(Luận văn) using role play to improve the first year non major students’ speaking skills at a university in hanoi

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Phan Thị Thu Huyền lu an n va THE FIRST YEAR NON-MAJOR STUDENTS’ SPEAKING p ie gh tn to USING ROLE PLAY TO IMPROVE d oa nl w SKILLS AT A UNIVERSITY IN HANOI an lu nf va MA THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE z at nh oi lm ul z m co l gm @ an Lu HANOI, 2021 n va ac th si VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Phan Thị Thu Huyền lu an va n USING ROLE PLAY TO IMPROVE gh tn to THE FIRST YEAR NON-MAJOR STUDENTS’ SPEAKING p ie SKILLS AT A UNIVERSITY IN HANOI d oa nl w an lu Field: English Language nf va Code: 8220201 z at nh oi lm ul Supervisor: Đỗ Thị Thúy Vân, Ph.D z m co l gm @ an Lu HANOI, 2021 n va ac th si DECLARATION BY AUTHOR I declare that the study entitled “Using role play to improve the 1st year non-major students' speaking skills at a University in Hanoi” is created by my own findings and I am the sole author To the best of my knowledge, with the exception of the indication of reference, this is carried out without using any other author’s work and is submitted after a carefully checking progress in order to fulfill the requirements of the M.A degree lu Except where reference has been made in the text, this thesis contains an The study reported in this thesis was approved by Graduate Academy n va no material previously published or written by another person tn to of Social Sciences gh p ie Author’s Signature d oa nl w lu nf va an Phan Thị Thu Huyền z at nh oi lm ul z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th i si ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS Although only one name appears as the author of this work, writing a thesis is indeed a collaborative effort I would like to express my sincere thanks to the many people who made it possible First and the foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Đỗ Thị Thúy Vân, Ph.D for all of her kind support to complete this research paper If it had not been for her guidance, as long as the lu consultation and comprehensive comments from her, I would have not an va Next, I would like to send my special thanks to Mr Đặng Nguyên Giang n - Dean of the Department of Foreign Languages and the other staff at gh tn to Graduate Academy of Social Sciences the Department of Foreign Languages, p ie Graduate Academy of Social Sciences for affording me the honor of writing w this thesis oa nl Additionally, I would like to convey my special thanks to the teachers d and students of Faculty of Mechanical Engineering – Hanoi University of kind participation and patient co-operation and nf va an whose lu Industry encouragement have helped me much in this study They provided me with lm ul valuable data for the study so that I could have broader prospects of teaching z at nh oi and learning English speaking activities at Hanoi University of Industry in general and at Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in particular z Last but not least, millions of my sincere thanks go to my beloved @ gm family, who are always supportive and enthusiastic to me during the progress m co l of making this an Lu n va ac th ii si TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DECLARATION BY AUTHOR i ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS ii ABSTRACT vi LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF CHARTS viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION lu an 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the Study n va 1.4 Scope of the Study gh tn to 1.3 Research Questions ie 1.5 Significance of the Study p 1.6 Research Methods nl w 1.7 Structure of the Study oa CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW d 2.1 Speaking 2.1.1 Definitions of Speaking 2.1.2 Characteristics of speaking 10 2.1.3 Principles of Teaching Speaking 11 2.1.4 Teacher’s Roles in Teaching Speaking 12 2.1.5 Methods of Teaching Speaking 14 2.1.6 Activities to Improve Speaking Skills 16 nf va an lu z at nh oi lm ul z 2.2 Role Play 17 2.2.1 Definition of Role Play 17 2.2.2 Types of Role Play 19 2.2.3 The Steps for Role Play Activities 22 2.2.4 Significance of role play in teaching speaking skill 25 2.3 Review of the previous research works 26 m co l gm @ an Lu 2.4 Summary 27 n va ac th iii si CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 28 3.1 Research Setting 28 3.2 Participants 29 lu 3.3 Research Procedure 30 3.3.1 Conducting preliminary investigation 30 3.3.2 Planning the action 31 3.3.3 Implementing the action 33 3.3.4 Observing the action 33 3.3.5 Reflecting the action 34 3.4 Data Collection Instruments 34 3.4.1 Questionnaires 34 3.4.2 Observation 36 3.4.3 Interviews 36 an n va gh tn to 3.5 Summary 37 ie CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 38 p 4.1 Data Analysis from Questionnaires 38 4.1.1 Questionnaire for teacher 38 4.1.2 Questionnaires for students 48 oa nl w d 4.2 Data Analysis from Observations 60 4.2.1 The First Observation 60 4.2.2 The Second Observation 62 4.2.3 Reflection of the Students’ Speaking Performance 64 4.3 Data Analysis from Interviews 65 4.3.1 Teachers’ interviews 65 4.3.2 Students’ Interviews 66 nf va an lu z at nh oi lm ul 4.4 Discussion 67 z gm @ 4.5 Summary 70 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS 71 l m co 5.1 Recapitulation 71 5.2 Concluding Remarks 72 an Lu 5.3 Implications 73 n va ac th iv si 5.4 Limitations and Suggestions for Further Studies 74 REFERENCES 76 APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS I APPENDIX 2: PRE-TASK QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS IV APPENDIX 3: POST-TASK QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS VI APPENDIX 4: ROLE PLAY ACTIVITY EVALUATION FORM VIII APPENDIX 5: LESSON PLANS XI Lesson Plan for Role Play Activity – Cycle XI Lesson Plan for Role Activity – Cycle XIV lu APPENDIX 6: INTERVIEW FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS XIX an n va p ie gh tn to d oa nl w nf va an lu z at nh oi lm ul z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th v si ABSTRACT This study is designed and carried out in the hope of exploring the method of using role play to develop English speaking skills for first year non-major students at universities in general and at Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI) in particular Basing on the theoretical foundation about role play implementation, this study aims at investigating the real situation of teaching and learning speaking skill to the first year non-major students at lu HaUI including the quality and methods of teaching and learning speaking an skills It also studied how the speaking skills of the first year non-major va n students at HaUI can be improved through using role play activities and gh tn to examined the students’ attitudes toward role play activities application in p ie teaching and learning English The study analized the effects of using role play and the difficulties of applying for teacher and students as well as oa nl w suggesting some solutions to these problems In order to achieve the target survey questionnaires, observation and interviews were employed to collect d an lu the required information Based on the findings, some implications would be nf va given for both the teachers and the students With all these information, this lm ul study is expected to be useful to both teachers and students in teaching and learning English speaking skills z at nh oi z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th vi si LIST OF TABLES Page Table Teachers’ techniques to encourage students to speak and improve their English speaking skills 44 Table Students’ knowledge about what students in role play 54 Table Students' interest in learning if role play is applied in speaking lessons 55 Table Results from Post -task questionnaire for students 56 Table Results of students ’ speaking performance in cycle 61 lu Table Results of students’ speaking performance in cycle 63 an n va p ie gh tn to d oa nl w nf va an lu z at nh oi lm ul z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th vii si LIST OF CHARTS Page Chart Teacher's opinions about the role of speaking skill 39 Chart Teachers' opinions about students' attitude towards 40 learning speaking 40 Chart Assessment on students' speaking competence 41 Chart Teachers' difficulties in teaching speaking skill 42 Chart Teachers' opinions about the material 43 lu Chart Teachers' opinions about benefits of role play 46 an Chart Teachers' opinions about difficulties of role play implementation 47 va n Chart Teachers' assessment on students' improvement 48 gh tn to Chart Students' opinions about the role of speaking skill 49 ie Chart 10 Students' opinions of being afraid in front of the class 49 p Chart 11 Students’ difficulties in learning speaking English 50 oa nl w Chart 12 Students’ opinions about the role of speaking skill 51 Chart 13 Students' self-assessment towards speaking competence 52 d an lu Chart 14 Students' opinions about the material 53 nf va Chart 15 Students' speaking Performance at Good Level (Cycles 1&2) 65 lm ul Chart 16 The improvement of students’ speaking skill under role play z at nh oi implementation 69 z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th viii si B Important D Not important at all How is your speaking ability? A Excellent D Not very good B Very good E Not good at all C Good What you think of the materials used for teaching and learning speaking to the first year non-major students at your university? lu an A Difficult C Interesting and stimulating B Difficult but interesting D Easy n va Have you ever heard of role play? B No tn to A Yes B Difficult but interesting D Easy gh p ie According to your knowledge, what students in role play? w A Students take up their roles and cooperate to prepare for the presentation oa nl B Students act as someone else and imagine themselves in a situation outside d the classroom and use the language in the new context lu role nf va an C Students take up their roles and work independently to prepare for their lm ul D Students listen to the teacher most of the time lessons? A Yes z at nh oi 10 Are you interested in learning speaking if role play is applied in speaking B No z gm @ Thank you for your co-operation m co l an Lu n va ac th V si APPENDIX 3: POST-TASK QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS For the completion of my minor thesis entitled: “Using role play activities to improve speaking skills for the first year non-major students at a university in Hanoi”, this survey questionnaire is designed and conducted to find out students’ attitudes towards applying or using role play activities in speaking lessons to developing speaking skills for the students Please feel free to complete this questionnaire because your identification in any discussion of the data will not be mentioned Thank you very much for your cooperation lu an Please circle the appropriate answers for the following questions va How you like speaking lessons? n C Little D Very little E Not at all tn to A Very much B Much ie gh What is your level of impression on the role play activities implemented in p speaking classes? C Somehow useful nl w A Attractive D A little bit impressed E No impression at all d oa B Interesting an lu How you feel when you act in role play activities? C Natural B Slightly embarrassed D Uneasy A Very embarrassed nf va lm ul What you think about your level of involvement in speaking class after z at nh oi experiencing role play activities? C No participation at all B Little participation D Not determined z A Active @ gm What difficulties you face when involving in role play activities? B Lacking vocabulary an Lu C Using wrong structures and sentences m co l A Being shy and unconfident when communicating n va ac th VI si D Having little cooperation from partners Do you think using role play activities in English speaking classes can help improve your speaking skills? A Yes B No What are the reasons that make role play more effective and exciting?(More than one option is acceptable) A Role play activities make you feel relaxed and enjoyable B Role play activities make you feel closed to the real situation in everyday lu life an n va C Role play activities help to improve your creativity and imagination tn to D Role play activities enhance your confidence E Role play activities give you opportunities to speak English gh p ie F Your own ideas: C Partners D Teacher’s support d oa Others… B Atmosphere nl A Topic w In your opinion, what factors influence a role play class? lu nf va an How you remark on your own speaking ability after using role play activities in teaching and learning English speaking? C Good lm ul A Excellent D Bad E Other comment(s): z at nh oi B Very good 10 Do you expect your teacher to use role play activities in your English z gm @ speaking classes in the future? A, Yes l Thank you for your co-operation! m co B No an Lu n va ac th VII si APPENDIX 4: ROLE PLAY ACTIVITY EVALUATION FORM Role play No:………………………… Date: …………………………… Student’ name: … , ……2: ……………………………… 3: ………………………4:……………………………… I Students’ speaking ability (adapted from The frame of Harris' oral English rating scale) Poor: Average: Good: Very good: Excellent: lu an n va Scoring Criteria Student Student tn to Pronunciation Grammar p ie gh Vocabulary w Fluency oa nl Comprehensive d Total score (25 points) nf va an lu Comments:……………………………………………………………………… lm ul …………………………………………………………………………………… z at nh oi …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th VIII si THE FRAME OF HARRIS’ ORAL ENGLISH RATING SCALE (FROM “TESTING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE” 1969) CRITERIA RATING COMMENTS Has few traces of foreign accent Always intelligible, though one is conscious of definite accent Pronunciation problems necessitate concentrated PRONUNCIATION listening sometimes lead to understand because of misunderstanding lu an Very n va to ie gh tn speech virtually unintelligible Make few (if any) noticeable errors of grammar p w of word order Occasionally makes grammatical or wordorder errors which not obscure meaning d oa nl which occasionally obscure nf va an lu Make frequent errors of grammar and word order Grammar and word order errors make comprehension difficult Must often rephrase sentences and/or restrict himself to basic patterns z at nh oi lm ul to Pronunciation problems so severe as to make hard pronunciation problems GRAMMAR and Errors in grammar and word order so severe as to make speech virtually unintelligible z l Sometimes uses inappropriate terms and must co a native gm VOCABULARY Use of vocabulary and idioms is virtually that of @ m Rephrases ideas because of lexical and equities Frequently uses the wrong words conversation an Lu n va ac th IX si CRITERIA RATING COMMENTS somewhat limited because of inadequate vocabulary Misuse of words and very limited vocabulary make comprehension quite difficult Vocabulary limitation so extreme as to make conversation virtually impossible Speech as fluent and efforts less as that of native speaker lu Speed of speech seems to be slightly affected by an language problem n va Speed and fluency are rather strongly affected by language problem gh tn to FLUENCY Usually hesitant, often faced into silence by p ie language limitation Speech is so halting and fragmentary as to make conversation virtually impossible oa nl w Appear to understand everything without difficulty d although occasionally nf va an lu Understand nearly everything at normal speed COMPREHENSIVE Understand most of what is said at slower than lm ul normal speed without repetition conversation spoken slowly and with frequent great difficulty z at nh oi Has comprehending, social repetition z Cannot be said to understand even simple conversation m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th X si APPENDIX 5: LESSON PLANS Lesson Plan for Role Play Activity – Cycle 1 Topic: Things around you! Time: periods/150 minutes Overall objectives: At the end of the lesson, students will be able to: - Identify familiar objects and tools - Talk about familiar objects and tools lu - Describe a workplace (workshop/office/room) an Teaching content va n - Vocabulary: familiar objects and tools; numbers 11-101 gh tn to - Grammar: the articles “a, an”, plural nouns, prepositions of place, expression to ask and answer about the objects/tools and their position ie p “What can you see?” nl w “Where is it” an lu Procedures d oa “There is/There are…” Teacher’s activities Ss’ activities nf va Stages - Greet the T lm ul - Greetings (5 minutes) - Lesson introduction - Pay attention to T’s z at nh oi Warm up introduction - Ask Ss to watch a video clip and z write down as many objects as they - Individual/ group work (Pre-speaking) can (10 minutes) - Group division: T divides the class the objects Watch and note down - Acquire the structures m into groups (5-6 Ss/group) co l gm @ Presentation an Lu - Give Ss some useful speaking and related words n va ac th XI si structures by asking “What can you see?” “Where is it?” “Where are they?” - Give sample answers: “I can see a/an/… “It’s/They’re on/in/at…” - Introduce structures “There be ….” lu - Ask Ss to work in pairs, use an expressions on the board to ask and va n answer questions of each other to - Work in pairs and listen gh tn randomly choose a few pairs to speak p ie out their conversation Practice cards given information to respond as necessary) and ask Ss not to look at an lu each other’s cards nf va (25 minutes) not look at each other’s d activities) is given detailed cues, the other is oa with role play - Get flash card, should - Deliver flash cards to each pairs (one nl w (Speaking skill to the T’s explanation z at nh oi lm ul - Teacher controls the activity - Ask Ss to the task as required and - Read their instructions give certain time limitation and work out what they z - Move around the classroom and have to and what they @ gm monitor the activity to see the will say, keep within note down problems, and allowed time prepare - Practice their role play an Lu communicative mistakes m and co l strengths and weaknesses of the Ss conversation the n va ac th XII si describing possible feedback someone’s - Ask Ss to act out alternately while room the action is observed - Give some comments Post-speaking (5 minutes) - Ask Ss to give sonic comments about about other students’ other students' performance performance - Give Ss feedback - Listen to the teacher’s feedback lu an Wrap-up and n va Teacher homework wraps up and gives homework tn to (5 minutes) - Handouts - Online software - Flash cards gh Materials ie - Observation p Evaluation - Participation d oa nl w nf va an lu z at nh oi lm ul z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th XIII si Lesson Plan for Role Activity – Cycle Topic: Shopping Time: periods/150 minutes Overall objectives: - Buy and sell products when shopping - Described a shopping experience Teaching content: - Vocabulary: common items for daily needs and mechanical/technical tools lu at mechanical stores… an n va - Grammar: roll/a bottle of … gh tn to + Quantifiers for countable and uncountable nouns: some, a few, a little, a p ie + Useful shopping expressions: w  For customer: “I’d like …”, “Can/Could I have , please?”, “How oa nl much…?”… d  For shop assistant: “Can I help you? /How can I help you?”;“Anything lu Procedure: (5 minutes) Ss’ activities - Greetings - Greet the T z at nh oi Warm up T’s activities lm ul Activities nf va an else?/What else?”… - Pay attention to T’s - Lesson introduction introduction z @ - Bingo Game: Ask Ss to look at (Pre-speaking) the pictures and write down the l name of the shops and shopping - Individual/ group work m co (10 minutes gm Presentation an Lu items in the pictures Then say Note down the shops and n va ac th XIV si BINGO when finishing items - Group division: T divides the - Acquire the structures class into groups (5-6 Ss/group) and related words - Set the situations - Give Ss some useful speaking structures by asking “Can I help you?/How can I help you?”;“Anything else?/What lu else?” an va Give sample answers: “I’d like n …”, to “Can/Could I have , gh tn please?”, “How much…?”… p ie - Ask Ss to work in pairs, use and answer questions of each oa nl w expressions on the board to ask - Work in pairs and d other lu - Ask Ss to work in pairs and listen to (Speaking skill separate them into two main explanation with role play groups activities) assistant), imagine they are in a as customers and shop (25 minutes) PPE shop and For another group, assistants at the PPE the T’s nf va an Practice lm ul (customer shop - Practice their role play and z at nh oi z imagine they are in a hardware shop and the Hardware store @ store gm l - Ask a few pairs to speak out their an Lu - Teacher controls the activity m co conversation n va ac th XV si - Deliver role cards to each pairs (one is given detailed cues, the other is given information to respond as necessary) and ask Ss - Get role card, should not to look at each other’s cards - Ask Ss to the task as required not look at each other’s cards and give certain time limitation - Move around the classroom and lu monitor the activity to see the an n va strengths and weaknesses of the Ss tn to and note down mistakes and communicative problems, prepare - Read their instructions and work out what they have to and what they will say, keep conversation the within gh allowed time p ie possible feedback while the action is observed oa nl w - Ask Ss to act out alternately note d Post-speaking Teacher gives some comments and Students lu feedback to the activity and some remarkable things nf va an (5 minutes) decides the winner their debate activity - Handouts - Online software - Role cards z at nh oi Evaluation about lm ul Material down - Observation - Participation z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th XVI si lu an n va p ie gh tn to d oa nl w nf va an lu z at nh oi lm ul z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th XVII si lu an n va p ie gh tn to d oa nl w nf va an lu z at nh oi lm ul z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th XVIII si APPENDIX 6: INTERVIEW FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS FOR TEACHERS Do you usually use role play activities in teaching English speaking skill? Why and Why not? Do you face any difficulties when using role play activities? What are they? How you solve the problems? lu an n va FOR STUDENTS ie gh tn to Do you like role play activities? Why and Why not? p Are there any difficulties in using Role play in class? What are they? d oa nl w nf va an lu z at nh oi lm ul z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th XIX si