Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS developing learner autonomy in learning speaking skill for the first year english major students at the university of commerce an action research

Rationale for the study

Over the last three decades, learner autonomy in language learning has been a “buzz-word” in the field of second language education In fact, few teachers will disagree with the importance of helping language learners become more self-directed It is so robust that there are numerous books and articles (Holec, 1981; Dickinson 1987; Riley 1988; Little, 1991; Little, 1999; Littlewood, 1999; Tudor, 1996, etc.) and the proliferation of researches on the theme (Kavaliauskiene, 2003; Ali, 2000; Coombe, 2001; Barrett & Daborn, 2001; Malcolm, 2001;

Despite the concerted effort made to implant learner autonomy, it is still at a low level in the university setting in Vietnam The students in University of Commerce are of no exception

Even the students who major in English exhibit low responsibility in their English - learning process The students are lukewarm and lack of determination and self-discipline to learn independently Observations in the classrooms reveal the lack of the cooperative learning The general atmosphere in the class seems to be very formal Students only raise their voices once they are called upon When asked to work in pairs and groups in speaking lessons, they start to write down their own ideas as a long presentation or some key points and revise their own work individually, and ready to communicate only when they are perfectly sure of their part and their ideas Furthermore, they are generally reluctant to question the teacher or give their opinions

An open discussion in Vietnamese with the students explicates that their low autonomy has resulted from psychological, social and personal grounds Their misleading beliefs, minute confidence, restricted knowledge as well as the previous learning experience are agreed upon as the primary causes of their passive learning style The beliefs and attitudes learners hold have a profound influence on their learning behaviors It is, therefore, essential to assist students in moving towards greater autonomy, especially in learning speaking Teachers should validate the importance of autonomy to the students as an ancient proverb going “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.”

This situation compels the conduction of this research to aid students in their second language learning and life-long learning This is genuinely no easy task since autonomy does not flourish automatically Due to the highly complex nature of language and language learning, augmenting autonomy in language learners often proves to be a doubly difficult objective

Although few researches have been done in Vietnam to boost student‟s active engagement in speaking, a large number of studies in other countries have reported favorable results in developing their students‟ autonomy Experimental practice has been exploited to empower teachers by bringing a research perspective into their classrooms, where ordinary classroom activities are modified for their investigative potential Most of them use awareness-raising activities, portfolio, self-assessment, homework and assignment in their studies Inaugurated from these practices, the present paper is an attempt to search the current researches then devise a pertinent project of actions for the students in English Department, University of Commerce (VUC), who have mediocre level of learning autonomy The expectation is to help learners generate a sense of autonomy in language learning, elevate the students‟ speaking skill as well as render effective speaking lessons.

Aims of the study

- identifying the current VUC English – major freshmen‟s autonomy in speaking skill

- working out the appropriate scheme of actions to improve the situation

- finding out the effectiveness of the selected activities in the action plan

- reflecting the results of the study

From the outcomes, some implications will be suggested for handling and applying classroom activities to promote the students‟ autonomy in learning speaking

In particular, it is conducted to ascertain the answer to the following question:

Can raising students' awareness of the importance of learner autonomy and application of selected activities help improve autonomy in learning speaking skill for first year English- major students at the University of Commerce ?

As mentioned above, this is an action research to solve the problem of low level of learner autonomy at English Department, VUC To reach the goal, a project is launched into the classroom environment It is divided into two modules, the former consists of selected awareness-raising activities, learner contract signing, and essential speaking-strategies training activities to raise students‟ awareness of the problem as well as equip them with necessary skills to acquire more confidence in speaking skill The latter pertains to the practice of such skills in doing their home assignments and in-class activities to habituate their speaking practice and active engagement Besides, public appearance is deferred to the final stage, when students have become more experienced Specifically, students practice working in pairs before having public speaking to amplify their self-reliance progressively

After the action, questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations are conducted to get the feedback The data aims at getting the students evaluation on the activities and more remarkably, to examine whether they become more autonomous.

Scope of the study

Learner autonomy is undoubted to be the vast issue in the second language learning It encompasses different aspects and areas Therefore, this study touches upon only one researchable aspect of autonomy, i.e., developing autonomy in speaking skill In the literature, there is a range of actions to ensure students self-directed learning; however, several pertinent activities are adopted in consideration of the context of University of Commerce and the small scale of this research for the sake of limited time and students‟ low level Furthermore, the subjects of this study are the first year students who major in English as these freshmen often exhibit the least autonomy in learning and implore a good start for their students‟ life.

Structure of the study

This paper is organized into three main parts as follows:

This part presents the rationale, the aim, scope, method and design of the study

This part is divided into different chapters Chapter 1 serves as the theoretical background for the study, presenting the concepts and relevant theories Chapter 2 gives an overview of teaching and learning situation at English Department, VUC Chapter 3 deals with the actual procedures of the study: methodology, subjects and data collection procedures Chapter 4 presents the finding and analysis of the data collected

This last part of the study recaps the main content of the study and deals with some suggestions for improving student‟s autonomy in studying speaking skill In addition, it also poses several directions for future research.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Learner autonomy

Nowadays, the language teaching has become more and more communication-oriented, pushing the traditional classroom teaching to a situation of big challenge The learner- centered ones are replacing the traditional classrooms where teachers play the role of knowledge transmission This learner-centered approach in EFL has brought out the notion of leaner autonomy in learning EFL

Among the scholars in this field, Holec, one of the earliest advocates of autonomy in language teaching Holec began by defining learner autonomy as the “ability to take charge of one‟s own learning” (1981, p 3) He endorses that this ability “is not inborn but must be acquired either by “natural” means or by formal learning, i.e in a systematic, deliberate way”, and stresses the idea of man as “producer of his society” but not “product of his society” (Holec

1981, p.1) His definition remains the basis for many researchers Nevertheless, there is no consensus as to what the term “autonomy” really is For Little (1999), autonomy is “a capacity for a certain range of highly explicit behavior that embraces both the process and the content of learning” (p 11) Littlewood (1999, p 73) regards autonomy in educational terms as “involving students‟ capacity to use their learning independently of teachers.” Scharle and Szabo (2000, p 4) holds that autonomy means “the freedom and ability to manage one‟s own affairs, which entails the right to make decisions as well.”

Although definitions of learner autonomy have varied, they all agree that students should take responsibility for their own learning Taking responsibility involves learners in taking ownership (partial or total) of processes which have traditionally belonged to the teacher, such as deciding on learning objectives, selecting learning methods and assessing progress

Since it is acknowledged that none of us can escape entirely from the cultural assumptions and practices that have shaped us, the concept of learner autonomy has shifted from individual to situational view As Riley (1988, p 17) and Tudor (1996, pp 141-142) suggest, the ideas and practice of autonomy and learner-centeredness are ethnocentric Little (1999) remarks that “we must always pay careful attention to the cultural setting in which learning takes place” as “all learning is socially situated and culturally constrained” (pp 15-16) In other words, the concept of autonomy certainly incorporates aspects of learners' national or regional cultures Thus, we should match aspects of autonomy with the characteristics and needs of our learners in relation to our specific contexts

Although autonomy has been interpreted differently, it is essential to point out what autonomy is not Little (1991, p.3) indicates five misconceptions about autonomy: 1) autonomy is synonymous with self-instruction, 2) autonomous learners make the teacher redundant, 3) autonomy is a new methodology, 4) autonomy is a single easily described behavior, and 5) autonomy is a steady state achieved by certain learners What needs to be highlighted is that autonomy is a universal human capacity that cannot be nurtured overnight Teachers should create an autonomous leaning environment in relation to a specific context to cultivate a kind of learner who can continue their life-long learning independently

Developing learner autonomy has sound theoretical, practical and experiential grounds It is rooted on the theory of constructivism and learner-centered, which are reckoned as the current profitable trends in second language learning and a great number of proven researches in the field

Constructivists assert that different men construe the universe in different way and their perception of the world can only achieved by means of successive own discoveries and investigations (Kelly, 1963) Consequently, to learn a second language successfully, students must “take proactive roles to build up and construct the knowledge” (Candy, 1991, p.270) rather than being taught by others

In addition, autonomy is closely related with and deemed to be borne out of learner-centered approach The learner-centered theory posits that learners must be the focus and the initiators as well as the responsible actor assuring the success of learning a language but not the teachers It embraces improving the student‟s awareness of himself or herself as a learner, the process of language learning and use, the nature of the target language and language use strategies (Dickinson, 1987; Holec, 1981; Wenden & Rubin, 1987) Hence, this novel approach underpins the individualization of instruction, the focus on the process of learning, not on the product itself

In reality, there is an overriding need to take more responsibilities in studying a foreign language The current syllabus and program evince the reduction in classroom time and the current Vietnamese context cannot offer many opportunities to use a language outside class It is misleading to assume that reducing the number of class meetings means reducing students‟ workload Instead, the shift to credit program in university curricula necessitates more students‟ control and responsibility over their own learning They must continue learning on their own after leaving the language course This self-study evidently helps enrich the input and skills (Deci, 1995)

The situation current reinforces the need to cultivate and foster learner autonomy Evidently, there are a great number of researches in the field which have proved the values of learner autonomy development, showing the intertwined relationship between autonomy and motivation When learners are proactively committed to their learning, the problem of motivation is testified to be solved In Deci‟s words, “autonomy is nourished by, but in turn nourishes our intrinsic motivation, our proactive interest in the world around us” (1995, p 2)

This relationship works in both directions with different phases in a learner‟s learning progress Although we cannot assume that the relationship between autonomy and motivation is always one in which autonomy leads to motivation, we can conclude undoubtedly that developing autonomy helps students get better results (Deci, 1995)

Learner autonomy can be regarded as an offspring of learner-centered approach, which is an innovative and effective one in the literature of second language learning The benefits of cultivating autonomy in learners have been disclosed by a variety of researchers and practitioners Learner autonomy can lead to increase in motivation and cooperation as well as responsibilities in their studying process, which means more effective learning Furthermore, the concept of autonomy is not restricted in school aspect Once students acquire autonomy in learning in the school curriculum, they slip easily into autonomy for other activities outside class In other words, autonomous learners evolve life-long learning and hereby they are capable of authoring the world in which they live

As regards characteristics of learner autonomy, scholars all centre on the hypothesis that learner autonomy entails reflective involvement in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating learning However, different scholars may contribute additional attributes of learner autonomy to these core features

Scharle and Szabo (2000) proclaim that an autonomous student must have built four blocks, i.e., 1) motivation and self-confidence, 2) monitoring and evaluation, 3) learning strategies, and 4) cooperation and group cohesion While motivation and self-confidence refer to the intrinsic motivation and willingness to take responsibility in learning, cooperation and group cohesion indicates that learners should liaise with each other in the learning process The second and third factors cover the same notion as the core features Monitoring skills emphasize the need to focus on the process of learning rather than the product This step is followed by self-evaluation, which means learners judge their own works as objectively as they can, acknowledging their level of proficiency, their strong and weak points

Speaking skill

Speaking skill has been placed more weight in comparison with other skills as it is the first step to identify language ability Knowing a language means being able to speak the language (Pattison, 1987) It is the vehicle to establish and maintain social relationships as well as achieve professional advancement In particular, speaking has two principal functions: transactional function and interactional function While the former is primarily concerned with the transfer of information, the latter involves the maintenance of social relationships

Moreover, only by speaking a language can we ever hope to learn it In order to acquire the skills, communicative activities must be applied in class to aid students to obtain not only accuracy but also fluency in their speech

Pertaining to characteristics of an effective speaking lesson, Penny Ur (1996) has a comprehensive look at the issue In her viewpoint, there are four characteristics to determine whether the speaking lesson is fruitful or not as follows:

 Learners keep talking in most of the time allowed for the activity in which the learners are the centre of the activity and the interference by the teacher is little

 Participation is evenly distributed among learners

 All group members are motivated in the activities thanks to an interesting topic or their desire to achieve the task objective

 Language use is appropriate, easy to understand and quite accurate

The focal point in assessing a speaking lesson is students‟ active participation It cannot be a speaking lesson if the students do not speak the target language, let alone managing effective lesson Deci (1995) is correct in claiming that autonomy must include language use Using language or speaking the language is the prerequisite to attain the objective Students‟ involvement is significant but must be equal amongst the participants While working in pairs or groups, one student dominating the situation and speaking most of the time may give rise to the breakdown of the communication and it cannot be an efficacious lesson Hence, all of the students should be motivated to contribute to the activities

Furthermore, Ur (1996) does have a good balance between accuracy and fluency This set of characters reveals that fluency and meaning should be a focal point of the speaking lesson; however, accuracy should not be disregarded Accuracy is the means to ensure the act of getting the message right Without appropriate correction and adequate attention to accuracy, students may run the risk of fossilizing the mistakes, which hinders the process of reaching an advanced level in the target skill

Grounded in the literature, the hereinafter characteristics of an efficient speaking lesson are drawn out, serving as the criteria for the assessments of my experimental speaking lessons

The principle issues relating learner autonomy and speaking skill have so far been touched upon It is vital to investigate how autonomy is revealed and manifested in speaking skill To put it another way, this part deals with the characteristics of learner autonomy in speaking and the practice to foster their autonomy in this skill

Thornbury (2006, pp 87-92) puts forward five characteristics of an autonomous speaker:

 Speed: working fast, spontaneously and coping with unpredictability

 Economy: ignoring inessentials and knowing how to carry out tasks with minimal means

 Accuracy: being quick at detecting and rejecting errors

 Anticipation: thinking and planning ahead

 Reliability: being versatile, i.e performing a range of different speaking tasks range of different topic, and being reliable even adverse conditions

This autonomy is partly due to the increased automaticity of his language production, what he experienced as “feeling fluent” As we have seen, the ability to automatize the more mechanical elements of a task so as to free attention for higher-level activities The autonomy in speaking increases in proportion to the automaticity of his language production This is the ability to automatize the more mechanical elements to situational and functional elements of a task Besides, learners need to be able to “marshal their newly acquired skills and deploy them unassisted and under what are called real operating conditions” (Thornbury, 2006, p 89)

Along similar line, Rubin and Thompson (1994, p 75) gives several techniques which autonomous students often use in speaking skill:

 Rehearsal: rehearsing the situation in their heads to make sure they can do it or rehearsing with another students

 Automatic use: imagining what they would say in the foreign language in different situations (when they are in a store or restaurant, etc.)

 Paraphrasing: trying to say something in another way

 Topic changing: switching to the topic they know to maintain interaction in the target language

In socio-cultural perspective, autonomy is defined as the capacity to self-regulate performance as a result of gaining control over skills that were formerly other-regulated In classroom one, this is learners need to be given opportunities to talk freely about subjects of their own choice

Like autonomy development in other skills, autonomy development in speaking includes three previously mentioned phases Specifically, it commences with awareness-raising activities in which learners learn features of spoken language This is followed by appropriate activities to aid them to gain control of these features, before reaping full autonomy as independent speakers in a range of different spoken genres

These activities can be selected from the repertoire of learner autonomy raising techniques mentioned in the preceding sections with preference for activities requiring more speaking practices For instance, it is beneficial to utilize homework assignments, tape diaries (learners keep a taped diary by recording themselves regularly at home on audiotape and submitting this to the teacher for feedback), audio and video conferencing (these are virtual meetings, in which two or more people communicate via a live audio or video link over the Internet.), human-computer interaction (Students use computer program called “chatterbot” to practice speaking with the computer instead of a person) and oral portfolios (learners reflect on their out-of-class speaking experiences in oral form.)

To sum up, learner autonomy improving process encompasses three phrases (raising awareness, changing roles and transferring roles) In any event, it requires students‟ investment in internalizing the target language, and it correlates with students‟ achievement in learning the language skill Besides, teachers‟ roles are crucial in this process as awareness raisers, facilitators, counselors, motivators and resources Rooted in this literature, it is pertinent to carry out the action research as a project which encompasses two different modules The first one deals with raising student‟s awareness of autonomy and nature of second language acquisition This is succeeded by assignment to form the habit of learning autonomously for the students.

AN OVERVIEW OF TEACHING AND LEARNING SITUATION

English department at VUC

With the increasing demand of English-competent workforce, English Department was established at VUC in 2007 The objective of this institution is to provide students with a command of English to use it fruitfully in their future workplace, particularly in enterprises

The English major students aged 18-20 come from various regions in Vietnam They must take examinations in English, literature and math to get entrance to VUC The model of English examination is multiple-choice questions (MCQ) with the focus on grammar and reading proficiency Each year, over 200 students enroll in the department

There are thirty- five teachers aged 25-57 at the English Department of VUC Young teachers take large percentage (80%) and the number is always on the rise The majority of young teachers possess a bachelor degree in English language teaching and the rest are taking an MA or MBA courses A small percentage of the senior teachers (aged 40-57) were trained in in- service program In general, the teaching staff is always eager for knowledge, energetic and willing to apply better ways to fortify their teaching quality.

The teaching syllabus for speaking skill

The English major students enjoy a whole language approach and integrated activities The program consists of 141 credits for all the Business English subjects in the six semesters (macro skills, micro skills and others related to business) Of the total 141 credits, 72 are allotted to the development of 4 language skills and 36 credits for other English courses (phonetics, semantics, literature, business, translation, etc.) The rest are rationed to the general subjects applied for all of the VUC students (taught in Vietnamese)

The textbook used for developing students‟ four skills is “The business” series (Pre- intermediate, Intermediate, and Upper-intermediate) by Karen Richardson, Marie Kavangh, John Sydes and Paul Emmerson They adhere to communicative approach Each unit comprises six sections: Reading and listening, speaking, writing and a case study The four skills are taught integratedly throughout the syllabus

With reference to assessment, 10% of the total mark goes for participation and attendance, 30% for mid-term tests and presentation, and 60% for final test The target for the first-year English students is the Pre-intermediate level, which is “the ability to use English to communicate effectively in social situations … and a command of fundamental business terminology” (quoted from VUC‟s speaking syllabus for 1 st year English majors -2007)

In the first year, the students study four subjects English I.1, I.2, I.3 and I.4, each of which is allotted three credits (45.15.15) It means students will have 42 periods for class meetings, 15 for group presentations, and 15 for self-study (50 minutes a period) The syllabus for the first year students is theme-based as briefed below:

1 Living abroad Making small talk

2 Dealing with customers Telephoning-handling complaints

3 Operations Presentations – signposts and stepping stones

6 The organization Interrupting in meetings

7 The stock markets Negotiators – making offers, agreeing deadlines

8 Going global Presentations – handling questions

Every four units will be taught at one semester, and each semester comprises two stages Each stage is taught with two units and three credits Each stage‟s duration is in 6 weeks (12 periods a week) Therefore, this action research is launched when students is on stage two of the syllabus, learning unit 3 and 4 As revealed above, there are limited speaking techniques taught In reality, this problem is exaggerated when the students‟ level of speaking is mostly elementary; more extra materials need to be designed by teachers to ease students‟ hardships in the learning process.

The opportunities and constraints of the context

2.3.1 The opportunities of the context

The context offers several opportunities for the teaching and learning at the English Department, VUC Firstly, students come from different areas around Vietnam; they bring with them a diversification of background knowledge as well as identities and characters

Secondly, most of the teachers in the department are young and active; they are enthusiastic and ready to change for the better However, diverse limitations exist leading to the unfavorable learning and teaching results

2.3.2 The constraints of the context

Constraints come from all people of concern in the program Firstly, although almost students are both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated, their investment appears not to suffice for the subject Their fast satisfaction of their success in winning a position at a university and the deeply-rooted dependent attitudes deprive them of time and efforts for English learning

To put it another way, good result cannot be expected with low commitment to the target language study Secondly, since the students used to strive for the discrete-oriented entrance examination with reading and grammar competency only, their communicative competence are mainly at low level Although they can do MCQ grammar tests well, most of them are incapable of writing correct and comprehensible sentences, i.e the ability to negotiate meaning is not satisfactory To make it worse, the opportunities for them to negotiate with the native speakers are meager Besides, the cultural aspect counteracts the application of new teaching approaches In primary and secondary school, they used to be taught in teacher- centered and teacher-led approach They did not raise their voice if they were not called upon by the teachers Teachers were the authorities and whatever teachers said was thought to be correct Interruptions or arguments are considered insolent In brief, they are not pro-active enough to negotiate participatory interaction

In summary, young and enthusiastic cohort of teachers and students‟ background diversification have brought advantages for the teaching and learning context However, unfavorable language environment and non-autonomous learning methods have triggered difficulties for the teachers in improving the students‟ English proficiency.

METHODOLOGY

Research question

In order to meet the objective of the study, the following research question is generated:

Can raising students' awareness of the importance of learner autonomy and application of selected activities help improve autonomy in learning speaking skill for first year English- major students at the University of Commerce ?

Subjects of the study

The subjects are 28 students aged 18-20, with 26 female and two males in my own class

Their negative attitudes towards state-of-the-art approaches and the unsatisfactory study results compel several actions to renovate the situation In reality, they appear to have experience undue stress when expected to participate actively and become dependent in the learning process This stress is often caused by their extensive teaching culture at primary and secondary schools where students raising their voices without any permission from teachers are considered to be discourteous Furthermore, they are prone to the environments in which the teacher gives them each direction with corresponding available materials to accomplish each step This may account for the fact that students misunderstand or even lose respect for a teacher who expects them to work collaboratively with other students and study independently rather than takes on the traditional role of teacher as the main source of knowledge Thus, giving empowerment to students must be parallel with changing their attitudes towards this process The newcomers making the transition from secondary school to university need help in organizing themselves as autonomous students These freshmen should be properly primed for directing their own learning process, setting as a good foothold for the next coming school years and in the long run for their life-long study.

Research design

Action research involves the researcher in questioning their own practice to find ways to improve that practice (McNiff, 2002) It furnishes the researcher and participants with the opportunity to scrutinize existing practices, and modify them in the search for refinement of those practices Action research has the potential to bring benefits for all stakeholders involved in the process It not only provides the teacher with a means to better their teaching practice but also trains learners to become more efficient in their learning It can be argued that practitioners already reflect upon their practice, but the difference in using action research is that it is systematic, and any intervention is informed by theory (O‟Brien, 1998)

The study aims at ameliorating the teaching situation and learner autonomy in speaking skill, which requires voluminous practice to take place Thus, action research is deemed a priority to satisfy the study intent

Starting with the problem of low level of students‟ autonomy (by observation of the class and discussion with other colleagues), the researcher has been trying to find the solution to the problem She first investigated the reasons for the problems and delved into researches in the light of learner autonomy The lessons learnt from the literature helped her to make an informed choice She decided to apply the students‟ raising awareness and changing attitude activities suggested by Scharle and Szabo (2000) and a series of activities designed by herself, which are all called the project in this research During the intervention, she herself made six observations of the class from the first lesson onwards (for every two lessons) After the intervention, questionnaires and interviews are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the project as a proof of the change in the students‟ level of autonomy

To reach the stated goal, the action plan in the form of an autonomy-raising project is executed during the course The project comprises two modules (12 weeks, second semester 2009-2010) The former, which consists of selected awareness-raising activities and essential speaking-strategies training activities, is to raise students‟ awareness of the problem as well as equip them with necessary skills to acquire more confidence in speaking skill The latter toughens such awareness and strategies in learners by involving them in the speaking practice

This stage is of great importance since only raising student‟s awareness cannot ensure the raise in the autonomy level Once they are armed with necessary skills and appropriate knowledge, they are asked to choose from various types of autonomy-fostering activities and commit to do the activities regularly The activities require the students to prepare at home and report their results in the next lesson After the action, questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations are conducted to get the feedback To get more valid data, the interview are taken by another teacher from the English Department The data targets at getting the students evaluation on the activities, their speaking competence improvement and more importantly, to investigate whether they become more autonomous in speaking or not

The procedure of the project is as follows:

Content Targeted areas of awareness

1 1 - Introduce the course schedule and assessment scheme

- Discuss autonomy and nature of speaking, nature of group work explicitly (Activity 1+2)

- Have students complete a questionnaire on „What sort of Learner awareness language learner are you?‟ (Activity 3)

- Learning process awareness and awareness-raising

2 - Discuss and practice strategies, and solutions in peaking English (Activity 5)

- Introduce the learner autonomy-fostering project

- Have students sign a contract of commitment

- Find common mistakes in using English (Activity 4)

2 3-5 - Home assignment and information sharing

6-9 - Home assignment and report 1 - changing attitudes

- bolster confidence 10-12 - Home assignment and report 2 - changing attitudes

13 - Implement Evaluation questionnaires and interviews

3.3.1 Description of data collection instruments

It is undoubted that questionnaires are beneficial for obtaining quantitative information and thanks to their time and energy efficiency for collecting and analyzing Thus, the researcher used questionnaires (see Appendix 4) with the aim of tracking students‟ development in autonomy in learning speaking skill

Unlike other action research which often acquires the results by pre-questionnaires and post- questionnaires, this study used only one questionnaire at the end of the interventions, in which students reflect their attitude changes The reason lies in the fact that the changes can have both positive and negative, consequently the total of calculation, whether equal or not, will not truly reflect the students‟ progress making For example, if five students become more autonomous and other five become less autonomous, the result will be the same In this case, it is misleading to conclude that the project doesn‟t take any effect Actually, it signals that something should be investigated more Thus, by letting the students self-evaluate the level of autonomy, it is possible to see the real impact of the project

The questionnaire comprises four multiple-choice-item parts and a session for free comment

Part 1 is designed to find out the students‟ attitudes and performance towards the project by Their commitment to doing the project shows the level of the students‟ autonomy

Part 2 is used to find out whether the project improves the students‟ speaking proficiency It was created by the researcher based on the criteria of speaking autonomy pointed out by Thornbury (2006) and Rubin and Thompson (1994) in the literature review part (part 2.2.3)

The data can not only show the level of students‟ proficiency but also operate as an indication of their improvement of their autonomy in learning speaking skill

Part 3 is an adaptation of Broady (1996) and Chu, Lee, Sakai, and Takagi (2008) It is used to discover the students‟ changes of attitudes towards learning in general

Part 4 is used to reconfirm the conclusions drawn from part I, II, III It is also used to find out if there are any inconsistencies in answering the questions in the 4 parts

In brief, all of these parts serve to prove whether they became autonomous after all of the intervention Besides, to increase the reliability of the data, this questionnaire was translated into Vietnamese (see Appendix 5)

The interview questions (see Appendix 7) were also conducted to get insight into each issue, identifying more details and reasons for the issues stated in the questionnaires For this reason, semi-structured interviews seem to be an appropriate tool for exploring the issues Five out of the 28 students were randomly chosen for the interviews to get their opinion of the project used To make it reliable, one of the colleague who has got a MA in TESOL and is interested in the research in high hopes of bettering the situation was asked to carry out the interview

The researcher herself made six observations to check the student‟s participation in the speaking lessons and their level of autonomy in speaking This observation sheet (see Appendix 8, an increment to the other data instruments, is an adoption of Nunan‟s observation sheet (1995) with an aim to get more information about the students‟ involvement in the activities It is used for observing the class as a whole, not individual student

Since most students have been used to teacher-centered methods throughout their learning lives, and the idea of being able to cater for themselves and take active roles in classroom management is often a novel one Time must be given for raising awareness of their learning process as well as students‟ empowerment at university The activities used in the first two meetings are as follows:

 Activity 2: Nature of speaking skill

 Activity 3: Comparing preferences in learning (adopted from Scharle & Szabo (2000, pp 16-18))

 Activity 4: Spot the errors (adapted from Scharle & Szabo (2000), pp.53-54)

 Activity 5: Strategies in speaking (For further information on these activities, see Appendix 1)

The first three activities are mainly in form of a raising-awareness discussion in which students discuss factors concerning learner autonomy, nature of speaking skill, and their learning preferences explicitly in both English and Vietnamese The fourth activity aims at getting students to feel more confident once they find out that other people, especially foreigners, even make language mistakes Activity 5 requires students to come up with solutions for their problems in learning speaking skill Afterwards, they are equipped with a repertoire of common functional expressions (see Appendix 9) and have chances to practice the suggested techniques they have just devised

As motivation is of primary importance in the project conduction, students are given one bonus point added to their 30% midterm and presentation total mark for every good completion of the tasks (based on their assignment and performance in front of the class)marks assigned to it takes up 20%) As usual, attendance and participation accounts for 10%, midterm tests and presentations 30%, and final test 60% It is argued that motivation entails commitment to the project Accordingly, keeping track of what is being done is a must

DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

Students‟ performance and attitudes towards the project

Table 1 reveals the commitment that the students exhibited and their attitudes towards the project The items were intentionally disorganized regarding the content to increase the validity of the outcome (checking the consistency of responses to the items of the same issue)

For each item, the first line identifies the number of students who possess the idea (whether disagree or agree), the second line signifies the equivalent percentage with the total of 28 students

No ATTITUDES AND ACTIVITIES Disagreement

Agreement (3+4) 1.1 I find the selected activities interesting 3 (11%) 25 (89%) 1.2 When doing the activities, I spoke English a lot with my friends

1.3 My friends cooperated well to fulfill the task 3 (11%) 25 (89%) 1.4 My partners seemed to be interested in doing the task 3 (11%) 25 (89%) 1.5 I chose the topics which attracted my attention 4 (14%) 24 (86%) 1.6 I used Vietnamese whenever I couldn‟t find the word in English

1.7 I had a purpose in mind when choosing what to read for my assignments

1.8 The topics which I used to select were as easy for me to prepare as possible

1.9 When we finished the task before the other pairs, we didn‟t do anything else

1.10 I kept a record of my assignment for revision 6 (21%) 22 (79%)

Table 2: Students’ attitudes and performance during the project

(Note: 1 Strongly disagree 2 Disagree 3 Agree 4 Strongly agree

Percentages combine the “strongly disagree”+“disagree” for the heading “Disagreement” and “strongly agree” + “agree” responses for the heading “Agreement”)

The project appears to be enjoyable and motivating for most students (89%) (results from questionnaire question 1.1) There are a large number of reasons for their motivation, among which are the flexibility to choose the topics of interest or areas they want to improve; the discovery and integration of new vocabulary or expression into their speech, the apperception of their learning style as well as the pertinent learning process In the 28 questionnaires and the interviews, they claimed:

“I think this project helps me know which field I have learnt, at least having a number of words and expressions for my talk So, it does aid in reflecting my language learning partly, functioning as a kind of plan for my study” (response to the questionnaire)

“I don‟t want to speak under the same title in every week, which is boring Furthermore, if the topic is limited within the textbook, I am afraid I can‟t manage speaking in a variety of situation in the future job I mean, I really like the way the project free us from limited topics in the course book” (response to the questionnaire)

“It‟s curious What I mean is, I‟m interested in noticing how the structures or words are used in the context, and then try to use them orally I‟m happy that many of my passive words and structures become active” (response to the interview, question 1)

These remarks disclose a strong motivation in doing the project and in learning speaking skill They appear to have an alert attitude towards the language or linguistic curiosity, noticing the features of the input and attempting to internalize them In addition, they attribute the gradual emergence of speaking in front of larger audience to their increase of self-confidence These serve as a base for deepening their learner responsibility as well as fueling the learning process

In addition, the statistics in Table 1 evince a genuine commitment to the project

Approximately 80% of the students endeavored to choose a topic which was not merely interesting but also challenging to them (questionnaires items 1.5, 1.7, 1.8, interview question 2) A large proportion of students (79%) have a purpose in mind when choosing a topic In the interview, they stated that they strived to find the topic which was motivating and four out of five interviewees articulated to figure out the topics for different week During the task, they were actively engaged in the activities, considerably employing the target language to communicate with their partner, although six students admitted using Vietnamese when speaking (questionnaire items 1.2, 1.6), which fell into the cases when paraphrasing could not do any help or the terms relating to a technical concept which was hard to be explained in English One of the interviewees stated, “We tried to express everything in English, though, there are cases we can‟t do so Especially, when we talk about fruit or a kind of disease” (interview question 2) Furthermore, 79% of the students declared that they kept a record of the assignment for reviewing, and consequently adjusting their future study, maybe to plan for topic choice next semesters

This fact entails their awareness in self planning and reviewing whether willfull y or unconsciously

As regards cooperation, the students seemed to work well in pairs A large number of the students (25) found their partners cooperative and interested enough to keep the conversation going (questionnaire items 1.3, 1.4) This number is relatively in harmony with the number of students who are interested in the project activities (25 students) (questionnaire item 1.1) To put it another way, the slight difference in wording between items 1.3 and 1.4 did not reveal any change in students‟ responses This consistency does not only boost the validity of the data but also make it possible to conclude that the students do enjoy working with each other along with the assistance of the teacher

Session IV of the questionnaire serves to find out the explicit benefits of the project to the students The results are summarized as follows (see appendix 6 for raw data)

The project helped me: Disagreement Agreement

4.1 improve my English speaking proficiency 7% 93%

4.2 make and complete a plan to improve my English 7% 93%

4.3 learn ways to study by myself 7% 93%

4.4 acquire a number of active words, phrases and expressions on different fields

Table 3: The benefits of the projects to the students

As shown in Table 2, students highly appreciated the effectiveness of the projects in improving their proficiency as well as their learning independence Noticeably, the same percentage of the students (93%) shared the ideas that the projects boosted their speakin g competence and helped them learn how to gain autonomy in learning the target language

All of them agreed on the linguistic enriching benefits of the project

However, there was a relative disparity concerning the continuity of the project in the future as seen in Chart 1 A large proportion of students surveyed reported that they would undertake similar self-directed activities in their future language learning, which may signal a movement toward autonomy Fifty percent of the students enjoyed having the project in the future even if it is not assessed thanks to the fact that they benefited from the experience Fourteen percent of them express strong commitment to the project, signaling a high level of autonomy development

According to the statistics, 36% of the students would not like to take the similar project if it were not assessed by the teacher This is explainable in the context of Vietnam where qualifications and certificates are the first priority in most recruitment procedures Hence, the study result seems to be a source of motivation to the students Several of them clarified the reason for the discontinuity of a similar project is that they wanted to learn in their own way They would like to choose their own activities Apparently, this does not mean they do not move toward more autonomy in learning; on the other hand, these students conveyed much more autonomy than the other groups

Figure 2: Students’ opinions on the continuity of a similar project

The result implies that even the tiny group of unmotivated students who thought that project was a waste of time or preferred teacher dominated instruction can become motivated in a given situation It is the spur of high scores to be earned (or deducted) that stimulates them to take their commitment seriously Arguably, they at least benefited from project work in two principal senses: cooperation and exposure intensity In brief, the majority of the students possessed a favorable attitude toward the project They took it seriously and to some extend it reflected their development of learner autonomy

The result from the observations also reveals that their involvement in the lesson is more and more intense during the 12 weeks of raising awareness activity application, a significant improvement in their lesson-to-lesson involvement The next graph indicates the significant improvement of students‟ involvement as well as motivation As can be shown in the line chart, the level of students‟ involvement has been increasing quite gradually during the interventions

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 lesson 1 lesson 3 lesson 5 lesson 7 lesson 9 lesson 11

Le v e l of i nv ol v e m e nt

Figure 3: Level of students’ involvement during the project

Student‟s speaking proficiency

The observations of the students during the project disclosed their considerable improvement in speaking skill They exhibited more autonomy in this skill, utilizing what they have in their repertoire to maintain the conversation Strikingly, they can now speak more fluently than before The atmosphere in the class is ameliorating steadily by positive noises in comparison with the prior silence To find out whether there is a due progress in their speaking proficiency, section II in the questionnaire functions as a supplementary to the previous conclusion

2.1 I feel that I now can work faster and cope with unpredictability spontaneously

2.2 I try to use what I have already known to speak without hesitations

2.3 When I encounter difficulties in communication, I use paraphrasing

2.4 If the conversation tends to break down, I use functional language to maintain it 4 (14%) 24 (86%)

2.5 I communicate ideas rather than constructing completely grammatically correct sentences 5 (18%) 23 (82%) 2.6 I don‟t care about accuracy at an expense of fluency 22 (78%) 6 (22%)

2.7 I am able to perform a range of speaking tasks on different topics

2.8 I figure out Vietnamese version in mind before creating the English version

Table 4: Students’ self-evaluation of their speaking skill

As shown in the table, a high percentage of the students (93%) can speak fluently, using paraphrasing, functional language as well as what they have known (vocabulary) to express what they mean to say In relation to the concept of accuracy, students claimed to focus on the main ideas, whereas they did not ignore the accuracy, trying to be correct as much as possible Instead of translating from Vietnamese to English, an overwhelming proportion of the students (93%) strived to think and speak in English

These comments are typical of students participating in the research:

“It cannot be concluded that I completely achieved all the goals that I have set, but I found I really improved in speaking, becoming more fluent and natural I can manage the conversation with the help of functional language and my active vocabulary However, I think I must broaden my active words more often” (response to interview question 2)

“In addition to the new words that I acquired from the project, I find it easier to use the words I have known to figure out the meaning and to maintain the conversation”

The progress the students made in speaking skill re-embraces Deci‟s position that the scope of learner autonomy is always constrained by what the learner can do in the target language

(1995) They now can speak English without much hesitation and develop their autonomy as well.

Students‟ attitudes towards learning process

To investigate the students‟ change in their attitude towards learning, 10 items of the questionnaires (session III) were designed focusing on autonomy perception Each item was responded in two halves concerning pre and post project To serve the ad hoc purpose of the study, they are considered equal and have fixed positive movement

Question 1 is taken as an illustration:

1 Language learning involves a lot of self-study 1 2 3 4 + Before the project

(1 Strongly disagree 2 Disagree 3 Agree 4 Strongly agree) For item 1, if the movement is downward to the right, it can be inferred that this student has changed the attitude and becomes more autonomous in his or her learning Each step in the right direction is counted as one point, while the switch from two opposite opinion will receive two points (for example, the change from “disagree” to “agree”, or “strongly disagree” to “agree” will be calculated as two points each) Accordingly, 10 points plus imply considered a considerable change, 1-10 points entail a slight change and 0 denotes no change Besides, any frequently chosen item was spotted and analyzed (The change mentioned here is positive change) no change 0% significant change 82% slight change 18% significant change slight change no change

Figure 4: Students’ changes in their perception of learner autonomy

The result demonstrates that 100% of the students have some changes in their perception,

23 students (82%) undergoing significant shift, 5 (18%) experiencing a subtle change in their opinions Thus, they are possibly ready to take initiative in the future It is noticeable that while appreciating more self-study (28 students agree that the responsibility for learning resides with the learner and they should self study more and more to acquire the target language), they still highly value the teacher dominated instructions for several aspects (the majority of students felt they could only improve with a class (item 3.3), expecting teachers to explain more to them (item 3.4)

The responses to items 3.7, 3.9, 3.10 merit consideration in that they produced a fairly high percentage of agreement (approximately 60 %) They have a strong belief that a language exercise is worth doing if it is evaluated by the teacher This might signify that they have not readily reached the other end of the autonomy continuum They still need some guidance in the process of taking more responsibility in learning Furthermore, the learning culture and context should be examined as they consistently expect to get high score, which seems to be a prerequisite in the world of job in Vietnam context Bearing this in mind, teachers can find ways to motivate students by maximizing the opportunities for them to gain high scores in relation with their competency improvement

It is also noticeable that they enjoy more cooperation from friends, finding “the presence of a partner is of great help” (one interviewee) They claimed to work harmoniously with each other, which is characteristic of autonomous learning Although several students claimed to have some difficulties, especially the time and distance constraints to meet their home partner, they still kept the assignment within schedule by using chat voice o n the Internet, taking use of the time breaks at school and making thorough preparation at home

In general, the result validates the positive changes of students‟ meta-cognitive awareness along with their speaking competence after undertaking the project This finding will help draw a clear picture of the students in the process of achieving autonomy

The findings to the three headings above have proved the readiness of the students to be independent from the teacher and take initiative in their learning in the near future thanks to the project that they have taken This study showed that the student participants in this study have developed meta-cognitive awareness and their speaking proficiency alike The analysis project a rosy picture of the students as autonomous learners with a general improvement in motivation and realization that they themselves have control over their learning Despite a certain disparity among students taking part in the action research (some learners will be more effective at managing their learning process than others), an aspect that comes to the fore is that a high level of commitment to learning clearly favors effectiveness in taking control of one‟s learning process

These facts put forward the answer to the research question (“Can raising students' awareness of the importance of learner autonomy and application of selected activities help improve autonomy in learning speaking skill for first year English-major students at the University of Commerce?”) The autonomy awareness raising activities and other selected ones do help improve autonomy in speaking skill for first year English-major students at the University of Commerce Besides, the project boosts the students‟ speaking proficiency to a much higher level

Conclusions

With a view to cultivate higher degree of autonomy among learners, 12-week interventions have been conducted Students were asked to sign a learner contract and had chances to discuss learner autonomy explicitly, equipped with speaking strategies, functional language and then took on speaking assignments in the consecutive weeks with an aim of transferring learning roles to them The analysis was based on the data from different sources, i.e questionnaires, interviews, observations and students‟ discussions

In general, the author‟s efforts to fostering the students‟ autonomy in speaking lessons, to a large extent, efficacious, as shown from both their learning behaviors, the data from the questionnaires and responses from the interviews The intervention brought about fairly high autonomy on the students‟ part The data showed that they were able to moderately improve their autonomy as well as their spoken English They became more aware of how certain aspects of language work, and they were able to develop their self-confidence and stimulate their motivation to continue learning in class

This suggests a way of gauging students‟ responsibility for their own learning or an appropriate scheme of actions to improve their autonomy To better the situation, they must be well equipped with adequate awareness of the learning process, learning strategies as well as given more empowerment in their study (students increasing their speaking practice and take more roles of a teacher) without assistance starvation from the teacher

Besides, teacher must assure the students retain their commitment possibly by means of learner contracts.

Recommendations

Basing on the findings the thesis is concluded with several recommendations for improving students‟ autonomy:

- The result of the study reconfirms Scharle and Szabo‟s position that the transition to learner autonomy encompasses three phases, i.e., raising awareness, changing attitudes, and transferring roles Teachers should alert students of their responsibility in the study both implicitly and explicitly They should necessitate the action, the usage of the language among the students such as doing portfolio, journal or assignment Otherwise, it is likely to collapse into the risk of lip service Once the students sense the benefits, they will welcome them promptly as action speaks louder than words

- To improve students‟ autonomy in learning speaking skill, beside such exposure intensity, teachers should create a cooperative learning environment as speaking means communicative and social interaction

- Also, the students‟ level of autonomy is an indication as to which stage to take and to put assiduous attention to Students at low level of autonomy should be exposed to awareness-raising and changing attitude activities However, students with higher level of autonomy can do such activities which encompass more roles of a teacher

- Students, especially ones with low degree of autonomy, at the beginning of the semester, should be required to make and conduct a certain plan and keep an evidence of their performance For speaking portfolios, it is suggested to use students‟ reading materials or recordings as a proof of implementation if available

- That learner autonomy means student self-instruction doesn‟t entail that teachers do not have any roles in the process In reality, teachers play a very crucial part in the learner autonomy fostering process It is taken for granted that students must be independent in learning; therefore, they must take all the responsibilities in the early days This may lead to students‟ counteraction, thinking that the teachers are not caring enough

- Furthermore, students should be exposed to more responsibility gradually to gain their self-efficacy Deciding how much control to give students depends on their own way and pace on the autonomy continuum concerning how learners perceive autonomous learning

- The learner contract can work as a beneficial tool in developing learner autonomy The contract helps clarify the objectives or even the plans of learning It can imprint the ideas on their minds and stirs a kind of commitment to the requirement The learner contract, thus, should be executed before the treatment of such study

- Last but not least, high scores can be a good source of motivation for the students doing autonomy-improving project In Vietnam, where good qualifications receive too much appreciation, high scores are often considered a source of motivation for students, which should be taken into consideration in the autonomy fostering process

In general, autonomy can be understood slightly different in different lieu Thus, autonomy-enhancing activities should be pertinent not only to the lieu but also at a particular period of time.

Limitations

The limitation of this action research lies in the time limit for the experimental lessons

The students just move from the first two stages, namely, raising awareness and changing roles If they can have more time for learning how to assess themselves and their partner, the result may be far beyond expectation Secondly, only one English-major class took part in the research, making generalization difficult to attain Thirdly, because of the limited time, the result is mainly drawn from the questionnaire; interview and observation which are relatively subjective If possible, testing device should be applied to check their speaking proficiency.

Suggestions for further study

These limitations call for further research for the sake of the students The idea of learner autonomy should go beyond the limit of one sample class to be applied on a larger scale

It can be done in a form of a true experimental research to eliminate variables in researching Other kinds of activities may be applied as well, moving towards the right end of the autonomy continuum (transfer roles), focusing on assessment ability This study only focuses on speaking, more can be done to other skills Also, a further research can be done to find out whether and to what extent the students uphold their level of commitment and how effectively they can use the skills acquired in the next semesters

Ali, S Y (2000) An Introduction to Electronic Portfolios in the Language Classroom The Internet TESL Journal, VI (11) Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Thanasoulas- Autonomy.html

Barnett, L (1993) Teacher off: computer technology, guidance and self-access System, 21(3) pp 295-304

Barrett, J & Daborn, E (2001) Assisting The Transition From Secondary To Tertiary Learning: A Case Study From The Middle East TESOL Arabia Newsletter, June 2001

Retrieved from http://ilearn.20m.com/research/transition.htm Broady, E ( 1996) "Learner Attitudes towards Self-Direction" Promoting Learner Autonomy in University Language Teaching Eds E Broady and M.M Kenning London: CILT 215-36

Broady, E., & Kenning, M (1996) Learner autonomy: An introduction to the issues In

Promoting learner autonomy in university language teaching The Association for

French language Studies (AFSC) with the Center for Information in Language Teaching Research London: Middlesex University Printing

Candy, P C (1991) Self-Direction For Lifelong Learning: A Comprehensive Guide To Theory And Practice San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Chu, M P., A., Lee, S., Sakai, S., & Takagi, P (2007) Teachers‟ roles in developing learner autonomy in the East Asian region Journal of ASIA TEFL, 5 (1), pp 97-121

Coombe, C (2001) Using Self-Assessment in the Classroom: Rationale and Suggested Techniques Dubai, UAE: United Arab Emirates University

Deci E.L (1995) Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self-Motivation New York:

Dickinson, L (1987) Self-Instruction In Language Learning Cambridge: Cambridge

Dickinson, L (1995) Autonomy and motivation: A literature review System, 23 (2)

Emmerson, P., Kavanagh, M., Richardson, K., & Sydes, J (2008) The Business Pre- Intermediate Oxford: Macmillan

Holec, H (1981) Autonomy in Foreign Language Learning Oxford: Pergamon Hua

Kavaliauskiene, G (2003) Two Activities for Fostering Two Activities for Fostering Autonomous Learning The Internet TESL Journal, IX (7) Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Kavaliauskiene-Autonomy2.html

Kelly, G (1963) A Theory of Personality New York: Norton

Lee, I (1998) Supporting Greater Autonomy in Language Learning ELT Journal, 52 (4) pp.282-289 Little, D (1991) Learner Autonomy 1: Definitions, Issues and Problems Dublin: Authentik

Little, D (1999) Developing Learner Autonomy In The Foreign Language Classroom: A Social-Interactive View Of Learning And Three Fundamental Pedagogical Principles

Littlewood, W (1999) Defining and developing autonomy in East Asian contexts Applied Linguistics, 20, pp 71-94

Luchini, P & Rosello, A (2007) Developing Learners‟ Oral Communicative Language Abilities: A Collaborative Action Research Project in Argentina The Journal Of Asia Tefl, 4 (4) , pp 245-271

Lynch, T (2001) "Promoting EAP Learner Autonomy in a Second Language University Context" In John Flowerdew and Mathew Peacock (Eds) Research Perspectives on English for Academic Purposes Cambridge: Cambridge University Press pp 390-403

Malcolm, D (2001) Self-Directed Activities in a Credit EAP Course TESOL Arabia Conference Dubai: Diane Malcolm Arabian Gulf University Bahrain

McNiff, J (2002) Action Research For Professional Development: Concise Advice For New

Action Researchers 3rd Edition Retrieved from http://jeanmcniff.com

Nakayama, K (2000) A Case Study of Developing Autonomy in a Portfolio-Oriented English Class at a Japanese Senior High School Links & Letters 7, pp 49-60 Retried from http://.paaljapan.org/resources/proceedings/PAAL8/pdf/pdf026.pdf Nunan D (1995) Language Teaching Methodology A Textbook for Teachers New York:

Nunan, D (1997) Designing and adapting materials to encourage learner autonomy In: P

Benson & P Voller (Eds.) Autonomy And Independence In Language Learning

O'Brien, R (1998) Action Research Methodology: An Overview Of The Methodological

Approach Of Action Research Retrieved from http://web.net/~robrien/papers/arfund.html

Pattison, P (1987) Developing communication skill Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Peirce, B N (1995) Social identity, investment, and language learning TESOL Quarterly, 29, pp 9-32

Riley, P (1988) "The Ethnography of Autonomy." In A Brookes and P Grundy (Eds.)

Individualization and Autonomy in Language Learning London: Modern English

Rubin, J & Thompson, I (1994) How To Be A More Successful Language Learner: Toward

Learner Autonomy Boston: Heine & Heinle

Scharle, A & Szabo, A (2000) Learner Autonomy: A Guide To Developing

Learner Responsibility Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Thornbury S (2006) Speaking: Awareness, Appropriation, and Autonomy London Pearson Longman

Tudor, I (1996) Learner-centredness as Language Education Cambridge: Cambridge

Ur, P (1996) A Course in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Voller, P (1997) Does the teacher have a role in autonomous language learning? In: P

Benson & P Voller (Eds.) Autonomy Andindependence In Language Learning

Wenden, A (1998) Learner Strategies for Learner Autonomy New York: Prentice Hall

Wenden, A.& Rubin, J (eds.) (1987) Learner Strategies in Language Learning Engle- wood Cliffs: Prentice Hall International

Zuengler, J & Miller, E (2006) Cognitive and Sociocultural Perspectives: Two Parallel SLA Worlds? TESOL Quarterly, 40 (1), pp 9-34

Main goal: discovering learner autonomy

Procedure: Students are provided with a list of actions They must tick the options which are the manifestation of high level of autonomy in learning After that, the whole class will come to the conclusion of the concept autonomy and its characteristics

After comprehending the term autonomy, students are required to work in groups discussing the roles of autonomy (by comparison between Vietnamese students and Western students) and the methods to foster autonomy in learning, especially in speaking skill It should be noted that this activities can be carried out in Vietnamese to assure the correct perception of this decisive concept

Activity 2: Nature of speaking skill

Main goal: comprehending all factors of speaking skill Procedure: Students work in groups to discuss the following questions

- How important is speaking skill to you and to the second language acquisition?

- How can you develop your speaking skill?

- Are group work and pair work important in speaking skill? Why or Why not?

- What should students do to contribute to the success of speaking lessons?

After the group discussion, the representative of groups will make a summary and report to the class Finally, the teacher recaps on the issue and make some relevant comments

Activity 3: Comparing preferences in learning

(adopted from Scharle and Szabo (2000, pp 16-18)) Main goal: discovering learning styles

Preparation: questionnaires on types of learning activities (see Appendix 2) Procedure: Teacher provides students questionnaires on what types of learning activities students like best learn, so that the teacher can make the lessons more effective

Teacher asks them to fill the questionnaire individually

The students then get into groups, compare their tastes and try to explain their preferences

They are required to report one activity they all like and one that they have mixed feeling about Then, if they can, they should explain the reasons behind their choices

The answers are collected for later analysis by the teacher

(adapted from Scharle and Szabo (2000, pp 53-54 ) Main goal: enhancing students‟ self-confidence

This activity emphasizes the communicative function of language Correcting mistakes in printed materials or public announcements may increase students‟ self-confidence, and lower their inhibition about using the foreign language To make the activity more interesting, motivating students to participate, the students are given the lyrics of the song on this matter and listen to the song They will express their opinion about such a favorite song

Procedure: Teacher asks students to look around the neighborhood or surf the internet the articles or speeches in English and find as many mistakes as they can (at home) They should take notes on their findings, and present them for correction in class, stating how the mistakes changed the message of the signs, or whether they created a problem at all

Students are given lyrics and they listen to the song “Bad grammar- The way I are” by Timbaland and then share their opinion of the song

I aint got no motive to articulate

I see no good reason to enunciate (talk to me girl)

As long as it rhymes it don't have to make sense Just throw out all those grammatical elements There ain't no need to say it right

Chorus It's the latest trend, go and tell your friends

We can all begin to use some bad grammar All the latest songs like to say it wrong

We be singing wit some bad grammar Take the last letter off a' end a' words Now you talking with some bad grammar

I ain' pulling tricks wit my linguistics I'm jus' talking' talking', talking' Verse 2

I aint got no idea what a singular verb is I'm worser at superlatives

And I don't ever use no double negatives Talk to me girl

Oh, baby, it's alright c'mon now don't be scurred It's all the latest craze to mispronounce some words Like instead of that right there, we would say that right thurr And we won't even spell it right

Chorus Baby girl, When I took my English class, you know I barely passed Listen baby girl, got no proper verbal skills but I be wearing grills

So listen baby girl, I ain gotta talk the talk to make my record pop

So that's why baby girl, when I'm talking, it seems impaired, seems impaired yeah

You my grammar ain' no prodigy

My strongest suit isn't morphology It's hard for people to be understanding me Never changed my verbal habits since when I was three

So, Listen baby girl, before you make another sound, make sure that you're on par Cause listen baby girl, We talking with some bad grammar, bad grammar

Main goal: investigating solutions for the problems in speaking skill and practicing several important speaking techniques

Procedure: Teacher raises the problems learners face in speaking skills and get each group deal with one problem

Teacher may add more possible problems to the core Teacher encourages students to think of practical and specific techniques to resolve the problems instead of a general one (The solutions are based primarily on a valuable book “How to be a more successful language learner: Toward Learner autonomy” by Rubin and Thompson (1994, pp 100-109)

Then, students will be equipped with a repertoire of common functional language (see Appendix 7) and have chances to practice the suggested techniques

QUESTIONNAIRE ON LEARNING STYLE Please read the sentences carefully, tick the ones that apply to you

In class, I like to learn by games

In class, I like to learn by pictures, films and video

I like to learn the target language in pairs and groups

I like to practice English in real situations

I like to study grammar much more than speaking

At home, I like to learn by reading foreign language book

I like the teacher to let me find my mistakes

At home, I like to learn by watching TV in the foreign language

I like the teacher to explain everything to us

I want to write everything in my notebook

I like to study the foreign language by myself

I like the teacher to give us problem to work on

I like to learn the language in context

I like to make my language performance perfectly before reporting to the class

1 Take responsibility for my own study

2 Attend the class on the days and times required

3 Be on time to classes

4 Not to forget homework and assignments, and send them the teacher on schedule

5 Not to accumulate homework and assignments

6 Not to cheat or deliberately copy another persons work

7 Work to the best of my ability in classes

8 Not to be shy (You speak loudly and clearly in the classroom)

9 Use teacher as a resource ( You talk about your problems if you have some question)

(you may make your exclusive rules here for yourself)

I understand that breaking the learner contract could result in me losing my points from the total study result at college

FEEDBACK QUESTIONNAIRE This questionnaire is conducted as part of my research into the autonomy in speaking skill of the first year English-major students in English department – University of Commerce It is intended to clarify your progress in learning as well as your feedback on the project piloted during English Skill I.3 course Your assistance in completing this questionnaire is highly appreciated Your feedback is kept confidentially and for research purpose only

Please, identify your degree of agreement or disagreement with a statement by putting a tick in one of four responses The four options are presented as follows:

1 ATTITUDES AND ACTIVITIES DURING THE PROJECT

1.1 I find the selected activities interesting

1.2 When doing the activities, I spoke English a lot with my friends

1.3 My friends cooperated well to fulfill the task

1.4 My partners seemed to be interested in doing the task

1.5 I chose the topics which attracted my attention

1.6 I used Vietnamese whenever I couldn‟t find the word in English

1.7 I had a purpose in mind when choosing what to read for my assignments

1.8 The topics which I used to select were as easy for me to prepare as possible

1.9 When we finished the task before the other pairs, we didn‟t do anything else

1.10 I kept a record of my assignment for revision

2 SELF-EVALUATION OF SPEAKING SKILL

2.1 I feel that I now can work faster and cope with unpredictability spontaneously

2.2 I try to use what I have already known to speak without hesitations

2.3 When I encounter difficulties in communication, I use paraphrasing

2.4 If the conversation tends to break down, I use functional language to maintain it

2.5 I communicate ideas rather than constructing completely grammatically correct sentences

2.6 I don‟t care about accuracy at an expense of fluency

2.7 I am able to perform a range of speaking tasks on different topics

2.8 I figure out Vietnamese version in mind before creating the English version

3 ATTITUDES TOWARD LANGUAGE AND LEARNING

1 Language learning involves a lot of self-study

+ Before the project + After the project

2 If language class is not useful, I can learn on my own

+ Before the project + After the project

3 I don't feel I could improve without a class

+ Before the project + After the project

4 In language classes, I like the teacher to explain everything to us

+ Before the project + After the project

5 Best way to learn a language is by the teacher's explanations

+ Before the project + After the project

6 It's important teacher gives students vocabulary to learn

+ Before the project + After the project

7 I only work on an exercise if I have to hand it in

+ Before the project + After the project

8 All exercises should be marked by a teacher

+ Before the project + After the project

9 I enjoy project work where I can work with other students

+ Before the project + After the project

10 A language exercise is only worth doing if it is marked

+ Before the project + After the project

4 GENERAL ATTITUDES TO THE PROJECT

1 The self-directed learning activities help me improve my English speaking proficiency

2 The self-directed learning activities help me to make and complete a plan to improve my English

3 The self-directed learning activities help me to learn ways to study by myself

4 The self-directed learning activities help me to acquire a number of words and phrases on different fields

5 I would like to do a similar project next terms even if it isn‟t counted as our marks

Free Comments on the project

PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT ĐÁNH GIÁ CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG NÂNG CAO TÍNH TỰ CHỦ

Phiếu điều tra này là một phần của nghiên cứu về tính chủ động khi học kỹ năng nói của sinh viên năm thứ nhất khoa Tiếng Anh – Đại học Thương Mại Mục đích của phiếu điều tra là tìm hiểu mức độ tiến bộ của sinh viên cũng như những đánh giá của sinh viên đối với các hoạt động nâng cao tính chủ động đã được áp dụng cho học phần kỹ năng tiếng Anh I.3 Việc hoàn thành phiếu này một cách khách quan sẽ góp phần quan trọng vào thành công của nghiên cứu Kết quả phiếu khảo sát chỉ dùng cho mục đích nghiên cứu

Xin chân trọng cảm ơn! Đánh dấu vào các lựa chọn tương ứng của các em cho mỗi câu dưới đây

1 Hoàn toàn không đồng ý 2 Không đồng ý

1 THÁI ĐỘ VÀ MỨC ĐỘ THAM GIA CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG NHẰM NÂNG CAO TÍNH

TỰ CHỦ KHI HỌC NÓI

STT THÁI ĐỘ VÀ MỨC ĐỘ THAM GIA 1 2 3 4

1.1 Em thấy các hoạt động được chọn đưa vào áp dụng thú vị

1.2 Khi thực hiện các hoạt động này, em đã sử dụng tiếng Anh nhiều hơn để giao tiếp với các bạn

1.3 Bạn em đã thực sự hợp tác để hoàn thành các nhiệm vụ học tập được giao

1.4 Bạn em tỏ vẻ hào hứng khi tham gia các hoạt động này

1.5 Em chọn các chủ đề mà bản thân em cảm thấy thích

1.6 Em dùng tiếng Việt để giao tiếp bất cứ khi nào không nhớ hay không biết diễn đạt bằng tiếng Anh

1.7 Em chọn chủ đề cho bài tập được giao một cách có mục đích

1.8 Chủ đề em chọn là chủ đề càng dễ triển khai càng tốt

1.9 Khi cặp của chúng em hoàn thành xong phần việc của mình, chúng em sẽ không làm thêm nhiệm vụ gì khác nữa

1.10 Em giữ lại các bài tập đã làm để ôn lại

2 TỰ ĐÁNH GIÁ KỸ NĂNG NÓI CỦA BẢN THÂN

2.1 Em cảm thấy mình nói nhanh hơn và có thể phản ứng nhanh mà không cần chuẩn bị trước

2.2 Em cố gắng huy động những kiến thức mình có để giao tiếp một cách trôi chảy

2.3 Khi gặp khó khăn trong giao tiếp, em thường dùng cách diễn đạt khác (paraphrasing)

2.4 Em dùng ngôn ngữ chức năng (functional language) để duy trì hội thoại nếu nó có xu hướng bị gián đoạn hay kết thúc quá nhanh

2.5 Em diễn đạt ý tưởng hơn là xây dựng các câu hoàn toàn đúng về mặt

2.6 Em không quan tâm đến độ chính xác về ngữ pháp để đảm bảo sự trôi chảy trong khi nói

2.7 Em có thể thực hiện nhiều nhiệm vụ trong kỹ năng nói với những chủ đề khác nhau

2.8 Em nghĩ bằng tiếng Việt rồi dịch ra tiếng Anh để giao tiếp

3 QUAN ĐIỂM VỀ NGOẠI NGỮ VÀ QUÁ TRÌNH HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

3.1 Học ngoại ngữ cần tự học rất nhiều

+ Trước khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu 3.2 Nếu lớp học không hữu ích, em có thể tự học ở nhà

+ Trước khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu 3.3 Em không nghĩ rằng mình có thể tiến bộ được nếu không đến lớp học

+ Trước khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu 3.4 Trong lớp học ngoại ngữ, em mong muốn giáo viên giải thích tất cả mọi điều cho chúng em

+ Trước khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu 3.5 Cách học ngoại ngữ tốt nhất là có giáo viên giải thích bài học

+ Trước khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu 3.6 Giáo viên cần đưa ra từ vựng cho học sinh học

+ Trước khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu 3.7 Em chỉ làm bài tập khi cô giáo yêu cầu nộp bài đó

+ Trước khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu 3.8 Tất cả các bài tập phải được giáo viên chấm điểm

+ Trước khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu 3.9 Em thích làm các nhiệm vụ học tập hơn với hình thức làm theo nhóm hay theo cặp

+ Trước khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu 3.10 Một bài tập chỉ đáng làm khi nó được chấm điểm

+ Trước khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau khi tham gia vào nghiên cứu

4 THÁI ĐỘ CHUNG VỀ NGHIÊN CỨU ÁP DỤNG

4.1 Các hoạt động nhằm phát huy tính chủ động của người học đã giúp em nâng cao trình độ nói tiếng Anh của mình

4.2 Các hoạt động nhằm phát huy tính chủ động của người học giúp em

4.3 Các hoạt động nhằm phát huy tính chủ động của người học giúp em học cách tự học

4.4 Các hoạt động nhằm phát huy tính chủ động của người học giúp em tích lũy được những từ vựng và cụm từ trong nhiều lĩnh vực khác nhau