Using debate technique to improve the speaking skill of the 3rd year students majoring in english for tourism at ha long university

COVER PAGE 2 VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Nguyễn Vân Anh USING DEBATE TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE THE SPEAKING SKILL OF THE 3RD YEAR STUDENTS MAJORIN

COVER PAGE 2

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Nguyễn Vân Anh

USING DEBATE TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE THE SPEAKING SKILL OF THE 3RD YEAR STUDENTS MAJORING IN ENGLISH FOR TOURISM AT HA LONG UNIVERSITY

MA THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Nguyễn Vân Anh

USING DEBATE TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE THE SPEAKING SKILL OF THE 3RD YEAR STUDENTS MAJORING IN ENGLISH FOR TOURISM AT HA LONG UNIVERSITY

Field: English Language

Code: 8220201

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Hồ Ngọc Trung

HANOI, 2018

DECLARATION BY AUTHOR

The researcher, Nguyễn Vân Anh, fully declares that this thesis “Using Debate Technique to Improve the Speaking Skill of the 3rd Year Students Majoring in English for Tourism at Ha Long University” is the result of my own progress of researching and I am the sole author of this thesis With the exception of the reference indicated in the thesis, to the best of my knowledge, this thesis is conducted without using any other researchers and / or scholars Furthermore, this thesis is submitted and fulfilled the requirements of the M.A degree after a carefully examining progress

Author’s Signature

Nguyễn Vân Anh

Approved by SUPERVISOR

Assoc Prof Dr Hồ Ngọc Trung Date:………

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis is completed after many working hours, as well as the contribution from numerous people with their effort, enthusiasm and assistance; and this thesis is whole heartedly dedicated to them

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Hồ Ngọc Trung for all of his encouragement and timely guidance Had it not been for his support, in addition to his comments and advice, I would not finish this thesis

Next, I would like to convey my sincere appreciation and thanks to Mr Đặng Nguyên Giang and the staff of the Department of Foreign Languages, Graduate Academy of Social Sciences for granting me the honor of writing this thesis as well as their assistance and most valuable comments

Additionally, I would be most grateful for all of the help from teachers at

Ha Long University Their help encouraged me a lot in the progress of completing the thesis

Furthermore, I would like to send my special thanks to all of the students at

Ha Long University for their enthusiasm; their answers and responses helped

me a lot with the analysis of the thesis

Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to my beloved family, who always support me during the progress of conducting and finishing this thesis

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION BY AUTHOR i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT vii

LIST OF TABLES viii

LIST OF FIGURES ix

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aim(s) of the Study 2

1.3 Research Questions 3

1.4 Scope of the Study 3

1.5 Significance of the Study 3

1.6 Research Methods 4

1.7 Structure of the Study 5

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 7

2.1 Concepts of Speaking 7

2.1.1 Definition of Speaking 7

2.1.2 The Elements of Speaking 8

2.1.3 Principles of Teaching Speaking 10

2.1.4 Teacher’s Roles in Teaching Speaking 11

2.1.5 Components of Teaching Speaking 13

2.1.6 Techniques in Teaching Speaking 15

2.1.7 Characteristics of Successful Speaking 17

2.2 Concepts of Debate 18

2.2.1 Definition of Debate 18

2.2.2 Benefits of Debate 19

2.2.3 Debate as an active learning strategy 20

2.2.4 Parts of Debate Technique 21

2.2.5 Procedure of Debate Technique 22

2.2.6 Debate Technique for the Improvement of Speaking Skills 23

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 25

3.1 Setting of the Study 25

3.2 General Situation of the Experimental Class 25

3.3 Research Method 27

3.3.1 Action Research: An Introduction and the Reason for the choice 27

3.3.2 Research Design 28

3.3.3 Target of Classroom Action Research 29

3.4 Research Procedure 30

3.4.1 Step 1: Planning 30

3.4.2 Step 2: Action 30

3.4.3 Step 3: Observation 31

3.4.4 Step 4: Reflection 32

3.5 Data Analysis 32

3.5.1 Method of Collecting Data 32

3.5.1.1 Observation 32

3.5.1.2 Tests 33

3.5.1.3 Documentation 34

3.5.2 Technique of Data Analysis 34

3.5.2.1 Mean 34

3.5.2.2 Standard Deviation 35

3.5.2.3 T-Test Analysis 35

3.5.2.4 Reflection 38

3.6 Summary 40

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 41

4.1 Findings and Discussions for Cycle 1 41

4.1.1 Planning 41

4.1.2 Action’s Implementation 41

4.1.3 Observation 43

4.1.4 Reflection 44

4.1.5 Test’s Result Calculation: Cycle 1 44

4.1.5.1 Calculating the Test Score 44

4.1.5.2 Calculating Mean 45

4.1.5.3 Calculating the Standard Deviation and t0 46

4.1.5.4 Interprpetation 46

4.2 Findings and Discussions for Cycle 2 46

4.2.1 Planning 47

4.2.2 Action Implementation 47

4.2.3 Observation 50

4.2.4 Reflection 50

4.3 Findings and Discussions for Cycle 3 50

4.3.1 Planning 51

4.3.2 Action Implementation 51

4.3.3 Observation 53

4.3.4 Reflection 54

4.3.5 Test’s Result Calculation: Cycle 2 and Cycle 3 54

4.3.5.1 Test’s Results 54

4.3.5.2 Calculating Mean 56

4.3.5.3 Calculating the Standard Deviation and t 0 56

4.3.5.4 Interprpetation 56

4.4 Cycle 4 57

4.4.1 Planning 57

4.4.2 Action’s Implementation 57

4.4.3 Observation 59

4.4.4 Reflection 59

4.4.5 Test’s Result Calculation: Cycle 4 60

4.4.5.1 Test’s Results 60

4.4.5.2 Calculating Mean .61

4.4.5.3 Calculating the Standard Deviation and t 0 62

4.4.5.4 Interprpetation 62

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 64

5.1 Recapitulation 64

5.2 Concluding Remarks 64

5.3 Implications 65

5.4 Limitations and Suggestions for Further Studies 65

REFERENCES 69 APPENDIX 1: LESSON PLANS I Lesson Plan for Debate Activity – Cycle 1 I Lesson Plan for Debate Activity – Cycle 2 III Lesson Plan for Debate Activity – Cycle 3 V Lesson Plan for Debate Activity – Cycle 4 VII APPENDIX 2: TESTS IX Pretest 1 IX Post-test 1 XIII Post-test 2 XX Post-test 3 XXX Post-test 4 XXXII

ABSTRACT

There are numerous ways of improving speaking ability for students, and this thesis is conducted not beyond this purpose In particular, this thesis mainly focuses on the way of applying Debate Technique in teaching speaking, especially in the scope of universities Generally speaking, Debate Technique is considered one of the most effective ways of teaching speaking skills; and applying this teaching method in classes showed the evidence of effectiveness in reality Additionally, it is undeniable that using Debate Technique, in teaching English in general and the skill of speaking in particular, now becomes more and more popular at schools and universities because of the value it brings Therefore, this thesis concentrates on the implementation of Debate Technique and proves that its use can help student’s speaking skills to be enhanced After analyzing and synthesizing the statistics, the researcher discussed and recommended some implications along with suggestions for further research Finally, it is much hoped that the results of the study could be useful for the development of teaching and learning English speaking skill at Ha Long University

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: List of the members of the Experimental Class 25

Table 3.2: Teaching aspects for an observation sheet 31

Table 4.1: Team division: Cycle 1 42

Table 4.2: Observation checklist – Cycle 1 43

Table 4.3: Test score – Cycle 1 45

Table 4.4: Value of Mean – Cycle 1 45

Table 4.5: Team division: Cycle 2 48

Table 4.6: Observation checklist – Cycle 2 49

Table 4.7: Team division: Cycle 3 52

Table 4.8: Observation checklist – Cycle 3 53

Table 4.9: Post-test Score – Cycle 2 and Cycle 3 55

Table 4.10: Value of Mean: Cycle 2 and 3 56

Table 4.11: Team division: Cycle 4 58

Table 4.12: Observation checklist – Cycle 4 58

Table 4.13: Test score – Cycle 4 60

Table 4.14: Mean calculation – Cycle 4 61

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3.1: Action research cycle proposed by Wilf Carr and Stephen Kemmis

(1986) 27

Figure 3.2: T-Test distribution figure……… 37

Figure 3.3: Process of a debate action 39

Figure 4.1: Mean of the Post-test from Cycle 1 to 4 61

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

English increasingly affirms its indispensable role in all exchange activities and international cooperation in all fields of economics, politics, culture, education, science, health care and social life, etc of most countries and regions

in the world To Vietnam, we also clearly identify the position of the language for the overall development of society as a tool for facilitating integration into the international and regional communities, a tool to access to global information, science and technology and a tool to approach other cultures as well as important worldwide events Therefore, English has become a compulsory subject in all colleges and universities throughout the country for many years Also, Vietnamese educators increasingly become aware that one of the decisive elements which contributes to learners’ success is his/her competence in English And “How to help students communicate confidently in English?” is the question which always ponders every teacher of English at every foreign language training institution

Theoretically speaking, good grammar, good vocabulary and good pronunciation help us communicate well The ultimate goal of every English learner is to be able to communicate in English at various degrees depending on the individual's job requirements However, communicating well in English is not an easy-to-achieve goal to almost English learners, especially to Vietnamese learners of English To students who major in English for tourism at Ha Long University, communicating well in English is really significant because it is the key tool of their future job In order to communicate well in English, students must be good at speaking skills by mastering speaking elements including grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and fluency But, frankly speaking, most of these students usually face difficulties which prevent them from participating eagerly in the speaking lessons After over ten years of teaching English at Ha Long University (formerly Ha Long College of Culture, Art and Tourism), I noticed that many students are timid, not excited during hours of speaking

lessons even when they are good at vocabulary and grammar This means that students are possibly not interested in the subject or have not found effective learning methods for this subject So, how to stimulate students to be actively involved in the speaking activities in the class is a difficult question to answer One of the reasons why students’ motivation in speaking classes is low is that they do not have many chances to practice English inside and outside the class There are several techniques which teachers can use to stimulate students

to participate in the speaking lessons The chosen technique should be interesting enough to inspire students to the speaking activities One of the appropriate techniques for teaching speaking skills is debate technique It is

recognized as an active learning strategy through which students will learn more

through a process of constructing and creating, working in a group and also sharing knowledge Debate is a teaching strategy to improve verbal communication and critical-thinking skills Debating is an effective pedagogical strategy because of the level of responsibility for learning and active involvement required by all student debaters Maryadi (2008, p.16) states that

“debate can motivate students’ thinking, moreover if they must defend their stand or opinion which is in contradiction with conviction themselves” This strategy can involve all students to be active, not only debate performer For the above-mentioned reasons, I have decided to carry out a study entitled “Using Debate Technique to Improve the Speaking Skill of the 3rd Year Students Majoring in English for Tourism at Ha Long University” for my MA thesis

1.2 Aim(s) of the Study

The aim of the study is to improve the speaking skills of third year students who major in English for Tourism at Ha Long University by using debate technique In order to achieve the aim, the study is expected to fulfill the following objectives:

(i) Describing the use of debate technique in teaching the speaking skill to third year students majoring in English for Tourism at Ha Long University;

(ii) Identifying how much students’ speaking skill improve after being taught by using debate technique

1.3 Research Questions

For the objectives of the study, the following research questions are addressed:

1 How is the debate technique used to improve the speaking skill of third year students majoring in English for Tourism at Ha Long University?

2 How much do students improve their speaking skill after using debate technique?

1.4 Scope of the Study

Within the MA thesis, the present study involves the investigation of what the students truly do during the debates in their speaking lessons and its impacts

on the communicative competence of 19 major English students who are in the third year of a three-year English for tourism program at the Faculty of Foreign Studies, Ha Long University Debate is experimented as an intensive methodology in speaking lessons in one class during a fifteen-week semester

1.5 Significance of the Study

In our contemporary society, people are living in an information-rich one with increasing numbers of media sources, the growth of the internet and the emergence of social media and they affect the way people teach foreign language Young people today not only need to have the skills needed to understand the information being presented, they need to have the skills to research through different sources, critically analyze the information presented and form their own conclusions and arguments as a result The changes motivate the teacher to change and renew their teaching method, and applying debate activities is one of them Debate can also help to broaden horizons, improve cultural awareness and bring together young people from diverse backgrounds There is evidence that debate can be particularly powerful when working with students from more disadvantaged backgrounds, boosting their confidence and even increasing aspirations for higher education

Furthermore, for all students, debating activities are good preparation for further study and help to develop the skills which will be vital when coming to university level study The research element of debate in particular helps students to develop library research skills, self-managed study and time management It also introduces students to more in-depth analysis of a particular topic that is often difficult to introduce within the curriculum

In the context of the study, firstly, in this study the students are expected to

be able to improve their speaking skills by using debates Secondly, the study is hoped to help teachers to get alternative ways in their teaching process, especially by using debates Additionally, the readers are expected to obtain any information in order to improve their knowledge by reading this thesis And finally, to the writer, this thesis helps her develop knowledge and experience in composing academic writing

1.6 Research Methods

This study is a classroom action research Undoubtedly, action research is

an attractive selection for teacher researchers, school administrative staff in the teaching and learning environment to consider Distinctively, action research in education can be defined as the process of studying a school situation to recognize and pick up the quality of the educative procedure It is responsible for practitioners about new knowledge and perception about how to enhance educational practices or resolve important problems in classrooms and schools Within the context of this study, the main goal of action research is to determine ways to enhance the speaking skills of the students at Ha Long University Simultaneously, action research can enhance the lives of those professionals who work within educational systems Using action research to be the research method of this study helps teachers develop new knowledge directly related to their classrooms, promotes reflective teaching and thinking, expands teachers’ pedagogical repertoire, puts teachers in charge of their craft, reinforces the link between practice and student achievement, fosters an openness toward new

practices Moreover, action research workshops can be used to replace traditional, ineffective teacher in-service training as a means for professional development activities To be more applicable, teacher in-service training needs

to be extended over multiple sessions, contain active learning to allow teachers

to manipulate the ideas and enhance their adjustment of the information, and align the concepts showed with the current curriculum, goals, or teaching concerns Consequently, providing teachers with the necessary skills, knowledge, and focus to engage in meaningful inquiry about their professional practice will enhance this practice, and effect positive changes concerning the educative goals of the learning community

The data collection will be done using test and observation The data from the test and observation is going to be taken from every stage and analyzed quantitatively The participants of this study are 19 students in class English for Tourism 3 The result of this study will tell us how using debate technique can improve students’ speaking skills

1.7 Structure of the Study

This paper is divided into five chapters

Chapter 1 briefly introduces the background information of the study, the

reasons why the writer chooses the topic for her MA thesis, the aims, objectives

of the study and the research questions which are going to be addressed in the study The scope of study, its significance and structure are also raised in this chapter

Chapter 2 consists of theoretical framework of teaching speaking skills

and the debate technique and previous studies related to the thesis

Chapter 3, the methodology chapter, will make it clear how the present

study was implemented, including information about context, participants, and procedures, instrumentation and data collection Methods of analysis will also be addressed in this chapter Analysis of a range of data collected from various sources (oral data from group planning and individual presentations, teacher’s observation notes) for the study will be clarified in this chapter

Chapter 4 will present findings from the present study and discuss these

results

Chapter 5, which is also the concluding chapter of the study includes

conclusion, implications, limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Concepts of Speaking

2.1.1 Definitions of Speaking

Right from the establishment of the human society, speaking has been being used as one of the most common ways of communicating According to the viewpoint of Fulcher (2003), speaking is the verbal use of language to communicate with others People use speaking to form social relationship, express their ideas or give commands to the others Whenever a person produces

a short piece of spoken sentences, it is called a speech Speech has a close relation with making choices Particularly, speakers have to make a proper choice of the way of interaction to express themselves and describe what they need to other persons

Speaking is also defined by Eckard & Kearny (1981), Florez (1999) and Howarth (2001) that it is “a two-way process involving a true communication of ideas, information or feelings” This view reflects the spoken texts or the creation of collaboration between two or more participants simultaneously, and

a shared physical situation

Additionally, according to Burns & Joyce (1997) and Luoma (2004, p.2) speaking is defined as “an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information” Its form and meaning are reliant on the situation in which it happens, containing the contributors themselves, the physical setting, and the purposes for speaking It is often impulsive, open-ended, and growing

Another definition given by Louwerse & Mitchel (2003, p.243), that speaking is a process using a language proficiently and is taken for granted, because the competence of speaking is an innate ability to each individual since they were born Because of this reason, speaking is a natural progress of five main components, including using language in a person’s ordinary voice,

uttering words, understanding and being able to say words, expressing one self’s opinions in words and making speech

Besides, the variety of the number of languages all over the world is one

of the most outstanding factors causing the advent of learning foreign languages Because the necessity of speaking in general and speaking another language, in addition to an individual’s mother tongue, it is considered one of the most important skills to learn

Generally speaking, it can be concluded that speaking is the process of constructing a person’s ideas; in other words, it is a way a person shows other people his or her feelings and communicates effectively by words and phrases

2.1.2 The Elements of Speaking

According to Harmer (2003, p.288), there are two main factors that English-speaking competence presupposes the significance for spoken production, which will be mentioned below:

2.1.2.1 Language Features

According to Dalton and Seidlhofer (1994), the characteristics of language

in general and speaking in particular can be categorized into four main aspects, including Connected speech, Expressive devices, Lexis and Grammar and Language of negotiation

 It is claimed that in connected speech, sounds are undergone some different processes; in particular, they are modified (assimilation), omitted (elision), weakened (by using contractions and patterning) or added (linking) Because

of this processes, it is necessary for teachers to involve students in classroom activities which are designed in special purposes in order to enhance their connected speech

 Expressive devices: In English-speaking countries, this aspect of language feature is showed by people who use it as their first language to alter not only their pitch and word stress in certain parts of utterances, but also the

paralinguistic (non-verbal) and physical means like emotion (especially in face-to-face conversation)

 Lexis and Grammar:

A wide range of vocabulary and phrases could be used by teachers for numerous teaching functions, including expressing feelings or emotions, showing his or her agreement or disagreement, giving orders or showing approval

 Language of negotiation:

Effective speaking gets benefits from the language of negotiation that speakers use to get hold of the ideas’ clarification and present the content’s structures of what we speak We usually require this kind of clarification during the conversation, when we are focusing on the content of the speech This feature is, obviously, very necessary to students

 Communicating with others: on the purpose of sharing ideas and opinions with others in a natural, effective and spontaneous way, it is required from speakers a good skill of listening, and they have to comprehend almost correctly the emotions of the person to whom he or she is talking as well Furthermore, the speaker has to have a certain range of social and linguistic knowledge to analyze the content of his or her partner If all of these criteria are fulfilled, communicators can take turns in the conversation

2.1.3 Principles of Teaching Speaking

2.1.3.1 Concept of Teaching Speaking

In the book “How to Teach Speaking” written by Thornbury (2005), the concept of teaching speaking was mentioned as a main way of delivering the knowledge of English language to the students The details of this concept mentioned by this author will be mentioned below

Generally, teaching speaking is a long-term progress commencing at giving the students instructions to produce and express their ideas in English or any kinds of foreign languages and more importantly, guide them a way to pronounce this novel language correctly After that, the teacher continues to give students instructions on where they can start to assess their sound productions, basing on certain criteria When students can do this process of assessment on their own, the primary role of the teacher to fix their potential mistakes no longer exists; however, the teacher in class still plays an important role They should be able to give appropriate encouragement to stimulate students’ interest

in speaking and ask them to talk, repeat and imitate themselves more regularly According to Nunan (1991, pp.54 – 56), there are five main principles of teaching speaking These principles will be listed and explained thoroughly in the next sections

2.1.3.2 Five main Principles of Teaching Speaking

 Awareness of Difference:

It is unavoidable that there are obvious discrepancies between the context

of teaching and learning a second language and foreign language In particular, a foreign language context is the one which has the target of learning speaking in

a special environment, not a communicative language popular in the community; On the contrary, a second language context’s target language is, absolutely, the language of communication purpose in the society Because of this reason, when teaching speaking, teachers should pay attention to this feature

 The Importance of Fluency and Accuracy:

Generally, it can be understood that accuracy in speaking is the extent of speech in which what students spoke matches what people, especially native people, use in communicative activities; and fluency – in another extent – is the ability of using language quickly and confidently with little hesitations of pauses

in an unnatural way or time-consuming word search from speakers

Because fluency and accuracy are of great importance to the effectiveness

of communication, teachers should pay serious attention to teaching and guiding students to be better at these features

 Providing Opportunities:

Giving students chances to talk is also a good way to increase the speaking ability of students Teachers should do it more regularly in class and encourage all students in class to jump at the chances of speaking

 Tasks Planning:

It is understandable that having a well-prepared teaching plan will allow teachers to be more organized and the effectiveness of the lesson will be increased

 Designing classroom activities

In a speaking lesson, classroom activities are important because they help students to involve in the target speaking language more effectively In order to design appropriate activities for students, teachers should spend a certain amount of time to research the class situation

2.1.4 Teacher’s Roles in Teaching Speaking

According to Harmer (2007), teachers play a significant role in teaching speaking, including:

 Applying the language students are learning to deal with the subject matters and besides, stimulate the involvement of students in the class

 Asking the least amount of display questions In other words, teachers should encourage students to “display” their background and subject

knowledge by asking questions instead of giving information directly For

instance: “What is the noun form of communicate?”

 Building the speaking topic with the students and giving advice and comment to each of their contributions

 Encouraging students to speak as much as they can by giving some further suggestions basing on what students have just spoken and trying not to use a student’s short utterance to be a springboard for another lengthy turn

 Including a clarification of the intention of what students say by extending your opportunities to another student and trying not to cut off an exchange too early

 Taking serious notice of the usage of natural feedback rather than assessing or evaluating the utterance of the students and ask them to follow the judgment deliberately

 Giving an explicit credit to the students by quoting them and trying not to take credit for the contribution that students have made by giving the intention for the content of the conversation that the teacher had prepared previously

From the above-mentioned features, it can be seen that in speaking activities, like any other types of classroom procedure, the role of teachers is of great importance However, basing on the viewpoint of Brown (2009), there are three most outstanding roles that require more concentration from the teacher:

 Prompter: During speaking activities, owing to various reasons, students can get lost or cannot think of what should be spoken from time to time,

or even have trouble with fluency and pronunciation In order to help students, teachers can leave them to deal with the struggle on their own and ask them when they come up with a possible solution

 Participant: Students are the main participants of every speaking activity,

 A person who gives proper feedback: After each student presents their ideas or produces a short piece of speaking, teachers should immediately give comments to encourage the students However, if there are some points that students need to improve, teachers should also let them know

2.1.5 Components of Teaching Speaking

According to Carrasquillo (1994, p.55), there are five components which are often analyzed in a process of speaking, including:

 Pronunciation

It is widely known that pronunciation is a useful technique for pupils to create clearer language during the speaking process It means that learners can communicate efficiently when they have decent pronunciation and intonation in spite of having inadequate vocabulary and grammar Pronunciation could be mentioned with the traditional or regular expression of words (Kline, 2001, p.69) Furthermore, according to Gilbert (2008, p.1), English articulation is not a mastery of sounds or isolated words As an alternative, it is related to learning and applying the way of making a speaker’s opinions and feelings become easier for listeners to follow In addition, pronunciation comprises all those characteristics of speech which is an intelligible flow of speech, including

“segmental articulation, rhythm, intonation and phrasing, and more peripherally even gesture, body language and eye contact.” (Fraser, 2001, p.6)

 Grammar

Grammar is necessary for the students to create an appropriate expression

in conversation, both in written and oral forms In general, the definition of grammar can be given as an organized way of accounting for and forecasting a model knowledge of the language of both speakers and listeners, which is done

by a set of instructions or philosophies that can be used to create all well-formed

or grammatical utterances in the language (Purpura, 2004, p.6)

On the other hand, according to Batko (2004, p.24), grammar refers to the fundamental principles and structure of the language, including clear and correct

sentence construction and the proper forms of words Having an agreement with this opinion, Harmer (2001, p.12) noted that the grammar aspect of a language, especially second language, is the portrayal of the techniques in which words can be under a modification in their forms and jointed into sentences in that language Because of its function, grammar is used to avoid misapprehension among members of a conversation

 Vocabulary

Vocabulary is considered the most significant thing in a language, especially in speaking because the more words the students know, the easier they get to express their thoughts, emotional states and ideas in both oral or written form According to Turk (2003, p.87), in spoken language, the vocabulary tends to be familiar and aims at daily-life use It means that in spoken language, the vocabulary used have to be very acquainted and used in everyday conversation on the purpose of understanding the spoken discourse In order to use words in speaking proficiently, students need to remember their meanings, spelling and pronunciation Consequently, when teaching vocabulary, the teachers need to make certain that the explanation of the meaning, as well as the spelling and pronunciation are conveyed correctly

 Comprehension

Comprehension is a capability to observe and process sections of discourse, to express demonstrations of the meaning of sentences Comprehension of a second language is harder to study because it must be inferred from obvious verbal and nonverbal answers, by artificial instruments, or by the awareness of the teacher On the other hand, comprehension also mentions that members can fully comprehend the nature of the educational program, even when processes are complex and entail risks (Cohen, 2005, p.51)

2.1.6 Techniques in Teaching Speaking

There are a wide range of activities or methods given by numerous scholars about the techniques which can be used in the class in a speaking lesson However, after a careful consideration, the researcher made a decision to choose and summarize the viewpoint of Jeremy (1993) about some of the following techniques which are often used in class and have a great effect on improving speaking skills:

 Acting from script

Script is a text prepared by teachers or others and it will be given to students to learn by heart and act in front of the class When students participate

in this activity, they will become actors or actresses and try their best to show the feelings or emotions that the characters in the script are appearing; and this way of acting helps them to imagine what will happen in a dialogue and helps them to find an appropriate way of responding if they fall into similar situations

in the future Sometimes, teachers can elevate this activity by asking students to write the script themselves and act what they have written in front of the class

 Communication games

Students in general like to learn through games a lot For that reason, speaking activities which are based on games are often an effective and interesting way of practicing the skill

 Discussion

Discussion is the direct way of using speech to convey and express ideas, and it is considered the effective way to improve speaking skills Nevertheless, there is a fact that students, especially in our country, do not take much interest

in activities involving discussing or group work Therefore, teachers should encourage students so they can be more confident

 Prepared Talks

Different from script or discussion, a prepared talk is the form of speaking activities that students have time to prepare, namely presentation or role-play For example, in a prepared talk, students can present in front of the class about a certain topic basing on their own choice In their presentation, they still use a piece of paper, called a note, to help them remember the ideas This method of teaching speaking has a benefit that it represents a useful and effective speaking genre If it is properly organized, prepared talks can be very intriguing for both listener and speaker

 Simulation and Role-play

This is one of the most popular teaching methods, which have still been applying at schools and universities In role-play activities, students imagine that they are other people like the neighbors, doctors, famous people, etc and they will act like they are these people and solve their problems This way of teaching can be used to stimulate students’ interest and through these kinds of activities, teachers can guide students to give proper responses in a specific situation

 Debate

Debate, which is the main topic and will be discussed very carefully in this thesis, is considered one of the most effective teaching methods to improve students’ speaking competence This is an activity in which students will be divided into groups, each of which represents a point of view of a big topic

to engage in using more grammatical structures and words on the purpose of defending one side of an issue convincingly

Overall, the similar target that all of the mentioned methods of teaching speaking have is that they encourage students to practice speaking as much as possible Basing on the particular situation of the class, teachers can choose the most appropriate activities for students, basing on the students’ speaking level,

to learn and practice, or combine as many methods as possible

2.1.7 Characteristics of Successful Speaking

It is widely known that there are numerous foreign languages in the world, and students can choose what language they like to learn, as long as this language is available in their school or universities’ curriculum Therefore, when the students choose to learn a certain foreign language, they might have been interested in learning how to pronounce and speak that language in a most fluent way In order to assess the success of what students said, there are some criteria

as follows:

 Learners talk a lot

The best way of improving speaking skills is speaking as much as possible The time each student has the chance to talk also needs to be considered

 Students’ participation

It is generally known that speaking is an activity for everyone, no matter what level they have or how confident they are Although it is widely recognized that there are both good and not good students, classroom discussion should not

be dominated by the minority of students who are good at speaking; instead of that, all the students in class have the right to take part in speaking activities

 High motivation

Besides the factor that all the students in class have the right to speak, they have

to have enthusiasm and willingness to produce a piece of speaking in class

2.2 Concepts of Debate

2.2.1 Definitions of Debate

According to Vygotsky (1978), debate is a teaching method used to

develop students’ communicative skills under the way of organizing and assembling an argument among students Furthermore, one of the most

outstanding things about debate is that the person who joins it will use his or her voice and, apparently, body language to persuade the adjudicator that the evidences, as well as the arguments given outweigh the others’ It needs to clarify that debating is not a kind of personal abuse, irrational attacks or emotional evasion

Another way of defining debate, according to Freeley and Steinberg (2005), is that debate technique is a process of taking multiple viewpoints into considerations to find out what viewpoint is the most appropriate discussion to the topic It is also noted by these scholars that debate has a variety of applications, especially to individuals A person can use it to make decision for him/her, and use this decision to convince others to agree with them

Additionally, another definition of debate which was given by Paulete (2000) is that debate technique is a speaking situation in which opposite points

of view are presented and argued In a debate activity, students have a role to ascertain the adequacy of background knowledge to protect the chosen viewpoint At the end of the activity, students have to reach a consensus of which viewpoint gains the advantage

Overall, basing on the definitions which have been mentioned, it can be said that debate technique is one of the most efficient method of teaching speaking and it can enhance their communication skills Students at any levels can learn and apply debate; however, it is the most suitable for students at elementary, intermediate and upper-intermediate level who need to improve their skills to reach higher level

2.2.2 Benefits of Debate

It is undeniable that debate technique has numerous effects on students’

skills To clarify this statement, Hyland (1993) claimed that these following

advantages of simulation technique like debate will be recognized:

 Simulation activities in general, and debate activities in particular can encourage students to speak more because of the consciousness from students that what they argue and prove to be right in these activities will

be useful for them in real-life speaking situation

 Debate activities can fully develop the factor of fluency in expressing ideas of students by using appropriate target language Particularly, learners are encouraged to share and protect their viewpoints by applying the language used in these kinds of speaking situation, which are taught

by the teacher previously Moreover, when being put in an environment in which the primary necessity of the speaking element is speaking and the context of the debate activities requires a certain level of language in order to illustrate the situation, students can produce a better speech Another thing to be mentioned here is that language is a method of communication and it is being used to present the tasks which were allocated by the teacher; therefore, it should not be considered to be another kind of test used to describe and assess the grammar or pronunciation competence of students, at least what they produced in the debate activities

 It is undeniable that debate is a combination of many language skills Particularly, simulation helps students to develop their cognitive ability in order to evaluate, understand and analyze the information they found to use in their debate activities Simulation does not give chances to the students to use and apply the knowledge of speaking that they have just learned from the lesson to innovate their non-verbal features of language

and, furthermore, to improve their way of exchanging the content in their mother tongue to the target language

 Last but not least, debate activities will be able to lessen the nervousness

of students, which is one of the most outstanding struggles when improving their speaking skills due to the fact that the mistakes that they can make during the activities will not be corrected or assessed in detail Because of that, they will motivate students to communicate and interact more actively so that they will be active participants in the debate and discussion with friends

2.2.3 Debate as an active learning strategy

Active learning, according to Scannapieco (1998), is defined as a teaching technique that encourages students to become involved in higher order thinking tasks such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation Therefore, active learning promotes compound thinking process and improve retention, assimilation, understanding, and proper application of course content

Methods of active learning take varied forms One fascinating active learning technique is the debate Debate is an early endeavor, having long delivered training in communication from its roots As an instructive process, debate is a competitive, pleasant, intellectual activity whose main purpose is to express and share ideas Debate is a useful means by which opposing theories or different solutions to multifaceted problems can be expressed Debate can offer

a lot of assistance to students, including reduction of instructor and/or student bias, improvement of library research skills, inspiration of critical and logical thinking, innovation of public speaking and communication skills, and motivation of student learning There is also indication to suggest that debate expands the quality of both thinking and writing skills Debate can stimulate students to learn, to escalate the need to provide supporting evidence for their beliefs, and to imagine the same of others

In summary, debate offers an interesting occasion for students to develop many significant learning and thinking skills Debate can be combined within a course along with other active learning approaches (problem-based learning, group learning, case discussion, etc.) to differentiate learning experiences Such

an activity can bring a welcome of excitement into the classroom and help to offer the students with suitable skills to deal with the difficulties of an increasingly multifaceted world simultaneously

2.2.4 Parts of Debate Technique

According to Wallace (1998), there are some characteristics of debate technique that need concerning, including:

 Theme Line

On the purpose of agreeing or disagreeing a motion raised in the debate activity, participants had better give appropriate reasons The reason has to be strong enough to cover the whole topic In general, theme line is the underlying reason with a view to answering the “why” question for the opinion that this idea supports or opposes a motion Therefore, theme line is the important factor that the debaters need to clarify and it is also the cause of the action of attacking opponent’s case of a team

 Argument

It is easy to understand that a debate activity is similar to a battle of argumentative opinions In this battle, members of each team stands on and protect their viewpoint, what they think is true, and prove that others’ ideas are incorrect What each debater says can be better with the usage of critical and logical thinking From that, argument is considered to support the theme line

 Rebuttal

Rebuttal is defined as the statement spoken from a member of a team to prove that others’ ideas are incorrect Therefore, in order to win a debate, participants need to prepare strong cases to protect their team’s viewpoint, and, more importantly, attack their opponents’ opinions by providing strong defense That’s the reason why rebuttal is one of the most significant factors to get the victory of the debate

 Closing

After a debate, closing is the necessary step to sum up what has been discussed

2.2.5 Procedure of Debate Technique

It is stated by Barkley (2005, p.127) that the procedure, or the form of debate,

can be carried out by many ways In a speaking lesson, the procedure of the debate can be taken by following steps:

 Dividing all of the students of the class into groups of 4 or 5, basing on the number of students in class

 Choosing the topic for the debate activity and assigning the groups to the selected topic

 Making sure that the members of each group have enough time for preparation, including collecting necessary data and use this information

to present the ideas during the debate

 Showing information as well as opinion to protect the viewpoint of the team This following case is an example of a typical debate lesson:

At the beginning of the debate; Side 1 shows their arguments, with statements given by each member of the team, followed by the opposite argumentative evidences from Side 2 After listening to the argument from their opponent, each team takes turn to give the possible rebuttal The progress of using rebuttal to win the debate can happen in a certain time, ranging from at least three times to six or seven times, depending on the difficulty of the topic

2.2.6 Debate Technique for the Improvement of Speaking Skills

White (2003) also noted that one of the most significant factors to enhance

the effectiveness of speaking lessons is the ability of practical speaking activities

in the classroom to help learners to gain experience of using all the prerequisites that they learned at class This requirement raises the question of what are the most appropriate classroom activities useful for practicing speaking, because the most significant factor for the debate activity is the provision of opportunities to students to practice speaking as much as possible

Furthermore, debate technique can help students to engage in applying features of language with a view to defending a side of an issue convincingly Because of this reason, debate technique is often used in content area classroom

for intermediate and upper-intermediate students, who have been assessed and

guided to prepare for debate activities

Another factor that has an effect on the improvement of speaking skills in class is the extensive preparation requirement Because debaters have to use a lot of argumentative clauses to protect their group’s viewpoints, they should call for mutual communication in group, and take advantage of at least one among these functions of language, including explaining, illustrating and requiring information

Last but not least, another aim of debate technique in class is to enhance students’ communication skills and critical thinking by practicing speaking and using argumentative statements in a regular basis

2.3 Summary

Basing on the above-mentioned analysis, it can be concluded that by applying Debate Technique, students are able to increase their motivation, enhance research skills, promote critical thinking, and develop communication proficiency Besides, the debates expose the class to a focused, in-depth, multiple-perspective analysis of issues Because critical debates have the added dimension of requiring students to assume a position opposite to their own, they encourage students to challenge their existing assumptions This can move students beyond simple dualistic thinking, deepen their understanding of an issue, and help them to recognize the range of perspective inherent in complex topics In this way, critical debate may also build appreciation for diversity and develop tolerance for other viewpoints

Debate Technique has great contribution in speaking since it is a based It is encouraging the students to practice their English in real communication By using Critical Debate Technique, the students will become more self-reliant to speak, more active, freer to exchange ideas with their friends

task-in group, without betask-ing afraid of maktask-ing faults and shy or betask-ing laughed by friends, lessen their apprehension in their English speaking capability

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Setting of the Study

The classroom action research necessary for the thesis was conducted at Ha Long Campus of Ha Long University, which is located in Hong Hai Ward, Ha Long City, Quang Ninh Province Taking the advantage of locating in a place in which tourism industry has been strongly developing with the presence of Ha Long Bay, which was recognized as a World Heritage twice by UNESCO, the University of Ha Long mainly focuses on training students to be good members

of the workforce who can do well in the tourism industry for the sake of Quang Ninh Province, and English speaking is one of most important skills to learn

3.2 General Situation of the Experimental Class

In order to find out the effectiveness of the debate activities, the researcher chose a class to become the model and all of the students in this class will experience the debate activities during a certain amount of time In details, the experimental class named English for Tourism College K3, Term 1, Academic year: 2017 – 2018 of the Course: English for Travel Administration and Tour Guiding, in which the duration of the course is 150 lessons, with the participation of 19 students, including 15 girls and 04 boys The following table will provide a general view of the members of the experimental class:

Table 3.1: List of the members of the Experimental Class

9 Nguyễn Quang Ninh 8/11/94 Male

The students chosen for the sample in this thesis are in the first semester of their third-year, the last academic year in their curriculum at the university It must be said that all of the nineteen students of the class are in the third year of the academic school-year at Ha Long University With the specialization of Tourism and the length of learning at school, it is understandable that their English competence is decent enough to deal with the language aspect required for a successful debate lesson Ten students have the English competence at level B1, and nine of them are at the level B2 and above, which match the criteria of the debate activity

In their Course of English for Travel Administration and Tour Guiding, which lasts within 15 weeks with 150 lessons, they are focused on the speaking and presentation skills, the two most important skills that are necessary for their future occupation The researcher made a decision to choose this class as the subject of the thesis due to the fact that this is the most important time to assess and audit the English competence of students; if there are any problems detected during the process of applying the method, the teacher can guide the students to

In general, the English competence of the members in the experimental class ranging from pre-intermediate, intermediate to upper-intermediate, which

is suitable for them to understand what teacher says and communicate to other students Although most of them are intelligent, they are still shy, not enthusiastic and do not want to talk much However, the debate activities will be hoped to change the situation and help students to use English better

3.3 Research Method

3.3.1 Action Research: An Introduction and the Reason for the choice

There are numerous ways to define action research, and the definition proposed by Carr and Kemmis (1986) is among the most widely known Their definition is also firmly stayed within the area of the practitioner and closely related to the concept of reflective practice, as established by Schön (1983) To a great extent, the overall idea is that action research includes research activities that are concerned with toward enhancing practice and it was to improve, the understanding of social/educational practices and the situations in which these practices happen Additionally, other definitions, include one proposed by Burns (2010), that action research is “taking a self-reflective, critical, and systematic approach to exploring [teachers’] own teaching contexts” (p.2)

In order to clarify the process of an action research, it was proposed by McTaggart (1988) that there are four phases conveying the iterative or recursive nature of action research, including planning phase, action phase, observation phase and reflection phase

Figure 3.1: Action research cycle proposed by Wilf Carr and Stephen Kemmis

(1986)

What students do in the planning phase is identifying a problem or issue that interests or puzzles them After that, they identify a plan of action that aims

to lead to an enhancement in understanding, then they assume what alterations

or interventions might bring an improvement and finally plan how to implement them

In the action phase, the implementation of the plan which has been carefully developed to address the issue raised in the topic is discussed It is significant to note that the needed ethical clearance to safeguard secrecy, ensure agreement, diminish power relations, and so on must be got before carrying out the action

In the observation phase, related features of classroom practice are made to conclude what is happening This phase consists of collecting the data needed to answer your questions, including observing systematically, documenting the behaviors and contexts of contributors, organizing interviews or using questionnaires to obtain the opinions of those involved and collecting students’ work which is related to your research questions

In the reflection phase, teachers and students reflect on what is happening and then develop revised action plans on questions and understanding arose during the previous phases

Action research was chosen because it has the advantage of enhancing the speaking environment and atmosphere in the class, which was being the problem

of the experimental student group Through action research, several new techniques, including debate, have been developed which help increase the level

of inquiry in the classroom and help students to be more confident to speak They are also more meaningful because students are actively engaged in the learning process instead of just a passive observer As a result, action research can be responsible for many of the innovations in the class

3.3.2 Research Design

The main way of designing the research in this thesis is action research

self-reflective form in which participants in social situation (including educational situation) were undertaken on the purpose of enhancing the rationality of these following factors:

 Firstly, the social or educational practices of their own;

 Secondly, their comprehension about how to use these practices;

 Lastly, the situation in which these practices are used and conducted Additionally, Harmer (2003) also gave a viewpoint that action research is a term used for a number of steps and procedures engaged by teachers and was not depended by their purposes Furthermore, action research can also be considered

as a kind of investigation which contains participative reflective features, collaborative characteristics and spiral These factors have the function of repairing and increasing the technique, substance, system, situation, competence and process of speaking

Basing on the definition mentioned above, it can be concluded that classroom action research is a way of conducting a lesson which can be carried out by one teacher with another teacher to improve the process of learning speaking of the students or make them understand the lesson better In order to

do that, the classroom action researcher uses data from observation, particularly debate activities and analyzes them The collected data are analyzed basing on the features of classroom action research In particular, according to Nunan (1991), classroom action research is conducted mostly by practitioners; although sometimes outside researchers can also do that Additionally, it is collaborative and it is aimed at changing the way people learn skills, especially speaking skill

3.3.3 Target of Classroom Action Research

According to Crouse (2012), because of its effectiveness, classroom action research is carried out quite regularly When a classroom action research is on process, researchers can understand and know more about the students and what

is their learning motivation and challenges Moreover, teachers can also take advantages of classroom action research By conducting this kind of learning activity, teachers can know more about how effective the current teaching