A study on activities to motivate first year, non english major students in english speaking lessons at HAUI

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES ******************** QUÀNG THỊ BÍCH NGỌC A STUDY ON ACTIVITIES TO MOTIVATE FIRST-YEAR, NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSONS AT HAUI Nghiên cứu hoạt động sử dụng để thúc đẩy sinh viên năm thứ không chuyên tiếng Anh học nói tiếng Anh trường Đại Học Công Nghiệp Hà Nội M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI – 2017 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES ******************** QUÀNG THỊ BÍCH NGỌC A STUDY ON ACTIVITIES TO MOTIVATE FIRST-YEAR, NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSONS AT HAUI Nghiên cứu hoạt động sử dụng để thúc đẩy sinh viên năm thứ không chuyên tiếng Anh học nói tiếng Anh trường Đại Học Công Nghiệp Hà Nội M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisior: Dr Đỗ Tuấn Minh HANOI – 2017 DECLARATION I, Quang Thi Bich Ngoc, hereby certify that my thesis submitted for the Faculty of Post- Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, apart from the help recognized, is my own work The substance of this thesis has not, wholly or in part, been summited for a degree to any other formal course of study Hanoi, 2017 Signature Quang Thi Bich Ngoc i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my special and sincere thanks to my supervisors, Dr Do Tuan Minh, who gave me enthusiastic instructions, precious support and critical feedback on the construction of the study This has always been one of decisive factors in the completion of this thesis Second, I also express my profound gratitude to all doctors, lectures and staff members of the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies, University of Foreign Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their valuable lectures and useful advice that are a great help to fulfill the study Next, I would like to send my deep sense of thanks to the teachers and the first- year students of Non- major English Division- Faculty of Foreign LanguageHanoi University of Industry for their cooperation and the valuable information they provided in my research field Furthermore, I would like to send my heartfelt gratitude to my family and all of my friends who have great source of endless care and support Last but not least, I am also thankful to many writers whose important ideas and notions are exploited and developed in the study ii ABSTRACT Modern teaching methods of foreign languages count on involving the use of different organizational forms of activities which support such a development The way teachers organize these activities and perceive the individual steps connected with the organization of activities may essentially influence the eventual efficiency of the activity and the consequent development of speaking skills In other words, motivated activities are essentially provided to for the needs of teaching English to communicate successfully In fact, there a many problems for teachers and students in applying these communicative activities to enhance speaking skills for first year students at Nonmajor English Division- Faculty of Foreign Language of Hanoi University of Industry Therefore, the research approach undertaken by this study combined between qualitative and quantitative methods To seek answers for the issue, data elicited through survey questionnaires and classroom observation from 150 firstyear, non-major English students and 30 teachers at NED were collected and 15 English lessons are observed and analyzed in the forms of frequency, percentage, charts and tables Findings from the research show the real situation of teaching and learning speaking skill as well indicate the most frequent, effective activities are applied at NED According to the basic findings, some suggested communicative activities are presented with appropriate samples in the part of recommendation of this study Then some suggestions for teachers while using the activities are also given iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II ABSTRACT III TABLE OF CONTENTS IV LIST OF TABLE AND FIGURES VII PART A: INTRODUCTION 1, Rationale Aims of study and research questions .2 Significance of the study Scope of the study Method of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT .5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.0 Background of speaking .5 1.1 Relation between activities and communicative activities 1.1.1 Communicative language teaching approach .6 1.1.2 Communicative activities 1.1.2.1 Definition of communicative activities 1.1.2.2 Features of communicative activities .9 1.1.2.3 Purposes of communicative activities 10 1.1.2.4 Sample communicative activities 11 1.2 Motivation 16 1.2.1 Definition of motivation .16 1.2.2 Dornyei's (1994a) extended framework 16 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 20 2.1 Research method 20 2.1.1 Research setting .20 2.1.2 Subjects 21 2.1.3 Participants .22 2.2 Research instruments 23 2.3 Data collection 23 2.4 Data analysis .23 2.5 Summary .24 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 25 3.1 Data analysis 25 iv 3.1.1 3.2 3.2.1 3.2.2 3.3 Results of teachers and students‘ survey questionnaire 25 Findings and discussion 35 Findings from classroom observation 35 Findings from questionnaire survey .36 Conclusion 38 CHAPTER 39 IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMENDATION 39 4.1 Some kinds of effective communicative activities 39 4.1.1 Using songs .39 4.1.2 Communicative games 40 4.1.3 Question and answer 42 4.1.4 Role play 43 4.1.5 Class discussion .44 4.2 Some considerations and suggestions on using communicative activities 45 4.3 Limitations and suggestions for further research .47 4.4 Conclusion 47 REFERENCES 49 APPENDIX I I SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR TEACHERS) I APPENDIX II IV SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR STUDENTS) IV APPENDIX III VII CLASSROOM OBSERVATION CHECKLISTS VII APPENDIX IV IX RESULT FROM CLASSROOM OBSERVATION CHECKLIST IX APPENDIX V XI SAMPLE XI APPENDIX VI XIII SAMPLE XIII v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative language teaching L2: Second language ESL: English as a second language ELT: English language teaching NED: Non- major English Division FFL: Faculty of Foreign Language HaUI: Hanoi University of Industry vi LIST OF TABLE AND FIGURES Figure 1: Teachers‘ attitude towards the role of English speaking skills 25 Figure 2: Students‘ attitudes and their feelings towards learning speaking skills 26 Figure 3: Teacher‘s assessment towards students‘ speaking ability 27 Figure 4: Possible factors to motivate students speaking in classroom 28 Figure 5: Teacher‘s viewpoints about the reason why students afraid of speaking and student‘s actual difficulties in speaking English 29 Figure 6: Teachers' attitudes towards activities in the textbook 30 Figure 7: Teachers‘ time to use communicative activities and the frequent forms that they usually organize 31 Figure 8: Teachers' kinds of communicate activity applied in lesson and students‘ activity favorites 32 Table 0: Components of foreign language learning motivation (Dornyei, 1994a: 280)……………………………………………………………………………… 17 Table 1: Teachers‘ difficulties in applying communicative activities 32 Table 2: Students‘ difficulties in practicing communicative activities 33 vii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1, Rationale As for Vietnamese, English communicative skill is important because Vietnam is one of the members of many international organizations such as ASEAN, WTO and UNESCO Besides, Vietnam currently has welcomed a number of foreign visitors and businessmen to investigate develop a lot of big companies and create great working opportunities for thousands of Vietnamese workers Furthermore, the needs of studying abroad and working in another country also increase for years Briefly, ―speaking skill is an essential process for learning English Performances through speaking are an indicator of success in career and finally in life‖ (Nunan, 1991) Thus, it is essential to renovate and adapt the suitable teaching English methods in every classroom Admittedly, as regards to the development of speaking skills during a teaching- learning process, ―most lessons of English are carried out through teachercentered approaches, some teacher have been found to focus on language teaching based on grammar instead of exposing the learners to language teaching‖ (Nunan, 2004) ―Teacher‘s teaching of grammar only and involving the learners in communicative English often give a negative impression to students‖ (Ruso, 2007) Thus, ―there are recommended activities to aid the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information which have been proved to make learning easier, faster, enjoyable, self- directed, effective and transferable to new situations‖ (Oxford, 1990) Therefore, teachers should benefit from some approaches by using their techniques and some good activities to help students master their speaking skills In fact, to motivate student effectively, there are a number of factors for instance, the number of interlocutors, designing activities, interaction patterns, an amount of information processed, time span, teacher and student, but it is impossible to discuss all the factors related to this process in the thesis; therefore, a concentration will be focused only on the effective organization of some communicative activities This Savignon, S.J (1972) Communicative Competence: An Experiment in Foreign Language Teaching Philadelphia: Center for Curriculum Development Savignon, S.J (1983) Communicative Competence: Theory and Practice Reading Mass.: Addison Weseley Savingnon, S.J., & Wang, C (2003) Communicative language teaching in EFl contexts; Learner attitude and perceptions [Electronic version] International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 41(3), 223-249 52 APPENDIX I SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (for teachers) This survey questionnaire is designed for my study “A study on activities to motivate first- year, non- English major students in English speaking lessons at HaUI.” Your responses to this survey questionnaire would be of great value to the final product of the research This is not a test, so there is no ―right‖ or ―wrong‖ Please give your answer sincerely because that is the only way to ensure the significance and success of this research You can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Survey conductor: Quang Thi Bich Ngoc K23C- Post Graduate Department University of Languages and International studies Vietnam National University, Hanoi Please tick () where appropriate or write in brief where necessary (You can choose more than one answer to some questions) The role of English speaking skills What you think of the importance of speaking skills? a very important b important c unimportant What you think about your students‘ speaking ability? a very good b good c acceptable d bad Do you teach speaking skills in the combination with other skills? a Yes b No In your experience, what makes students afraid of speaking? (more than one option is possible) a poor background knowledge b poor vocabulary and grammatical knowledge I c low accuracy and fluency d others:………………… The applicability of communicative activities What you think about the importance of the communicative activities in the textbook for first year students‘ practicing? (more than one option is possible) a interesting b boring c helpful d various e enough f poor When you usually use communicative activities? a at the beginning of the lesson b during the lesson c at the end of the lesson d out of the class time What kind of communicative activities you usually use in your English teaching process? a Discussion b Information gap c Using songs d Story telling e Role play f Communicative games g Question and answer h Others: ………………… What form of the activity you usually organize? a at the whole class work b group work c pair work II d individual work What difficulties you meet when applying the communicative activities? (more than one option is possible) In terms of students‘ side a they often keep quiet and only speak when they are asked b learners are too shy to speak in front of the class c they are not interested in the topic 10 In terms of your own side a it‘s difficult to organize b it takes too much time to make a lesson plan 11 In terms of objective factors a lack of materials b size of class c time allocation d atmosphere in class e Other difficulties that you face: ……………… Thank you very much for your cooperation! III APPENDIX II SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (for students) This survey questionnaire is designed for my study “A study on activities to motivate first- year, non- English major students in English speaking lessons at HaUI.” Your responses to this survey questionnaire would be of great value to the final product of the research This is not a test, so there is no ―right‖ or ―wrong‖ Please give your answer sincerely because that is the only way to ensure the significance and success of this research You can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Survey conductor: Quang Thi Bich Ngoc K23C- Post- Graduate Department University of Languages and International studies Vietnam National University, Hanoi Please tick () where appropriate or write in brief where necessary (You can choose more than one answer to some questions) The role of speaking skills How you feel towards speaking skill? a Interested b Not really interested c Uninterested What you think about the importance of speaking in four skills: writing, listening, speaking and reading)? a More important b Equally important c Less important How often you speak English in class? a Very often b Sometimes c Rarely When you usually speak English a You talk with your friends b Your teacher asks you c You are interested in the topic and activities What makes you afraid of speaking English? (more than one option is possible) a Poor background knowledge b Poor vocabulary and grammatical knowledge c Low fluency and accuracy IV d Others:………………………… The applicability of communicative activities What kinds of communicative activities you like to take part in your class? (more than one option is possible) a Discussion b Information gap c Using songs d Story telling e Role play f Communicative games g Question and answer h Others:………………… How you like the activities? a Very much b Not much c Not at all What forms of the activity you like to take part in? a The whole class work b Groups work c Pairs work d Individual work What is the most effective way of practicing the activities for you? a You can speak more fluently b You feel more confident c You have chance to practice English d You are more interested in learning English e Your English is much improved f Others:………………………… What are your difficulties in practicing the activities? a You lack vocabulary to express your opinion b You are afraid of making mistakes V c You fear for being criticized or losing face d You feel shy while speaking in front of the class e You have nothing to say f Others:…………………………… Thank you very much for your cooperation! VI APPENDIX III CLASSROOM OBSERVATION CHECKLISTS A Lesson profile Aims: ………………………… Setting: …………………………………………… - Time allowance: …………… - Class: ……………………… - Unit: ……………………… Teacher: ………………… Learners: ………………… B Observation Note: 1: Very bad 2: Bad 3: Fair (Average) 4: Good A Preparation/ Organization 5: Very good Comments Organization of lesson Appropriateness of lesson within framework of general syllabus Use of class time Lesson plan (realistic/lesson links/ teachers' sensitivity to the lesson plan/ timing) Lesson's impacts on learning B Interaction and Class Atmosphere Comments Interaction between Ts and Ss Interaction among students General Class atmosphere T's provision of safe and supportive context for practice C Teaching Strategies and skills Comments VII 10 Teacher‘s decision making the classroom 11 Achievement of the lesson aims/ objectives 12 Motivation for leaners 13 Classroom management D Teacher’s Qualities Comments 14 Teacher‘s roles in action (manager/ facilitator/ social worker/ monitor/ counselor/ facilitator/ 16 Students' Care friend/ informant, etc) 15 17 Teacher's Knowledge 18 Teachers' Pronunciation 19 Teacher's Confidence (non-verbal language) 20 Teacher's Adaptability 21 Teacher's Professionalism E Learners Comments 22 Learners' motivation 23 Learner‘s cooperation with teachers 24 Learners' willingness to ask when uncertain 25 Learners' tolerance of other students 26 Learners' behavior Summary of Strengths and Areas Needing Improvement: VIII Strengths: ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… Weaknesses: ………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… Professional Recommendations: ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… APPENDIX IV RESULT FROM CLASSROOM OBSERVATION CHECKLIST Note: 1: Very bad 2: Bad 3: Fair (Average) 4: Good A Preparation/ Organization 5: Very good Comments Organization of lesson 0% 0% 0% 13% 87% Appropriateness of lesson within framework of 0% 0% 7% 33% 60% Use of class time 0% 0% 0% 67% 33% Lesson plan (realistic/lesson links/ teachers' 0% 0% 13% 47% 40% 0% 0% 0% Interaction between Ts and Ss 0% 0% Interaction among students 0% 20% 46,7% 33,3% 0% General Class atmosphere 0% 0% general syllabus sensitivity to the lesson plan/ timing) Lesson's impacts on learning B Interaction and Class Atmosphere IX 68% 32% 13,3% 60% 26,7% 6,7% 93,3% 0% T's provision of safe and supportive context for 0% 0% 0% 10 Teacher‘s decision making the classroom 0% 0% 0% 11 Achievement of the lesson aims/ objectives 0% 0% 24% 49,3% 26,7% 12 Motivation for leaners 0% 0% 13,3% 46,7% 40% 13 Classroom management 0% 0% 26,7% 73,3% 0% 14 Teacher‘s roles in action (manager/ facilitator/ 0% 0% 33,3% 66,7% 0% social worker/ monitor/ counselor/ facilitator/ 16 Students' Care friend/ informant, etc) 0% 0% 26,7% 60% 67,3% 15 17 Teacher's Knowledge 0% 0% 0% 18 Teachers' Pronunciation 0% 0% 13,3% 86,7% 0% 19 Teacher's Confidence (non-verbal language) 0% 0% 0% 86,7% 13,3% 20 Teacher's Adaptability 0% 0% 0% 60% 40% 21 Teacher's Professionalism 0% 0% 6,7% 73,3% 20% practice C Teaching Strategies and skills D Teacher’s Qualities E Learners 3 93,3% 6,7% 66,7% 33,3% 86,7% 13,3% 22 Learners' motivation 0% 6,7% 13,3% 80% 0% 23 Learner‘s cooperation with teachers 0% 13,3% 20% 59,7% 7% 24 Learners' willingness to ask when uncertain 20% 13,3% 53,3% 6,7% 6,7% 25 Learners' tolerance of other students 0% 26 Learners' behavior 6,7% 20% 66,6% 6,7% 0% X 0% 7% 93% 0% APPENDIX V SAMPLE Listen to the song and fill in the blank with words you hear Work in groups and discuss the role of music in this song “Flying Without Wings” [Shane:] Everybody's _ for that something One thing that makes it all complete You'll it in the strangest places Places you never knew it could be Some find it in the face of their children Some find it in their lover's eyes Who can deny the joy it _ When you've found that special thing You're flying without wings [Mark:] Some find it sharing every morning Some in their solitary lives You'll find it in the words of others A simple line can make you _ or cry You'll find it in the deepest friendship The kind you cherish all your life And when you know how much that means You've found that thing You're flying without wings So, impossible as they may seem You've got to fight for every _ Cos who's to know which one you let go Would have made you complete [Shane:] Well, for me it's waking up beside you XI To watch the sunrise on your face To know that I can say I love you In any given time or place [Mark:] It's things that only I know Those are the things that make you mine And it's like flying without wings Cos you're my special thing I'm flying without wings [Shane:] And you're the place my life begins And you'll be where it ends [Mark:] I'm flying without wings And that's the joy you bring I'm flying without wings KEY: (1) Looking (2) Find (3) Brings (4) Laugh (5) Special (6) Dream (7) Little XII APPENDIX VI SAMPLE Listen to the song and fill in the blank with given words you hear Work in groups and discuss the role of some missing words in this song (correct words will be bolded) I don't know _ my baby is where/ when But I'll find him, somewhere, somehow I've got to let him know much I care how/ why I'll never give up looking for my baby Chorus: Been around the world and i, i, i I can't find my baby I don't know when, I don't know why Why he's gone away And I don't know where he can be, my baby But I'm gonna find him We had a quarrel and I let go himself /myself I said so many things, things he didn't know And I was oh oh so bad And I don't think he's comin' back, mm mm He gave the reason, the reasons he should go And he _ so many things he never said before And he was oh oh so mad And I don't think he's comin', comin' back I did too much lyin', wasted too much time, Now I'm here a'cryin', i, i, i Chorus So open hearted, he never did me wrong I was the one, the weakest one of all And now I'm oh oh so sad And I don't think he's comin' back, comin' back XIII said/ say I did too much lyin', wasted too much time, Now I'm here a'cryin', i, i, i Chorus x I'm gonna find him, my baby I did too much lyin', wasted too much time, Now I'm here a'cryin', i, i, i Chorus I've been around the world, lookin' from my baby Been around the world, and I'm gonna I'm gonna find him XIV ... mentioned above have studied further on A study on activities to motivate first- year, non- English major students in English speaking lessons at HaUI Aims of study and research questions This study. .. engagement, and generally maintains a creative atmosphere Harmer warns that when acting as a participant, the teacher should be careful not to participate too much, thus dominating the speaking. .. stimulator, manager and consultant, reminding that the main reason for taking part in such activities is to get students to interact, build the activities and to be available for help and advice if students