MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION CAPSTONE PROJECT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES Ho Chi Minh City, August, 2017 ADVISOR Dr NGUYEN DINH THU STUDE[.]
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION CAPSTONE PROJECT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE IMPACT OF LANGUAGE-ORIENTED EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES ON ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS: UTE - FFL SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES ADVISOR: Dr NGUYEN DINH THU STUDENT: LE HOAI PHUONG SKL009933 Ho Chi Minh City, August, 2017 Ho Chi Minh University of Technology and Education FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ––– ––– THE IMPACT OF LANGUAGE-ORIENTED EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES ON ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS: UTE - FFL SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES A graduation of paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts Submitted by LE HOAI PHUONG Supervisor: Dr NGUYEN DINH THU Ho Chi Minh City August 10th, 2017 The Impact of Language-oriented Extracurricular Activities on English Speaking Skills: from UTE - FFL Second-year Students’ Perspectives Le Hoai Phuong A thesis submitted to the faculty of The University of Technology and Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of bachelor The Faculty of Foreign Languages University of Technology and Education August 10th 2017 STATEMENT OF THE AUTHORSHIP I certify that this graduation on paper, entitled “Impact of Language-oriented Extracurricular Activities on English Speaking Skills: UTE Second-year Students’ Perspectives”, is my own work No material written or published elsewhere is contained except where references are made within this paper I understand that this work may be reproduced or used by Ho Chi Minh University of Technology and Education, or an authorized third party, in order to detect plagiarism Ho Chi Minh City, July 25th, 2017 LE HOAI PHUONG i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would first like to extend my most sincere gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr Nguyen Dinh Thu, who offered a great deal of encouragement, support and precious advice along the process of conducting this thesis I cannot express how truly grateful I am to him as not only a constant sources but also his time budget to offer me invaluable guidance so that I could complete my graduation paper Appreciations also go to all of my friends and family who had supported me with all their hearts Thank you for always sharing ideas and unconditional support, which enlightens me during my writing Lastly, I want to send a special “thank you” to all the participants who have spent time doing the survey of this study They have always encouraged and contributed ideas to help me in one way or another to achieve the best performances in every path of my thesis ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ECA Extracurricular activities EC Extra-curricular EFL English as a Foreign Language FFL Faculty of Foreign Languages UTE University of Technology and Education A Agree SA Strongly agree DA Disagree SD Strongly disagree VI Very interesting I Interesting SI Slightly interesting ID Indifferent NI Not interesting at all RQ Research question iii LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1: Students’ gender .19 Table 1.2: Students’ place of origin 19 Table 1.3: Students’ language-oriented ECAs participation 20 Table 1.4: Students’ knowledge of language-oriented ECAs at UTE 20 Table 1.5: Students’ knowledge of interesting 21 Table 1.6: Frequency of language-oriented extracurricular programs participation 22 Table 1.7: Students’ favorite language-oriented activities 23 Table 1.8.1: Mean scores of students’ ratings of different types of languageoriented activities 24 Table 1.8.2: Students’ ratings of different types of language-oriented ECAs 24 Table 1.9: Impact of language-oriented ECAs on English Acquisition 26 Table 1.10.1: Overall mean scores of Students’ .26 Table 1.10.2: Improvement of Students’ English speaking skills 26 Table 1.11.1: Factors preventing students from language-oriented ECAs participation 27 Table 1.11.2: Mean scores of factors preventing students from languageoriented ECAs participation 28 Table 1.12.1 Reliability Statistics of Scale 28 Table 1.12.2: Mean scores of students’ attitudes toward the language-oriented ECAs on English speaking skills 30 Table 1.13 Suggestion for the improvement of .32 Table 1.29 Supervisor of language-oriented ECAs 33 Table 2.1 Interviewees’ roles in language-oriented ECAs summary 34 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Students’ gender 18 Figure 1.2: Students’ place of origin 19 Figure 1.3: Students’ language-oriented ECAs participation 20 Figure 1.4: Students’ knowledge of language-oriented ECAs at UTE 20 Figure 1.5: Students’ knowledge of interesting 21 Figure 1.6: Frequency of language-oriented extracurricular programs participation 22 Figure 1.7: Students’ favorite language-oriented activities 23 Figure 1.9: Impact of language-oriented ECAs on English Acquisition .25 Figure 1.29: Supervisor of language-oriented ECAs .33 v TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF THE AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iii LIST OF TABLES iv LIST OF FIGURES .v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi ABSTRACT viii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 Overview 1.2 Rationale of the study 1.3 Thesis questions .2 1.4 Purposes of the study .3 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Structure of the thesis .4 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Speaking 2.1.1 Definition of Speaking 2.1.2 Speaking Difficulties in Foreign Language Learning 2.2 Extracurricular Activities (ECAs) 2.2.1 Definition of ECAs 2.2.2 Roles of ECAs .9 2.2.3 Drawbacks 12 vi 2.2.4 Learners’ Attitudes to ECAs 12 Summary 13 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 14 3.1 Site of research and Participants 14 3.1.1 Site of research 14 3.1.2 Participants 14 3.2 Research design .15 3.3 Data collection instruments 15 3.3.1 Questionnaire .15 3.3.2 Interview 15 3.4 Data analysis 17 CHAPTER IV: DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION 18 4.1 Data Analysis 18 4.1.1 Analysis of Questionnaire Results 18 4.1.2 Analysis of Interview Results 33 4.2 Interpretation 41 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 50 Conclusion 50 Pedagogical implications .51 Limitations 51 Recommendations 53 REFERENCES APPENDIXES 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Yes No Question 4: Do you know any language-related ECAs being organized at UTE? Yes No Question 5: Are activities (Clubs, Student Organizations, ect.) in which you are interested, offered at UTE? Yes No Not sure Question 6: What kind of language-oriented extracurricular programs have you participated in, how often? Once Once a Once a a year month week A few times Once Never English Speaking Clubs Competition/Contest Remedial English course conducted by UTE Students’ Services Center Workshops Question 7: What are your favorite activities in these programs, if any? Public speaking Competition Games Free debates/discussion Contest/ Competitions Oral report/presentation Others Question 8: Which of the listed language-oriented activities seem most interesting to you? (rate from 5- ‘very interested’, 4- ‘interested’, 3- ‘slightly interested’, 2‘indifferent’ to 1- ‘not interested at all’) Public speaking Competition/Contests Games Free debates/Discussion Oral reports/Presentation Question 9: Have you noticed any impact of these language-oriented ECAs on: Your language skills in general Your knowledge of grammar Your vocabulary Your speech fluency Your communication abilities Others Question 10: After participating in these activities, I think I have improved my English speaking skills? Very little Little Quite A lot Others Question 11: What factors prevent you from becoming involved in language-oriented ECAs on and off campus? Not at Not sure A little A lot all Location Time Lack of interest in activities High entrance fee Lack of information about the clubs Poor supporting facility Family SECTION THREE: Students’ attitudes toward language-oriented extracurricular activities For each statement below, check and rate based on your own opinion Rate from 5- ‘Strongly disagree’, 4- ‘disagree’, 3- ‘Neutral, 2- ‘agree’ to 1- ‘strongly agree’) 12 Language-oriented ECA is an opportunity to practice English speaking skills outside the classroom 13 Language-oriented ECA gives me more opportunities to express myself in English 14 Language-oriented ECA is an opportunity to review and practice what I have learnt inside the EFL classroom 15 Language-oriented ECA is an opportunity to discuss more interesting topics in English 16 Language-oriented ECA is an opportunity to practice speaking in a real English setting environment 17 Language-oriented ECA really helps me enhance my English speaking skills 18 I feel motivated to speak English when joining language-oriented ECAs 19 I feel more confident to share ideas in English when participating in language-oriented ECA than inside the classroom 20 I feel more encouraging to speak in English when I participate in language-oriented ECAs 21 I feel more comfortable to receive the feedbacks for my English performance from my peers than from teachers 22 I could increase my sense of independence and selfesteem through language-oriented ECAs 23 I feel more comfortable to practice speaking English in a friendly, non-threatening environment away from the classroom like language-oriented ECAs 24 I enjoy discussing or debating English topics with other participants in language-oriented ECA 25 Language-oriented ECA participation does not distract me from academic curriculum 26 Language-oriented ECA participation gives me encouragement to communicate with my classmates and others in English 27 Language-oriented ECAs participation improves my oral performance inside the classroom Question 28: Is there anything you would like to change or suggest in regards of language-oriented ECAs that you have experienced at UTE? Better language-oriented ECAs facility More English clubs organizing More linguistic academic competitions/contest organizing Regular promotion of English clubs and competitions Free entrance fee Bonus mark for ECAs participation Certificate rewarding for ECAs participation Language-oriented ECAs should be made as a compulsory part in the academic course Others Question 29: Who in your opinion would be the best position to take the leading role in organizing ECAs? Students Faculty Teachers APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Dear _ (student’s name) Thank you for agreeing to participate in this interview The main purpose of this interview is to further the investigation of what students’ attitudes are towards the impact of language-oriented ECAs on students’ English speaking skills Your participation will greatly help my thesis for the INTERVIEW QUESTIONS fulfillment of my graduation The information of your interview will be kept confidential and only used for this study’s purpose only Thank you for your time and cooperation! Interview Questions: Tell me a little bit about yourself? SECTION I: Students’ experience with language-oriented ECAs at UTE What range of language-oriented ECAs have you participated in over the years? Are these ECAs organized by students or teachers? Do you join in these language-oriented ECAs as a staff/leader/participant? Among those language-oriented Extracurricular-programs you have joined in, what is your most favorite activity? What you like about it? To what extent these language-oriented ECAs affect your English language learning, especially your English speaking skills? Do you still keep participating in these ECAs? How often? Why and why not? What is the biggest problem preventing you from being involved in language-oriented ECAs? Why? SECTION II: Students’ attitudes toward the impact of language-oriented ECAs on English speaking skills To what extent language-oriented ECAs affect your motivation, confidence and autonomous learning ability in speaking English? 10 What is the most significant impact that language-oriented ECAs have on your English speaking skills improvement? Why you think so? 11 What kinds of language-oriented extracurricular activity you consider most useful for students’ English speaking skills development? Why? 12 Do you think that extracurricular involvement enhances students’ oral performance inside the classroom? How and in what way? 13 Do you intend to participate in any other language-oriented ECAs in the future? Why? SECTION III: Students’ suggestion 14 Are there any language-oriented ECAs you want UTE to hold in the campus? If yes can you tell me some? 15 Who you think is suitable to supervise the ECAs? Why? 16 Do you have any suggestions for improving language-oriented ECAs at UTE? S K L 0