A study on the reality of teaching conversational skills to non-English major students at Phuong Dong Unversity Difficulties and some suggested teaching techn.PDF

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES Hoµng lª hạnh A study on the reality of teaching conversational

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

Hoµng lª hạnh

A study on the reality of teaching conversational skills to

non-English major students at Phuong Dong University: difficulties and

some suggested teaching techniques

( Nghiªn cøu thùc tr¹ng cña viÖc d¹y c¸c kü n¨ng héi tho¹i cho sinh viªn

kh«ng chuyªn tiÕng anh t¹i tr-êng §¹i häc Ph-¬ng §«ng: khã kh¨n vµ c¸c kÜ thuËt

gi¶ng d¹y) M.A Minor Programme Thesis

F ield: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60.14.10

Hanoi – 2011

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

Hoàng lê hạnh

A study on the reality of teaching conversational

skills to non-English major students at Phuong Dong

University: difficulties and some suggested teaching

techniques

( Nghiên cứu thực trạng của việc dạy các kỹ năng hội thoại cho sinh viên

không chuyên tiếng anh tại tr-ờng đại học ph-ơng đông: khó khăn và các kĩ

thuật giảng dạy)

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

F ield: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60.14.10

Hanoi – 2011

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Certificate of originality of study project report i

Acknowledgements ii

Abstract iii

Table of contents iv

List of abbreviations and tables vi PART A: INTRODUCTION Error! Bookmark not defined

1 The rationale of the study Error! Bookmark not defined

2 Aims of the study Error! Bookmark not defined

3 Research questions of the study Error! Bookmark not defined

4 Scope of the study Error! Bookmark not defined

5 Methodology Error! Bookmark not defined

6 Design of the study Error! Bookmark not defined

PART B: DEVELOPMENT Error! Bookmark not defined CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW Error! Bookmark not defined

1.1 Overview of teaching speaking skills to foreign learners of EnglishError! Bookmark not

defined

1.1.1 Nature of speaking skill Error! Bookmark not defined 1.1.2 Teaching speaking skill- methodological objectives Error! Bookmark not defined 1.2 Conversations Error! Bookmark not defined 1.2.1 Concepts of conversation Error! Bookmark not defined 1.2.3 Units of conversation Error! Bookmark not defined 1.2.4 Native speakers' conversation Error! Bookmark not defined 1.3 Teaching conversational skills Error! Bookmark not defined 1.3.1 Approaches to teaching conversation skills Error! Bookmark not defined 1.3.2 Principles of teaching conversational skill Error! Bookmark not defined

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY Error! Bookmark not defined

2.1 The research context Error! Bookmark not defined

v

2.1.1 Description of the English course for non-English major students and its objectives at the

faculty of foreign languages, Phuong Dong University Error! Bookmark not defined 2.1.2 Description of the students at Phuong Dong UniversityError! Bookmark not defined 2.1.3 Description of the teachers at Phuong Dong UniversityError! Bookmark not defined 2.2 Methods of the study Error! Bookmark not defined 2.3 Research design Error! Bookmark not defined 2.3.1 Sample and sampling Error! Bookmark not defined 2.3.2 Research Instruments Error! Bookmark not defined 2.3.3 Data collection Error! Bookmark not defined 2.3.4 Data analysis Error! Bookmark not defined

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Error! Bookmark not defined

3.1 Teachers and students’ personal information Error! Bookmark not defined 3.2 Difficulties from teachers and students Error! Bookmark not defined 3.2.1 Students’ English proficiency and learning motivationError! Bookmark not defined 3.2.2 Students’ attitudes toward speaking skill Error! Bookmark not defined 3.2.3 Teachers/ students’ perception of English conversationsError! Bookmark not defined 3.2.4 Difficulties of teaching and learning conversations and conversational activities in classesError!

Bookmark not defined

3.3 Suggested techniques and activities for teaching conversational skills to non- English major

students Error! Bookmark not defined 3.3 1 Overview of teaching problems Error! Bookmark not defined

3.3.2 Suggested teaching techniques to improve the effectiveness of teaching conversations to

non-English major at Phuong Dong University Error! Bookmark not defined 3.4 Activities used in conversation classes to improve students’ conversational skillsError!

Bookmark not defined

PART C: CONCLUSION 45

1) Limitations of the study 45 2) Suggestions for further study 45

REFERENCES Error! Bookmark not defined APPENDICES Error! Bookmark not defined

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

Hoàng lê hạnh

A study on the reality of teaching conversational skills to non-English major students at Phuong Dong University: difficulties and

some suggested teaching techniques

( Nghiên cứu thực trạng của việc dạy các kỹ năng hội thoại cho sinh viên không chuyên tiếng anh tại tr-ờng đại học ph-ơng đông: khó khăn và các kĩ thuật

giảng dạy)

THESIS SUMMARY

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10

Supervisor: Nguyễn Việt Hùng, MA

Hanoi - 2011

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 The rationale of the study

The actual performance of English speaking tests showed that students were more confident in speaking individually if they had information for the teachers‟ questions However, when they were asked to interact with other student in conversations, they spent a lot of time preparing for these and finally still felt worried and did an unnatural and unstructured conversation Some of them even failed to speak from the very beginning of the conversation The result of the interviews and tests suggested me a topic for my minor thesis in the Master

course in English Teaching Methodology; that is “A study on the reality of teaching conversational skills to non-English major students at Phuong Dong University (PDU): difficulties and some suggested teaching techniques.” The paper attempts to clarify the

difficulties of teaching conversational skills and suggest some activities that are practical in teaching these skills in English speaking lessons Some suggestions in teaching and learning methods are also put forward, which are relevant to CLT application

2 Aims of the study

The research investigates the reality of teaching conversational skills to non-English major at Phuong Dong University The main goal of the research is to identify the difficulties of teacher and students when they deal with conversational skills to recommend techniques and activities in classes to help teachers reduce difficulties

3 Research questions of the study

The study aims at answering the following questions

1 What are the difficulties of teachers at Phuong Dong University conversational skills to non-English major students?

2 What are the difficulties of non-English major students at Phuong Dong University when learning conversational skills?

3 What techniques and activities are effective to teach non-English major students at Phuong Dong University conversational skills?

4 Scope of the study

In this study, the investigator intended to focus on the difficulties of teachers and non English major students when they teach and learn conversational skills Because these obstacles are the common worry among teachers and learners and from these difficulties, techniques are selected to help teachers reduce them in teaching and help students to have more confidence in conversing in English classes

5 Methods of the study

To fulfill the above aims, the investigator has chosen both qualitative and quantitative methods for the study All the comments, remarks, suggestions and conclusions are drawn out from factual research, observation, experience and discussion among teachers and learners Data for analysis are gained through the following sources:

- Survey questionnaire: This method is used to find out the difficulties the teachers and

students at Phuong Dong University face when they interact in conversation lessons The questionnaires are useful for getting data of the attitudes and behaviors of the teachers and learners when facing these difficulties It is very convenient for the researcher to conduct the research when she does not have much time for the research and she does not need to directly do

it

- Interviews and observation: The methods are significant in getting more qualitative

data by getting closer to the objects of the study Moreover, observation done by the researcher is leading to more objective data and open new perspective of the study

6 Design of the study

This minor thesis consists of three parts:

Part A -INTRODUCTION: states the rationale, aims, research questions and design of the study

Part B – DEVELOPMENT: includes three chapters:

Chapter 1- LITERATURE REVIEW: provides theoretical background that is relevant to the purpose of the study

Chapter 2 - METHODOLOGY: presents the methodology of the study including the research context, methods of the study, research design

Chapter 3- FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION: deals with the data analysis of two questionnaires designed for teachers and on English major students to find out their difficulties in teaching and learning conversational skills and the finding of the study and suggests some useful techniques for teaching conversational skills to non- English major students

Part C- CONCLUSION: summarizes some main contents of the study, points out the limitations and suggest directions for further study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Overview of teaching speaking skills to foreign learners of English

1.1.1 Nature of speaking skill

Oral skill or speaking skill among four macro skills (including listening, speaking, reading, and writing) is considered one of the most important in learning languages According

to Bygate (1987), speaking help learners “carries out many of their basic transactions It is the skill by which they are most frequently judged, and through which they make and lose friends It

is the par excellence of social solidarity, of social ranking, of professional advancement and of business It is also a medium through which much language is learnt, and for many is particularly conductive for learning.” For some language learners, learning to speak a language is learning the language and their improvement in the language competence is the progress in speaking competence That results from the fact that listening and speaking skills is used much more than reading and writing skills in daily life Speaking and listening skills are used in daily communications and learning these skills is learning to communicate

1.1.2 Teaching speaking skill-methodological objectives

The development of different approaches asserts a different perspective on the importance of speaking and teaching speaking skill For many years, language teaching aims at helping learners achieve linguistic competence, which is the ability to master the sounds, words, and grammar patterns In the mid-1970s, the notion of linguistic competence is extended to the communicative competence-the ability to interact with other speakers, to make meaning, as distinct from the ability to perform on discrete- point tests of grammatical knowledge Therefore, teachers should study what objectives materials and methods aim at when they teach speaking skills

1.2 Conversations

1.2.1 Concepts of conversation

There are varied definitions of conversation regarding its nature and functions In daily life, conversation is understood as a communicative activity in which two or more people talk

about certain topics In classes, conversation is understood by some students as a list of continual

questions and answers However, in some well-known books, the following authors give

different views on conversation

First, M Bailey (2005: 42) claims that “conversation is one of the most basic and pervasive

forms of human interaction.”

1.2.2 Functions of conversation

There are few authors stating the functions of conversation However, the most common ideas

about that come from two authors: Brown and Yule when they assert "two different kinds of

conversational interaction can be distinguished-those in which the primary focus is on the

exchange of information (the transactional function of conversation), and those in which the

primary purpose is to establish and maintain social relations (the interactional function of

conversation)” (Brown and Yule, 1983) In transactional uses of conversation the primary focus

is on the message, whereas interactional uses of conversation focus primarily on the social needs

of the participants

1.2.3 Units of conversation

A

Turn 1 [Solicit: call]

„Jane‟

Turn 2 [Give: available]

„Yes‟

Turn 3 [Solicit: request]

Could I borrow your bike, please?

Turn 4 [Give: comply]

„Sure, it‟s in the garage.‟

Turn 5 [Acknowledge: thank]

„Thanks very much‟

Exchange 3

1.2.4 Native speakers' conversation

To learn how to make conversations successfully in English, it is best to find out the way native speakers form a conversation A normal conversation could follow these rules:

o usually only one speaker speaks at a time

o the speakers change

o the length of the any contribution varies;

o there are techniques for allowing the other party or parties to speak;

o neither the content nor the amount of what we say is specified in advance

(Cited from (Nolasco and Arthur, 2000: 7) 1.3.2 Principles of teaching conversational skill

Teaching conversational skills should be teaching “how”, not teaching „what‟ That means teachers should teach students the way to make a normal conversation and the way to overcome obstacles in conversing Tasks and strategies they use to teach should prepare students for the following principles of conversation.( by Richard (1990: 79-80), cited from Brown(2001, p.277))

1.3.3 Activities used for conversation classes

Nolasco and Arthur (2000) claim the significance of using different types of conversation activities to students of other languages as follows:

o Controlled activities: give students confidence and support

o Awareness activities: Increase sensitivity in students to what they are aiming at

o Fluency activities: Give students the practice they need to use English for communication

o Feedback tasks: Allow students to reflect on their own performance so that they become aware of areas in which they have to improve

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1 The research context

2.1.1 Description of the English course for non-English major students and its objectives at the faculty of foreign languages, Phuong Dong University

The study is conducted at the faculty of foreign language, Phuong Dong University where

students learning English are divided into two groups One group majoring in English spend four years learning English skills such as listening, speaking, reading, writing, translating, etc