Những cản trở trong việc nói tiếng anh và một số biện pháp kích thích học sinh nói tiếng anh trong giờ tự chọn của học sinh lớ

TABLE OF CONTENT Sr No I 1.1 1.2 Topic Page No INTRODUCTION Rationale Purpose of the study 3 1.3 1.4 Scope of the study Methodology of the study 3 II DEVELOPMENT 2.1 Theoretical background of English speaking skill and its importance 2.2 The setting of the study 2.3 What are obstacles when students speak English? 2.4 Suggestions for teachers 2.5 Applying suggestions 10 2.6 Results 16 III Conclusion 16 ABBREVIATION YD2SS: Yen Dinh II secondary school Sts: students T: Teacher I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale In our modern society, English plays an integral part in many sectors including medicine, engineering, education, advanced studies, business, technology, banking, computing, tourism, etc Never before has learning English become so important As a result, English is being taught and learned around the world as a second language today Children start to learn at the early age Teenagers learn English at school as a compulsory subject Besides, a lot of people are attending different high quality English centers so that they can master this language However, there is a worrying problem is that most of English learners are not confident to communicate in English, even they are afraid of doing speaking tasks in their classes whereas they are really good at vocabulary and grammatical structures As an English teacher, I am always wishing to find out my students’ obstacles in speaking English and how to help them overcome these barriers That’s why I chose the issue: “Obstacles in speaking English and how to motivate sts in grade 10 at YD2SS to speak English during their optional periods:” I hope after these speaking lessons, they can improve their English speaking ability effectively and efficiently 1.2 Purpose of the study The main purpose of the study is to find out obstacles which make the 10th form sts at Yen Dinh II secondary school (YD2SS) afraid of speaking English This also offers some appropriate strategies to better the current context Research questions: What are obstacles of the 10th form ss at YD2 StS’ in speaking English? How to motivate them to speak English actively 1.3 Scope of the study This study was conducted among the 10A1, 10A2 and 10A9 Sts at YD2SS during the school year 2018-2019 1.4 Methodology of the study Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used First of all, for the theoretical basis, a lot of reference materials on English speaking skill have been collected, analyzed and synthesized carefully with the due consideration for the ss’ learning situations Secondly, class observation has been carried out with ss to find out barriers among sts while they are speaking English Based on what I have collected, I would like to give some ways to improve this problem II DEVELOPMENT 2.1 Theoretical background of English speaking skill and its importance This second chapter provides readers with the relevant literature of the study by introducing some key concepts necessary for the best understanding of this research, as well as the review of previous studies related to the topic There are some most crucial concepts chosen to be clarified in this part such as English speaking skill, its importance in communication, 2.1.1 What is speaking skill ? Speaking is an act of making vocal sounds We can say that speaking means to converse, or expressing one's thoughts and feelings in spoken language To speak often implies conveying information It may be from an informal remark to a scholarly presentation to a formal address Speaking skills: Speaking skills are the skills that give us the ability to communicate effectively These skills allow the speaker, to convey his message in a passionate, thoughtful, and convincing manner Speaking skills also help to assure that one won't be misunderstood by those who are listening 2.1.2 Importance of English speaking skill for EFL learners 2.1.2.1 Language is a tool for communication We communicate with others, to express our ideas, and to know others’ ideas as well Communication takes place, where there is speech Without speech we cannot communicate with one another The importance of speaking skills, hence is enormous for the learners of any language Without speech, a language is reduced to a mere script The use of language is an activity which takes place within the confines of our community We use language in a variety of situations People at their work places, i.e researchers working either in a medical laboratory or in a language laboratory, are supposed to speak correctly and effectively in-order to communicate well with one another Any gap in commutation results in misunderstandings and problems 2.1.2.2 For a smooth running of any system, the speakers of a language need to be especially and purposefully trained in the skill of speaking 2.1.2.3 In-order to become a well rounded communicator one needs to be proficient in each of the four language skills viz., listening , speaking, reading and writing, but the ability to speak skillfully, provides the speaker with several distinct advantages The capacity to express one’s thoughts, opinions and feelings, in the form of words put together in a meaningful way, provides the speaker with these advantages The joy of sharing one’s ideas with others is immense When we speak to others we come to have a better understanding of our own selves, as Robert Frost once said: ‘‘I am a writer of books in retrospect, I talk in order to understand, I teach in order to learn.’’ Undoubtedly, the clarity in speech reflects clear thinking 2.1.2.4 An effective speaker can gain the attention of the audience and hold it till the completion of his message Speaking skills are important for career success, but certainly not limited to one’s professional aspirations Speaking skills can also enhance one’s personal life 2.2 The setting of the study 2.2.1 The setting of the study The study was conducted at YD2SS in Yen Dinh district, Thanh Hoa province Here, English is taught in classrooms with five parts: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing and Grammar within 37 weeks and speaking skill is taught for from 40 to 45 students each class for period per week This year, the number of English periods increases from to periods every week, one of them is spent on the piece of knowledge that is thought to be necessary for their students While many of my colleges chose grammatical structures, I taught my sts speaking skill because they are learning grammar and vocabulary all the time at school, at home and at extra classes whereas they can’t gain the final vital aim, which is to communicate in English That’s why I chose my own speaking curriculum for optional English periods It will be clarified in the next part 2.2.2 The students’ background and their English levels The 10th form students at YD2SS are aged from 15 to 16 They came from different places of Yen Dinh district Most of them have learnt English including the speaking skill since they were at grade However, the students’ level in English is very low They don’t take part in any English speaking club Besides, most of their families live on agriculture so that they not have the best conditions to learn English Moreover, they don’t have the habit of practicing speaking skill to improve their pronunciation It is grammar that is focused so that Ss can pass the exams 2.3 What are obstacles when students speak English? 2.3.1 Environment The environment does not support the students to speak English frequently The environment here means the people outside the class Those people may think that the students just want to show off when they speak English for daily conversation The response that the students get makes them loose their self-confidence to improve their speaking Since the students not want to be rejected by the people around them, so they use their native language in daily conversation That makes the students unable to communicate in English fluently outside the class 2.3.2 Inhibition They are scared about committing mistakes while they speak They cannot also express themselves well or adequately because they lack adequate and appropriate vocabulary 2.3.3 Shyness Another factor that makes students to hesitate to speak in English is that they are shy and nervous They feel fearful to speak English in front of other people because they lack confidence about their own competence in English 2.3.4 Nothing to say: Students have no motivation to express themselves 2.3.5 Low or uneven participation Only one participant can talk at a time because of large classes and the tendency of some learners to dominate, while others speak very little or not at all 2.3.6 Mother-tongue use Learners who share the same mother tongue tend to use it because it is easier and because learners feel less exposed if they are speaking their mother tongue In addition, a researcher also pointed out that there are many factors that cause difficulties in speaking English among EFL learners Some of these factors are related to the learners themselves, the teaching strategies,the curriculum, and the environment For example, many learners lack the necessary vocabulary to get their meaning across, and consequently, they cannot keep the interaction going Inadequate strategic competence and communication competence can be another reason as well for not being able to keep the interaction going Some learners also lack the motivation to speak English They not see a real need to learn or speak English Actually motivation is the crucial force which determines whether a learner embarks in a task at all, how much energy he devotes to it, and how long he preservers (Littlewood, 1984, p.53) The development of communicative skills can only take place if learners have the motivation and opportunity to express their own identity and relate with the people around them (Littlewood, 1981) Teaching strategies also contribute to this problem as they are inadequate, and they not put emphasis on speaking, which results in a meagre development of this skill Besides, vocabulary items are taught in isolation, and listening materials are not used by the majority of school teachers because of the large number of teachers compared with the number of cassettes available Teacher-training programs were found to be not very successful in changing the teachers’ methodology The lack of a target language environment can be considered another problem, which of course results in a lack of involvement in real-life situations 2.4 Suggestions for teachers 2.4.1 Establish your 100% goal from Day On the first day of class make your expectations clear to your students I usually have my students make a pact with both me and themselves The students read the promises (see below) and I elaborate on each a bit Next, the students sign their names in agreement My Promises I promise to try to speak as much as possible I promise not to be afraid of making mistakes I promise not to speak any Vietnamese I promise to use English to communicate I promise to ask questions when I not understand I promise to try to have fun! If sometimes my students forget their promises, we will go back to these promises from time to time throughout the course 4.2 Teach Classroom English In the second or third lesson students should be taught useful classroom English The students should thoroughly memorize and practice using these expressions It is essential that you explain that these expressions are not just for use with the teacher, but for use with each other as well Some examples of useful classroom English are: Beginning of the lesson: *Good morning How are you? *Did you have a nice weekend? *Have you done your homework? *Let’s play a game now, shall we? *Are you ready? Ask for repetition: *Would you mind repeating…? *Could you say it again? *Pardon? Asking for clarification: *What is it? Please tell me again *What you mean? *Could you explain more about ? Ask for ideas/opinions *What you think about that…(name)? *Do you have any ideas/opinions? *How about you? Checking: *Is that clear? *Okay so far? *Have you got it / that? 2.4.3 Start (almost) every class with free conversation Before starting our lesson, I ask my sts to sit facing a partner and tell them to talk on a topic for a set time They absolutely must not speak any Vietnamese during this time! Possible topics are yesterday, TV, movies, sports, etc This simple tasks usually last 2-3 minutes at the beginning of the lesson Free conversation works because it warms the students up, and it gives them the comfort to speak the whole period 2.4.4 Setting Clear Lesson Goals It is crucial that teacher be clear about what he wants students to learn during each lesson If teacher cannot quickly and easily state what he wants the students to know and be able to at the end of a given lesson, the goal of the lesson will be unclear Clear lesson goalshelp teacher (and students) to focus every other aspect of lesson on what matters most 2.4.5 Showing & Telling Teacher should normally start lessons with show and tell Put simply, telling involves sharing information or knowledge with the students while showing involves modeling how to something When teacher has cleared about what he wants students to know and be able to by the end of the lesson, a teacher needs to tell them what they need to know and show how to the tasks 2.4.6 Questioning to Check for Understanding Research suggests that teachers typically spend a large amount of teaching time asking questions However, few teachers use questions to check for understanding within a lesson However, a teacher should always check for understanding before moving onto the next part of their lesson Techniques such as randomized sampling, student answer-boards and tell-a-friend are helpful 2.4.7 Summarizing New Learning in a Graphical Way: Graphic outlines include things such as mind maps, flow-charts and Venn diagrams Teacher can use them to help students to summarize what they have 2.4.8 Pick topics and activities that your students find interesting and useful None of the techniques elaborated above will be successful in getting your students to speak English if your students simply don't want to talk about the topic you've given, or if they don't find the topic useful Motivating and practical activities and topics are necessary to get your students talking in English 2.4.9 Plenty of Practice As said by Killian, practice makes perfect Practice helps students to retain the knowledge and skills that they have learned while also allowing another opportunity to check for understanding If teacher wants to harness the potent power of practice, he must ensure that students are practicing the right things Finally, research shows that students better when their teacher has them practice the same things over a spaced-out period of time 2.4.10 Providing Students with Feedback Feedback is the breakfast of champions, and it is the breakfast served by extraordinary teachers around the world Put simply, giving feedback involves letting the students know how they have performed on a particular task along with ways that they can improve Unlike praise, which focuses on the student rather than the task, feedback provides students with a tangible understanding of what they did well, of where they are at, and of how they can improve 2.4.11 Getting Students Working Together (in productive ways) Group work is not new and teachers can see it in every classroom However, productive group work is rare When working in groups, students tend to rely on the person who seems most willing and able to the task at hand To increase the productivity of the groups, teachers need to be selective about the tasks they assign to students and the individual role that each group member plays 2.4.12 Teach SS Strategies Not just Content Teachers can increase how well students in any subject by explicitly teaching them how to use relevant strategies When teaching children to read, teacher needs to teach them how to attack unknown words, as well as strategies that will deepen their comprehension When teaching them Mathematics, you need to teach them problem-solving strategies And, just as with content, you need to tell students about these strategies, to show them how to use them and to give them guided practice before asking them to use them independently 2.4.13 Amp up the competition There’s nothing like competitions to motivate reluctant speakers Games or reward-based speaking activities are very useful tools that allow students of all ages to practice valuable skills And you don’t have to teach students to incorporate games into your ESL class; adults love games too! If you really want to up the ante, you can always offer the winner a point on the next test There are plenty of games to choose from, such as 20 Questions, Catch phrase or Two Truths and a Lie Look for games that require students to say a lot in order to accomplish the objective, especially games that encourage students to ask questions or describe things in English Plus, having fun is motivation in and of itself 2.5 Applying suggestions I myself have applied these suggestions in teaching speaking skill, especially in independent English periods Firstly, I have my students research a topic of interest because I can choose speaking topics (in optional English periods, you can teach any skill, any aspect of English that is necessary for your students as long as it relates to the lesson in textbook you are teaching them) For example, Unit in the textbook has the theme In the life of…….” , so we decide to study the speaking topic Daily activities In particular, my curriculum includes the following subjects (I only teach 17 optional periods for the 1st term We only have English periods each week during the second term) - Topic 1: Daily activities - Topic 2: Family members and their daily routines - Topic 3: Small talks about school, subjects, extra classes - Topic 4: Small talks at home between family members - Topic 5: Background of the person you love most - Topic 6: School violence - Topic 7: How is your ideal teacher? 10 - Topic 8: Giving opinions about the problem “we should or shouldn’t take extra classes” - Topic 9: Uses of household appliances ( fans, cookers, TV, …) - Topic 10: Opinions about advantages and disadvantages of the Internet in your daily life - Topic 11: how Facebook overuse affects your life and your study? - Topic 12: Your knowledge about Ho citadel (our school is near Ho citadel) - Topic 13: Things you should or shouldn’t at tourist destinations - Topic 14: Are children allowed to use telephones at home and at class? - Topic 15: Do you like living in the countryside? - Topic 16 : Describe your village when you were a child and then compare with it at present - Topic 17: Talk about your plan after the first term exam finishes Below is one of my lessons in which I have applied some ways to motivate to my Sts to speak out Daily activities I/ Preparation Time: 45 minutes Objectives: Using the present simple tense to talk about daily routines and different times of a day Structures: "I at (8 o'clock in the morning)", "What time you ?", "When you ?" Target Vocab: morning, afternoon, evening, night, wake up, get up, eat breakfast, eat lunch, eat dinner, go to school, start school, go home, arrive home, watch TV, homework, go to bed Lesson Materials: Flashcards: morning, afternoon, evening, night, wake up, get up, eat breakfast, eat lunch, eat dinner, go to school, start school, go home, arrive home, watch TV, homework, go to bed Supplies: - cardboard boxes - Blue-Tack or tape - a clock with hands that can be moved (either real of a craft clock) - board with markers / chalk II Procedure 11 T’s activities A Pre speaking * Warm up: T divides the class into teams, ask them to think as as many words as possible about their daily actions Then, Sts take turns to speak out their words Team A speak one word, team B continue to speak (they mustn’t repeat the words are mentioned) The team which has more word will be the winner T asks sts the question: Which tense is used for daily routines? T repeats the present simple tense Sts’ activities - Take part in the game Suggested word s : wake up, get up, have breakfast, go to school, take a shower, study for exams, When talking about everyday, habitual activities we use the present simple tense This shows that these are things we on a regular basis The present simple tense for daily routines is formed as follows: Use the present simple form of the verb, e.g "I eat breakfast at o' clock." Use "s" or "es" for 3rd person singular form (he, she, it), e.g "He plays video game after school", "She watches T.V in the evening" For negatives, use the present simple form of the verb "do" as follows: do/does + not + infinitive without to, e.g "I don't homework on Saturdays", "She doesn't drink tea in the morning" For questions, use the present simple form of the verb "do" as follows: do/does + subject + infinitive without to, e.g "Do you play rugby on Tuesdays?", "Does Maria eat lunch at school?" B While speaking: New Learning and Practice: T teaches times of a day Draw the sun high in the sky for "morning" Next, erase the sun and draw the sun high up in the sky and teach/elicit/chorus "afternoon" Then draw the sun low in the sky on the other side of the house for "evening’ And finally a moon and stars for "night" Next erase the moon and starts and invite a student up to the board Say, "Draw afternoon" Help if necessary and have the student draw the sun high in the sky Erase the sun and invite other students to draw the other times of the day - Ss answer: the present simple tense - Listen to the T and take notes if necessary - Listen and as required Play "Times of the day boxes" game 12 T will need to prepare cardboard boxes and print the flashcards for morning, afternoon, evening, night, wake up, get up, eat breakfast, eat lunch, eat dinner, go to school, start school, go home, arrive home, watch TV, homework, go to bed T can also add some other flashcards for daily routines, such as brush teeth, play video games, etc The more flashcards, the better On of the boxes, stick one of the morning, afternoon, evening and night flashcards on the outside of each and place in different corners of the classroom In the remaining box put lots of small objects, e.g balls, bean bags, blocks, etc and place in the middle of the classroom Model the activity: hold up one of the flashcards (e.g - Do as required "get up") - say the word "get up" Then pick up an object from the object box and point to the boxes around the room Ask "Which one?" and then go and drop the object into the morning box Say "morning" as T drops the object into the box Now let's start the game Hold up a flashcard (any from the daily routines set) and shout out the verb (e.g eat dinner) Get everyone to come up together, pick up an object and drop it in the correct box (make sure they say the time of the day word as they drop) Then proceed through all of the flashcards quickly as students rush around the classroom putting objects into the - Take part in the correct boxes It may be the case that some students will need game to visit two boxes for some activities (e.g watch TV could be morning and evening) - this is fine Finally, ask everyone to guess which box has the most objects then count out the objects in each box to see which is the winning time of the day! Create a "Times of the Day" chart on the board Draw a vertical and horizontal line to create equal squares and title each square with "in the morning", "in the afternoon", "in the evening" and "at night" Have Sts copy the chart into their notebooks or onto a sheet of paper - Take part in the game Next, Sts are going to stick the daily routines flashcards onto the board First model: take a random flashcard and show it to the class Elicit the word (e.g "wake up") and stick it into the 13 "in the morning" section of your board Write "I wake up" next to it Have your students write "I wake up" into the corresponding square on their charts Then have different students come up to T and select a card (hold face down, fanned out, like a card trick) Have them stick the cards onto the board in the right section For more advanced students you can help them write each sentence, otherwise the teacher can write the sentences next to the cards Each time, have students copy onto their charts Continue until all of the cards are on the board with sentences, for example: My name is Mary I always wake up at o’clock in the morning then I take a shower and put my clothes on I have my breakfast and then I get the car out of the garage I arrived to hisghchool at - Take part in the game At 11 o’clock I finish teaching classes then so I often take my lunch break and talk with my friends At around 12 noon I continue teaching classes until 4: 20 then I drive home When I get home, I usually watch some TV and chat with my family At o’clock I read a book and go to sleep T asks Sts to speak out these sentences after they finish the task Play the "Daily Routines Memory Game" Erase the chart from the board and take off the flashcards Put students in pairs and get them to swap charts Students are going to test each other on the times they things Make sure T models with students first: Student A: selects a sentence on Student B's worksheet (e.g I homework at o'clock) S/He does the action of doing - Work in pairs homework (e.g writing in an imaginary notebook) Student B: must guess the action and say the exact sentence on their chart (e.g "I homework at o'clock in the evening") Then it is Student B's turn to select a sentence and the action Pairs keep going until they have done all of the 14 sentences on their charts Make sure students don't allow their partners to get away with mistakes - if they get the time wrong, make them guess again! Do the "What time you ? (Survey)" exercise Give each student the survey worksheet and explain that they are going to ask people in the class (or less, depending on class size) about their daily routines on school days Before starting, go through the survey sheet with everyone and make sure they write an additional activity on the last row Then model with a student, showing writing their name at the top of the column and asking and answering questions using the following structure: Student A: What time you (wake up)? Student B: I (wake up) at (7 o'clock) (in the morning) Have students stand up and mingle, filling in their surveys - Move round in the class and interview classmates Daily Routines Theater Now let's a fun activity - students will make a short theater play! Pair up students but make sure each pair has surveyed the other in the previous activity They are going to use their survey sheets to make a short play For each pair, one student will act out their day whilst the other - Work in pair is the narrator (using the survey to make the narration) Give each pair minutes to practice before coming up to the front of the class and acting out their daily routines, for example: Ken (narrating): Hello, my name is Erika! Erika: (waves to audience) Ken: I wake up at o'clock in the morning Erika: (Pretends to sleep, wake up, stretch and yawn, etc.) Ken: I eat breakfast at 7:30 in the morning Erika: (Pretends to eat cereal, drink juice, etc.) etc T encourages sts to make their plays funny and also allow them to add extra parts (e.g play video games, read a book, ride a bike, etc.) At the end, get everyone to vote for their favorite play Wrap Up: Wrap up the lesson 15 Talk about one of their friend’s daily routines - Do the task 2.6 Results This year, I taught 10A, 10A2, 10A9 in 10th grade All of these classes couldn’t well in speaking skill (Although students from A1, A2 are excellent at grammar) After I applied some methods to motivate them to speak in optional English periods, I asked my sts to an oral English test The result is satisfactory Class Time Exellent sts Quite good Average Bad sts sts sts st 10A1 The beginning of the1 term 1% `22 % 68 % % 10A1 The end of the1st term 2% 25 % 68 % % st 10A2 The beginning of the term 0% `17 % 73 % 10 % 10A2 The end of the1st term 1% 24 % 69 % % 10A9 The beginning of the 1st term 0% `1 % 61 % 38 % 10A9 The end of the1st term 0% 8% 62 % 30 % Excellent : 9-10 points Quite good: 7-8,9 points Average: 5-6,9 points Bad: < points III CONCLUSION Limitations of the study Being one of English teachers of at YD2SS, I can see clearly the current situation of learning English speaking skill here Therefore, I have conducted this with a view to finding out obstacles encountered by the 10th form students However, to improve the situation is not easy and it needs a lot of time and T’s patience As I mention in this study, only some basic and simple ways are found out to motivate Sts to speak Although I have tried best to offer some insightful findings through the study; however, the limitations are unavoidable I only have taught for several year so that I not have much experience Besides, as I mention in this study, only some basic and simple ways are found out to motivate Sts to speak I would like to receive ideas from my colleges Suggestions for further research On the basis of the findings and the limitations of the study, several suggestions for further research are made 16 Because speaking skill involves a lot of pronunciation aspects, many other researches should be carried out such as common mistakes in pronunciation, outdoor activities to motivate students to speak English or activities outside classroom to help students speak English confidently XÁC NHẬN CỦA THỦ TRƯỞNG Thanh Hóa, ngày 20 tháng năm 2019 ĐƠN VỊ Tơi xin cam đoan SKKN viết, không chép nội dung người khác Lê Thị Sáu REFERENCE Alderson, J C., Krahnke, K J & Standfield, C W (Eds.) (1987).Reviews of English language proficiency tests Washington, DC: TESOL Allan, D (1992) Oxford Placement Test Oxford: Oxford University Press Barnes, R (1992) Successful study for degrees London: Routledge Biber, D (2006) University language: A corpus-based study of spoken and written registers Amsterdam: John Benjamins.(1999).Longman grammar of spoken and written English Harlow: Longman Collins COBUILD (1996) Grammar patterns 1: Verbs London: HarperCollins Comfort, J (1995) Effective presentations Oxford: Oxford University Press 17 Hetrakul, Kavin 1995 The Second Language http://eserver.org/courses/spring95/76-100g/KavinHetrakul.html (Accessed on October 28, 2005) Littlewood, W (1984).Foreign and second language learning.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press 9.https://dianingpadmi.wordpress.com/eedduuccaattiioonn/students %E2%80%99-difficulties-in-speaking-english-and-how-to-solve-it/ 10 https://www.eslkidstuff.com/lesson-plans/daily-routines-times-of-theday.html 11 http://eslarticle.com/pub/english-as-a-second-language-esl/139477-TheImportance-of-Speaking-in-Second-Language-Acquisition.html 12 https://www.kids-pages.com/flashcards.htm 13 https://www.pinterest.com/pin/216172850841108800/?lp=true APPENDICES Flash card: 18 Time of day 19 20 21 22 Daily activities 23 ... English or activities outside classroom to help students speak English confidently XÁC NHẬN CỦA THỦ TRƯỞNG Thanh Hóa, ngày 20 tháng năm 2019 ĐƠN VỊ Tôi xin cam đoan SKKN viết, khơng chép nội dung... the study 2.2.1 The setting of the study The study was conducted at YD2SS in Yen Dinh district, Thanh Hoa province Here, English is taught in classrooms with five parts: Listening, Speaking, Reading,