The effects of applying language games in motivating non major english first year students in speaking lessons a study at a college in bac ninh province

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ĐỖ THỊ TUYẾT THE EFFECTS OF APPLYING LANGUAGE GAMES IN MOTIVATING NON-MAJOR ENGLISH FIRST YEAR STUDENTS IN SPEAKING LESSONS: A STUDY AT A COLLEGE IN BAC NINH PROVINCE Hiệu việc áp dụng trò chơi ngơn ngữ tới việc khuyến khích sinh viên năm thứ khơng chun Anh học nói: Một nghiên cứu trường cao đẳng Bắc Ninh M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Major: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi, 2019 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ĐỖ THỊ TUYẾT THE EFFECTS OF APPLYING LANGUAGE GAMES IN MOTIVATING NON-MAJOR ENGLISH FIRST YEAR STUDENTS IN SPEAKING LESSONS: A STUDY AT A COLLEGE IN BAC NINH PROVINCE Hiệu việc áp dụng trị chơi ngơn ngữ tới việc khuyến khích sinh viên năm thứ không chuyên Anh học nói: Một nghiên cứu trường cao đẳng Bắc Ninh M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Major: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Prof Hoàng Văn Vân Hanoi 2019 DECLARATION I, hereby, declare that my thesis entitled: The Effects of Applying Language Games in Motivating Non-major English First Year Students in Speaking Lessons: A Study at a College in Bac Ninh Province is the result of my own work, submitted in the fulfillment for the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Except where the reference is indicated, no other person‟s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis This minor thesis or any part of the same has not been submitted for higher degree to any other university or institution Signature Đỗ Thị Tuyết i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My research has been completed with the support of many people Firstly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Prof Hoàng Văn Vân for his enthusiastic and helpful guidance, insightful comments and encouragement without which my thesis would not have been completed Secondly, I am indebted to all my lectures in Post-graduate Faculty, University of Languages and International Studies for their precious assistance, knowledge and enthusiasm Thirdly, I am also grateful to all the participants, students of students in classes Korean and Chinese at Viet Nhat College of Foreign Languages and Technology for their enthusiastic participation and cooperation during the duration of conducting the research Finally, I would like to express my profound gratitude to my family, especially my parents, who have given me constant support, both spiritual and material, and love during the completion of this research paper ii ABSTRACT An English speaking lesson cannot be successful without students‟ active participation and students‟interest in the lessons Second foreign language learners should be offered the opportunity to get involved in the lessons and fulfill their learning orientations The goal of conducting this action research is to enhance students‟ motivation in speaking lessons by using language games The research, therefore, checks the students‟level of participation and interest in speaking lessons at Viet Nhat College of Foreign Languages and Technology In addition to this, the thesis tries to find out the factors affecting the students‟ participation and learning motivation The researcher uses action research to conduct the study whose subjects are fifty two students of students in classes Korean and Chinese at Viet Nhat College of Foreign Languages and Technology These fifty two students took part in completing questionnaires reflecting their appreciation of learning speaking English and what factors affects negatively their participation and learning motivation Class observation, pre-test, post-test and survey questionnaires were employed to find the answer to one research question The findings of the research revealed that students‟ poor participation and low motivation resulted from both students themselves and their former teacher and that using language games in speaking lessons helped enhance students‟ participation and motivation in terms of both quality and quantity Lastly, it is hoped that the results of this thesis could benefit for developing teaching and learning English at Viet Nhat College of Foreign Languages and Technology iii TABLE CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF CHARTS vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study The aims of the study Research question Significance of the study .3 Scope of the study Methods of the study .3 Design of the thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW General issues 2.1 What is speaking 2.1.1 Definition of speaking .5 2.1.2 The importance of speaking 2.1.3 Phrases to teach speaking 2.1.4 Characteristics of a successful speaking activity 2.1.5 Problems with speaking activities .7 2.2 Students’ motivation 2.2.1 What is motivation iv 2.2.2 The role of motivation in Foreign Languages learning 2.3 Language games .10 2.3.1 Definition of language games 10 2.3.2 The purpose of language games 10 2.3.3 Types of language games 11 2.3.4 Language games as a motivator for students to speak 12 2.4 Previous studies related to how to motivate students during speaking lessons 13 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 15 3.1 Description of the context of the research .15 3.1.1 An overview of Viet Nhat College of Foreign Languages and Technology 15 3.1.2 The teaching program and materials .15 3.1.3 Current situation of teaching and learning speaking skills at Viet Nhat College of Foreign Languages and Technology .16 3.2 Action research……………………………………………………………….16 3.2.1 What is an action research? …………………………………………………16 3.2.2 Rationale for the use of an action research .17 3.3 Description of the research 22 3.3.1 Subjects of the research 22 3.3.2 Data collection instruments .22 3.3.3 Data analysis procedure 25 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 26 4.1 Data collected from preliminary investigation stage- Questionnaire .26 4.1.1 Students‟ attitude towards the speaking skill and the causes of students‟ low motivation in speaking classes .26 4.2 Intervention 30 4.3 Data from the intervention stage 30 4.3.1 Data collected from observation sheet 30 4.3.2 Data collected from the questionaire 31 4.3.3 Data collected from the tests 37 v CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION .40 5.1 Main findings 40 5.2 Recommendations based on the findings .41 Some suggestions for using games to motivate students in speaking classes 42 5.4 Limitations and suggestions for further research 44 5.5 Conclusion 44 REFERENCES 47 APPENDICES I APPENDIX 1: I APPENDIX 2: III APPENDIX 3: XI APPENDIX 4: XII APPENDIX 5: XIII APPENDIX 6: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………XV vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Students‟ attitude towards speaking skill 26 Table 2: Students‟ motivation, learning styles, anxiety in speaking lessons 27 LIST OF CHARTS Chart 1: Students‟ reasons for learning English 28 Chart 2: Factors that make students involuntary to speak English in the classroom 28 Chart Observation sheet that looks at overall class motivation .30 Chart 4: Students‟ evaluation on how easy the language games are 31 Chart 5: Students‟s evaluation on how appropriate the language games are 31 Chart 6: Students‟ feeling on how much they like the language games 32 Chart 7: Students‟ level of participation in recent speaking lessons 32 Chart 8: Students‟ feeling after playing the games 33 Chart 9: Students‟ level of motivation in recent speaking lessons 33 Chart 10: Students‟ evaluation of the effectiveness of language games 34 Chart 11: Students‟ ideas on the benefits of language games 34 Chart 12: Students‟ desires on what stages language games should be applied .35 Chart 13: Students‟ suggestions on What the teacher should to make the application of language games more effective 36 Chart 14: Students‟ desires on how often they join the language games 37 vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This part states the rationale of the study, the aims, objectives, the scope of the study, and the design of the rest of the thesis The research questions are also identified to work as clear guidelines for the whole study Rationale of the study People around the world communicate through many ways such as body language, verbal language, signals and gestures Among them, verbal language plays the most important role in communication For that reason, communication skills in which speaking skill is a big part of learning any language because “of the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), speaking seems intuitively the most important” (Ur, 2000: 120) It is the fact that students and teachers pay more attention to other skills (writing, reading, and listening) than speaking skill due to the necessary of high school graduation exam Students usually learn English as a compulsory subject to pass the final tests which mainly include grammar and vocabulary Therefore, when they continue to study at colleges or universities, learning speaking skill is a big challenge to them Being an English teacher for years, I find most of my students have problems in speaking lessons They easily become speechless in their oral performance or they are reluctant to speak in English although they may be good at other skills It is not a surprise as “the quality of learning engagement in the classroom does not depend on students‟ cognitive abilities alone, but is also influenced by complex motivational and effective factors.”(Kubanyiova, 2006) As far as we know, in learning a Foreign Language, students will learn more effectively if they learn in a fun, relaxed learning environment and have more opportunities to communicate in the context of the real world Therefore, the use of language games in Foreign Languages teaching is one of the most effective ways to increase student learning, one of the determinants of success in learning a Foreign Language At the same time, they help and motivate students to maintain their The use of language games in speaking lessons is not effective, what you think the reasons are? (Please specify some) ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 10 What stage(s) the teacher should apply the language games? A Warm ups B Pre-speaking C While- speaking D Post- speaking E At any stage 11 What should the teacher to make the application of language games more effective? (You can choose more than one) A Teachers should explain and give a demonstration of what to to students clearly and understandably B Teachers should make use of a variety of language games C Teachers should exploit the language games which are suitable for students‟ level D Others (please specify) ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 12 How often you wish to take part in language games? A Always B Often C Sometimes D Never V PHỤ LỤC BẢNG CÂU HỎI ĐIỀU TRA SỐ Bảng câu hỏi thiết kế để nghiên cứu động lực học nói Tiếng Anh học kỹ nói Tiếng Anh lớp học Câu trả lời bạn sử dụng cho mục đích nghiên cứu Cảm ơn bạn hợp tác Kỹ nói tiếng Anh có tầm quan trọng bạn? A Rất quan trọng B Khá quan trọng C Hơi quan trọng D Không quan tâm Bạn có thường xuyên miễn cưỡng nói tiếng Anh lớp học không? A Liên tục B Thường xun C Thi thoảng D Tơi nói giáo viên bảo tơi nói Lý học nói tiếng Anh củabạn gì? (Bạn chọn nhiều câu trả lời) A Tiếng Anh cần thiết cho nghiệp tương lai B Bắt buộc phải học nói tiếng Anh trường chúng tơi C Tơi thấy thú vị học nói tiếng Anh D Tôi muốn giao tiếp tiếng Anh Bạn có xu hướng làm lớp học nói tiếng Anh? (Bạn chọn nhiều câu trả lời) A Luôn giữ im lặng B Chỉ trả lời câu hỏi đơn giản C Xung phong trả lời nhiều tốt D Biết câu trả lời ngại ngùng để xung phong nói E Nói vài câu giáo viên hỏi tơi VI F Sử dụng tiếng mẹ đẻ G Nói tơi cảm thấy thích H Nói để điểm I Nói để tăng cường kỹ giao tiếp Yếu tố khiến bạn khơng tự nguyện nói tiếng Anh lớp học? (Bạn chọn nhiều câu trả lời) A Khơng thích nói tiếng Anh B Mục tiêu học tập để kiểm tra (không phải để giao tiếp) C Sợ mặt với bạn lớp D Phương pháp dạy học nhàm chán E Khơng nhận đủ nhiệt tình từ giáo viên lớp nói tiếng Anh F Khơng có để nói G Bầu khơng khí căng thẳng học nói H Mắc cỡ I Thiếu từ vựng J Khơng có làm động lực để tơi nói VII PHỤ LỤC 2: BẢNG CÂU HỎI ĐIỀU TRA SỐ Bảng câu hỏi thiết kế cho nghiên cứu tơi Tác dụng việc áp dụng trị chơi ngôn ngữ việc thúc đẩy sinh viên năm thứ khơng chun tiếng Anh nói tiếng Anh trường cao đẳng ngoại ngữ công nghệ Việt Nhật Câu trả lời bạn sử dụng cho mục đích nghiên cứu Người nghiên cứu đảm bảo tất thông tin thu thập giữ bí mật, với hy vọng bạn trả lời câu hỏi cách xác trung thực Bạn đưa ý kiến cách khoanh tròn vào chữ A, B, C mà bạn muốn chọn Cảm ơn hợp tác bạn Các trị chơi áp dụng khơng? A Rất khó B Khó C Khơng dễ D Dễ dàng Các trị chơi có phù hợp với trình độ bạn khơng? A Khơng phù hợp B Hơi phù hợp C Phù hợp D Rất phù hợp Bạn có thích trị chơi ngơn ngữ giáo viên bạn đưa học nói khơng? A Tơi thích chúng B Chúng ổn C Tơi khơng thích chúng tý D Tơi khơng có ý kiến Bạn làm tiết học có trị chơi ngơn ngữ? VIII A Tích cực tham gia trị chơi B Chỉ tham gia vào trò chơi yêu cầu C Chỉ tham gia vào trò chơi cảm thấy thích thú D Khơng tham gia trị chơi Bạn cảm thấy sau chơi trò chơi ngơn ngữ? A Thư thái B Có động lực C Bình thường D Khơng thoải mái Trị chơi ngôn ngữ mang đến cho bạn động lực học nào? A Khơng có động lực B Có động lực chút C Có động lực D Rất động lực Theo bạn, việc sử dụng trò chơi ngôn ngữ để thúc đẩy học sinh học nói có hiệu khơng? A Có B Khơng Nếu bạn chọn “có” , trả lời câu hỏi 8,10,11,12 Nếu bạn chọn “không”, trả lời câu hỏi 9, 10,11,12 Những lợi ích trị chơi ngơn ngữ kỹ nói bạn gì? (Bạn chọn nhiều câu trả lời) A Trị chơi ngơn ngữ làm giảm lo lắng ngại ngùng học B Trị chơi ngơn ngữ mang lại cho tơi nhiều hội để nói C Trị chơi ngơn ngữ làm cho học nói khó khăn D Trị chơi ngơn ngữ làm cho học nói trở nên thú vị vui vẻ E Ý kiến khác (vui lòng ghi rõ số) ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… IX Việc sử dụng trị chơi ngơn ngữ học nói khơng hiệu quả, bạn nghĩ lý gì? (Vui lịng ghi rõ số) ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 10 Giai đoạn giáo viên nên áp dụng trị chơi ngơn ngữ? A.Khởi động B Trước nói C Trong nói D Sau nói E Ở giai đoạn 11 Giáo viên nên làm để ứng dụng trị chơi ngơn ngữ hiệu hơn? (Bạn chọn nhiều một) A Giáo viên nên giải thích đưa minh chứng việc cần làm cho học sinh rõ ràng dễ hiểu B Giáo viên nên sử dụng nhiều loại trị chơi ngơn ngữ C Giáo viên nên khai thác trị chơi ngơn ngữ phù hợp với trình độ học sinh D Ý kiến khác (vui lịng ghi rõ) ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 12 Bạn có thường xun tham gia trị chơi ngơn ngữ khơng? A Luôn B Thường thường C Đôi D Không X APPENDIX 3: OBSERVATION SHEET- OVERALL CLASS MOTIVATION Date: Observer: Class: Teacher: No of students present: Time: 50 mins Textbook: Life lines- elementary Unit: Observation focus: level of students’ motivation generated by the tasks is average mark for any one item Instructions: - This sheet is for observation the class as a whole , not individul student - Complete this sheet when the lesson is drawing to a close - Cirle ONE number of each statement below - Add final comments after the lesson at the bottom of the sheet if you want Mark how participated in the games the students are Poor participated Very paricipated Very much The students are taking pleasure in the games Not certainly The students are paying constant attention to the games Not certainly Very much Mark the levels of students‟ concentration on the games Low high High Mark the students‟ activity level? Low The speaking games are challenging for the students Not certainly Very much Very much Very much The speaking games are suitable for the students Not certainly The students find the speaking games entertaining Not certainly XI APPENDIX 4: THE DATA ON OVERALL CLASS MOTIVATION Data interpretation keys: Level of students‟ motivation generated by speaking activities was observed in terms of items Mark is average mark for any item Lesson Observed items L3 L4 L5 L6 L7 L8 (Unit5) (Unit6) (Unit7) (Unit8) (Unit9) (Unit10) 2 3 4 3 4 2 3 2 3 4 Students‟ activity level 3 4 Degree of challenge of 2 3 4 3 4 3 4 18 19 25 27 32 35 Students‟involvement in the speaking activities Students‟ enjoyment of the activities 3.Students‟ persistent attention to the activities Students‟ concentration Mark on the speaking activities the activities Degree of appropriateness of the activities Students‟ degree of interest in the activities Total mark ( 40 is highest) XII APPENDIX 5: Pre- test and post test Sample Card Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as: Can you play a musical instrument? Do you play any sports? Part III: Topic Talk about the person you like most in your family Card Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as: What you in your spare time? What are you good at? Part III: Topic Talk about your hobbies Card Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as Part III: Topic Talk about your hometown Card Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as: What job would you like to in the future? How long have you studied English? Part III: Topic Talk about your favorite food Card Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as: How you go to school? XIII What time you start lessons in the afternoon? Part III: Topic Talk about your favorite season Card Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as: Have you ever been to Hue city? What is the city like? Part III: Topic Talk about your house where you live Card Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as:What is your favorite food? What is the weather like today? Part III: Topic Talk about your last weekend Card Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as: Which season you like? What would you if you were the president? Part III: Topic Talk about your daily routines Card Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as: Where did you go last summer holiday? What did you there? Part III: Topic Talk about your future job Card 10 Part I: Introduce yourself Part II: Answer some general questions such as: Where were you last weekend? How long have you lived in Bacninh City? Part III: Topic Talk about the subjects you like best XIV APPENDIX 6: SAMPLE LESSON PLAN (Speaking lesson – Unit Places) I Objectives Knowledge - Vocabulary about things around the house - Students know how to describe the house, what activities they often at the house Skills - Speaking skills - Group and pairwork - Presentation skill II Methods - Integrated, mainly communicative III Teaching aids - Teacher: tape, board, chalk, textbook, cassette - Students: textbook, workbook, pen, pencil… IV Procedures: Old lesson checking (Omitting) New lesson: TEACHER'S ACTIVITIES STUDENTS' ACTIVITIES WARM UP ( mins) WARM UP - Ask students the following questions: -Work in pairs asking and How many rooms are there in your house? answering the questions How many things are there in your - One pair present in front bedroom/ living room/ bathroom/kitchen? of the class Do you think you are very happy to live in such a house? - Listen to the teacher XV - Ask students to work in pairs to ask and answer the questions - Call on one pair to present in front of the class - Listen and give feedback - Lead in the lesson by saying : “ Today we are going to talk about things around the house” PRE – SPEAKING ( 10 mins) PRE – SPEAKING Activity Activity - Ask students to look at the flaskcard about things around the house and elicit any words related to the topic - Look at the pictures - Give any words related to the topic - Stick these flaskcard on the board and write - Read aloud the flaskcard the names of each thing in the flaskcard - Make sentences - Ask students to read aloud as a whole class and then in group of tables - Ask students to stand up to make a sentence with words in the flaskcard individually - Correct the wrong sentences - Erase the name under each flaskcard and then ask the whole class to read again all the flaskcard on the board WHILE SPEAKING WHILE SPEAKING (20 mins) Activity Activity (labeling game) - Explain the activity and instruct students to - Listen to the Teacher - Work in big teams: it - Divide class into big teams: Team 1, team 2, team 3, team The teacher gives each XVI - groups at random to report their work team a big paper (Ao size) on which has the drawing of a room (one of four rooms: kitchen, linving room, bedroom, bathroom) and small paper on which has the name of things in that room For example: Tv plant sofa curtain picture Coffee table - Ask each team to label each card on the correct things in Ao paper in mins - Walk around the classroom to monitor, facilitate and assist students when neseccary - Ask groups at random to report their work and check each team work after they finish labelling in front of the class Activity 3: Describe the picture Activity 3: Describe the - Ask groups describe the things in their room on picture the Ao paper by answering the following questions: - Listen to the Teacher + What is the name of your room? How big is the - Work in big teams: room? - groups at random to + What are things in the room? report their work + Where are they? + What you use these things for? + What you often in your room? - Walk around the classroom to monitor, XVII facilitate and assist students when neseccary - Ask representatives of each group at random to stand up in front of the class to talk about their rooms - Give the feedback to groups POST SPEAKING (10 mins) Activity (guessing games): what are the POST SPEAKING things Activity - Prepare 26 small cards for 26 students in the - Listen to the teacher‟s class There is a definition or a usage of a thing instruction in the rooms around the house and the picture of the object on each card - Give one card for each student and ask them to face it down - Ask each student to stand up and read aloud the definition or the usage for the whole class to guess the correct name of the object in the card - Give the feedback You watch news, films, etc on it Answer: a TV Consolidation - Types of rooms in the house and their usage Homework: - Write about your dream house XVIII - Work individually ... Games in Motivating Non- major English First Year Students in Speaking Lessons: A Study at a College in Bac Ninh Province The aims of the study The study aims at improving students? ?? motivation in speaking. .. thesis entitled: The Effects of Applying Language Games in Motivating Non- major English First Year Students in Speaking Lessons: A Study at a College in Bac Ninh Province is the result of my own work,... revealing factors that discourage students from taking part in speaking lessons and the factors that bring their low motivation in speaking class, and - examining language games applied during speaking