An application of project based learning to develop the grade 10, 11 students’ speaking skills

Questionnaires for teachers The survey to the teachers with nine questions was designed with two parts: Part 1 was the demographic information which contains the teacher’s gender, age,

A INTRODUCTION

I Reasons for choosing the topic

English has become more and more important nowadays Owing to this point, teaching English faces the challenge of finding out the effective methods to satisfy study and communication

One of the most updated types of approaches is Project - Based which seems

to satisfy at least three requirements of teaching language It promotes the eventual uses of the target language by emphasizing the real-world projects And the project derived from the analysis of the learners’ needs increases learners’ interest and motivation, (Brophy, 2004, as cited in Tsiplakides, 2009) Moreover, its result comes from the learners’ experience during their performance of the projects

II Research purpose and objectives

This study is carried out to meet the following aims:

1 To experiment the applicability of project- based learning in developing grade 10,11 students’ speaking skills

2 To measure the impact of project- based learning on grade 10, 11 students’ speaking skills

III Research questions

1 To what extent does project- based learning help grade 10, 11 students to develop their speaking skill?

2 How applicable is project- based learning in the high school context?

3 What adaptations are needed to make project- based learning more practical in the high school context?

IV Research Methodology

This section presents the research design as well as research method, data collection and data analysis The research context with an overview of Kim Lien high school, the syllabus, the current teaching and learning situation are mentioned The research approach and method of data analysis are presented later

on to provide how to deal with the research questions and reach the solutions

1 An overview of the research site

Now I am a teacher of English in a local high school where the average level

of English of students lies in the low standard and the facilities of both teaching and learning are under a lot of difficulties That is an obstacle for the teachers to adapt this approach to teaching The students do not have enough necessary

knowledge to perform their projects as well as the other facilities such as time, the conditions of learning and the cost of living

2 Research design

Questionnaires were administered to collect the data about the students’ preferred techniques and methods and teachers’ opinions of the situation These data were used as the basis for proposing effective techniques and activities for teaching speaking to the students at the school

3 Research method

To carry out the study, quantitative and qualitative methods were mainly used The data collected for the study come from two sources: the grade10,11 students and the teachers of English from Kim Lien high school

The quantitative method with survey questionnaires, two for students (pre- and post-questionnaire) and one for the teachers, were used to gather information and evidence for the study In addition, to make the data collected more reliable and authentic, the qualitative method was applied with class observation All the comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusion provided in the study were based on the data analysis of the study

4 Participants

The participants in the survey questionnaires were 120 students of 3 classes which were selected randomly from the classes of grade 10 ,11from Kim Lien high school and 5 teachers were selected to get the objective data.These teachers have had many years of teaching All the participants took part in the survey by responding to the three kinds of questionnaires, two for the students and one for the teachers

5 Data collection instruments

Questionnaires and class observation as the main tools for collecting information are used

Part 2 was designed to elicit the students’ opinions of their motivation and attitude in learning speaking English

Part 3 collected some information relating to factors affecting their working time in English speaking class

5.1.1.2 Post-task questionnaire

The post-task questionnaire consists of 9 questions which are divided into 3 parts:

Part 1 was about the students’ personal information

Part 2 was about the students’ motivation changes after applying new project- based learning in speaking English

Part 3 was aimed at collecting information about teachers’ applying activities in teaching speaking English and the changes in students’ learning

5.1.2 Questionnaires for teachers

The survey to the teachers with nine questions was designed with two parts: Part 1 was the demographic information which contains the teacher’s gender, age, and the number of years they have been teaching English

Part 2 was about what problems teachers are often faced with in teaching speaking English, what they had done to increase the students’ motivation in English speaking classroom, their beliefs in using project - based learning in teaching English speaking

5.2 Class observation

The researcher carried out the classroom by visiting 3 classes and recording all activities taking place in each class: the teacher’s questions and explanations, the students’ presentation, the presentation of the teachers in the class The observation checklists for communicative groups were made and after the class, the elements in the checklist were given assessment The checklist includes six criteria:

6 Data collection procedures

First, the questionnaire for teachers was conducted to gather the information about teachers’ attitudes towards students’ motivation in speaking English; difficulties that the teachers have to face in teaching speaking; and techniques used by the teachers in the English speaking classroom

And then the pre-task questionnaire was delivered to the students in the classes where only a few teaching techniques are taken to measure the students’ input motivation After collecting information from the students’ pre-task questionnaire and the teachers’ questionnaire, the teachers would be suggested to teach the students for a certain period of time with applying chosen project- based approach, and then post-task questionnaire was given to students’ to gather information about the students’ motivation changes, students’ attitudes towards the activities and PBL applied by both the students and the teachers

7 Summary

This section has presented the research site whose notable contextual feature

is that learning English is compulsory and students tend to put their focus on grammar and vocabulary Besides the subjects of the study and the data collection, methods have also been discussed

B CONTENTS I/ SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS

In this assignment, I have reviewed the definition of project and project- based learning I also have had a close look at the characteristics of project-based learning Besides, the advantages and disadvantages of project-based learning are also analyzed The project-based learning is relevant to my English teaching since

it helps prepare students for the way how to solve the problems they will do in the future, “students learn by doing, not just by listening to the teacher.”(Kolb, 2009 cited in Tsiplakides, 2002).That is also the basis and the purpose of learning

English

1 Promoting the students internal factors

The main reason for the majority of the students to learn English speaking was that they could pass the final exam Studying speaking English for the future job was what many students were concerned Some other students expressed their wishes to study abroad, but this number was not too high A necessity for communicating with English speaking people was not regarded as their main reason However, the lowest percentage of them stated that they learnt speaking English for their interest or enjoyment Therefore, it was undeniable that the major kind of motivation for the students to learn English speaking is instrumental not integrative Thus, they are more extrinsically than intrinsically motivated Nonetheless, many of the students have the combination of the two types, instrumental and integrative In general, students who possessed extrinsic motivation often felt unwilling and forced to learn English while students with instrumental and integrative orientation were quite eager to learn English Therefore, in order to help students increase their motivation in learning English speaking, the teachers should know their students’ interest and expectation in learning English Teachers should investigate what students want to see that whether their teaching methods and knowledge they applied are suitable for the students or not Secondly, most of the students learn English because it is a compulsory skill at school, therefore the teachers had better maintain the extrinsic and instrumental motivation and enhance the intrinsic one For the extrinsically motivated students, teachers should give them more tasks; require them to do more exercises in order that they can get good results in their test and examination Besides, teachers can enhance their intrinsic motivation by inserting English culture and custom in speaking lessons; arouse their love for English by conducting the lesson projects following the topics that they enjoy For intrinsically motivated students, teachers can motivate them by varying activities, tasks and materials to increase their interest level Providing them with reference materials and some websites in English on the Internet is a good way to encourage

their love for English One more thing is that self-confidence determines the amount of effort and time the students will spend and the persistence they will display in the process of learning, so it is important for the teachers to increase the students’ self-confidence in learning English speaking Teachers should make students believe that speaking English competence is changeable and controllable

as long as they exert enough effort in learning

2 Varying speaking activities

The teachers should stimulate the students to speak English by providing them with a variety of ways to present Firstly, pair work and group work in PBL are thought to be very useful in speaking lessons Using pair work and group work helps teachers reduce boredom and tiredness among students In the large classes, establishing routines of pair work and group work activities will make the teachers easily control and motivate the students Each student has an opportunity to take part in the PBL lesson and their mistakes can be corrected by other group members

or partners In multi level classes, when working in groups or pairs students can share ideas and structures with others Besides, the teachers can help some students get out of silence in class by assigning roles to help them choose their management responsibilities when they work in groups Assigning different roles to all of the students in groups can help the teachers encourage the quieter students and provide all the students opportunities for balanced interaction and taking turns

Secondly, making full use of computer aids is what the teachers should concern Computers help students overcome the difficulties to finish their projects The teachers can use computers connected to the internet in any stage of the lesson; however, it is thought that computers bring the most beneficial if it is used

in PBL Visual aids such as music, pictures, and maps are believed to create enjoyable and motivating learning atmosphere when the students are taught with PBL Also, other activities such as discussions, interviews, and picture description should be introduced to the students so that they can perform their presentation in front of the class in an attractive way

3 Combining the textbook with relevant materials

Textbook is considered suitable, reasonable and authentic in the content and up-dated in information and added materials for teaching and learning are necessary The teachers should deliver handouts or some photocopied papers besides the textbook to help the students have more sources of information The teachers can also ask the students to find out the information related to the lesson through other sources such as newspapers, the Internet

4 Setting up co-operative atmosphere in class

A tense class atmosphere arouses the students’ anxiety that hinders the students’ motivation and effectiveness in learning speaking English while a co-operative classroom atmosphere facilitates the students to express their opinions

and make the students no longer feel embarrassed when they make mistakes Teachers, thus, should build a warm environment in which teachers can have a close relationship with the students

5 Being enthusiastic, tolerant, helpful, creative and active

Teachers’ characteristics are decisive factors to help increase motivation It

is teachers’ helpfulness; friendliness and enthusiasm that cause students to grow fond of learning Besides, teacher’s tolerance also makes students feel warm in their heart, which help reduce stress Moreover, teacher’s creativeness and activeness is one factor that can help the students succeed in the speaking project Creative and active teachers always have vivid and impressive knowledge that aids

all students in speaking lessons

6 Aware of and satisfy students’ interest and desires

Although the teachers had made a great effort to create the students’ motivation, many students were de-motivated to speak because of differences between the teaching methods and students’ expectations Thus, an investigation of students’ interest and expectations should be carried out at the beginning of the term to see if their teaching methods and attitude are preferable to their students or not This serves as the basis for the teachers to select interesting, especially suitable teaching methods for their students

7 Helping the students improve their knowledge of grammar and enrich their vocabulary

From the findings we know that the majority of the students found it hard to carry on their speaking tasks because of their poor vocabulary and structures Thus, the teachers should create a competitive atmosphere for the students to memorize new words and structures in a logical way A careful and regular check on them should be conducted in a variety of ways such as in both oral and written forms, through games and puzzles Equally important, added and extra materials are sometimes beneficial In addition to the exercises in the textbooks, the teachers should provide students with photocopied papers to practise and check vocabulary and grammar, which arouses their interest and excitement

8 Recognizing the potential value of available facilities of the school and the Internet

Most teachers and students are facing the poor facilities in both teaching and learning The lessons taught with PBL without assistance from facilities sometimes lead to boringness Because of this, teachers and students should take full advantage of the available facilities of the school and overcome obstacles and difficulties with speaking in poor facility environment For example, through a cassette player, students can express their ideas with some songs or pieces of news

or through a projector, teachers and students can make the lesson more interesting and attractive with lively pictures and video clips in their presentation Because the

school does not have language labs and cannot provide students with the Internet

at the school library, teachers can help the students with guiding them how to use the Internet in their free time and provide them with useful Website addresses for their study First, teachers let students find interesting authentic materials on the Internet, in the form of news, weather reports, songs in English, sport reports and

so on These texts consist of varied grammatical structures and wide-ranging vocabulary which students can read or hear in the context Teachers, then, can check up again by giving students tasks based on finding particular information on the Internet Besides, there are now many Websites that teach students speaking and especially pronunciation

II/ THEORETICAL BACKGROUND:

* Approaches to language teaching

Language teaching has a long, fascinating but rather tortuous history, in which a debate on teaching methods has evolved particularly over the last hundred years The names of many of the methods (Grammar-translation Method, Direct Method, Audio-lingual Method, Communicative Teaching Method, etc) are familiar enough, yet the methods are not easy to grasp in practice because a method, however ill-defined it may be, is more than a single strategy or a particular technique As a part of language teaching theories, these methods are derived partly from social, economic, political, or educational circumstances, partly from theoretical consideration (new changes in language theories and in new psychological perspective on language learning), partly from practical experience, intuition, and inventiveness Therefore, to some extent, they represent a combination of language teaching beliefs, but it is evident that they are characterized by the over-emphasis on single aspects as the central issue of language teaching and learning

PBL refers to an approach based on conducting a project as the core unit of planning and instruction in language teaching, (Bullent Alan & Fredricka L.Stoller,

2005, p11) And it provides a structured framework for both instruction and assessment Students are more likely to develop intrinsic motivation in a Project-Based approach and it enables teachers to see if students are developing the ability

to communicate in language learning

Since the students from high schools hope to be able to speak and deal with the real situations in their life in English relating to their interests of drawing,

watching videos, listening to songs It is believed that a Project - Based Learning

in each unit is the most appropriate for these students than other types As a result, only the Project - Based Learning is discussed in detail in the following section

1 What is Project-Based Learning?

It should be noted that most good studies starting by defining their terms and a study on “Project-Based Learning” seem to require a definition of “Project”

as a priority

Many definitions of project have been offered in the literature by the researchers from different research perspectives The concept has been associated with real world activities, focusing on meaning and form, coming to the comprehensive definitions In the following, the definitions are selected to indicate the changes in people’s conception about projects or project-based language teaching

Bruner (1973) noted that the basic ideas of project-based learning are based

on various socio-constructivist schools of thoughts and other modern instructional theories Thomas, Mergendoller, and Michaelson (1999) assumed that project-based learning was considered a set of pedagogies through social activities

A project goes beyond language, researching "the complex variables that constitute an online learning, playing, and socially conscious experience" according to a broadside of the Center for Research on Learning & Technology

As stated by David (2008, as cited in Tsiplakides (2009), the Project -Based learning is a process in which the students integrated language and other articulated skills in specific settings of language use beyond the subjects in classrooms While these definitions vary somewhat, they all emphasize the fact that projects involve communicative language use in which the user's attention is focused on the learner’s experiences through performing the project rather than gaining knowledge in a passive way according to the traditional school methods

To have an overall of the above definition, project-based learning is a process in which the students’ knowledge and understandings through learning activities require a high level of involvement with meaningful activities

2 Characteristics of Project-Based Learning

A project - based lesson is based on project-based learning, an approach where learners carry out project such as solving a problem or planning an activity The language learnt comes out of the linguistic demands of the activity Kolb (Kolb, 1984, cited in Tsiplakides, 2009) provided that a project - based lesson is structured around the need that arises during the performance of a given project In the classroom, various elements of the project -based approach are applicable to activities in other methodologies For example, learners can see a model of the activity they are to do first, prepare a report on how they complete a project, and the teacher can record this report and analyze it for further work The followings

are the characteristics of project- based lesson that are emphasized by Tsiplakides (2009)

1 Project-based learning is potentially powerful and widely applicable

2 Suitable for learners of all ages and backgrounds

3 Addressing the crucial problem-directly by using active and real project as learning activities

4 Ability to perform the instructional project is equivalent to the ability to use the language, so a functional ability should be a natural outcome of the instructional experience

5 Project-based learning can be very effective when the learners are engaged in relatively similar out-of-class activities (social or academic)

6 Project-based learning can be especially useful for learners who are not accustomed to a more traditional type of classroom learning or who need to learn cognitive, cultural, and life skills along with the language

3 Learning philosophy underlying project-based learning

Project-based learning gives the students opportunities to work independently and realistically to have products These activities enable the students to explore and develop their ability by themselves in a certain context When a student experiences a problem in a real context, they tend to recognize the value that they have overcome Thus, the students develop their life skills in society as independent workers, critical thinkers, and lifelong learners Moreover, they learn the way how to solve the problems

Project-based learning, therefore, helps the students form the basic skills of working cooperatively with other people

4 Project-based learning in foreign language education

Learning a language requires a student to communicate with the other people using the same language Thus, they take part in various real situations such

as designing investigations, making explanations, modeling, and presenting their ideas to others when they conduct a project One of the benefits of project-based learning is that students can more easily see the value and the meaning of the tasks and activities they perform

Either way, it’s hard for them to see the meaning in what they’re doing But when they are involved in a investigation designed to answer a question that is important to them because they have a chance to practise language naturally, they can see how a language can be spoken to solve important problems Clearly, Project-Based learning can meet this need when it is applied to a speaking lesson (Krajcik, 1998)

5 How is a project-based lesson designed?

As mentioned in Tsiplakides (2009) cited Kriwas (1999) as finding that conducting projects is involved in many activities following the stages that have been raised in his literature If a project is conveyed in organism and a structuralism, it must be easy to conduct For this reason, the teacher should practise the stages as a guide to plan a better lesson plan following the project-based approach:

1 Stage 1: Speculation (Choosing the topic and sensation about it)

2 Stage 2: Designing the project activities (formatting of groups, assignment

of roles, methodology, sources of information, activities)

3 Stage 3: Conducting the project activities (performing the group’s activities relating to cooperation If necessary, the teacher’s or the others’ assistance will be provided)

4 Stage 4: Evaluation (assessing the activities from the students includes the teacher’s evaluation and the student’s self-evaluation)

6 Applying techniques and activities of PBA

Some techniques for developing speaking skill:

Encouraging students to work in pairs, groups and work individually

Combining textbooks with relevant materials

Giving feedback regularly by marking and giving comments on students’ speaking

Creating co-operative atmosphere

Varying communicative activities

Encouraging the students to speak by suggested questions

III/ PRACTICAL BACKGROUND

Following is the treatment of all data collected from the survey questionnaires from 120 students and 5 teachers of English at Kim Lien high school The analysis of the data is presented in four parts: The first and the second parts are the results of the pre-treatment and post-treatment questionnaire for students The third is from the questionnaire for teachers Along with the information via survey questionnaires and information gained through some small talks , class observations were added to these main parts to assist the results

3.1 Results from students’ pre-task questionnaire

3.1.1 Students’ motivation and opinions of learning to speak English

Question 1: Could you give me the reason why you want to learn to speak English?

Table 3.1: Types of motivation

It is a compulsory skill in learning English at high

You think it is necessary for your future job 105/120 87,5%

Table 3.1 reveals that English is necessary for the students’ future jobs and the main reason for students’ studying English speaking The highest percentage (87,5%) of the students wanted to learn English because they thought that they would need it to find a job and it would help them much in their future jobs To communicate with foreigners was also the thing that most students (75%) are concerned About 53,3% of the respondents answered that it is a compulsory skill

in learning English at high school The others (35,8%) wanted to learn English because they would like to know more about the world Clearly, most of the students knew the role of English in modern life when foreign language was considered the main means of communication and work in most of the countries in the world The lowest percentage of the students affirmed they wanted to study abroad in the future though so far they had not known whether they could achieve their wishes or not; and that was the reason they tried to learn English

Question 2: How necessary is speaking skill to you?

Figure 3.1: Students’ perceived necessity of English

15

As can be seen from Figure 3.1, the highest percentage of the respondents (35%) considered speaking skill very necessary to them while 27% stated it was rather necessary 21% of the respondents mentioned speaking as normal In general, the necessity of English speaking was highly evaluated by a majority of the students Most of them were aware of the necessity of English in their study 12% of the students thought English speaking skill was a little necessary and the rest of 5% considered English speaking not necessary at all It was, thus, the teacher’s role to find ways to stimulate the students to take part in the learning in the class

Question 3: How much are you fascinated in learning to speak English?

Figure 3.2 reveals that the majority of the students (26%) were quite fascinated in learning speaking 30 out of 120 students (25%) answered that their fascination was normal This figure was a little higher than those with the high one (20%) For them, they learnt English because of the pressure from outside such as requirement of the teachers and parents, the need for the exam not because of their willingness 18% of the students was very fascinated The lowest percentage

of the respondents (11%) affirmed their fascination was very low They were the students who had no passion in learning to speak English

Figure 3.2: Students’ interest in learning English

Question 4: How often do you speak English in English class time?

The frequency of speaking English in class time also shows how much effort students wanted to master it Figure 3.3 represents that only 17% of the respondents spoke English willingly, only 22 out of 120 students were always willing to speak English and 11% of the participants said that they usually spoke English in class; whereas 33% rarely spoke it and 9% never spoke English in class except for the teacher’s requests Also, 30% of the students affirmed they liked speaking but sometimes, they were not accustomed to speaking in class because of their shyness or worry about making mistakes In some small talks , some students stated that they wanted to speak English in class because it was the class time that they could train themselves and expressed their opinions in English Except that,

no environment was available for them In general, the time to speak English in class was unequal among the students Therefore, what the teachers should do was

very fascinated 18%

rather fascinated 20%

normal 25%

little 26%

not at all 11%

always 17%

usually 11%

rarely 34%

never 8%

how to use suitable methods to stimulate learners’ interest, how to create a communicative environment for the students to participate in speaking lesson

Figure 3.3: Students’ frequency of speaking English in class time 3.1.2 Factors making students unwilling to speak English in class

Question 5: What factors make you unwilling to speak in class?

Table 3.2: Factors making students unwilling to speak English in class

Limitation of communicative environment 58 48,3%

There are learners’ factors, teachers’ factors, teaching, and learning conditions that make learners unwilling to speak Here I only mention two factors: learners’ factors and teachers’ factors For students in the survey, the most influential factor was the lack of vocabulary and structures 84 out of 120 students (70%) blamed their fear of speaking for lack of vocabulary and structures In the small talk with the researcher, some of the students stated: “I like speaking English But I can’t find words and structures to express my ideas” Another complained: “My English is not very good That is why I am not willing to speak

in class” The second factor was being afraid of losing faces 57,5% of the respondents affirmed that they wanted to speak in class, but they were always afraid of making mistakes and losing faces The next one (55,8%) was boring teaching ways In fact, some of the teaching ways applied by the teachers at high schools were thought to be too boring and less interesting to the students In this case, the role of the teachers is to modify and bring to the class some other more interesting teaching methods and help bring inspiration to the students These students stated that teacher’s clear instruction, logical teaching steps as well as

always 17%

usually 11%

sometimes 30%

rarely 33%

never 9%

teacher’s good behaviors with sense of humor; enthusiasm or tolerance in each lesson would encourage them to speak more Moreover, some students claimed teacher’s bad pronunciation and poor background knowledge decreased their desire

of speaking English Others put the blame on teacher’s behavior and attitude that decided whether they were willing to speak or not In addition, unfamiliar topics were an important factor 54,2% of the students showed that unfamiliar topics in the text book made it impossible for them to feel interested in taking part in the speaking lessons The smaller number of the students (48,3%) mentioned had the limitation of communicative environment in the class rooms Clearly, students sometimes did not speak up in class not because they lacked new vocabulary, expressions and structures but they had the habit of preferring listening to speaking Some others thought they had better master the grammatical rules, remember as many structures as possible and have richer vocabulary Therefore, they could do well in the exam and get good marks

In short, there are a variety of factors that the students had to face These factors came from students as well as teachers In order to be better in English speaking activities in class, the changes need to be done between both teachers and students Teachers change teaching methods and students change the way they learn

3.1.3 Factors increasing students’ motivation in speaking English

Question 6: Which of the following factors stimulates you in speaking English in the classroom?

Table 3.3: Factors stimulating students to speak English

Opportunity for all students to speak out 37/120 30,8

Interesting topics in the textbook 59/120 49,2

It was interesting that the most influential factors in the students’ motivation were the teachers’ teaching methods, which occupied 50,8% of the respondents The keys to a successful speaking lesson were that all students participated in the activities of the lesson; they could give their ideas to discuss with their classmates, ask and answer their own questions with the help from the teacher and better students Teachers, as the guide , should avoid adopting a teacher-centered authoritarian posture She/he should keep asking questions, having students enthusiastically find out the answers and take part in the task completion Ranking

second was interesting topics in the textbook that held 49,2% of the respondents’ ideas If the teachers appointed the students to talk about a boring topic, it would lead to boredom among students Teachers, therefore, should select interesting topics in the textbook according to how well they engage the students in meaningful and effective lessons rather than in the reluctant speaking practice Interesting topics could be chosen based on not only the textbook but also the students’ interest Next, 39,2% perceived that various speaking activities highly affected their motivation and related to the inside and outside activities of the class such as pair work, group work, games, interviews, role play and so on Equally important, a good-natured classroom also highly motivated students (38,3%).The class in which classmates helped each other; both weaker and better students shared ideas, vocabulary and structures; both teacher and students together discussed and solved the problems was the best environment for the students to practise speaking

The opportunity for all students to speak out was the influential factor, too The teacher could use new teaching methods to create an environment for all students to feel comfortable and self- confident to speak out their opinions Students were willing to discuss and express their ideas with classmates and their teacher

3.1.4 Activities used by teachers and students’ preference

Question 7: What do you think the teachers should do to motivate you to take part in speaking activities?

Table 3.4: What teachers do to motivate students to take part

in speaking activities Teachers’ techniques Students Percentage (%)

Be enthusiastic, friendly and helpful 54/120 45

Encourage you with nice compliments and a

students with nice compliments and a good feedback Teachers’ comments and feedback in class were paid much attention from the students In general, most students hoped the teachers should be more flexible, tolerant, sensitive to make students confident in speaking lessons 46,7% students liked the teacher to give interesting topics, games and activities in speaking skill Games and various activities could help students reduce stress, feel funny and become more active in learning In some small talks with some of the students; one student said: “In fact,

we are often pressured in speaking lesson I think communicative games can help They help us reduce stress and make it easy to speak out” Teachers’ clear instructions were quite important 46,7% of them complained about teachers’ complicated questions; lengthy instructions and unsatisfactory explanations could confuse and sometimes made it impossible for them to understand the lesson 45% were concerned with how teachers were in the class The teachers should be enthusiastic, friendly and helpful

In conclusion, what the students wanted the teachers to do for them was to create a communicative environment, guide them clearly, behave in a friendly and helpful way, give nice compliments on their speaking and a useful feedback

Question 8: Which activities do you enjoy in speaking lessons?

Table 3.5: Activities applied by the teachers and students’ preference

Visual aids (picture, map,

music, handouts, computers) 53/120 44,2 86/120 71,6

As can be seen from the table 3.5, the activities preferred by most students were pair work and group work and problem solving (76,7%), and Visual aids (pictures, maps, music, handouts, computers) (71,6%); Interviews (60%) The explanation for these could be that such activities were easy to prepare, speak up, and participated by many students and good ways for students to speak correctly based on structures Also, from table 5, most students (76,7%, 71,6%, and 60%

respectively) stated that their teachers also often provided them with these activities

in speaking lessons Next, picture descriptions were enjoyed by many students (54,2% respectively) They said that these kinds of activities were not difficult to prepare, reasonable for their English proficiency level, quite interesting and provided them with opportunities to express their own opinion Nevertheless, 50% claimed picture description was often given to them Role-play was sometimes preferred by the teachers (41,7% respectively) In fact, this activity could provide the students with good chances to express their own ideas, make them more self- confident and require them to think deeply Yet these activities were rarely enjoyed

by the students (29,1%) because most of them lacked vocabulary of English and social knowledge Moreover, the students also blamed for their low English proficiency that made it impossible for them to feel self-confident enough to take part in these activities Games were enjoyed by the students (40%) Students answered that they really enjoyed games in speaking lessons because taking part in games helped them reduce stress and motivate them to get involved in the tasks However, 48,3% of the students claimed their teachers used games in speaking lessons The reasons why teachers rarely used games in speaking lessons were that games needed much time and were not beneficial In fact, when being asked about games in speaking lessons, most of the students in some small talks supposed that games strongly attracted their intension, involvement, interest and motivation in learning, however, games makes the lesson less focused by the students

In short, there were some speaking activities that were preferred by most teachers and students such as question and answer exchange, interviews, picture description.However, there was a quite big gap between the ways the teachers had done to motivate the students and how the students enjoyed as mentioned above Teachers, thus, should realize and analyze students’ needs in order to guide and teach them in the suitable way

Question 9: How do you enjoy these following activities?

(On each row tick a, b, c, d or e for your choice)

Table 3.6: Activities enjoyed most by students

enjoy Students % Students % Students % Students % Students %

Individual

work 8/120 6,7 9/120 7,5 5/120 4,2 92/120 76,7 6/120 5 Pair work 18/120 15 84/120 70 7/120 5,8 11/120 9,2 0/120 0 Group

work 57/120 47,5 54/120 45 6/120 5 3/120 2,5 0/120 0

The table 3.6 shows that group work was preferred by most students 92,5% of the students enjoyed working in groups 47,5% of them felt really fond of doing this, and 45% said that they enjoyed group work activities in speaking lessons While only 5% did not care and 2,5% were not fond of this activity The main reason for this could be that group work could promote learners’ responsibility and self-governing, it also had relationship with learner psychological factors such as lessening learners’ anxiety, laziness and unfamiliarity with communicative lessons Ranking the second was pair work, which was preferred by 85% of the students, of which 15% really enjoyed it 5,8% and 9,2% were figures that showed the numbers of students did not care or enjoy the activity, a little higher than those of group work Pair work was considered the simplest form of group work because it included two people working together Pair work was suitable for the students when they took part in question and answer exchange activity, role-play… When students work in pairs, they seem to reduce anxiety and reluctance in speaking However, sharing ideas with other classmates could be limited The least favorable activity for those students was individual work Only 6,7% of the students showed their high interest in working individually 7,5% felt enjoyable, while 76,7% of them did not enjoy and 5% really don’t enjoy it As from what the researcher observed in class observations, it seemed that only good students enjoyed working individually because they could talk more and discuss more with the teachers In fact, individual work sometimes led to boredom or even tiredness among students, thus it decreased motivation For speaking lessons, not only teachers but also students enjoyed pair work and group work Some students, for instance, in the small talk stated that: “I enjoy working in groups because

my group members and I can share ideas and help to find structures” Or “Yes, of course Pair work and group work are suitable and useful We can help each other correct mistakes and share ideas.”

3.2 Results from students’ post-task questionnaire

3.2.1 The changes of students’ motivation and attitude towards English speaking skill

Question 1: Could you give me the reason why you want to learn to speak English?

Table 3.7: The changes of students’ motivation Reasons

Students Percentage (%)

Pre-task Post-task Pre-task Post-task

It is a compulsory skill in learning

You think it is necessary for your

To know more about the world 43 55 35,8 45,8

To communicate with foreigners 90 101 75 84,2

The majority of the students still confirmed that they learnt English speaking because it was necessary for their future job and there was also an increase in the number of students who wanted to communicate with foreigners (84,2% respectively) because of its necessity for their future job The number of the respondents who were quite interested in knowing more about the world increased from 35,8% to 45,8% They felt like learning English speaking because of their interest in exploring the world The students who wanted to learn to speak English for studying abroad considerably increased with 33,3% This shows that the motivation of the students has changed in a positive trend after the treatment

Question 2: How necessary is speaking skill to you?

After the treatment, the motivation of the students in speaking skill was increased to some extent The number of students considering speaking very necessary increased from 35% to 40% while the number of students who thought

of speaking as normal reduced to 16% All of the students confirmed the crucial role of speaking to their present study at high school as well as to their future jobs

Question 3: How much are you fascinated by learning to speak English?

There was no doubt that students’ fascination in learning English speaking was changed considerably They were highly motivated in taking part in speaking activities in class The number of students with very high fascination went up from 18% to 30% Contrary to this, the number of the respondents with no passion was down to 6%, a decrease of 5% The students with quite high fascination were of 20% up to 32%, and from 26% down to 17% were of the students who had little fascination The researcher’ observation pointed out that students’ passion in English speaking had been changed Most of the students were more eager to speak

Question 4: How often do you speak English in English class time?

It was clear that the frequency of the participation in speaking English in class was changed much because of the increase in students’ interest The students who were always willing to speak increased from 20 to 38 people, an increase of 19% (from 17% to 32%) The students who never spoke except when being asked

by teachers at that time reduced to 6% while the students who usually spoke increased from 11% to 25% The changes also happened to the number of students who sometimes rarely spoke in class with a decrease of 12% (from 33% down to 21%) The rest ones (45%) were of the students who sometimes took part in the tasks They seemed to be more frequent in speaking English They became the students who were of quite high interest and more willing to speak English

Question 5: What factors make you unwilling to speak in class?

Table 3.8: The changes of the factors making students unwilling to speak

Lack of vocabulary and

As we know there are many factors that affect students’ motivation in speaking English Factually, both teachers and students did their best to solve the problems They made much of their effort to co-operate with one another in English speaking class A new method with various techniques and activities were applied by the teachers in order to make the students more motivated and active in English speaking class But there was still one thing we could not deny that how hard teachers and students tried, there were still students unable to join in conducting the project lesson However, the figures shown in table 8 reveal that the number of reluctant speakers dramatically reduced after the treatment Before the treatment, 57,5% of the students felt afraid of losing faces when speaking out Only 42 out of 120 students thought that after the treatment And only a few students felt reluctant because of unfamiliar topics or teachers’ teaching methods

3.2.2 Factors increasing students’ motivation in English speaking skill

As illustrated in Figure chart 3.4 below, the majority of the students (64%) affirmed their English speaking skill improved much after the treatment Clearly, when teacher applied PBL to teaching speaking, teachers created various speaking activities, used many useful techniques and behaved towards students in friendly and co-operative ways, making pleasant class atmosphere, emphasizing on fluency more than accuracy and giving students opportunities to communicate with other students, therefore, If weaker students had more chances to speak up, they would exchange information with the better ones, and the practising time for each student would increase This was why more students felt interested and self-confident to speak English in class (49%) They no longer find English so difficult and boring to learn (35%) And the figure of 24% of the students stated that their English knowledge was widened a lot That was why 35% of the students always felt willing to express their opinion in English speaking class In fact, most students seemed more eager to learn

and less stressed in speaking lessons English final exam was not a burden to most of the students Students, then, learnt English in a more relaxing and pleasant environment

In conclusion, the more properly activities and techniques were applied , the more motivated and active students became in speaking class lessons

Figure 3.4: Students’ result after the treatment

A More self-confident and fascinated in speaking English

B English speaking skill has been improved

C English knowledge has been widened

D Learning to speak English well is not too difficult

E Willing to speak English in class

3.3 Results from teachers’ survey questionnaire

3.3.1 Problems teachers are often faced with in teaching speaking English

Question 1: What problems are you facing when adopting PBL in teaching speaking English?

Table 3.9: Problems teacher faced in teaching English speaking

Students’ low proficiency of English 5/5 100

Students use Vietnamese in pair work and group work 4/5 80

Lack of authentic teaching materials 5/5 100

From the Table 3.9, it is clear that problems teachers often face in teaching speaking English are large-size classes, students’ low proficiency, lack of time, students’ using Vietnamese and lack of authentic materials All of the teachers complained that too many students in a speaking class caused many problems such as:

noise, students’ laziness, teachers’ uncontrolled managements, lack of time for all groups of students to practise etc Each class at Kim Lien high school consists of 40 students Next, all teachers responded that students’ low proficiency and limited time were also problems Most of the students were not good at or interested in English speaking That was because of their behavior in studying in the lower grades They only paid much attention to the main subjects which required much of their effort for their exam Factually, 40 students with low proficiency in 45-minute speaking class project brought a lot of challenges to teachers Teachers, therefore, were very difficult to apply PBL to speaking lessons As we learnt from the result of students’ survey questionnaire, some of the activities applied by teachers did not interest students at all That was because they were thought to be too difficult for the students with poor vocabulary and bad knowledge of the language There was no better way than that the teachers should try their best to help the students solve their own problems It is teachers’ role to increase students’ motivation, enrich their vocabulary and enlarge their knowledge of English language One more problem that teachers found in teaching speaking was students’ using Vietnamese Whenever teachers assigned speaking projects, students immediately found ideas and showed opinions in their mother tongue They often asked the teachers to help them to transfer their thought into the target language The students said that: “They find expressing themselves in English more difficult than in Vietnamese and furthermore pair work and group work were a good chance for them to chat in Vietnamese They only used English when the teacher was with their group It was very difficult for the teacher to control all groups in the big class The last thing that the teacher had to face was the school facilities Some facilities of the school seemed out of date, the others did not have enough for all the teachers and students in the school

to use at the time The teachers sometimes did their best to design some authentic materials instead But not all of the teachers could do that frequently

3.3.2 Teachers’ opinion towards students' motivation in speaking English

Question 2: What do you think of the necessity of speaking to your students?

Table 3.10: Teachers’ opinions towards students’ motivation

in speaking English

Speaking helps students improve other language

Speaking can bring students enjoyment and pleasure 3/5 60

Speaking can help students build up other life skills 5/5 100

Students can communicate much through speaking 5/5 100

Others (please specify): …………

Table 3.10 revealed that all the teachers (100%) were aware of the importance

of speaking to the students in language learning All of them agreed that speaking helped students to improve other language skills and language linguistic knowledge as well as could help them to communicate a lot And last but not least the next in the thought of 5 teachers who affirmed the importance of speaking to students’ broadening knowledge As a matter of fact, 3 out of 5 teachers thought that speaking could bring students enjoyment and pleasure

3.3.3 Techniques and activities of PBL applied by teachers

Question 3: How often do you consider division of the classroom works, group- works…)

(pair-On being asked this question, most of the teachers smiled and complained that it was too difficult to do The class was quite big, so many students in the classroom are in the difference of levels Three of them confirmed they never thought of this Only one teacher usually considered level of students when arranging group work And another teacher sometimes paid attention to this 4 out

of 5 teachers rarely took care of that issue However, if teacher applies real communicative project to speaking lessons in the classroom, the students must be seated in groups to work together in an effective way As we know, if the students are seated in randomly layout, the only result you are going to get is finishing the speaking project in time Rearranging the students in groups is not always easy, but

it is worth the effort The students will help you

Question 4: What do you often do to create close relationship with your students to help them speak English better? (You can have one more choice)

Table 3.11: Teachers’ opinions in creating good relationship with students

Sitting at the teacher’s desk to watch the whole class 2/5 40

Standing at the front of the class near the black board 3/5 60

Standing close to the students who tend to speak much 0/5 0

Walking around the class to give help 4/5 80

All of the teachers expressed that they always behaved students in a friendly way For them, letting students have close relationship with teachers would motivate their students in speaking projects 80% of the teachers said that they often walked around the classroom to give the students some help when necessary Especially, in pair or group work time, students’ ideas might not be accepted by group members, teachers’ timely and appropriate suggestions would enhance students’ motivation Besides, two of the teachers affirmed that they could control the class better if they

were at teachers’ desk or in front of the class near the blackboard When they were at these places, they could see all the students clearly and know what they were doing, even talking or doing private things And it was not surprising that the last thing, namely, standing near the students who spoke a lot, was not chosen by any teacher

In short, to create good relationship with the students to make students interested in speaking, different ways were exploited by different teachers The frequency of using these depended much on teachers’ characteristics Moreover, the teachers who should be instructors during the students’ speaking projects aid them a lot if they may need any help

Question 5: How tolerant are you when your students keep making mistakes?

a Very tolerant (silent until they finish their task, smile and help them realize and correct the mistakes)- (22%)

b Tolerant (silent but not willing enough to smile and supportive) - (22%)

c A bit tolerant- (35,3%)

d Impatient - (11%)

e Pay no attention to their mistakes -0

From the above list, the largest number of the teachers (35,3%) was a bit tolerant when their students kept making mistakes They simply stopped them and corrected students’ mistakes when the speech was in progress 11% were not patient enough and got angry with their students about mistakes Being very tolerant and tolerant occupied 44% (22% for each) Paying no attention to students’ mistakes was not chosen by any teacher It means that the teachers either stopped the students suddenly and corrected their mistakes or kept silent until students finished and helped them correct the mistakes

In summary, accuracy, not fluency was still the focus of most teachers in teaching speaking English Therefore, their teaching methods used in class seemed not to be appropriate to create student motivation As a result, they did not get success in improving students’ communicative ability

Question 6: Which of the following techniques do you use to help your students to be more active and interested in speaking lessons? (You can have one more choice)

Table 3.12: Techniques used by teachers to make students more active and interested in speaking lessons

Combining textbook with relevant materials 2/5 40 Giving feedback regularly by checklists and rubrics and

giving comments on students’ presentation 4/5 80

Creating the co-operative atmosphere 4/5 80

Encourage them to speak by clear instructions 4/5 80

In order to make students more active and interested in speaking English

in class, most teachers chose to give feedback regularly by checklists, rubrics and give comments on students’ speaking Checklists and rubrics were sometimes considered students’ comments and evaluation towards students’ contribution and effort in learning Giving comments timely would motivate and encourage students The next one was the co-operative atmosphere that would happen between teachers and students and among students It was clear that teachers’ modifying the topics of speaking lessons would make students feel less bored and tense ,so the co-operative atmosphere played an important role in speaking lesson

Of the three, reward and punish policy was not preferred Many teachers stated that increasing students’ intrinsic motivation would never happen if they rewarded and punished students because this technique could cause tension to them The most highly appreciated thing was encouraging students to speak by clear instructions Following this way could make students more involved in the lessons and improve their speaking with unpopular topics Combining textbooks with relevant materials, and applying reward and punishment policy were at the following last rank (40% and 60% for each)

Question 7: What would you do to prevent your students from using Vietnamese in pair work or group work?

Table 3.13: Teachers’ techniques to prevent students from using Vietnamese

From the survey result, 3 out of the 5 teachers (60%) often reminded their students to speak English when they were put in pairs or groups doing speaking English tasks 60% of the teachers thought that they had better encourage their students to use the target language in class Only one teacher gave students some help so that the students themselves could try their best to solve the problems If

the students think they are never going to need to speak English, they won’t try to learn But the reverse is equally true Assuming they have to attend classes anyway, the best way to make the students interested in English is to make it relevant and to help them to speak and enjoy it as quickly as possible by themselves

Question 8: How often do you encourage your students to use the following communicative teaching activities?

(On each row tick a, b, c, d or e for your choice)

Table 3.14: The frequency of teachers’ using communicative activities

Speaking activities Always Often Someti

mes Seldom Never

Visual aids (pictures, maps,

A good range of activities is essential to any teacher, and a variety increases interest and motivation Individual students will always get more from certain types of exercises than the others Students need a lot of practice if they are to learn

to speak from part-time language classes and we need a variety too: a boring teacher is probably not much fun to learn with As a matter of fact, all of the teachers used as many activities as possible in their speaking teaching lessons However, some of the activities were used more frequently than the others such as:

Pair work/Group work and problem solving, Games, Visual aids (pictures, maps, music, handouts, computers) Some of the activities that were considered time-consuming and a little bit more difficult to the students were sometimes or rarely put in utilization There is one thing teacher should remember is to explain and demonstrate them herself clearly first before asking students to do any task

Question 9: How often do you use the following techniques to motivate your students?

(On each row tick a, b, c, d or e for your choice)

Table 3.15: The frequency of teachers’ techniques to motivate students

mes Seldom Never

Guide students to use visual aids

As we know, the best way to help the students to lose any feeling of consciousness and become comfortable when speaking English together is to use pair work and group work as often as possible It is the most efficient way to maximize the opportunities for them to speak English From the table 3.15 we can see that most of the teachers took advantage of this technique Half of the teachers always used pair work or group work to control their speaking tasks The rest either often or sometimes did this Factually, pair work and group work can be used at almost any time in any lesson and for homework as well And many classroom activities traditionally performed between the teacher and a single student can either be done entirely in pairs/small groups, or have a group stage added to them, for students to speak more Besides, teachers should create more interesting and appropriate topics to satisfy as many students as possible Boring and inappropriate topics would make students feel bored and stressed, games and using visual aids may help the teachers motivate the students to speak English in class However, a few of the teachers made use of this They said that, it took them

self-a lot of time to prepself-are self-and perform in the clself-ass The teself-achers either sometimes or rarely used these activities Some of the teachers even never did this

From the implication to teach speaking skills, we can modify and apply suitably with PBL based on the content of the textbook It is advisable to choo se the lesson with familiar and interesting topics, prepare the important factors to conduct the projects This activity is considered a post activity in the lesson Teachers should teach students how to perform their products by presenting in front of the class In the process of preparing and performing, students can improve their sub skills in speaking such as discussing, structuring, conveying main ideas, working in groups, etc To apply PBL to teaching speaking skills, it

is worth considering the following areas:

 Planning - it is advisable to

 (a) use predictable or familiar topics to motivate students

 (b) provide students with sufficient input of vocabulary and language patterns to be used

 (c) be willing to aid students in conducting their performances with materials and facilities

 (d) show out the teacher’s and the partner’s rubrics and checklists

 Implementation - it is vital

 (a) to determine structures using props and schema

 (b) to engage students in various interesting and simple activities with teachers and peers

 Evaluation - it is important to

 (a) clarify with students what they are expected to do in their project

 (b) demonstrate how to assess their products

 (c) provide chances for peers to practise speaking and give constructive feedback for improvement

3.4 Results from class observation

Table 3.16: Result from class observation

Note: A: Applicable NA: not applicable

I Preparation

1 Well-prepared and well-organized in class 80 20

2 Apparently and appropriately prepared objectives of the lesson 80 20

II Presentation

3 Language of instructions is clear and concise and the students

4 The lesson is smooth, sequenced and logical 80 20

6 Materials are presented at the students’ level of comprehension 80 20

7 The teacher shows an interest in, enthusiasm for the subject

III Implementation/methods

8 The teacher moves around the class and is ready to help the

9 There are balance and a variety of activities during the lesson 80 20

10 Examples and illustrations are used effectively 80 20

11 Instructional aids or resource materials are used effectively 80 20

12 Drills are used and presented effectively 80 20

13 Teachers explores genuine situations in the class 80 20

14 Structures and vocabulary are taken out of students’

presentation and applied to the real contexts of students’ culture

and personal experience

80 20

IV Student’s presentation

15 Students are active to do their presentation 80 20

16 Students are encouraged to ask questions, to disagree or to

express their own ideas during the presentation 80 20

17 The students are able to draw the attention with their

V Teacher/Student interaction

20 Teacher encourages and assures full student participation 60 40

21 The students are attentive and involved 80 20

22 Teacher organizes individual, pair work, and group work to

23 Teacher controls and directs the class 60 40

VI Teacher’s feedback

24 Teacher gives out a clear checklist and rubric 80 20

25 Teacher’s feedback helps students improve their speaking

Comments:

Teacher’s preparation: The class observation results reflect the reality in

which the teachers adopted PBL in teaching speaking after the treatment Many activities and techniques of PBL were suggested to apply to English speaking teaching in class As shown in the table 3.16, in preparation, most of the teachers (80%) prepared the lessons very carefully They had the clear objectives of the lessons and tried to reach those objectives through the lessons

Teachers’ presentations: In general, the lessons went smoothly and logically

because the great majority of the teachers (80%) were very interested in the subject taught Most of the teachers, after giving instructions in English, translate them directly and immediately into Vietnamese to ensure that their students were able to carry them on The students seemed very fond of that way of teaching rather than being given instructions in English or Vietnamese only A minority of the teachers (20%) gave instructions in English only and the students could not understand the instructions clearly Besides, 4 out of 5 teachers used authentic materials in the class Only a few teachers took advantage of the course book

Teachers’ methods: In 3 classes visited, the researcher found that most of

the teachers (80%) moved around the class during the activities taking place in the class Only 4 out of 5 teachers often kept standing in front of the class waiting for students’ answers And only one teacher still stopped students immediately for error corrections while students were speaking During the lessons, most of the teachers (80%) used examples, illustrations and drills effectively They seemed to

be very successful in taking structures out of the artificial drill contexts to apply them in real ones The same number was very patient in eliciting students’ responses except for when the time is limited at the end of the lessons 80% of the teachers only considered the importance of word stress but not the intonation of the sentences Most teachers’ voice is clear, but English fluency of some teachers is still not appropriate

Teachers-students interaction: In all classes observed, teachers/students

interaction was intended to increase students’ proficiency in English The majority

of the classes applied ‘teacher is a facilitator, students are communicators’ The teachers then did not talk so much as before so that students’ talking time could increase considerably Teachers only explained the tasks and guided the students to take part in the activities of the project The students seemed to control and direct the class When being asked to answer some questions or doing some tasks, the students became more self-confident, more willing and highly interested in participating in the activities of projects The students seemed to be more eager to speak English, when they did not understand the tasks in the project; they asked their partners or the teacher for help