AN ACTION RESEARCH ON METHODS TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ CONFIDENCE IN SPEAKING ENGLISH AT NGUYEN BA NGOC LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ TUYẾT ANH AN ACTION RESEARCH ON METHODS TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ CONFIDENCE IN SPEAKING ENGLISH AT NGUYEN BA NGOC LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL Nghiên cứu hành đô ̣ng nhằ m nâng cao khả tư ̣ tin tiế ng anh của ho ̣c sinh lớp tại trường Trung ho ̣c sở Nguyễn Bá Ngo ̣c M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111 HA NOI 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ TUYẾT ANH AN ACTION RESEARCH ON METHODS TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ CONFIDENCE IN SPEAKING ENGLISH AT NGUYEN BA NGOC LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL Nghiên cứu hành đô ̣ng nhằ m nâng cao khả tư ̣ tin tiế ng anh của ho ̣c sinh lớp tại trường Trung ho ̣c sở Nguyễn Bá Ngo ̣c M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111 SUPERVISOR: PROF.DR HOÀNG VĂN VÂN HA NOI 2014 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis is the results of my own research and that the substance of the thesis has not, wholly or part, been submitted for a degree to any other university or institution Hanoi, June, 2014 Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Anh i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In completing my thesis, I have received warmly help from my supervisor, teachers and students of Nguyen Ba Ngoc Lower Secondary School, family and friends First and for most, I would like to show my deep gratitude to Prof Dr Hoàng Văn Vân who directly guides me Thanks to his useful advice and detailed comments in the preparation as well as the correction Besides he always supported and created favorable conditions for me to complete this thesis Secondly, I would also like to express my deep thanks to the staff of the Faculty of Post- graduate Studies ULIS for their help and for their interesting lectures and support, which are really useful for this research Thirdly, I would like to send my sincere thanks to the headmaster of Nguyen Ba Ngoc Lower Secondary School for giving a chance to talk and exchange ideas with the teachers and students Fourthly, I also would like to send my special thanks to all English teachers at my school who take part in my talks and share their experience Finally, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my family and my friends for their supports and encouragement Without them I might not have been able to complete the research ii ABSTRACT This research is conducted with the purpose to improving students‟ confidence in speaking skill at Nguyen Ba Ngoc Lower Secondary School The subjects of the study are 65 ninth graders of Nguyen Ba Ngoc Lower Secondary School The data are collected through talks with colleagues, students‟ pre- questionnaire and post- questionnaires and analysis of the textbook The research was conducted during the first semester of the school year The study shows that most students at Nguyen Ba Ngoc Lower Secondary School experience many difficulties in speaking English They are not confident when they speak or talk with their teachers and their friends To make situation better, an action plan was made which focus on using warm up activities, group work and project - based activities to help students to improve speaking skill I hope that the study will be helpful to English teachers who share the same aspiration to help students to solve their problems in improving their students‟ confidence in speaking English Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Anh iii LISTS OF CHARTS CHARTS Chart 1: Students‟ evaluation on their confidence Chart 2: Factors making students lack of self confidence Chart 3: Teaching method‟s affection Chart 4: Students‟ impression on the textbook and English speaking lessons Chart 5: Students‟ frequency of speaking English in class Chart 6: Students‟ frequency self- study at home after school Chart 7: What makes students interested in learning English speaking skill best iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii List of charts and tables iv Table of Contents v PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the research Aims of the research 2.1 Aim 2.2 Objectives Scope of the research Research questions Methodology Design of the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT Chapter I: literature review 1.1 Speaking skills 1.1.1 Definitions of speaking and speaking skill 1.1.1.1 What is speaking? 1.1.1.2 What is speaking skill? 1.1.2 The difficulties in teaching and learning English speaking 1.1.3 Types of speaking 1.1.3.1 From-focused speaking 1.1.3.2 Meaning-focused speaking 1.1.3.3 Fluency-focused speaking 1.1.4 Definition of confidence 1.5 The importance of students‟ confidence in language learning 1.1.6 Main factors affecting students‟ English speaking 10 1.1.6.1 Fear of mistake 10 1.1.6.2 Shyness 10 v 1.1.6.3 Anxiety 11 1.1.6.4 Lack of confidence 11 1.1.6.5 Lack of motivation .11 1.1.6.6 Vocabulary 12 1.1.6.7 Pronunciation .12 1.1.6.8 Accent 12 CHAPTER II : THE METHODOLOGY .13 2.1.Context of the study 13 2.1.1 An overwiew of teaching and learning English at Nguyen Ba Ngoc Lower Secondary School .13 2.2 English teaching staff 13 2.3 The student 13 2.4 English learning and teaching condition 13 2.5 Textbook 14 2.6 Participants .14 2.7 Data collecting instruments .15 2.7.1 Talks with colleagues and personal class observation 15 2.7.1.1 Talks with colleagues .15 2.7.1.2 Personal class observation 15 2.7.2 Pre-Questionnaire table for students 15 2.7.3 Post-trying out questionnaire 15 2.8 Research procedure 16 2.8.1 Phrase 1: Diagnosing 16 2.8.2 Phrase 2: Action planning .17 2.8.3 Phrase 3: Taking action 17 2.8.4 Phrase 4: Evaluating .17 2.8.5 Phrase Specifying learning 18 2.9 Summary 18 CHAPTER III: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 19 3.1 Diagnosing data 19 3.1.1 Analysis of the textbook 19 3.1.1.1 English 19 3.1.2 Analysis of talks with colleagues 19 vi 3.1.3 Analysis of class observation 20 3.1.4 Analysis of students‟ pre-questionnaires 22 3.1.5 Drawing a plan of action to solve the problem .30 3.1.6 Some suggested solutions .31 3.1.7 Acting stage 32 3.1.7.1 Lesson using the warm up, work group and project – based activities 32 3.1.8 Action research evaluation .37 3.1.8.1 Post-questionnaire evaluation 37 3.1.9 Major findings and discussions .40 PART III: CONCLUSION 41 Recapitulation .41 Conclusions 41 Recommendations 42 Limitations and suggestions for further study 42 REFERENCES 43 APPENDICES I vii PART I: INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the research Nowadays, with the increasing development of international relations among countries, learning English, especially learning English speaking is playing a more and more important role People use English for communication and discussion at the world forums and in different aspects of life Learning a foreign language represents one of the essential requirements of today‟s society Besides other skills and knowledge, it is considered as one of the most influencing factors while applying for a job or sustaining in a particular work position under the condition of advancing the language level In Vietnam, English speaking is also very essential for people who want to find a good job Thus, learning English speaking has become more important than ever English teaching and learning in Vietnam has been developing at an unprecedented speed It has become the number one foreign language to be taught both inside and outside the formal educational system of many countries As a lower secondary English teacher, I know that how English has become one of the compulsory subjects in the curriculum and how Vietnamese education system appreciates the importance of English learning nowadays Most language teachers, following a traditional, test-oriented teaching approach, often concentrate on teaching English vocabulary, grammar, and sometimes on pronunciation, all the language elements covered in the textbooks Therefore students not spend much time on speaking and as a result they lack their confidence when speaking the language In order to study English as a foreign language and to be successful with it, students must be helped by the teacher to acquire skills in the four language skills, namely: speaking, listening, writing, and reading Of these four skills, speaking is the skill secondary school students need great support In my teaching experience, I have found that one of the aspects that they really need is to build their confidence in speaking English That is why in this thesis I want to find out the factors that ... speaking English? What should be done to help students at Nguyen Ba Ngoc Lower Secondary School gain confidence in speaking English? Methodology Action research - Personal class observation and... formulated: What are the factors that affect students’ confidence when speaking a foreign language? What are the factors that affect Nguyen Ba Ngoc Lower Secondary School students’ confidence in speaking. .. under study 1.1 Speaking skills 1.1.1 Definition of speaking and speaking skill 1.1.1.1 What is speaking? Definition of what speaking is attracted a lot of attention and concern from researchers