INTRODUCTION
Rationale of the study
People around the world communicate through many ways such as body language, verbal language, signals and gestures Among them, verbal language plays the most important role in communication For that reason, communication skills in which speaking skill is a big part of learning any language because “of the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), speaking seems intuitively the most important” (Ur, 2000: 120) It is the fact that students and teachers pay more attention to other 3 skills (writing, reading, and listening) than speaking skill due to the necessary of high school graduation exam Students usually learn English as a compulsory subject to pass the final tests which mainly include grammar and vocabulary Therefore, when they continue to study at colleges or universities, learning speaking skill is a big challenge to them
Being an English teacher for 5 years, I find most of my students have problems in speaking lessons They easily become speechless in their oral performance or they are reluctant to speak in English although they may be good at other skills It is not a surprise as “the quality of learning engagement in the classroom does not depend on students‟ cognitive abilities alone, but is also influenced by complex motivational and effective factors.”(Kubanyiova, 2006)
As far as we know, in learning a Foreign Language, students will learn more effectively if they learn in a fun, relaxed learning environment and have more opportunities to communicate in the context of the real world Therefore, the use of language games in Foreign Languages teaching is one of the most effective ways to increase student learning, one of the determinants of success in learning a Foreign Language At the same time, they help and motivate students to maintain their learning and excitement with learning In addition, they help teachers create contexts in which practical language is useful and understandable to learners
Learners want to participate in the game, they have to understand what other people are saying or writing, and they have to say or write things to express their own views or to present information to help others understand Language games can be used to develop all four skills for students: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing However, in schools in Vietnam, the skill that students find the most difficult is speaking skill This is the reason why the researcher only mentions the effect of language games on the teaching and learning of English speaking skills in this study From there the researcher decides to choose the topic: The Effects of Applying Language Games in Motivating Non-major English First Year Students in Speaking Lessons: A Study at a College in Bac Ninh Province.
The aims of the study
The study aims at improving students‟ motivation in speaking lessons at Viet Nhat College of Foreign Languages and Technology through using language games
To attain this aim, the following objectives need to be accomplished in the research:
- revealing factors that discourage students from taking part in speaking lessons and the factors that bring their low motivation in speaking class, and
- examining language games applied during speaking classes to enhance the students‟ participation and interest in speaking activities and measuring the effectiveness of language games by using action research.
Research question
With the current situation of teaching and learning of English speaking skills at Viet Nhat College of Foreign Languages and Technology and after studying the principles of applying language games, the researcher would like to have an action research aiming at finding the answer to the following question:
How effective are language games in increasing students’ motivation in speaking lessons?
Significance of the study
The study is conducted with the expectation that the findings will help teachers at Viet Nhat college clearly acknowledge the significance of speaking skill and how language games impact on their students‟ speaking so that they spend more time and effort making speaking lessons in classroom more useful Besides, students can find suitable strategies to improve their speaking skills
- Theoretical significance: The study is intended to help English language teachers understand better the effects of using games to motivate students in speaking lessons It is also intended to give some recommendation to help to take advantage of language games successfully in all phases of teaching speaking
- Practical implications: The study provides language teachers and language learners many types of language games used at every stage of the Lifeline – Elementary textbook.
Scope of the study
This study is conducted at Viet Nhat College of Foreign Languages and Technology, in Que Vo district, Bac Ninh province It limits itself to the findings of using language games in enhancing motivation of oral performance
The participants are 52 non major English first years students from 2 classes Korean 1 and Chinese 1 because it is assumed that they are unfamiliar to the new learning environment and new teachers after they finish high schools period
Therefore, it would be very helpful for both students and teachers in learning and teaching speaking if the study could identify the adverse effective degree of language games on speaking skill.
Methods of the study
To carry out this study, the researcher uses the quantitative method in which the questionnaire surveys, pre-test, post-test and class observation are used as the instruments for data collection.The questionnaire surveys consist of multiple choice questions and open-end questions delivered to 52 students in classes Korean 1 and Chinese 1 at Viet Nhat College of Foreign Languages and Technology Besides, class observation is also applied to help researcher to get more information about the change of students „motivation during the application of language games.
Design of the thesis
There are five chapters in this study They are presented as follows:
Chapter 1: Introduction – presents the rationale for choosing the topic, the aims, the significance, scope of the study, and the research questions
Chapter 2: Literature review – provides concepts relevant to the study such as theoretical background of speaking, language games and motivation
Furthermore, the findings of the previous studies are also mentioned in this chapter
Chapter 3: Methodology –presents the subjects of the study and research instruments with the aims to collect data Specifically, questionnaire and class observations are used as the tools to collect data
Chapter 4: Results and Discussion – presents data analysis and discusses the results obtained from the data In addition, some strategies for students and teachers to apply effectively language games in speaking classes are also discussed in this chapter
Chapter 5: Conclusion – recapitulates what has been studied, points out limitations of the study and makes some suggestions for further research.
LITERATURE REVIEW
General issues
Among four language skills, speaking is a very important skill for any students in studying English According to the Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English (2009) “Speaking is the action of conveying information or expressing one‟s thoughts and feelings in spoken language And speaking used to indicate the degree of accuracy intended in a statement or the point of view from which it is made.” In the book “Collins Cobuild English for Advanced Learner”, 4 th edition, published in 2007, speaking is definedas “activities of giving speeches and talks, to indicate the opinion you are giving”
According to Burns & Joyce (1997) and Brown (1994), speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and processing information In other words, it is the action of passing on information or expressing one‟s thoughts and feelings as speaking involves two skills: oral interaction and oral presentation In addition, “speaking is the ability to pronounce articulation of sounds or words for expressing, starting and conveying thought, ideas, and feelings”
(Tarigan, 1990: 15) We can see the complexity of speaking although it only uses language by producing ordinary sound, not rhythm as singing production Learners who want to master speaking skill should do well on vocabularies, pronunciation, grammar and fluency It is undeniable that all components mentioned above must be achieved by learners In brief, speaking is considered a really crucial tool for human social control
In social contexts, social roles are likely to be taken by those who learn and know how to speak, but not by those who do not have this skill In language learning, speaking plays an utmost important role among the four language skills (listening, reading, speaking, and writing) since it helps to identify who knows or does not know a language Pattison (1992) confirms that when people mention knowing or learning a language, they actually mean that they are able to speak the language It cannot be denied that speaking deserves as much more attention than written skills In order to carryout many of the most basic transactions, it is necessary for learners to speak with confidence
Byrne (1988) distinguishes three following phrases to develop learners‟ oral ability: the presentation phrase, the practice phrase and the production phrase
In presentation phrase, teachers are the center of learning and teaching activities
They work as an information provider What students usually do in this phrase is to observe and listen to the teacher, i.e they passively receive information
Normally, they are only asked to practice (role-play) and dramatize a dialogue or to talk about what they have to learn from a prose based on the previous answers at the end of this phrase
Unlike the presentation phrase, at practice phrase learners have to do most of talking as they are provided maximum amount of practice in the form of controlled and guided activities to improve vocabulary and grammar knowledge as well as fluency of speaking The learners, at this phrase, answer the teacher‟s guided questions, discuss with their partners to find new ideas related to the topic At the end of the practice phrase, Ur (1996) suggested what the teacher should do is to enhance the learners‟ fluency of speaking First, attention must be fully paid by the learners Secondly, the target language must be clearly heard or repeated Thirdly, learners understand the meaning of new materials and finally, short-term memory of the material must be created for later use in the lesson
In the last phrase of learning speaking, the production phase, learners are given chances to speak English freely Being in a real situation, learners use English by themselves without depending on the teacher‟s help Free activities are also in the form of individual work, pair work or group work However, pair work and group work are of great importance and effectiveness as all learners can have chance to participate in talks, and they seem more confident and more motivated
Moreover, this can save a great deal of time In the process of teaching speaking, improvement of the speaking ability will be gained if these three phrases are followed orderly However, they might not be applied as expected because of the time limitation, types of learners and materials in use, etc
2.1.4 Characteristics of a successful speaking activity
There are many characteristics of a successful speaking activity which are introduced by Ur (1996) as follows:
- Learners talk a lot: As much as possible of the period time allotted to the activity is in fact occupied by learner talk This may seem obvious, but often most time is taken up with the teacher and talk and pauses
- 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
In practice, however, few classroom activities succeed in satisfying all the criteria mentioned above Therefore, language teachers should make great efforts to employ a variety of effective techniques to create some of the mentioned-above criteria
According to Ur (1996), there still exist some problems with speaking activities as follows:
- Inhibition: Unlike reading, writing and listening activities, 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 time talking This problem is compounded by the tendency of some learners to dominate, while others speak very little or not at all
- 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
METHODOLOGY
Description of the context of the research
3.1.1 An overview of Viet Nhat College of Foreign Languages and Technology
Viet Nhat College of Foreign Languages and Technology is located in QueVo district, a countryside area near Bac Ninh city The college has 39 classes with 1052 students ranged from first year students to third year students The teaching staff composes 42 teachers with 32 compulsory subjects, of whom five are teachers of English Their English teaching experiences range from 3 years to
3.1.2 The teaching program and materials
At Viet Nhat College, General English is one of the compulsory subjects in the curriculum The syllabus and the textbooks for General English including
Lifelines –Elementary” and Lifelines – Pre-intermediate by Tom Hutchinson are suggested by the Ministry of Education and Training
Lifelines – Elementary is the current text book used for teaching and learning
General English for first year students General English curriculum for first year student is divided into two semesters with a total of 150 periods, 5 periods per week Each period is 50 minutes long
The textbooks are designed under theme-based approach with 24 topics corresponding with 24 units Each unit is about a theme which includes 5 parts arranged as follows: Grammar, Vocabulary, Reading and Writing, Listening and Speaking, and pronunciation Speaking part is sparsely presented in each unit and the teachers at the college don‟t give much attention to teach speaking through language games
3.1.3 Current situation of teaching and learning speaking skills at Viet Nhat College of Foreign Languages and Technology
It is said that students and teachers in high school pay more attention to other
3 skills (writing, reading, and listening) than speaking skill due to the requirement of high school graduation exam Students usually learn English as a compulsory subject to pass the final tests in which focus mainly on grammar and vocabulary
Therefore, when they continue to study at colleges or universities, learning speaking skill is a big challenge to them Therefore, most teachers find themselves unable to implement efficiently their tasks Besides, it impossible to carry out individual checks which is essential for evaluating and adjusting their teaching methods and materials To make matters worse, the levels of proficiency of the students are mixed while it is extremely difficult for the teacher to carryout so many teaching plans simultaneously Most students enrolled Viet Nhat College of Languages and Technology with relatively poor knowledge of English since it is neither their major nor a requirement for university entrance exam This made them more demotivated and disinterested in English in general and in improving their speaking skills in particular.
Action research
3.2.1 What is an action research?
Mills (2003) defines action research as “any systematic inquiry conducted by teacher researchers to gather information about the ways that their particular schools operate how they teach and how their students learn The information is gathered with the goal of gaining insight, developing reflective practice, effecting positive changes in the school environment and on educational practies in generals, and improveing student outcomes”
According to Kemmis and Mc Taggart (1988), there are three characteristics of an action research, they are: carried out by practitioners, collaborative and aimed at changing things Action research is also for teacher professional development The teacher will become a better teacher because he/she knows how to find out and solve his/her problems in teaching scientifically on his/her own
3.2.2 Rationale for the use of an action research
Action research helps teachers focus on one aspect of their practice they would like to improve Specific questions and a finite time period bind each interaction This ensures natural pauses for reflection and planning The aim of action research is changing things for better This research was conducted by me, a teacher of English
During 6 weeks of the first semester of school year 2018-2019 The researcher recognized a real problem in her speaking class that most of the students in her class were not interested in the lesson and involuntarily joined speaking activities Most of them had a poor speaking performance This research was conducted with a hope that language games could stimulate students‟ speaking performance and encouraged the students to raise their voice more during speaking lessons through language games
This research was carried out in the real context of my classroom which aimed at professional development through changing my methods of teaching to increase students „motivation and English performance
To carry out this study, an action research is chosen by the researcher This action research is implemented basing on the 7 steps proposed by Nunan (1992) as follows:
Step 1 Problem identification–identifying the problems (week 1 and week 2):
The researcher asked the students do the pre-test to know the result of speaking ability of students From the pre-test result and her own experience as a teacher of English at Viet Nhat College of Languages and Technology for 5 years, the researcher has found the scores are very low and she has found a common problem of all speaking classes It is impossible to teach speaking skills to the students who are not interested in speaking and likely to sit silent until the end of the lessons
Therefore, the assessment is not correct and cannot motivate both the active and the
Step 2 Preliminary investigation –collecting data through a variety of means (week 3 and week 4): The researcher gave students pre-task survey questionnaire to find out the causes of low participation and motivation, what teaching method is most likely to suit them After defining the difficulties encountered when students join speaking classes, which are low, uneven participation among group members and poor cooperation, she then introduced the language games to solve these problems
Step 3 Hypothesis –developing research questions: The researcher conducted classroom observation and had some discussion with students about the reasons for ineffective learning of speaking in order to form the hypothesis of the study basing on the initial data collected: applying language games in motivating non-major English first year students in speaking lessons The research questions then were set up, followed by the theoretical background for the study
Step 4 Intervention – devising strategies and innovation to be implemented (From week 5 to week 10): Based on the analysis of the data collected from Questionnaire 1, the researcher wrote the lesson plans and prepared for plan implementation Speaking lesson plans for unit 5 (lesson 3), 6(lesson 4),7(lesson 5),8(lesson 6),9(lesson 7), and 10(lesson 8) were designed In these speaking lessons, language games were used as a main technique to motivate the students to speak
Sample games used in teaching speaking
A warm-up activity is often a short and fun game which the teacher can use with his students The purpose of warm-up activities is to stimulate the student‟s minds before studying a new lesson Warm-ups should last about three to five minutes
Type of games: Matching games Classroom management: Group work Material: Pictures and card Time: 5 minutes
The teacher divides the class into groups of four or five students The teacher gives each group a set of pictures of leisure activities and cards containing the names of the leisure activities Students work in groups and quickly match each leisure activities with their name Which group finishes first and has the correct answers will be the winner Then the teacher asks students: Do you like taking part in leisure activities like these? Which leisure activities do you like to do?
Card 1: go swimming Card 2: go fishing Card 3: play cards Card 4: listen to music Card 4: go out with friends Card 5: go skating
Card 6: go shopping Card 7: surf on the Internet Card 8: sleep
Card 9: reading books Card 10: watch films on YouTube
Type of games: Sorting, ordering or arranging games Material: energy posters and hand out
Class management: Pair work Time: 5 minutes
The teacher asks students to work in pairs Teacher sticks the following posters on the blackboard or alternatively print these posters and distribute them to students Teacher then gives the handouts to the pairs and asks students to match the daily activities with the correct picture
This stage is carried out before students speak The pre-speaking activities are aimed at preparing students with everything necessary for speaking They also involve thought and reflection, and provide opportunities for students to plan and organize for speaking Normally, pre-speaking stage often lasts from five to fifteen minutes depending on each lesson
Type of games: Labeling game Class management: Whole class Material: Picture Time: 5 minutes
The teacher prepares a set of pictures of rooms such as: Living room, Bedroom, Bathroom, Kitchen and ask students to match the pictures with the name of cards
And then let them tell about the rooms in the house
What do you often do at the living room/bedroom/bathroom/kitchen?
What do you have in your living room/bedroom/bathroom/kitchen?
Type of games: Guessing games Class management: Group work Material: Pens, paper Time: 5-7 minutes
Teacher divides students into two groups: A and B and then teacher tells the rule of the game: One member from each group will go and stand in front of the class with their backs facing the board Teacher will write a word/ expression which describes an action and was learnt from the previous lesson on the board Other students from each group have to explain the word by using their actions, face expressions, and sounds so that their representative can guess the word The student with the quickest and correct answer will get 1 point for their group Students take turn to be the representative After some turns, the group with more points will be
This stage is the main part of a speaking lesson in which students use language input provided in pre-speaking stage to express personal feelings, ideas, or viewpoints, to converse and discuss or to describe one event, to tell a story, etc.…Time spent on this stage is nearly twenty to thirty minutes
Type of games: Role-play Class management: Group work Material: handouts Time 15 minutes
Description of the research
This action research is carried out in two classes of first-year students The participants are 52 non-major English first years students from 2 classes Korean 1 and Chinese 1 because it is assumed they are unfamiliar to the new learning environment and new teachers after they finish high schools period Therefore, it would be very helpful for both students and teachers in learning and teaching speaking if the study could identify the adverse effective degree of language games on speaking skill
The participants have 2 English classes a week, one lasts for 3 periods and the other, last for 2 periods The textbook for their first course of general English is Lifelines –
The researcher uses the quantitative method in which the questionnaire surveys, class observation, pre-test and post-test are used as the instruments of data collection.The questionnaire surveys consist of multiple-choice questions and open- end questions delivered to 52 students in classes Korean 1 and Chinese 1 at Viet Nhat College of Foreign Languages and Technology Besides, class observation is also applied to help researcher to get more information about the change of students
„motivation during the application of language games
- Questionnaires: To collect more truthful and reliable data for analysis, the researcher also handed out survey questionnaires to the students at the end of the semester after series of language games structured speaking lessons were conducted The questionnaires were made to survey the students‟ preference towards the language games This is a less time-consuming tool yet effective and reliable as the students were not asked to enter their names
+ Pre-intervention survey questionnaire (see Appendix1): was conducted at the first week of the research with 52 students The researcher used questionnaire to investigate students‟ attitude towards speaking skill, students‟ motivation, learning styles, anxiety in speaking lessons, students‟ reasons for learning English and factors make students involuntary to speak English in the classroom The result from the questionnaire could help the researcher identify possible reasons for students‟ low motivation and participation in speaking classes
+ Post-intervention survey questionnaire(see Appendix2)
The researcher use questionnaire with the hope of finding out students‟ attitude towards speaking skill and their evaluation of teaching methods after 6 weeks of applying language games in speaking class, students‟ evaluation on how appropriate the language games are students‟ level of participation in recent speaking lessons and students‟ evaluation of the effectiveness of language games
Before having students fill in the questionnaires, the researcher spent 15 minutes to guide them to answer as well as explaining difficult terms By doing this, the researcher could be sure that the students could fully understand the questions
- Class observation (see Appendix 3): Class observation is another method to collect data for the research The observation was conducted in class Korean 1 and Chinese 1 in the first semester of the school year 2018-2019
The observational record is frequently referred to as field notes - detailed, non-judgmental, concrete descriptions of what has been observed The observation form used to measure the students‟ participation and their on-task behaviour in the group was developed by Peacock (1997) The observation was entirely conducted by the researcher herself (in each lesson observed, the researcher observed all 6 tables in the classroom) The researcher prepared clearly observation sheet in which the purposes of the research and data interpretation keys are mentioned
Observations were conducted before and after the intervention The researcher would compare and analyze the data from the observation sheets to show the difference between pre-treatment and post-treatment This helped the researcher draw the conclusion about how much the student improve their speaking skill and increase learning motivation in speaking class
- Pre-test and post-test: For the purpose of comparison, the students‟ individual scores in pre-speaking tests were noted down before implementing language games Post-speaking tests were taken after the intervention period The purpose of pre-test and post-test were as follows:
+ Pre- test is used to establish a base of the subjects‟ speaking which was used as a covariance in the statistical analysis of post-test result
+ Post- test is used to detect whether the first cohort maintain any gains or even continued to make progress, or whether there was any tendency for their gains to wash out, also to see whether the second cohort made gains similar to those of experimental The post-test scores were then compared with the pre-test scores to identify the statistically significant difference, if any, for the acceptance or rejection of the research hypothesis
+ Pre-test and Post- test samples :
The researcher delivered some small pieces of paper in which the number of speaking card is written Students give the answer according to the questions written on that card For example:
Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as: Can you play a musical instrument?
Do you play any sports?
Part III: Topic Talk about the person you like most in your family
Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as: What do you do in your spare time? What are you good at?
Part III: Topic Talk about your hobbies
The data collected from the classroom observation was analyzed to find out the frequency of participation of each student in every activity
The second observation sheet which consists of a series of interaction categories aiming at recording the nature of participation and motivation during language games application, the questionnaires were analyzed qualitatively These sources of data showed the improvement in speaking skills the students made when playing language games
The changes towards greater participation and motivation of the students can be easily seen in the tables which were made from the collected observation forms of activities
The students‟ reflection on language games speaking lessons were studied and categorized to serve the purpose of answering the research questions which are the student‟s participation and motivation, the improvement in speaking skills they made with the application of language games.
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Data collected from preliminary investigation stage- Questionnaire 1
4.1.1 Students’ attitude towards the speaking skill and the causes of students’ low motivation in speaking classes
Table 1: Students’ attitude towards speaking skill
1 How significant is English speaking skill to you?
2 How often are you reluctant to speak English in the classroom?
D I only speak when the teacher tell me to do this 9.6
The information about students „attitude towards speaking skill can be found in Table 1 As can be seen 80.6% of the students claim that speaking skill is important to them while 19.2% think that speaking skill is slightly important It is clearly seen that students have high attitude towards speaking skill
Nevertheless, most of them feel reluctant to speak English in class 90.4% of the students always feel unwilling to speak English in class Among these students,
18 students constantly are always reluctant to speak, 19 students frequently feel unwilling and 10 students occasionally are reluctant to speak Only 5 students said that they spoke whenever the teacher tells them to do so From these figures, it is true that the frequency of student‟s unwillingness in speaking class is very high
It can be concluded that most of the students consider English speaking is very important
Nonetheless, very few of the students are willing to participate in speaking activities in class The reasons for this situation should be found and the answer to this question lies on questions 3, 4 and 5 in Questionnaire 1
Table 2: Students’ motivation, learning styles, anxiety in speaking lessons
Question 3 3 What are you likely to do in English speaking class?
(You can choose more than one response)
A Keeping silent all the time 23.1
C Volunteering to answer as much as possible 7.7
D Knowing the answer but too shy to volunteer 55.8
E Speaking something when the teacher asks me 73.1
G Speaking when you feel like 61.5
I Speaking to enhance my communication skill 21.1 When asked to talk about what students are likely to do in a speaking lesson, 23.1% said that they kept silent all the time so as not to disturb the others Most of the students (76.9 and 73.1%) claimed that they only answered the simple questions and only spoke when being asked by the teacher 29(55.8%) out of 52 students admitted that they know the answer, but they were too shy to volunteer 30 students used mother tongue in speaking lessons The lowest percentage of the respondents (7.7%) was seen volunteer to speak as much as possible, while 67.3% said that they wanted to enhance their communication skill through speaking activities These figures show that the students‟ poor motivation, passive learning, and anxiety make a big influence on speaking outcome
Question 4 What are your reasons for learning English speaking?
Chart 1: Students’ reasons for learning English
A English is essential for my future career
B It is obligatory to study English speaking at our school
C I find it interesting to learn speaking English
D I want to communicate in English
In question 4, only 14 out of 52 students stated that they liked English speaking skill, 14 students wanted to be able to communicate in English, 31 students thought that English speaking is necessary for their future career, whereas
32 students admitted that they learn English because it is obligatory at schools.To sum up, several students see the necessity of English for their future work, yet most of them studied just because of the compulsory of the subject
Question 5 What factors make you unvoluntary to speak English in the classroom ?
Chart 2: Factors that make students involuntary to speak English in the classroom
A Being not interested in English speaking
B Learning target is for tests (not for communication)
C Being afraid of losing face with my classmates
E Not receiving enough enthusiasm from the teacher in English speaking class
F Not having anything to say
G Having stressful atmosphere in speaking lessons
J There is nothing that stimulates me to speak
To find out the factors causing the students‟ low motivation, the researcher gave out the question What factors make you involuntary to speak English in the classroom? A great number of students claimed that they found nothing to stimulate them to speak (35 students), had stressful atmosphere in speaking lessons
(34 students), were shy (32 students) and received boring teaching methods (30 students) Other factors raised by 5,24, 25 and 20 students were being not interested in English speaking, learning target is for tests (not for communication), learning afraid of losing face with my classmates and lacking of vocabulary respectively
Only 3 students criticized their students for not giving enough enthusiasm, and 15 students expressed that they had nothing to say in English speaking lessons
The findings in Questionnaire 1 reveal a lot of useful facts relating to the students‟ motivation First, most of them learned English speaking because this skill will be tested at the end of the semester More than half of them clearly believe in the importance of English speaking to them, but they are still hesitated to join speaking activities The main causes are: having nothing to stimulate the students to speak, stressful atmosphere in speaking lessons and boring teaching methods These findings are very important because it would assist the researcher build the hypothesis of using language games to motivate students in speaking lessons and decide on the intervention afterward.
Intervention
The intervention was conducted with the target of testing the hypothesis mentioned above, then comes to an answer to the question:
- How effective are language games in increasing students’ motivation in speaking lessons?
Data from the intervention stage
The use of language games was observed with observation sheet (Appendix3) to assess the overall motivation and the students‟ participation The students‟opinions about the implementation of using language games were collected through Questionnaire 2
4.3.1 Data collected from observation sheet
Observation sheet looks at overall class motivation The data can be seen in Chart 3 and Appendix 3 and Appendix 4
Chart 3: Observation sheet that looks at overall class motivation
This result shows that the students were highly involved in the lessons They were enjoyed the lessons a lot and felt the activites interesting It can be seen that the students paid more attention to the speaking activities and the level of their concentration on the task was high The utmost important is the teacher‟s organization of the speaking activities was suitable for them
Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5 Lesson 6 Lesson 7 Lesson 8
4.3.2 Data collected from the questionaire 2
After observing the implementation of using information gap activities, the researcher gave survey questionnaire 2 for 52 students with the questions about their attitudes toward the language games and the effectiveness of the language game when being experimented in class
Question 1 : Are the games easy to apply?
Chart 4: Students’ evaluation on how easy the language games are
The pie chart shows that 78.9 % of the students found it easy to apply and 15.4% felt not very easy Only 5.7 of the students found it difficult when implement the games It is clear that students understood how to implement the activities The information from the handouts has good effects on students and working in pairs so that students can help each other to do the tasks
Question 2: Are the games appropriate to your level?
Chart 5: Students’s evaluation on how appropriate the language games are
Very difficult Difficult Not very easy Easy
Rather appropriate appropriate Very appropriate
It is easily seen that there is 96.2% of the students found that the language games are suitable in comparison with the students‟ level This contributed motivation to help students speak in the class
Question3 Do you like language games given by your teacher during the speaking lessons?
Chart 6: Students’ feeling on how much they like the language games
When being asked whether the students like the games given by the teacher or not, 57% of the students answered that they liked the games very much, 32.8% felt that the games are ok Only 9.5% didn‟t raise their voices Surprisingly, no one had a negative impression about the games This fact brings a lot of pleasure and excitement to the researcher
Question 4 What do you do during language games application?
Chart 7: Students’ level of participation in recent speaking lessons
I like them very much They are Ok
I don’t like them at all
Involve the games only when being asked
Taking part in the games only when feeling interested
Do not join the games
From these figures, the percentage of students actively joined the games is 76.9 while 15.4% involved the games only when being asked and 7.7% took part in the games only when feeling interested The games are so interesting that no one refused to take part in
Question 5 How do you feel after playing the games?
Chart 8: Students’ feeling after playing the games
These facts bring a lot of encouragement to the researcher She is really happy when finding that 77% of the students feel motivated in speaking lessons after they join in the games The others who can‟t find motivation during the games feel relaxed (19.2%) Only 3.8% of the students give no idea
Question 6 How motivating do language games bring to you?
Chart 9: Students’ level of motivation in recent speaking lessons
Not motivating Slightly motivating Rather motivating Very motivating
This chart is easily understood after the researcher collects the result in question number 6
35 out of 52 students feel very motivated, they are ready to join any other activities during the lessons The students who find the games rather motivating and slightly motivating is 12 and 5 respectively The researcher can‟t find anyone who is not motivated after the games This is a big success to the researcher
Question 7 In your opinion, is the use of language games to motivate students in speaking lessons effective?
Chart 10: Students’ evaluation of the effectiveness of language games
Although no student feels unmotivated after the game, there is still 3.9% of them said that the use of language games in the speaking lesson is ineffective
Question 8 What are the benefits of language games to your speaking skill?
Chart 11: Students’ ideas on the benefits of language games
Language games reduce my anxiety and shyness during the lessons
Language games bring me more chance to speak
Language games make speaking lesson less difficult
Language games make speaking lessons more enjoyable and fun
This chart shows that 52 students think that language games make speaking lessons more enjoyable and fun The number of students who think that language games reduce their anxiety and shyness during the lesson is a bit less than the first one, 48 students The group who thinks that language games bring their more chance to speak ranks the third in the chart with the number of 40 The modest group with the number of 20 students belongs to the one marking that language games make speaking lesson less difficult
Question 9 The use of language games in speaking lessons is not effective, what do you think the reasons are? (Please specify some)
There are 2 students said that they found the use of language games in speaking lessons is not effective The first student stated that he/she didn‟t like to take part in any games just because he/she prefered to sit at his/her table The second student stated that language games should only be applied to learn vocabulary, not to learn speaking skill
Question 10 What stage(s) the teacher should apply the language games?
Chart 12: Students’ desires on what stages language games should be applied
Warm ups Pre-speaking While- speaking Post- speaking
It is clearly seen that 67.3% of the students wish to take part in the games at the beginning of the lessons The number of other four groups who would like to play the games at the pre-speaking, while-speaking, post-speaking and any stage are not much different from one another accounting for 11.5%, 7.7%, 9.7% and 3.8% respectively
Question 11 What should the teacher do to make the application of language games more effective?
Chart 13: Students’ suggestions on What the teacher should do to make the application of language games more effective
A Teachers should explain and give a demonstration of what to do to students clearly and understandably
B Teachers should make use of a variety of language games
C Teachers should exploit the language games which are suitable for students’ level
When asked about giving advice on how to make the application of language games more effective, 52 students (100%) claimed that teachers should explain and give a demonstration of what to do to students clearly and understandably.50 students thought that teachers should make use of a variety of language games and the other group (40 students) required the teacher to exploit the language games
A B C D which are suitable for students‟ level
Question 12 How often do you wish to take part in language games?
Chart 14: Students’ desire on how often they join the language games
The pie chart shows that 61.6% of the students always wish to be involved in the games, while 23.1% of them want to often take part in the games The number of students who sometimes join in the games is 6 accounting 11.5% There are only 2 students whose wishing are never taking part in the games, accounting 3.8%
4.3.3 Data collected from the tests 4.3.3.1 Data from the pre-test
The researcher carried out the pre-test at the start of the first semester The participants are 24 students from class Korea 1 and 28 students from class Chinese
1 who had the same test designed by the researcher The result was stated in the following table
Students of class Korea 1 Result of pre-tests Students of class
Chinese 1 Result of pre-tests
From the data in the table, it is clear that the average score of students from class Korea 1 is 132/24= 5.5 while the number for Class Chinese 1 is 155/28=5.54.The results show that the speaking skill of two classes in the pre-tests are almost the same and not high
3.3.3.2 Data from the post-test
CONCLUSION
Main findings
The research was carried out in class Korea 1 and Chinese 1 at Viet Nhat College of Languages and Technology The results show that the applying of language games really help to increase students „participation and motivation in speaking task Following are major findings:
In the first place, most of the students in speaking classes like to take part in language games When participating in class games, students have a natural incentive to review what they have learned, to gain new knowledge excitedly When playing the game they feel relaxed, and the actual acquisition takes place, and learners use the languages they have learned and practiced before When the games are given by the teacher, they are willing and eager to play This fact indicates that language games reassure the feasibility of using language games as a motivator in speaking classes
Secondly, when the researcher compares the data collected from pre-task survey questionnaire and post-task survey questionnaire, she found that the number of student who are willing to join the speaking classes are surely more interesting and enjoyable with the use of language games The game creates a fun learning environment, increasing students‟ interest in learning, making them always ready to participate in class time In this case, language games play a part as an inspirer to attract students to speak
Thirdly, language games can help promote students‟ cooperation Many games require students to work in pairs, in groups or require the participation of the whole class to work together to fulfill the requirements of the game, and to score as many points as possible Games require students to collaborate with each other while playing, discussing, and using language in a variety of situations depending on the type of game held In addition, the game also provides opportunities for students to communicate with each other, even timid, lacking confidence students are attracted to this type of activity Those who are inferior are helped by the better students in the group to become more confident and able to express their opinions boldly.The game gives students more opportunities to be more proactive and autonomous, so they can master themselves in communication activities
This obviously promotes opportunities for communication among students and then improves students‟ speaking skill
Fourthly, it is cleared that language games gain a great deal of benefits to the users It is easy to find in the analysis that language games are not only used for relaxing purpose but also for teaching target Language games are enjoyable and fun, so they can help students erase boredom and bring them the pleasure to speak English Language games also make speaking activities less difficult and challenging; therefore, they can help students regain interest in speaking Moreover, language games can minimize students‟ shyness and anxiety and help them become more confident in speaking English Furthermore, language games give students chances to practise their speaking skill With these effective points, there is no doubt that language games can be used to increase students‟ motivation in speaking classes
To sum up, those findings reveal the fact language games can be used as an effective teaching technique which motivate students in speaking classes The positive factors achieved after carrying out the study reassures that these games can raise students‟ motivation in speaking lessons for the first year non major English students at Viet Nhat College of Foreign Languages and Technology.
Recommendations based on the findings
Teachers at Viet Nhat College of Languages and Technology in particular and language teachers in general might use language games in speaking English lessons to motivate students and help students take part in the speaking lessons more joyful Language games are considered one of the ways that students interact and it is one of the most important methods of communication in the classroom
When the teacher uses language game to motivate students in taking part in speaking lessons, the games should be clearly instructed, attractive and meaningful to catch students‟ attention Furthermore, the language games which are used for the oral topics should also be relevant to the learning topic and the students can perceive the importance of the language games to their learning, and they want to join more into speaking activities
The teacher should be thoughtful in choosing language games for teaching the speaking skill because the language games only produce good results when they are supported by appropriate activities, which match students‟ interest, learning styles, proficiency level and the goal of the lesson
5 3 Some suggestions for using games to motivate students in speaking classes
Actually, students want to play games purely for fun Teachers, however, need more convincing reasons Teachers need to consider which games to use, when to use them and how to link them up with the textbook and how, more specifically, different games will benefit students in mastering language skills.Some suggestions of exploiting language games as a motivator for students to speak will be presented as follows
Games are often used as short warm-up activities or when there is some time left at the end of a lesson Games ought to be at the heart of teaching Foreign Languages
It is suggested that games be used at all stages of the lesson, provided that they are suitable and carefully chosen
Games can play a range of roles in the language curriculum Actually, there are no fixed stages for using games in teaching and learning process Traditionally, games have been used in the language class as warms-up at the beginning of class, fill-ins when there is extra time near the end of the class or as an occasional bit of spice stirred into the curriculum to add variety However, more importantly, games can also constitute a more substantial part of the language courses
+ Timing: The teachers need to estimate the time of game before running a game
Games should last from five to twenty minutes including preparation, presentation, game playing and post playing It is important not to play a game for too long, students will lose their interest It is best to stop a game at its peak
+ Level of the games: Level of the games is another factor that the teachers should take into consideration when using language games in speaking lessons Therefore, the teachers need to pay careful attention to the difficult level of the games Part of the appeal of games lies in the challenge, but if the challenge is too great, some students may become discouraged The teacher should also pay attention to the heterogeneity of the games It means that the games should allow chance for both the bright and not-very-bright students The chosen and adapted games should be relevant to the content of the lesson It should be noted that even the most appropriate games will become meaningless if they are used repeatedly in different speaking lessons Therefore, it is advisable that the teachers should exploit a variety of language games
+ Classroom language: When starting a game, the teacher should tell the students the rules of the games It is not of the key factors that lead to the students‟ success in playing games However, it is not simply enough to read out the rules of a new game or to hand out a written copy of the rules Each game will need a proper introduction, which means an explanation-not just a reading-of the rules
When giving instructions, a few words in mother tongue are sometimes necessary as it would be quickest way to make everything clear It is a waste of time to throw students unprepared into an activity that they have not yet fully grasped: things will go wrong very quickly and the teachers will then have to spend more time trying to repair the situation The teachers also need to demonstrate a short part of the game in which they actually make use of the language or the skill that the game is designed to practise, and then gradually gets students to join in as according to many methodologists, games are best set up by demonstration rather than by lengthy explanation Moreover, it is advisable that teachers make their demonstration as lively and appealing as possible so that students are motivated to join the game
+ Classroom management: Language games would be very enjoyable and rewarding if they are handled in the right way The way in which games are organized varies a great deal basing on specific purposes and particular game Some games are played in pairs or in groups, some in teams and some with the whole class playing against the teacher
The information of groups and pairs should initially be based on students‟ immediate neighbors to avoid noise and disruption Thus, in pair work and group work, students choose the ones next to them, behind them or in front of then as partners It is important that they can maintain face to face contact where sitting comfortably as it makes activities a lot easier
5.4 Limitations and suggestions for further research
The data in the research was collected from a small number of students (with only 52 participants from Viet Nhat College of Foreign Languages and Technology) so the findings can be true for the teaching and learning at Viet Nhat college only
For this reason, other researchers can conduct with a bigger sample with the same background to minimize the shortcoming
Other data collection tools such as: video recorder, journals should be exploited in further research
Within the scope of the study, it cannot cover all the uses of language games in four language skills and language elements Hence, further study can focus on the use of language games to motivate students in writing lessons, listening lessons and reading lessons.
Conclusion
After five years of teaching English at Viet Nhat Viet Nhat College of Foreign Languages and Technology, the researcher realized that the students did not have much motivation when they attended English speaking class Hence, the researcher identified the problems related to students‟ participation in speaking lessons From there she would like to prove the existence of those problems and found out necessary methods as language games to motivate her students
The author of this paper decided to conduct an experiment on using language game to motivate students to speak English in the speaking lessons On the first place, the researcher identified the problem and the hypothesis on the cause of the problem She observed the class and the data helped her to affirm that the students were not interested in speaking lessons, and they had poor speaking performance and were reluctant to take part in the speaking activities only when they were asked by the teacher
The researcher found out the causes of the problems by doing the literature review on language games in teaching and learning English She assessed the students‟ speaking competence through pre-test Then, the data on the students
„poor participation and teaching methods through questionnaire 1 (pre-intervention questionnaire) and informal talks with the students in the first stage of the study
Through the data collected, she realized the main causes of students‟ poor participation and low motivation in the speaking lessons which are lacking something to stimulate them to speak, stressful atmosphere in speaking lessons, students‟ shyness and the teacher‟sboring teaching methods
From the causes of the problems, the researcher hypothesized that applying language games can erase the problems in her speaking classes Therefore, she implemented an experiment, applying language games in the speaking lessons The experiment was carried out within 6 weeks (6 speaking lessons) During the intervention, the data on the ideas of the students about the teacher‟s language games techniques were collected through the questionnaire 2 (post-intervention questionnaire), post-test, class-observation
In the last stage of the study, the researcher evaluated the effect of the intervention by doing the data analysis The results from data analysis stated that her students showed their interest in the language games which are used in speaking classes Their participation and their learning motivation were improved a lot
This research gained some noticeable results in applying language games to motivate non-major English first year students at Viet Nhat College of Foreign Languages and Technology Nevertheless, there were still some limitations which needed to be improved such as: small participation, limited intervention time, etc In the next cycle of action research, the researcher intends to expand the participation by using language games in other classes to see whether the similar results can be gained Furthermore, the author of this study would like to carry another action research to assess the impact of using language games on students of different intelligences
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PRE-INTERVENTION SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (QUESTIONNAIRE 1)
This questionnaire is designed for my research into motivation in speaking activities in the classroom Your answer is used for research purposes only Thank you for your cooperation
1 How significant is English speaking skill to you?
2 How often are you reluctant to speak English in the classroom?
D I only speak when the teacher tell me to do this
3 What are you likely to do in English speaking class?
(You can choose more than one response)
A Keeping silent all the time
C Volunteering to answer as much as possible
D Knowing the answer but too shy to volunteer
E Speaking something when the teacher asks me
I Speaking to enhance my communication skill
4 What are your reasons for learning English speaking?
(You can choose more than one response)
A English is essential for my future career
B It is obligatory to study English speaking at our school
C I find it interesting to learn speaking English
D I want to communicate in English
5 What factors make you unvoluntary to speak English in the classroom?
(You can choose more than one response)
A Being not interested in English speaking
B Learning target is for tests (not for communication)
C Being afraid of losing face with my classmates
E Not receiving enough enthusiasm from the teacher in English speaking class
F Not having anything to say
G Having stressful atmosphere in speaking lessons
J There is nothing that stimulates me to speak
POST-INTERVENTION SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (QUESTIONNAIRE 2)
This questionnaire is designed for my research into The effects of applying language games in motivating non-major English first year students in speaking lesson at Viet Nhat College of languages and technolog Your answer is used for research purposes only The reseacher assures that all the information collected will be confidential, with the hope that you will answer these questions accurately and honestly You can give your opinion by cirlcle the letters A, B, C…you wish to choose
Thank you for your cooperation
1 Are the games easy to apply?
2 Are the games appropriate to your level?
3 Do you like language games given by your teacher during the speaking lessons?
C I don‟t like them at all
4 What do you do during language games application?
B Involve the games only when being asked
C Taking part in the games only when feeling interested
D Do not join the games
5 How do you feel after playing the games?
6 How motivating do language games bring to you?
7 In your opinion, Is the use of language games to motivate students in speaking lessons effective?
If you choose “yes”, please answer question 8, 10, 11, 12
If you choose “no”, please answer question 9, 10, 11, 12
8 What are the benefits of language games to your speaking skill?
(You can choose more than one response)
A Language games reduce my anxiety and shyness during the lessons
B Language games bring me more chance to speak
C Language games make speaking lesson less difficult
D Language games make speaking lessons more enjoyable and fun
9 The use of language games in speaking lessons is not effective, what do you think the reasons are? (Please specify some)
10 What stage(s) the teacher should apply the language games?
11 What should the teacher do to make the application of language games more effective? (You can choose more than one)
A Teachers should explain and give a demonstration of what to do to students clearly and understandably
B Teachers should make use of a variety of language games
C Teachers should exploit the language games which are suitable for students‟ level
12 How often do you wish to take part in language games?
PHỤ LỤC 1 BẢNG CÂU HỎI ĐIỀU TRA SỐ 1
Bảng câu hỏi này được thiết kế để tôi nghiên cứu về động lực học nói Tiếng Anh trong các giờ học kỹ năng nói Tiếng Anh trong lớp học Câu trả lời của bạn chỉ được sử dụng cho mục đích nghiên cứu Cảm ơn bạn đã hợp tác
1 Kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh có tầm quan trọng như thế nào đối với bạn?
2 Bạn có thường xuyên miễn cưỡng nói tiếng Anh trong lớp học không?
D Tôi chỉ nói khi giáo viên bảo tôi nói
3 Lý do học nói tiếng Anh củabạn là gì?
(Bạn có thể chọn nhiều hơn một câu trả lời)
A Tiếng Anh rất cần thiết cho sự nghiệp tương lai của tôi
B Bắt buộc phải học nói tiếng Anh tại trường của chúng tôi
C Tôi thấy thú vị khi học nói tiếng Anh
D Tôi muốn giao tiếp bằng tiếng Anh
4 Bạn có xu hướng làm gì trong lớp học nói tiếng Anh?
(Bạn có thể chọn nhiều hơn một câu trả lời)
A Luôn luôn giữ im lặng
B Chỉ trả lời những câu hỏi đơn giản
C Xung phong trả lời càng nhiều càng tốt
D Biết câu trả lời nhưng quá ngại ngùng để xung phong nói
E Nói một vài câu khi giáo viên hỏi tôi
F Sử dụng tiếng mẹ đẻ
G Nói khi tôi cảm thấy thích
I Nói để tăng cường kỹ năng giao tiếp của tôi
5 Yếu tố nào khiến bạn không tự nguyện nói tiếng Anh trong lớp học?
(Bạn có thể chọn nhiều hơn một câu trả lời)
A Không thích nói tiếng Anh
B Mục tiêu học tập là để kiểm tra (không phải để giao tiếp)
C Sợ mất mặt với các bạn cùng lớp
D Phương pháp dạy học nhàm chán
E Không nhận đủ nhiệt tình từ giáo viên trong lớp nói tiếng Anh
F Không có gì để nói
G Bầu không khí căng thẳng trong các bài học nói
J Không có gì làm động lực để tôi nói
BẢNG CÂU HỎI ĐIỀU TRA SỐ 2
Bảng câu hỏi này được thiết kế cho nghiên cứu của tôi về Tác dụng của việc áp dụng các trò chơi ngôn ngữ trong việc thúc đẩy sinh viên năm thứ nhất không chuyên tiếng Anh nói tiếng Anh tại trường cao đẳng ngoại ngữ và công nghệ Việt Nhật Câu trả lời của bạn chỉ được sử dụng cho mục đích nghiên cứu Người nghiên cứu đảm bảo rằng tất cả các thông tin thu thập được sẽ giữ bí mật, với hy vọng rằng bạn sẽ trả lời những câu hỏi này một cách chính xác và trung thực Bạn có thể đưa ra ý kiến của mình bằng cách khoanh tròn vào các chữ cái A, B, C mà bạn muốn chọn
Cảm ơn vì sự hợp tác của bạn
1 Các trò chơi có dễ áp dụng không?
2 Các trò chơi có phù hợp với trình độ của bạn không?
3 Bạn có thích các trò chơi ngôn ngữ do giáo viên của bạn đưa ra trong các bài học nói không?
C Tôi không thích chúng tý nào cả
4 Bạn làm gì trong tiết học có trò chơi ngôn ngữ?
A Tích cực tham gia các trò chơi
B Chỉ tham gia vào các trò chơi khi được yêu cầu
C Chỉ tham gia vào các trò chơi khi cảm thấy thích thú
D Không tham gia các trò chơi
5 Bạn cảm thấy thế nào sau khi chơi các trò chơi ngôn ngữ?
6 Trò chơi ngôn ngữ mang đến cho bạn động lực học như thế nào?
7 Theo bạn, việc sử dụng các trò chơi ngôn ngữ để thúc đẩy học sinh trong các bài học nói có hiệu quả không?
B Không Nếu bạn chọn “có” , hãy trả lời câu hỏi 8,10,11,12 Nếu bạn chọn “không”, hãy trả lời câu hỏi 9, 10,11,12
8 Những lợi ích của trò chơi ngôn ngữ đối với kỹ năng nói của bạn là gì?
(Bạn có thể chọn nhiều hơn một câu trả lời)
A Trò chơi ngôn ngữ làm giảm sự lo lắng và ngại ngùng của tôi trong các bài học
B Trò chơi ngôn ngữ mang lại cho tôi nhiều cơ hội hơn để nói
C Trò chơi ngôn ngữ làm cho bài học nói ít khó khăn hơn
D Trò chơi ngôn ngữ làm cho bài học nói trở nên thú vị và vui vẻ hơn
E Ý kiến khác (vui lòng ghi rõ một số)
9 Việc sử dụng các trò chơi ngôn ngữ trong các bài học nói không hiệu quả, bạn nghĩ lý do là gì? (Vui lòng ghi rõ một số)
10 Giai đoạn nào giáo viên nên áp dụng các trò chơi ngôn ngữ?
E Ở bất kỳ giai đoạn nào
11 Giáo viên nên làm gì để ứng dụng trò chơi ngôn ngữ hiệu quả hơn? (Bạn có thể chọn nhiều hơn một)
A Giáo viên nên giải thích và đưa ra một minh chứng về những việc cần làm cho học sinh rõ ràng và dễ hiểu
B Giáo viên nên sử dụng nhiều loại trò chơi ngôn ngữ
C Giáo viên nên khai thác các trò chơi ngôn ngữ phù hợp với trình độ của học sinh
D Ý kiến khác (vui lòng ghi rõ)
12 Bạn có thường xuyên tham gia các trò chơi ngôn ngữ không?
OBSERVATION SHEET- OVERALL CLASS MOTIVATION
Observation focus: level of students’ motivation generated by the tasks 3 is average mark for any one item
- This sheet is for observation the class as a whole , not individul student
- Complete this sheet when the lesson is drawing to a close
- Cirle ONE number of each statement below
- Add final comments after the lesson at the bottom of the sheet if you want
1 Mark how participated in the games the students are
2 The students are taking pleasure in the games
3 The students are paying constant attention to the games
4 Mark the levels of students‟ concentration on the games
5 Mark the students‟ activity level?
6 The speaking games are challenging for the students
7 The speaking games are suitable for the students
8 The students find the speaking games entertaining
THE DATA ON OVERALL CLASS MOTIVATION
1 Level of students‟ motivation generated by speaking activities was observed in terms of 8 items
2 Mark 3 is average mark for any item
1 Students‟involvement in the speaking activities
2 Students‟ enjoyment of the activities
3.Students‟ persistent attention to the activities
4 Students‟ concentration on the speaking activities
6 Degree of challenge of the activities
7 Degree of appropriateness of the activities
8 Students‟ degree of interest in the activities
APPENDIX 5: Pre- test and post test Sample
Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as: Can you play a musical instrument?
Do you play any sports?
Part III: Topic Talk about the person you like most in your family
Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as: What do you do in your spare time? What are you good at?
Part III: Topic Talk about your hobbies
Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as Part III: Topic Talk about your hometown
Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as: What job would you like to do in the future? How long have you studied English?
Part III: Topic Talk about your favorite food
Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as: How do you go to school?
What time do you start lessons in the afternoon?
Part III: Topic Talk about your favorite season
Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as: Have you ever been to Hue city?
What is the city like?
Part III: Topic Talk about your house where you live
Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as:What is your favorite food?
What is the weather like today?
Part III: Topic Talk about your last weekend
Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as: Which season do you like?
What would you do if you were the president?
Part III: Topic Talk about your daily routines
Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as: Where did you go last summer holiday?
What did you do there?
Part III: Topic Talk about your future job
Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as: Where were you last weekend?
How long have you lived in Bacninh City?
Part III: Topic Talk about the subjects you like best
SAMPLE LESSON PLAN (Speaking lesson – Unit 7 Places)
- Vocabulary about things around the house
- Students know how to describe the house, what activities they often do at the house
- Teacher: tape, board, chalk, textbook, cassette
- Students: textbook, workbook, pen, pencil…
- Ask students the following questions:
1 How many rooms are there in your house?
2 How many things are there in your bedroom/ living room/ bathroom/kitchen?
3 Do you think you are very happy to live in such a house?
-Work in pairs asking and answering the questions
- One pair present in front of the class
- Ask students to work in pairs to ask and answer the questions
- Call on one pair to present in front of the class
- Lead in the lesson by saying :
“ Today we are going to talk about things around the house”
- Ask students to look at the flaskcard about things around the house and elicit any words related to the topic
- Stick these flaskcard on the board and write the names of each thing in the flaskcard
- Ask students to read aloud as a whole class and then in group of 2 tables
- Ask students to stand up to make a sentence with words in the flaskcard individually
- Erase the name under each flaskcard and then ask the whole class to read again all the flaskcard on the board
WHILE SPEAKING (20 mins) Activity 2 (labeling game)
- Explain the activity and instruct students to do it
- Divide class into 4 big teams: Team 1, team
2, team 3, team 4 The teacher gives each
- Give any words related to the topic
- 4 groups at random to report their work team a big paper (Ao size) on which has the drawing of a room (one of four rooms: kitchen, linving room, bedroom, bathroom) and small paper on which has the name of things in that room For example:
- Ask each team to label each card on the correct things in Ao paper in 5 mins
- Walk around the classroom to monitor, facilitate and assist students when neseccary
- Ask 4 groups at random to report their work and check each team work after they finish labelling in front of the class
- Ask 4 groups describe the things in their room on the Ao paper by answering the following questions:
+ What is the name of your room? How big is the room?
+ What are things in the room?
+ What do you use these things for?
+ What do you often do in your room?
- Walk around the classroom to monitor,
- 4 groups at random to report their work
Coffee table picture plant curtain sofa facilitate and assist students when neseccary
- Ask 4 representatives of each group at random to stand up in front of the class to talk about their rooms
- Give the feedback to 4 groups
POST SPEAKING (10 mins) Activity 4 (guessing games): what are the things
- Prepare 26 small cards for 26 students in the class There is a definition or a usage of a thing in the rooms around the house and the picture of the object on each card
- Give one card for each student and ask them to face it down
- Ask each student to stand up and read aloud the definition or the usage for the whole class to guess the correct name of the object in the card
- Types of rooms in the house and their usage
- Write about your dream house
- Listen to the teacher‟s instruction
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