(Luận văn tmu) using some extra activities to improve english speaking skill of first year non english major students at thuong mai university

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS On completing this graduation paper, I would like to send my deepest and most sincere gratitude to many people for their invaluable help during the conduct of the research First and foremost, I would like to send my heartfelt gratitude towards my supervisor Ms Do Bich Dao for her encouragement, guidance and her critical comments, without which I could not have finished my thesis She also offered me great help in term of ideas and materials I am also grateful to all lectures at the English Faculty Department of Thuong Mai university for their valuable lectures from which I have had such a great motivation and benefited a lot in the writing of this thesis I would also like to say the sincerest thanks to those first-year non English major students who have enthusiastically participated in the study Their participation has been crucial to the completion of the research On a personal note, I express my truly gratitude to my family and friends who emotionally and spiritually comforted me through the challenging time of conducting the research The study could not have been completed without their continual encouragement i ABSTRACT Among four language skills, speaking, which can be regarded as the challenging skill, is very important in daily-life communication and foreign language learning Therefore, it is necessary for learners to acknowledge that speaking learning is a process that requires time and dedication to practice not only inside the class, but also in other environment This study aims at describing firstyear non English major student’s attitudes toward English speaking skill and exploting some extra activities such as language games and storytelling to improve this skill In order to achieve the aims, the questionnaire was employed to 30 firstyear non English major students from three classes The results from the study showed that students were aware of the significance of speaking skill, the level of difficulty of speaking skill compared to three other language skills The findings from the study are hopefully of benefit not only for teachers interested in the speaking area but also students by raising their awareness of their own study ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS .iii iii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES .v CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1.Rationale 1.2 Previous studies 1.3 Aims of the study 1.4 Research Subjects 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Research methodology 1.7 Organization of the study .6 CHAPTER : LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 The definition of speaking 2.2 The Significance of Speaking in Language Learning 2.3 Major types of speaking extra-activities .8 2.3.1 Language Games 2.3.2 Storytelling 11 2.4 The Importance of Using Extra-activities in Teaching and Learning .13 2.4.1 Extra-activities improve the personal development .13 2.4.2 Extra-activities influence the social behaviour 14 CHAPTER : RESEARCH FINDINGS 15 iv 3.1 The reality of Teaching and Learning English speaking skill at Thuong Mai University .15 3.1.1 The teaching staff 15 3.1.2 The students 15 3.1.3 English teaching and learning condition at Thuong Mai University 16 3.2 Data analysis 16 3.2.1 Students’attitudes towards English learning .16 3.2.2 Student’s perspectives toward teacher using language games and storytelling in speaking lessons 22 CHAPTER 4: SOME SUGGESSIONS TO IMPROVE ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL OF THE FIRST YEAR NON ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT THUONG MAI UNIVERSITY 27 4.1.1 Sample language games to apply in speaking lesson .27 CONCLUSION 33 REFERENCES 34 v LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 3.1 : Perspectives of four language skills Figure 3.2 : Students’ Level of Interest in Learning English speaking skill Figure 3.3 : Students’ attitudes toward the importance of speaking skill vi Figure 3.4 : Student’s paticipation in speaking lessons Figure 3.5 : Teacher’s extra-activities gave in speaking lessons Figure 3.6 : Types of language games the teacher apply in speaking lessons Figure 3.7 : Student’s attitudes towards languages games Figure 3.8 : Student’s attitudes towards storytelling Figure 3.9 : The purpose of using language games and storytelling in speaking lessons Figure 3.10 : Student’s attitudes after taking part in language games and storytelling vii CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1.Rationale Nowadays, we cannot deny that English becomes the language dominates the world over Therefore, the number of students from non-speaking English countries chooses to learn English as their second or foreign language has increased However, not all of the students in these cases can master this powerful language by just attending several English classrooms In the process of learning English language, learners are usually encouraged to master four skills, namely speaking, reading, listening and writing Among these four skills, speaking skill is often regarded as the most important because it related to communication It requires a wide range of knowledge and ability: knowledge of grammar, phonology, semantics of the language in use, culture of its people, the variety of using vocabulary, the ability listening to maintain converse, etc In other country, from elementary pupils to students, people usually study English with their interest and enthusiasm In Viet Nam, despite teachers’ efforts to provide students with opportunities to develop their communicative skills, how to teach and learn speaking effectively is still a challenging question to both teachers and students Students have a lot of difficulties in studying and practicing English speaking skill, especially the 1st year non English major students When speaking English, they often fall into confusion, lack of professional knowledge, confidence, and the good learning method as well Moreover, the learning environment passive with the same and boring lessons without the interesting extra- activities preventing them from practicing and improving English In general, learning English language and speaking learning in particular requires students to spend time and dedication practicing not only inside the class, but also on their own That is the main reason why they not achieve the effective result in learning English, especially the English speaking skill One of my suggested method is to study English speaking is using extraactivities I hope that this can help the first year non English major students will study English better in the near future That is the reason why I decide to conduct a study on “Using some extra- activities to improve English speaking skill of firstyear non English major students at Thuong Mai University” 1.2 Previous studies Firstly, I have read a study of Thanyalak Oradee that was “Developing Speaking Skills Using Three Communicative Activities (Discussion, ProblemSolving, and RolePlaying)” The purposes of his research with a view to: Study and compare speaking skills of Grade 11 students using three communicative activities And study the students’attitude towards teaching English speaking skills using the three communicative activities The sample group included 50 students at a secondary school in Udon Thani, classified by high, medium, and low according to their abilities of English speaking proficiency level The design of the research was mixed method design The quantitative data came from the speaking test and the students’ attitude towards teaching English speaking The research instruments were lesson plans, an English speaking ability test, and an attitude questionnaire Secondly, Urrutia & Vega (2006) conducted an action research project on the understanding and actions taken to improve speaking skills through games in a public school called “Federico Garcia Lorca” in Colombia The participants in this study were twenty girls and twenty boys from 14 to 18 years old The researchers implemented activities focused on oral games for promoting the development of students’ speaking skills Questionnaires, teacher’s journals and video recordings were used as data collection instruments The researchers analyzed the data by using charts which included the percentages of student’s answers about the most difficult skill for them, how often they speak in English during the class and the factors that interfere at the time to speak, such as, shyness, lack of vocabulary, fear of humiliation, among others Finally, Hamzah & Ting (2009) conducted a qualitative and action research study on success of using group work in teaching speaking in English classroom in a school called “SMK Damai Jaya” in Malaysia The participants in this study were 33 students and English teachers The researchers conducted three oral activities where students were observed then they received questionnaires and three experienced teachers where observed as well Questionnaires, observations and interviews were used as data collection instruments The researchers carried out a series of questionnaires in Malay language were students could provide their opinions about the group work activities to improve speech skills and their consciousness of participation in those activities; the observations were analyzed to