Challenges in teaching and learning speaking skill with the new English textbook for grade 10 (Basic Stream) at Xuan Hoa High school, Vinh Phuc province and some solutions

Vietnam national university, hanoi University of languages and international studies Faculty of Post-graduate studies TRẦN THỊ LAN ANH CHALLENGES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING SPEAKING SKILL WITH THE NEW ENGLISH TEXTBOOK FOR GRADE 10 (BASIC STREAM) AT XUAN HOA HIGH SCHOOL, VINH PHUC PROVINCE AND SOME SOLUTIONS (Những Khó Khăn Trong Việc Dạy Và Học Kỹ Năng Nói Theo Sách Giáo KhoaTiếng Anh Lớp 10 Mới Tại Trường THPT Xuân Hòa, Tỉnh Vĩnh PhúcVà Một Số Giải Pháp) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: Do Ba Quy, MEd Hanoi, 2010 Vietnam national university, hanoi University of languages and international studies Faculty of Post-graduate studies TRẦN THỊ LAN ANH CHALLENGES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING SPEAKING SKILL WITH THE NEW ENGLISH TEXTBOOK FOR GRADE 10 (BASIC STREAM) AT XUAN HOA HIGH SCHOOL, VINH PHUC PROVINCE AND SOME SOLUTIONS (Những Khó Khăn Trong Việc Dạy Và Học Kỹ Năng Nói Theo Sách Giáo Khoa Tiếng Anh Lớp 10 Mới Tại Trường THPT Xuân Hòa, Tỉnh Vĩnh Phúc Và Một Số Giải Pháp) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Hanoi, 2010 iv LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Table 1: Teachers’ qualifications Table 2: Teachers’ opinions to the speaking sections of the new textbook for grade 10 Table 3: Teachers’ difficulties when teaching speaking skill with the new textbook Table 4: Teachers’ solutions to improve the speaking lessons Table 5: Teachers’ suggested solutions to improve the speaking lesson Table 6: Students’ opinions towards the speaking tasks of the new textbook Table 7: Students’ difficulties when learning English speaking skill Table 8: Students’ solutions to improve their speaking skill Table 9: Students’ suggested solutions to improve their speaking skill Chart 1: Students’ background Chart 2: Students’ time for English at home Chart 3: Students’ opinions towards speaking skill v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative Language Teaching U.S: United States vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration………………………………………………………………………………….i Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………ii Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………… iii List of tables and charts ………………………………………………………………… iv List of abbreviations……………………………………………………………………… v Table of contents……………………………………………………………………………vi PART I: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………… Rationale of the study…………………………………………………………… Aims of the study……………………………………………………………… Method and procedure of the research………………………………………… Scope of the study…………………………………………………………………2 Organization of the paper……………………………………………………… PART II: DEVELOPMENT………………………………………………………… CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND……………………………………….3 1.1 Theoretical background of speaking ………………………………………… 1.1.1 Definitions of speaking……………………………………………… 1.1.2 The nature of speaking………………………………………………… 1.1.3 Aspects of Speaking…………………………………………………… 1.2 Theoretical background of learning and teaching speaking skill…………… 1.2.1 Definition of teaching and learning…………………………………… 1.2.2 Communicative Language Teaching Approach ……………………… 1.2.3 Communicative Competence – The desired goal of CLT…………… 10 vii 1.2.4 The necessity of teaching and learning ……………………………… 11 speaking skill in a communicative class 1.2.5 Problems in teaching and learning speaking skill …………………… 12 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY………………………………………………………… 13 2.1 The teaching and learning situation in Xuan Hoa High School…………… 13 2.2 The New English Textbook for Grade 10…………………………………… 13 2.2.1 The overall design of the textbook…………………………………… 13 2.2.2 The general features of the new textbook …………………………… 14 2.2.3 Description of the Speaking Section ………………………………… 15 2.3 Description of the study…………………………………………………………17 2.3.1 Kind of the research………………………………………………… 17 2.3.2 Participants…………………………………………………………… 17 2.3.3 The research questions……………………………………………… 18 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS ………………………………… 19 3.1 Data analysis 19 3.1.1 Results of the survey questionnaires…………………… ………… 19 3.1.1.1 Questionnaire for teachers: ………………………………… 19 3.1.1.2 Questionnaire for students: ………………………………… 23 3.1.2 Results of the interviews………………………………………………27 3.1.2.1 Teachers’ interview: ………………………………………… 27 3.1.2.2 Students’ interview: ……………………………………… 29 3.2 Findings ………………………………………………………………………….30 3.2.1 Subjective difficulties:……………………………………………… 30 viii 3.2.1.1 Difficulties from teachers ………………………………… 30 Teachers’ insufficient communicative competence………… 30 Teachers’ lack of training…………………………………….30 3.2.1.2 Difficulties from Students:………………………………… 31 Learners’ level of English …………………………………….31 Learners’ traditional features…………………………………31 Mother tongue use…………………………………………… 32 Limited exposure to the target language…………………… 32 3.2.2 Objective difficulties ………………………………………………….32 3.2.2.1 Large class ………………………………………………… 32 3.2.2.2 Time pressure:……………………………………………… 33 3.2.2.3 The constraints brought by the innovations ………………… 33 on the curriculum and teaching method 3.2.2.4 The testing system……………………………………………34 3.2.2.5 Lack of English teachers ……………………………………34 3.2.2.6 Lack of teaching and learning facilities………………………35 3.2.3 Teachers’ and students’ solutions ………………………………… 35 3.2.3.1 Teachers’ solutions………………………………………… 35 Careful planning for the speaking section…………………….35 Testing students’ communicative competence……………… 35 Organizing English speaking clubs……………………… .35 3.2.3.2 Students’ solutions……………………………………………36 Self – study…………………………………………………….36 ix Taking extra courses………………………………………….36 Practising speaking to friends……………………………… 36 Participating in English speaking clubs………………………36 CHAPTER 4: PEDAGOGICAL RECOMMENDATIONS:…………………………… 37 4.1 Pedagogical suggestions for subjective problems …………………………….37 4.1.1 A careful plan of the speaking lesson………………………………… 38 4.1.2 Various ways of testing speaking skill………………………………….38 4.1.3 The teacher’s self-improvement of speaking skill…………………… 39 4.1.4 The change in students’ speaking habits ……………………………….39 4.2 Pedagogical suggestions for objective problems………………………………40 PART III: CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………….41 Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………… 41 Limitations…………………………………………………………………………………41 Recommendations for further study………………………………………………….….41 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………… 43 APPENDICES Appendix 1…………………………………………………………………………………….I Appendix 2……………………………………………………………………………………IV Appendix 3………………… …………………………………………………………… VII Appendix 4… …………………………………………………………………………… VIII PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Language education, especially foreign language teaching and learning, is a compulsory part in every country With the development of the market economy and the globalization trend, learning foreign languages has become not only an interest but also a great demand for most people in Vietnam Since 2006, the Ministry of Education and training prescribed a new series of English textbooks for all grades and school types from grade through to grade 10 According to the authors, the new textbooks are theme-based and skill-based, with the adoption of the two currently popular teaching approaches, i.e the learner-centered approach and the communicative approach A focus is on task-based teaching as the leading methodology Within the task-based framework of the new textbook series, students are expected to engage with each other in meaningful interaction and negotiation of meaning within a specific context The curriculum innovations have brought a total change to the reality of teaching and learning foreign language in Vietnam In fact, most high-school students have at least four years of learning with the new curriculum at secondary school which has been put in to use since 2002, so they not find the new textbook unfamiliar Before the approval and institutionalization of the new textbooks, the teachers have been prepared for the new methods of teaching and learning Therefore, they have thorough understanding about the nature of the new textbooks However, both the teachers and learners face a lot of challenges in the process of working with the new English textbooks It seems that they not fulfill the requirements of the new textbooks at all Of the four language skills, speaking is becoming the primary skill given to the students Introducing this vital skill, the teachers of Vietnamese schools in general and in Xuan Hoa high school in particular have encountered plenty of difficulties The first-year high school students are also confused when learning this language skill Hence, the author wishes to understand more about this situation by conducting the study entitled “Challenges in teaching and learning speaking skill with the new textbook for grade 10 at Xuan Hoa high school, Vinh Phuc province and some solutions” With this study, the writer looks into the problems for both the teachers and the students and suggests some solutions to those problems 2 Aims of the study This research mainly aims at clarifying the challenges in teaching and learning speaking skill with the new textbook for grade 10 at Xuan Hoa high school, Vinh Phuc province The author investigates the teachers‟ and learners‟ attitudes towards speaking skill and then put the focus on the current difficulties in the application of the new textbook The causes of their difficulties are also examined so that the solutions to those problems can be given Method and procedure of the research The data of this paper was collected through the survey questionnaires and interviews First, the author carried out the survey questionnaires to find out the attitudes towards the teaching and learning of speaking skill with the new textbook and the difficulties of the teachers and students in using the new textbook Then the interviews with teachers and students were conducted to clarify aspects which were inadequate and vague in the survey questionnaires Scope of the study This research mainly covers the problems with the speaking skill that teachers and learners have in the process of using the new textbook for grade 10 These problems were discussed thoroughly in order to discover the causes and to offer the best solutions The subjects of the study are limited to the teachers and students at Xuan Hoa High School – Vinh Phuc province Organization of the paper The study includes parts: Part 1- Introduction presents the rationale, aims, method, scope and organization of the study Part II consists of chapters: Chapter 1- Literature review gives the theoretical background of speaking skill Chapter - Methodology includes the description of Xuan Hoa high school context, the new English textbook and the study (the instruments, the participants and the research questions) Chapter 3- Data analysis and findings describes the data of the questionnaires and interviews, then gives some findings through the data analysis Chapter – Pedagogical Recommendations suggests some solutions to the current problems Part III - Conclusion focuses on the conclusions of the thesis, some limitations and recommendations for further study 38 Third, the teacher needs to know how much time is available for English – especially for speaking skill in a week, a month, a term and a school year He has to study the textbooks carefully so that he can decide the total amount of knowledge he will give to his students, the appropriate speaking activities he will apply and the time he will allocate to each task 4.1.2 Various ways of testing speaking skill A test may be defined as an activity whose main purpose is to convey how well the testees know or can something This is in contrast to practice, whose main purpose is sheer learning The test can be carried out on language (grammar, vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation) or skills (listening, reading, speaking, and writing) In fact, testing the speaking ability is not included in the compulsory tests However, the students can be encouraged to learn to speak English if the teachers usually test speaking skill in their own ways For instance, they can test speaking skill as a replacement for oral tests or 15-minute tests The students will try much harder to learn this skill when it has some influence on their study, at least in the form of the marks in the tests According to the authors of A Course in TEFL – Theory and Practice III, there are some testing techniques for speaking skill: Testing Focus Subjective methods Speaking Skill Role plays Interviews Objective methods Sentence repetition Sentence responses to cue Group discussions Information gap - activities When using these techniques, the important question is that they should be familiar to students prior to being used in a test Otherwise, the students may make mistakes not so much because of difficulties with the language or skill but because of a lack of understanding of what the test requires 4.1.3 The teacher’s self-improvement of speaking skill As we know, the teachers‟ communicative competence tends to deteriorate after some years teaching at high school Teaching high school students, the teachers almost always use Vietnamese because their students cannot understand everything in English; the teachers have to explain vocabulary, grammar, and even the instructions in their mother tongue, not in the target language, otherwise the students may lose their interest in the lesson and cause discipline 39 problems Therefore, it is natural that their speaking skill is not as fluent as it used to be Many teachers cannot deny that sometimes they have difficulty speaking English They should try to solve this problem by self - practising at home The teachers should be an example if they want to improve their students‟ speaking skill 4.1.4 The change in students’ speaking habits Popular problems with speaking activities are students‟ inhibition, low or uneven participation, low motivation, inconfidence, mother - tongue use, and having nothing to say Some of these problems derive from their habits and some from their traditional features To solve these problems, it takes both students and teachers much time As for the teacher, he should pay attention to the following suggestions: *Use group work: This increases the sheer amount of learner talk going on in a limited period of time and also lowers the inhibitions of learners who are unwilling to speak in front of the whole class *Base the activity on easy language: When doing the tasks, the language should be easily recalled and produced by the participants, so that they can speak fluently with the minimum of hesitation It is a good idea to teach or review the essential vocabulary before doing the tasks *Keep students speaking the target language: The teacher might appoint one of the group members as the monitor whose job is to remind participants to use the target language, and perhaps report later to the teacher how well the group managed to keep to it However, when all is said and done, the best way to keep students speaking the target language is simply to be there the teacher himself as much as possible, reminding them and modeling the language use himself *Motivate students in class: to motivate the students to speak, the teacher should remember: First, environment is essential: Generally speaking, there are two factors affecting students' speaking in class One is they fail to find suitable words to express themselves and the other is they are afraid of making mistakes Sometimes they make mistakes when they are speaking because they are shy and nervous Therefore, good environment helps the students to speak actively and correctly On the one hand, try to ease the students and remove their nervousness, fear and anxiety with encouraging words and on the other hand build a free and light-hearted environment 40 Second, encouragement is necessary: After students finish their speaking in class, teachers should encourage them and let the students feel they have made some progress with a sense of their fulfillment Third, methods are important: It is very important for the teachers to adopt as many ways as possible to let students practise English in class When teachers find a good technique, they tend to use it repeatedly and depend on it After some time, students become bored with doing the same things, and this wonderful technique no longer looks very good In reality, the technique is still good, but variety is required to keep students' attention Various activities can be organized according to how communicative they are The teachers should start with a simple, mechanical activity, then continue with something more meaningful, and finish with a communicative activity Finally, guidance is helpful: Teachers play an important role in making the class lively and active by their guide and arrangement Students' initiatives should be encouraged and respected, but it does not mean there is no guide or assessment on the part of the teacher 4.2 Pedagogical suggestions for objective problems To overcome such objective problems as large class, the lack of teaching and learning facilities, etc, a careful preparation for the application of the new approach – CLT- should be made This preparation can bring effectiveness to the application of communicative approach Although most Vietnamese teachers have positive attitudes to communicative approach, there are many constraints for the successful implementation of communicative teaching and learning, such as the large class, lack of modern facilities, materials and even English teachers Therefore, the first job to is to reduce the number of students in each class In a class of more than 45 students, it is difficult for the teachers to conduct a communicative lesson – the teachers have to spend a lot of time on discipline problems; they are almost unable to follow the progress of every individual in the class; the students have little chance to speak, etc Then high – tech facilities and materials should be made available for the teachers and students Certainly, the above steps need financial investment and some may argue that it is out of the question with our country However, for a radical change in foreign language learning and teaching, those steps need to be done quickly by the administrators 41 PART III: CONCLUSION Conclusions By investigating the challenges in teaching and learning speaking skill with the new English textbook at Xuan Hoa high school, the author of this study has a deeper understanding about the current situation of learning and teaching speaking skill for grade 10 students From the results of the survey questionnaires and the interviews, it can be seen that both teachers and students have encountered a lot of difficulties when working with the new textbooks Some of these problems are subjective and some are objective This situation proves that students‟ communicative competence is still at very low level although the new textbook and the new teaching approach – CLT – have been put into use for some years It is essential to solve these problems quickly and radically so that the language teaching quality in general and students‟ speaking ability in particular can be improved This job will require much effort and financial investment Teachers, students as well as the administrators should work closely to change this situation; otherwise their students will not be able to communicate with the outside world in the target language Limitations of the study The author of this paper has put much effort in finding out the difficulties of teaching and learning speaking skill with the new English textbook for grade 10 at Xuan Hoa high school Through the survey questionnaires and the interviews, a lot of valuable information about the research problem has been collected and analysed carefully However, due to the limit of time and resources, this research has some limitations Firstly, it only focused on the difficulties of teachers and grade 10 students at Xuan Hoa high school when learning speaking skill with the new textbook, not the difficulties of all high school teachers and students Moreover, this paper didn‟t suggest the communicative activities which would help to motivate both teachers and students and make the speaking sections successful These limitations call for further research for the best application of the new English textbooks Recommendations for further study Speaking skill is very important and teaching it is not an easy job There are many aspects related to this language skill, such as motivations in learning to speak English, the 42 communicative activities to develop speaking skill, the use of teaching aids in teaching speaking, etc This study mainly focused on the challenges of teaching and learning speaking skill with the new English textbook for grade 10 Researchers who have concern about the teaching and learning of speaking skill can carry out their study on some of those aspects 43 REFERENCES A Course in TEFL – Theory and Practice III (2001) VNU Brown, H.D Principle of Language Learning and Teaching Forth Edition, San Francisco State University) Addison Wesley Longman, Inc Retreived March 15, 2010 from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/29480563/ Principles-of-Language-Learning-and-Teaching Brown, H.D (1994) Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents Second Edition: White Plains NY: Longman, forthcoming Burns, A & Joyce, H (1997) Focus on Speaking Sydney: National Center for English Language Teaching and References Bygate, M (1987) Speaking Oxford: Oxford University Press Byrne, D (1976) Teach Oral English London: Longman Canale, M and Swain, M (1980) Theoretical Bases of Communicative Approaches to Second Language teaching and Testing Oxford University Press Hoang Van Van, Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, Do Tuan Minh, Nguyen Thu Phuong, Nguyen Quoc Tuan (2008) Tieng Anh 10 Education Publisher, Hanoi Hymes, Dell (1972) On Communicative Competence In Pride and Homes (eds) and Brumfit, C.J and Johnson K (eds) 1979 10 Kimble, Gregory A and Garmezy Norman (1963) Principle of General Psychology Second Edition New York: The Ronald Press 11 Littlewood, W (1981) Communicative Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 12 Nunan, D (1989) Design Tasks for the Communicative Classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 13 Nunan, D (1991) Language Teaching Methodology: A Textbook for Teachers New York: Prentice Hall Regents 44 14 Rivers (1981) Teaching Foreign Language Skills Second Edition Chicago: University of Chicago Press I APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR TEACHERS) This questionnaire is designed for my research into “ Challenges in teaching and learning speaking skill with the new English textbook for grade 10 ( basic stream) at Xuan Hoa high school, Vinh Phuc province and some solutions” Please tick appropriate box(es) or answer the questions as frankly and accurately as you can Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated and will be of much help for our teaching and learning speaking skill with the new textbook: *Gender:  Male  Female *Age: Which university/ college did you graduate from? How many years have you taught English? years How you judge your speaking skill after graduation?  It becomes better  It stays the same  It becomes worse How often you receive training in using the new textbook? Never once every year Rarely twice every year What you think about the training you received in using the new textbook? Very useful II Not very useful Very boring and useless Useful but not enough  Others……………………………………………………………………………… What you think about the speaking tasks in the new textbook for grade 10? Easy boring too long Difficult interesting too short  suitable for most students What are your difficulties when teaching speaking skill with the new textbook? The speaking tasks are too difficult for the students The speaking topics are too difficult or not familiar Lack of time Lack of teaching and learning facilities (cassettes, projectors, visual aids ) Large class problems (noise, mixed ability, class management ) Students’ low English proficiency Students’ lack of confidence Mother tongue use Students’ lack of motivation Teachers’ lack of training in using the new textbook Teachers’ insufficient communicative competence Teachers’ lack of lesson planning No tests on speaking skill Other difficulties To improve the speaking lessons, I have… III Prepared the speaking section more carefully (use visual aids, change the tasks appropriately ) spent more time testing students’ speaking competence Organized English speaking club Others To overcome the difficulties, the teachers should… help students improve their knowledge of the language and knowledge of the world spend more time preparing the speaking lesson more carefully get more training in using the new textbook conduct tests on speaking skill organize English speaking clubs ask for improvement of the teaching and learning conditions IV APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR STUDENTS) This questionnaire is designed for my research into “ Challenges in teaching and learning speaking skill with the new English textbook for grade 10 ( basic stream) at Xuan Hoa high school, Vinh Phuc province – some solutions” Please tick appropriate box (es) or answer the questions as frankly and accurately as you can Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated and will be of much help for our teaching and learning speaking skill with the new textbook: *Gender:  Male  Female *Age: Where are you from? Rural areas Towns Cities How long have you learned English? .years How often you study English? hours a week How often you have the chance to speak English outside your classroom? Usually Rarely Sometimes Never What you think about the role of speaking skill? Very important Not very important V The least important of the four skills What you think about your speaking skill? Very good Good Not very good Bad Very bad What you think about speaking sections in the new textbook for grade 10? Very difficult Too long Interesting Not very difficult Too short Others: Easy Boring What are your difficulties when learning English speaking skill? Your pronunciation is not good You have nothing to say You feel shy when speaking in front of your classmates Your grammar and vocabulary are insufficient The speaking tasks are too difficult for you The speaking topics are unfamiliar You have little time to practice speaking in class The teacher doesn’t explain clearly enough Teaching and learning conditions are poor The teacher speaks too much Vietnamese VI There are too many students in your class Others To improve speaking skill, I have… Self – studied Had extra lessons to improve grammar and vocabulary Taken part in extra speaking lessons Practised speaking with friends Participated in English speaking clubs Others 10 Which solutions you suggest to improve your speaking skill with the new English textbook? Teachers should allow more time for speaking skill Teachers should test speaking skill more often Teachers should make the speaking lessons more interesting Teachers should shorten the tasks if necessary Students should work harder to improve their grammar and vocabulary Students should spend more time at home practising speaking The school should improve learning conditions Others: VII APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (FOR TEACHERS) Question 1: Can you identify the speaking sections or topics difficult for your students? Question 2: What you usually with the long speaking sections of the new textbook? Question 3: How you test your students’ speaking skill in class? VIII APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (FOR STUDENTS) Question 1: Why you think speaking skill is not very important? Question 2: Can you give examples of long and difficult speaking sections or unfamiliar topics? Question 3: Why you find the speaking tasks boring or have nothing to say? Can you give examples? Question 4: Why don’t you spend time practising speaking with friends or improving speaking by self - study? Question 5: What can you learn from extra classes? How can those classes help to improve your speaking skill?