Rationales of the study
In recent years, teaching and learning English is very popular in Vietnam English has become a crucial means of communication and it is widely used in different fields of the society such as international commerce, science & technology, education and so on
Therefore, the goal of learning English has verified: students study English not only to pass the exam but also to get communication competence in order to find a good job in the future or to study abroad It is obvious that learning speaking skills is very important
Together with new textbooks, new teaching approaches have been applied to increase the effectiveness of teaching English at high schools In the light of communicative language teaching (CLT), students‟ participation in classroom activities plays a crucial role in the success of the lesson However, this is the concern of most teachers as students‟ reluctance to speak in the class is the biggest challenge they are facing
Having been teaching English at Doson High School for six years, I have realized that our students have the same problem, they are not active to participate in the speaking activities With the desire to identify the causes and solutions to this problem, I chose the topic “Factors affecting the participation in speaking activities of 10 th grade students at Doson High School and some possible solutions” as the title of my thesis
This study helps us have a deep understanding about the factors affecting students‟ participation in oral activities In general, it can be affected by a variety of factors coming from teachers‟ side, students‟ side and classroom condition It will also examine the techniques and activities applied by teachers and investigate some difficulties in teaching speaking skills Through this study, the researcher expects to find out some appropriate solutions to increase students‟ participation in speaking activities.
Aims of the study
The study aims to investigate the factors affecting the participation in speaking activities of 10 th grade students at Doson High School and find out some possible solutions
To be more specific, the major aims of the study are as follows:
- To identify factors affecting the participation in speaking activities of 10 th grade students at Doson High School
- To examine some techniques and activities applied by teachers and students‟ preference
- To offer some suggestions for teachers to increase students‟ participation in speaking activities.
Research questions
The study is implemented to answer the following questions:
1 How actively are the 10 th grade students at Doson High School involved in oral activities in the class?
2 What are the factors affecting the participation in speaking activities?
3 What are the possible solutions to increase students‟ participation in speaking activities?
Methods of the study
To conduct the study, both quantitative and qualitative methods are used The data was collected by means of:
- Interviews Survey questionnaires, one for students and the other for teachers were mainly used to gather information and evidence for the study
To make the data more reliable, interviews and classroom observations were conducted All the comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusion provided in the thesis were based on the analysis of the study.
Scope of the study
Concerning the scope of the study, some of the following things should be taken into consideration First, the subject of the study are the 10 th grade students who are full of energy, desire and time to do the study Second, the study only focuses on oral activities because speaking skill is the most important skill for communication Third, the study concentrates to investigate factors affecting the participation in speaking activities including teacher factors, student factors and classroom factors hindering students‟ involvement in oral activities and find out some solutions Finally, both quantitative and qualitative were used because of their convenience and high reliability.
Significance of the study
The information of the factors affecting the participation in speaking activities is helpful for students and teachers of English in general and teachers at Doson High School in particular The suggestions to increase students‟ involvement help the teachers overcome the challenges and find the ways to have successful lessons It can‟t be denied that the study is of great value to both students and teachers of English.
Design of the study
The study is divided into three parts: the Introduction, the Development and the Conclusion
Part A: Introduction- deals with the rationales, aims, methods, scope, significance and design of the study
Part B: Development – consists of three chapters Chapter 1: Literature review – provides some theoretical background about speaking skill and factors affecting students‟ participation in speaking activities
Chapter 2: The study – presents the situation analysis, participants, data collection instrument, data collection procedures and data analysis The detailed results of the research are focused
Chapter 3: Major findings, discussion and recommendations – shows major findings, discussion and some recommendations for teachers to increase students‟ participation in speaking activities
Part C: Conclusion- is a review of the study, suggestions for further research and limitations of the study
LITERATURE REVIEW
Theoretical background of speaking in second language learning and teaching
Speaking is “the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non verbal symbols, in a variety contexts” (Chaney, 1998:13) Bailey (2005:2) shares the same view that “ speaking is the productive, oral skill It consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning.”
In addition, Florez (1991:1) defines speaking as “an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information”
According to Mackey (1965) “ oral expression involves not only the use of the right sounds in the right patterns of rhythm and intonation, but also a choice of words and inflections in the right order to convey the right meaning”, (cited in Bygate, 1987:5)
From the above definitions, it can be concluded that speaking is the productive skill used to convey meaning
From the teaching point of view, language skills consist of four macro skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing Those four skills have a supportive relationship
Of those four skills, speaking plays the most important role since it is fundamental to human communication (Ur 1996:120) It can not be denied that in our daily lives, people spend more time on speaking rather than on writing
In social contexts, speaking is particularly useful as it is key to communication
Kayi (2006) and Bygate (1987) share the same view that the learners need to have ability to speak confidently to carry their most basic transactions In short, because of the importance of oral skill in language teaching and learning, it is vital that speaking skill should be paid great attention to
1.1.3 Approaches to the teaching of speaking
In the Grammar – translation Method, students are taught to analyze grammar and to translate (usually in writing) from one language to another The main goal of this method has been for students to read the literature of a particular culture This method does not really prepare students to speak English, therefore, it is not entirely appropriate for students to improve their speaking skills In conclusion, the Grammar – translation Method is not consistent with the goals of increasing English learners‟ fluency, oral production or communicative competence
- The Direct Method and Audio - lingualism
The Direct Method focused on “everyday vocabulary and sentences” (Richards and Rodgers, 1986:9) and lessons were conducted entirely in the target language More importantly, the lesson presented new teaching points in speaking rather than in writing and it was practiced “ in a carefully graded progression organized around question and answer exchanges between teachers and students.” (Richards and Rodgers, 1986:10 as cited in Bailey, 2005:17)
In Audiolingualism, speaking is taught by having students repeat sentences and recite memorized dialogues from the textbook According to Bygate (2001:15), “teaching oral language was thought to require no more than engineering the repeated oral production of structures” (cited in Bailey, 2005:17) In this method, the lesson emphasized repetition drills in order to familiarize students with the sounds and structural patterns of the language In short, memorizing patterns did not lead to fluent and effective communication in real – life situations
At the end of the 1960s, the Audio – Lingual Method met a drastic attack from both American sociolinguistics and British functional linguistics based on the study of language from a wider prospective Hymes (1972) put forward the term “communicative competence” to refer to appropriate language performance in contrast to “ linguistic competence” At the same time, Brumfit and Johnson (1979) emphasized “the functional and communicative potential of language They saw the need to focus on communicative proficiency rather than on mere mastery of structures” (Richards and Rodgers, 2001:153)
CLT features more interaction- based activities such as role plays, information gaps, pair work and group work In summary, among some approaches of the language teaching methods, CLT is the most appropriate way for communication.
CLT and teaching speaking
To define CLT, Nunan (1989:194) states:
“CLT views language as a system for the expression of meaning Activities involve oral communication, carrying out meaning tasks and using language, which is meaningful to the learners Objectives reflect the needs of the learners including functional skills as well as linguistics objectives The learner’s role is a negotiator and integrator The teacher’s role is a facilitator of the communication progress.”
In brief, CLT emphasizes communication in a foreign language and improves the learners‟ competence through communicative activities
According to Richards and Rogers (2001:161), CLT has a rich theoretical base and some of the characteristics of the communicative view of language are:
- Language is a system for the expression of meaning
- The primary function of language is to allow interaction and communication
- The structure of language reflects its functional and communicative use
- The primary units of language are not merely its grammatical and structural features but categories of functional and communicative meaning as exemplified in discourse
In Brumfits‟s view (1984:91-93), CLT‟s characteristics can be summarized as follows:
- Teaching is leaner – centered and responsive to learners‟ needs and interests
- The target language is acquired through interactive communicative use that encourages the negotiation of meaning
- Genuinely meaningful language use is emphasized , along with unpredictability, risk-taking and choice-making
- There is exposure to examples of authentic language from the target language community
- There is a whole language approach in which the four traditional language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) are integrated
In brief, CLT is characterized with communicative competence, leaner‟s – centeredness and four skills integration These characteristics will be the principles for teachers to choose appropriate techniques as well as activities in the classroom to improve students‟ communicative competence
Communicative activities, defined by Harmer (1999) are those that give students who are somehow involved in both the desire to communicate and a purpose involving them in a varied use of language Those activities play an important role in a language classroom as students can do their best to use the language effectively, arriving at a degree of language autonomy
Richards and Rogers (2001:165) discuss that the range of exercise types and activities with a communicative approach is unlimited, provided that such exercises and activities enable learners to attain the communicative objectives of the curriculum, engage learners in communication
1.2.4 Students’ participation in speaking activities
Students‟ participation can be understood as students‟ involvement in classroom activities and in this case, oral activities It consists of interaction between students and students and students and the teacher The interaction between students themselves arises in pair work and group work When they work together, students‟ participation can be measured by their sense of responsibility and cooperation
As for the interaction with the teacher, students express themselves in class discussion or show their ability to answer the question raised by teacher or share their knowledge or personal experiences
In order to have a successful lesson, students‟ participation must be active and even
However, students‟ participation in classroom oral activities can be affected by a variety of factors such as from students, teachers and classroom.
Factors affecting students’ participation in speaking activities
Individual„s learning style in an educational context indicates the different way he/she approaches new information Keefe (1979) defines learning style as “cognitive, affective and physiological traits that are relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with and respond to the learning environment” (as cited in Brown, H.D
2007:120) Although we share similar learning patterns, preferences and even approaches, everyone learns and processes information in their own way
Willing (1987, as cited in Bailey 2005:169-170) divides learners into four groups based on their behaviors:
- concrete learners are interested in social aspects of language learning
- analytical learners would rather work individually on reading and grammar
- communicative learners are willing to communicate with other speakers
- authority – oriented learners tend to be independent and prefer to work in non – communicative classroom
As can be seen from Willing‟s classification, if the majority of students in one class belong to concrete and authority – oriented groups, the degree of participation in oral activities of this class will be low
According to Brown (1994) the contrast between reflectivity and impulsivity dimension is one factor affecting students‟ participation in speaking lesson Reflective learners are slower, more careful and often weigh all the considerations before speaking out in the class, on the other hand, impulsive learners are quicker at making decision and make gambles before a solution is achieved So in speaking lesson, impulsive learners are faster but less accurate speaker than reflective ones
As claimed by Ellis (1985:120), extroverted learners are more willing to interact with others than the introverted, and therefore they are more successful in oral communication
Sharing the same view with Ellis, Lightbown and Spada list a number of personality characteristics that have a great influence on the success of second language learners: extroversion, inhibition, self – esteem, empathy, dominance, talkativeness and responsiveness (1995:54-55)
We can conclude with certainty that if the teacher neglects these differences among students, only some of them can benefit from the classroom activities It is understandable that not all students participate actively in the activities
In Tsui‟s research (1996) in HongKong, she found out five principal factors affecting the reluctance of students‟ participation in class speaking lesson:
- students‟ perceived low proficiency in English
- students‟ fear of mistakes and derision
- incomprehensible input (as cited in Nunan 1999:234)
Is it the common problem for Vietnamese high school students? Lack of vocabulary, structures and expressions make students unwilling to speak Therefore, in the classroom many students just sit in silence and do not participate in the classroom activities
In Burns and Joyce‟s view, students have difficulties in pronunciation such as sounds, rhythms and stress patterns of English, lack of social and cultural knowledge, low proficiency of grammar patterns and problems in transferring from the native language into the target language All of these linguistics factors result in break – down in processing language and communication
It is understandable that with limited knowledge students can not confidently speak out much about anything In brief, the limitations in the students‟ language levels can directly affect their participation however much they like the activities We, therefore, should choose the topics as well as the kinds of activities of their levels to encourage their participation
Harmer (1999:51) defines motivation as “some kind of internal drive which pushes someone to do things in order to achieve something” According to Lightbown and Spada
“motivation in second language learning is a complex phenomenon which can be defined in terms of two factors: learners‟ communicative needs and their attitudes towards the second language community” It can be understood that if learners have favorable attitudes and desire to speak the second language for communication, they will be motivated to acquire the language proficiency
Harmer (1999:51) divides motivation into two types intrinsic and extrinsic motivation Intrinsic motivation is possessed by people having personal interest in doing something On the contrary, extrinsic motivation is caused by such outside factors, not for their own sake, as the need to pass an exam or the hope of financial reward
If all the students just learn English in order to pass the written exams, they think that participating in speaking activities is not necessary In this case, a big question for the language teachers is how to inspire students‟ personal interests in the speaking lessons?
In order to do so, we have to understand the sources of motivation as “without knowing where the roots of motivation lie, how can teachers water those roots?” (Oxford
& Shearin, 1994:15) Fisher (1990) points to three major sources of motivation in learning:
- The learners‟ natural interests (intrinsic satisfaction)
- The teacher/ employment…etc (extrinsic reward)
- Success in the task (combining satisfaction and reward) Harmer (1999:51) also mentions that the sources of motivation are diversified
They may derive from the society we live in, significant others like the attitude of parents or old siblings, the teacher and the method The responsibility of the teachers is to increase and direct students‟ motivation through setting clear goals, learning environment and interesting classes, which can directly influence students‟ participation
Besides Harmer, Downs (2000) points out some conditions that help increase students‟ motivation He says that motivation increases when students feel acknowledged and understood, when students are confident and they can succeed, when language has a communicative purpose, and when students take responsibility for their own learning
Lightbown and Spada (1999:57) reconfirm that if we can make the classroom places where students enjoy coming because of interesting content, challenging but manageable and clear goals, supportive and non-threatening atmosphere, we can make a positive contribution to students‟ motivation
It is clear that motivation plays an important part in the success of language learning We may not know exactly how much motivation factor accounts for students‟ participation but it can be concluded that the degree of motivation is directly proportional to the level of involvement in oral activities It is true that, the more motivated students are, the more actively they are involved in speaking tasks
THE STUDY
Research setting
Doson High School, the research site, situated in Doson District, twenty kilometers far from Haiphong city, was founded in 1969 With 40 years of establishment and development, Doson High School is becoming a reliable address for students and their parents in Doson District The school currently has 26 classes with nearly 1200 students ranged from grade 10 to grade 12 The teaching staff composes of 80 teachers, of whom one – third are young and enthusiastic
There are six teachers of English currently working at Doson High School Among them, six are female and one is male, and their age ranks from 25 to 40 All of them have got the University Bachelor‟s Degree in English, two of them graduated from Vietnam National University, Hanoi – University of Languages and International Studies and the others graduated from Haiphong University They are helpful, enthusiastic and willing to make some renovations in teaching methodology However, the age of the teachers also reveals that they are young and have little experience of teaching
Although all students started learning English from grade six, their English proficiency is very low They study English just to prepare for the tests and exams, so what they need in learning English is to learn grammar lessons and to do exercises It seems that a lot of students can not communicate successfully despite knowing a lot about English grammar patterns Besides, the majority of Doson students focus on group A for the Entrance Exam to University, therefore they have no motivation to study English, especially speaking skill
The main material for teaching English at Doson High School is a new set of English textbook approved by the Ministry of Education and Training The textbook Tieng Anh 10 consists of 16 units including five parts: reading, speaking, listening, writing and language focus The book was designed according to communicative approach For speaking skill, its objective is to develop students competence and ability to exchange information at a simple level about the situations relating to the topics they have learnt
Generally speaking, the new English textbook has proved to be more relevant and appropriate to the current context of teaching and learning English at high school in Vietnam However, it is also challenging for both teachers and students because of different students‟ English proficiency and teaching - learning conditions of each school.
Methodology
The final aim of the research is to investigate the factors affecting the participation in speaking activities of 10 th grade students at Doson High School and find out some solutions to increase students‟ involvement The study is implemented to answer the following questions
1 How actively are the 10 th grade students at Doson High School involved in oral activities in the class?
2 What are the factors affecting the participation in speaking activities?
3 What are the possible solutions to increase students‟ participation in speaking activities?
The participants of the study were 120 students who were selected randomly from class 10 C1 to 10 C8 and 6 teachers of English The research was conducted in the second term of the school year All the participants took part in the survey questionnaires by answering all the given questions In addition to questionnaires, 10 students were interviewed in order to have in – depth data
Two types of questionnaires were used in this study (one for students and the other for teachers) The questionnaires consist of close and open – ended questions, checklist questions and scale shopping from agree to disagree
The questionnaire for students consists of two main parts with 12 questions Part I was about the students‟ personal information including gender, age and class Part II aimed to find out the level of students‟ involvement, their assessment towards themselves, teachers and the textbook, factors affecting the participation in speaking activities and some suggestions from students
The questionnaire for teachers also consists of two main parts with 13 questions In part I the information of gender, age and years of teaching was described In part II , it was about teachers‟ attitude towards teaching speaking skill, their opinions on CLT, factors affecting students‟ involvement and some suggested strategies
Two interviews (pre – treatment and post – treatment) were conducted in Vietnamese between the researcher and 10 students Each interview lasted about ten minutes including questions, answers and explanation The interviews were in the form of an informal conversation compiled in a paper sheet with note taking in order to have complete understandings about students‟ problems, preferences and their feedback
Besides survey questionnaires, the pre and post interviews, the researcher still used class observations to confirm the reliability and validity of the information about factors affecting students‟ involvement and the effect of the applied techniques The researcher observed several English speaking lessons before and during the treatment In each lesson, the information of teacher‟s activities, teaching techniques (giving instructions, encouragement, comment and feedback) and students‟ involvement, preferences and attitudes towards the applied techniques were mentioned in the checklist
The data of the research was collected by means of questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations Firstly, the researcher delivered the questionnaires to 6 teachers and 120 students who were selected randomly Secondly, after collecting the information from the questionnaires, she started interviews with 10 students to get further information from students Then, to make sure the validity of the data she observed some English lessons to find out the factors affecting students‟ participation Based on the findings, a hypothesis was formulated about the techniques and activities to be treated with a view to increasing the student‟s participation Classroom observation during the treatment and post interviews were carried out to gather information about the effects of using applied techniques and students‟ reaction towards speaking activities
The main source of data is derived from the answers of the two questionnaires for students and teachers Along with the information via survey questionnaire, interviews and classroom observation were used to add further data
The questionnaire was delivered to 120 students, however only 114 answers were collected and analysed 114 students selected randomly including 46 male and 68 female ones were at the age of 16
2.2.5.1.1 Students’ assessment of their speaking ability ok 26% bad 65% very good
Chart 1: Students’ assessment of their speaking ability
The data from chart 1 shows that only 2% of the students were very good at speaking skill, 7% revealed that they had good ability while 26% of the participants were at medium level Surprisingly, 65% of them(74 out of 114) believed that they were bad at speaking skill From the results, most of the students are at low English speaking level which may result from lack of practice or low participation in speaking tasks In other words, to improve speaking skill, students should make use of chances to practise speaking English in the class as well as outside learning environment
2.2.5.1.2 Students’ level of participation in speaking activities
As can be seen from chart 2, half of the students rarely participated in speaking lessons During the lessons, most of them just sat silently and only spoke English when the teacher called them 31% of participants (36 out of 114) sometimes involved in the lessons as it depended on the topics or the activities they were in favor 16% were often willing to speak English and only 3% were always actively involved It can be concluded that the level of participation is very low rarely 50% always 3% often 16% sometimes 31%
Chart 2: Students’ level of partipation in speaking activities
2.2.5.1.3 Students’ attitudes towards speaking skill important 40% very important not important 30%
Chart 3: Students’ attitudes towards speaking skill
As shown in chart 3, a great number of students (70%) thought that speaking was important even a very important skill 26% of participants stated that it was of little importance and the smallest percentage (4.4%) underestimated the significance of oral skill In general, most of students highly appreciated the importance English, especially communication ability However, it seems to be contradictary to the low level of participation in classroom activities
2.2.5.1.4 Students’ assessment of speaking activities in the class
As can be seen from chart 4, 37% (42 out of 114) found that speaking activities were all right and suitable for their level 16% thought that they were interested in the tasks, but surprisingly no one stated that speaking activities were very interesting On the contrary, nearly half of the participants (47%) found speaking activities not interesting
The data from the interviews also added that the speaking tasks were boring and not creative enough Most of the activities in the lessons came from the textbook without any changes, which couldn‟t inspire students‟ motivation to study In conclusion, to have a good speaking lesson it requires teachers to have good teaching technique, knowledge and enthusiasm to design creative and interesting activites with more in – depth information than the textbook not interesting 47% all right 37% very interesting 0% interesting 16%
Chart 4: Students’ assessment of speaking activities in the class
2.2.5.1.5 Students’ evaluation on learning speaking English
1 I prefer doing exercise to speaking in the classroom 64 56.1% 50 43.9%
2 I enjoy practising English at home by myself 40 35% 74 65%
3 I always take every opportunities to speak English 4 3.5% 110 96.5%
4 I only speak English when the teacher calls me 96 85% 18 15%
The data from table 1 shows students‟ passive learning styles 56.1% students prefered doing exercise to speaking in the classroom and 65% enjoyed speaking English at home by himself/herself Most students (96.5%) never made use of chances to speak English except being called by the teacher (85%) Therefore, in a large class with limited time, if teachers do not pay attention to their students‟ learning styles and always call volunteer students, the silent ones will never have chances to raise their voice It‟s advisable that group work is the best alternative to make all students have opportunities to participate in the activities
5 I like speaking English as it helps me improve my fluency and pronunciation
6 I often participate in speaking activities in order to have good communication in the future
MAJOR FINDINGS, DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Major findings and discussions
By analyzing the questionnaires from both teachers and students, the interview and class observation, we could conclude that the level of participation of 10 th grade students at Doson High School was low Although most of the students were aware of the importance of speaking skill, they were reluctant to take part in oral communicative activities This is one of the biggest challenges that all teachers are facing, thus to find out factors affecting students‟ low participation is a necessary task
The findings showed that the factors came from the teachers, the students, the materials and the classroom itself
Although all teachers had generally good understandings of CLT, the application of this approach at Doson High School was still limited due to large class sizes, mixed levels, students‟ passive learning styles Firstly, teachers‟ boring teaching techniques and activities couldn‟t inspire students‟ motivation to study The topics and activities of speaking lessons were the same as those in the textbook that all students had, thus to interest students teachers should create new and interesting activities but challenging enough for students to discover themselves Secondly, the overuse of teachers‟ talking time certainly decreased chances for students to practise All teachers should bear in mind that in CLT learners are the centre of the class, so the speaking time should be spent more for students, not teachers
Students‟ factors consist of their low and mixed English proficiency, lack of motivation, anxiety and passive learning styles Most students said that their low level of English in terms of limited vocabulary, inability of expressing ideas accounted for their reluctance Moreover, from the interview most students thought that they studied English for the requirement of their future jobs, not for their personal interests In other words, students lacked intrinsic motivation which played an important role in students‟ language learning More importantly, from the observation and interview, students were anxious during speaking lessons They were afraid of losing face when making mistakes in front of the teacher and other friends and worried about being called suddenly by the teacher without carefully prepared activity Finally, students‟ passive learning styles prevented students from gaining success in speaking lessons In conclusion, teachers should understand students‟ problems and find out better strategies to help the learners overcome the above constraints
Classroom factors played an additional role in students‟ learning success Most students preferred a cooperative learning environment to a competitive and stressful one A pleasant and supportive atmosphere could help students feel safe and comfortable to share ideas with friends On the contrary, a tense classroom climate would increase students‟ shyness and anxiety Moreover, in large classes students were of different levels, lower students were often anxious and even scared of negative judgment by other friends In short, classroom is one important factor that teachers should pay great attention to in order to improve students‟ involvement
There seemed to have a big gap between teachers‟ and students‟ evaluation on topics and tasks While all teachers found the textbook appropriate to students many students found it all right or even not interesting Teachers often used activities such as questions and answers and discussion in pair work and group work but students preferred interesting games or funny quizzes Thus, teachers‟ activities in the class couldn‟t match students‟ interests and low participation was unavoidable problem It is highly expected that teachers should adapt the textbook and have more interesting activities
3.1.3 Students’ attitudes towards the applied teaching techniques
From the observation and the interview after the treatment we can see that students‟ level of participation in oral activities increased considerably With the changes in teachers‟ teaching technique and activities, students became interested in oral tasks, willing to work in group work and ready to cooperate with the teachers Therefore, we can conclude that the applied teaching techniques have a good effect on increasing students‟ involvement in oral activities.
Recommendations
In order to motivate students to study speaking English, first and foremost the activities should be diversified and of students‟ interest and level Oral activities should cover the spectrum of learners‟ needs, raise students‟ intrinsic motivation and use authentic language in meaningful contexts
- Firstly, in multi - level and large classes using pair work and group work is very helpful Every student has opportunities to take part in the activities, shares ideas and helps each other The anxious students can get support from the better one, so they feel more secured in non – threatening environment
- Secondly, teachers can use games to stimulate students‟ interests Games can help students feel more excited about the lesson and reduce their stress or anxiety, thus learning English through games is very effective
- Finally, teachers can apply a lot of other activities such as discussion, role play, story telling, interview, picture description, raking exercises, etc in other stages of a speaking lesson
In short, teachers should use various speaking activities to avoid students‟ boredom of repetition everyday
The textbook TIENG ANH 10 consists of 16 different topics, however, many students dislike talking about the topics in the book as some of them are boring and far from what they know In order to encourage students to speak, the topics firstly should be familiar to students‟ interests Students can talk a lot about Music or Films as these are their favorite topics Secondly, the topics should be of students „ level in terms of language and specific knowledge If they are too difficult students will feel demotivated To sum up, teachers can adapt the topics to be more suitable, interesting and familiar to the students
3.2.1.3 Using group work to good effect
In order to use group more effectively in large classes, teachers should consider the following points:
Teachers can employ a variety of criteria to group students depending the kinds of oral tasks, the classroom conditions and the students themselves such as same common preferences, same level of proficiency or random grouping (Hammer, J 1991) Basing on these criteria, teachers can change members in groups so that they can work with different partners at different time to avoid boredom Moreover, the number of each group should be
3 or 4 so that every member of the group can have chances to practise speaking English
The tasks assigned to group of students should be clear and specific In a speaking lesson, teachers play a role of a facilitator or resource provider During this process, every student is assigned a specific role in an activity to avoid domination of some students in a group Teacher goes around the class to observe their discussion and make sure that all students have opportunities to speak English
In a large class, students are at different levels, some are over – active and always willing to speak while the others are often hesitant or anxious about speaking the target language Teachers, therefore, should balance the students‟ speaking turns
- Firstly, teachers should lengthen the wait – time for students‟ answers Thus, the anxious students have more time to think carefully and be confident about their responses
In addition to this, teachers need to be more tolerant towards students‟ responses
- Secondly, it‟s necessary for teachers to improve questioning technique According to Nolasco and Athur (1988), it is vital to “keep everyone awake” and students should be highly motivated by rapid questioning It means that teachers give questions and randomly ask any student in the class By doing this, all students are required to prepare for the answers
- Thirdly, teachers should assign appropriate tasks for students For example, for lower students they can take the responsibility of note – takers, secretaries when doing group works or give their comments on other students‟ answers By this way, we can reduce students‟ inhibition and create chances for them to participate in
A cooperative classroom atmosphere in which students are encouraged to take part in oral activities can facilitate students to express their opinions without being afraid of making mistakes or negative evaluations Teachers, therefore, should be tactful in correcting students‟ mistakes otherwise we will demotivate students to speak English
Moreover, techniques to encourage students such as giving feedback, comments or praise should be enhanced Teachers also avoid tension – causing tasks such as surprise and difficult quizzes, overly competitive activities or putting students in from of their peers with warning or no chance for preparation Instead of that, students are encouraged to work cooperatively with the partners in their groups
3.2.1.6 Establishing good rapport with students
The relationship between teachers and students is built on trust and respect Thus, if the rapport is good it will make students feel happy, comfortable and willing to share their points in the class In order to create a good relation teacher can use some hints suggested by Brown (1994) as follows:
- Show interest in each students as a person
- Give feedback on each student‟s progress
- Openly solicit the students‟ ideas and feelings
- Laugh with the students and not at them
- Value and respect what the students think and say
- Work with the students as a team and not against them
- Develop a genuine sense of vicarious joy when they learn something
3.2.1.7 Combining the textbook with other relevant materials
The textbook TIENG ANH 10 in general is a good one, however, it can‟t be the best to match all students‟ interest and level To make the speaking lesson more creative and interesting, teachers should combine the textbook with other materials such as from the internet, magazines, newspapers or other reference books Moreover, teachers can encourage students to do oral presentation on prepared topics, which can help students explore information from different sources, widen their knowledge and increase confidence In our technological age, it‟s advisable for both teachers and students to make use of using the internet, where we can chat with each other, improve pronunciation and practise English with foreigners Students and teachers, therefore, can improve both their English knowledge and speaking skill
In the light of CLT, learners not teachers are the centre of the class so teachers should lessen their talking time in order to let all students have maximum time for practice
The more opportunities to speak students have the better their speaking skill will be Only with careful preparation can lower students be confident enough to raise their voice In addition to that, teachers can require learners to prepare the speaking topics at home and students will feel more certain of what to say
3.2.2 For students 3.2.2.1 Cooperating with students
Summary of the study
The study aims to find out factors affecting the participation in speaking activities of 10 th grade students at Doson High School and some possible solutions With the instruments such as two questionnaires (for students and teachers), interviews for students and classroom observations, we have reached the answers to the three research questions:
As for the first question, “How actively are the 10 th grade students at Doson High School involved in oral activities in the class?”, we have found that the students‟ level of participation was very low Most students were reluctant to speak and the speaking lessons ended in silent and boring atmosphere
As for the second questions, “What are the factors affecting the participation in speaking activities?”, the reasons accounting for that level of involvement came from the teachers, the students and the classroom itself
- For the teachers, the factors included teacher‟ role, characteristics and methodology
The low level of participation resulted from boring topics and activities organized in the class by the teachers They totally depended on the textbook, which prevented students from thinking creatively Pair work and group work were conducted in some classes, however, it was not effective Moreover, teachers overused talking time violated students‟ opportunities to practise speaking English Teachers had general understandings of CLT, however, the application of CLT in language teaching was still limited
- For the students, the factors consisted of their learning styles, language levels, attitude and motivation and anxiety Low level of English proficiency was the most important factor Students‟ anxiety such as fear of making mistakes or negative judgments prevented students from participating in oral activities Although students had good attitude towards speaking skill, they were unwilling to involve in the lesson due to lack of intrinsic motivation Passive learning style also added to students‟ inhibition to speak English
- For the classroom, the cooperation among members in groups discouraged students from working with each other In multi – level and large classes, uneven participation between the better and the lower students was also a distracter preventing students from participating in oral classroom activities
As for the third question, “What are the possible solutions to increase students‟ participation in speaking activities?”, the results obtained through interviews and classroom observation confirmed the efficiency of the techniques and activities applied in the lessons As a result, students become more interested in oral activities and more importantly, the students‟ level of participation increased considerably after the treatment
In conclusion, the findings of this study will make a significant contribution to improve the current situation in teaching and learning speaking skill for 10 th grade students at Doson High School.
Limitations and suggestions for further study
The study has a number of strengths, however, due to the limited time and ability weaknesses are unavoidable First, the subjects of the questionnaire are 120 students, which can not cover all students at the school Second, time for the treatment is too short to generalize the effectiveness of the applied teaching techniques
Basing on the findings and the limitations of this study, I would like to continue the study with the following topics:
- Strategies to maximize students‟ involvement in language learning
- Increasing the effectiveness of collaborative work in speaking lessons
- Personalizing oral activities to increase students‟ participation
In order to pilot the effectiveness of the study, the further research should be implemented by an experimental or an action research
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APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS
This survey questionnaire is designed for the study of factors affecting the participation in speaking activities for 10 th grade students at Doson High School Your assistance in completing the following items is of highly appreciated All the information provided by you is of great use and solely for the study purpose Thank you!
* Please circle the appropriate choice(s) in answering each of the following questions
1 How do you evaluate your English speaking ability?
A very good B good C OK D bad
2 How often do you participate in speaking activities in the class?
3 How is English speaking skill important to you?
A very important B important C little important D not important
4 What do you think about speaking activities in the class?
A very interesting B interesting C All right D not interesting
5 Tick your appropriate choice (Learning style, Motivation, Anxiety, Language level)
1 I prefer doing exercise to speaking in the classroom
2 I enjoy practising English at home by myself
3 I always take every opportunities to speak English
4 I only speak English when the teacher calls me
5 I like speaking English as it helps me improve my fluency and pronunciation
6 I often participate in speaking activities in order to have good communication in the future
7 I‟m afraid of making mistakes when speaking English
8 I want to speak English but I don‟t know enough vocabulary
9 I often feel nervous when I have to speak in front of the class
10 I don‟t have a lot of chances to speak as better students are always the first to give their ideas
6 How often do you feel reluctant to speak in the class?
7 How do you find the speaking topics in the textbook TIENG ANH 10?
A very interesting B interesting C All right D.not interesting
8 What do you think about the teacher’s talking time?
A too much B much C all right D too little
9 How does your teacher encourage you to speak?
10 How do you evaluate your speaking lessons?
A All students are very active
C Students feel happy and willing to speak
D Most students are reluctant to speak
11 Which factors affecting your participation in speaking activities? a Teacher‟s inappropriate teaching methodology b Boring topics and activities c Students‟ lack of motivation d Students‟ low level of English proficiency e Large class sizes f Others: (please specify)………
12 What should teachers do to increase students’ participation in speaking lessons? a Use various communicative activities b Create a co – operative English learning environment c Combine textbooks with other relevant sources of materials for suitable adaption d Encourage students to speak by giving evaluation (comments, feedback and marks) e Personalize topics and tasks to be suitable for students‟ interests f Others (please specify):………
This survey questionnaire is designed for the study of factors affecting the participation in speaking activities for 10 th grade students at Doson High School Your assistance in completing the following items is highly appreciated All the information provided by you is of great use and solely for the study purpose Thank you!
* Please circle the appropriate choice(s) in answering each of the following questions
1 How important do you think speaking skill is to your students? a very important b important c not very important d not important at all
2.How much do you like teaching speaking skill? a very much b so so c not very much d not at all
3 What do you think about students’ participation in your speaking class? a high level of participation c low level of participation b average level of participation d no participation
4 Give your opinions about CLT
2 CLT emphasizes on accuracy more than fluency
3 CLT gives students opportunities to communicate with others
4 Teachers always create good language atmosphere to interest students to learn
5 What teaching methods are currently being applied in your speaking lesson? a Grammar – Translation method b Audio – Lingual method c Communicative Approach d Combination of different methods
6 What are the problems you are facing in teaching speaking skill? a Students‟ reluctance to speak English b Students‟ lack of motivation c Students‟ uneven participation d Students‟ low English proficiency
7 How often do you use pair work and group work? a very often b often c sometimes d never
8 What do you think of your talking time in class? a too much b a little much c all right d too little
9 How often do you use the following activities in speaking lessons?
Very often Often Sometimes Never 1.Questions and answers
10 How is the relationship between you and your students? a very good b good c all right d not very good
11 What do you think about speaking topics and tasks in textbook Tieng Anh 10? a very interesting b interesting c all right d boring
12 According to you, what are factors affecting students’ participation in speaking lessons? a Teacher‟s inappropriate teaching methodology b Boring topics and activities c Students‟ lack of motivation d Students‟ low level of English proficiency e Large class sizes f Others: (please specify)………
13 What should teachers do to increase students’ participation in speaking lessons? a Use various communicative activities b Create a co – operative English learning environment c Combine textbooks with other relevant sources of materials for suitable adaption d Encourage students to speak by giving evaluation (comments, feedback and marks) e Personalize topics and tasks to be suitable for students‟ interests f Others (please specify):………
APPENDIX 3: PRE – TREATMENT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
1 Do you think that speaking skill is very important? Why?
2 How often do you participate in English speaking activities?
3 Do you like speaking activities in you class?
4 What do you think about the speaking topics in the textbook Tieng Anh 10?
5 Are you afraid of making mistakes when speaking in the class?
6 Do you feel reluctant in speaking English in the class? Why?
7 Do you have a lot of opportunities to speak in the class?
8 What activities does your teacher often use in your speaking lessons? (Interview, role – play, pair work, group work, discussion, report, story – telling, dialogue completion, games…) Which activities do you prefer?
9 Does your teacher often encourage you to speak English?
10 Is your teacher helpful, enthusiastic and tolerant?
11 Do you have enough time to do speaking tasks in the class?
12 Can you name some factors affecting your participation in speaking activities?
Which is the decisive factor?
13 What should your teacher do to increase your speaking involvement?
APPENDIX 4: POST – TREATMENT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
1 How often do you participate in English speaking activities in recent lessons?
2 Do you like speaking activities applied in you class? Why?
3 What do you think about the teaching material?
4 Are you satisfied with your teacher‟s teaching technique?
5 Do you feel reluctant in speaking English in the class? Why?
6 Do you have a lot of opportunities to speak in the class?
7 Does your teacher often encourage you to speak English?
8 Do you have enough time to do speaking tasks in the class?
9 What are the roles of your teacher in recent speaking lessons?
10 What are the effects of using these techniques and activities?
11 Do you have any suggestions to make these techniques and activities more effective?
1 Students‟ level of participation in speaking activities Very low 1 2 3 4 5 Very high
2 Students‟ interation with the teacher and other partners Very bad 1 2 3 4 5 Very good
3 Students‟ attitudes towards speaking activites Not interested 1 2 3 4 5 Very interested
4 Teacher‟s teaching techniques & apeaking activities Not appropriate 1 2 3 4 5 Very appropriate
5 Classroom learning atmosphere Not active 1 2 3 4 5 Very active