A study on Techniques to improve the 1st year English majors'' speaking skill at HPU

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HAI PHONG PRIVATE UNIVERSITY ISO 9001 : 2008 RESEARCH PAPER A STUDY ON TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS’ SPEAKING SKILL AT HPU Name: Phung Thi Son HAI PHONG, 2013 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HAI PHONG PRIVATE UNIVERSITY ISO 9001 : 2008 RESEARCH PAPER A STUDY ON TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS’ SPEAKING SKILL AT HPU SECTOR: ENGLISH Name : Phung Thi Son Supervisor : Pham Thi Thuy, M.A HAI PHONG, 2013 Acknowledgements I am very grateful to Dr Tran Thi Ngoc Lien, the Dean of Foreign Languages Department and all of my beloved teachers whose helpful lectures on the field of valuable knowledge have enlightened the arguments in this study I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Pham Thi Thuy, M.A for her invaluable guidance and encouragement she gave me throughout my study I used to have an idea to give up my research but my supervisor always stood by me and supported me In my heart, she is not only a good teacher but also a sister I would like to thank my friends at Hai Phong Private University for their kind assistance during the time I collected data for the study, especially the students from class NA1601 for their participation and assistance without which this study could not have been successful I take this opportunity to express my indebtedness to my parents, my siblings who have constantly inspired and encouraged me to complete this research Finally, I wish to thank my readers for their interest and comments on this study Hai Phong, August, 2013 Phung Thi Son LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS HPU: Haiphong Private University EFL: English as a Foreign Language ELT: English language teaching CLT: Communicative language teaching TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Scopes of the study Methods of the dtudy Designs of the study PART II: THE STUDY Chapter 1: Literature review Denifition of speaking The significance of speaking The problems in teaching and learning English speaking Approaches to the teaching of speaking 4.1 The Grammar – translation Method 4.2 The Direct Method and Audiolingualism 4.3 Communicative Language Teaching Method 10 The role of the teacher in different stages of teaching speaking 11 5.1 The role of the teacher at the presentation stage 11 5.2 The role of the teacher at the practice stage 11 5.3 The role of the teacher at the production stage 11 Main factors affecting students‟ English speaking 12 6.1 Psychological factor 12 6.1.1 Fear of Mistake 12 6.1.2 Shyness 13 6.1.3 Anxiety 13 6.1.4 Lack of Confident 14 6.1.5 Lack of Motivation 14 6.2 Vocabulary 15 6.3 Pronunciation 15 6.4 Accent 15 6.5 Listening Comprehension 15 6.6 Organization of Ideas 16 6.7 The Cultural factor 16 6.8 The Rooted Habit of “Inert” 16 6.9 The Lack of Target Language Learning Enviroment 17 Chapter 2: The study on learning and teaching English speaking skill at Hai Phong Private University 18 The reality of learning and teaching English speaking skill at Hai Phong Private University 18 1.1 The teaching staff 18 1.2 The reseacher 18 1.3 The students 18 1.4 The textbook 19 1.5 English teaching and learning condition at Hai Phong Private University 20 The survey questionaires 21 2.1 The gesign of the survey questionaires 21 2.2 He data analysis 22 2.2.1 The result from the students’ English learning time 22 2.2.2 The result from the students’attitude toward learning English speaking 23 2.2.3 The result from the students’perceived importance of English speaking 24 2.2.4 The result from the students’frequency of speaking English in class time 24 2.2.5 The result from the students’ impression on the English lessons 25 2.2.6 The result from activities used by teachers and students’ preferences 26 2.2.7 The result from the students’opinions on the current teaching method 28 2.2.8 The result from the students’expectations on the extra techniques 29 Findings and discussions of findings 29 Chapter 3: Recommendations for improving the students’ English speaking in the class 31 Change students‟ attitude and awareness on learning English speaking 31 Make English speaking lessons more interesting 32 2.1 Varying speaking activities 32 2.1.1 Use music and songs 33 2.1.2 Role play 36 2.1.3 Simulation 38 2.1.4 Games 39 2.1.4.1 Game 1: Describing jobs 39 2.1.4.2 Game 2: Who is the treasure keeper? 41 2.1.4.3 Game 3: Communication Games 42 2.1.4.4 Game 4: Spelling Games 43 2.1.4.5 Game 5: Classroom Game 43 2.1.4.6 Game 6: Bingo 44 2.1.4.7 Game 7: Pictionary 44 2.1.4.8 Game 8: Charades 45 2.1.4.9 Game 9: Crossword Puzzles 45 2.1.4.10 Game 10: Social Situations 45 2.1.5 Repeat and Re- phrase 46 2.2 Combining textbook and relevant materials 47 2.3 Use visual aides, realia, maps, pictures, multimedia 47 2.3.1 Audio – recorder 48 2.3.2 Shadowing 49 2.3.3 TV and Video 49 2.4 Reconizing the potential value of available facilities of the school and Internet 50 Change the learning atmosphere in the class 51 3.1 Setting up a co – operative atmosphere in class 51 3.2 Change the way of correcting students 52 3.3 Re – arrange tables and decorate classroom 54 3.4 Managing speaking turns 55 PART III: CONCLUSION 57 Conclusion 57 Limitations and suggestions for the further study 57 LIST OF REFERENCES 59 APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENTS 61 (ENGLISH VERSION) APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENTS 64 (VIETNAMESE VERSION) APPENDIX 3: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION CHECKLISTS 67 APPENDIX 4: INFORMAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 68 PART I: INTRODUCTION The current study begins with this introductory part, which describes the rationale to the study and presents the aims of the study It also discusses the scope of the study, the method of the study and provides the design of the study Rationale Nowadays, with the development of the international relationship among countries, learning English, especially learning English speaking is playing a more and more important role in the world People use English for communication and discussion for the world forum and in different aspects of life In Vietnam, English speaking is also very essential for work place Thus, learning English speaking has become more important than ever However, there are still some problems today about the teaching and learning English speaking, particularly at Hai Phong Private University (HPU), there is a fact that the English Majors at HPU, especially the first year English majors at HPU have a poor English speaking skill They spend a lot of time on learning grammar, writing, reading and seem to ignore speaking The majority of the first year English majors are really passive in their speaking Furthermore, they feel reluctant to get involved in the speaking activities in the lessons Therefore, their English speaking skill is often low and very few of them can communicate in English fluently Obviously, it is high time teachers chose the appropriate teaching methods to solve the problem This study will explore the reality of teaching and learning English speaking of the first year English majors at HPU and suggest some main techniques which include the methods of strengthening the teaching of English speaking to help students enhance their English speaking skill Only in this way, students who are learning English speaking can learn it well so that they can communicate in English fluently In order to help the students at HPU, especially the first year English majors at HPU improve their English speaking skill, the author of the study carries on this study with the title: “A study on techniques to improve the first year English majors‟ speaking skill at HPU” The study is expected to help the students of Foreign Languages Department at HPU, especially the first year English majors at HPU improve their English speaking in order to get a brighter future Aims of the study The aim of this study is finding out appropriate techniques for students to improve their speaking skill in which the study focuses on finding the reality of the first year English majors‟ learning English speaking and giving them the suggestions for better communication The author wants to change the students‟ attitude on speaking English and let them find English speaking more interesting The expectation is that the first year English majors at HPU can consider speaking English as their favorite activity Scopes of the study The present study focuses on improving the first year English majors‟ speaking skill at HPU In fact, there are lots of various techniques to study English communication It requires much of time and effort However, due to the limitation of time, resources and knowledge of mine as well as some other conditions, this study was carried out to find out the reality of teaching English speaking for the first year English majors and the effectiveness of HPU teaching method as well as offering some techniques to help the English majors at HPU enhance their speaking skill Thus, the result of study is limited only to those students participating in this study and these findings may impact the 10 constructive comments Teachers‟ efforts will be rewarded by students‟ progress! Students can continue to make negative comments compared with teachers‟ comments It is nice! It is the moment when students are involved in what teachers are talking Sometimes teachers can make out the answers which are not entirely correct by purpose This trick can help teachers test the students‟ ability to focus Sometimes teachers can be surprised by the students‟ unpredictable ability as well as knowledge of students They can absolutely make reasonable answers to teachers‟ issues It is very important that teachers should not turn class into a debate with students Let's crank up the classroom atmosphere with valuable comments The lessons will be more interesting with other students‟ participant Students always want to win each other and to gain greater appreciation All you should now is try to promote this activity later The last thing I want to remind teachers is to remark students in the right time and with the appropriate level Of course, this should base on accurate analysis and evaluation By using this technique appropriately, teachers can completely convince the students 3.3 Re-arrange tables and decorate classroom In fact, many students are too shy to speak in English while they are attending English speaking classes The first thing we should is to identify the root causes of the problem in order to solve it 62 If the causes related to culture (Vietnamese students often feel shy when talking to the public and they also actually feel embarrassed to talk in English in front of others), teachers can help students break down cultural barriers by creating a special environment in the style of British culture This can make speaking English become a common practice It is not expensive at all Both teachers and students can make the class room different from the other classrooms by arranging tables and chairs in the classroom in a different way (arranged in a U shape instead of rows of desks lined up before etc ) Besides, teachers and learners can also decorate the room with the promotional poster in English 3.4 Managing speaking turns in class Some students in class are often hesitant or anxious about speaking the target language, some others usually tend to dominate classroom interaction These students may speak a great deal because of personality traits, cultural issues, or any combination of these factors Teachers, therefore, should balance students‟ speaking turns to get students‟ „fair share‟ of the talk time Firstly, teachers should lengthen their wait- time for students The hesitant learners then have time to think carefully, and make sure that their answers are correct They will feel confident to speak out Secondly, teachers should improve their questioning technique She gives questions and randomly asks any students in class By this way, teachers require students to think and answer the questions immediately, so they can make hesitant students be ready to speak and limit dominant students‟ talking time Besides, teachers should assign responsibilities such as note- takers, scorekeepers… to students when they work in groups Some hesitant learners have to be appointed to speak This way helps teachers reject students‟ 63 hesitance, anxiety and laziness and create the chance for all students to participate in the lesson Teachers, furthermore, should accept a variety of students‟ answers Some students often feel anxious and being derided if their answers are not accepted by teachers Negative comments from teachers can demotivate them and decrease their participation in the classroom Teacher‟s praise at the right time is often useful It encourages students‟ enthusiasm and engrossment in learning and makes students be more confident in their own ability 64 PART III: CONCLUSION Conclusion In conclusion, teaching English speaking through appropriate techniques for the lst year English major students is very important Basing on exploring the reality of current teaching and learning English in HPU of the 1st year English major students I have already had a look into their attitudes toward learning English speaking After the process of completing this research paper, I would like to give some suggestions to support the 1st year English major students to make progress in learning English with the hope that this research paper will contribute some effective techniques to study English speaking skill In fact, Vietnamese students in common and students of HPU in particular are better at grammar than speaking skills Especially some of English majors at HPU cannot communicate in English In such a considerable situation, I decided to carry out this study Besides using survey questionnaire as the major data collection instrument, I also used the observation and informal interview as extra instruments to make this study more reliable and valid The major aim of the study is to find appropriate techniques to help the first year English majors at HPU improve their speaking skill In addition, with the hope that the teachers and students in Foreign Language Department of HPU will love speaking English more when teaching and studying To sum up, the study is the author‟s sincere thanks to HPU and my beloved teachers in Foreign Language Department here All I want is to help the later English major student generations improve their speaking skill in order to help them to gain success in the future more easily 65 Limitations and suggestions for further study A considerable effort has been made to find out the techniques which can be used to help the first year English majors in speaking English at HPU However, due to limited time and ability, there are a number of related areas which the researcher cannot cover in the study First, subjects of the study are only the small number of student at HPU Second, the researcher merely concentrates on studying students‟ techniques in speaking skill, not focus on some related skills such as speaking, writing and listening Furthermore, in the English language teaching and learning in general, the above suggested techniques are only small part which should be creatively and flexibly applied in each class With above limitations, I hope the further research on the topic might include more students and extend to the other skills of English to help students learn English better 66 LIST OF REFERENCES 1.Baldwin, Caroline, (2011) How to Overcome Shyness During an Oral Presentation [Online] Available: http://www.ehow.com/how_7852354_ overcome - shyness-during-oral-presentation.html (February17, 2011) 2.Bums, A & Joyce, H (1997) Focus on speaking Sydney: National Center for English Language Research Byrne, D (1986) Teaching Oral English Longman Gebhard, G.J (2000) Teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language USA: The University of Michigan Press Horwitz, Elaine K., & Horwitz, Michael B (1986) Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Joann Cope Source: The Modern Language Journal, Vol 70, No (Summer, 1986), pp 125-130 Nunan, D (1999) Second Language Teaching & Learning USA: Heinle&Heinle Publisher Nunan, Cavid (2001) Language Teaching Methodology Textbook for teachers Syney: National Center for English Language Teaching and Research Nunan, D (1992) Research method in language learning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Richard, J.C., & Lockhart, C (1994) Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 10 Robby, S, (2010) Conquer Your Fear of Making Mistakes when Speaking English [Online] Available: http://englishharmony.com/conquer-fear-of- making-mistakes-when-speaking-english/ (March 15 2011) 11 Seliger, H.W., & Shohamy, E (1995) Second language research methods (3rd ed) Oxford: OUP 12 Zaremba, A J (2006) Speaking professionally Canada: Thompson SouthWestern 13.http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/speaking 67 14 http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_definition_of_speaking_skills 15 http://www.englishclub.com/speaking/what-is-speaking.htm 16 http://www.englishclub.com/speaking/what-is-speaking.htm 17 http://www.researchgate.net 18.https://repozytorium.amu.edu.pl/jspui/bitstream/10593/1680/1/Aleksandrzak pdf 19 http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/technique 20.http://www.globaledu.com.vn/Thong-Tin-Chi-Tiet/2353/Lam-gi-khi-hocvien-ngai-noi-tieng-Anh-trong-lop 68 APPENDIX 1.1: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (ENGLISH VERSION) Dear students, The purpose of this questionnaire is to know about your attitude towards to your current learning English speaking Its ultimate purpose is to improve your English speaking skill Please give your own opinions frankly! Please, tick the answer that best described your ideas and add final comments at the bottom of the sheet if you wish We need your frank opinions about the English lessons to make them more relevant and interesting, as well as to meet your needs We thank you for your cooperation! 1.How long have you been learning English? □ 0-1 year □ - years □ more than years Do you like learning English speaking, in general? □ Like very much □ Like □ Do not like □ Hate □ Normal In your opinion, how important is English speaking skill? □ Very important □ Important □ Not very important □ Not important □ Normal How often you speak English in English class time? □Always □ Usually □ rarely □ never □ sometimes What you think about your English speaking lessons? □ Very interesting □ Interesting □ Normal □ Not very interesting □ Boring In speaking lesson, which of the following activities does your teacher often use to teach you and which you feel enjoyable? 69 The techniques applied by the teachers No of Students enjoyed Techniques (responded by the the techniques students) No of Students Percentage No of Students Pair work and group work Role play Interview Games Free discussion and problem solving Completing dialogue practice Making up sentences orally Question and answer exchanges Picture description Topic based discussion Project- based learning Record and replay to correct pronunciation Story telling Visual aids (pictures, maps, music, handouts) Rearrangement Others Do you feel excited about the current method? □ Like very much □ Like □ Do not like □ Hate 70 □ Normal Percentage Do you want to have more activities to learn English speaking more effectively? □ Yes □ May be Your comments: Thank you for your co-operation! 71 □ No APPENDIX 1.2 : QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (VIETNAMESE VERSION) Các bạn thân mến, Hãy điền vào bảng câu hỏi gửi lại cho Chúng cần ý kiến thẳng thắn bạn học tiếng Anh lớp để làm chúng ngày thú vị phù hợp để hiểu mong muốn bạn Rất cảm ơn hợp tác bạn! Hãy đánh dấu vào câu trả lời miêu tả ý kiến bạn viết thêm vài bình luận bạn 1.Bạn học tiếng Anh bao lâu? □ 0-1 năm □ - năm □ Hơn năm Nhìn chung bạn có thích nói tiếng Anh khơng? □Rất thích □ thích □ Khơng thích □ ghét □ Bình thường Theo quan điểm bạn, kỹ nói tiếng Anh có quan trọng khơng? □ Rất quan trọng □ quan trọng □ Bình thường □ Không quan trọng □ Không quan trọng Trong học nói tiếng Anh bạn có chăm luyện tập không? □Luôn không □ Thường xuyên □ □ Gần □ Không Bạn nghĩ tiết học nói tiếng Anh nay? □ Rất thú vị □ Thú vị □ Bình thường □ Chẳng thú vị □ Nhàm chán Trong học nói tiếng Anh giảng viên bạn co thường xuyên áp dụng phương pháp sau hay khơng? Trong số bạn thích phương pháp nào? 72 Các phương Tên phương pháp pháp giảng Sự yêu thích viên áp dụng sinh viên với (theo phản hồi phương pháp sinh viên) Số Lựơng % Số % Lựơng Làm việc theo cặp theo nhóm Đóng kịch Phỏng vấn Chơi trò chơi Thảo luận tự tìm giải pháp Hồn thành hội thoại Tạo dựng câu nói Hỏi trả lời câu hỏi Mô tả tranh Thảo luận theo chủ đề Học theo dự án Ghi âm phát lại để sửa lỗi Kể chuyện Học trực quan( tranh ảnh, phim, ) Sắp xếp lại theo trật tự Những phương pháp khác Bạn có thấy thích thú với phương pháp hay không? □ Rất thích □ thích □ Bình thường 73 □ Khơng thích □ Ghét Bạn có muốn có thêm hoạt động khác học nói hay khơng? □ Có □ Có thể □ Khơng Ý kiến đóng góp sinh viên: Một lần xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác bạn! 74 APPENDIX 1.3 : CLASSROOM OBSERVATION CHECKLISTS Aims: ……………………………………………….……………………… Setting: …………………………………………………………………… - Time allowance: …………………………………………………………… - Class: ………………………………………………………………………… - Unit: ………………………………………………………………………… Observation Aspects observed Comments Students‟ motivation on the speaking lessons Students‟ attitude towards speaking activities Students‟ involvement in the speaking activities Students‟ reactions to teacher‟s techniques Students‟ preferences for teacher‟s techniques Students‟ interaction with each other while completing the tasks How the teacher deals with noise and silence in class Overall comments: 75 APPENDIX 1.4 : INFORMAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Why you want to learn speaking English? Is speaking English very important for your future? Why? Do you often prepare lessons before class? Does your teacher often encourage you to speak English in class? 5.Which of the following activities you like your teacher use in your speaking lesson and why? - Completing dialogue practice - Role play - Interview - Games - Free discussion and problem solving - Making up sentences orally - Question and answer exchanges - Picture description - Project- based learning - Story telling - Rearrangement - Visual aids (pictures, maps, music, handouts) - Others 6.Which of following activities you like most in a speaking lesson and why? - Working individually - Working in pairs - Working in groups 7.What should your teacher to motivate you to speak? 76 ... attitude on speaking English and let them find English speaking more interesting The expectation is that the first year English majors at HPU can consider speaking English as their favorite activity... translation method, students are taught to analyze grammar and to translate from one language to another The Grammar translation method, therefore, does not really prepare students to speak English, ... interests and motivation to improve their English speaking learning Follows are the advantages and disadvantages of the first year English majors at HPU: - Advantages:  students can receive constant