Developing oral competence for students at nguyen du upper secondary school in dong thap province

CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale It is true to say that language learners‟ aim tends to vary depending on the time Many years ago, the aim of learning a foreign language was mainly to be able to read literary works, understand and translate them The main focus in classroom was grammar, reading and writing sentences It has been noticed that Vietnamese traditional teaching style is still seen in many English classrooms in Vietnam For example, Le Van Canh (2000) observes that “the educational system of Vietnam is characterised as a closed system and knowledge-centred The textbook, the syllabus and the teacher determine the knowledge to be acquired” …“which is assessed by examinations” In McCook‟s (1998) experience, classes in Vietnam were “teacher-centred”, where the teacher “had sole authority and was not questioned, interrupted or challenged”, that asking questions “disturbed the teaching plan and showed disrespect”, and that the teacher‟s judgement was final However, we are now in the age of globalization, so communication is important Therefore, the purpose of teaching and learning a foreign language has changed It implies that students need to learn to use a foreign language, not learn to study, thus teachers concentrate on how to help their learners use what they have learnt from the classroom in their real life Students must be self-confident to communicate with people who use that language It is extremely necessary for students to acquire oral competence in English For this aim, students should improve English speaking skill so that they can speak English not only accurately but also fluently In reality, it is not easy to carry out this purpose in classrooms because of the following reasons: Speaking is a basic language skill that is difficult to master without practice, but there is not enough time for students to practise The available time for teaching speaking skill is too short; students are usually given the amount of time in 45 minutes to talk about a certain topic After teachers have presented some vocabularies, language and grammar structures used for speaking topic, there is little time left for students to practise speaking Students in high school seem to have no motivation to learn speaking Students not have to take any oral examination although they usually have to take some tests during their course Many of the tests students have to take, even the high school graduation exam focus more on grammar knowledge than on four skills Most students may be good at reading, writing sentences applying grammar points, and grammar knowledge, but they cannot speak to other people in English Some of the speaking tasks are too difficult for students to finish and some topics for speaking are sometimes not interesting and not related to reality of daily life This cause may make students feel bored when learning speaking English Many teachers complain that students are afraid of speaking English in class, even only a sentence They are reluctant to speak in English because they lack the language resources and are afraid of making mistakes How can teachers deal with this problem? If it continues, teachers cannot adapt the requirement of developing students‟ oral competence Therefore, it is necessary for teachers to find suitable ways to encourage students to develop their oral competence through learning speaking Being a teacher of English, I feel ashamed when hearing others say that many students have been learning English for years but cannot speak any English sentence I have raised this problem to many teachers of English in high schools Many teachers say that they are under the pressure of students‟ results and grades in tests and exams, whereas the tests and exams not require speaking skill Therefore, most of the teachers tend to ignore teaching speaking In speaking lessons the teachers usually help students gain a vocabulary amount from the speaking tasks; the rest of the time they teach students what the tests and exams comprise Being aware of the obstacles that discourage teachers of English from teaching speaking skill to develop students‟ oral competence, I choose to conduct a study on Developing Oral Competence for Students at Nguyen Du Upper Secondary School in Dong Thap province 1.2 The aim of the study This study seeks to investigate how a particular group of students and teachers view students‟ oral competence and how they can develop this competence more effectively The study particularly attempts to find the answers to the following questions: What are the teachers‟ views of students‟ oral competence in English at Nguyen Du Upper-Secondary School, Sa Dec, Dong Thap? What are the students‟ views of their oral competence in English at Nguyen Du Upper-Secondary School, Sa Dec, Dong Thap? In what ways can teachers to develop students‟ oral competence more effectively? 1.3 The scope of the study This study is conducted at Nguyen Du Upper-Secondary School, Sa Dec, Dong Thap, Viet Nam during two months The students of grade 11 and their teachers are the participants of this study 1.4 The significance of the study The study highlights the importance of students‟ belief in the necessity of English oral competence in the age of globalization and the important role of teaching speaking for developing oral competence It is expected the findings of the study will suggest more effective ways for teaching speaking to students at Nguyen Du Upper-Secondary School and similar context 1.5 The organization of the study: This study consists of chapters: Introduction (I), Literature Review (II), Research Methodology (III), Findings and Discussion (IV), and Conclusion, Implications and suggestions for future research (V) Chapter presents a general overview, background of the problem It states the reasons, the importance, the aims, the scope and the outline of the study Chapter provides a literature review of the materials related to the field of study This chapter discusses the concepts of oral competence, motivation, teachers‟ roles, and the need to develop oral competence Chapter presents the approaches chosen for the study, participants, data collection and data analysis with a detailed description of various instruments Chapter reports on the discussion and findings, the results of the study regarding the research questions Chapter summarizes the results of the study At the same time, this chapter focuses on the implications of the findings and suggestions for further studies CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter will first define oral competence and describe components of oral competence It will then focuses on motivation, types of motivation and the importance of motivation in language learning The third section will present the teachers‟ role in oral classes The need to develop oral competence in English learning at secondary school in Vietnam is presented in the fourth section The last section will report some studies on Oral Competence The chapter will close by pointing out the need for this research project 2.2 Oral competence Developing oral competence is a challenge for teachers in the area of languages This may be because students not have an opportunity to practice their new language out of their English class Furthermore, students not give themselves enough time to practice their new skill, or the activities in class are not appropriate with the right end in mind Students completing their courses have difficulties and limits in oral competence This is why the teaching of English as a second language relies mainly on the classroom teachers to create a wide range of activities to enable students to obtain his or her object - oral competence (Garcia 2009, p1) In order to have deep insight of oral competence development, it‟s absolutely necessary for teachers to get to know what oral competence is and components of oral competence 2.2.1 Definition of oral competence Different authors have different definitions of oral competence For example, Bygates (1991) defines oral competence as the ability to form sentences that are produced and adapted to circumstances at the moment of speaking Therefore it is, making rapid decisions and contributions that adequately fits the situation On the other hand, O‟Maley and Valdez (1996) posits that oral competence refers to an ability to understand meaning between two or more speakers Brown and Yule (1983) considers oral competence as an interactive process where a meaning is built on by producing and receiving processed information Oral language competence refers to a set of auditory–verbal (listening and talking) skills that are usually acquired in a steady developmental trajectory from birth onwards It is usual to differentiate receptive (comprehension) skills from expressive (speaking) skills, as the former usually develop ahead of the latter, whether for first language learners or for the student of a second language (Paul, 1995) Core component skills include vocabulary size and complexity; for example, being able to use words whose meanings differ in subtle but important ways to convey shades of meaning that are contextually important From these above definitions, oral language competence can be understood to be the ability to use and understand spoken language in a wide range of situations and social exchanges, in order to successfully negotiate the business of everyday life This study will be conducted to develop students‟ oral competence as the ability to form sentences that are produced and adapted to circumstances at the moment of speaking (Bygates, 1991) 2.2.2 Components of oral competence Oral communicative competence is important for ESL and EFL learners It is one of the most necessary language skills for displaying their language proficiency The ultimate aim of oral English teaching should be the acquisition of oral communicative competence, i.e., the ability to speak appropriately According to the Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics (Richards et al 1985), oral communicative competence includes: knowledge of the grammar and vocabulary of the language; knowledge of the rules of speaking (knowing how to begin and end conversations, what topics may be talked about in different types of speech events, which address forms should be used with different persons in different situations, etc.); knowing how to use and respond to different types of speech acts, such as requests, apologies, thanks, and invitations; and knowing how to use language appropriately 2.3 Motivation 2.3.1 Definition of motivation Lots of definitions of motivation have been raised by various researchers Gardner et al (1997) define motivation as „internal drive that encourages oneself to pursue a course of action‟ In terms of English learning and teaching contexts, Stern (1983:385) defines motivation as the characteristics of learners “… that initiates and maintains the learning process, or that leads to the avoidance or rejection of learning, that states reasons and perceived goals as well as the subconscious drives and needs that prompt and sustain the learning effort or lead to its inhibition or rejection” According to Rod Ellis (1996), motivation is the effort learners put into learning an L2 as a result of their desire or need to learn it Not only in second language learning but also in every field of human learning, it is motivation that plays the crucial force determining whether a learner embarks on a task at all, how much energy he devotes to it, and how long he perseveres Littlewoods (1984) Despite being defined in several ways, the definitions embody certain implications for language teachers and suggest that promoting students‟ motivation is an essential part of effective teaching 2.3.2 Types of motivation Because of different perspectives of researchers, motivation has variously been categorised Ellis (1997) lists four types of motivation: instrumental, integrative, resultative, and intrinsic  Instrumental motivation: learners with instrumental motivation may make efforts to learn an L2 for some functional reason- to pass an exam or to get a better job  Integrative motivation: integrative-oriented learners are interested in the people and culture presented by the target language group They learn an L2 so that they could integrate themselves to the L2 community  Resultative motivation: motivation can be both the cause of L2 achievement and the result of learning That is, learners who experience success in learning may become more, or in some contexts, less motivated to learn  Intrinsic motivation: in some learning situations, motivation involves the arousal and maintenance of curiosity and can change depending on such factors as learners‟ particular interests and the extent to which they feel personally involved in the learning activities Many learners not hold distinct attitudes, positive or negative, towards the target language group It is suggested that motivation, including both instrumental and integrative, is highly related to the individual need for achievement or their goals towards learning the target language Ellis (1997) Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation Deci and Ryan (1985) classify motivation into two types: intrinsic and extrinsic These researchers point out that intrinsic motivation is in evidence whenever students‟ natural curiosity and interest energize their learning While extrinsic motivation is the action that an individual carries out because of some extrinsic reward or punishment (Deci and Ryan, 2000) Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation are concluded to be two useful constructs for understanding language learning motivation (Crooks & Schmidt, 1991) According to these researchers, intrinsic motivation is thought of as being within the task itself, e.g., a sense of achievement, self-esteem, pride in solving the problem, enjoyment of the class, or being able to use the language as desired Extrinsic motivation is, therefore, external to the task itself, usually other consequences of success on the task; for example, prizes for doing well, getting the job of one‟s choice, a higher position, or gaining some certificate on a test score According to Brown (2000), intrinsic and extrinsic factors can be easily identified in foreign language classroom regardless of the differences between the cultural beliefs and the attitudes of the learners and the teachers However, it should be noted that these two types of motivation are not opposite of each other; instead they are along a continuum (Ryan and Deci, 2000) 2.3.3 The importance of motivation in language leaning Most researchers appreciate the importance of motivation in language learning They state that motivation is one of the crucial factors which determine success of language learning (e.g., Gardner, 1980; Dornyei, 1998 & 2001; Qashoa, 2006; Rost, 2006; Ebata, 2008) Dornyei (1998) clarifies that language learners may be able to accomplish long-term goal with sufficient motivation since motivation encouraged them to learn the language first, and then it provided them with great effort to be persistent in the learning process Therefore students‟ motivation is essential to produce positive result in learning English (Poltzer, 1983; Norris, 2001; Rost, 2006) Dornyei (2001) also adds that 99 percent of language learners who are really motivated will be able to learn the language, regardless of their language aptitude He reports that without sufficient motivation, even the most outstanding learners cannot persist long enough to achieve any really successful language and the atmosphere in the class is no longer lively (Rost, 2006) In brief, motivation plays an indispensable role in language learning because motivation is not only the essential factor in language learning but also the effective tool for facilitating learning success (Qashoa, 2006) Therefore, it is extremely important to EFL teachers to enhance students‟ motivation in learning Teachers should also create learning motivation when teaching students communicative skills 2.3.4 Ways to enhance students’ motivation in oral classes Motivation is one of the key factors which can determine success or failure in any language learning context (Dornyei, 2001) Therefore, it is necessary that language teachers should constantly find effective ways to motivate learners Dornyei (2001, P.7) suggests that in order to motivate learners teacher should + enhance learners‟ language-related values and attitudes + increase the learners‟ expectancy of success + increase the learners‟ goal-orientedness + make the teaching material relevant for the learners + create realistic learner beliefs Especially, Dornyei (2001, pp.133-134) emphasizes that rewards, particularly grades, can become powerful motivational tool for enhancing students‟ motivation if teachers apply grades in a proper manner Therefore, he proposed several suggestions for teachers to take advantage of using grades such as: + involve students in an ongoing process of evaluation during the course rather than relying on the results of one or two tests only The assessment should also cover participation in the lessons or in projects + use grades in a motivating manner, reducing as much as possible their motivating impact + make sure that grades also reflect effort and improvement and not just objective levels of achievement + apply continuous assessment that also relies on measurement tools rather than pencil-and-paper tests + encourage accurate students self-assessment by providing various selfevaluation tools From Lawtie‟s viewpoint (2004), there are various measures to increase students‟ motivation in speaking classes First, teachers should distribute a percentage of their final grade to speaking skills and inform students that they are 10 Table 4.8 Students’ mean score after the experimental program N Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation meanpost 34 1.39 4.79 3.1313 74354 Valid N (listwise) 34 It can be seen from the table 4.8 that after the experimental program students‟ score in post-questionnaire was Mpost = 3.13 (SD = 74); Max = 4.79; Min = 1.39 In comparison, mean score in post-questionnaire Mpost = 3.13 was a little bit higher than that in pre-questionnaire Mpre = 3.08 3.13 3.14 3.12 3.1 3.08 3.08 sts' score 3.06 3.04 pre-ques post-ques Questionnaires Figure 4.1: Students’ mean score before and after the experimental program From the overall view of the questionnaires shown in Figure 4.1, it could be concluded that students‟ mean score slightly increased after eight-week implemental program The four aspects in the questionnaire: importance of oral competence, reality of developing oral competence, motivation on developing oral competence, and perception of learning English and oral competence were respectively analysed in detail below 41 Table 4.9 Mean score of four aspects after the experimental program N Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation meanpost1 34 1.33 4.83 3.0686 84399 meanpost2 34 1.00 5.00 3.2185 86878 meanpost3 34 1.55 4.55 3.0294 70266 meanpost4 34 1.75 5.00 3.3529 72592 Valid N (listwise) 34 One-Sample Test Test Value = 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference t df Sig (2-tailed) Mean Difference Lower Upper meanpost1 474 33 639 06863 -.2259 3631 meanpost2 1.466 33 152 21849 -.0846 5216 meanpost3 244 33 809 02941 -.2158 2746 meanpost4 2.835 33 008 35294 0997 6062 The importance of oral competence The results in Table 4.9 indicated that The Mean score of oral competence‟s importance in post-questionnaire was Mpost1 = 3.07 (SD = 84) In order to test whether Mpost1 = 3.07 was different from or not, One-Sample Test (3) was 42 conducted and it showed that the Mean Difference of the Meanpost1 was Mdifference1 =.07; P = 63 (t = 47; df = 33) P, also the value in Sig (2-tailed) is above 05, there was no significant difference between and 3.07, the Meanpost1 Paired Samples Test Paired Differences 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Std Mean Pair meanpre1 meanpost1 Std Error Deviation Mean -.02451 25002 04288 Sig (2Lower Upper t df tailed) -.11175 06273 -.572 33 571 The paired Samples Test was conducted to compare the view of oral competence‟s importance in pre-questionnaire and that in post-questionnaire to prove the difference between view of oral competence‟s importance before and after the eight-week implemental program Mpre1 = 3.04; Mpost1 = 3.07; The Mean difference was Mpair1 = -.024; p = 57; t = -.57; df = 33 The value of P = 57 concluded that the view of oral competence‟s importance slightly increased after the eight-week implemental program The reality of developing oral competence As shown in Table 4.9, The Mean score of reality of developing oral competence was Mpost2 = 3.22 (SD = 86) In order to make sure whether Mpost2 = 3.22 was different from or not, One-Sample Test (3) was run and indicated that the Mean Difference of the Meanpost2 was Mdifference2 =.22; P = 15 (t = 1.46; df = 33) There is no significant difference between and 3.22, Mpost2 because the value in Sig (2-tailed) or p is above 05 43 Paired Samples Test Paired Differences 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Std Mean Pair meanpre2 meanpost2 Deviation -.07563 25900 Std Error Sig (2- Mean Lower Upper t df tailed) 04442 -.16600 01474 -1.703 33 098 The paired Samples Test was conducted to compare the view of reality of developing oral competence in pre-questionnaire and that in post-questionnaire to prove the difference between view of reality of developing oral competence before and after the eight-week implemental program Mpre2 = 3.14; Mpost2 = 3.22; The Mean difference was Mpair2 = -.08; p = 09; t = -1.70; df = 33 The value of P = 098 concluded that the view of reality of developing oral competence slightly increased after the eight-week implemental program Motivation on developing oral competence The results, as showed in Table 4.9 indicated that the Mean score of motivation on developing oral competence was Mpost3 = 3.03 (SD =.70) OneSample Test (3) was done to check whether there was any difference between and Mpost3 = 3.03 The results from One-Sample Test (3) showed that the Mean Difference of the Meanpost3 was Mdifference3 = 03; P = 80 (t = 24; df = 33) It was concluded that with P = 80; Mpost3 = 3.03 was not significantly different from 44 Paired Samples Test Paired Differences 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Pair meanpre3 meanpost3 Std Std Error Sig (2- Mean Deviation Mean Lower Upper -.15931 25014 04290 -.24659 -.07204 -3.714 t df tailed) 33 001 Next, there was a need to compare motivation on developing oral competence in pre-questionnaire and that in post-questionnaire before and after the eight-week implemental program with topic-based instructions The paired Samples Test was carried out and indicated that Mpre3 = 2.87; Mpost3 = 3.03; The Mean difference was Mpair3 = -.16; p = 001; t = -3.71; df = 33 The value of P = 001, which is less than 05 It was concluded that the motivation on developing oral competence greatly increased after the eight-week implemental program Perceptions of learning English and oral competence The data collected from the four items of cluster in pre-questionnaire proved that 52.9% students appreciated the importance of English vocabulary and grammar rather than the importance of oral competence in English And 91.1% students considered that they didn‟t have many vocabularies and they didn‟t know how to form sentences for speaking Descriptive Statistics Test indicated students‟ perception of learning English and oral competence with Mpre4 = 3.76 Similarly, in post-questionnaire cluster with four items collected data and was processed with Descriptive Statistics Test The results in Table 4.9 showed that the Mean score of perception of learning English and oral competence was Mpost4 = 3.35 (SD = 72) One-Sample Test (3) was conducted in order to test whether 45 Mpost4 = 3.35 was different from or not The results from One-Sample Test (3) showed that the Mean Difference of the Meanpost4 was Mdifference4 = 35; P = 008 (t =2.83; df = 33) It was concluded that with P = 008; Mpost4 = 3.35was significantly different from Paired Samples Test Paired Differences 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Pair meanpre4 meanpost4 Std Std Error Sig (2- Mean Deviation Mean Lower Upper t df tailed) 41176 41232 07071 26790 55563 5.823 33 000 The paired Samples Test was carried out and indicated that with Mpre4 = 3.76; Mpost4 = 3.35; the Mean difference was Mpair4 = 41; p =.000; t =5.82; df = 33 The value of P =.000, which was less than 05 It was concluded that there was a significant difference between perception of learning English and oral competence in pre-question and that in post-questionnaire That meant perception of learning English and oral competence sharply decreased after the eight-week implemental program 46 3.5 2.5 1.5 0.5 importance reality motivation perception Clusters pre post Figure 4.2: Students’ view on four aspects before and after the experimental program Figure 4.2 indicated that students‟ view on the importance oral competence was a little bit higher after the implementation of topic-based instruction Students‟ view on reality of developing oral competence slightly increased Students‟ motivation on developing oral competence markedly rose However, students‟ perception of learning English and oral competence sharply decreased 4.5 Students’ performance of oral competence Another research question was that in what ways teachers could to develop students‟ oral competence more effectively One of the aims of this study was to find whether the implementation of topic-based instruction into teaching speaking enhanced students‟ oral competence Therefore, language tests were prepared and carried out to check students‟ performance of oral competence before and after the experimental teaching 4.5.1 Results from pre-test At the beginning of the course, pre-oral test was carried out to examine students‟ initial performance of oral competence before learning with topic-based structures Students‟ performance of oral competence was marked using a 10-band 47 scale Data of students‟ pre-test marks were subjected to SPSS; Descriptive Statistics Test was conducted and gave results as follows Table 10: Students’ mean score in pre-oral test pretest Valid N (listwise) N Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation 34 2.50 6.00 4.0294 74814 34 The result in Table 4.10 showed that students‟ performance of oral competence before experimental program was low (the minimal score was 2.50; the maximal score was 6.00; and the average was 4.03) 4.5.2 Results from post-test One of the purposes of the study was to check whether students made any progress in performing oral competence through topic-based structures So after eight-week experimental program, the language test was conducted again as postoral test The data collected the post-test were processed with Descriptive Statistics Test and the results were included Table 4.11 Table 11: Students’ mean score in post-oral test N Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation posttest 34 3.00 7.00 5.0441 1.03256 Valid N (listwise) 34 48 As displayed in the Table 4.11, students‟ performance of oral competence in post-test after the experimental program of topic-based instruction was rather higher than that in pre-test (the minimal score was 3.00; the maximal score was 7.00; and the average was 5.04) Paired Samples Test Paired Differences 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Pair pretest posttest Std Std Error Sig (2- Mean Deviation Mean Lower -1.02941 63891 10957 -1.25234 Upper t -.80649 -9.395 df tailed) 33 000 Paired Samples Test was conducted to prove the difference between students‟ performance of oral competence in pre-test and that in post-test As can be seen from Table 4.10 and Table 4.11 that the Mean of pre-test was Mpretest = 4.03; the Mean of post-test was Mposttest = 5.04 Paired Samples Test indicated that the Mean Difference was Mdifference = -1.02; p=.000; t = -9.39; df = 33 The value of P = 000 proved that there was a significant difference between students‟ performance of oral competence in pre-test and that in post-test 49 5.04 4.03 sts' score pretest posttest Tests Figure 4.3: Students’ performance of oral competence in pre-test and posttest It was concluded from the Figure 4.3 that students‟ oral competence was enhanced after the implementation of topic-based instruction In other words, the topic-based instructions in speaking classes really helped develop students‟ oral competence effectively 4.6 Summary In this chapter, the results of the investigations were reported on three main findings: (1) teachers‟ view of students‟ oral competence; (2) students‟ view of oral competence; and (3) in what ways teachers could to develop students‟ oral competence more effectively In the next chapter, the implication of the findings, the conclusion of the research, the limitations of the study, and direction for further research would be stated 50 CHAPTER IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS Overview This chapter first summarizes key findings that the research project Then, implications based on the findings will be given Finally, pedagogical limitations of the study and suggestions for further research will be discussed 5.2 Summary of the key findings 5.2 Teachers’ views of students’ oral competence The answers from the interviews showed that most teachers of English in this school were obsessed with the students‟ results and grades in tests and exams in which the oral test was not a component Because of this, little attention was paid to the teaching of speaking English for developing students‟ oral competence The data from the individual interviews indicated that five teachers considered students‟ oral competence was very bad; they could not say anything in English except very simple sentences to exchange greetings Only one of six teachers interviewed considered that students might speak English In answering the second interview question, four teachers answered they could not develop students‟ oral competence through teaching speaking lessons in textbook because of many obstacles from the tasks, the topics, the time distribution, and the class size The two others said that they could develop students‟ oral competence through teaching speaking lessons in textbook if students had prepared lessons in advance; or if teachers redesigned the tasks to facilitate them The teachers in the study suggested many ways to improve oral competence such as “Fluency should be more focused than accuracy.”; “Topics and oral tasks should be in circulation with higher level during the time from lower to upper secondary schools.‟; “Teachers should train themselves to have good oral competence so that they can set a model for students”; “There should be English 51 speaking environment at school by organizing English speaking clubs.”; and “The speaking topics should be simple and closer to daily life.” 5.2 Students’ views of oral competence Students‟ views of oral competence in four aspects: importance of oral competence, reality of developing oral competence, motivation on developing oral competence, and perceptions of learning English and oral competence manifested in post-questionnaire were different from those in pre-questionnaire If students‟ views of oral competence in four aspects changed it was because of the effectiveness of implementation of topic-based instruction into speaking class After eight weeks of implementing topic-based instruction into speaking class, students‟ view on the importance oral competence was a little bit higher Students‟ view on reality of developing oral competence slightly increased Students‟ motivation on developing oral competence markedly rose Students‟ perceptions of learning English and oral competence, which focused on the importance of English vocabulary and grammar rather than the importance of oral competence sharply decreased 5.2.3 Students’ performance of oral competence, the effectiveness of topic-based instruction As mentioned in the previous chapter, the study also sought to investigate the impact of topic-based instruction on students‟ oral competence The results of the oral tests indicated that the mean score students gained from the post-test, Mposttest = 5.04 was higher in comparison with the mean score students had gained from the pre-test, Mpretest = 4.02 It can be concluded that after experimental lessons with topic-based instruction, students‟ oral competence was improved In other words, topic- based instruction helps develop students‟ oral competence effectively 5.3 Contributions of the study 52 This research helped students improve their oral competence through many ways such as, chatting with friends, talking to teachers, and conducting simple conversations in English naturally with other language speaking people In addition, this study might enhance teachers‟ topic-based instruction and implementing it into teaching speaking English for developing students‟ oral competence 5.4 Implications of the study The findings from this study indicated that students‟ oral competence was improved after they had experienced topic-based instruction in class With the practical findings from this research study, some pedagogical implications are suggested for both teachers and students to help motivate students‟ interaction using English in language classrooms, and therefore enhance the quality of teaching and learning English in EFL classes The teaching of speaking English for developing students‟ oral competence has exposed lots of difficulties for teachers in Vietnam in general, and teachers at Nguyen Du Upper Secondary School in Dong Thap province in particular The research has proved the effectiveness of topic-based instruction in developing students‟ oral competence Therefore, teachers should be fully aware of the significance of topic-based instruction in teaching speaking English to EFL students and then try to apply it in their classroom by creating more opportunities for students to be exposed to authentic topics and tasks There should be more pair-work, group-work with more competent students working with lower level ones to enhance interaction It is these activities that help students to change their passive learning styles Teachers should be creative, active and flexible in each lesson to manage the class effectively Test system should be changed; there should be oral tests in daily class, in periodical tests and in exams to match the way of topic-based teaching Testing is a critical component of teaching-learning process and the quality of teaching depends much on the ways of testing Most students are good at grammar but they can hardly use the language to communicate with other speakers of English Thus, oral 53 test should be used to evaluate students‟ work as well as provide feedback for improvement Students should be more aware of the significance of studying English for future communication in the age of globalization It is the awareness of their studying that helps increase their motivation and preferences for learning 5.5 Limitations of the study Although the research obtained its aims, there existed some unavoidable limitations First, because of the limited time, the research was conducted only on the small scope, 34 students in a grade-eleven class Therefore, more participants at different levels should be invited to generalize the results for larger groups Second, in high school there was no language environment and less mental support in learning a foreign language This might affect the result of the correlation between the learners‟ motivation in learning speaking for developing oral competence and their performance of oral competence In reality, some students enjoy speaking very much but they not dare to talk to their friends on the way to school or whenever they meet each other because they are afraid of being laughed at Finally, this is a kind of action research and a short period of time in eight weeks may affect the findings of the research If the time of the study were longer, there would be better results 5.6 Suggestions for further research Basing on the results and the discussion of the empirical research study, there are still some suggestions for further research Research should be carried out in a larger number at different levels to gain a higher reliability score There will be interesting findings about the different results from different types of learners Research should also be conducted in longer length of time to obtain better result 54 Future research should concentrate on investigating the effectiveness of topic-based instruction on developing oral competence of male in comparison with that of female Further research should not only focus on topic-based instruction but also on task-based instruction with authentic tasks for developing oral competence Besides, research should be designed with two groups of student participants, control group and experimental group This certainly helps researchers compare the success of the group with intervention of experimental program with that of the control group 55