A study on warm up activities for enghlish speaking class in secondary school

Trang 1

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY

LE THI THUAN

A study on warm up activities for English speaking class in secondary school

( Nghiên cứu về các hoạt động khỏi động trong các giờ học nói Tiếng Anh tại trường Trung học cơ sở )

MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION

NGHẸ AN -2013

Trang 2

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY

LE THI THUAN

A study on warm up activities for English speaking class in secondary school

( Nghiên cứu về các hoạt động khỏi động trong các giờ học nói Tiếng Anh tại trường Trung học cơ sở )

Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code: 601410

MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION

Supervisor: Assoc.Prof.Dr NGO DINH PHUONG

Trang 3

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Trang 4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The study would not have been completed without the invaluable assistances and unflagging encouragements of many people

I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor Dr Ngo Dinh Phuong who gave me valuable advice and help in carrying out this graduation thesis

My sincere thanks goes to all teachers of English and students in Le Thi Bach Cat Secondary school in Cua Lo Town whose endless enthusiasm has helped me to carry the surveys which are very useful for my thesis

Also, I would like to thank my all lecturers of the Post Graduate Studies Department, College of Foreign Languages — Vinh University for their useful and interesting lectures to finish the study

Finally, I also wish to acknowledge my great appreciation to my students, who took part in my survey actively

Trang 5

ABSTRACT

Warm- up activities in language class has been discussed for a long time and are still on debate Speaking skills are on the same boat It is one of the most outstanding topics in methodology and is a controversial topic as well Acknowledge this fact and the importance of two above aspects, the thesis with the title “A study on warm up activities for speaking class in secondary school” has been done with the hope to have a small contribution to language teaching method and to provide some useful knowledge about them

The research approach carried out both quantitative and qualitative data Data elicited through survey questionnaires, structured interview and class observation Findings from the research show the real situation of teaching and learning English as well as the problems of using warm — up activities in speaking classes Then the thesis includes the surveys on the situation of teaching and learning English speaking skills and the state of using warm- up activities in secondary school The results gained in the surveys provide useful sources for the completion of the thesis Basing on the results, the author suggests some best warm- up activities for speaking class These activities are basically oral

At the end of the thesis, some recommendations for conducting warm — up activities are also given with a view that these will be of some use for both English teachers and students

In general, the thesis has been conducted with the purpose of handing teachers and students of English some useful knowledge about and some suggestions of both speaking skills and warm- up activities

Trang 6

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CA Communicative Approach

Trang 7

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figures:

Figure 1: Students’ experience in learning English

Figure 2: Students’ perception of the importance of warm — up activities in speaking class

Figure 3: Teachers’ experience in teaching English

Figure 4: Teachers’ perception of the importance of warm — up in English speaking class

Tables:

Table 1: Students’ self-evaluation of their English proficiency Table 2: Students’ stated purpose of learning English

Table 3: Students’ interest in warm — up activity in English speaking class

Table 4: Students’ satisfaction with their speaking proficiency and warm — up activities in English speaking class

Table 5: Students’ opportunities for and difficulties in taking part in warm — up activities

Table 6: Factors needed by students to develop sucessful warm — up activities Table 7: Teachers’ interest in teaching English and English Speaking skill

Table 8: Teachers’ opinions and students’ attitude to warm — up activities in English speaking lessons

Table 9: Teachers’ opportunities for and difficulties in organizing warm — up activities in teaching English speaking class

Table 10: The factors needed and teacher’s techniques

Trang 8

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

XIV ND) 0609)0.10695/9).010101005155 1

s04 09 TA ii

Abstract 0.2 2H Error! Bookmark not defined I9) 0.)5)2)30A4/.v00i9)1155 iii

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES -. 5-52 S55c S222 E22 tre M H0 506.0 vi (957.1405)000004):49)9)0/990i9) 0 22 4 1 II Co oi nh 1 1.2 The aims of the on 2 II na 2 1.4 Scope oa an 2 1.5 Methods on 3

1.6 Organization of the sfUIy -s - 5+ SE kE EEE111712 1 1E 1111 11 1 grree 3 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND à- 5c 5 2.1 Speaking na 5

PP i00) nan 5

2.1.2 The position of speaking in language teaching prograims - 7 2.1.3 The characteristics of a successful speaking activity cece eens 9 2.1.4 Problems with speaking activity wll 2.1.5 What Makes Speaking a foreign Language Difficult? -:- 5+ ss+-s++ 12 2.1.5.1 Characteristics of spoken langtuage cà the, 12 2.1.5.2 Diffieulties in learning to speak a foreign language . -: -+s++=++ 12 2.1.5.3 Constraints on learning to speak a foreign language - - : -s:+ 13 2.2 Teaching English Speaking CommunicafiVeÏy - +55 sccsxs>s+2 14 2.2.1 An overview on Communicative Approach -‹ -s- 555cc sxsrvrxsrsex 14 2.2.2 Principles to teach speaking skills 1n C A ¿5c 5cScccc‡rszerxserrrerres 16 2.2.3 Principles for Teaching English Speaking in CL/T -. ¿55555552 17

Trang 9

2.2.4 Communicative Activitles for Teaching SpeakKing -. 5c: sc+scszy 19 2.2.4.1 Group ốc cố Ố 19 "ắc 19 P80) n6 20 Pa con n ốố ố ốố.ẻ.ố 21 P9 5n ố 21 V19 »(00 on 0 6 22 2.2.4.7 Brainstorming nan 22 V9 o0 n ố ốc ốố ố 23

2.3 Purpose of communicafIV€ aCfTVIẨI€S - +5 5+ St ‡E‡EEktEEEEkrErrkrrkrkrrkerrek 23 2.3 1 Communicative activities improve ImOfTVAfIOH 555cc s+scxczerxrrxez 23 2.3.2 Communicative activitIes allow natural learning - - - ¿55+ 5s5xs>s+2 23 2.3.3 Communicative activities can creat a context which supports learning 24

2.4 Speaking activities 24 2.4.1 A successful speaking activity cece cc eetessesesseeeesnereeeeeeesseessreseseneeeanereeee 24 2.4.2 Problems with speaking aCfIVIẨI€S - 5 S2 St tre 25 2.5 Warm — up acfivifles in speaking cÍASs - 5: tt tt rrtrkrrkerrrrerrek 26 2.5.1 Definition of warm — Ip aCẨIVIẨY cát nhe 26 2.5.2 Teaching aims of using warm- up aC{TVIẨI€S c5 S5 Sxsxtstxerrrkrrree 27 2.5.2.1 Warm up to get class start€d - - ¿52-25222213 2E221232211122111211211 xe 28 2.5.2.2 Warm-up to get people talking : ¿5 5+2 St ‡xErxrxrktrrrrkrrrerrrrrrrres 29 2.5.2.3 Warm up to lead studenfs into the new lesSon 5:5 525cc sxszxv+ 30 2.5.3 Disadvanfages of warm — up aCfIVIẨI€S - 5: cty 31 2.5.4 The role of the teacher in warm — Ip aCfTVIẨ1€S - 5-5 55c ‡c+zxczxsrvrxsrsex 32 2.5.5 How to organize warm — uUIp aCEIVIẨI€S: .- ác: té té he 33 2.5.5.1 Select the aCfIVIẨY - cà Hà TH TH HT HH HH HH iờ 34 2.5.5.2 Preparation of Imaf€T1aÌs - S2 2 xxx hy te, 34 2.5.5.3 Organize students within warm — tIp aC{IVIẨI€S c5 5c c+ vs sxszxry 34 2.5.5.4 Time the warm — up aCẨTVIẨI€S - S222 ExEExtEtrkxrrtrtrrrrrrrerrrrrrrre 35

Trang 11

5.1.2 Constraints on developing studenfs” oral sKIÏÏ -:- 5+: 55+s+sxszzxszxs+2 73 b VAN Nt i00) 73

ba 0ê 73

5.1.2.3 Constraints from the sfudeTifs 52 S5 tt SE xttveEkrkrrrkerkrrkrrek 74 5.2 Some recomrnerndafIOTIS + 2 SE t£xEEEEk E121 2171E111.11 11 74 5.2.1 Recommendations for the teaclheTs + 5+ se SE+2£x‡ze£xerkrrkrrvrrkeree 74 5.2.2 Recommendations for the studenIEs -. 2-5-5522 2v £vzxvsxxrrsexr+ 76 REFERENCES

APPENDIXES

Trang 12

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the study

In the context of Vietnam’s economic reform and global participation, English plays an extremely important role in helping its human resources to

communicate with the rest of the world Therefore, there has been a great demand

for teaching and learning English all over the country for various purposes

English has been considered to be the most necessary subject for students in all levels of educational systems The demand of learning English is gradually increasing However, how to teach and learn English in general and English speaking skill in particular effectively is a matter of controversy Speaking skill should be kept in mind to be the most popular and affective way of communication

Nowadays, the Communicative Language Teaching Approach seems to be dominant, e i the communicative competence is the goal of language teaching Many great changes have been made in classroom’ atmosphere: learners play active and possitive roles during the classtime and learners —centered classroom is reached

However, in fact, in secondary school, speaking is not paid a lot of attention to Teachers and students find it difficult to start talking in the target languages

Actually, it is not easy to get students start talking in English at the beginning of the class How to encourage students to speak English and join speaking activities is the worry of many teachers

Trang 13

The C.A is widely applied in teaching foreign language, the study entitled “ A study on warm- up activities for speaking class in secondary school” has been conducted with the hope to make teachers and students more aware of the importance of warm- up activities which play the role of ice breakers in a few first minutes of speaking class

1.2 The aims of the study

The thesis has been done with the wish that it can contribute to the improvement in teaching English in general and in teaching speaking skills in particular The thesis aims to :

- Provide an overview on C.A and the nature of speaking skills Present some general knowledge about warm- up activities

Suggest some typical warm- up activities for teaching speaking skills - Give some features of the situation of teaching and learning speaking skills and using warm- up activities in secondary school

- Help teachers and students be aware of the role of warm- up activities in English speaking class

1.3 Research questions:

This study is implemented to find answers to the following research questions: e Are the students interested in taking part in warm — up activities in

English speaking class ?

e What are students’ attitudes towards their involvement in warm — up activities?

e What are the roles of the teacher in teaching speaking?

e What are the factors effecting to speaking teaching and learning process? 1.4 Scope of the study

Warm- up activities are varied, so for different skills at different levels we

Trang 14

With the above aims, this study is limited to the exploration of opportunities and constraints as perceived by the teachers and students of Le Thi Bach Cat Secondary School in Cua Lo Town in Nghe An with regard to the teaching and learning of English speaking skills and some recommendations The study only focuses on 4 of 16 classes, where there are teachers and students who are implementing the two new English syllabuses for grades 9

What is more, special attention is paid to warm- up activities which are basically oral because they are the best to get students start talking —get ready for speaking class time

1.5 Methods of study

Due to the aims and scope of the study, the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods is intended for the study:

e The quantitative method has been obtained by survey questionnaires that were given to both teachers and students at the high school mentioned in the study Those questionnaires are designed with variety of response options and thus are easy to answer

e In order to gain the most successful result, data will be collected through questionnaire Collected data will be processed and analyzed

e The study employed qualitative approach Data were collected via interviews and classroom observations:

- Having classroom observations to get information about both teachers’ ways of teaching and students’ ways of learning in class as well as to ascertain the prevalent problems forwarded by the teachers during the interviews

1.6 Organization of the study

This study consists of five chapters:

Chapter one Introduction - presents the rationale, the aims, the significance,

the scope, the methodology, and the organization of the study

Trang 15

Chapter three Theoretical background - includes the methods and procedures used in the study, which consist of survey questionnaires, follow- up interview and classroom observation

Chapter four Data analysis and Discussion- deal with the findings drawn out from the analysis of data The findings and discussion are based on describing English speaking classes in using warm — up activities among students and teachers at Le Thi Bach Cat secondary school

Trang 16

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

To begin with the study, in this chapter, the researcher will present some theoretical background so that the study will be based on This chapter includes small parts as follows: Definitions of Speaking skill, The position of Speaking in language teaching programs, What makes speaking a foreign language difficult, Teaching English speaking Communicatively, Communicative Activities for teaching speaking, purpose 0 communicative activities and warm — up activities in speaking class

2.1 Speaking skill:

2.1 1 Definition of speaking

Speaking skill of a second or foreign language is regarded as a very complicated task First of all, speaking is used for variety of purposes and each purpose involves in different skills In a casual conversation, for instance, speakers’ purposes may be to make social contact with others, to establish sympathetic relationships or to spend time chatting harmlessly with someone On the other hand, the purpose may be to find out or to express their opinions or to clarify information On other occasions, speakers wish to give instructions, persuade people or get things done They may want to describe things, to complain about people’s behaviors, to make requests or to entertain people with jokes Each of these different purposes for speaking implies knowledge of the rules that account for how spoken language reflects the context or situation which speech occur in, the participants involve in, and their specific roles or relationships, and the kinds of activities the speakers are involved in

Trang 17

Brown (1994 ) and Burns & Joyce (1997) define that speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information When participating in communicative activities, the speaker should choose the correct vocabulary to describe the things they want to say about, to rephrase or emphasize words to clarify the description to produce the expected pattern of specific discourse situations

Looking through the English language teaching methodology literature, we can easily see that there have been many different definitions of speaking skill proposed by linguists, but no definition is satisfactory According to Fisk (1990) oral communication (speaking skill) is one of those human activities that everyone recognizes but few can define satisfactorily

Despite the definitional diversity, in the present study, speaking skill is defined as “the range of exercise types and activities with a communication approach is unlimited, provided that such exercises and activities enable learners to attain the communicative objectives of the curriculum, engage learners in communication and require the use of such communicative processes as information sharing, negotiation of meaning, and interaction” (Richard and Rodgers, 1986: 165)

Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information (Brown, 1994, Burn and Joyce, 1997) Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including the participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical environment and the purposes for speaking

Trang 18

In conclusion, speech has its own skills, structures and conventions different from

written language Speaking skill is one of the key modes of human communication, and one of the macro skills that language students should be helped to develop for their communicative purposes For that reason, teachers should help their students to improve their speaking and overall oral competence

2.1.2 The position of speaking in language teaching programs

Of all four language skills, speaking seems intuitively the most important : people who know a language are referred as “speakers” of that language as if speaking included all others kind of knowing and many if not most foreign language learners are primarily interested in learning to speak The people who are good at speaking are ones who master not only grammar, pronunciation, intonation, vocabulary but also the social contexts in which language is used In other words, speaking, in real sense, includes both producing language and applying it in different circumstances in life In short, in methodological sense, speaking skills are closely related to all other language skills

Nowadays, English is the international language, so the ability of using English in communication is very necessary Admittedly, speaking is the fastest way to exchange information, therefore, more and more people are trying to learn English speaking skills on the purpose of communicating in the modern world This tendancy puts speaking in the highest position among all four language skills

It can not be denied that speaking has its own outstanding forces The fact is that besides speaking, writing, a productive skill, is also a very useful device in social communication However, it is quite different from speaking which is a spontaneous activity and we have to spend less time on preparing the content of a speech than composing an essay

Trang 19

What is more, when we speak, we not only produce language items but also express our attitude by using body language such as facial expression, gestures and by the rhymth of the utterances These extral factors contribute much to the success of an interactional talk That is the typical force of speaking that no other skills has It is this characteristic that makes speaking to be appreciated higher and higher

Teaching speaking skills, therefore, is forced to be developed much to meet the demand of learners

It is known that language is an effective means of communication through which we can convey our ideas, our thought, or our desires Language helps us clarify what we mean Without language, human beings have never achieved such developments as they have done these days It is language that makes human beings distinctive from animals

Many language learners consider speaking ability the measurement of knowing a language In other words, speaking skill is very important in language teaching and learning If learners do not learn how to speak or not to get opportunities to speak, as many think, they may soon lose their interest in learning, and learning the language is the way how to speak the language

Bygate, M (1987: 5) stresses that speaking “is also a medium through which much language is learnt, and which for many is particularly conductive for learning”

Trang 20

Sharing the same ideas, Richard, A (1991) cites that it is the speaking skill that helps learners to have communication which is the proper aim of language teaching

According to Byrne (1991), while listening and reading are regarded as receptive skills, speaking and writing are productive skill Speaking not only helps students to communicate well and exchange information and culture with others but also promote the integration of speaking, listening, reading and writing in the ways that reflect natural language use

Similarly, Brown, G and Yule, G (1992) point out that speaking plays an ever important role in a very transactional intention, that is, to make clear what they

want to say

From those points, we can come to a conclusion that speaking skill is one of the most necessary skills in language teaching program It suits the development rules of human beings as one can speak before he can read and write That is the reason why speaking skill should be taught in the language room

2.1.3 The characteristics of a successful speaking activity

Speaking is the skill that students will be evaluated in real- life situations Their speaking activities those are successful or not based on their fluent and comprehensible speech

According to Van Duzer (1997), a speaker’s skills and speech habits have an impact on the success of any exchange Thus, developing students’ speaking activity is focused on fluency and communication in many materials and activities However, learners’ successful speaking activity based on many various factors There are some different overviews about successful speaking ability

Pattison (1992: 7-8) shows some criteria to develop speaking ability:

Trang 21

e Type of drills in which learners respond mechanically without thinking about what they are saying is left out

e Teachers should pay more attention to fluency than accuracy and do not interrupt to correct mistakes or errors

e Pair or group work is employed

It is not easy to carry out successfully a speaking activity in classroom if we are not sure about the characteristics of its model Successful speaking activities in class can result in great improvement of students’ speaking skills The teacher should try to design and administer such activities As discussed in Ur (1996), they have four characteristics

The first characteristic is that students talk a lot Teachers should know that how to get students talk in the target language as much as possible in the time of the activity is the most important However, often most time is taken up with teacher talk or pauses Therefore, teachers should only play the role of guiders, and let students be free to express their understanding in their own ways

Secondly, participation is even It is one of the most important criteria to evaluate a speaking activity If class time is dominated by a minority of talkative participants and no chance of talking is used by the worse during the time of

activities, of courses, these can not be seen as successful speaking activities Therefore, the teacher should let all students get a chance to speak, and

contributions are fairly evenly distributed

Thirdly, motivation is high When the students are interested in the topic and have something new to say about it or they want to contribute to achieving a task objective they will be very eager to speak

Trang 22

2.1.4 Problems with speaking activity

Ur (1996) claims that a successful speaking ability should achieve a maximal student taking time, even participation among students, student strong motivation to speak and comprehensibility of students’ language She points out some common problems existing in practicing speaking activities:

Inhibition: learners often have a shy a nervous feeling while speaking, especially in front of class or other people; they worried about making mistake, fearful of losing face, criticism Unlike reading, writing and listening activities, speaking requires some degree of real time exposure to an audience Students are often inhibited about trying to say things in a foreign language in the classroom: worried about making mistakes, fearful of criticism or losing face, or simply shy of the attention that their speech attracts

Nothing-to-say situations: when learners do not have anything to say due to the lack of knowledge and low language proficiency or no motive to express themselves beyond the guilty feeling Even if they are not inhibited, you often hear learners complain that they cannot think of anything to say They have no motive to express themselves beyond the guilty feeling that they should be speaking

Low or uneven participation: when only a few participants dominate discussion at a time in a large group meanwhile others speak little or not at all In

some cases, some students have not any chance, intentionally or unintentionally, to

speak for a long time Only one participant can talk at a time if he or she is to be heard In a large group this means that each one will have only very little talking time This problem is compounded by the tendency of some learners to dominate while others speak very little or not at all

Mother-tongue use: learners often share the same mother tongue and abuse it in second language learning class because they feel the native language is easier to use and it is not natural to speak to other in a foreign language In classes where

all, or a number of, the learners share the same mother tongue, they may tend to use

Trang 23

foreign language and they feel less ‘exposed’ if they are speaking their mother tongue If they are talking in small groups it can be quite difficult to get some classes, particularly the less disciplined or motivated ones, to keep to the target language

When preparing activities for a speaking class, teachers should pay much attention to above problems, so that the speaking activities will be successful and useful to students

2.1.5 What Makes Speaking a foreign Language Difficult? 2.1.5.1 Characteristics of spoken language

Speaking in a second or foreign language has often been viewed as the most demanding of the four skills When attempting to speak, learners must concentrate their thoughts and encode their ideas in vocabulary and syntactic structures of the target language

According to Kathleen M Bailey and Lance Savage (1993), depending on the formality and importance of the speech situations as well as their own personal linguistic propensities, the learners may also attend to monitor their output (speaking skill)

These two linguists also add that in conversations and other interactive speech events, the speakers must attend to the feedback from their interlocutors and observe the rules of discourse used in the target culture Phonological

considerations add to the difficulties to the task, especially for adult learners, as

speakers strive to achieve “good” pronunciation The speed of such interaction is also an issue because their may not be adequate time for processing either outgoing speech or incoming messages at the typical rate of native-speaker interactions

All of these factors combine to make speaking in a second or foreign language a formidable task for language learners

2.1.5.2 Difficulties in learning to speak a foreign language

Trang 24

as the learning environment such as the large size of classes, deficient facilities and difficult syllabuses

In large classes, students are usually different in levels of language proficiency, in learning style and even in general attitudes towards the language, which causes a lot of challenges and makes teachers feel troublesome and stressed to make effective classroom management As Ur (1996: 303) says that “ teachers of large classes also face with the problems of discipline, creating effective learning

environment for all, finding suitable materials, and activating all students,

especially, silent ones.”

Teaching aids such as pictures, maps, photos, samples of real objects, and so on serve as a tool to maximize students’ opportunities to practice and help to make the learning environment better to carry out speaking activities If facilities are not enough and not interesting, students will be de-motivated and the lessons will not be successful as expected

Syllabuses also play an important role in the success of speaking lessons If the contents of the syllabuses are familiar, students will be excited and positively participate in the activities In contrary, if the syllabuses are strange and difficult, students will be de-motivated or keep silent

Thus, in order to involve students in communicative activities, it is necessary for teachers to realize factors affecting students’ participation in communicative activities as well as to find out solutions to the problems

2.1.5.3 Constraints on learning to speak a foreign language

Constraints on learning to speak a foreign language are thought to be socio- physical constraints It means that these constraints come from inner students

Trang 25

the teachers expected Sometimes, teachers find disappointed by such problems as pointed out by Ur (1996 ):

- The students are often inhibited about trying to say things in a foreign language in the classroom because they feel very shy of being paid attention to what they say, or fearful of losing face, or they are even worry about making mistakes

- The students have nothing to say That is, students find it difficult to select suitable words from their store of language clustering to express their ideas and thoughts, and in some cases they lack knowledge of the matters being discussed - Students’ participation is uneven and low This problem often occurs in large classes, especially, in speaking activities Stronger students tend to dominate the groups or class, whereas weaker ones tend to speak very little or keep silent

- Students tend to use their mother tongue instead of the foreign language That is, while some students are very self-confident of their ability to speak English, others are anxious about speaking Some may show their anxiety in silence for fear of making mistakes or being laughed at by their friends Others show their anxiety in returning to using their mother tongue when they have to communicate something unfamiliar or complicated

In conclusion, teachers should try their best to understand the constraints on

students’ learning to speak a foreign language and find out suitable methods to help their students to overcome the constraints as well as to encourage students to participate in speaking activities to help develop their speaking skill

2.2 Teaching English Speaking Communicatively 2.2.1 An overview on Communicative Approach

The developments in teaching and learning foreign languages in recents years have proved the scientific and effective features of the C.A The matter of teaching methods is still controversial but surely the C.A is the best up to now

Trang 26

appropriately in specific situations In other words, it tries to make learners “communicatively competent” (Lasen-Freeman, 1986) Learners should be able to select a particular kind of language and should know where, when and with whom they should use it

Moreover, everything carried out in classroom is done with communicative intent That is activities are designed to provide students with chances to practise using language in reallife communicative contexts or to develop the students “intergrating ability’ That also explains why all materials used in classroom, in C.A, are authentic To be clearer, it means that the sources of teaching and learning materials are taken from the daily life with realistic purposes for specific social situations These kinds of materials make students interested, help them be easy to understand not only the form but also the usage of language items and improve the students’ communicative skills in real life Obviously, in C.A the use of language is paid much more attention to than the correct form when using it

What is more, activities carried out in classroomare truly communicative

That is they must be: information gap, choice and feedback Therefore, games, role plays, and problems—solving tasks are used much in communicative classtime Theses activities, of course, are done by students in small groups.This is a good chance for students to learn to share ideas and express thier individuality Further more, during the activities teachers play the role of the managers, the guiders, or the monitors They mainly act as the advisors of the activity Sometimes, teachers also are participants in these Certainly, there is no place for a teacher-centered classroom It is replaced by student-centered ones Students change their roles from passive learners into active ones They are actors or comminicators They are freely talking in the target language without or with less pauses or control of the teachers.They learn to communicate by having interactional talks with their classmates and exchanging information in their own ways

Trang 27

(speaking, listening, writing, reading) from the begining equally This approach seems to be the reaction against to the Grammar-Translation Method and the Audiolingual Method which did not stress the communicative use of language

One of the main challenges of the C.A is to intergrate the functions of language (informaion retreival, problem solving and social exchanges) with the correct use of structures The question is how to combine communicative fluency with formal accuracy

To answer this question, teachers are required to be very careful when preparing the lesson plans

2.2.2 Principles to teach speaking skills in C.A

How to teach speaking skills the most effectively is a big controversial topic Different authors give different opinions about the principles of teaching speaking skills It is important to remember that the goal in language use is natural communication, that is why the principles to teach speaking are divided into groups basing on the level of students Forseth Et al (1994) presents principles in teaching speaking for the beginning level ( students in secondary school) in the C.A as follows:

Limit the objectives to avoid overwhelming the learners Teachers should provide students with enough structure practice so they can begin interacting at a basic level This will reduce students’fear and encourage more speaking and later, more free production can come after the structured practice If the objectives are not

limited, learners may be confused and difficult for them to understand the lesson

Mix speaking activities with comprehension work : that is, have students listen to the teachers or each other before they speak When students listen before they speak, it leads to more natural speech Comprehension work fosters an interaction between speaking and listening, so speaking should involve first listening task as well

Trang 28

knowledge about language, and students are supplied with not only the form but also its meaning What is more, activities should involve dialogues because dialogues are more concrete and less controlled than structured drills This makes

students more communicatively competent

Do not emphasize the significance of mistakes

Students are often afraid of being corrected by teachers and their classmates when they speak English and this prevents the students much from making speech Teachers should remember this principle and apply it in class to avoid stop students ‘talking and encourage them to express their ideas without the fear of being corrected.This principle follows an important feature of C.A, that is the focus on meaning and communication rather than grammatical accuracy (though such structural errors can also hinder communication) Certainly, teachers should not ignore all mistakes of students but they had better pay attention to problems affecting clear communication or language already taught to the students

State the purpose of the activity to the students

This may provide a direction for the student’s work They are provided with context or focus to help comprehension and this also allows the learners to concentrate on the task and understand why they are doing it This is a good guide for students to start working

2.2.3 Principles for Teaching English Speaking in CLT

Trang 29

accuracy is usually the focus and the teacher makes it clear form feedback that accuracy is important Ongoing correction is often appropriate during accuracy activities In freer activities, the teacher’s hopes are the students’ correct use of language and ability to communicate as well

Fluency in speaking, on the other hand, is the ability to speak fluently, spontaneously and confidently, and at the rate consistent with the norms of relevant native speech community When speaking fluently students should be able to get the message across with whatever resources and abilities they have, regardless of grammatical and other mistakes Teachers also provide opportunities for student to talk by using group work or pair work in their English speaking teaching Pair work and group work activities can be used to increase the amount of time that learners get to speak in the target language during lessons Besides, they are limited to talk when they teaching speaking skill One further interesting point is that when the teacher is removed from the conversation, the learners take on diverse speaking roles that are normally filled by the teacher (such as posing questions or offering clarification)

Harmer (2001: 102), indicates that principles of teaching speaking are as follows: Help students overcome their initial reluctance to speak Be encouraging; provide opportunity; start from something simple;

Ask students to talk about what they want to talk about Ask students to talk about what they are able to talk about e Provide appropriate feedback

e Combine speaking with listening and reading

e Incorporate the teaching of speech acts in teaching speaking

Trang 30

2.2.4 Communicative Activities for Teaching Speaking

Communicative activities are considered to be the most useful forms of foreign language practice in the classroom Thanks to them, learners are provided with many opportunities to practice the language they have learnt in a communicative way

Communicative activities, defined by Harmer (1991), are those that give students who are somehow involved in both the desire to communicate and a purpose involving them in a varied use of language He identifies oral communicative activities into eight categories: reaching consensus, discussion, relaying instructions, communication games, problem solving, talking about you, simulation, and role-play

Communicative activities that develop learners’ ability to express themselves through speech are an important component of a language course when CLT is applied Many researchers have discussed classroom activities and a lot of activities are designed based on the theory and characteristics of CLT

2.2.4.1 Group work

Group activity is being able to stimulate and persuade the interest of study among students Through this activity the involvement of student in class will be increased, learning in groups is more effective to stimulate and strike the values

such as motivation, confidence, the interest to study, cooperation and others (Jacobs and Ratmanida, 1996 )

2.2.4.2 Games

Trang 31

According to Carrier (1980:6) “Games stimulate students’ participation and give them confidence.” This is when students free themselves in order to participate to get the best score or even to be the best in the class They usually feel much more confident with their performance and this makes them learn and practice new structures, learn from their mistakes, and fulfill the goals of the class, indeed

Using games in group work increase students’ motivation in learning English Games help learners to relax and they stimulate communication

Branders and Ginnis( 1977) and Branders( 1982) find also good ideas for games They believe that games can provide a structure to learn on; initiate group work skills; defuse tension; build trust and sensitivity, enhance self-esteem; provide opportunity for everyone to participate( or not), enhance academic achievement; breakdown teacher/ student and student/ student barriers: promote good communication; improve group functioning, increase self-disclosure; increase concentration and encourage creativity and lateral thinking

2.2.4.3 Role play

This activity plays an important role in an English speaking class because it gives students opportunity to communicate in the target language freely and fluently This activity also helps to satisfy a great variety of communicate needs arising from daily activities outside classroom such as fulfilling roles as a doctor and a patient at the doctors’; or an interviewer and an interviewee at a job- interview or a customer making a complaint and a shop manager

Role- play is one of the communicative techniques which develop fluency in language students which promote interaction in the classroom and increases motivation Teachers use this activity to refer to a number of different activities, ranging from simple dialogues prompted by specific information on role cards to more complex simulations which pass through a number of stages.( Tricia Hedge 2000 )

Trang 32

opportunities to develop social skills and creativities This activity is also helpful for quiet and shy learners because they have more opportunities to talk without fear of being corrected

2.2.4.4 Stimulation

Simulations are very similar to role-plays but what makes simulations different than role plays is that they are more elaborate In simulations, students can

bring items to the class to create a realistic environment For instance, if a student is

acting as a singer, she brings a microphone to sing and so on In particular, the teacher must keep learners motivated by stimulating their curiosity and keeping the material relevant, creating a "tension to learn"

In short, role plays and simulations have many advantages First, since they are entertaining, they motivate the students Second, as Harmer (1984) suggests, they increase the self-confidence of hesitant students, because in role play and simulation

activities, they will have a different role and do not have to speak for themselves,

which means they do not have to take the same responsibility 2.2.4.5 Discussion

Discussion is one kind of speaking activity in which students are given a topic by the teacher (or they can choose their own one), then they have a set of time

to discuss it In a discussion, students have a chance to express their ideas in front of

Trang 33

addition, well- managed discussions are interesting, absorbing and active Not only can the teachers create a safe environment for their students to examine their opinions but they also offer a chance for students to use high- order cognitive skills such as evaluation and synthesis Importantly, the students have more opportunity to get to know each other which make them feel at ease and become communicative

2.2.4.6 Problem- Solving

This task includes there features of communication: information gap, choice and feedback so it is very useful for the teacher to use this activity in an English speaking class A problem may be solved by students working in groups or by each student working alone In the latter case, after each student has his solution, the students may be divided into several small groups of 4 or 5 Each group negotiates with each other and then selects a representative to report in front of class after working out a solution to that problem

2.2.4.7 Brainstorming

Brainstorming is creative thinking by a group of people designed to generate a number of ideas to solve a given problem According to Brandes and Ginnis (1986:37): “It is important to get to the group that you are going to take seriously whatever it is that they say We feel that the best way to do this is to write down absolutely everything they say, and censor nothing, even if it is silly ”

For him, the fundamental aim of brainstorming is the enhancement of self-

concept, which is a very subtle and effective method It is good because every contribution is appreciated equally and no one feels dominated All is towards a positive feeling in the group

Trang 34

2.2.4.8 Planning activities

Planning is another type of group work which involves different activities of discussion, decision making, problem- solving and making a plan This type has proved its benefits in communication enhancement A variety of opportunities are provided for students to use their target language to discuss with other team members to come to an agreement for their plan Nunan (1991) and Littlewood (1994) share more or less the same idea that asking students to make a plan when practising a language means the teacher is generating chances for active participation, coordination, real practice situation and maximizing the sense of responsibility among students More than that, confidence and language proficiency would be gradually improved In fact, quite a good range of activities relating to planning have been used such as asking students to plan an event (birthday party,

school music show, a class excursion, a trip ), a meeting, a festival, and

those activities are widely believed to be the best for group work to develop speaking skills

In conclusion, communicative activities are popularly used in the process of foreign language teaching and learning at Secondary school Thanks to the advantages of these kinds of activity, teachers of English have probably exploited them to improve the speaking ability for their students Furthermore, students are given chances to learn and practice their English in truly communicative situations

2.3 Purpose of communicative activities

2.3.1 Communicative activities improve motivation

The learners’ ultimate objective is to take part in communication with others Their motivation to learn is more likely to be sustained if they can see how their classroom learning is related to this objective and helps them to achieve it with increasing success

2.3.2 Communicative activities allow natural learning

Trang 35

many aspects of language learning can take place only through natural process, which operates when a person is involved in using the language for communication

2.3.3 Communicative activities can creat a context which supports learning Communicative activities provide opportunities for positive personal relationships to develop among learners and between learners and teachers These relationships can help to “humanize” the classroom and to create an environment that supports the individual in his efforts to learn

2.4 Speaking activities

2.4.1 A successful speaking activity

It is not easy to carry out successfully a speaking activity in classroom if we are not sure about the characteristics of a model of it There have been many arguments about what a successful speaking activity is These following characteristics are accepted :

The first characteristic is that learners talk a lot Teachers should know that how to get students talk in the target language as much as possible in the time of the activity is the most important If most of the classtime is taken up with the teacher talk or pauses and very few chances are for students’ talk when carrying out an

activity, it can not be considered to be successful At the time of C.A, most of the

classtime is allotted to the students Teachers only play the role of guiders, so they should let students be free to express their understanding in their own ways

The second one is high motivation It is one of the most important criteria to evalutate a speaking activity How to create high motivation to students in class and to make the classroom dynamic is the matter that teachers should care when conducting an activity because it is these factors that lead students to study effectively To achieve these, activities used in class must be interesting, i.e they are

Trang 36

in group work, pairwork or classwork Teachers of English, therefore, should be more careful and wholehearted when planning lessons

The third one is evenparticipation It means that classroom discussion attracts equal contibution of all students If classtime is dominated by a minority of talkative participants and no chance of talking is used by the worse during the time of

activities, of coures, these can not be seen as successful speaking activities Indeed,

unevenpartipation may badly affect the improvement of speaking ability of the students because some worse students have a few practice and day by day they may loose their confidence

Last but not least, it is necessary for teachers to remember that language of speaking activities must be at the acceptable level In other words, their language should be relevant to students’degree, easily comprehensible to students and of an acceptable level of language accuracy Obviously, if the language is too difficult, students will be afraid and pressed when they try to speak English or they may not enjoy these activities That is why before deciding which activity is the suitable one, teachers should pay attention to its language’s requirement

2.4.2 Problems with speaking activities

Admittedly, it is quite difficult to talk in the target language even though you are the teachers of foreign languages How to carry out a speaking activity well and to get students involved in them is the concern of teachers when teaching English as a second language

There are many problems in teaching and learning English speaking skills faced by teachers and learners The author is going to discuss some popular ones with the hope of helping teachers avoid or overcome those

Trang 37

or simply of the attention that their speech attracts Teachers should be able to help students to overcome this feeling in the speaking class

The second problem that learners may get into is that they have nothing to say Even if they are not inhibited but you often hear learners complain that they can not think of anything to say, they have no motive to express themselves beyond the guilty feeling that they should be speaking This may happen because of the complex of the topics used or the language of activities which are above the degree of learners

In speaking class, students sometimes use their mother tongue much more than the target language That is one problem that teachers should care about In classes where all, or a number of, the learners share the same mother tongue, they may tend to use it because it is easier and because it feels unusual to speak to one another in a foreign language, and because they feel less “exposed” if they are speaking their mother tongue If they are working in small groups , it can be quite difficult to have some classes-particularly, the less disciplined or less motivated ones , keep talking in target language This is one of the disadvantage of using groupwork

One more difficulty occurs in speaking class that is low or uneven participation Only one partipant can talk at a time of he or she is to be heard, and only in a large group, this means each one will have only very little talking time This problem is compouned by the tendency of some learners to dominate while others, speak very little or not at all The task of teachers is to monitor the class time in order to provide chances of talking to all students in the class fairly

When preparing activities for speaking class, teachers of English should pay much attention to the above problems, so that the class time will be successful and useful to students

Trang 38

Warm-up activity is a kind of short activities which is used to break the “ice” in classroom and make it “hot” from the beginning of each period of language class They are short, simple and interesting enough to motivate students to learn a foreign language better

2.5.2 Teaching aims of using warm- up activities

It is hard to overestimate the importance of a “warm up” Musicians tune their instruments up, athletes never sprint until their bodies are prepared, people in a choir do vocal exercises before singing Our students, too, need to warm up into both the target language and being in their groups Warm- up activities, therefore, are necessary to make students relaxed, anxiety calmed and ready to go

In speaking class, they seem to be more important because it is difficult for students to start talking in the target language at the beginning of the class The necessity of using warm- up activities is obvious

Trang 39

Moreover, among all four basic language skills, speaking requires alot of skills You are good at speaking means you are good at many others language fields such as grammar, vocabulary, phonetics, pronunciation Thus, it is more difficult for students to speak English well Warm up activities with their own forces, can help students overcome this obstacle As discussed in the previous parts, warm- up activity brings motivation and inspiration to students to study Certainly, with high motivation, we can do everything better Our students, too, study more effectively with the help of warm- up activities These activities are fun, rather simple and in favour of students, so they can easily get learners engaged in and make students

want to express, to share their ideas with the others Furthermore, there are some

action-activities which can “awake” students and make them both active and dynamic Of course, warm- up activities in speaking class are oral, so it is a good preparation for students These activities also change the class atmosphere, bring some innovative thing to language class

In conclusion, teachers of English should be aware of the importance of warm- up activities in speaking class and try to create varied warm- up activities to use frequently in classtime

Instead of starting a new lesson by checking the previous lesson mechanically, teachers can use warm- up activities for different teaching aims

Here are 3 main teaching aims of carrying out warm- up activities in language class:

2.5.2.1 Warm up to get class started

By doing these following things , teachers can start the lesson:

- Greet students individually, ask them how they are feeling and coax a little small talk from them

- Ask if students can remember what we did in the last lesson

- Check if the students can remember a specific teaching point from a previous lesson

Trang 40

- Do something completely unexpected - Say something provocative and controversial

- Comment on some aspect of the students’ appearance - Tease somebody about something

- Get the students to report back on their homework

- Ask each student for an example of something positive and something not so positive from their life

- Tell some good news and some bad news from your life and ask students to dothe same

- Take up some conversation points we recently discussed in class - Question the students on what they think about some topical issues - Ask the students to describe an aspect of their culture

- Get the students to explain something to us - Request advice about something

- Get the student to each ask us a question or two

- Start the lesson with a short silence, a meditation or a prayer - Praise individual students or the whole class on their progress - Just stand or sit silently in front of the class and wait for a response 2.5.2.2 Warm-up to get people talking

By asking these questions, teachers can break the “ice” in the classroom at the beginning and get students talking

- What were you talking about when I came into the room? - What did you do in your previous lesson?

- What did you do lastnight ?

- What are your plans for this evening /the coming weekend /the holidays? - What have you been reading recently?

- What is in the news today?