The use ò language games to motivate the 10th grade students in speaking lesons at le hoan high school

HONG DUC UNIVERSITY FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT - - GRADUATION THESIS THE USE OF LANGUAGE GAMES TO MOTIVATE THE 10TH GRADE STUDENTS IN SPEAKING LESSONS AT LE HOAN HIGH SCHOOL Student: Truong Thi Kieu Hung Student’s code: 1767010027 Class: K20A – English Teacher Education Faculty of Foreign Languages Supervisor: Dr Nguyen Thi Quyet THANH HOA, MAY 2021 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This paper would not have been completed without the support of many people, to all of whom I am profoundly indebted First of all, I would like to send my deep gratitude to Dr Nguyen Thi Quyet, the supervisor of this research paper and the Dean of Faculty of Foreign Language for giving me a chance to the thesis Her detailed comments and useful advice help me shape my ideas and realize my aims She has also provided me with a lot of useful materials as well as encouraged and created favorable conditions for me to fulfill this research Therefore, it is an undeniable fact that this paper would have not been completed without her invaluable support Secondly, I would like to express my particular thanks to all the lectures of the Faculty whose lectures have enriched my academic knowledge of English during the past four years In addition, I warmly thank all my friends for their encouragement and precious assistance throughout the process of writing the thesis Their material and spiritual support is a great driving- force for me Especially, I wish to thank students at Hong Duc University for their enthusiastic and effective cooperation in the process of completing survey questionnaire Finally, I am greatly indebted to my parents, who have encouraged and supported me to fulfill this graduation paper Thanh Hoa, May 2021 Student Truong Thi Kieu Hung i ABSTRACT Many students find speaking as one of the most difficult skills in English Therefore, the researcher wants to motivate the students‘ speaking ability through the suitable teaching method, in this case is Language Games The problem in this research is ―The use of language games can motivate the 10th grade students in speaking lessons at Le Hoan high school in Thanh Hoa in the 2020- 2021 academic year‖ And the object of this research is to find out how language games can motivate the 10 th grade students in speaking lessons at Le Hoan high school in Thanh Hoa in the 2020- 2021 academic year Based on the research problem and the relevant theory, the hypothesis of this research is described as follows: Language games can motivate the 10th grade students in speaking lessons at Le Hoan high school because by using language games method, students become more active in participating in speaking activities in the class The design of this research is classroom action research The research subjects are the 10th grade students that consists of nearly 90 students in 10A1 and 10A3 Questionnaire, observation and interview are used to obtain the data Language games motivated students to improve as well as developed speaking skills effectively in peaking English lessons at Le Hoan high school for the 10th grade students ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS vi PART A: INTRODUCTION Aims of the study Research questions Scope of the study Research methods Organization of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 A brief description of speaking 1.1.2 Characteristics of a successful speaking activity 1.1.3 Problems with speaking activities 1.1.4 Principles in teaching speaking according to CLT approach 1.2 A brief description of motivation in learning 1.2.1 Definition of motivation 1.2.2 Types of motivation 1.2.3 Roles of motivation in learning 13 1.3 A brief description of language games 14 1.3.2 Features of a quality game 16 1.3.3 Types of language games 17 1.3.4 Some opinions on using games in teaching and learning process 17 1.3.5 Language games as a motivator for students to speak 19 1.4.1 Factors taken into consideration in applying language games 21 1.4.2 Time of using a game 22 1.4.3 Ways of running a game 22 1.5 Summary 24 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 25 iii 2.1 The context of the study 25 2.1.1 An overview of the research site 25 2.1.2 The English text book of grade 10 25 2.1.3 Description of the students at Le Hoan high school 25 2.1.4 Description of the teachers at Le Hoan high school 26 2.2 Data collection 26 2.3 Procedures of game application in speaking 27 2.4 Data collection instruments 32 2.4.1 Survey questionnaires 32 2.4.2 Classroom observation 32 2.4.3 Interview 33 2.5 Summary 33 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 34 3.1 Achievements of the study 34 3.1.1 Achievements from the questionnaires 34 3.2 Challenges in applying language games in teaching and learning 52 3.3 Remarks 54 PART C: CONCLUSIONS 55 A recapitulation of the study 55 Limitations and recommendations for further study 56 REFERENCES 57 APPENDICES iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative Language Teaching EFL: English as a foreign language Qs: Question n.a: non applicable v LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Table 1: Data collected from pre-task survey questionnaire 35 Chart 1; 2: Student‘ attitudes towards English learning 36 Chart 3; 4: Students‘ attitudes and perspectives towards speaking lessons 37 Chart 5: Students‘ opinions on the speaking topics in the course book 38 Chart 6: Students‘ participation in speaking lessons 39 Chart 7: Students‘ reasons for unwillingness to speak 40 Chart 8: Students‘ preferences of teacher‘s techniques in speaking classes 41 Table 2: Data collected from post- task survey questionnaire 43 Chart 9: Students‘ attitudes towards language games applied by the teacher 44 Chart 10: Students‘ participation in language games 44 Chart 11: Students‘ participation in speaking lessons 45 Chart 12: Benefits of using language games in speaking lessons 46 Chart 13: Students‘ preferences for teachers‘ activities for the use of language games in speaking lessons 48 Chart 14: The frequency of applying language games 49 vi PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale for the study In the globalization age today, English is considered as the most important means of international communication Therefore, promoting oral skills in order to respond to the students‘ needs for effective communication is one of the important strategies of teaching and learning English in recent years Among the four skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) of English learning, speaking is considered the most important skill for the purpose of communication It is believed that speaking plays a vital role since it is the step to identify who knows or does not know a language Pattison (1992) confirms that when people know or learn a language, they mean being able to speak the language Similarly, Ur, (1996) shows that people who know a language are referred to as ―speakers‖ of that language as if speaking included all other kinds of knowing However, teaching and learning speaking today does not meet the study objectives English teaching now in general and teaching speaking in particular is still far from satisfactory Although teachers have made great efforts to provide students with chances to improve their speaking skills, how to teach and learn speaking effectively is still a challenging question to both teachers and students at many high schools in Vietnam At Le Hoan high school, students still face many difficulties in learning English, especially speaking skills when communicating in English Most students find speaking especially important yet most challenging one For most of them, it is difficult to speak English naturally As a result, in speaking lessons, they often feel bored and frightened How to motivate and encourage students to speak is really necessary, and is a big question to almost teachers Also, teaching techniques exploited during a speaking activity, for example, role plays, simulations, discussions, etc not bring much effectiveness Thus, it is necessary to find an effective technique used in teaching speaking Moreover, in language teaching, language games have proved themselves as an important factor which can create more chances and interest to motivate students to speak Language games not only banish boredom, provide learners with enjoyable environment but also supply them with chance to use language and constitute a bridge between the lesson and the real world (Greenal, 1984) For all the reasons mentioned above I have decided to choose the topic “The use of language games to motivate the 10th grade students in speaking lessons at Le Hoan high school” for my graduation thesis with the hope that it might be helpful to both teachers and students in teaching and learning speaking Aims of the study The study is carried out in order to:  Investigate the current situation of teaching and learning speaking to the 10th grade students Le Hoan high school  Explore the effects of language games in teaching speaking to the 10th grade students at Le Hoan high school  Provide some suggestions and implications of using language games for the improvement of speaking teaching at Le Hoan high school Research questions The research is to seek answer to the following questions:  What is speaking teaching and learning reality to the 10th grade students Le Hoan high school like?  How can language games help to improve students‘ motivation in speaking classes?  What are the suggestions and implications of using language games in speaking lessons? Scope of the study For the limitation of time, conditions, and materials, in this minor study, the researcher focuses specifically on the use of language games in teaching speaking to the 10th grade students at Le Hoan high school So the study limits itself to the teaching and learning speaking only, and the subjects of the study are nearly 90 students from two classes 10A1 and 10A3 at Le Hoan high school Research methods In order to realize the aims of the study, quantitative method is used The survey questionnaire is used to collect information and evidence for the study The survey questionnaire including pre-task survey questionnaire and post task survey questionnaire is for nearly 90 students from three classes 10A1 and 10A3 at Le Hoan high school All comments, remarks and recommendations given in the study are based on the data analysis Organization of the study This minor thesis is composed of three parts as follows: Part A -INTRODUCTION In this part, the rationale, the aims, research questions, as well as scope of the study, methods of the study and also its design are presented Part B -DEVELOPMENT This part includes chapters  Chapter deals with some theoretical background that is relevant to the purpose of the study: speaking skills and language games  Chapter investigates the situation of teaching and learning speaking and the feasibility of using language games in teaching speaking to the 10th grade students through the analysis of collected data  Chapter consists of some findings concluded from the data analysis  Chapter provides some suggestions on using language games as well as some sample language games exploited during all stages of speaking lessons Part C -CONCLUSION In this part, the summary of the study, limitations of the study and suggestions for further study are mentioned REFERENCES and APPENDICES are presented in the last pages of the study CÂU HỎI ĐIỀU TRA (Sau sử dụng trị chơi học nói) Những câu hỏi sau nhằm phục vụ cho việc nghiên cứu việc sử dụng trị chơi ngơn ngữ nhằm gây hứng thú học nói tiếng Anh cho học sinh khối 10 trường THPT Lê Hoàn việc học tiếng Anh Các câu trả lời mà em cung cấp quan trọng việc khảo sát Những liệu điều tra sử dụng cho cơng việc nghiên cứu này, khơng mục đích khác Xin em vui lịng trả lời câu hỏi sau theo suy nghĩ Chân thành cảm ơn cộng tác em! Hãy đánh dấu (√) vào ô mà em lựa chọn  Tên em (Không bắt buộc):  Môn chuyên em:………… ………  Em học tiếng Anh: năm Em có thích trị chơi mà giáo viên sử dụng dạy nói khơng? A Rất thích C Bình thường B Thích D Khơng có ý kiến Trong chơi trò chơi, em tham gia……… A cách tích cực B giáo viên yêu cầu C cảm thấy hứng thú D không tham Em cảm thấy sau tham gia trò chơi: A.thoải mái hứng thú B bình thường C khơng thoải mái D chán nản Em có tham gia tích cực học nói hay khơng? A Có, em cảm thấy hứng thú B Tùy thuộc vào hoạt động nói trò chơi mà giáo viên đưa C Em cảm thấy khơng hứng thú ngại nói Theo em, việc sử dụng trị chơi ngơn ngữ học nói có hiệu khơng? A Có B Không Nếu câu trả lời (ở câu 5) có: Hãy cho biết lợi ích mà trị chơi ngơn ngữ giúp em học nói gì? (em lựa chọn nhiều phương án ): A Trị chơi ngơn ngữ làm cho học nói thêm thú vị B Trị chơi ngơn ngữ làm cho học nói khó khăn thách thức C Trị chơi ngơn ngữ giúp học sinh giảm căng thẳng, bớt rụt rè, từ học sinh thêm tự tin nói D Trị chơi ngơn ngữ tạo cho học sinh nhiều thời gian hội đươc thực hành nói Nếu câu trả lời (ở câu 5) không: Hãy nêu rõ nguyên nhân việc sử dụng trị chơi học nói không hiệu quả? …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… … Theo em, để phát huy tính hiệu việc sử dụng trị chơi ngơn ngữ học nói, giáo viên cần… ( em lựa chọn nhiều phương án ): A sử dụng trò chơi phù hợp với trình độ học sinh B giải thích luật chơi cách rõ ràng dễ hiểu C sử dụng trò chơi đa dạng học nói khác D làm mẫu cho học sinh xem E Lựa chọn khác( ghi rõ ) Theo em, giáo viên nên sử dụng trị chơi ngơn ngữ thời điểm nào? A Giai đoạn khởi động ( warm-up ) B Giai đoạn chuẩn bị ( pre-speaking ) C Giai đoạn thực hành nói ( while-speaking) D Giai đoạn mở rộng ( post- speaking) E Bất kỳ giai đoạn tuỳ thuộc vào chủ đề hay hoạt động nói 10 Em nghĩ trị chơi ngơn ngữ nên tổ chức A Thường xuyên C Hiếm ` B Thỉnh thoảng D Không Cảm ơn giúp đỡ em! APPENDIX 3: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION CHECKLIST Date of observation:………………………………………………………… Class:………………………………………………………………………… Teacher:……………………………………………………………………… Lesson:……………………………………………………………………… Number of students:………………………………………………………… Aspects of observation: No Aspects of observation The atmosphere of the classroom in the speaking lesson The activities teachers using to teach speaking skills for students The understanding level of students in the speaking lesson The interest level of students towards the lesson The interaction between teacher and students in the speaking lesson Great Good Normal Bad Very bad APPENDIX 4: INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE How you feel after playing games in speaking lessons? In your opinion, what are the advantages of language games to your speaking skills? Do you think that your teacher should change language games in each speaking lesson? Why/ Why not? What are your suggestions for your teacher to get a good speaking lesson? APPENDIX 5: GAMES APPLIED IN SPEAKING LESSONS Warm-up A warm up activity is often a short and fun The purpose of warms up is to prepare students to learn by stimulating their minds Warm ups should last about five minutes  Topic: Where you live? Type of game: Sorting, ordering games Class management: Work in groups Material: Big posters and handouts Time: minutes Procedure: The teacher asks students to work in groups The teacher sticks the following posters on the blackboard or alternatively prints these posters and distributes them to students Teacher then gives the handout to the groups and asks students to match the furniture with the rooms The group who finishes first and has all the correct answers will be the winner Posters The living room The bedroom The bathroom The kitchen Handouts Bed Wardrobe pillow shower Bookcase Sofa coffee table television Stereo Fridge oven dishwasher Cupboard Cooker armchair dresser Mattress washing machine blanket bathtub  Topic: Food around the world Type of game: Matching games Material: Pictures and cards Classroom management: Work in groups Time: minutes Procedure: The teacher divides the class into groups of five or six students The teacher gives each group a set of pictures of different food and slips of paper containing their names Students quickly match each food with their name Which group finishes first and has all the correct answers will be the winner Pictures: Cards: Juice Tomatoes Carrots Chicken Rice Pizza Hamburgers Oranges Potatoes Mango Spaghetti Pine apples Sausages Fish Cheese Yoghurt Melons Noodles Strawberries Butter Pre-speaking stage A pre-speaking activity is 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 Time spent on prespeaking stage is often from five to fifteen minutes depending on each lesson  Topic: Music Aim: Provide students with some cue nouns to show some names of types of music Type of game: Crossword Class management: Group work Material: handouts Time: minutes Procedure: Teacher delivers handouts to the students Teacher asks the students to work in groups of to find out words hidden in this square The words are horizontal or vertical F E W I N V I T E R O W R I T P A L T K L I M W O X H J E I K D A P I H E A E S A C R K L P R Z V S S H R O L O V Z U O B A Y M C N O W I E C T Y N B K C O M E A C L A S S I C A L E N G A G E A T O A  Topic: Conservation Aim: Provide students with some nouns and verbs about zoos of the new kind Type of game: Jumbled words Class management: Group work Material: Handouts Time: minutes Procedure: Teacher asks the students to work in groups of to find out the words from the jumbled letters Teacher calls on students to write down the words on the board, and then asks students to speak out the words Jumbled words  Erbde Words  breed Jumbled words Words  tcurtsed  rancce  dlna  yavetir  ecnefed  noitategev  noisore  yksir  seiceps  retserof  exngciti While- speaking stage This is the main part of a speaking lesson in which students use language input provided in pre-speaking stage to express their opinions, to converse and discuss or to describe one event, to tell a story, etc This stage often lasts from twenty to thirty minutes  Topic: The world of work Type of games: Guessing games Class management: Whole class Material: Cards Time: 15 minutes Procedure: The teacher prepares a set of cards about different occupations Students will take turn to choose one card from this set and try to use their knowledge to give descriptions of that work so that the other students can guess which occupation is For example: - The student takes up a card on which ―flight attendant‖ is written He/She can use his/her own words to talk about it: She wears a beautiful uniform She travels a lot She can speak many languages She serves drinks on flights So the other students may find it easy to guess the card correctly - The student takes up a card on which ―doctor‖ is written He/She can say: He wears and works in … He helps sick people He works with the nurses Set of cards  Doctor Interpreter carpenter Receptionist accountant mechanic Postman Nurse chef Journalist teacher greengrocer Architect barman optician Topic: Can you speak English? Type of games: Role-play Class management: pair works Material: handouts Time: 15-17 minutes Procedure: The teacher asks students to work in pairs: one plays the role of a journalist, while the other plays the role of Alexandra (a little Miss Picasso) or Lukas (The New Mozart) Teacher distributes the interview form to each pair and asks them to interview and takes notes the answers The students can change their roles and make another interview Then the teacher asks some students to report what they have gained from the interview INTERVIEW FORM A: Hello, Lukas! Can I ask you some questions? B: Of course Where were you born? ………………………… …………… Where you live now? ……………………………………… Who you live with? …………………………………… … How old were you when you could play the piano? Could you read music before you could read books? You can write music very well now, can‘t you? How much time can you practice the piano everyday? Can you speak any foreign languages? ……….…………… Do you have much free time? 10 What you like doing in your free time? ………….………… INTERVIEW FORM A: Hello, Alexandra! Can I ask you some questions? B: Of course Where were you born? ………………………… …………… Where you live now? ……………………………………… Who you live with? …………………………………… … How old were you when you could paint? Could your parents understand your pictures? How much can you earn from each picture? How much time can you practice painting everyday? Can you speak any foreign languages? ……….…………… Do you have much free time? 10 What you like doing in your free time? ………….…………  Topic: Life’s an adventure! Aims: Practice the structure ―Be going to…‖ Type of games: Chain game Class management: Group work Material: Handouts Time: 15 minutes Procedure: The teacher asks students to work in groups of or The first student starts the game by repeating the teacher‘s words The second one repeats the first student‘s sentence and adds more information The third student continue to repeat the second‘s words again then adds more ideas… The group that creates the longest and correct sentence will be the winner E.g: Student 1: After graduating, I‘m going to find a job Student 2: After graduating, I‘m going to find a job and buy a motorbike Student 3: After graduating, I‘m going to find a job, buy a motorbike and a house Student 4: ……………………………………… Student 1: This weekend, we are going to visit our grandparents Student 2:…………………………  Topic: Have you ever? Aim: Practice the present perfect tense Type of game: Find someone who Class management: Whole class Material: Handouts Time: 10 minutes Procedure: Teacher gives a handout to each student They quickly stand up and ask other students in the class Have you ever……? When a student answer ―Yes, I have‖, the interviewer writes his/her name (each student is asked only one question) The student who writes all the names in the shortest time is the winner Teacher asks the student to report what they have gained from the interview Eg: - Mai has been to a foreign country - Quan has met a famous person - Tam has been in love - …… Find someone who Name - has been to a foreign country Mai - has been in love Tam - has met a famous person Quan - has won a competition - has been in a play - has drunk wine or beer - has climbed a mountain - …… Post-speaking stage It is the last step of a speaking lesson so it is time for students‘ production The activities in this stage are for students to reflect upon their performance Postspeaking stage should last ten to twelve minutes -  Topic: Leisure activities Type of game: Whispering Game Classroom management: Group work Material: Some sentences using structure ―Like + v-ing‖ I like listening to music and playing computer game in my free time - We like taking photographs and singing when we go camping - I don‘t like playing football or tennis but I like swimming very much Time: 8-10 minutes Procedure: The teacher divides the class into teams Line up the players If there are an odd number of players, one can be the teacher's "helper" There are three circles in the game A group of seven or eight students each team joins the first circle, another group take part in the second The rest students of each group act in the last one The team who wins two circles is the winner The teacher or his helper whispers a message to the first person of the two teams The game only starts when both players know the message Then each player whispers the message to the next player in his group successively until the last player gets the message The team which can repeat the message first and correctly win receives a point  Topic: Describing people Aims: Practice structures ―S + have/has got; S + be + V-ing; S + be + adj‖ Type of game: Guessing games Classroom management: team work Time: 8-10 minutes Procedure: The teacher divides the class into teams Team A will choose a student in their team to describe The students in team B listen carefully and find out who is the person team A is describing If the described person is found out within three first sentences, team B will receive 10 points, within to sentences, Team B will get points However, Team B only receives points if they find out the described student only when they listen over sentences Team A and B will change their roles when a description finishes In the end, the team who gains more points is the winner For example: Team A (speaker) Team B( listener) One of our member is a boy/girl He/she is rather tall or he/she is not very tall He/she has got a round/ an oval face Is he/she Mai/Nam/…? His/Her hair is short/long and black/ fair… He/She is wearing…… Team B (speaker) Team A ( listener) One of our member is a boy/girl He/she is rather tall or he/she is not very tall He/she has got a round/ an oval face Is he/she Mai/Nam/…? His/Her hair is short/long and black/ fair… He/She is wearing /sitting by……  Topic: How terribly clever! Aims: Practice simple past tense and adverbs of manner Type of game: Story telling Class management: Group work Time: 10 minutes Procedure: The teacher divides the class into groups of six to eight students The teacher asks students to work in groups to tell about their imaginary excursion The teacher provides students with the topic of the story Then the students in each group discuss and finishes the story, all groups are asked to tell their excursion in front of the class The teacher will decide which the most interesting story is Noises in the night Last night, I was at home alone for the first time I was fast asleep when suddenly…