Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS designing oral communicative activities for an english club at xuan huy high school to improve students speaking competence

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES -  *  - NGUYỄN THANH BÌNH DESIGNING ORAL COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES FOR AN ENGLISH CLUB AT XUAN HUY HIGH SCHOOL TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ SPEAKING COMPETENCE Nghiên cứu thiết kế hoạt động ngôn ngữ giao tiếp lời câu lạc tiếng Anh trường THPT Xuân Huy nhằm nâng cao lực nói học sinh M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111 SUPERVISOR: Dr DUONG THU MAI Hanoi, 2014 i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby certify that this thesis is entirely my own work I have provided fully documented references to the others‟ work The material in this thesis has not been submitted for assessment in any other formal course I also accept all the requirements of ULIS relating to the retention and use of M.A Graduation Thesis deposited in the library Research‟s signature Nguyen Thanh Binh ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I wish to send my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Duong Thu Mai, Ph.D for her valuable guidance, helpful suggestions and critical feedback throughout the research Also, I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to all the lecturers in the Department of Postgraduate Studies, College of Foreign languages, VNU for their useful lessons from which have inspired me to conduct this thesis I am greatly indebted to my students- the members in Xuan Huy English Club and my colleagues at Xuan Huy high school for their participation and assistance without which this study could not have been successful Last but not least, I would like to express my special thanks to my loving parents, my husband, my children and my close friends who offered me their love, care, support and encouragement so that I could accomplish my study iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This study is an attempt to investigate the designing of oral communicative activities for an English club at Xuan Huy high school to improve students‟ competence The main purposes of the study are to find out the needs for improving speaking competence of students from Xuan Huy High school and the effectiveness of the speaking activities designed according to students‟ needs and applied in Xuan Huy School‟s English Club The study reviews theoretical background relating to Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in teaching speaking, characteristic of Communicative Language Teaching, teaching speaking according to CLT, English speaking club in CLT before presenting the instrumentation, data collection and data analysis of the study To be specific, two sets of questionnaires were administered to discover the students‟ needs about oral communicative activities as well as their perception of the use of these activities in Xuan Huy English Club Moreover, interviews were delivered to seven teachers to investigate their needs about oral communicative activities Lastly, English Club meeting observations were also employed to clarify and test the validity of information about the effectiveness of designed activities Basing on the findings of the studies which revealed teachers and students‟ need about oral communicative activities, the researcher provided some suggested activities for enhancing students‟ speaking competence The finding also discovered students‟ good and bad perception about applied oral communicative activities iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii ABSTRACT iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii LIST OF TABLE AND FIGURES viii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Objective of the study .2 Research questions Scope of the study Methodology Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Communicative Language Teaching 1.1.1 The concept of Communicative Language Teaching 1.1.2 Characteristics of Communicative Language Teaching 1.2 Teaching speaking according to Communicative Language Teaching 1.2.1 Definition of Speaking 1.2.2 The nature of speaking in oral communication 1.2.3 Definition of Speaking Competence 1.2.4 Communicative activities in CLT 1.2.5 Oral communication in CLT approach viii 1.2.6 Types and design of oral communicative activities 1.2.7 Evaluating oral communicative activities 11 1.3 English Speaking Clubs in CLT 11 1.3.1 Definition of Clubs 12 1.3.2 The roles of English speaking club in CLT 12 1.4 Previous studies in the world and in Vietnam about designing communicative oral activities 12 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 13 2.1 The contexts of the study 14 2.1.1 An overview of the English Club of Xuan Huy high school 14 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2.1.2 Students at Xuan Huy high school 14 2.1.3 Teachers at Xuan Huy high school 14 2.1.4 Facilities at Xuan Huy high school 15 2.2 Participants and setting of the study 15 2.2.1 Participants: 15 2.2.2 Setting of the study 15 2.3 Data collection 16 2.3.1 Data collection instruments 16 2.3.2 Data collection procedure 18 2.3.3 Data analysis procedures 19 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 20 3.1 Students‟ need analysis and teachers' interview 20 3.2 Students‟ perceptions about English oral communicative activities 26 3.3 Findings from English observation 30 CHAPTER 4: DESIGNING ORAL COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES 32 4.1 Face to face games (group work) .32 4.2 Face to face game (Pair work) 33 4.3 Circle conversation (group work) 34 4.4 Language Camp (group work) 34 4.5 Treasure hunting? (Group work) 36 4.6 Question bags (Group work) 36 4.7 Mystery crosswords (Group work) 37 PART C CONCLUSION 38 Major findings .38 Limitations and suggestions for further study 39 REFERENCES 40 APPENDIX vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT Communicative Language Teaching MA Master of Arts MOET Ministry of Education and Training VNU Vietnam National University, Hanoi EFL English Foreign Language vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figures: Figure 1: How oral communicative activities can help students 26 Tables: Table 1: How oral communicative activities can help students 22 Table 2: Patterns of speaking activities teachers often use to teach speaking skills in classroom 23 Table 3: Students‟ preference for the types of oral communicative activities 24 Table 4: factors may encourage students to communicate in oral communicative activities 25 Table 5: What teachers should to create good relationship and to help students in oral communication 25 Table 6: Frequency in organizing oral communicative activities 27 Table 7: The content of oral communicative activities 27 Table 8: the most suitable way that teachers or facilitators give feedback with students' wrong answers 28 Table 9: Students‟ assessment about oral communicative activities 29 Table 10: Students‟ assessment about their friends' enjoyment with all oral communicative activities 29 Table 11: The most effective pattern to improve students' speaking competence 30 Table 12: Assessment about oral communicative activities students participated in 30 Table 13: What teachers did to create good relationship and to help students in oral communication 31 Table 14: Assessment about the time spent on applied oral communicative language activities 32 Table 15: Assessment about the content of oral communicative activities 32 Table 16: The effectiveness of oral communicative activities 33 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Speaking is a very important part in studying English and in order to communicate one to each other, make good communication, people need to speak Having good English speaking competence is very essential especially for the students because it becomes the bridge for them to know the world However, the problems that teachers and students of English in Vietnam, especially in mountainous areas cope with are having few opportunities to use English in authentic contexts outside the classroom for learners, the students‟ characteristics are being quiet and shy, the teachers' difficulties in controlling oral communication activities in large classes, or the lack of oral communicative activities in the textbooks As a consequence, learners have many problems, especially in oral communication When they try to express themselves orally, they only pronounce isolated words and disconnected sentences making their production poor and meaningless Moreover, since speaking is required in academic and professional performances, the lack of oral production skills becomes a serious disadvantage There may be two main reasons for this The first reason, which is a basic one for every high school students, is low motivation in studying It is undeniable that passing examinations is one of the most important motivations in studying However, according to the policy from MOET, the semester and final examinations only focus on reading skills through the multiple-choice format The lack of background knowledge is the second basic reason for students having poor speaking competence Against the problems above, in recent years, one of the key tasks of the school year in which the Department of Education and Training has given to all local high schools, including Xuan Huy high school, is organizing English speaking activities in English club so that students have opportunities to enhance their language skills and create “language environment” This actual requirement sets a challenging task for teachers of English in Xuan Huy high school, which is to design communicative activities which can provide students with “real” contexts for negotiating meaning so that they can develop communicative competence This is also the reason why this study in designing oral communicative language activities for an English club at Xuan Huy high school to improve students‟ competence was conducted with the hope of enhancing the ability to speak for students Helping students to have better English speaking competence also means helping them in choosing their field of study and looking for opportunities in the future LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Objective of the study For the above-given reasons, the main purposes of the thesis are as the following: (1) Discussing the needs for improving speaking competence of students from Xuan Huy High school (2) Investigating the effectiveness of designed oral communicative language activities for an English club at Xuan Huy high school to improve students' speaking competence Research questions The study intends to find out the answers to the following questions: What are the students‟ needs about activities to improve their speaking competence? What are the teachers‟ needs about activities to improve their students‟ speaking competence? Which oral communicative language activities should be designed for an English club at Xuan Huy high school to improve students' speaking competence? What is students‟ perception of the designed activities? Scope of the study At present, speaking a foreign language represents one of the essential requirements of today's society Besides other skills and knowledge, it is considered one of the most influencing factors while applying for a job or sustaining in a particular work position under the condition of advancing the language level Speaking is a broad and complex area that takes much time to study by linguists Moreover, the establishment and maintenance of Xuan Huy English club has contributed to the improvement of students‟ speaking ability Therefore, this study mostly focused on designing some oral communicative language activities for English club at Xuan Huy high school to improve students' speaking competence Because of the limited time and within an M.A minor thesis, the researcher intends to make a brief view of the current situation of teaching and learning English speaking skill in Xuan Huy high school, identifies teachers and students‟ preferences and demands about English speaking activities in English Club, then applies some designed oral communicative activities and examines the effectiveness of these activities in improving students‟ speaking competence Methodology In order to accomplish this study, quantitative method was mainly used The data collected for the study comes from two sources: All members in English club and all teachers of English at Xuan Huy high school LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com What you to create good relationship with your students to help them speak when they participate in oral communicative activities? (Talking in friendly ways Remaining in the teacher‟s seat Walking round the class and giving help Standing near students who speak much Doing nothing and letting you talk freely Always being tolerant, enthusiastic and helpful) In your opinion, how long is suitable for an oral communicative activity in your English club? (15 minutes, 30 minutes, hour or over hour) How often you prefer oral communicative activities to be applied in your English club? In your opinion, what content of oral communicative activities should be related to? 10 According to your point of view, what is the most suitable way to give feedback with students‟ wrong answers? Thank you very much for taking time to complete this questionnaire! X LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX ORAL COMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES OBSERVATION CHECKLIST Teachers/ facilitators‟ name: Activity‟s name: Theme: Date/ Week: Aspects observed Students‟ motivation on Comments the oral communicative activities Students‟ attitude towards oral communicative activities Students‟ involvement in the oral communicative activities Students‟ reactions to teacher‟s techniques Students‟ preferences for teacher‟s techniques Students‟ interaction with each other while completing the tasks Summary of Strengths and Areas Needing Improvement: Strengths: Weaknesses: Professional Recommendations: XI LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX POST-QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS This questionnaire is designed for my research into "designing oral communicative language activities for an English club at Xuan Huy high school to improve students‟ competence" The issue will help to investigate your perception on the effectiveness of the oral communicative language activities in improving your speaking competence Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated All the information provided by you is of great use and solely for the study purpose Thank you very much for your cooperation! Please tick () the box which corresponds to your choice PART I PERSONAL INFORMATION Your gender A Male  B Female  A Village  B Town  Your hometown: How long have you been learning English? A 1-3 years  B 3-5 years  C over years  XII LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART II: STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF THE DESIGNED ORAL COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES What you think about the oral communicative activities applied in your English Club? A very interesting  B interesting  C normal  D boring  E too boring  According to your assessment, how all your friends were enjoyable with all oral communicative activities used in English Club? A very enjoyable  B Enjoyable  C Normal  D Bored  E Too bored  In your opinion, which pattern brought the most effective to improve your speaking competence when took part in oral communicative activities? A Individual  B Pair work  C Small group work  D With the whole class  Which oral communicative activities did you participate in? Give your assessment about them Your assessment No Activities Very inefficient Games  Information gap  Discussion  Inefficient Normal Efficient Very efficient XIII LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Role play  Story telling  Interviews  Dialogues  What did your teachers and facilitators to create good relationship and to help you and your friends in oral communicative activities? (You can have more than one choice) A Talking in friendly ways  B Remaining in the teacher‟s seat  C Giving help if you need  D Standing near students who speak much  E Doing nothing and letting you talk freely  F Always being tolerant, enthusiastic and helpful  Give your assessment about the time spent on applied oral communicative language activities: A Very unsuitable  B Unsuitable  B Normal  D Suitable  E Very suitable  Give your assessment about the content of oral communicative activities (you can have more than one choice) A Suitable with my age  B Suitable with my preferences  C Suitable with the topics in our lessons  D Easy to talk because they related to close life around us  E Very difficult because they required broad knowledge  XIV LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Some people talked that students‟ speaking competence are remarkably improved thank to taking part oral communicative activities in English club What is your assessment? A Strongly disagree B Disagree C Partly agree D Agree E Strongly agree      XV LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA NGHIÊN CỨU (Sau tiến hành nghiên cứu thiết kế hoạt động) Câu hỏi thiết kế cho nghiên cứu vào " thiết kế hoạt động ngôn ngữ giao tiếp miệng cho câu lạc tiếng Anh trường trung học Xuân Huy nâng cao lực sinh viên" Kết giúp điều tra nhận thức em hiệu hoạt động ngôn ngữ giao tiếp miệng việc cải thiện khả nói em Sự hỗ trợ em việc hoàn thành điều tra đánh giá cao Tất thông tin em cung cấp hữu dụng dành riêng cho mục đích nghiên cứu Cảm ơn hợp tác em! Đánh dấu () vào ô phù hợp với bạn PHẦN I: THƠNG TIN CÁ NHÂN Giới tính: A Nam  B Nữ  Chỗ ở: A Khu vực nông thông  B Khu vực thành phố  Bạn học tiếng anh năm rồi? A 1-5 năm  B 5-7 năm  C năm  PART II: NHẬN THỨC CỦA HỌC SINH VỀ NHỮNG HOẠT ĐỖNG GIAO TIẾP BẰNG LỜI ĐÃ ĐƯỢC ÁP DỤNG Bạn nghĩ hoạt động giao tiếp miệng áp dụng câu lạc tiếng anh? A Rất thú vị  B Thú vị  XVI LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com C Bình thường  D Tẻ nhạt  E Quá tẻ nhạt  Theo đánh giá bạn, bạn bạn có cảm thấy hào hứng với hoạt động giao tiếp miệng áp dụng câu lạc tiếng anh? A Rất thú vị  B Thú vị  C Bình thường  D Chán nản  E Rất chán nản  Theo quan điểm bạn, mơ hình hoạt động mang lại hiệu việc nâng cao khả nói cho học sinh tham gia vào hoạt động giao tiếp lời? A Cá nhân  B Cặp  C Nhóm nhỏ  D Cả lớp  Bạn tham gia vào hoạt động giao tiếp lời nào? đưa nhận xét bạn hoạt động Your assessment No Activities Very inefficient Các trò chơi  Điền thơng tin cịn thiếu  Thảo luận  Đóng kịch  Kể chuyện  Phỏng vấn  Đối thoại  Inefficient Normal Efficient Very efficient XVII LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Giáo viên bạn làm để tạo dựng mối quan hệ tốt đẹp để giúp bạn bạn bạn hoạt động giao tiếp lời (Bạn có nhiều lựa chọn) A Nói chuyện cách thân thiện  B Ln giữ vị trí dành cho giáo viên  C Đi vòng quanh giúp đỡ cần thiết  D Chỉ đứng gần học sinh nói tốt  E Khơng làm cho phép bạn nói cách tự  F Ln ln khoan dung , nhiệt tình sẵn sàng giúp đỡ  Đưa đánh giá bạn việc sử dụng thời gian giành cho hoạt động giao tiếp lời A Rất không phù hợp B Khơng phù hợp B Bình thường D Phù hợp E Rất phù hợp      Hãy đưa đánh giá bạn nội dung hoạt động giao tiếp lời A Phù hợp với lứa tuổi  B Phù hợp với sở thích tơi  C Phù hợp với chủ đề học  D Dễ nói chúng chủ đề gần gũi với  E Rất khó chúng u cầu lượng kiến thức rộng  Một số người nói khả nói học sinh cải thiện đáng kể nhờ vào việc tham gia hoạt động giao tiếp lời câu lạc tiếng Anh Đánh giá bạn ? A Rất khơng đồng ý  B Không C Đồng ý đồng ý phần   D Đồng ý E Rất đồng ý   XVIII LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX (For selling area) Some sentence can be used in “selling area” Can I help you? · What can I for you? · Are you being served? · Sorry, we don't sell …… · Anything else? · Buy two for the price of one · How much / many would you like? · What size you take? · Sorry, we are out of … · Would another colour do? · Would you like to try it on? · The suits you very well · Pay at the cash desk / till, please · I'll take this to the cash desk / till for you · Here you are / Here you go · You're welcome · That's ……VND altogether · You don't happen to have any change, you? · Here's your change XIX LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX - SAMPLE (For Music corner) Listen to the song and fill in the blank with the words you hear Work in groups and discuss the role of music in this song Let The Music Heal Your Soul Oh if someone _(1) _ a song with a simple rhyme Just a song where is feeling show And if someone feels the same about the simple song Oh sometimes you can hear them sing Music gives you _(2) _ or sadness But it also, it also heals your soul [Chorus:] Let the music heal your soul Let the music take control Let the music give you the _(3) _ to move any mountain Oh if someone plays piano with some simple chords So melodic and endearing too And oh if someone plays guitar with the old piano And maybe you can hear them _(4) _ Music gives you happiness or sadness But it also heals your soul [Chorus] Oh yeah Let the music heal you soul Let the music take control Let the music heal you soul Oh, oh yes Let the music heal your soul Let the music take control KEY writes power happiness sing XX LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX 6: SAMPLE (For Music corner) Listen to the song and fill in the blank with the words you hear Work in groups and discuss the content of this song Proud Of You [Ver 1:] Love in your eyes Sitting silent by my side Going on Holding hand Walking through the _ (1) [Chorus:] I can fly I'm proud that I can fly To give the best of mine Till the end of the time Hold me up Hold me tight Lift me up to touch the sky Teaching me to love with heart Helping me open my mind Believe me I can fly I'm proud that I can fly To give the best of mine Proud Of You lyrics on ChiaSeNhac.com The heaven in the sky [Chorus:] I can fly I'm proud that I can fly To give the best of mine Till the end of the time [Bridge:] Can't you believe that you (4) my way No matter how that ease my path I'll never lose my faith Believe me I can fly I'm proud that I can fly To give the best of mine (2) _in the sky [Chorus:] See me fly I'm proud to fly up high Show you the best of mine Till the end of the time [Ver 2:] Stars in the sky Wishing once upon a time Give me love Make me smile Till the end of life Believe me I can fly I'm singing in the sky Show you the best of mine The heaven in the sky Hold me up Hold me tight Lift me up to touch the sky Teaching me to love with _ (3) Helping me open my mind Nothing can stop me _ (5) _my wings so wide KEY: nights light up The heaven Spread heart XXI LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX 6: SAMPLE (For Music corner) Listen to the song and fill in the blank with the words you hear Work in groups and discuss the content of this song Cry On My Shoulder If the hero never comes to you If you need someone you're feeling blue If you're away from love and you're alone If you call your friends and nobody's home You can run away but you can't (1) _ Through a storm and through a lonely night Then I show you there's a _ (2) _ The best things in life They're free Chorus: But if you wanna cry Cry on my shoulder If you need someone who cares for you If you're feeling sad your heart gets (3) _ Yes I show you what real love can If your sky is (4) _oh let me know There's a place in heaven where we'll go If heaven is a million years away Oh just call me and I make your day When the nights are getting cold and blue When the days are getting hard for you I will always stay here by (5) _ I promise you I'll never hide Chorus: But if you wanna cry Cry on my shoulder If you need someone who cares for you If you're feeling sad your heart gets colder Yes I show you what real love can What real love can What love can What real love can What love can What real love can What love can KEY: hide grey destiny your side colder XXII LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX 7: (For Language Camp) PASSPORT Name: LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Teacher/ facilitator’s assessment: Selling area very bad bad normal good very good bad normal good very good bad normal good very good Fluency Accuracy Nature English corner Full name: Age: Sex: Preference: Favorite subject: Class: very bad Fluency Accuracy Nature Music corner very bad Fluency Accuracy Nature LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ... from Xuan Huy High school (2) Investigating the effectiveness of designed oral communicative language activities for an English club at Xuan Huy high school to improve students'' speaking competence. .. their students? ?? speaking competence? Which oral communicative language activities should be designed for an English club at Xuan Huy high school to improve students'' speaking competence? What is students? ??... is an attempt to investigate the designing of oral communicative activities for an English club at Xuan Huy high school to improve students? ?? competence The main purposes of the study are to find