Một nghiên cứu về việc sử dụng các hoạt động giao tiếp của giáo viên để dạy kỹ năng nói tiếng anh đối với học sinh bậc tiểu học tại huyện sơn tịnh tỉnh quảng ngãi

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES HUYNH THI YEN NHI A STUDY ON TEACHERS’ USE OF COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING ENGLISH SPEAKING TO YOUNG LEARNERS AT SOME PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN SON TINH DISTRICT OF QUANG NGAI PROVINCE 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, 2016 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES HUYNH THI YEN NHI A STUDY ON TEACHERS’ USE OF COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING ENGLISH SPEAKING TO YOUNG LEARNERS AT SOME PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN SON TINH DISTRICT OF QUANG NGAI PROVINCE MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.14.01.11 SUPERVISOR: DR PHAM HOA HIEP HUE, 2016 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ HUỲNH THỊ YẾN NHI MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG GIAO TIẾP CỦA GIÁO VIÊN ĐỂ DẠY KĨ NĂNG NÓI TIẾNG ANH ĐỐI VỚI HỌC SINH BẬC TIỂU HỌC TẠI HUYỆN SƠN TỊNH TỈNH QUẢNG NGÃI LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƢƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.14.01.11 NGƢỜI HƢỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TIẾN SĨ PHẠM HÒA HIỆP HUẾ, 2016 STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself Hue, July 2016 Huynh Thi Yen Nhi Huynh Thi Yen Nhi i ABSTRACT Communicative activities are essential in teaching English speaking because these activities can engage students’ participation, help students develop speaking skill for real-life situations This study aims to explore teachers’ use of communicative activities in teaching English speaking to primary school pupils in Son Tinh District of Quang Ngai Province The study particularly seek to identify the teachers’ choice of communicative activities, ways that teachers use communicative activities in the classroom and to describe the difficulties that teachers encounter in promoting English speaking for primary school pupils The data were collected by means of questionnaires, class observations and interviews The results show the most preferred communicative activities by teachers were Communication games and Information gap Some other common types of communicative activities that teachers often use included Simulation and Role – play, Picture Description and Interview The findings also prove that teachers made much effort to utilize these various activities as much as possible as resources for improving the primary school pupils’ English speaking In the connection, the results from class observations and interviews show the majority of teachers were able to conduct communicative activities effectively and the most common problems met by the teachers when applying communicative activities in classrooms was students’ insufficient background knowledge, students’ shyness and nervousness and time length Teachers also reported some of their solutions for the problems Based on the practical values of communicative activities, suggestions for promoting communicative activities in an English class at primary level are offered ii ACKOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my respected my supervisor Dr Pham Hoa Hiep who offered me a great deal of valuable suggestions, guidance as well as precious references at every stage of the study Secondly, I would like to thank all of primary school teachers in Son Tinh District of Quang Ngai Province for providing me with data necessary for my research Last but not least, I would like to extend my gratefulness to my family, my friends and many others who continuously offer spiritual support and encouragement during the process of doing this study iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY i ABSTRACT ii ACKOWLEDGEMENTS .iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS vii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES viii CHAPTER I-INTRODUCTION 1.1.Rationale 1.2.Aims and Objectives 1.3.Research Questions 1.4.Scope of the Study 1.5.Significance of the Study 1.6.Organization of the Study CHAPTER II-LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Young Learners 2.3 Teaching English Speaking to Young Learners 2.3.1 Factors Affecting Speaking Learning 2.3.1.1 Inhibition 2.3.1.2 Nothing to Say 2.3.1.3 Low or Uneven Participation 2.3.1.4 Mother-tongue Use 2.3.2 The Development of Speaking Skill iv 2.3.2.1 Motivating Young Learners to Speak 2.3.2.2 Strategies that Encourage Participation 10 2.4 Language Teaching Methods and Activities for Teaching Speaking to Young Learners 11 2.4.1 Language Teaching Methods 11 2.4.1.1 Audio – lingual Method 11 2.4.1.2 Communicative Language Teaching 13 2.4.2 Activities 14 2.4.2.1 Non – Communicative Activities 16 2.4.2.2 Communicative Activities 17 2.5 The Current Teaching of Speaking Skill to Young Learners 18 2.5.1 The Global Context 18 2.5.2 The Vietnamese Context 18 2.6 Conclusion 19 CHAPTER III-RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES 20 3.1 Introduction 20 3.2 Research Approach 20 3.3 Research Site 20 3.4 Research Method 21 3.4.1 The Questionnaires 21 3.4.2 Class Observations 22 3.4.3 Interviews 22 3.5 Data Analysis 23 3.6 Conclusion 24 CHAPTER IV-FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 25 4.1 Overview 25 v 4.2 Findings 25 4.2.1 Findings from the Teachers’ Questionnaires 25 4.2.2 Findings from Class Observation 36 4.2.3 Findings from Interviews 39 4.3 Discussion about the Research Questions 45 4.4 Conclusion 52 CHAPTER V-IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION 53 5.1 Overview 53 5.2 Summary and Implications on Teaching 53 5.2.1 Summary and Major Findings 53 5.2.2 Implications on Teaching Speaking Through the Use of Communicative Activities 53 5.3 Limitations of the Study and Suggestions for Further Studies 57 5.3.1 Limitations of the Study 57 5.3.1 Suggestions for Further Studies 57 5.4 Conclusion 57 REFERENCES 59 APPENDICES 62 APPENDIX 62 QUESTIONNNAIRE 62 APPENDIX 70 OBSERVATION SHEET 70 APPENDIX 71 QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS INTERVIEW 71 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS MOET: Ministry of Education and Training ELT: English Language Teaching EFL: English as Foreign Language NFL: National Foreign Language 2020 Project ALM: Audio – Lingual Method CLT: Communicative Language Teaching vii  Collaborating with other teachers in area Collaborating with other teachers in the area to make the learning experience richer for students Since students learn language better when it is connected to their real life, it is a good idea to consider what else they are learning in a school day Most children’s lives revolve around home and school, so try to coordinate with other teachers to find out what is relevant to students; then add English instruction on top of that If other teachers at primary schools are willing, visiting each others’ classrooms can be a wonderful way to get to know what is being learned in each others’ classes and how It can aid in the creation of more effective lessons for students and can increase their ability to make connections between language and content 5.3 Limitations of the Study and Suggestions for Further Studies 5.3.1 Limitations of the Study Despite my efforts, limitations are not avoidable The limited number of respondents to answer questionnaires was quite limited affecting the generalization of findings Secondly, the limited number of classes observation also affected my recording of challenges in teachers’ use of communicative activities 5.3.2 Suggestions for further studies This research reports the findings of a small-scale study which cannot be generalized to other contexts Further researchers might develop studies which can explore the factors promoting communicative activities in other contexts 5.4 Conclusion This study provides a snapshot of the communicative activities at primary schools at Son Tinh District of Quang Ngai Province and explored how they were employed and its problems It did not go as far as looking at perfect solutions to make recommendations concerning various learning opportunities which different types of communicative activities can offer Such a study would need to take place over a longer period of time, recording students in several communicative activities With communicative activities, teachers can adopt a different role They, to some 57 extent, move away from the traditional image of a teacher just giving knowledge, because they have created a dynamic way for students to communicate Therefore, to meet the need of young learners to interact in a real life situations, teachers should have a collection of communicative activities and use them flexibly For primary school teachers to be equipped with knowledge about activities and how to use it effectively, it is important that they seek out activities and, even more importantly, are trained systematically in their courses at college or university on how to use communicative activities 58 REFERENCES Anggraeni, P (2007) Audio-lingual teaching as an alternative method in teaching speaking at Semarang State University Master's thesis, Semarang State University, Pemalang, Nigeria Baker, J., & Westrup, H (2003) Essential speaking skills: A handbook for English language teachers London: Continuum International Publishing Barron, A (2003) Acquisition in interlanguage pragmatics: Learning how to things with words in a study abroad context Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company Bowman, B., Burkart, G., & Robson, B (1989) TEFU TESL: Teaching English as a Second Language USA: Centre of Applied Linguistics Brown, H D (1994) Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents Burchfield, C M., & Sappington, J (1999) Participation in classroom discussion Teaching of Psychology, 26 , 290-91 Burns, N and Grove, S K (1993) The practice of nursing research conduct, critique & utilization Philadelphia: W.B Saunders Canale, M and Swain, M (1980) Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing Applied Linguistics, (1): 1-47 Celce, M & Murcia (2011) Teaching English as second or foreign language The United States: Henile& Heinle Collis, J and Hussey, R (2003) Business Research Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Curtain, H A and Carol A P (1988) Languages and Children – Making the Match: Foreign Language Instruction in the Elementary School Ed Sandra J Savignon Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Pub Co Gower, R., Philip, D & Walter, S (2005) Teaching practice: A handbook for teacher in training Thailand: Macmillan 59 Halliwell, S (1992) Teaching English in the primary classroom New York: Longman Harmer, J (1985) The practice of English language teaching Hong Kong: Longman Harmer, J (2007) The practice of English language teaching Essex: Pearson Education Hymes, D (1972) On communicative competence In J.B Pride & J Holmes (Eds.), Sociolinguistics, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 269-285 Kasihani (2000) Teaching English at Elementary School Sindhuarta Larsen-Freeman, D (2000) Techniques and principles in language teaching New York, N.Y., USA: Oxford University Press Linse, C (2005) Practical English Language Teaching: Young Learners McGraw Hill, New York Littlewood, W (1998) Communicative activities Cambridge: Cambridge University Press McClelland, M M., Morrison, F J., & Holmes, D L (2000) Children at risk for early academic problems: The role of learning-related social skills Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 15, 307-329 Nguyen, T M H (2011) Primary English language education policy in Vietnam: Insights from implementation Current Issues in Language Planning, 12(2), 225-249 Nunan, D (2003) Practical English language teaching Singapore: McGrow-Hill Pakier, A (1999) Connecting with English in the context of internationalization TESOL Phillips, S (1993) Young learners Oxford: Oxford University Press Polit D and Hungler B P (1993) Nursing Research Essentials of nursing research: Methods, appraisal, and utilization Lippincott Philadelphia Rabab’ah G (2005) Communication problems facing Arab learners of English Journal of Language and Learning, 3(1), ISSN 1740-4983 60 Rao, Z (2002) Chinese Students’ perceptions of Communicative and Noncommunicative activities in EFL Classroom System, 30, 85-105 Read, Carol (2007) 500 activities for the primary classroom Oxford: Macmillan Education Quarterly, 33 (1), 103-114 Rivers, W (1968) Teaching Foreign Language Skills Chicago: University of Chicago Press Savignon, S J (1983) Communicative competence: Theory and classroom practice The United States: Addision-Wesley Scott, Wendy, A, and Ytreberg, Lisbeth, H (1990) Teaching to Children England: Longman Swan, M (1985) A critical look at the communicative approach ELT Journal, 39 (1): 2-12 Ur, P (1991) A Course In Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1991, 375p., ISBN:0-521-44994-4 Ur, P (1996) A Course in Language Teaching Practice & Theory Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Ur, P (2000) A course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Uso-Juan, E & Martinez-Flor, A (2008) Teaching intercultural communicative competence through four skills [Electronic version] Revista Alicalina de Estudios Ingleses, 21, 157-170 http://repositori.uji.es/xmlui/handle/10234/14133 61 Retrieved from APPENDICES APPENDIX QUESTIONNNAIRE The Teachers’ Use of Communicative Activities in Teaching English Speaking to Primary Students PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT Về Việc Ứng Dụng Các Hoạt Động Giao Tiếp Trong Giảng Dạy Kĩ Năng Nói Tiếng Anh Đối Với Học Sinh Tiểu Học Tại Huyện Sơn Tịnh Tỉnh Quảng Ngãi This questionnaire is designed to seek the information of teachers’ experience in using communicative activities in teaching English speaking primary students at Son Tinh District, Quang Ngai Province The answers will be used as important data for the research not for any other purposes The answer, therefore, should be frank and accurate to your own ideas and teaching context Thank you very much for your cooperation! Kính thưa quý Thầy/ Cơ! Phiếu khảo sát xây dựng nhằm tìm hiểu kinh nghiệm giáo viên tiếng Anh bậc tiểu học việc ứng dụng hoạt động giao tiếp giảng dạy kĩ nói tiếng Anh cho học sinh tiểu học huyện Sơn Tịnh tỉnh Quảng Ngãi Những ý kiến thầy/ cô thơng tin q báu giúp tơi hồn thành đề tài nghiên cứu Những thông tin thầy/ cô cung cấp dùng để phục vụ cho mục đích nghiên cứu Trân trọng cảm ơn hợp tác quý thầy/ cô! ……………………………………………………………………………………… 62 I Teacher’s Profile (Thông tin cá nhân) -Your gender: Male Female -Your qualification: B.A M.A - Years of teaching: < years 5-10 years II > 10 years Teacher’s Experience in Teaching Speaking at Primary School Kinh nghiệm giảng dạy kĩ nói Tiếng Anh học sinh bậc tiểu học Please put a tick (√) on the option you choose More than one choice is acceptable in some sentences (Vui lòng đánh dấu (√) vào (những) phương án phù hợp ghi rõ ý kiến khác (nếu có) vào cuối câu hỏi.) In your opinion, speaking skill is Theo ý kiến thầy/ việc giảng dạy kĩ nói Tiếng Anh là: Very necessary (Rất cần thiết) Necessary (Cần thiết) Not quite necessary (Không cần thiết) Not necessary (Không cần thiết) Do you find teaching English speaking difficult? Thầy/cơ có gặp khó khăn việc dạy kĩ nói Tiếng Anh? Yes No Do you have knowledge about communicative activities in teaching English speaking? Thầy/ có tìm hiểu hoạt động giao tiếp để ứng dụng giảng dạy kĩ nói Tiếng Anh cho học sinh tiểu học? Yes No According to you, how important is the use of communicative activities to teaching English speaking to primary students? Thầy/ có cảm nhận tầm quan trọng việc ứng dụng hoạt động giao tiếp việc giảng dạy kĩ nói Tiếng Anh học sinh tiểu học? 63 Very important (Rất quan trọng) Important (Quan trọng) Not very important (Không quan trọng) Not important (Không quan trọng) Why you think communicative activities should be used in speaking lesson? Tại thầy/ cô nghĩ hoạt động giao tiếp nên sử dụng việc dạy kĩ nói Tiếng Anh? To encourage students to speak the target language (Khuyến khích học sinh sử dụng Tiếng Anh để giao tiếp) To stimulate the students’ motivation (Tạo động lực để học sinh giao tiếp Tiếng Anh) To have the students get out of shyness (Giúp học sinh tự tin giao tiếp Tiếng Anh) To meet the demand of students’ communicative purposes (Đáp ứng nhu cầu giao tiếng Tiếng Anh học sinh) All the above mentioned reasons (Tất lý trên) Other reasons (Lý khác) ……………………………………………………… What are your favorite communicative activities in teaching English speaking skill? (Những) hoạt động giao tiếp mà quý thầy/ cô thường sử dụng nhiều dạy nói Tiếng Anh: Simulation and Role-play (Đóng vai) Brainstorming (Động não) Discussion (Thảo luận) Communicative Games (Các trò chơi giao tiếp) 64 Information Gap (Khoảng trống thông tin) Interview (Phỏng vấn) Describe (Miêu tả) Others (Ý kiến khác):………………………………………………………………… What kind of method/approach you often use to teach speaking? Phương pháp dạy học Tiếng Anh mà thầy/ cô thường dùng để dạy kĩ nói? Communicative Language Teaching (Phương pháp giao tiếp) Grammar Translation Method (Phương pháp dịch – ngữ pháp ) Audio – Lingual Method (Phương pháp nghe - nói) Others (Ý kiến khác):………………………………………………………………… How would you like the furniture to be arranged in communicative activities? Khi ứng dụng hoạt động giao tiếp để dạy kĩ nói thầy/cơ thường xếp bàn ghế theo hình thức nào? In groups (Theo nhóm nhỏ) U-Shaped layout (Theo hình chữ U) Circle shaped layout (Theo hình trịn) Others (Ý kiến khác):………………………………………………………… Which form of student grouping you often use to organise communicative activities? Hình thức hoạt động học sinh mà thầy/ cô thường sử dụng để tổ chức hoạt động giao tiếp? Pair wok (Hoạt động cặp) 65 Group work (Hoạt động nhóm) Individual (Cá nhân) Others (Ý kiến khác):………………………………………………………………… 10 How often you use communicative activities in teaching English speaking to primary students? Mức độ thầy/ cô sử dụng hoạt động giao tiếp trình giảng dạy kĩ nói Tiếng Anh cho học sinh tiểu học là: Always (Luôn luôn) Often (Thường xuyên) Sometimes (Thỉnh thoảng) Rarely (Hiếm khi) Never (Không bao giờ) 11 At which stage of the English speaking lesson you often use communicative activities? Thầy/ cô thường sử dụng hoạt động giao tiếp vào giai đoạn dạy kĩ nói Tiếng Anh? Pre – speaking (Trước nói) While – speaking (Trong nói) Post – speaking (Sau nói) 12 How long does it take you to conduct a communicative activity? Thầy/ cô thường tiến hành hoạt động giao tiếp thời gian bao lâu? More than 15 minutes (Hơn 15 phút) 10 – 15 minutes (Từ 10 – 15 phút) – 10 minutes (Từ – 10 phút) Less than minutes (Ít phút) 66 13 Are the activities you use related to the content of the lesson? Các hoạt động dạy kĩ nói mà q thầy/ thường áp dụng có liên quan đến nội dung học? Yes No 14 Are there speaking activities in the current English textbooks to promote primary students’ communication ? Những hoạt động nói sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh hành có tạo động lực thúc đẩy cho học sinh giao tiếp không? Yes No Not sure 15 Which sources of material you use to design communicative activities for speaking lessons for primary students? Những nguồn tài liệu mà thầy/cô thường sử dụng để thiết kế hoạt động giao tiếp? The activities in the textbooks (Các hoạt động sách giáo khoa) The activities you designed yourself (Các hoạt động tự thiết kế) The activities in the reference books (Các hoạt động sách tham khảo) The activities you collected from colleagues (Học hỏi từ đồng nghiệp) Combining the above sources (Tất nguồn trên) 16 How successful will your speaking lesson for primary students be if no communicative activities were made use of? Nếu không sử dụng hoạt động giao tiếp việc dạy kĩ nói Tiếng Anh học thành cơng mức độ nào? Less successful (Ít thành cơng) As successful as periods used communicative activities (Thành công tương tự ứng dụng hoạt động giao tiếp) 67 More successful (Thành công hơn) No idea (Khơng có ý kiến) 17 During a communicative activity, you should Trong trình tiến hành hoạt động giao tiếp, quý thầy/ cô thường Not to interfere (Không tham gia hoạt động) Interfere whenever you finded your students made mistake (Tham gia học sinh mắc lỗi sửa lỗi sai cho học sinh) Collect students’ common mistakes without interfering them (Thu thập lỗi sai phổ biến học sinh mà không làm gián đoạn hoạt động) Join the activities with students as a participant (Tham gia hoạt động học sinh) Encourage all students to participate in the activity (Cổ vũ tất học sinh tham gia vào hoạt động) 18 Which problems you suppose to have when designing and using communicative activities in teaching english speaking for primary students? Thầy/cô thường gặp khó khăn tiến hành hoạt động giao tiếp việc giảng dạy kĩ nói Tiếng Anh cho học sinh? Limitation of time to prepare (Thời gian chuẩn bị hạn chế) Limitation of time to apply in classroom (Thời gian tiết học hạn chế) Speaking activities in the textbooks are not communicative (Hoạt động nói sách giáo khoa hành khơng mang tính giao tiếp) Class size is not suitable to use the communicative activities (Số lượng học sinh lớp học không phù hợp cho việc sử dụng hoạt động giao tiếp) Students lack of knowledge of English to express themselves (Học sinh không đủ kiến thức để tham gia hoạt động thể thân) Students are passive and shy 68 (Học sinh thụ động rụt rè) Lack of teaching facilities and teaching aids (Thiếu đồ dùng thiết bị dạy học) Other difficulties (Khó khăn khác) ………………………………………………… - Thank you for filling in the Questionnaire - 69 APPENDIX OBSERVATION SHEET Date:…………………………… Lesson:……………………………… Class:…………………………… Teacher:……………………………… Students’ total number: ……………………………………… Class (C) Communication Teacher Activities Description Language Language Practice Skills (T) Note:………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ………… 70 APPENDIX QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS INTERVIEW The interview is composed of open-ended questions addressing the use of Communicative Language Teaching at primary schools Other questions may be added based on subjects’ answers to the questionnaires  Why you use communicative activities in your English speaking lesson? Could you give opinions about your choice of communicative activities? Tại quý thầy/ cô lựa chọn sử dụng hoạt động giao tiếp tiết học dạy kĩ nói Tiếng Anh? Q thầy/ đưa ý kiến lựa chọn  How you overcome the problems encountered when using communicative activities in English classes? Q thầy/ tìm giải pháp để vượt qua khó khăn sử dụng hoạt động giao tiếp nào?  What are factors that contribute to orally active pupils in the English classroom? Quý thầy/ nghĩ nhân tố góp phần thúc đẩy học sinh tiểu học tích cực giao tiếp lớp học Tiếng Anh? 71