THANH HOA EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEPARTMENT THACH THANH I HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENTIAL INITIATIVE USING PAIR WORK TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL AT THACH THANH I HIGH SCHOOL Author Vũ Thị Xuân Occupa[.]
THANH HOA EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEPARTMENT THACH THANH I HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENTIAL INITIATIVE USING PAIR WORK TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL AT THACH THANH I HIGH SCHOOL Author: Vũ Thị Xuân Occupation: Teacher Experiential initiative on: English THANH HOA, YEAR 2022 skkn INDEX N0 CONTENTS PAG 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Reasons for the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Scope and object of the study 1.4 Study method 2 3 2 STUDY CONTENT 2.1 Theoretical rationale of the study 2.2 Status of the study problem 2.2.1 For the teachers 2.2.2 For the students 2.2.3 For objective factors 3 4 4 2.3 Solutions 2.3.1 What is Speaking skill? 2.3.1.1 Definitions of Speaking 2.3.1.2 Types of Speaking performance 2.3.1.3 Principles for teaching Speaking skill 2.3.1.4 Assessment criteria for Speaking 2.3.2 What is Pair work? 2.3.2.1 Definitions of Pair work 2.3.2.2 Some common activities for Pair work 2.3.2.3 Advantages and disadvantages of Pair work 2.3.2.4 Procedures of Pair work 5 5 7 7 10 2.4 Demonstration 2.5 Some suggested exercises for Pair work 2.6 Applying Pair work in teaching speaking skill 2.7 The study effects 10 14 15 19 CONCLUSION, PROPOSALS 3.1 Conclusion 3.2 Proposals 20 20 20 skkn INTRODUCTION 1.1 REASONS FOR THE STUDY Nowadays, English is the most commonly spoken language in the world One out of five people can speak or at least understand English It’s also the language of international communication, the media and the internet, so learning English is important for socializing and entertainment as well as work Therefore, English has been a compulsory subject at thousands of schools around the world and Vietnam is not an exception Being good at English gives them chances for employment or going abroad for further study To make these successfully, they must be good at four language skills, especially speaking skill Speaking skills are defined as skills which allow us to communicate effectively These skills give us the ability to convey information verbally and in a way that the listener can understand One of the most difficult and frustrating things is making the transition from the classroom to the 'real' world The problem becomes more complicated when it comes to Vietnam setting English teachers in Vietnam have just adopted communicative approach for just a few years However, they have not paid enough attention to speaking skill The speaking tasks are simple, and more importantly, impractical Throughout years’ time of my teaching English, studying materials as well as observing the other teachers' class, I realize that stimulating students to practice speaking actively during English lesson majorly bases on designing teaching-learning activities of each teacher in each lesson plan And, activities are very useful in teaching and learning speaking skill because it not only encourages, but improves students’ ability in using English fluently as well And I also have positively realized that students are more interested and less anxious when they work in pairs Moreover, pair work can increase the amount of talking for individual students; encourage boarder skills of participation, cooperation, negotiation and so on Only by organizing pair work effectively can we interest students in speaking English Having identified the problem, I have tried to search for solutions to help students improve speaking skill Thus, in this writing I would like to share “ Using pair work to improve students’ speaking skill at Thach Thanh I high school” with the hope that my colleagues can also considered my teaching strategies as useful suggestions to help their students become more interested and confident in speaking English 1.2 AIMS OF THE STUDY - Investigating the current reality of the teaching and learning of speaking skill in high schools - Identifying the difficulties and obstacles that the teachers and learners of intermediate level of English language proficiency in high schools encounter when teaching and learning speaking skill skkn - Suggesting some kinds of pair work with the hope of helping English language teachers in high schools improve the quality of their teaching, which later helps improve students’ speaking skill quality 1.3 SCOPE AND OBJECT OF THE STUDY - Scope: Research subjects are grade 10th and 11th students at Thach Thanh I High School, school year 2021-2022 - Object: This subject is concerned with some pair work to teach speaking skill in the class 1.4 THE STUDY METHOD - Finding out difficulties that students have in speaking English in English classes - Research methodology through the documents: Book of Applied Informatics, Internet, textbooks 10,textbooks 11, teacher books, exercise books and related documents - Observing and drawing out experiences - Research Methodology of actual survey, gathering information and data processing STUDY CONTENT 2.1.THE THEORETICAL RATIONALE OF THE STUDY Speaking is "the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts" (Chaney, 1998, p 13) Speaking is a crucial part of second language learning and teaching Despite its importance, for many years, teaching speaking has been undervalued and English language teachers have continued to teach speaking just as a repetition of drills or memorization of dialogues However, today's world requires that the goal of teaching speaking should improve students' communicative skills, because, only in that way, students can express themselves and learn how to follow the social and cultural rules appropriate in each communicative circumstance In English teaching, pair work is considered a useful and effective technique to assist learners to use the language in class In considering the advantages of pair work, Ur (1996:232) states that pair work is a form of learner activation which is of particular value in the practice of oral fluency She also emphasizes that pair work fosters learners’ responsibility and independence, helps to improve motivation and contributes to a feeling of co-operation and warmth in the class When students are put in pair, they can help each other to carry out interviews, to play roles in a dialogue, to problem solving, surveys, and values clarification In agreement with Ur, Harmer (1998:21) says, “the other advantage of pair work is that they give the teacher the opportunity to skkn work with individual students” The use of pair work is not new But how to apply these methods efficiently to stimulate students’ interest in speaking English is what I want to share and present in this writing 2.2 STATUS OF THE STUDY PROBLEM 2.2.1 For the teacher Most teachers understand the importance of using pair work in motivating students’interest in learning English, especially for high school students But pair work; however, has some problems the teacher should take into account so that he or she can maximize its effectiveness Ur (1996:232) points out, “ In individual classes, pair work may encourage students to be more disruptive than they would be in a whole class setting” Obviously, in pairs without the teacher, students can make unneccesary noise or use their own language Furthermore, to prepare activities for pair work may take time 2.2.2 For the students According to Burns and Joyce (1977): 134, passive learning style makes learners reluctant to take part in pair work They still deeply affected by the old methods such as Grammar Translation or Audio-lingual Method and learning which didn’t encourage students speaking They get used to listening to the teachers, take notes and exercises That can explain why they mind participating in pair work Furthermore, while working in pair, some students cannot express ideas in English because of their poor vocabulary, grammar, and even pronunciation Some of them not have any knowledge to present the given topic In addition, many students are afraid of making mistakes because of their low level of proficiency and their lack of ideas They are not confident enough to express their ideas for the partners All these reasons prevent students from participating in pair work, gradually they will lose their interest in working in pair work Passive learning way, low level of English language proficiency and the fear of making mistakes deter them to speak in group 2.2.3 For objective factors Teaching and learning English at high school in Vietnam still faces many problems such as: lack of teaching equipment, and adequate teaching methods Furthermore, that the majority of students not pay attention to acquiring knowledge is also a serious problem causing difficulties in raising the quality of teaching and learning speaking skill Moreover, most of classes at high school consist of more than 40 students, so that it is very difficult for teachers to organize pair work, to control the class and to put an eye on every student These are the problems that urge me to find out the solutions to use pair work in teaching speaking skill in a flexible and easy way skkn 2.3 SOLUTIONS 2.3.1 What is Speaking skill? 2.3.1.1 Definitions of speaking Speaking is an activity of delivering message, it occurs between speaker and listener orally In other words, the main point of speaking activity is that speakers communicate their message to the listeners In this case, the speaker and listener should be able to understand each other The speaker can produce the sounds that involved the messages and the listener can receive, process, and response the messages According to Byrne (1984), speaking is oral communication It is a two ways process between speaker and listener and involve productive and receptive skill of understanding, while Huebner (1969) states that speaking is the main skill in communication Based on this idea, it is understood that someone can communicate or express what she or he wants through speaking in order to understand one another 2.3.1.2 Types of speaking performance Brown also points out some types of classroom speaking performance, they are: * Imitative A very limited portion of classroom speaking time may reasonably be spent generating” Human tape-recorder” speech, where for example, learner practice an intonation contour or try to pinpoint a certain vowel sound Imitation of this kind is carried out not for the purpose of meaning full interaction, but for focusing on some particular element of language form * Intensive Intensive speaking goes one-step beyond imitative to include any speaking performance that is designed to practice some phonological or grammatical aspect of the language Intensive speaking can be self-imitated or it can even from part of some pair work activity, where learners are “going over” certain forms of language *Responsive The students’ speech in the classroom is responsive short replies to teacheror students-initiated questions or comment These replies are usually sufficient and not extend into dialogues Such speech can be meaningful and authentic *Transactional Transactional dialogue, which is carried out for the purpose of conveying or exchanging specific information is to extend form of responsive language skkn Conversation, for example, may have more of a negotiate nature to them than does responsive speech *Interpersonal Interpersonal dialogue carried out more for maintaining social relationship than for the transmission of the facts and information e.g The conversations are little trickier for learner because they can involve some or all of the following factors: a casual register, colloquial language, emotionally charged language, slag, ellipsis, sarcasm, and a covert “agenda” *Extensive (monologue) Students at intermediate to advanced level are called on to give extended monologues in the form of oral reports, summaries, or perhaps short speeches In this, the register is more formal and deliberative This monologue can be planned or impromptu From the types of speaking described above, the researcher, choose extensive monologue, since its purpose is to report or to retell a story, which the story will be based on students’ experiences 2.3.1.3 Principles for teaching speaking skill According to H.D Brown, there are some principles for teaching speaking skill as mentioned below: - Focus on both fluency & accuracy depending on your purposes “Make sure your tasks have a language-based objective, and seize the opportunity to help students to perceive and use the building blocks of language.” - Provide fundamentally motivating techniques “Appeal to students’ ultimate goals and interests, to their need for knowledge, for status, for achieving competence and autonomy, help them to see how the activity will benefit them - Encourage the use of authentic language in meaningful contexts “It takes energy and creativity to devise authentic contexts and meaningful interaction, but with the help of a storehouse of teacher resource ” materials, it can be done - Provide appropriate feedback and correction “It is important that you take advantage of your knowledge of English to inject the kinds of corrective feedback that are” appropriate for the moment - Capitalize on the natural link between speaking and listening “The two skills can reinforce each other Skills in producing language are often initiated” through comprehension - Give students opportunities to initiate oral communication “Part of oral communication competence is the ability to initiate conversations, to nominate topics, to ask questions, to control conversations, and to change the subject skkn - Encourage the development of speaking strategies “Speaking Strategies asking for clarification (what?) asking someone to repeat something (pardon me?) using fillers (uh, I mean) to get time to process using conversation maintenance cues (ah-hah, right, OK, well) getting someone’s attention (hey, yo, so) paraphrasing for structures one can’t produce appealing for assistance from the interlocutor using formulaic expressions using mime and non-verbal expressions.” 2.3.1.4 Assessment criteria for speaking * Fluency and coherence - Fluency is the ability to maintain a flow of language without unnatural hesitation - Coherence is the logical organization, development and connection of ideas * Lexical resource - Uses vocabulary with full flexibility and precision in all topics - Uses idiomatic language naturally and accurately * Grammatical range and accuracy - Uses a full range of structures naturally and appropriately - Produces consistently accurate structures apart from ‘slips’ characteristic of native speaker speech * Pronunciation - Uses a full range of pronunciation features with precision and subtlety - Sustains flexible use of features throughout 2.3.2 What is Pair work? 2.3.2.1 Definition of pair work According to Adrian Doff (1988:137), the whole class is divided into pairs by the teacher Every student works with his or her partner in pairs and all the pairs work at the same time (It is sometimes called simultaneous pair work) This is not the same as ‘public’ or ‘open’, pair work, with pairs of students speaking in turn in front of the class In fact, a pair work consists of two students working together at the same time 2.3.2.2 Some common activities for pair work According to Brown (2001, p.182), common pair activities consist of Dialogues, Question and answer, Drills, Quick Brainstorming Pair work enables teachers to engage students in interactive communication for a short period of time with minimum of logistical problems Typical group tasks are games, roleplay, drama, interview, brainstorming, information gap, jigsaw, problem solving and decision making, and opinion exchange For the limitation of this study’s page number, I would like to define and characterize some most popular ones skkn * Game A game could be any activity formalizing a technique into units that can be scored For example, students can review the vocabulary through “ slap the board” Teachers write down some words on the board, invite a pair of students to play each time The teachers say out loud one word and the students have to race to slap to the word The student who is faster will be the winner * Information gap In this activity, students are requested to work in pairs One student will have the information that other partner does not have and he/ she has to ask his/ her partner to get the information The aims of this activity are solving a problem, collecting information, etc * Role-play Role-play involves giving a role to each member of a pair and setting an objective that students must complete *Brainstorming On a given topic, students can produce ideas in a limited time Depending on the context, either individual or group brainstorming is effective and learners generate ideas quickly and freely The good characteristic of brainstorming is that the students are not criticized for their ideas so students will be open to sharing new ideas * Interviews Students can conduct interviews on selected topics with various people It is a good idea that the teacher provides a rubric to students so that they know what type of questions they can ask or what path to follow, but students should prepare their own interview questions Conducting interviews with people gives students a chance to practice their speaking ability not only in class but also outside and helps them becoming socialized After interviews, each student can present his or her study to the class Moreover, students can interview each other and "introduce" his or her partner to the class * Find the difference For this activity students can work in pairs and each couple is given two different pictures, for example, picture of boys playing football and another picture of girls playing tennis Students in pairs discuss the similarities and/or differences in the pictures skkn 2.3.2.3. Advantages and disadvantages of pair work According to Hubert Skrzynski, pair work has both advantages and disadvantages These are mentioned below * The advantages of pair work - To increase the amount of students practice: When students work in pairs, they have more chance to practice Working in pair, students often feel more willing to talk, so that it dramatically increases the amount of talking for individual students - To increase the students’ confidence: the students feel much more comfortable to speak English with his partner rather than with the whole class and the teacher Especially shy students, or ones who are not good at speaking language yet feel more relaxed and self- confident trying to put their language abilities to a test during the activity and seeing how they use them This encourages students to cooperate with one another - To develop students’ fluency: While working in pair, the students can use the language freely and express their opinions and thoughts without any restrictions - To increase students’ motivation: A huge variety of activities influences the course of a lesson and its success The more different activities the teacher uses in the lesson, the bigger their motivation is In fact, students’ motivation increases because they are active and feel important during these activities In keeping with this, the teacher is going to experience success in his/ her work because motivated students are usually good language learners and they always make progress * The disadvantages of pair work - To speak native language: one of the disadvantages is that students often speak in their native language If the class is really big with too many students, it is difficult for the teacher to listen to all pairs at the same time - To make mistakes: Another problem is incorrectness While students work in pairs, the teacher not disturb them, even if he/she notices some mistakes they have made - To eliminate shy and weak students from the practice: Some shy or weak students can be eliminated from the practice, because of individuals who always tend to dominate - To make noise and indiscipline: Working in pair in a large class makes noise and discipline, the teachers have more troublesome than the learners have Participants in a pair work are normally unaware of the noise and of what other pairs and groups are doing It seems that there are as many disadvantages as advantages of these classroom arrangements and one cannot unanimously state which one is better, skkn since each teacher has his/her own likes and dislikes It is his/her individual choice which one should be used during the process of teaching a language 2.3.2.4 Procedures of pair work Harmer (2001, p.122) explains the procedures used in teaching speaking He divides the procedures into three sub-units: before, during, and after activity - Before: The teacher makes students feel enthusiastic about what they are going to They need to understand what they are going to do, and they need to be given an idea of when they will have to finish the task they are going to involved in The important thing about instruction is that the students should understand and agree on what the task is To check that they do, we may ask them to repeat the instructions, or in monolingual class, to translate them into their first language - During: While students are working in pairs, the teachers have a number of options They could, for instance, stand at the front or the side of the class (or at the back or anywhere else in the room) and keep an eye on what is happening, noticing who appears to be stuck or disengaged, or about to finish An alternative procedure is to go round the class watching and listening to specific pairs The teachers can stay (with their agreement) for a period of time and then intervene if we think it is appropriate or necessary, always bearing in mind what we have said about the difference between accuracy and fluency work When the students are working in pairs, the teacher have an ideal opportunity to work with individual student whom they feel would benefit from our attention They also have a great chance to act as observer, picking up information about students’ progress - After: When pairs stop working, the teacher needs to give feedback The teachers want to let them discuss what occurred during the group session and, where necessary, add their own assessments and make corrections Finally, it is vital to remember that constructive feedback on the content of the student work can greatly enhance students’ future motivation The feedback the teachers give on language mistakes is only one part of that process 2.4 DEMONSTRATION Some suggested exercises of working in pairs and groups and their demonstrations Before teaching teacher should prepare pair work activities carefully If he can so the students are attracted to his designed activities The climate of the class is very exciting as everyone must practise And below are some my examples that I have already applied 10 skkn Example 1: In Unit 3: People’s background - Part B: speaking (English 10) Imagine you are a journalist Use the cues below to interview a classmate about his/ her background or that of a person he/ she knows well Change the role when you have finished S1: Hello Can you tell me something about yourself? S2: Oh, of course What you want to know? S1: When and where were you born? S2: I was born on September 11th, 1991 in Hai Duong S1: How many people are there in your family? S2: There are four: my parents, my sister and I S1: What your parents do? S2: my dad is a doctor and my mum is a nurse Students look at the model and it is easy for them to practise in pairs Example 2: In Unit 2: School talk – Part B- Speaking (English 10) Teacher: - Ask students to look at the phrases in the book and to work in pairs to put the expressions in starting and closing a conversation - Make sure that students understand all the expressions + How’s everything at school?= How 's your studying? + Catch you later = See you later Starting a conversation Closing a conversation Good morning How’s everything? Hello How are you? Goodbye See you later Well, it’s been nice talking to you Sorry I’ve got to go Talk to you later Hi How is school? Great I’ll see you tomorrow 11 skkn Hello What are you doing? Catch up with you later Example 3: In Unit 1: A day in the life of… Part B – speaking (English 10) Teacher: - Ask students to work in pairs in 10 minutes to ask and answer about Quan basing on the timetable - Move round to help students and to correct any mistakes if there are T: What time does Quan have a Civic Education lesson on Monday? S: at 7:15 T: What lesson does Quan have at 7.15 a.m on Monday? S: a Civic Education lesson Example 4: In Unit 4: Special Education - B Speaking (English 10) Teacher: - Write the questions in task on board and ask students to work in pairs, ask and answer about their school life using the questions on board - Go round to help students when necessary T can play the role of the interviewee to help students if necessary Which lower-secondary school did you go to? What were your subjects then? 3.What was your timetable? Can you tell me about the tests and examinations at your school then? What about homework? What part of the school life didn’t you like then? What did you like best about your school then? 12 skkn Example 5: In Unit 2: Personal experiences - B Speaking (English 11) Teacher can prepare a handout with a network of the word “The most unforgettable experience”, elicits more ideas from the class and asks students to work in pairs to ask and answer questions When it happened? What happened? Where it happened? The most unforgettable experience Who was involved? How it happened? How it affected you? Example 6: In Unit 12: Music - B Speaking (English 10) Teacher:- Tell students that they are going to ask your partners questions to get information What kind of music you like? Why you like it? 13 skkn Who is your favorite singer/ musician? What is your favorite song/piece of music? When you listen to music? Example 7: In Unit 4: Volunteer work - B Speaking (English 11) Teacher: - Practise the dialogue and then make similar conversations, using the activities that follow A: What kind of volunteer work are you participating in? B: We’re helping people in mountainous areas? A: What exactly are you doing? B: We’re teaching the children to read and write A: Do you enjoy the work? B: Yes I like helping people 2.5.1 SOME SUGGESTED EXERCISES FOR PAIR WORK Pair work is not “teaching method” but ways of organizing the class It can be used for many kinds of activity Here are some suggestions for some kinds of pair work 14 skkn * Controlling oral practice: This can be done in pairs and groups Any controlled oral practice can be done first with the whole class, and then in pairs * Practising short dialogues: Acting out short dialogues can very easily be done in pairs, with little chance of making mistakes. It can be done first with pairs of students in front of the class and then with all students working in pairs at the same time * Reading a text and answering questions: Students can discuss questions in pairs and then read the text or they can read the text silently and then ask and answer questions in pairs or groups. This is a good way of involving the whole class in answering questions * Short writing exercises: Student can sit in groups and decide together what to write. One student acts as “secretary”. Pair work can be used for correcting written work (e.g.: homework) students sit in pairs and correct what their partner has written * Grammar exercises: Student can do grammar exercises orally in pairs; the teacher goes through the answers afterwards with the whole class and students write the exercises for homework. This is more interesting and productive than students doing exercise alone, in silence 2.6 APPLYING PAIR WORK IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILL Unit 1: FRIENDSHIP - Period – Speaking I - Aims : After the lesson, Students will: - know how to describe physical appearance and personality - describe people in different situation II - Teaching aids: Chalk, board, overhead projector, handouts III- Procedure: Teacher’s activities Warm up (3ms) Guessing Game: -Teacher introduces the game One student may go to the blackboard and get one picture from the teacher She/ he tries best to describe the person in the picture The other students listen carefully and guess who she/ he is describing Ex: Teacher shows picture Students’ activities -Listen to the teacher -Join the game One student goes to the blackboard and get a picture of Thieu Bao Tram She/ he 15 skkn Teacher calls another student to the blackboard and tries to describe: play the game S1: “ She is a famous young Vietnamese singer She has blonde hair She has red lips, fair skin and oval face She also has straight hair.” S2: “I guess she is Thanh Thao” S1: “No” S2: “I guess she is Thieu Bao Tram S1: “Yes”… I Pre-speaking: (5 minutes) Review vocabulary of physical characteristics -Asks students to work in groups of to Each group will get one handout where there are words to -Work in groups Group up describe people’s appearance Asks students to group the words and put them in them up and put the words in correct column correct column Blonde, shining, fat, medium, height, oval, muscular, slim, old, straight, square, in her/his teens, wary, dark, middle aged, young, black, curly Asks students to read aloud their answer Check correct answers Asks two students to stand up and read the words Check pronunciation Key: Build Age Face Eye Hair medium height fat, slim muscular In her teens middle aged old young square oval round shining black dark straight wavy curly blonde Bui ld Ag e Sli m … Old … II While-speaking: Task 1: (10 minutes): Look at the people below and Work in Fa ce pairs E ye Hai r Try 16 skkn to describe their physical characteristics describe the pictures using the words they have learnt Model answers: A: Can you describe the ma in the picture? B: The man is tall He has got a square face, a crooked nose and a high forehead with fair hair He dresses formally He looks manly Task 2:(7 minutes): Number the following personalities in order of importance in friendship Report your result to the class caring generous hospitable honest modest helpful sincere understanding… - Ask students to write new words & make sentences - Asks students to work in groups in minutes, T goes round for help if necessary - Calls some students to speak in front of class - After each presentation, teacher tries to elicit them by showing attention to what students say and encourage them to speak naturally Task 3: Role play (12 minutes) Talk about a famous friend Whole class & group work Give students a dialogue build -Ask them to make an interviewee -Go around for help if necessary -Call each pair to report in front of the class *Dialogue build Do the task Take turn to speak Whole class & pair work Model answers: A: What’s his/her name? B: She is Lan, my best friend A: When was she born? B: She was born on May 15th A: What does he/she look like? B: She is tall and she has an oval face A: What are his/her hobbies? B: She likes reading books A: What are her personalities? B: She is friendly and humorous A: How much time does 17 skkn Her / his name? Date of birth? His/ her personalities His/ her hobbies His/ her physical characteristics… he/she spend on Math every day? B: She spends hour a day doing Math A: What does he/she in his/her free time? -Gives general comment on the students’ speech, B: She listens to music and praises the good presentation, points out typical go out with her friends mistakes and gives some suggestions for later improvement III Post-speaking: (7 minutes) -Gives some pictures of famous singer and asks students to describe those people’s the physical characteristics S: She is in her middle age She has a short black hair and an oval face Her eyes twinkle and she has a very lovely smile S: He has very short black hair and square face He has a broad nose and a very large smile He is neither fat nor thin He looks very confident IV Homework: ( min) 18 skkn Write a short description of one of your beloved people 2.7 THE STUDY EFFECTS IV Results after applying the study in teaching By organizing pair work carefully, students in my class become more confident in speaking English in class Once I give a task and ask them to work in pairs they can understand and it successfully During the practice, students can help each other to correct their mistakes in pronunciation, intonation or grammar After a year applying pair work activities in teaching English speaking skill at Thach Thanh high school, I have got some satisfactory results Most of my students have become more interested in speaking period and of course their ability to use English in communication has been improved step by step In each lesson, students are more active, more flexible and enthusiastic participation in the lessons This is result from the interview of the students’ interest in speaking English carried out during the school year 2021-2022 at my school Table 1: Class 10 C3 10 C9 11 B2 11 B9 Before applying Sts’ number 42 42 40 41 Table 2: Class 10 C3 10 C9 11 B2 11 B9 Very much SL % 19,1 16,7 17,5 19,5 Much SL % 15 35,7 12 28,6 13 32,5 12 29,2 A little SL % 21,4 14 33,3 12 30,0 11 26,8 Not at all SL % 10 23,8 21,4 20,0 10 24,5 After applying Sts’ number 42 42 40 41 Very much SL 13 12 10 12 % 30,9 28,6 25,0 29,3 Much SL 24 24 25 24 % 57,1 57,2 62,5 58,5 Not at all % SL % 9,52 2,5 9,5 4,7 7,3 5,2 9,8 2,4 A little SL 4 Comparing the results obtained from the two tables above, I can see there are more students who are interested in speaking English 19 skkn ... solutions to help students improve speaking skill Thus, in this writing I would like to share “ Using pair work to improve students’ speaking skill at Thach Thanh I high school? ?? with the hope that my... that urge me to find out the solutions to use pair work in teaching speaking skill in a flexible and easy way skkn 2.3 SOLUTIONS 2.3.1 What is Speaking skill? 2.3.1.1 Definitions of speaking Speaking... teaching and learning of speaking skill in high schools - Identifying the difficulties and obstacles that the teachers and learners of intermediate level of English language proficiency in high schools