Rationale
One of the main tasks assigned to foreign language teaching at school is that of training students to be communicatively competent Speaking is "the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts" (Chaney, 1998: 13) In any second language teaching and learning, speaking is always believed to be the most vital skill Learning a target language makes no sense if you cannot communicate in it successfully For many years, teaching speaking has been undervalued and English teachers have continued to teach speaking just as a repetition of drills or memorization of dialogues
However, with the rapid progress of globalization, English speaking skill is thought to be the key to one‟s success in his career The goal of teaching speaking should improve students' communicative skills, because, only in that way, students can express themselves and learn how to follow the social and cultural rules appropriate in each communicative circumstance
Classroom activities that develop learners‟ ability to express themselves through speech would therefore seem an important component of a language course
However, due to some objective and subjective reasons, teaching and learning English in general and teaching and learning speaking in particular does not come up to the study goals
A great deal of researches has shown that students are often hesitant and anxious about speaking the target language in class Despite teachers‟ efforts to provide students with opportunities to develop their communicative skills, how to teach and learn speaking skills effectively is still a challenging question to both teachers and students to many high schools in Vietnam
At Van Canh High School, the situation is the same For most students, they find speaking especially important yet challenging one What can we, as teachers, do to help our learners overcome their problems and take advantage of opportunities to practice speaking?
For me, as a teacher, mastering methodology is very important Especially, I am interested in teaching speaking skills But how to conduct an effective speaking lesson is very difficult Therefore, I hope that the study will help to facilitate my teaching
All the above mentioned reasons have inspired the writer to conduct a research titled
“Difficulties in teaching English speaking skills to the tenth form students at Van Canh High School.”
Aims and significance of the study
This study is aimed at finding out the difficulties in teaching and learning English speaking skills that 10 th form students and English teachers at Van Canh High School have encountered Also it is expected to investigate the causes of those difficulties Through this some solutions to solve these problems will be suggested
The study is carried out with the hope to be of some help to improve the effectiveness of English learning and teaching at van Canh High School.
Scope of the study
The study only focuses on the difficulties that 10 th form students and English teachers at Van Canh High school have encountered in speaking skills.
Research questions
(1) What are the difficulties encountered by the English teachers and the 10 th form students in teaching and learning English speaking skills at Van Canh High School?
(2) What are the causes of those difficulties and how to solve them?
Research methods
In order to meet the aims of the study, quantitative method was used Two survey questionnaires were used to collect data for the study
- The first survey questionnaire was carried out on 107 tenth form students from 3 classes at Van Canh High School
- The second one is carried out on 9 English teachers of Van Canh High School
All comments, remarks, recommendations, assumptions and conclusions provided in the study based on the analysis of the statistics from the survey questionnaires conducted with the
10 th form students and English teachers of Van Canh High School.
Design of study
This study consists of 3 parts:
Part A: Introduction presents the rationale, the aims, scope, the method and design of the study The research questions are also mentioned in this part
Part B: The study consists of 3 chapters:
Chapter 1: Literature Review reviews the theory about CLT and speaking skills
Chapter 2: The study – The study setting is presented in this chapter Data collection and analysis are also presented in this chapter
Chapter 3: Findings focuses on the difficulties facing the English teachers at Van Canh High
School and their students in teaching English speaking skills
Part C: Conclusion summarizes all the key issues of the study and suggests some techniques for the English teachers to teach speaking skills more effectively The limitations of the study and some suggestions for further study are also mentioned in this part.
Literature review
Communicative approach to language teaching
1.1.1 What is meant by communication?
In Thompson‟s book (2003: 9) “Communication and Language”, he considers that
“Communication is such a well-integrated part of our day- to- day existence that we tend to take it for granted rarely pausing to consider what it involves or just how important it is to us”
Before he expressed to his own ideas about communication, he mentioned some of Fiske‟s ideas:
“Communication is one of those human activities that everyone recognizes but few can definite satisfactorily.” (Fiske, 1990: 1)
“Communication is too often taken for granted when it should be taken to pieces.” (Fiske, 1994: 8)
Thompson noticed “I quickly recognized that communication is used in a number of senses and at a number of levels to indicate the transmission of information or even, as in the transport networks example, the transmission of goods and people.” (Thompson, 2003: 10)
However, he completely agreed with Fiske‟s ideas that “the most relevant definition of communication for present purposes is social interaction through messages” (Thompson, 2003: 10) There are two related aspects that we should consider when talking about definition of communication is “social” and “interaction”
1.1.2.1 Nature of communicative language teaching
Communicative language teaching means little more than an integration of grammatical and functional teaching Littlewood (1981: 1) states, “One of the most characteristic features of communicative language teaching is that it pays systematic attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language”
Communicative language teaching stresses the importance of providing the learners with opportunities to use English for communicative purposes and attempts to integrate such activities into a wider program of language teaching
1.1.2.2 The techniques of communicative language teaching
The techniques of communicative language teaching are described by features
Nunan (1991a: 279) gives five features to characterize CLT:
+ An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language
+ The introduction of authentic texts in to the learning situation + The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also on the learning process itself
+ An enhancement of the learner‟s own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning
+ An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the classroom
According to Richards and Rodgers (1986: 170), communicative principles can be applied to the teaching of any skills and at any levels Because of the wide variety of classroom activities and exercise types discussed in the literature on communicative language teaching, description of typical classroom procedures used in a lesson based on CLT principle is not feasible Savignon (1984) discusses techniques and class management procedures associated with a number of CLT classroom procedure (e.g group activities, language games, role plays), but neither these activities nor the ways in which they are used are exclusive to CLT classrooms
Johnson and Johnson (1989) offer five core characteristics that underlie current applications of communicative methodology:
+ Appropriateness: Language use reflects the situations of its use and must be appropriate to that situation depending on the setting, the roles of the participants and the purpose of the communication, for example Thus learners may need to be able to use formal as well as casual styles of speaking
+ Message focus: Learners need to be able to create and understand messages, that is, real meanings Hence the focus on information sharing and information transfer in CLT activities
+ Psycholinguistic processing: CLT activities seek to engage learners in the use of cognitive and other processes that are important factors in second language acquisition
+ Risk taking: Learners are encouraged to make guesses and learn from their errors By going beyond what they have been taught, they are encouraged to employ a variety of communication strategies
+ Free practice: CLT encourages the use of “holistic practice” involving the simultaneous use of a variety of sub-skills, rather than practising individual skills one piece at a time
To sum up, communicative language teaching is best considered an approach rather than a method It refers to a diverse set of principles that reflect a communicative view of language and language learning and that can be used to support a wide variety of classroom procedures.
Overview of speaking activities
Speaking is very important for the whole learning process The term “speaking” catches much attention of linguistics Therefore, many definitions have been offered to this term
Kathleen M Bailey (2005: 2) defined: “speaking is the productive, oral skill”
Nguyen and Nguyen (2001) suggested that speaking is meant under two aspects: accuracy and fluency: “Accuracy involves the correct use of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation”
Whereas, “Fluency can be thought of as the ability to keep going when speaking spontaneously” When speaking fluently, language learners should be able to get message across whatever resources and abilities what they‟ve got, regardless of grammatical and other mistakes Meanwhile, many educators believe that in a communicative class that it is not necessary to teach conversational features or put students to communicate accurately and that fluency can be developed by simply providing students with lots of conversational practice
Therefore, the requirements of language fluency and accuracy may differ variably due to each stage of language learning
Bygate (1987: 3) suggested a more comprehensive discussion of the nature of speaking It is shown that “in order to be able to speak a foreign language, it is necessary to know a certain amount of grammar and vocabulary Part of a language course is therefore generally devoted to this objective.”
1.2.2 Theories of teaching speaking skills
Brown & Yule (1983a: 1-3; 1983b: 11-16) mention that language can be seen as having two functions: transferring information (transactional function) and establishing/maintaining social relationships (interactional function) Interactional spoken language is characterized by shifts of topic and short turns The accuracy and clarity of information is not of primary importance, and facts/views are not normally questioned or challenged In transactional spoken language longer turns are the norm and there is a clear topic Since the effective transference of information is the goal, interlocutors are actively engaged in the negotiation of meaning Brown & Yule summarise the above stating that interactional language is "listener oriented", transactional language is "message oriented"
1.2.2.2 The role of speaking skills in communication approach
In my opinion, those who think the major objective of the students is reading not speaking have ignored some obvious pedagogical facts:
Firstly, people have the notion that learning English has something to do with oral English When one says some students are good at English, people will naturally think he or she can speak English well
Secondly, oral English can be very useful for the development of reading and writing skills Rivers points out: “when we read and write, we call upon what we know of the language orally” (Rivers, 1968: 20) He goes on to say that there must be a connection between reading and speaking If the students are reading, and then they are using their oral English, too If a student has poor English, his reading ability may also be poor Similarly, Rivers (1968) argues that writing involves oral ability as well
1.2.3 Characteristics of a successful speaking activity
There are some characteristics of a successful speaking activity which are introduced by
+ Learners talk a lot: As much as possible of the period of time allotted to the activities is in fact occupied by learner talk This may seem obvious, but often most time is taken up with teacher talk or pause
+ Participation is even: Classroom discussion is not dominated by a minority of talkative participants: all get a chance to speak, and contributions are fairly evenly distributed
+ Motivation is high: Learners are eager to speak: because they are interested in the topic and have something new to say about it, or because they want to contribute to achieving a task objective
+ Language is of an acceptable level: Learners express themselves in utterances that are relevant, easily comprehensible to each other, and of an acceptable level of language accuracy
1.2.4 Principles in teaching speaking in CLT
Language educators and teachers have made great efforts to find out the main principles of teaching speaking
According to Larsen Freeman:(1986: 77; 84; 115) “… the challenge for the teacher is to create a classroom environment which does not look like a normal classroom” so “…the teacher should try to provide as relaxed and comfortable an environment as possible” Because he believed that “Language learning is more effective when it is fun” and “learning is facilitated in a relaxed, comfortable environment”
Ur (1996) also set some principles as follows:
+ Take account of the student as a person
+ Reduce anxiety by moving from easy to less easy
+ Maintain a carefully balance between fluency and accuracy
+ Provide good model for students to imitate
+ Provide appropriate stimuli for eliciting speech
+ Prepare well for the class
+ Handle errors sensitively and effectively
According to Ur (1996: 121), there still exist some problems with speaking activities as follows:
+ Inhibition: Speaking requires some degree of real time exposure to an audience Learners are often inhibited about trying to say things in a foreign language in the classroom: Worried about making mistakes, fearful of criticism or losing face, or simply shy of the attention that their speech attracts
+ Nothing to say: Even if they are not inhibited, you often hear learners complain that they cannot think of anything to say: They have no motive to express themselves beyond the guilty feeling that they should be speaking
+ Low or uneven participation: Only one participant can talk at a time if he or she is to be heard; and in a large group this means that each one will have only very little talking time
+Mother tongue use: In classes where all, or a number of, the learners share the same mother tongue, they may tend to use it: because it is easier, because it feels unnatural to speak to one another in a foreign language, and because they feel less “exposed” if they are speaking mother tongue
1.2.6 Factors affecting English speaking skills
There are both positive and negative affective factors for foreign language achievement
Some of the positive factors can be listed as: the student‟s positive attitude towards learning the new language, the teacher‟s motivational attitude, and discipline during the learning process, proficiency in the student‟s first language, and the student‟s discovery and application of similarities between the first and the foreign language Some of the negative factors can be listed as: a poor attitude towards learning a new language, lack of motivation, lack of discipline, negative influence of teachers, and the habit by some students to constantly resort to concentrating on translating literally from his or her first language The social and cultural contexts of the new language can also affect language learners Language learners come from different backgrounds and have different needs and goals they also have different styles of learning Teachers of foreign languages should consider these among the affective factors for second language acquisition
1.2.6.1 Aptitude These were reported to have a profound effect on the strategies learners choose, with negative attitudes and beliefs often cause poor strategy use or lack of orchestration of strategies “Aptitude refers to the special ability involved in second language learning.”
(Douglous et al 1995) The relationship between aptitude and foreign language learning success is a very important one and various studies, such as Gardner & Lambert (1972), Gardner (1980) and Skehan (1989) have reported that aptitude is a major factor determining the level of success of second language learning (Douglous et al 1995) Students can have a good aptitude for learning This can infer various things, such as:
+ The understanding of the function of words in sentences
+ The ability to understand and use grammatical rules
+ Memory of key words, what they mean and how to use them
The study
Context of the study
2.1.1 An overview of the research site
Van Canh High School, which has been operated since 1985, is located in a mountainous district in Binh Dinh province, where there are no good opportunities for studying English Therefore, the teaching of English in general, and the teaching speaking English in particular has encountered with a great deal of difficulties There are only 958 students divided into 24 classes: 10 tenth-grade classes, 8 eleventh-grade classes and 6 twelve- grade classes English is now a compulsory subject in Van Canh High School The textbook chosen is English 10, 11, 12 (basic stream) by Hoang Van Van, Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, Do Tuan Minh, Nguyen Thu Phuong, Nguyen Quoc Tuan, Nha Xuat Ban Giao Duc Each consists of 16 lessons Each lesson is divided into 5 periods with the aim of giving the students basic knowledge of English and practising four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing skills
This series textbook is suitable for applying Communicative Language Teaching
2.1.2 Description of the students at Van Canh High School
The majority of students are aged from fifteen to nineteen from poor farming families and some of them are ethnic minority Most of them live very far from school All of them have learnt English at secondary school for four years Some of them had also learnt English at primary school Comparing with the students in the past, now they are more aware of the importance of learning English, more intelligent, more active and more motivated in learning English However, their speaking skills are not quite good Only a few students wish to take university entrance exams in English, which means few students have real interest in learning English In other words, not much attention is paid to English by the majority of the students
The learning of speaking is far worse As the students grow older, they become more reluctant to speak the target language To answer the teacher's questions, the students usually use Vietnamese when they do not know the words in English or when they wish to ask questions but cannot express themselves with confident in English It means they do not try to use English as much as possible
2.1.3 Description of the teachers at Van Canh High School
If students are the most important factor in the learning process, teachers are the most important factor in the teaching process There are 9 teachers of English language aged from
24 to 38 All of them have obtained B.A and have been trained at Qui Nhon University They are energetic and willing to devote their time and energy to teaching However, they are inexperienced and are not well-trained so they have to face with many difficulties
The term ô physical setting ằ refers to the place where the lessons take place, the number of students in an English class, the equipment and different types of materials available for teachers and students in teaching and learning English
In Van Canh High School, English teaching and learning activities are mostly carried out inside the classrooms which are designed for lecture lessons with the only classroom equipment such as: a blackboard, and desks The only type of teaching aid that the English group has is some cassette recorders In term of class size, the number of students in an English class is quite large, from 45 to 50 This large number causes a great deal of difficulties for the teaching and learning
The materials for reference and self-study are not available for teachers and students In the school library, there are only some English books but they are not really helpful for teachers and students The problem is not very bad for the teachers since they can go out to find their own references but it is very difficult for the students to do so themselves
In the field of language teaching, the computer network technology offers language teacher a significant advantage However, at Van Canh High School, where I have been working as an English teacher, there is only one computer-furnished room for all subjects Due to this limitation, only approximately 50% of teachers here sometimes apply ICT in teaching and most of them are young teachers Moreover, the effectiveness of applying ICT in language teaching doesn‟t meet the learners‟ satisfactory because of their inexperience in this field.
Methodology
In total, 107 tenth form students at Van Canh High School and 9 English teachers participated in this study The students are chosen randomly from 3 classes of 10th form; consist of 63 female and 44 male students at the age from 16 to 17 All of them come from the rural areas They have learnt English for at least 4 years The teachers are aged from 24 to 38
All of them are B.A and none of them have been to English speaking countries The youngest has been teaching for one year and the oldest has been teaching for 15 years
In order to get the data for the study, the researcher used two questionnaires: one for the teachers and the other for the students The students‟ questionnaire has twelve questions written in both languages English and Vietnamese in order to help the students avoid misunderstanding The questionnaire for the teachers has thirteen questions Some of them are multiple choice questions but some of them were designed to elicit the participants‟ ideas
The main purpose of the questionnaires is used for exploiting teacher‟s and students‟ difficulties, their experience, and their attitude toward English speaking skills
Data analysis is the process by which the researcher interprets the data collected from the survey questionnaires They were analyzed quantitatively and presented in tables and charts.
Presentation of statistical results
107 sheets of questionnaire were delivered to the students in three 10 th form classes taught by different teachers Students were chosen freely in order to have different abilities of English study with different attitudes They are of course both sexes
2.3.1 Results and discussions from the questionnaires for the students
The data collected by means of questionnaire for the students at Van Canh High School are analyzed and discussed on the following categories:
● Students’ English background The statistics from the personal information show that students‟ learning time is different
60% of the students started studying English at secondary school 13% of them started studying English when they were at the 3 rd form 8% of them have studied English since they were at the forth form and the rest of them started studying English when they were at the 5 th form This leads to multi-level classes at the beginning of the school year making it difficult for the teachers to find suitable techniques to teach Table 1 below shows us the students‟ study results of the previous term (After 4 months studying at High School).
Number Sex English study result of the previous term
Male Female Excellent Good Fare Bad Very bad
Table 1: Students’ level of language learning
From Table 1, we can see that students‟ linguistic competence is very low Only 15.9% of them are good There are no excellent students and the numbers of bad and very bad students are very high (30%) This is because of many negative factors and difficulties that will be presented in the next parts of the research
● Students’ motivation for learning English
Motivation for learning English Number Percentage (%)
Widen the society, culture and language knowledge 44 41.1
To get a good job in the future 53 50
To communicate with the foreigners 19 17.8
English is the most important mean of communication 42 39.3
Table 2: Students’ motivation for learning English
It cannot be denied that motivation is closely related to success in foreign language learning However, the success is a long term goal In order to gain a success in a foreign language, or in this case in order to improve speaking skills, learners must take part in speaking activities conducted in the classroom Therefore, it can be said that motivation is also closely related to the learners‟ participation in speaking activities But from Table 2, which is the result of the statistics of question 3 in the survey questionnaire, we can see that the major number of students (65.4%) study English because it is a compulsory subject Only 12.1% of
English because they thought English would be needed for them in the future jobs 29% of them study English for entertainment and 41.1% of them study English to improve their society, culture and language knowledge, which doesn‟t need the speaking skills at all
Generally speaking, Van Canh High School students have low motivation of learning English, especially speaking skills
● Students’ attitudes towards learning English speaking skills Question 2 is about the students‟ attitudes towards English speaking skills reading 15% listening 49% writing 21% speaking 15%
Figure 1: Students’ attitudes towards English speaking skills
Only 15% of the participants think the most difficult skill is speaking and the same number thinks reading is Whereas, the majority of the participants (49%) said that listening is the most difficult skill for them to master 21% of them believed that the most difficult skill for them to practice is writing Through the statistics in Figure 1, we can see that although speaking is not the most difficult skills for the students to practice, the results of practicing do not achieve the desired goals
● Students’ opinions on the speaking topics in the textbooks With regard to the textbook, the results collected in Figure 2 showed that students have different ideas on the topics introduced in the textbooks Most of them (56.1%) think those topics are suitable for them and interesting as well Only 36.3% think the topics are difficult and 12.1% think the topics are boring for them to practice (some of the topics are boring) This can be reported that the speaking topics in the textbook are suitable and interesting They don‟t have much trouble to students‟ practicing in speaking lessons
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 difficult 36.3 suitable 56.1 easy 0.9 interesting 34.6 boring 12.1
Figure 2: Students’ opinions on the speaking topics in the textbooks
● Frequency of students’ speaking participation
About 16.9 % of the participants admitted that they had never participated in English speaking activities accepted the teacher asked them to do as we can see in Figure 3 And about the same number (12.1%) answered that they usually joined in speaking activities frequently
Only 0.9% of the students said they always participated in English speaking activities More than half of them sometimes took part in these activities From these statistics showed that very few students were willing to participate in the speaking activities
Figure 3: Frequency of students’ speaking participation
● Opportunities to use English outside classroom
As mentioned in the study context that Van Canh High School is located in a mountainous district in Binh Dinh province, where there are no good opportunities for studying English Look at the chart below (Figure 4), we are not surprised why only 1.9% students have opportunities to practice English outside the classroom More than half of the students (50.4%) have never practiced speaking English outside the classroom and approximately half of them (47.7%) sometimes have chance to use English outside the classroom This can be reported that most of the students have not enough opportunities to use English in real life Therefore, their linguistics competence is rather low many opportunities ( 1.9% ) sometimes ( 47.7% ) never ( 50.4% )
Figure 4: Opportunities to use English outside classroom
● Students’ self-improvement of speaking skills
Figure 5: Students’ self- improvement of speaking skills
A: Try to participate in English speaking activities whenever you can
B: Take part in English speaking club at your school
C: Listen and repeat through CD tapes or from the Internet
D: Participate in group practicing inside and outside the classroom
The statistics from the chart above (Figure 5) indicate that students do not try to improve speaking skills themselves in real life A great number of informants (53.3%) sometimes try to take part in the English speaking skills They never join the school English speaking club (87.9%) Moreover, 33.6% never listen to the tapes or the internet With 37.4% of the students never participate in group works inside as well as outside the classroom We are not surprised that about 72.9% never have chance to talk to foreigners, because there are no foreigners in Van Canh district It can be announced that the students‟ reality of self-improvement like this will have great influence on the practice of speaking skills
● Students’ attitude towards the teachers’ techniques of teaching speaking skills
Techniques Always Usually Sometimes Never
Table 3a: The frequency of using techniques
Table 3b: Students’ opinions towards teachers’ teaching speaking techniques
The results of the student survey from Table 3a and Table 3b show that, although the English teachers at Van Canh High School usually vary their teaching techniques, some techniques do not suit the students‟ interest Students are highly interested in information technology (88.8%) The second rank is games which can be considered a strong motivating factor because students can talk naturally, have more opportunities to take part in the speaking activities Using real objects and pictures is also having the same place The other majority of students enjoy working in small groups or pairs and that they find it an effective way of improving their speaking skills They can improve their interaction skills through group work or pair work involving a motivating topic Because students are afraid of making mistakes, they don‟t like the techniques which they have to present the language alone such as presentation, story telling, etc…
● Students’ difficulties in speaking lessons
As can be seen from Table 4, the main difficulties students face with are varied The number of students who don‟t always understand the task requirements is very small (only 0.9%) More than half of the students (57.9%) say they never have difficulty in understanding the task requirements Lack of ideas is a problem with the students, 56.1% admitted having difficulty in finding the ideas to speak Lack of vocabularies and structures is a problem to the majority of students Only 23.4% of the informants say they have never encountered with this problem Being afraid of losing face is also one of obstacles that prevent most of students to speak Only 16.8% of the informants are confident enough to speak out without being afraid of making mistakes and only 3.7% say they never afraid of speaking in front of new friends
Having a chance of speaking and getting feedback from the teacher is also a factor that should be taken into consideration More than half of the participants say they usually have problem having no opportunities to speak Pronunciation is also a problem that should be taken into consideration, too Because only 21.5% of the participants say they never have problems with pronunciation
Difficulties Always Usually Sometimes Never
Lack of vocabularies and structures 16 15 39 36.4 37 34.6 25 23.4 Have no opportunities to speak 8 7.5 68 63.6 29 27.1 12 11.2 Afraid of making mistakes 14 13.1 38 35.5 37 34.6 18 16.8
Pronunciation problems 22 20.6 27 25.2 35 32.7 23 21.5 Lack of society knowledge 11 10.3 17 15.9 50 46.7 39 36.4
Table 4: Students’ difficulties in speaking lessons
● Factors affecting Van Canh students’ participating in English classroom activities There of course exist many factors which cause the above difficulties to the students in a language lesson, especially in speaking skills In Van Canh High School the situation is the same The results are presented in Table 5 below The highest rate is the students‟ low communicative competence (66.4%) And the second rank is the students‟ shyness (47.7 %)
The facilities and authentic materials are very important as well These factors lead too many difficulties for the students in speaking lessons as presented above
The aims of study English is not for communicative 18 16.8
Table 5: Factors affecting Van Canh students’ participating in English classroom activities
● Students’ expectation from the teachers
Question 9 Interrupt you to correct 41 38.3%
Get angry and interrupt you to correct 20 18.7%
Wait until you finish, point out the mistakes and correct 51 47.7%
Wait until you finish, point out the mistakes and ask your classmates to correct
Not angry with you and not interrupt you 54 50.5%
Give marks or add marks if you participate in the speaking activities regularly
Praise you to the class 44 41.1%
Increase the use of visual aids 50 46.7%
Increase the use of language games 70 655.4%
Increase the use of information technology 50 46.7%
Table 6: Students’ expectation from the teachers
Findings
Difficulties from the students
Motivation is very important for the success of the second language learning It plays an important role in any language skills, especially speaking skills However, Van Canh students do not have positive attitude and motivation towards English Only 12% of the participants study English because they find it interesting 65.4% of them considered English as a compulsory subject in the curriculum They have to take written examinations so they do not care about spoken language
3.1.2 Anxiety or lack of confidence
Since the students have difficulty understanding what the teacher says in class and thus are unable to respond to the teacher‟s questions They sometimes want to ask the teacher to repeat what was said but are afraid that others would think that their English is bad, thus losing face In order not to show others that they do not understand, they keep silent and avoid eye contact with the teacher In an oral English class, a person‟s speaking proficiency can be easily evaluated by others Again “face” keeping allows them to withdraw from speaking in the classroom
In English classrooms, making mistakes is unavoidable However, students often feel frightened at the idea of making mistakes and receiving negative evaluations from their peers, especially their new friends, as the tenth form consists of many students from many different schools They avoid this by reticence and they think they can practice the language themselves outside the classroom by speaking English until it is perfect, and the fear of making mistakes and being laughed at by their peers may prevent many of the students from speaking in class
People will not do anything that threatens their own face, if they have to do it, they will try to minimize the threat to lose face In English classrooms, any act of oral communication is a threat to face, because of the high risk of making mistakes and appearing foolish Students will try to avoid speaking in the presence of their peers for fear of losing face and negative evaluation by others
In general, students learning a foreign language feel that they are constantly being evaluated by the teacher and by their peers, whether real or imagined Students who feel they lack sufficient knowledge of English to enhance their “face” might react by trying to speak as little as possible or to avoid speaking completely As a result, their opportunities to practice the target language are significantly reduced, which might be the reason for the students‟ limited progress in speaking
Having good vocabularies and structures is very important to your success Increasing your vocabulary allows you to use more descriptive words to better communicate your thoughts Understanding the meaning of more words will allow you to better understand information that you are hearing in order to respond correctly Having a larger vocabulary will help you being able to use more colorful words in speaking to others Mastering structures will help you communicate more successfully However, Van Canh High School students admitted that they usually have problems not having enough vocabularies and structures to express their ideas in speaking lessons
3.1.4 Lack of opportunities to use English in real life
As mentioned in the study context and the data collected from the survey, there are no good opportunities for practicing English outside the classroom Students rarely have chance to meet foreigners There are not any extra activities for them to join such as English speaking clubs, quizzes etc Since Van Canh High School students rarely use English in everyday communication; consequently, the ability of using English in real life doesn‟t improve
3.1.5 Low linguistic competence and low communicative competence
One of the major factors that prevent students from participating English speaking activities is the students‟ low English proficiency Though most of the students at Van Canh high School had studied English at secondary school and primary school, their vocabularies size and English structures are poor Most of them recognized the importance of speaking skills in language learning, but they did not pay much attention to it They seem to have lost their interest in trying to speak English in speaking lessons
Many teachers complained that their students usually use their mother tongue in practicing pair work or group work during the speaking lessons As shown in the data analysis many students admitted that they often chat in their mother tongue during practice time This makes noise and waste a lot of time It has been a big obstacle for the teaching of speaking skills Their limited English vocabulary and structures have prevented them from communicating efficiently
Most people hoped that with communicative teaching oriented syllabus students would be much improved in oral communication But it turns out that this is not true, since we have noticed learners with serious pronunciation errors which results in their communication breakdown Pronunciation problems happen when speaking a second language because most people are used to hearing and making sounds which only exist in their mother tongue Van Canh High School students complained that they usually have problems with pronunciation
This is a great influence on the participation in the speaking activities.
Difficulties from the teachers
Data from the returned questionnaires showed that there are 2 teachers over 35 who may be more experienced but not much better qualified than the younger They were trained under Grammar-translation method Though they learn the term CLT somewhere but do not quite understand how it works They improve their knowledge of CLT by self-study or at some
Other difficulties
Although most of the teachers at Van Canh High School have applied CLT in their teaching, they still have some misconceptions about it Half of them believe that CLT is only used for teaching speaking skills And the aim of teaching speaking skills is only for communication
Generally there are approximately 50 students in one class The large class size makes nervous students feel more anxious when they speak to the whole class Losing „face ‟in front of so many people is unbearable to some subjects, and they will try to avoid speaking on most occasions Large class size creates particular difficulties for anxious students Moreover, there will be little opportunities for every student to present their ideas and receive teacher‟s feedback There will be a lot of noise that the teacher cannot control in practicing group work, pair work, games or other activities
Many teachers complained that a 45 minute lesson is too short for the students to discuss the topics in the textbook deeply after receiving the teacher‟s instructions Moreover, some topics in the textbook are not much related to real life which cost students a lot of time to prepare before talking Interesting topics also take much time to discuss, too In some low level classes, the teacher has to spend a lot of time on explaining the instructions for the students to understand
As mentioned in the study context, Van Canh High School is situated in a mountainous district, so it‟s very difficult for the students to catch up with the information technology or finding any other reference materials
All of the teachers at Van Canh High School agreed that lack of the necessary equipment will affect a lot to teaching foreign languages, especially teaching speaking skills
Approximately 55.5% of the teachers said that they had already known their students are interested in information technology but they could not apply it in teaching because there is only one furnished room for all the subjects In order that, they have a little chance to use this room for their teaching
Summary of the study
Teaching speaking is a very important part of foreign language learning The ability to communicate in a second language clearly and efficiently contributes to the success of the learner in school and success later in every phase of life Therefore, it is essential that language teachers pay great attention to teaching speaking rather than leading students to pure memorization, providing a rich environment where meaningful communication takes place is desired With this aim, various speaking activities such as those listed above can contribute a great deal to students in developing basic interactive skills necessary for life These activities make students more active in the learning process and at the same time make their learning more meaningful and fun for them
The aim of the study is to investigate the difficulties which have been encountered by the students and teachers at Van Canh High School and the causes of these in order to find the solutions to solve them This study consists of 3 parts; the first part is introduction of the rationale, the aims, the scope, the method, and the design of study Then, communicative approach to language teaching and speaking skills is discussed in Chapter 1 of the second part
The context of the study is presented in the Chapter 2 of the second part of the study The data collected are also performed and presented in Chapter 2 Through which the major difficulties and causes of those difficulties are presented in the Chapter 3 of the second part of the study
Finally, there is a summary at the third part of the study; the researcher suggested some solutions to solve the major problems Some limitations of the study and further researches suggested are also mentioned in this part
2 Suggestions Now many linguistics and English teachers agree that the goal of teaching speaking skills is communicative efficiency To help students develop communicative efficiency in speaking, instructors can use a balanced activities approach that combines language input, structured output, and communicative output Learners learn to speak in the second language
Suggestions
Within the scope of this study, the author does not have the ambition to find the solutions to all the problems The researcher would like to put forwards some recommendations to reduce some problems that students and teachers in Van Canh High School have encountered in English speaking skills in order to improve the teaching and learning at Van Canh High school
2.1 Motivate students to participate in the speaking skills lessons
Language learning is most effective when students' interest, motivation and attitudes are taken into consideration Motivation and attitudes may not be obvious in a class But interest, coming mainly from how the teacher conducts the class, focuses the students' attention or can mean that they put their heads on the desk and become passive
The primary role of the teacher is not to "teach" but to set up situations in which the students can learn It is the student who is finally responsible for his own learning and he must play an active role in that process In order to get every student participating in the speaking activities, it is essential that the activities should be appropriate to students‟ level and could interest them to participate Therefore, making the students interested in the activity is one step ahead of conducting a successful language learning activity As language teachers, we should motivate students in different ways
An environment in which students feel comfortable and accepted is also one where all students feel that their participation is valued and that it is likely to lead to success Be sure all the activities teachers arrange in the classroom should also be to encourage what students can do instead of frustrating them by what they cannot do Teacher should provide a relaxing environment so the students could be self-motivated to come up and speak before the whole class openly from their hearts So there was real communication between teacher-students, students-students They had individual and personal interests
A reason for students‟ silence may simply be that the class activities are boring or are pitched at the wrong level As a result, they do quickly and then just sit in silence or worse talking noisily in their mother tongue So maybe you need to take a closer look at the type of speaking activities you are using and see if they really capture students‟ interest and create a real need for communication In a balanced activities approach, the teacher uses a variety of activities from these different categories of input and output Learners at all proficiency levels, including beginners, benefit from this variety; it is more motivating, and it is also more likely to result in effective language learning
To enhance the effectiveness of classroom activities, it is worth paying attention to vary the teaching techniques In fact, pair work and group work have become the dominant activities in the English speaking skills classes This is quite an effective way because in smaller groups, students learn to ask and receive help from the members Students who contribute to the groups found the activity rewarding when their suggestions are valued and their contribution is linked to the success of the whole group
Games have long been used by teachers as a break from the tedium of the regular class routine and as a way to allow the spirit of competition to stimulate greater efforts from the students Game-playing has many features which make it a potentially valuable activity in the language class The teachers can adapt the tasks in the textbook into games to make the class atmosphere warmer (See the Appendix 3)
Using visual aids and information technology are also put into consideration Students can benefit from using visual aids The ultimate goal of visual aids is to make a presentation better than a traditional lecture style of presentation in which the speaker fills the time and space with the spoken word The role of visual aids is to move a presentation from basic information to a complete package that brings the information to life through colors, exciting examples and activities, movement and visual images that make the presentation memorable
Visual aids support different learning styles by matching the verbal presentation of the message with images (visual learners); charts and graphs that facilitate questions and answers (audio learners); and hands-on activities that encourage audience participation (tactile) In general, visual aids serve to encourage audience participation (See the Appendix 3)
Preparing for debates and participating in them help students to see both sides of various issues Students also benefit from interviewing others and from participation in dramatic presentations Students may enjoy speaking about their personal experiences When given this opportunity, they can benefit from instruction in the elements of good story-telling
2.1.3 Provide more interesting topics to motivate students’ participation
Topics related to their own experiences made the class lively The data collected from the questionnaires for the students and teachers at Van Canh High School showed that the majority of the participants agreed that the speaking topics in the textbook are interesting and suitable But a minority of them said some of the topics are not related into real life and quite boring In this case, the teacher can adapt the topics in the textbook to make them more suitable and more interesting or familiar to the students Moreover, the teacher's questions should elicit new knowledge, new responses, and thoughtful efforts from students
2.1.4 Encourage students to participate in the speaking activities
The teacher should have a prize at the end of the week for the student who has most consistently spoken English in class, or create a forfeit for the student who has most frequently spoken his or her native language You can track with "penalty" jar Every time a student tries to conduct an activity in a language other than English, they have to put a ticket in the jar At the end of the week count up the tickets and the lowest score wins
Another way to get students motivated to speak more is to allocate a percentage of their final grade to speaking skills and let the students know they are being assessed continually on their speaking practice in class throughout the term With lower level students, the problem may be that they are not able to ask their questions in English yet Try setting aside ten minutes in class for discussion of the material in their home language If they know they will have time later in the class, they may not be so disruptive during the rest of the lesson
The ways of correcting the mistakes are also affected to students‟ motivation It is advisable for the teachers to give students suitable ways of mistake correction Try not to be angry with them when they made mistakes Moreover, interrupting to correct during their speeches should be avoided Giving positive feedback also helps to encourage and relax shy students to speak more Self and peer correction are effective ways to encourage students to participate in the speaking activities It is important to help students feel that making mistakes in language lessons is something unavoidable, thus, they will feel free and more self-confident to speak
Educators should be aware that the 21st century is a century of technology Thus, advantages belong to those who can make use of technology To improve the quality of teaching and learning English speaking skills, an adequate attention should be paid to the aspect of classroom facilities As mentioned above, teachers should be aware of the fast development of technology and discover the latest application of CALL in their teaching contexts
2.2 Help students to be confident
Limitations of the study
There is an obvious limitation that this length of time is not enough for the researcher to investigate all of the difficulties that the students and teachers at Van Canh High School are encountered
In addition, as data was collected through questionnaires, the information to be obtained was quite limited and not very accurate Their responses may be just their beliefs or thoughts that they have
This research is limited on the difficulties that the students and teachers at Van Canh High School are facing in speaking lessons only Some further researches should be taken as follows:
+ A study on the tips which help to successfully organize speaking activities in Van Canh High school
+ A study on the effective techniques and activities to motivate Van Canh High School students to participate in speaking lessons
+ How to develop Van Canh High School students speaking skills
The author hopes that the further studies will overcome all the exist limitations of this study, and help to improve the quality of the teaching and learning English at Van Canh High School in order to meet the aim of teaching a foreign language today
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Harmer, J (1999) Practice of English Language Teaching Longman Johnson, K and Johnson, H (1989) Communicative Methodology Oxford: Blackwell
Krashen, S (1982) Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition Oxford:
Larsen- Freeman, D ( 1986) Techniques and principles in language teaching Oxford: Oxford
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Littlewood, W (1981) Communicative Language Teaching CUP
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Richards, J.C & Rodgers, T S (1986) Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching Cambridge University Press
Rivers, W.M (1968) Teaching Foreign-Language Skills The University of Chicago Press
Savignon, S, & Berns, M.S (Eds.) (1984).Initiatives in communicative language teaching
Skehan, P (1989) Individual differences in second language learning London: Edward Arnold
Spielberger, C (1983) Manual for the sate-trait Anxiety Inventory Palo, Calif: Consulting
Thompson N (2003) Communication and Language A Handbook of Theory and Practice Palgrave MacMillan, Basingstoke
Ur, P (1996), A Course in Language Teaching Cambridge CUP Van Lier, L (1996) Interaction in the language curriculum: Awareness, Autonomy, and authenticity
Van, H.V, & Hoa, H T X, & Minh, D T, & Phuong, Ng T, & Tuan, N.Q, (2006) Tieng Anh 10
Phiếu điều tra này nhằm mục đích thu thập những ý kiến của các em học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Vân Canh giúp cho đề tài nghiên cứu về “những khó khăn trong việc dạy học nói tiếng Anh cho học sinh lớp 10 ( chương trình chuẩn) của trường THPT Vân Canh” Câu trả lời của các em rất bổ ích và góp phần quan trọng trong nghiên cứu của tôi nhằm cải thiện cách dạy nói tiếng Anh của trường Ý kiến của các em chỉ dùng cho mục đích nghiên cứu chứ không mang mục đích gì khác
Xin chân thành cảm ơn sự hợp tác của các em!
Xin các em vui lòng điền vào những thông tin cá nhân sau:
Tuổi:……… Giới tính: Nam Nữ
Số năm học tiếng Anh………… Nơi ở: Nông thôn Thành thị
Hãy đánh dấu (√) vào những câu trả lời em cho là phù hợp:
1 Kết quả môn tiếng Anh của em trong học kỳ vừa qua là:
Yếu Kém Trung bình Khá Giỏi
2 Trong các kỹ năng học tiếng Anh em thấy khó nhất là :
Kỹ năng nghe Kỹ năng nói Kỹ năng đọc Kỹ năng viết
3 Tại sao em học tiếng Anh?
Là môn học bắt buộc trong chương trình phổ thông
Phục vụ mục đích giải trí như: nghe nhạc, chơi games, đọc sách báo v.v…
Mở mang hiểu biết về ngôn ngữ ,văn hóa và xã hội
Mở rộng cơ hội trong tương lai, ví dụ như nghề nghiệp, thăng tiến…
Giao tiếp với người nước ngoài
Tiếng Anh là công cụ giao tiếp quan trọng
Các lý do khác (xin em vui lòng ghi rõ là lý do gì?) ………
4 Theo em các chủ đề nói trong sách giáo khoa tiếng Anh lớp 10 ( chương trình chuẩn )mà em đang học là:
Rất thú vị Nhàm chán
Phù hợp Không phù hợp
Ý kiến khác (xin em vui lòng ghi rõ là ý kiến gì?)………
5 Mức độ tham gia vào các hoạt động nói tiếng Anh trên lớp của em như thế nào?
Thỉnh thoảng Không bao giờ ( ngoại trừ khi giáo viên gọi)
6 Em có cơ hội thực hành nói tiếng Anh ngoài lớp học của em hay không?
Có nhiều cơ hội Thỉnh thoảng Không bao giờ
7 Em làm gì để trau dồi kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh của mình:
(1 luôn luôn; 2 thường xuyên; 3 thỉnh thoảng; 4 không bao giờ)
Tích cực tham gia các hoạt động nói trên lớp bất kỳ khi nào em có thể Tham gia các hoạt động ngoại khóa như câu lạc bộ tiếng Anh của trường…
Nghe và đọc theo băng đĩa hình hoặc qua internet Tham gia tập nói tiếng Anh theo nhóm trong và ngoài lớp học Nói chuyện với người nước ngoài
Các hoạt động khác (xin em vui lòng ghi rõ là hoạt động gì?)
8 Giáo viên của em có tổ chức các hoạt động sau trong giờ học nói không, em thích hoạt động nào và không thích hoạt động nào:
(1 luôn luôn; 2 thường xuyên; 3 thỉnh thoảng; 4 không bao giờ)
1 2 3 4 Thích Không thích Trò chơi
Sử dụng tranh ảnh, vật thật, …
Sử dụng trang thiết bị máy móc, công nghệ thông tin…
Phỏng vấn Đóng vai Tranh luận Thuyết trình
Kể chuyện Thảo luận theo nhóm Thực hành theo cặp Những hoạt động khác (xin em vui lòng ghi rõ là hoạt động gì?) ………
Theo em các hoạt động này có phù hợp với em hay không?
Có Không Nếu không thì chúng có vấn đề gì?………
9 Nếu em mắc lỗi trong khi nói giáo viên của em thường:
Ngắt lời em để chữa lỗi
Giận dữ và ngắt lời em để chữa lỗi
Đợi cho em nói xong rồi chỉ ra lỗi và chữa
Đợi cho em nói xong rồi chỉ ra lỗi và gọi các bạn trong lớp chữa
Các cách khác(xin em vui lòng ghi rõ là cách gì?)………
10 Trong các tiết học kỹ năng nói em có gặp các khó khăn sau không:
(1 luôn luôn; 2 thường xuyên; 3 thỉnh thoảng; 4 không bao giờ)
Em không hiểu yêu cầu của bài thực hành( hay yêu cầu của giáo viên)
Em không có ý nào để nói
Em không diễn đạt được ý vì thiếu từ vựng và cấu trúc Lớp quá đông nên em không có cơ hội để nói
Ngại nói tiếng Anh trước lớp vì sợ mắc lỗi Ngại nói vì các bạn xung quanh em đều chưa quen biết Phát âm tiếng anh của em không chuẩn nên em không tự tin
Thiếu hiểu biết về vấn đề văn hóa, và các lĩnh vực khác trong đời sống xã hội Những khó khăn khác (xin em vui lòng ghi rõ là khó khăn gì?) ………
11 Theo em những tác nhân nào làm cho em gặp các khó khăn trên:
Mục đích học tiếng anh của em là không phải để giao tiếp
Cách dạy của giáo viên tẻ nhạt
Giáo viên ít sử dụng dụng cụ trực quan như tranh ảnh, vật thật…
Không có đầy đủ các trang thiết bị về công nghệ thông tin nên không gây hứng thú để em nói
Cách sửa lỗi của giáo viên không phù hợp
Do bản tính rụt rè, nhút nhát, hay e thẹn…
Do các bạn trong lớp đều mới nên làm cho em ngại giao tiếp bằng tiếng anh
Kỹ năng giao tiếp kém
Cách bố trí bàn ghế trong lớp học không phù hợp
Các nguyên nhân khác (xin em vui lòng ghi rõ là nguyên nhân gì?) ………
12 Theo em giáo viên phải làm gì để các em hăng say tham gia vào các hoạt động nói:
Không ngắt lời, không la mắng khi các em mắc lỗi
Thường xuyên thay đổi cách tổ chức các hoạt động nói
Cho điểm hoặc cộng điểm nếu em tham gia thường xuyên
Tuyên dương khen ngợi trước lớp
Tăng cường sử dụng dụng cụ trực quan, công nghệ thông tin trong các giờ học nói
Tăng cường tổ chức trò chơi ngôn ngữ trong các tiết hoc nói để em tham gia nói tự nhiên hơn
Thường xuyên tổ chức các hoạt động ngoại khóa như câu lạc bộ nói tiếng anh, đố vui để học, …
Các cách khác(xin em vui lòng ghi rõ là cách gì?)………
This survey questionnaire is designed for my research into the difficulties in teaching English speaking skills to the tenth-form students at Van Canh High School Your responses are very important to the success of the survey The data will be used only for the purpose of research, not for any other purposes, and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Your co-operation will be highly appreciated
Thank you very much for your co-operation!
Please feel free to write down some information about yourselves!
Age: ……… Gender: male female Years of learning English: ……… Address: rural city
Questions Put tick(s) (√) to choose the suitable answer(s) for the following questions :
1 Your result in the last term is… :
Very bad Bad Fare Good Excellent
2 According to you, which skill is the most difficult?
3 Why do you learn English?
A compulsory subject English is interesting For entertainment Widen the society, culture and language knowledge To get a good job in the future
To communicate with the foreigners English is the most important mean of communication Others (please specify) ………
4 What do you think about the speaking topics in the textbook “Tieng Anh 10”?
interesting boring difficult easy all right not suitable others (please specify) ………
5 How often do you take part in speaking activities in your class?
6 Do you have opportunities to speak English outside your classes?
7 What do you do to improve your English speaking skills?
Try to participate in English speaking activities whenever you can Take part in English speaking club at your school
Listen and repeat through CD tapes or from the Internet
Participate in group practicing inside and outside the classroom Talk to foreigners
Try to participate in English speaking activities whenever you can Others (please specify) ………
8 What activities do your teachers often do in your English speaking classes? Which activities do you like and which activities do you dislike? (1 always; 2 often; 3 sometimes; 4 never )
Games Using pictures, real objects Using information technology Drama
Debate Presentation Story telling Group works Pair works Others (please specify) ………
Do you think your teachers‟ techniques of teaching speaking are suitable for you?
If no, what are the problems? ………
9 If you make mistakes during your performing, your teachers often:
Interrupt you to correct Get angry and interrupt you to correct Wait until you finish your task and, point out the mistakes and correct them Wait until you finish your task and, point out the mistakes and ask you and your classmates to correct them
10 Do you encounter any difficulties in your English speaking classes?
Not understand the requirements Lack of ideas
Lack of vocabularies and structures Have no opportunities to speak Afraid of making mistakes Being afraid of the strange partners Pronunciation problems
Lack of society knowledge Others (please specify) ………
11 What factors cause the above difficulties?
The aims of study English is not for communicative Boring topics
Teachers‟ techniques are boring Lack of authentic materials Lack of facilities
Unsuitable teachers‟ correction ways Students‟ shyness
Being afraid of the strange partners Low communicative competence Classroom setting
The aims of study English is not for communicative
12 According to you, what should your English teachers do to encourage you to participate in English speaking activities?
Do not angry with you and do not interrupt you Vary the teaching techniques
Give marks or add marks if you participate in the speaking activities regularly Praise you to the class
Increase the use of visual aids Increase the use of language games Increase the use of information technology Organize extra activities regularly such as: English speaking clubs, quizzes, etc…
ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE!
This survey questionnaire is designed for my research into the difficulties in teaching English speaking skills to the tenth-form students at Van Canh High School Your responses are very important to the success of the survey The data will be used only for the purpose of research, not for any other purposes, and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Your co-operation will be highly appreciated
Thank you very much for your co-operation!
Please feel free to write down some information about yourselves!
Gender: male female Years of teaching English:………
Put tick(s) (√) to choose the suitable answer(s) for the following questions:
1 Have you ever been trained in Communicative Language teaching (CLT)?
If yes, where and how many times:………
2 Do you apply CLT in your teaching speaking skills to your students?
If no, what method do you use:………
3 In your opinions, speaking skills are………
as important as other skills
not so important as other skills
4 In your opinion, the aim of teaching speaking at your school is to enable the students:
To practice pronunciation and intonation
5 What do you think about the speaking topics of the textbook “Tieng Anh 10” ( Basic stream)?
6 What activities do you often do in your English speaking classes?
Pair work Group work Interview Using pictures, real objects Play games
Drama Debate Role play Story telling Presentation Others (please specify) ………
7 Do you always use English in your classes?
If no, specify the reasons………
8 Do you encounter any difficulties in your teaching speaking skills to the tenth form students?
Lack of teachers‟ self- confidence
Students‟ use of mother- tongue during group work/ pair work
Large and multi-level classes
Difficult and boring speaking topics
9 When your students reluctant to speaking English in classes, you usually………
Get angry and ask them to stand Encourage them to speak by asking easier questions Let them sit down and never ask them again
10 When your students show low motivation in speaking lessons, you often…
Change the atmosphere of the class (play games, sing an English song…)
Suggest interesting topics for discussion
Go on discussing that topic
11 How do you deal with students‟ low linguistic competence?
Give students time to prepare
Simplify the speaking topics and tasks
12 What do you do to prevent your students from using Vietnamese in speaking classes?
Go round more often to check students‟ practising
Remind them to speak English
13 What, do you think, should be done to improve teaching speaking skills to the tenth form students at Van Canh High School?
Vary the techniques you are using
Have further training on teaching methods
Attend workshops or seminars on CLT to exchange teaching experience
Have self-improvement in methodology as well as linguistic competence
Adapt the speaking tasks to suit the students
Organize extracurricular activities more regularly
ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE!
Some adapted speaking activity samples
Unit 1: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF……
Task 1: (P14) Game: “face to face”
Ask from eight to ten students to make a circle in front of the class, the teacher ask them to tell the name of the subjects they know one by one Who can't tell will be the loser and doesn't have the right to continue the game Who is the last will be the winner
Through this game students can remember the words deeply Moreover, they can have chances to practice speaking and listening, too
Unit 5: TECHNOLOGY AND YOU Task 1: (P56)
Game1: “Tell what you see”
Ask the students to glance the pictures below, then tell the name of the machines they saw Who can tell the most will be the winner
For the classes with good students the game “stepping stones” can be used
Divide the classes into two groups Cover the pictures above in “stones” and put them into a “river” Each team will choose a “stone” to step When the foot is put on the “stone” the picture will be uncovered and they have to ask and answer the questions about the pictures like this:
A: Can / could you tell me what a cell phone is used for?
B: Well, it is used to talk to people when you are away from home
If they can't talk they'll be eaten by crocodile Who is the survivor will be the winner
Unit 13: FILMS AND CINEMA Warm- up
Game 1: “Talk what you see”
Ask the students to glance the pictures below, then tell the name of the kinds of film they saw Who can tell the most will be the winner
Love story film (Romantic film) Cartoon