Strategies for increasing students'''' participation in oral activities - a case of Dong Do High school, Hanoi

1 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** NGUYỄN THÙY DƯƠNG STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN ORAL ACTIVITIES: A CASE OF DONG DO HIGH SCHOOL, HA NOI (Những chiến lược tăng cường tham gia học sinh học kỹ nói: trường hợp Trường THPT Đông Đô, Hà Nội) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi – 2010 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** NGUYỄN THÙY DƯƠNG STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN ORAL ACTIVITIES: A CASE OF DONG DO HIGH SCHOOL, HA NOI (Những chiến lược tăng cường tham gia học sinh học kỹ nói: trường hợp Trường THPT Đơng Đơ, Hà Nội) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: NGUYỄN THỊ VƯỢNG, M.A Hanoi – 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii List of abbreviations iv List of tables and figures v Table of content vi PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Research question Scope of the study Significance of the study Methods of the study Design of the study PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT Chapter I - LITERATURE REVIEW I.1 Teaching Strategies I.1.1 Definition of strategy I.1.2 What is teaching strategy I.2 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) I.2.1 Definition of CLT I.2.2 Communicative activities I.3 Nature of speaking skill and principles of teaching speaking I.3.1 Nature of speaking skill I.3.1.1 Definition of speaking I.3.1.2 Characteristics of speaking I.3.2 Principles of teaching speaking I.3.2.1 Beginning level I.3.2.2.Intermediate level…………………………………………………………10 I.3.2.3 Advanced level 10 I.3.3 Teacher’s roles in teaching speaking………………………………………….11 I.4 Students’ participation in oral activities……………………………………… .12 I.4.1 Concept of students’ participation…………………………………………….12 I.4.2 Factors affecting students’ participation in oral activities…………………….13 I.4.2.1 Students’ style……………………………………………………………13 I.4.2.2 Students’ motivation…………………………………………………… 14 I.4.2.3 Teacher’s teaching techniques and methods…………………………… 14 I.4.2.4 Teacher’s personal qualities…………………………………………… 15 Chapter II – THE STUDY……………………………………………………………….16 II.1 Current situation of teaching and learning speaking at DDHS…………………….16 II.2 Methodology……………………………………………………………… 17 II.3 The subjects of the study………………………………………………………… 17 II.4 Data collection instruments……………………………………………………… 17 II.5 Data collection procedures……………………………………………………… 17 Chapter III - STATISTICS AND ANALYSIS OF DATA…………………………….18 III.1 Statistical results of questionnaires for students………………………………18 III.1.1 Students’ attitude towards speaking skill……………………………………18 III.1.2 Students degree of participation in classroom speaking activities………… 19 III.1.3 Reasons that make students hesitant to participate in oral activities……… 20 III.1.4 Current methods applied to teach speaking………………………………….21 III.1.5 Students’ desires…………………………………………………………… 21 III.2 Statistical results of questionnaires for teachers………………………………23 III.2.1.Teachers’ view of CLT……………………………………………………….23 III.2.2 Teachers’ attitude towards unwilling speakers and mistake makers…………24 III.2.3 Difficulties that teachers have confronted in teaching speaking…………… 26 III.2.4 Techniques and activities applied in teaching English speaking…………….26 III.3 Classroom Observations……………………………………………………… 27 Chapter IV - FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS …………………………….29 IV.1 Findings………………………………………………………………………… 29 IV.1.1 Levels of students’ participation in speaking lessons………………………29 IV.1.2 Learners’ reasons affecting participation in oral activities………………….30 10 IV.1.2.1 Poor background knowledge………………………………………… 30 IV.1.2.2 Lack of confidence…………………………………………………….30 IV.1.2.3 Lack of motivation…………………………………………………….30 IV.1.2.4 Passive learning style………………………………………………….31 IV.1.3 Teachers’ difficulties in teaching speaking in speaking …………………….31 IV.1.4 Current methods…………………………………………………………… 32 IV.2 Recommendations for teachers to improve students’ talking time………… 33 IV.2.1 Recommendation for the learners……………………………………………33 IV.2.2 Recommendation for the teachers……………………………………………34 IV.2.2.1 Suggested teaching speaking strategies……………………………… 34 IV.2.2.2 Suggested activities to increase students’ participation in oral activities……………………………………………………………………… 36 - Pair work………………………………………………………………………36 - Group work……………………………………………………………………36 - Role play………………………………………………………………………37 - Games………………………………………………………………………….38 PART THREE: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………… 39 III.1 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………39 III.2 Limitations and suggestions for further study…………………………………… 40 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………… 41 APPENDIX 1……………………………………………………………………………….I APPENDIX …………………………………………………………………………… V APPENDIX VIII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT refers to Communicative Language Teaching DDHS refers to Dong Do High School LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Lists of Figures Figure 1: Degrees of students' participation in oral activities Figure 2: Current methods applied to teaching speaking Figure 3: students' expectant activities from teachers Figure 4: Teaching methods currently used in teaching speaking Figure 5: Difficulties that teacher have encountered when teaching speaking List of Tables Table1: Students’ attitude towards speaking skill Table 2: Factors that make students hesitant to participate in oral activities Table 3: Students’ desires for speaking activities Table 4: Teachers’ opinion of CLT Table 5: Teacher’s attitude towards unwilling speakers and mistake makers Table 6: Techniques to make students more interested in speaking lessons Table 7: Activities to motivate students to participate more in oral activities Table 8: Time on-task, off-task for students in speaking activities 11 PART ONE: INTRODUCTION I Rationale Undeniably, English is a global language crossing many international boundaries In fact, the English language is so popular; it is spoken in more than a hundred countries and has more than a million words English is considered as the medium of communication in the fields of science, technology, diplomacy, and business, and so on English has an inherent simplicity and flexibility allowing it to be learnt quickly, cementing English as a global language Since 1971, the teaching and learning of English has become of a great concern in Vietnam It is because that English is also seen as a means to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between Vietnam and other countries As a result, there are more and more people desiring to know and master English with the hope of keeping up to date with the latest development in technology in the world Therefore, English in Vietnam has become part of the general education It is a compulsory subject not only in tertiary institutions but also in most secondary schools In learning English at high schools, English speaking skill is one of the four skills that students must be taught as separately and equally as the others However, due to some differently objective and subjective reasons, teaching and learning of this skill is often integrated with other skills such as listening skill, or is even neglected It leads to the cause that students not often enjoy speaking period as well as find it difficult to participate in speaking activities Furthermore, there are a lot of elements of speaking affecting the ability to speak fluently such as language features (connected speech, expressive device, lexis and grammar, negotiation language) and the ability to process information and language “on the spot” such as language processing, interacting with others…However, in a period of 45minutes, it seems to be impossible for both teachers and students to control them Therefore, if teaching and learning oral communication skill takes place within 45 minutes every week and only in classroom settings, its effect is limited In terms of my experiences of teaching English and teaching speaking skill at Dong Do high school (DDHS) I found that most of my students are unwilling to participate in oral 12 activities Most of them only passively sit and take notes, rarely contribute the lesson and even not ask for the teacher‟s help when they have any problems Reasons or this are various including large classes, psycho logical or cultural differences, teaching methods, teacher‟s knowledge, student‟s lack of idea or language devices, such as grammatical structures or vocabulary, etc Whatever reasons they may be, it is the first target of the teachers to help their learners get out of the always silent moment in class, and thereby, improve their speaking skills For such reasons I choose “Strategies for Increasing Students' Participation in Oral Activities: A case of Dong Do High School, Hanoi” as a theme for my thesis II Aims of the study This research is designed to break a new ground in looking for new strategies to enhance the participation of the students at DDHS in speaking activities In order to obtain this aim, some purposes are as follows: - To investigate theories concerning teaching and learning English as a foreign language in general and English oral communication skill in particular - To review some real situations about teaching and learning English and English speaking skill at DDHS - To search for some factors that affect the students‟ participation in oral activities at DDHS - To suggest some realistic and appropriate class teaching strategies with the hope they can maximize their learner‟s involvement in oral activities III Research questions To reach the aims of the study, the three research question addressed: 1.What is the reality of teaching and learning English speaking skill at DDHS? What are reasons for students‟ hesitation of taking part in speaking activities at Dong Do high school? What should teachers to increase students‟ participation in oral activities at Dong Do high school? 13 IV Scope of the study A study on the ways to enhance the involvement of all students in learning oral skill is quite broad, therefore the author would like to pay much attention to a brief of current situation of teaching and learning speaking at DDHS and to identify the reasons why the students are not ready to speak and suggest some possible strategies to increase them to speak more This is also the limitation of the thesis V Significance of the study In the past time, the students learned English with the main focus on grammatical issues; however, four English skills in general and English speaking skill in particular are concentrated as much as grammar Despite that, most of the teachers at high schools not realize the importance of oral communication skill in the full development of the four English skills In the textbook, English speaking skill is designed separately, and each oral skill lesson is taught within 45 minutes every week However, practicing English activities does not still end after speaking lessons It is because that both reading lessons and listening ones often contain some post-reading and post-listening activities relating to speaking skill Therefore, the enhancement of students‟ contribution in English oral activities is very important There is much hope that this would be useful and practical for both the teachers and learners of English VI Methods of the study To obtain the aims of the study both quantitative and qualitative methods are used The data serving the research analysis and discussion were collected by means of: + Questionnaires for students + Questionnaires for teachers + Classroom observation VII Design of the study This minor thesis is divided into three main parts Part one, INTRODUCTION, presents the rationale, the aims, scope, significance, methods, design of the study The research questions are also mentioned in this part Part two, DEVELOPMENT, consists of three following chapters: 47 - Be conscious of group size In general, groups of four or five members work best Larger groups decrease each member's opportunity to participate actively (Smith, 1986) - Create assignments that fit the students' skills and abilities Early in the term, assign relatively easy tasks As students become more knowledgeable, increase the difficulty level (Cooper, 1990) - Help groups plan how to proceed Ask each group to devise a plan of action: who will be doing what and when Review the groups' written plans or meet with each group to discuss its plan - Regularly check in with the groups If the task spans several weeks, you will want to establish checkpoints with the groups Ask groups to turn in outlines or drafts or to meet with you  Role play According to the result of the survey, role-play is an activity which used by over half of the teachers The use of role-play has added a tremendous number of possibilities for communication practice Students are no longer limited to the kind of language used by learners in a classroom: they can be shopkeepers or spies, grandparents or children, authority figures or subordinates, etc Moreover, role-play exercises are usually based on real-life situations; hence, the speech they require is close to genuine discourse, and provides useful practice in this kind of language the learner may eventually need to use in similar situations outside the classroom Role-play requires careful preparation and organization Role cards should be prepared in advanced and the situation must be realistic and interesting to attract every class member To this kind of activity, some students may feel unwilling to participate; therefore, the teachers ought to walk round the room to observe and encourage reluctant who escapes from joining them with the same suggestion and remind them not to speak in mother tongue Basing on teaching experiences of the researcher, the teachers should follow steps when they want to design a role-play activity: - Step 1: Teachers choose interesting situation (teachers can use situation outside the textbook) 48 - Step 2: give it to students and ask them to take the roles of the subjects in the conversation Students can choose the role suitable with them and practice with another partner at the same table or in front of them or behind them - Step 3: Ask students to change subjects and create new conversations - Step 4: Ask students to remember their roles in the conversation and then act creatively with their partners in front of other members in the class This step can be difficult but can motivate good students and create an exciting class air  Games for speaking Games are activities that can help the teachers to create contexts in which language is useful and meaningful (Andrew Wright, and Michael Buckby, 1984) In the whole process of teaching and learning by games, students can take part widely and are open-minded Besides, “Games are highly motivating because they are amusing and interesting They can be used to give practice in all language skills and be used to practice many types of communication” (Ersoz, 2000) Games can be played at the opening stages of lessons or at the production phase or whenever students feel tired after long time of learning; they will draw more attention to the lesson with lower stress Basing on the researcher‟s real experience of teaching, a guessing game (a flashcard or a picture) that is not shown to the class, the students must guess what it is by asking questions) is one of the most suitable types of games for students at DDHS because it is based on the simplest types of utterances: simple questions or statements, brief phrases, single words 49 PART THREE: CONCLUSION I Conclusion The study was carried out with the help of the Grade 11th students at DDHS to find out the strategies to increase students‟ participation in oral activities The findings show that a considerable number of students unwilling to speak English in class The longer the silence takes over the class, the more the teachers try to find out the ways to stimulate their students This actually makes the researcher carry out this study The study consists of three main parts, namely: the introduction, the development, the conclusion The first part presents the rationale, the aim, the scope, the research questions, the method and the design of the study In the rationale, the importance of studying English in general and the learning speaking skill in particular was discussed To answer three research questions raised in this study, both quantitative and qualitative methods have been applied to collect data through questionnaires and classroom observation The second part includes four chapters: Chapter one: Literature Review presents definition of strategies, teaching strategies; concepts of communicative language teaching (CLT); nature of speaking skill and principles of teaching speaking Furthermore, this chapter also deals with definition of students‟ participation, and" factors affecting students‟ participation as well Chapter two, namely The Study, states the current situation of teaching and learning English speaking skill at DDHS Besides, it talks about the methodology, the instrument, and the subjects of the study Chapter three: Statistics and Analysis of Data, analyses the collected data to answer the three research questions The last chapter – Findings and Recommendations – consists of the author‟s findings of levels of students‟ participation in speaking lessons, learner‟s factors affecting students‟ participation in oral activities, teacher‟s difficulties in teaching speaking, and current teaching methods Another important part of this chapter is some suggested strategies and activities which help overcome the major difficulties as well as improve the quality of teaching and learning speaking at DDHS The third part – Conclusion – in which the summary of the study, some limitations of the study are displayed 50 II Limitations and suggestions of the study Although the researcher has made effort toward carrying out this study such as the triangulation of data collection methods, namely observation, survey questionnaires for learners and teachers, due to the limitation of time, lack of resources and the researcher‟s ability, shortcomings are unavoidable Firstly, the research has been carried out in a very small scope The number of students and teachers involved in the survey is still limited, so to some extend, the findings may not be generalized to all students at DDHS Secondly, the researcher only used survey questionnaires and classroom observation as the main instrument for data collection In order to make the obtained results more reliable, different instruments for data collection should be applied Thirdly, the strategies suggested in this research are selected from different reliable but limited sources To carry out better and more efficient study with large scope, surely the researcher in the coming time with her further research should invite more learners at other levels and more teachers to participate in the studies 51 REFERENCES Brown, (1994) Teaching by Principles Cambridge University Press Brown, H Douglas (2007) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching White Plains NY Brown, G and Yule, G (1983) Teaching the Spoken Language CUP Burkart, G.S (1998) Spoken Language: What it is and how to teach it Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1998 Retrieved from www.nclrc.org Bygate, M (1987) Speaking Oxford University, Longman Byrne (1991) Teaching Oral English Longman Cooper, J (1990) Cooperative Learning and College Instruction Long Beach: Institute for Teaching and Learning, California State University Ersoz, A (2000) Six Games for the EFL/ESL Classroom The Internet TESL Journal, Vol VI, No 6, Gardner, R.C & Lambert, W (1985) Attitude and Motivation in Second Language Learning Newbury House, Rowley Mass 10 Harmer, J (2001) The Practice of English Language Teaching (3rd ed.) Essex: Longman 11 M Bailey, K & Savage, L (1994) New Ways in Teaching Speaking Oxford University Press 12 M Bailey, K (2005) Practical English Language Teaching: Speaking New York 52 13 Mackey, W.F (1965) Language Teaching Analysis London and Harlow, Longman 14 Nunan, D (1989) Designing Task for The Communicative Classroom Cambridge University Press 15 Nunan, D (1991) Language Teaching Methodology Prentice Hall International Ltd 16 Smith, K A (1986) "Cooperative Learning Groups." In S F Schmoberg (ed.), Strategies for Active Teaching and Learning in University Classrooms Minneapolis: Office of Educational Development Programs, University of Minnesota 17 Ur, P (1991) Discussion That Work Cambridge University Press 18 Ur, P (1996) A Course in Language Teaching Cambridge University Press 19 Wright, A & Buckby, M (1984) Games for Language Learning Cambridge University Press 53 APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES FOR STUDENTS Các em thân mến, Phiếu khảo sát nhằm mục đích tìm hiểu việc học tiếng Anh đặc biệt việc học kỹ nói (English speaking skill) học sinh trường THPT Đơng Đơ, để từ chương trình học đáp ứng tốt nhu cầu em Chính mong em trả lời trung thực câu hỏi phiếu Phiếu khảo sát không dùng vào mục đich đánh phục vụ cho mục đích nghiên cứu Xin chân thành cảm ơn em Hướng dẫn trả lời: Phiếu khảo sát có phần Các em đánh dấu nhân chéo (x) vào câu trả lời mà em cho thích hợp PHẦN 1: Quan điểm em kỹ nói tiếng Anh Kỹ nói tiếng Anh quan trọng với em? A Rất quan trọng B Khá quan trọng C Ít quan trọng D Không quan trọng Em thấyy học nói thú vị nào? A Rất thú vị B Khá thú vị C Ít thú vị 54 D Không thú vị chút Em nghĩ chủ đề nói sách giáo khoa? A Rất hay B Nhàm chán C Khó D Dễ dàng PHẦN 2: Các yếu tố ảnh đến tham gia học sinh học nói Em đánh mức độ tham gia cua em học nói tiếng Anh? A Em thích nói tiếng Anh ln sẵn sang tham gia vào hoạt động học nói B Em thích nói tiếng Anh giáo viên hỏi định em trả lời C Em thích nói tiếng Anh với bạn bên cạnh bạn bàn D Em thích nói tiếng Anh em chuẩn bị trước nội dung nhà E Em ngại phải tham gia vào hoạt động học nói tiếng Anh Theo em, yếu tố sau làm em cảm thấy ngại sử dụng tiếng Anh? A Em sợ xấu hổ B Em khơng quen nói tiếng Anh trước lớp C Phương pháp dạy nhàm chán D Nội dung học khơng thú vị E Mục đích học tiếng Anh em để giao tiếp Điều dây ảnh hưởng tới việc tham gia em học nói? A Khơng tìm từ cấu trúc câu 55 B Khơng biết chủ đề nói C Khơng đủ thời gian để chuẩn bị D Phát âm sai E Giáo viên nói nhiều lớp PHẦN 3: Các phương pháp ứng dụng việc dạy kỹ nói Sau đưa chủ đề nói, giáo viên em thường A Cung cấp cho em từ cấu trúc liên quan đến chủ đề nói B Cung cấp cho em ý chủ đề nói C Khuyến khích em lập dàn ý cho chủ đề nói D Yêu cầu em tự thảo luận chủ đề nói Trong thực hành nói, em mắc lỗi, giáo viên thường A Rất tức giận yêu cầu em dừng lại để chữa lỗi B Khơng bực u cầu em dừng lại để chữa lỗi C Đợi đến em thực hành xong lỗi sửa chúng cho em D Đợi đến em thực hành xong lỗi mà em mắc phải khuyến khích em tự sửa lỗi PHẦN 4: Giải pháp khắc phục Theo em giáo viên nên làm để tăng cường tham gia học sinh hoạt động nói (Em chọn phương án trả lời) A Không yêu cầu em dừng lại em mắc lỗi B Đồng ý câu trả lời đa dạng em C Giao cho em tập phù hợp với khả em D Thưởng điểm quà em nói tốt 56 10 Em nghĩ hoạt động sử dụng nói Rất thích Thích Làm việc theo cá nhân Làm việc theo nhóm, cặp Sử dụng trị chơi Khơng quan tâm Khơng thích Khơng thích chút 57 APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES FOR TEACHERS Dear All teachers at Dong Do High School This survey is designed in order to explore your student’s desire for learning English Therefore, as a researcher, I highly appreciate your assistance in completing this survey All the information is this survey is not used on the purpose of identifying; it is sole for the study purpose Thank you very much for your contribution (Please show your appropriate answer by putting a tick in the appropriate column) Q1 What you think about CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) (You can choose all statements if you think they are true) A Focus on meaningful tasks rather than on language itself B Doesn‟t teach grammar C Emphasize on fluency more than accuracy D Is learner-centered Q2 Have you been taught in CLT? A Yes, in English teaching-training courses B Yes, in English teaching workshops C No, I have never been taught in CLT D Others Q.3 What teaching method are currently used in your teaching speaking A CLT B Grammar translation C Audio-lingual 58 D Others Q.4 How you evaluate about your students’ level of participation in the classroom speaking activities? A My students are very afraid of participating speaking activities B My students are quite afraid of participating speaking activities C They are very willing to speak D I don‟t care Q.5 What you when your students are reluctant to speak? A get angry B get them to speak C encourage them to speak by asking easier? D let them sit down and not ask them again Q.6 When your students keep making mistakes, you are……… A Irritated B Little tolerant C Tolerant D Very Tolerant Q.7 What are your difficulties in teaching speaking skill at your school? A Large-sired class B Students‟ shyness C Students‟ low English proficiency D Lack of time Q.8 What you usually to make your students interested in their speaking lessons? (Choose more than one option) A Encourage them by grades 59 B Praise them C Let them choose topics to discuss D Design appropriate speaking tasks to the learners‟ abilities Q.9 How often you use the following activities to motivate your students to participate more in oral activities? Always Individual work Pair work & Group work Role play Games Often Sometimes Rarely Never 60 APPENDIX OBSERVATION SHEET Unit 14: RECREATION (Part B: Speaking – Expressing agreements and disagreements) Class: 11A2 and 11A3 Time allowance: 90 minutes (45 minutes for each class) Date: April, 15th, 2010 Teacher’s activities Students’ Students’ attitude participation in toward Teacher’s Teacher’s activities activities Work individually Active Exciting Practice the dialogue Willing to Rather exciting in groups of three participate Remark Task (5 minutes) asked the students to work individually to decide whether the expressions are agreements or disagreement Task (8 minutes) displayed the situation of the task, and then let students practice the dialogue in groups of three Task (15 61 minutes) announced the requirement of Task Continue the Most students were discussion in Task passive, but some which is about Rather boring were active continuing the discussion in Task and expressing agreement or disagreement Task (15 minutes) Asked students to report their conversation done in Task to the class Report the conversations Passive involvement Boring