Using dialogues in teaching english speaking skills at ponesavanh upper secondary school champasak lamdong laos

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SOMMAK BOUNPHALANGSY USING DIALOGUES IN TEACHING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS AT PONESAVANH UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL CHAMPASAK - LAM DONG (LAOS) MA.RESEARCH THESIS 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, 2017 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SOMMAK BOUNPHALANGSY USING DIALOGUES IN TEACHING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS AT PONESAVANH UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL CHAMPASAK - LAM DONG (LAOS) MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.14.01.11 SUPERVISOR: PHAN THI THANH THAO, PhD HUE, 2017 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ SOMMAK BOUNPHALANGSY SỬ DỤNG HỘI THOẠI TRONG VIỆC DẠY KỸ NĂNG NĨI TIẾNG ANH Ở TRƯỜNG PHỔ THƠNG TRUNG HỌC PONESAVANH CHAMPASAK - LAM DONG (CHDC LÀO) 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: TS PHAN THỊ THANH THẢO HUẾ, 2017 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 Date: 07 / 11 / 2017 Signature Sommak BOUNPHALANGSY i ABSTRACT The teaching of English language has become a challenging mission for English teachers in Lao PDR since English was considered one of the compulsory subjects at lower and upper secondary schools Among four language skills, speaking should be taken into the great consideration because of the increasing communication needs nowadays Hence, the improvement of teaching English speaking skills for students at upper secondary schools is of considerable necessity for teachers in Lao PDR This research has been conducted to explore the issues on using dialogues in teaching English speaking skills in one upper-secondary school in Laos PDR Through the study on the learning and teaching context including 50 students in grade six (11/12) and English teachers at Ponesavanh Upper Secondary School in Champasak-Lamdong, Laos, we find out three questions concerning the teaching of English speaking skills Based on both quantitative and qualitative approaches with questionnaires and interviews in the study method, we have collected and analyzed data to achieve some results relating to students‟ difficulties in communicating in English, pronouncing correctly English words and their shortage of English grammar knowledge, as well as teachers‟ challenges in teaching English speaking skills and their ways of using dialogues in English classes To carry out our teaching experiment, we have designed lesson plans focusing on using dialogues in teaching English speaking skills Despite the limited number of participants and schools in our study, which has regarded as an obstacle to expand this study in both scale and quality the findings of this study are also involved in some solutions to deal with difficulties in teaching English speaking skills and the implications on using dialogues to enhance the teaching quality of this skill for English teachers at Ponesavanh Upper Secondary School, Champasak-Lamdong, in particularly, and in Lao PDR, in general ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, with regard to my assistance, I would like to thank all teachers at Hue University of Foreign Languages, who have offered me the training courses on theory and methodology of English language teaching I would like to express my greatest gratitude to my supervisor: Dr Phan Thi Thanh Thao for her willingness to guide and give valuable corrections and suggestions during the writing of this thesis I am also grateful to the Dean of English Department, all the lecturers and staff of Hue University of Foreign Languages for their support and friendly help during my study In addition, I would like to offer the sincere gratitude to the Headmaster and English teachers in Ponesavanh Upper Secondary School Champasak-Lamdong (Laos) for their permission and support of my study in Vietnam I also acknowledge the kind assistance of students in grade six at Ponesavanh Upper Secondary School Champasak-Lamdong (Laos PDR) during the process of gathering data for the our study Additionally, I would like to devote my special thanks to Hue University of Foreign Languages for providing me a good opportunity and facilities to study in this institution Personally, I am grateful to my family, my parents, my sisters and my brothers who have given me their love and support in my study and implementation of this thesis Lastly, I would like to thank all my friends and people concerned who have helped me during my two-year study in Hue city, Vietnam Hue, December 9, 2017 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Pages SUB COVER PAGE STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY i ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii LIST OF TABLES viii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1.2 Statement of problem 1.3 Research objectives 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Research scope 1.6 Significance of the study CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW .7 2.1 Dialogues 2.1.1 Definition of dialogues 2.1.2 Kinds of dialogues 2.1.3 Using dialogues in teaching English 13 2.1.4 Using a role play in teaching English 14 2.1.5 Making dialogues in teaching English 15 2.2 Speaking skills 17 2.2.1 Definition of speaking skills 17 2.2.2 Components of speaking skills .20 iv 2.2.3 Accuracy and fluency of speaking 21 2.2.4 Teaching speaking skills .23 2.3 Using dialogue activities in speaking class 27 2.4 Previous studies on using dialogues in teaching English speaking skills 32 2.5 Chapter summary 34 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 35 3.1 Method 35 3.2 Subjects 35 3.3 Research instruments 36 3.3.1 Lesson plans 36 3.3.2 Questionnaire 36 3.3.3 Interview .37 3.4 Research Procedure 37 3.4.1 Planning 38 3.4.2 Action 38 3.4.3 Teaching experiment 40 3.5 Data collection 40 3.6 Data analysis 40 CHAPTER IV: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 42 4.1 Findings about learners 42 4.1.1 Learners‟ background 42 4.1.2 Students‟ difficulties in learning English speaking skills without using dialogues .43 4.2 Findings about the teachers 45 4.2.1 Teachers‟ problems of teaching English speaking skills 45 v 4.2.2 Teacher‟s opinions on the benefits of using dialogues in teaching English speaking skills .47 4.2.3 Teacher‟s experiment of using dialogues in speaking class 47 4.2.4 Teacher‟s share of students‟ achievements of using dialogues in English speaking class 49 4.2.5 Teachers‟ shares of their techniques, methods and activities in teaching English speaking skills .50 4.2.6 Teacher‟s suggestions of some techniques/methods and activities of using dialogues in teaching English speaking skills 52 4.3 Chapter summary 53 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 55 5.1 Conclusion 55 5.2 Recommendations 56 5.3 Limitations 57 5.4 Further research 57 REFERENCES 59 APPENDICES 62 APPENDIX 62 LESSON PLAN 62 APPENDIX 87 STUDENTS‟ QUESTIONNAIRE 87 APPENDIX 90 TEACHER‟S INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 90 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL : English as a Foreign Language EIL : English as an International Language GAE : General American English Lao PDR : Lao People‟s Democratic Republic N : Number PUSS : Ponesavanh Upper Secondary School S : Student SPSS : Statistical Package for the Social Science Std : Standard deviation T : Teacher ( ̅) : Mean vii LESSON PLAN UNIT 4: VISITING PLACES School: PUSS Champasak-Damdong Course book: English for secondary schools (6) Class: H.6/1, H.6/2 Unit 4: Visiting Places Teaching period: Speaking Lesson 1: Famous tourist sites Teaching time: 90 minutes I Objectives: Educational aim: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: - Learn words and phrases concerning how to give information about famous tourist sites - Talk about famous tourist sites Knowledge: - General knowledge: Ss learn how to think and practice dialogues related to famous tourist sites topic - Language: Vocabulary, structures in dialogue related to famous tourist sites‟ topic Skills: Communicative skills by talking about famous tourist sites II Method and teaching aids:  Method: Integrated, mainly communicative  Teaching aids: textbook (dialogues), blackboard, chalk and pictures III Teaching and learning materials Dialogue 1: Vilay: Have you just visit Laos? Boun: Yes, I have been to lots of interesting places Vilay: Wow! What is the most fascinating place of all? Boun: The plain of the Jars in Xieng Khouang, in the northern part of the country There are different sizes of Jars made from stone lie all over the hills and valleys 77 Vilay: Oh! I heard about that They said the human remains, burial goods and ceramics were discovered around the area Boun: Yes, that‟s right It is date in the Iron Age, and the plain of Jars has been used at the field of study about Southeast Asian prehistory Vilay: Sounds very interesting Did you take any photos from the place? Boun: Yes, I took some photos They are on my desk Vilay: This place is amazing I am certainly going to visit Laos on my upcoming holidays Boun: I guarantee that you won‟t be disappointed Dialogue 2: Kito: Excuse me, could you tell me where Ho Prakeo is? Khamla: Yes, it‟s not far Turn right on the corner there and then turn left on the next corner Kito: At the traffic lights? Khamla: Yes, that‟s right Then go straight along Lane Xang Avanue about 200 meters Ho Prakeo is on the right Kito: Sorry Did you say turn left on the first corner? Khamla: No Turn right on the first corner and then turn left on the next corner Kito: Ok Thanks, goodbye Khamla: Goodbye IV Teaching steps: Classroom procedures (5’): Greetings and checking attendance New lesson (80’): Teacher’s activities Student’s activities Contents PRE-SPEAKING (10’) - Asks Ss about the previous -Think about - Dialogues “On lesson holidays and talk in Holidays” -Invites some pairs of Ss talk front of class using in front of class about on dialogues 78 holidays by using dialogues -Listen to their - Gives Ss comments friends -Listen to the teacher‟s comments WHILE-SPEAKING (45’) Task 1: Dialogue (1) - Listen to the +Vocabulary: -Explains the topic of new teacher and take - Fascinating lesson notes some words, - Upcoming - Reads the dialogue twice or structures they don‟t - Plain of Jars three times and asks Ss to understand - Stone listen - Listen to the - Iron Age - Helps Ss understand the teacher and repeat - Prehistory words, structures and the after him - Human remains content of the dialogues - Work in pairs to - Burial goods - Asks Ss to work in pairs to practice the dialogue - Ceramics some speaking tasks fill and try to - Discovered the handout with information understand it - Hill gap - Work in pairs to - Valley - Goes around class to practice the dialogue - Guarantee observe and help students‟ in front of class - Disappointed work -Listen to their +Structure: -Invites two or three pairs of friends and to the Have you ever visited Ss to practice dialogues teacher Laos? - Gives Ss comments and -Yes, I have been to lots corrects their mistakes of interesting places Task 2: Dialogue(2) -Read the dialogue + Vocabulary: - Asks Ss to read the dialogue by themselves and - Directions themselves ask teacher if they - Turn right - Reads dialogue and asks Ss don‟t understand - Turn left to repeat after then explains about dialogue - Straight ahead the meaning of words, -Listen to the - Opposite 79 structures and the content of teacher and repeat - At the corner the dialogue after him - On the corner - Asks Ss to work in pairs to -Try to understand - Avenue read and practice dialogues the meaning of - Street - Goes around class to words, structures, +Structure: observe and helps students and content of the Direct /indirect form of work dialogue Wh-questions with ‘be’ -Invites some students to -Work in pairs to Direct speech practice the dialogue in front practice the dialogue Ex: -Where is the of the class in front of the class Champasak? -Gives Ss comments -Listen to their -Champasak is the friends and the southern part of Laos teacher Indirect speech Ex: -Excuse me, could you tell me where the Ho Prakeo is? - Yes, it‟s not far Turn right on the corner there and then turn left on the next corner POST-SPEAKING (25’) Task 3: Talk about famous tourist sites -Listen to the -Explains dialogue (1) and teacher and ask Example: dialogue (2) again some questions if -Using vocabulary, - Asks Ss to work in pairs they don‟t sentences, and ideas from Remind them: understand dialogue (1) and dialogue + To use ideas in task and -Work in pairs to (2) to create new task and create more ideas if think and write new they want dialogue about + To make new dialogues famous tourist sites about famous tourist sites and -Create and practice 80 dialogue practice them new dialogues in - Goes around class to front of class observe students‟ working -Listen to their and helps them create new friends and to the dialogues teacher -Invites some pairs of Ss to practice in front of class -Gives Ss comments and summaries main points of this lesson Homework (5’): - Learn by heart all the new words - Make dialogues about famous tourist sites - Prepare the next lesson Champasak, date……./……/2017 Rector Teacher Sommak BOUNPHALANGSY 81 LESSON PLAN UNIT 5: HEALTHY AND FITNESS School: PUSS Champasak-Damdong Course book: English for secondary schools (6) Class: H.6/1, H.6/2 Unit 5: Healthy and Fitness Teaching period: Speaking Lesson 1: Staying health in hot weather Teaching time: 90 minutes I Objectives: Educational aim: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: - Learn words and phrases which can be used to ask their friends about staying healthy in hot weather - Talk about staying healthy in hot weather Knowledge: - General knowledge: Ss learn how to think and practice dialogues related to staying health in hot weather topic - Language: Vocabulary, structures in dialogues related to the topic of staying healthy in hot weather Skills: Communicative skills by talking about staying healthy in hot weather II Method and teaching aids:  Method: Integrated, mainly communicative  Teaching aids: textbook (dialogues), blackboard, chalk, pictures and computer III Teaching and learning materials Dialogue 1: Pharmacist: Good morning madam Can I help you? Vanh: Good morning Have you got anything for a fever, please? Pharmacist: Is it for yourself? Vanh: No, it‟s for my son He has a terrible fever Pharmacist: Have you given him anything? Vanh: Yes I give him some Paracetamol, but didn‟t help 82 Pharmacist: How long has he had the fever? Vanh: About four days He seems to feel better, but then worse again Pharmacist: Does he have any other symptoms? Vanh: Well, he sweats and shivers a lot especially at night, and he also has a headache Pharmacist: I think you should take him to see a doctor immediately It could be malaria Vanh: Oh, I will take him right away Thank you for your advice Pharmacist: You‟re welcome Dialogue 2: Mala: Good morning doctor Doctor: Good morning, have a seat, please Now, what‟s the problem? Mala: Well, I have got a terrible headache I never had one like this before I think, I am having flu Doctor: How long have you felt like this? Mala: Since yesterday morning Doctor: Have you got high temperature? Mala: Yes, I believe so Doctor: I see Let me check your throat and chest… Yes, you‟re got flu I will write you a prescription to buy some medicine from a pharmacy Mala: What else should I do, doctor? Doctor: You should drink plenty of liquid and keep yourself warm If you are not getting better within two or three days, come and see me again Mala: Thank you very much doctor Goodbye Doctor: Goodbye IV Teaching steps: Classroom procedures (5’): Greetings and checking attendance 83 New lesson (80’): Teacher’s activities Student’s activities Contents PRE-SPEAKING (10’) - Asks Ss about the previous -Think of famous - Dialogues about lesson tourist sites and talk in famous tourist sites -Invites some pairs of Ss to front of class using practice in front of class about dialogues their hobbies using dialogues -Listen to their friends - Gives comments and the teacher‟s comments WHILE-SPEAKING (45’) Task 1: Dialogue (1) + Vocabulary: - Reads the dialogue and - Listen to the teacher - Hot helps Ss understand and write some words - Cool vocabulary, grammatical related to health - Fever structures problems - Malaria - Reads the dialogue and asks - Listen to the teacher - Paracetamol Ss repeat several times and repeat after him - Immediately - Asks Ss to work in pairs to - Work in pairs to read - Symptoms read and practice the and practice the - Sweat dialogues dialogue and try to - Shiver -Invites some student pairs to understand word‟s + Structure: practice in front of the class meaning, and content - Can I help you? - Goes around class to of the dialogue -Have got anything for observe students‟ working - Work in pairs using a fever, please? and helps them dialogues - Gives comments and -Listen to their friends corrects Ss pronunciation and the teacher mistakes 84 Task 2: Dialogue(2) -Read the dialogue + Vocabulary: - Asks Ss to read the dialogue themselves and ask - Throat themselves teacher if they don‟t - Chest - Reads the dialogue and asks understand the - Flu Ss to repeat vocabulary, then dialogue - Fever explains grammatical -Listen to the teacher - Terrible headache sentences in the dialogue and repeat after him -High temperature - Asks Ss to work in pairs to -Try to understand - Pharmacy practice dialogues meaning of words, - Prescription - Goes around class to sentences, and content - Medicine observe students‟ work and of the dialogue - Keep warm helps them -Work in pairs to + Structure: -Invites some student pairs to practice the dialogue in What is the problem? talk in front of the class front of the class -Well, I have got a -Gives Ss comments and -Listen to their friends terrible summaries main points of this and the teacher headache/fever/flu/… lesson POST-SPEAKING (25’) Task 3: Talk about staying healthy in hot weather -Listen to the teacher -Explains dialogue (1) and and ask some questions Example: dialogue (2) if they don‟t -Using vocabulary, - Asks Ss to work in pairs understand sentences, and ideas Remind them: -Work in pairs to think from dialogue (1) and + To use ideas in task and and write new dialogue (2) to create task and create more ideas if dialogues about staying new dialogues they want healthy in hot weather + To make new dialogues -Practice their about health dialogues in front of - Goes around class to class 85 observe students‟ work and -Listen to their friends helps them make new and the teacher dialogues -Invites some pairs of Ss to practice in front of class -Gives Ss some comments -Summaries main points of this lesson Homework (5’): - Learn by heart all the new words - Prepare the next lesson Champasak, date……./……/2017 Rector Teacher Sommak BOUNPHALANGSY 86 APPENDIX STUDENTS’ QUESTIONNAIRE This questionnaire is designed for students in grade at Ponesavanh Upper Secondary School Champasak-Lamdong to collect data for the topic “Using Dialogues in Teaching English Speaking Skills at Ponesavanh Upper Secondary School Champasak-Lamdong (Laos)” of my MA TESOL thesis I would like you to provide all the useful information and complete this questionnaire related to your difficulties in learning English speaking skills Your collaboration is of importance in my study success Instructions: the questionnaire is made of parts Please read the questions/items carefully and then circle your answer in the right box I Personal information Gender: Class: Age: Male Female H.6/1 Under 17 H.6/2 From 18-20 Over 21 Ethnic background: Lao Ethnic minority How often you use dialogues in learning English speaking skills in secondary school? often sometimes rarely never Please read the following statements are related to your learning English dialogues in speaking class and tick the number that shows your opinion 1= strongly agree, 2= agree, 3= neither agree or disagree, 4= disagree, 5= strongly disagree II Students’ difficulties before attending the speaking class using dialogues I am shy when I speak English I find it difficult to think of anything before saying It is hard to pronounce the words correctly 87 I think speaking is the most difficult skills It is very hard to make a sentence when I speak I am confused about using the verb‟s tenses The activities used are not interesting I cannot remember the words when I speak English I feel hard to understand the lesson because teacher doesn‟t use any materials like a menus, timetables and pictures when teaching speaking skills with dialogues 10 I am afraid of making mistakes when learning dialogues 11 I not know how to regulate the verbs 12 I not know some grammatical structures in the dialogue 13 I am not confident when working in pairs in the classroom 14 I don‟t have a chance to talk because only teacher talks all the time in speaking class III Students’ activities in English speaking class Students communication/speaking tasks with their teacher Students work in pairs, groups or whole class but not individually Students listen to their teacher, share their ideas and consider alternative viewpoints Students follow to articulate their ideas freely, without fear of embarrassment due to “wrong” answers Students learn with teacher‟s dialogue tags Students discuss dialogues in a whole class Students receive clear instructions and explanation from 88 their teacher IV Students’ achievements of using dialogues in English speaking class I have frequent self-practice of dialogues I practice dialogues with my classmates I try to study harder and harder I try not to be shy when I speak English with my friends I often try to pronounce the words and make sentences correctly many times based on the dialogues I always try to memorize the part of speech and content of the dialogues in class and at home I try to think about the grammatical structures in dialogues when learning speaking I try to be confident when speaking English, but not worry about the mistakes I ask the teacher for help when I not understand the lessons and dialogues o What is your opinions on using dialogues in speaking class? ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… Thank you so much for your kindness 89 APPENDIX TEACHER’S INTERVIEW QUESTIONS These questions are designed for interviewing teachers of English at Ponesavanh Upper Secondary School Champasak-Lamdong, Laos to collect data for the topic “Using Dialogues in Teaching English Speaking Skills at Ponesavanh Upper Secondary School Champasak-Lamdong (Laos)” of my MA TESOL thesis Your collaboration is of great importance in my study success How long have you been teaching English? In your opinion, what is an ideal class for teaching English speaking skills? Why you think so? Do you think dialogue is important for teaching English speaking skills? Why? What kind of methods you use in teaching English speaking skills with dialogues? What kind of activities you use to help students practice dialogues? Do you use the role play in teaching dialogues? Why/Why not? Do you ask students to present their dialogues in front of class? How? Do you ask students to create their own dialogues with the given topic? Why? Do you usually show a picture to make a dialogue? Why? 10 Do you adapt the content of the dialogue in the text book to meet the real situation? Why? 11 Do you use a CD/Tape player to teach dialogue? Why? 12 What are your problems of teaching English speaking skills with the use of dialogues? 13 What are your problems when you ask students to practice dialogues in class? 14 Do you think whether teaching materials should have many dialogues to teach or not? 15 What you to create a dialogue and adapt it to your class? 16 What you to help your students learn dialogues? 90 17 How you prepare the lesson well before teaching dialogues to students? 18 What kinds of dialogue activities you use to improve your teaching? 19 What are your suggestions on teaching English speaking skills by using dialogues? 91