understood by practitioners, but its generality can lead to confusion (Johnson, 1993, Pickett, 1986 and Johns, 1986)
The term can be used to describe courses that range from an essentially English for General Purposes course that includes the teaching of some business lexis, to very specific courses, either in particular skills such as participating in or chairing meetings or report writing, or in particular disciplines such as finance or marketing
BE also differs itself from other ESP fields in that it is often a mix of specific content (relating to a particular job area or industry), and general content (relating to general ability to communicate more effectively albeit in business situation)
According to Dudley-Evans and John (1998), Business English is difficult to define and limit in linguistic terms It therefore „requires the careful research and design of pedagogical materials and activities for an identifiable group of adult learner within a specific learning context‟ (Johns and Dudley-Evans, 1991) and must be „designed to meet specified needs of the learner‟ (Streven, 1988)
Picket (1986) considers Business English as a „mediating language between the technicalities of particular businesses and the language of the general public‟, which puts a distinction between General English and Specialist English To different people, Business English can have different meanings for which suit their purposes of learning and using English
Business English refers to the teaching of non-native speakers who needs English for business purposes usually working in a company at managerial level and needing to communicate in English with either native speakers or other ESL speakers with whom they do not share a first language (Dudley-Evans and John,
1996) Therefore, teaching BE is believed to be the teaching of English to adults working in businesses, or preparing to work in the field of business, i.e a needs- directed teaching in which as much as possible must be made job-related, focused on learners‟ needs and relevant to them
The content matter in Business English can be divided into two broad categories of real content and career content and is mentioned in the work of Dudley-Evans and John (1998) Defining the real content and career content in BE teaching are of utmost importance to BE teachers
Career content concerns all activities related to the process of communication and learning of students including reading, listening, writing and speaking By the way of illustration, career content in speaking skills is placed on the performance-related activities like socializing or providing for personal needs when on a business trip The real content deals with the language used in ESP materials and teaching As being defined by Dudley-Evans and John (1998), real content includes linguistic and communicative skills of students‟ communicative and learning activities
There is a significant correlation between career content and real content for the former is made the focal point while the latter is introduced the following career content requirements It leads to the achievement of the integration of particular content with language teaching aims, so that the career content dictates the selection and sequence of language to be learned by students
Various definitions on the concept of speaking have been pointed out by a number of language researchers According to Chaney (1998, p 13), speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts Accordingly, Brown, (1994); Burns & Joyce,
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW
Theoretical background
Business English has been receiving much concern from ESP practitioners, learners and language researchers Orr (2002) sees Business English as a subfield that focuses on the development of communicative competence for business settings, also known as target situations or situated contexts in business
Business English is a rapidly growing field within the area of English language Teaching (ELT) and ESP (English for Specific Purposes) It is a straightforward term that is widely used and readily understood by practitioners, but its generality can lead to confusion (Johnson, 1993, Pickett, 1986 and Johns, 1986)
The term can be used to describe courses that range from an essentially English for General Purposes course that includes the teaching of some business lexis, to very specific courses, either in particular skills such as participating in or chairing meetings or report writing, or in particular disciplines such as finance or marketing
BE also differs itself from other ESP fields in that it is often a mix of specific content (relating to a particular job area or industry), and general content (relating to general ability to communicate more effectively albeit in business situation)
According to Dudley-Evans and John (1998), Business English is difficult to define and limit in linguistic terms It therefore „requires the careful research and design of pedagogical materials and activities for an identifiable group of adult learner within a specific learning context‟ (Johns and Dudley-Evans, 1991) and must be „designed to meet specified needs of the learner‟ (Streven, 1988)
Picket (1986) considers Business English as a „mediating language between the technicalities of particular businesses and the language of the general public‟, which puts a distinction between General English and Specialist English To different people, Business English can have different meanings for which suit their purposes of learning and using English
Business English refers to the teaching of non-native speakers who needs English for business purposes usually working in a company at managerial level and needing to communicate in English with either native speakers or other ESL speakers with whom they do not share a first language (Dudley-Evans and John,
1996) Therefore, teaching BE is believed to be the teaching of English to adults working in businesses, or preparing to work in the field of business, i.e a needs- directed teaching in which as much as possible must be made job-related, focused on learners‟ needs and relevant to them
The content matter in Business English can be divided into two broad categories of real content and career content and is mentioned in the work of Dudley-Evans and John (1998) Defining the real content and career content in BE teaching are of utmost importance to BE teachers
Career content concerns all activities related to the process of communication and learning of students including reading, listening, writing and speaking By the way of illustration, career content in speaking skills is placed on the performance-related activities like socializing or providing for personal needs when on a business trip The real content deals with the language used in ESP materials and teaching As being defined by Dudley-Evans and John (1998), real content includes linguistic and communicative skills of students‟ communicative and learning activities
There is a significant correlation between career content and real content for the former is made the focal point while the latter is introduced the following career content requirements It leads to the achievement of the integration of particular content with language teaching aims, so that the career content dictates the selection and sequence of language to be learned by students
Various definitions on the concept of speaking have been pointed out by a number of language researchers According to Chaney (1998, p 13), speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts Accordingly, Brown, (1994); Burns & Joyce,
(1997) and Florez (1999, p.1) consider speaking as an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including the participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical environment, and the purposes for speaking
Speaking plays a vital role in communication Ur (1996), Bailey and Savage (1994: vii) claim that, “for many people, speaking is seen as the central skill because of the desire to communicate with others, often face-to-face and in real time” In Ur‟s opinion, speaking is intuitively considered as the most important skill of the four ones
According to Haws and Thomas (1994), in an ESL spoken-English course it is all too easy to make the mistaken assumption that students‟ competence can be developed by just any kind of speaking activities If the focus of the course is on conversational skills, this will not ensure that learners will develop the ability to use language for informative purposes, which is the aspect of spoken English that students most often have difficulty with These skills must be introduced as a component in their own right and explicitly taught
Task-based language teaching
1.2.1 Task-based language teaching (TBLT)
Task-based language teaching (TBLT), or task-based language learning (TBL) or task-based instruction (TBI), was first developed in India by N.S Prabhu in the 1980s and has become a keen contemporary interest in English language teaching (ELT) field Willis (1996), Brown (1994), Littlewood (2004), some of TBLT proponents, presents it as a logical development of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) since the emphasis of TBLT is on communicative learning and teaching of language
TBLT has been advocated by a number of language researchers and teachers in the world despite the fact that its clear definitions are still in search Say
Richards & Rodgers (2 nd ed 2001), TBLT is an approach based on the use of tasks as the core unit of planning and instruction in language teaching Foster (1999) points out that different task-based approach all share the common ground: giving learner tasks to transact rather than items to learn This means that with TBLT, learners are provided with an environment that best promotes the natural language learning process During this interaction practices, students have chance to understand each other and to express their own meaning Richards and Rodgers
(2001) and Larsen-Freeman (2000) give their own definition on the term „task‟, a frequently used words in classroom for years In TBLT, tasks are always central activities where the target language is used for a communicative purpose in order to achieve an outcome emphasizing on exchanging meaning not producing language forms The tasks here cover a wide range of language but a concentration on one particular structure, function, or vocabulary group This belief is based on the belief that student can use language effectively when focusing on the task itself rather than on the language they are using Since tasks are basic unit of a TBLT framework, it is crucial to give clear definitions of tasks
2.3.1 Definitions of tasks within Task-based Instruction (TBI)
According to Willis (1996), tasks are activities where the target language is used by the learner for a communicative purpose (goal) in order to achieve an outcome That means a task can be anything from doing a puzzle to making an airline reservation
Other definitions are provided by a number of scholars like Nunan (2004), Long (1985)s, Breen (1987), Skehan (1996b) Those concepts are defined on the basis of scope and perspective Nunan (2004) describes task as a piece of classroom work that involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing, or interacting with the target language while their attention is focused on mobilizing their grammatical knowledge in order to express meaning … rather than form He emphasizes the fact that pedagogical tasks involve communicative language use as well as agrees with Willis and Wills (2001) that tasks differentiate themselves from grammatical exercises by aiming to achieve an outcomes with a free use of range of language structures Skehan (1998) proposed a definition of task following Candlin
(1987), Nunan (1989), Long (1989) and others that a task is an activity in which: (1) meaning is primary, (2) there is some communication to solve, (3) there is some sort of relationship to comparable real-world activities, (4) task completion has some priority, and (5) the assessment of the task is in terms of an outcome
To sum up, tasks can be understood as classroom activities designed for learner to practice the information exchange and meaning negotiation using the target language to achieve an outcome a Task types
Nunan (2004, pp.1) and Richards & Rodgers (2001) classify tasks into two main types: (1) target tasks or real-world tasks and (2) pedagogical tasks The former, as the name implies, refer to the use of language in the world beyond the classroom, and the latter are those that occur in the classroom Generally, target tasks tend to give more specific and explicitly related to classroom instruction while pedagogical tasks includes a series of techniques designed ultimately for students to perform the target tasks According to Richards and Rodgers (ibid), targets tasks are designed to practice or rehearse those activities that are found to be important in a need analysis and that turn out to be important and useful in the real world He also provides examples of pedagogical tasks such as jigsaw, information-gap, problem solving, decision-making, and opinion exchange tasks
In nature, tasks are categorized in different ways Pica, Kanagy and Falodun
(1993) categorizes tasks based on the types of interactions in the product including jigsaw tasks (learners combine different pieces of information to make a whole, information-gap tasks (students negotiate to find out and match complementary sets of information), problem solving tasks (students make decisions on a given problem through negotiation and discussion), and opinion-exchange tasks (students engage in discussion and exchange of ideas, an agreement may not need to be reached)
From another viewpoint, Long (1989) suggests six types of tasks in pairs based on their functions: (1) dealing with information: One-way tasks (describing information without pre-reading), two-way tasks (accessing final results of a problem solving activities); (2) dealing with task preparation: planned tasks (for dealing with interviews), unplanned tasks (face-to-face conversations); (3) convergent tasks (problem solving through social interaction) and divergent tasks
(exchanging information to achieve the same outcome) b Task components
Drawing on the conceptualizations of Candlin (1987), Wright (1987a) and some others, Nunan (1989:48) analyzes task in terms of its components: goals, input, procedures, teacher role, learner role, and settings The diagram of task and its components is displayed as follow:
- Goals are the general intentions behind any given task
- Input refers to the data that form the point of departure for the tasks
- Activities specify what learners will actually do with the input
- Teachers and learners roles refer to the part that learners and teachers are expected to play
- Settings refer to the classroom arrangements carrying out the tasks
1.2.3 Task-based learning in a Business English course
According to Ellis and Johnson (1994:39), in case of applying TBLT in teaching BE, more attention should be paid to such following points:
- Task simulation must be the fabric of a business course as should fit in the learner‟s real situation as closely as possible
- Practice tasks may comprise of long or short ones, from asking learners to describe a company‟s product to setting up a telephone role-play or a simulated meeting or getting them to prepare a short presentation defending a certain point of view
- Within classroom environment, tasks must be deeply defined so that the learners know exactly what the setting is, who they are supposed to be, what sorts of things they are supposed to communicate in certain business contexts, and what is expected in performance
- It is essential to set up the tasks thoroughly in order to get maximum value from it as much time can be wasted if learners do not know what they are supposed to be doing
Tasks chosen depend on the needs of the learners in relation to their jobs If the learners are experienced ones, more supporting materials will be referred to the tasks as well as relied on only minimal input from the learners
1.2.4 The framework for task-based instruction (TBI)
Willis (1996:38) presents TBLT in three sections: pre-task, task cycle, and language focus
Advantages of TBLT
Task-based Language Teaching is an application of second language teaching informed by the most recent research findings on second Language acquisition (SLA) As such, it plays an important role in current language pedagogy (Solares,
2006) Amongst advocates of TBLT are Ritchie (2003), Skehan (1996b), Bowen
(2000), or Nunan (2005) TBLT has the advantage of getting the student to use their skills at their current level To help develop language through its use It has the advantage of getting the focus of the student toward achieving a goal where language becomes a tool, making the use of language a necessity Ritchie (2003), consider TBLT a better approach over traditional ones because learners are exposed to richer language, namely the comprehensible input
Skehan (1996b) indicated that the strength of TBLT is that it provides learners the opportunity to make use of lexical resources they have either from previous knowledge or the pre-task input Then through interactions or negotiations of meanings, students can eventually develop greater fluency (p.22)
Bowen (2000) and Frost (2004) highlight the advantages of TBLT over the more traditional Present, Practice, Produce (PPP) approach as it allows students to be free of language control, not the pre-selected items and focus on form in general, not any the single ones In addition, Nunan (2005) added that “TBL does provice a flexible, functionally compatible and contextual sensitive approach for many teachers, as well as the learners” He also emphasizes that the attractiveness of TBL relates not only to the enumerated benefits as “it provides rather a useful practice that can be applied across many approaches, as well as boundaries TBL may provide an enduring legacy that meets the test of the time It may also provide a curricular and syllabus framework of flexibility that logically students and teachers will be drawn to even if it need not to be the central features for certain places”.
Misunderstanding about TBLT
Ellis (2009) figured out the misunderstandings about TBLT The most common misconceptions are listed as follows:
1 Tasks are not clearly distinguish from other terms like exercises or activities as Widdowson (2003) claims that the tasks‟ defining criteria are loosely formulated
2 The sole aim of TBLT is to develop communicative fluency and there is no room for focusing on form
3 TBLT only focuses on oral skills, especially speaking
5 The teacher‟s role is simply to manage students‟ performance of tasks
6 TBLT requires teachers and students to use English all the time
7 TBLT is only suitable for ESL contexts
8 TBLT provides learners with very little input
Those misconceptions have arisen for a number of reasons but named two in particular: misrepresentations of the theoretical background for TBLT and failures to acknowledge the differences existing amongst advocates of TBLT like Seedhouse (e.g 1999; 2005), Sheen (1994; 2003), Swan (2005a; 2005b), Widdowson (2003), Carless (2005), and Littlewood (2007)
It is obvious that TBLT allows interactions to take place depending on three factors: the proficiency of the students, the design features of tasks, and the method of implementation Therefore, more advanced learners performing more complex tasks will engage in more linguistically rich interactions, especially if they are given the opportunity to engage in pre-task and online planning (Yuan and Ellis, 2003)
Moreover, the rich evidence from task-based literature can firmly show that tasks can result in highly complex language use Different kinds of tasks in different levels bring students chance to employ the TBA flexibly from group works (i.e problem solving, socializing) or individually (input-based tasks, information gap tasks, for example, according to Prabhu) Besides, the role of the teachers do not show only in facilitating learners to understand what to do but also in the pre-task and post-task stages as correctors and providers of new language Also, the TBLT do not prohibit learners from using L1 (mother tongue) all the time as sociocultural theory views the L1 as a useful cognitive tool for scaffolding L2 learner production and facilitating private speech (see, for example, Anton and DiCamilla, 1998); and Learners make effective use of the L1 to establish the goals for a task and the procedures to be followed in tackling it.
Theoretical justification for TBLT
TBLT has evolved in a respond to a better understanding of the way languages are learned, claimed Foster (1999), that is, language is acquired through communication (Howard, 1984) This comment is based on the research findings in SLA (second language acquisition) that learners do not acquire target language in the order it is presented to them no matter how carefully teachers and textbooks organize it (Foster, 1999; Skehan, 1996) The rationale for the employment of communicative tasks is based on contemporary theories of language learning and acquisition, which claim that language use is the driving force for language development (Long, 1989; Prabhu, 1987) For example, advocates of such theories (see Pica, Kanagy, and Falodun, 1983) suggest that, as Norris et al (1998) put it, the best way to learn and teach a language is through social interactions […they] allow students to work toward a clear goal, share information and opinions, negotiate meaning, get the interlocutor’s help in comprehending input, and receive feedback on their language production In the process, learners not only use their interlanguage, but also modify it, which in turn promotes acquisition (p31)
According to Kasper (2001:520), for foreign language (FL)/ second language (L2) learners, the classroom may be the only available environment where they can try out what using the foreign language feels like, and how more or less comfortable they are with different aspects of FL pragmatics That is why using tasks conforms to the most prominent hypotheses interpreting FL acquisition
The use of tasks as vehicles for facilitating L2/ FL development is supported by Swain‟s output hypothesis (1985) Swain argues that it is through the process of producing language (output) that learners may be able to test their theories about the target language, gain control over form, and perhaps internalize linguistic knowledge Therefore, output produced in tasks is not the result of the language learning process, but rather a step in the process (Adams, 2003:248)
Another prominent reason for using tasks in the L2 classroom evolved from Long‟s interaction hypothesis (1996) According to his hypothesis, learners, throughout interaction, often negotiate meaning to achieve mutual comprehension
The effort to achieve mutual comprehension involves the use of a variety of strategies, such as asking an interlocutor to confirm message content, or requesting that an interlocutor explain something further This sort of interaction was assumed to foster L2/FL development Similarly, from a communicative competence perspective, tasks were assumed to help learners engage properly with discourse by dong it (McCarthy & Carter, 2001b:59; Dinapoli, 2000:1 and Ellis, 2003:58) In consideration of the learner-centered approach, Candlin (1987) points out that TBL is a means to enhancing classroom communication and acquisition Sheen (1994) regards Task-based approaches as the mechanism to induce language acquisition.
RESEARCH METHOD
Participants
The participants of the study were 40 second-year students aged from 18 to 20 years old and from both urban and rural areas Their English proficiency was measured with the score range of Business Basic 4 from 5.5 – 9.3 (band 10) and is equivalent to 350 – 450 TOEIC or 3.5 – 4.0 IELTS As having studied basic economics before Business English 1, these students have certain basic economics background as well as language skills It is therefore advantageous for them to participate in topics and productive activities in Business English
As being adult learners, the students are notable for a number of special features (Harmer, 2001:40) such as (1) engagement with abstract thoughts, (2) whole range of life experience to draw on, (3) expectation about the learning process and (may have) their own sets patterns of learning, (4) better disciplinary
(5) rich range of experiences, which allows teachers to use a wide range of activities with them, and (6) having clear understanding of why they are learning and what they want to get out of it
The classes were classified upon the results of the previous semester and the new credit registration This means the participants have been familiar with the course book The Business pre-intermediate which has similar layout like the current one of a higher level, The Business Intermediate
The researcher conducted the study herself at the English Faculty, Vietnam University of Commerce.
Research Design
Aiming at using task-based approach (TBA) in teaching speaking skills for the second-year major students at Vietnam University of Commerce, the author suggested implementing a quasi-experimental research in this study due to the fact that students were classified upon passing the final examination results of the first year and their registration for credits required
So, what is a quasi-experimental design? Quasi-experimental design is a form of experimental research used extensively in the social sciences and psychology A quasi-experiment is an empirical study used to estimate the causal impact of an intervention on its target population These designs share many similarities with the traditional experimental design or randomized controlled trial, but they specifically lack the element of random assignment to treatment or control Instead, quasi- experimental designs typically allow the researcher to control the assignment to the treatment condition, but using some criterion other than random assignment (e.g., an eligibility cutoff mark) (Dinardo, J., 2008)
According to Cohen et al (2007:275), a quasi-experimental design includes:
(1) the one group pretest – post-test; (2) the non-equivalent control group design; and (3) the time series design The authors also state that quasi-experiments may covers pre-experiments in which one group pretest-posttest design is employed
This sort of experiments helps researchers to evaluate the significant of a new teaching method or the attitude of the participants towards a change or renovation in syllabus design
In this paper, the author used only one treatment group with two tests applying before and after the intervention The experiment mentioned above can be visualized as follow:
(Cohen et al., p.282) in that:
- O 1: pre-treatment test (pre-test)
- O 2: post-treatment test (post-test) The one group pre/post-test design was used in order to compare the results of the both two tests that come before and after the treatment On the basis of this, the researcher can evaluate the influence of the task-based instruction on the process of learning English speaking skills
According to McMillan and Schumacher (2001), data used in researches should be collected through various instruments to maximize their validity
Data for the study were collected through the administration of two oral pre/post-tests and a semi-structured interview a Oral Pre/Post-tests
Baker (1989:3) shows that a test is a way of arriving at a meaningful decision
Thus two major tests were constructed by the researcher to meet the aims of the current study which discovered the participants‟ achievement after the intervention
Two oral tests administered prior to and after undertaking the study were based on the textbook The Business Intermediate by John Allison with Paul Emmerson (2007) Criteria for speaking tests assessment were adapted from Donna
(2000, p.300) including five subscales as appropriacy of language, accuracy, fluency/ style, dealing with questions and cultural factors The marking scales range from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) due to the proficiency of participants when performing the tests (see Appendix for detailed information)
In the pre-test, 40 participating students were asked to work in pair roleplaying a selected topic of using negotiation skills on shift-switching This task called for the learnt knowledge and speaking techniques and skills of the previous semester
Each pair had a time allowance of five to seven minutes to perform loosely with their partner
The post-test was conducted right after the treatment Participants again working in the same pairs experiencing the same oral assessment addressed through roleplaying a conversation between a customer and a helpline operator to deal with the customer‟s problem The test was designed to assess students‟ speaking ability regarding the use of linguistic function as well as language forms in giving instructions, describing situation, correcting wrong information, telephoning skills, etc
The results of both tests were the key sources of data for the researcher to evaluate the impact of the TB approach on students‟ speaking ability b Questionnaire
According to Brown (2001, cited in Markey & Gass, 2005), “Questionnaires are any written instruments that present respondents with a series of questions or statements to which they are to react, either by writing out their answers or selecting from among existing answers.”
Markey & Gass (2005) see using questionnaires in language researches a perfect instrument that allows researchers to investigate and gather information on participants‟ beliefs and motivations in such a short time with comparable information elicited from a number of correspondents For the outstanding advantage of questionnaires mentioned above, the author decided to use questionnaire in this paper to investigate students‟ attitudes and motivations towards the new learning method, the task-based approach
The questionnaire was administered to 40 students right after the treatment in order to investigate their attitudes and thoughts about the “new” teaching method
All of the questions are written in Vietnamese to make sure that the participants could fully understand The questionnaire comprised of two parts The first part was to know students‟ perceptions of the importance of speaking skill and their encountered difficulties in learning English speaking The second part seeks for :
- students‟ motivation and attitudes towards English speaking skills
- students‟ evaluation of and expectations towards the task-based project.
Data Collection Procedures
In order to investigate the effectiveness of introducing the task-based approach in teaching speaking skill, a quasi-experiment was applied with one-group pre-test/ post-test design to test the influence of the intervention on the new teaching method
The intervention was implemented at Vietnam University of Commerce, in the first term of the 2013-2014 academic year for 5 weeks (from 12 th August to 10 th September) Before the intervention, detailed task-based lesson plans were completed based on the first two units extracted from the course book The Business
– Intermediate , by John Allison and Paul Emmerson (2007, McMillan Publishers)
In the next step, an oral pre-test was held to examine the participants of business English speaking skills and knowledge obtained from the previous semester The scores were made following the detailed marking scales adopted from Donna (2000 See Appendix)
The intervention was carried out in five contacts (each contacts lasts 50 minutes) following tightly the detailed schedule and lesson plans Students were getting involved in the speaking activities together to solve the tasks
At the end of the intervention, another oral speaking test with the same structure to the pre-test (oral post-test) was executed to collect data to compare with the prior ones Then, a semi-structured questionnaire was administered The analysis of the post-test results was used to verify the first research question The questionnaire was to investigate the students‟ perceptions, motivation and expectations towards the task-based project.
Data Analysis Methods
Data analysis is a process of inspecting, cleaning, transforming and modeling data with the goal of highlighting useful information, suggesting conclusions and supporting decision making
The data was attained from the teaching and learning process One of the aims of giving an evaluation was to know how far the students mastered English speaking skill in business context applying TBA The analysis of each activity started from pre-test to post test and the analysis of the semi-structured questionnaire
In terms of data obtained in the questionnaires, pretest and posttest scores were condensed, quantified, analyzed and compared in the form of descriptive statistics Then they were illustrated and systematized in charts and tables for clear description of the findings
Lastly, all the data collected from the three instruments were grouped under three main areas: students’ perceptions of teaching methods, students’ speaking learning motivation, and students’ evaluations expectations towards the project.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Students’ improvement in learning speaking
The research question “How do second-year English major students at
Vietnam University of Commerce benefit from the implementation of the task-based approach?” was raised as it would be worth investigating students‟ achievement after the treatment of the TB project The data could be demonstrated through the pre-test and post-test results
In order to examine the effectiveness of the task-based project on teaching speaking to second-year students at VUC, the author employed the paired-sample T-test and the SPSS as statistical analysis tools
A paired sample t-test is used to determine whether there is a significant difference between the average values of the same measurement made under two different conditions Both measurements are made on each unit in a sample, and the test is based on the paired differences between these two values
For a two-tailed test, there is a null hypothesis H 0 : àd = 0 and an alternate hypothesis H 1 : àd ≠ 0 (where d is the mean value of the difference)
In this paper, the null hypothesis H 0 to be taken into consideration should be as follow:
- H 0 : There is no difference between the mean of students’ speaking scores applying the TBA and non-TBA application
- H 1 : There is a difference between the mean of students’ speaking scores applying the TBA and non-TBA application
And with the significance α = 0.05 The results of the pre-test and posttest can be illustrated as follows:
Students Pre-test Post-test Difference
Table 1: Scores of the pre-test and post-test
Mean N Std Deviation Std Error Mean
Table 2: Means and Standard Deviations of the scores of the pretest and post test
The Table 2 reveals the means (M), number of cases (N), standard deviations (SD) and standard error of the means and the difference of the means of the two tests The mean of the pretest was found 7.287 which was quite lower than that of the post test at 8.340 The standard deviations were 0.8892 and 0.5926 respectively
Paired Differences t df Sig (2-tailed) Mean
95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower Upper Pair
The table shows clearly the results of comparing the mean scores of the pre- test and post-test The t-value for the two variables was -3.971 and the significance value (p-value) was 0.000 Meanwhile, the criterion for statistical significant at α is 0.05 t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means
Hypothesized Mean Difference 0 df 39 t Stat
P(T