An investigation into the use of communicative activities in teaching speaking skill by efl teachers of gia hội high school in hue city

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYEN DAI MINH AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILL BY EFL TEACHERS OF GIA HOI HIGH SCHOOL IN HUE CITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Hue University of Foreign Languages HUE, 2018 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYEN DAI MINH AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILL BY EFL TEACHERS OF GIA HOI HIGH SCHOOL IN HUE CITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.14.01.11 SUPERVISOR: Assoc Prof Dr TRAN VAN PHUOC HUE, 2018 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ -NGUYỄN ĐẠI MINH NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG GIAO TIẾP TRONG VIỆC DẠY KỸ NĂNG NÓI CỦA CÁC GIÁO VIÊN TIẾNG ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT GIA HỘI, THÀNH PHỐ HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.14.01.11 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS.TS TRẦN VĂN PHƯỚC HUẾ, 2018 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby declare that the thesis entitled “An Investigation into the Use of Communicative Activities in Teaching Speaking Skill By EFL Teachers of Gia Hoi High School in Hue City” The thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference or citation is made in the thesis itself Hue, 10 th October, 2018 Signature Nguyen Dai Minh i ABSTRACT Communicative Activities (CAs) play a crucial role in enhancing the quality of teaching English Nevertheless, applying CAs is not popular and still limited in Vietnam, the fact that teachers use traditional method which is not attractive and effective Therefore, the principal goal of this research is to investigate and identify the teachers‟ perception and reality of using CAs for teaching English speaking skill at Gia Hoi high school in Hue city Moreover, the study also aims at presenting some suggestions to make using CAs at in teaching English speaking skill more efficient The main subject of this thesis was 12 EFL teachers from of Gia Hoi high school in Hue city In terms of methodology, questionnaire, interview were chosen as the main instruments of the research All data was analyzed thanks to the qualitative and quantitative method As a result, it indicates that most of the teachers have a quite good understanding of CAs knowledge and their positive perceptions towards the roles of CAs in and applying it to teaching speaking skill Moreover, the findings also illustrate useful strategies for teachers for using CAs in real speaking classes Furthermore, it can be drawn from the research results that certain difficulties including time constraint, choosing proper materials, different English language proficiency levels among students and other factors which teachers often confront in the application of CAs Last but not least, some suggestions for teaching speaking skills were thus offered to help teachers utilize CAs in their teaching more effectively ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Apart from my own efforts, the success of this study depends largely on the encouragement and guidelines from many others In the process of choosing and writing this study, I was fortunate to receive valuable assistances and supports In the light of this opportunity, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to those who have been instrumental in the completion of this research paper First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge my enormous debt to my supervisor, Associate Prof Tran Van Phuoc for his precious guidances, constructive and insightful criticism, helpful suggestions and constant encouragement during the implementation of this thesis Without his whole-hearted assistance, this work could not have been completed Secondly, I would like to convey my sincere thankfulness to lecturers at English Department of Hue University of Foreign Languages for their generous assistances and useful advices, which have enlighten my research work Thirdly, I am indebted to the English teachers of Gia Hoi high school for their enthusiastic participation in completing the questionnaires and interview Thanks to their cooperation and contribution, I have collected the necessary and valuable data to serve the purposes of my research Last but not least, I am deeply grateful to my beloved family who created favorable conditions and supported me both spiritually and materially to accomplish this graduation thesis iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions .5 1.4 Scope of the study .6 1.5 Subject of the study 1.6 Significance of the study 1.7 Organization of the study .6 CHAPTER II .8 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) 2.1.1 Definition of Communicative Language Teaching .8 2.1.2 Characteristics of CLT 2.1.3 Principles of CLT 2.1.4 Teacher‟s and Learner‟s Roles in CLT 10 2.2 Communicative activities (CAs) 11 2.2.1 Definition of CAs 11 2.2.2 Characteristics of CAs 13 2.2.3 Types of CAs 15 2.2.4 Possible CAs to teach Speaking 18 2.3 The nature of teaching speaking skill 20 2.3.1 Definition of Speaking Skill 20 2.3.2 The importance of speaking skill in English teaching and learning 21 2.3.3 Aspects of the Speaking Skill 21 2.3.4 Principles for Teaching Speaking 22 2.3.5 Shape of a speaking lesson 23 iv 2.3.6 Difficulties in Teaching Speaking .24 2.3.7 Characteristics of a successful speaking lesson/ activity 24 2.3.8 Teacher‟s Role During A Speaking Lesson 25 2.3.9 Prior studies related to the study 26 CHAPTER III 29 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 29 3.1 Research questions .29 3.2 Research design and approach 29 3.3 The participants of the study 30 3.4 Data collection 31 3.4.1 Instruments 31 3.4.1.1 Questionnaire .31 3.4.1.2 Interview 32 3.4.2 The procedure of data collection 33 3.4.3 Data analysis 34 3.5 Reliability and validity .34 3.6 Summary 35 CHAPTER IV 36 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 36 4.1 Teachers‟ perceptions about applying CAs to teaching speaking skill 36 4.1.1 Teachers‟ perceptions about the definition of CAs 36 4.1.2 Teachers‟ viewpoints on the importance of CAs in teaching speaking skill .37 4.1.3 Teachers‟ of purposes of using CAs 39 4.1.4 Teacher‟s opinions on the characteristics of CAs .40 4.1.5 Teachers‟ preferred types of CAs 41 4.1.6 Teachers‟ interest in CAs in the current English textbook 42 4.1.7 Teachers' application of CAs in a speaking lesson 44 4.1.8 Teachers‟ sources for designing CAs for speaking lessons 45 4.1.9 Teachers‟ Feedbacks on the speaking lessons without CAs .47 v 4.2 The Reality of using CAs in speaking lessons in Gia Hoi high school .47 4.2.1 Teachers‟ frequency of CAs application in speaking lessons .47 4.2.2 Teachers‟ commonly used CAs in the speaking lessons .48 4.2.3 Teachers‟ observation towards students‟ reactions when participating in CAs in speaking classes 50 4.2.4 Teachers‟ ways of giving feedbacks after conducting CAs in speaking lessons 51 4.2.5 Teachers‟ reaction towards using CAs in speaking lessons 52 4.2.6 Teachers‟ viewpoints on the advantages of CAs 54 4.2.7 Teachers opinions on the benefits of some common types of CA for teaching Speaking skill 55 4.2.8 Teachers‟ difficulties when conducting CAs in speaking classes 57 4.3 Teachers‟ suggestions to promote the use of CAs in teaching English speaking skill 60 4.4 Summary 61 CHAPTER V .62 CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 62 5.1 Conclusion 62 5.2 Pedagogical implications 63 5.2.1 Implications for teachers 63 5.2.2 Implications for students 64 5.2.3 Implications for the educational administrators 65 5.3 Limitations of study 65 5.4 Suggestions for further research .65 REFERENCES 67 APPENDIX 73 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Communicative Activities : CAs CLT : Communicative Language Teaching ESL : English as a Second Language EFL: : English as a Foreign Language T1 : Teacher T2 : Teacher T3 : Teacher T4 : Teacher T5 : Teacher vii other students and teachers at other high schools The further studies could be done on a large scale with more participants taking part in, and the participants scale would be widen to students from all the high schools in Hue city or students in college level or some schools outside the city As a result, the future researches would be more highly reliable There will be more CAs which could be also included in the questionnaire and more affecting factors to the use of CAs in language teaching could be examined For further studies on this matter, the researcher gives some suggested topics as follows:  Apply CAs to teaching Grammar in some high schools in Hue city  Apply CAs to teaching Reading skill in some high schools in Hue city  Apply CAs to teach Listening skill in some high schools in Hue city  Compare and contrast the use of CAs of English teachers in some schools in central city and those ones in rural areas in the Thua Thien Hue province 66 REFERENCES Abdulla, M., Enhancing Oral Communication Skills by using Pairwork Strategies, Action Research and Initial Teacher Education in the UAE.UAE (2007) Ackroyd, S & Hughes, J.A (1981), Data Collection in Context Longman Bailey, Kathleen M (Ed David Nunan) (2005) Practical English Language Teaching: Speaking New York: The Mc Graw Hill Companies, Inc Basturkmen, H (2010) Developing Courses in English for Specific Purposes New York: Paglave Macmillan Borg, W.R, & Gall, M.D (1989) Educational research: An introduction, 5th ed New York & London: Longman Breen, M and Candlin C (1980) “The Essentials of a Communicative Curriculum in Language Teaching”, Applied Linguistics Brown (2001) Characteristic of successful speaking activities New York: Cambridge University press Brown, D B (1994), Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, Prentice Hall International, Ltd Brown, H (2001) Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy New York: Longman Pearson Education Brown H D (2001) Teaching by Principle New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc Burns, Anne (1999) Doing Action Research in English Language Teaching New York: Routledge Burton S H (1982) Mastering English Language London: The McMillian Press Ltd Byrne, D (1986) Teaching Oral English Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Cameron, D (2001) Working with Spoken Discourse Oxford: SAGE Publications, Ltd 67 Celce-Murcia, M., Dornyei, Z., and Thurell, S (1995) Communicative Competence: A Pedadogigal Motivated Model with Content Specifications Los Angels: University of California Chau, T.N (2013) The Application Of Communicative Activities In English Speaking Classes Of Grade 11th Students At Cao Lanh City High School (BA Thesis), Dong Thap University David, E.A and Rebecca M., Classroom Techniques Foreign Languages and English as a Second Language, New York (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc , 1997), p.211 Dang, M.P (2013) A study on Using Communicative Activities in Teaching English Grammar for First Year Non-English Major Students at Van Xuan University (MA Thesis), Vinh University Dornyei, Z., and Thurrell, S (1992) Conversation and Dialogues in Action Prentice: Prentice-Hall International Graves, K (1996) Teachers as course developers England: Cambridge University Press Graves, K (2000) Designing Language Course, A Guide for Teachers Boston.Heinle Cengage Learning Harmer, J (1998) How to teach english Malaysia: Longman Harmer, J (2001) How to Teach English An introduction to Practice of English Language Teaching England: Longman Harmer, J (2002), The practice of English language teaching (Fourth Edition), (England: Longman, 2002), p.265 Harmer, J (2007) The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th Ed.) Essex: Pearson Education Limited Harmer, J (2012) Essential teacher knowledge Harlow: Pearson Education Limited Harris, T L and Hodges, R E (1995) The Literacy Dictionary: The Vocabulary of Reading and Writing Newark: International Reading Association 68 Huff, C (2012) Action research on using role play activity in an adult ESL levelone class Hamline University Saint Paul, Minnesota Johnson, K and Morrow, K (1981) Communication in the classroom London: Longman Johnson, K and Morrow, K (1981) Communication in the classroom London: Longman Klippel, F (1985) Keep Talking: Communicative Fluency Activities for Language Teaching Cambridge University Press Klipple, F (1999) Keep Talking Communication Fluency Activities for Language Teaching, Prentice Hall Englewood Cliffs, N.J Kwong, P (n.d.) CDTL Brief, Newsletter CDTL Brief, Newsletter Retrieved July 10, 2014, from http://cdtl.nus.edu.sg/brief/v4n2/default.htm Littlewood, W (1981) Communicative Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Littlewood, W T (2002) Communicative Language Teaching : an Introduction Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Longman, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, English (Pearson, 2004) Mc Millan, J.H, & Schumacher, S (1993) Research in education: A conceptual introduction, 3rd ed, New York, NY: HarperCollins College Publishers McDonough, J and Shaw, C., Materials and Methods in ELT: A Teacher Guide, (Cambridge: Blackwell publishers, 1993), p.151 Morrow, K (1981) Principles of communicative methodology In K Johnson & K Morrow (Eds.), Communication in the classroom Harlow, England: Longman Nicolas, R & Arthur, L (1988), Large Class, Macmillan Publishers, Ltd Nolasco, Rob and Lois, Arthur (1988) Large Classes New York: Macmillan Publishers Ltd 69 Nunan, D (1989) Designing tasks for the communicative classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Nunan, D (1993), Task-based Syllabus Design: Selecting, Grading, and Sequencing tasks, Cambridge University Press Nunan, D (2003) Practical English Language Teaching New York: McGraw-Hill Oradee, T (2012) Developing speaking skill using three communicative activities (Discussion, problem-Solving, and role-playing) International Journal of Social Science and Humanity Rao, Z (2002) Chinese students' perceptions of communicative and noncommunicative activities in EFL classroom System, 30(1), 85-105 doi:10.1016/ S0346-251X(01)00050-1 Richard, J C (2006) Communicative Language Teaching Today New York: Cambridge University Press Richards, C.J., & Lackhart, C (1994), Reflective Teaching in Second Language classrooms, Cambridge University, United Kingdom Richards, J C., & Rodgers, T (1986) Approaches and methods in language teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Richards, J C (2008) Teaching Listening and Speaking: From Theory to Practice: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Spratt, Mary., Pulverness, Alan., and Williams, Melanie (2005) The TKT Course Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Thornbury, S 2005 How to Teach Speaking London: Longman Stern, H H (1992) Issues and options in language teaching Oxford: OUP Thompson, G (1996), Some Misconceptions about Communicative Language Teaching Thornbury, S (2005) How to Teach Speaking London: Longman 70 Tran, T.T.H (2011) Using Oral Activities to Teach Grammar Communicatively to The First Year Non-English Major Students at Vietnam University of Commerce (MA Thesis), University of Commerce Ur, P (1996), A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory, Cambridge University Press Zhang, Y (2009) Reading to speak: Integrating oral communication skills English Teaching Forum,47(1), 32-34 Retrieved from http://exchanges.state.gov/englishteaching/forum/archives/2009/09-47-1.html 71 APPENDICES APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS The purposes of this survey questionnaire are to seek to the information and to understand more about teachers‟ experience in using CAs in teaching English speaking for grade 10th students at Gia Hoi high school in Hue city The result of this survey will be used merely as important data for my master research “An Investigation into the Use of Oral CAs in Teaching Speaking Skill by EFL Teachers at Gia Hoi high school, Hue City” not for any other purposes, thus you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Your responses are very important to the success of the survey as well as to my research paper Therefore, your assistance in completing this survey will be highly appreciated The researcher is in a deep expectation that the answer should be frank and accurate to your own ideas and teaching context Thank you very much for your cooperation! Please put a tick (√) on the answer you choose, in some questions, more than one choice is acceptable ……………………………………………………………………………………… TEACHERS’ PROFILE: -Your qualification:  BA  MA  Ph.D - Years of teaching:  < years - Gender:  Male - Your class size:  Less than 40 students  5-10 years  >10 years  Female  40-50 students  More than 50 students - Have you ever participated in any workshops related to teaching speaking skill using CAs?  Yes  No I TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILL AT GIA HOI HIGH SCHOOL: Please indicate your level of agreement on the following statements about CAs? Strongly disagree (1), Disagree (2), Neutral (3), Agree (4), Strongly Agree (5) Statements (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) CAs include any activities that encourage a learner to speak CAs are pieces of classroom works which involves learners in producing or interacting in the target language CAs focus on forms rather than functions of language CAs are ones which brings the language to life by providing a real basis for speaking the interactive exchange of ideas, opinions, and feelings with others CAs emphasize learners‟ accuracy CAs are totally controlled by teachers and students are dependent on teachers In CAs, students concentrate on “what” they are saying rather than “how” they are saying it In teaching speaking skill, CAs are ………….?  Very necessary  Necessary In your teaching, CAs are used to?  Teach speaking skill officially  Support your teaching  Both teaching and supporting  Not necessary  No idea In your opinion, which following statements are accurate about the characteristics of CAs? (More than one option is acceptable)  CAs involve using language for a purpose  Mistakes are not accepted in CAs  CAs help to bridge the information gap  Learners have limited choices of producing their speech  CAs encourage students to be creative and to contribute their ideas What types of the following CAs that you are interested in using in speaking classes? (More than one option is acceptable)  Questions and Answers  Information Gap  Games  Storytelling  Others, (Please specify): ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… How interested are you in speaking tasks in the current English textbook?  Very much  Not very much  A little  Not at all Which stage in a speaking lesson that you often apply CAs?  Pre-speaking  While-speaking  Post-speaking Which sources of materials you usually use to design CAs for speaking lessons?  The activities in the current textbook  The self-designed activities  The activities in the reference books  The activities collected from colleagues  Combining the above-mentioned sources  Others (Please note down): ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… According to you, how successful will your speaking lessons for your students be if no CAs are made use of?  Less successful than using CAs  As successful as the lesson using CAs  More successful than using CAs  Others (Please note down): ……………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… II The Reality of using CAs to teach speaking skill in Gia Hoi high school: 10 How often you apply CAs in speaking lessons?  Usually  Sometimes  Rarely  Never 11 What are the CAs that are commonly used in your speaking lessons?  Information Gap  Questions and Answers  Games  Storytelling  Others (Please specify) ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 12 What you think about students’ reactions when CAs are used for speaking periods? (more than one options is acceptable)  Excited and active  Confident and comfortable  Nervous and embarrassed  Bored  Others, (Please specify): ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 13 How you give your feedbacks after a communicative activity? (more than one options is acceptable)  Ask students to give their comments on their own performance  Ask some students to give comments on other students‟ performance  Give detailed comments on each activity  Correct common mistakes and suggest what should be improved  Praise those who the task well and criticize those who did not join work  Other ways (Please note down): ……………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… 14 How you feel when using CAs in teaching speaking skill? (More than one option is acceptable)  Really confident  Very excited  Nerve-racking  Others (Please specify): ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 15 How was the lesson’s quality improved when applying CAs in teaching speaking skill? (More than one option is acceptable)  Make the lesson more interesting  Increase students‟ motivation  Help students to produce language freely and fluently Help students apply structures into real communicative situations  Help students develop their communicative competence totally  Create a natural learning environment  Help students understand and memorize grammatical structures easily and effectively  Other advantages (Please specify): ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 16 Indicate your agreement on the advantages of the following types of CAs: Strongly disagree (1), Disagree (2), Neutral (3), Agree (4), Strongly agree (5) Your opinions CAs enable students to… Questions and answers (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Involve the learners‟ participation in class Increase students‟ talking time Help students to get insights of the lessons Enhance the interaction among students Information Gap Enhance students‟ talking time Encourage critical thinking skill and teamwork Improve students‟ use of target language Give students the desire to communicate 17 Which problems in the following you suppose to have when designing and using CAs in teaching English speaking skill? (more than one options is acceptable)  Lack of time for preparation  Lack of in-class time  UnCAs in the textbook  Class size  Students‟ ability of English  Students‟ personal characteristics  Lack of facilities and teaching aids  Other difficulties (Please specify): ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… III Teachers’ Suggestions to promote the use of CAs in teaching English speaking skill: 18 If you have any suggestions for teachers, students to make using CAs in teaching English speaking skill more effectively (for example, teachers should adapt the activities in the textbook more appropriate for the students, etc) Please note down: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………… 19 If you have any suggestions for administrators to make using CAs in teaching English speaking skill more effectively (for example, equip facilities to support teaching and learning speaking skill, administrators‟ supports like adding more activities to the speaking session, etc.) Please note down: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… Thank you so much for your cooperation! APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (FOR TEACHERS) The interview is constructed by structured questions addressing the use of CAs to teach English speaking skill at Gia Hoi high school in Hue city Question 1: What are the roles of CAs in teaching or supporting speaking skill? Question 2: What CAs you usually use in teaching speaking skill in your classes? Question 3: What you often when your students make mistakes during CAs? Question 4: Are you interested in the textbook‟s CAs? Why? Question 5: What should you during a communicative activity taken place? Question 6: What you often to cope with the difficulties when conducting CAs? Question 7: What you think teachers should to make CAs effective as well as to arouse your student‟s interest and motivation in engaging in CAs? Question 8: In your viewpoint, what are the possible ways to improve teacher‟s skill of conducting CAs to teach speaking effectively? Thank you so much for your cooperation!