Developing students’ speaking skill through Project- Based Learning. M.A. Thesis Linguistics: 60 14 01 11

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** PHẠM THỊ THU HÀ DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL THROUGH PROJECT-BASED LEARNING PHÁT TRIỂN KỸ NĂNG NÓI CHO HỌC SINH QUA VIỆC HỌC THEO DỰ ÁN M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI - 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** PHẠM THỊ THU HÀ DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL THROUGH PROJECT-BASED LEARNING PHÁT TRIỂN KỸ NĂNG NÓI CHO HỌC SINH QUA VIỆC HỌC THEO DỰ ÁN M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Ph.D TÔ THỊ THU HƯƠNG HANOI - 2014 DECLARATION I hereby, certify the thesis named “Developing students’ speaking through Project-Based Learning is the result of my own work for the Minor Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi The research has not been submitted for any degree at any other universities or institutions I agree that the origin of my thesis deposited in the library can be accessible for the purposes of study and research Hanoi-2014 Phạm Thị Thu Hà i ABSTRACT In an attempt to develop English speaking skill for tenth-grade students at An Lao High School by using Project Based Learning, this research addressed two issues: (1) students’ attitudes toward the use of Project Based Learning in their English lessons; (2) the impacts of using PBL on students’ English speaking The instruments employed for data collection and analysis of the study included two tests and two questionnaires for the students, an interview with two teachers and the teacher’s journals Research findings showed that the students had positive attitudes towards the use of PBL in their English lessons It was also revealed that PBL was beneficial to help students improve their performance in speaking lessons Based on the findings, some implications would be given for both the teacher and the students With all these information, this study is expected to be useful to both teachers and students in teaching and learning English speaking skill ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my deepest thanks to Dr Tô Thị Thu Hương, my supervisor, for her invaluable support, guidance, and constructive comments Without her assistance and encouragement, this study would not have been accomplished I am also indebted to all of my lecturers at Post-Graduate Department for their valuable lectures on the aspects of my concern Finally, I would like to show my sincere thanks to all the authors listed in the references for their ideas in this field They have developed my thinking on doing this paper iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS % Percent CEFR Common European Framework of Reference for Languages CLT Communicative Language Teaching Approach PBL Project- Based Learning Ss Students T Teacher LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Chart 1: Using PBL has helped develop your English speaking skill 34 Table 1: Table 1: How is the grade calculated? …………………… 14 Table 2: The results of the pre-test………………………………… 14 Table 3: The results of the questionnaire concerning causes of the students’ low English proficiency ………………………………… 15 Table 4: The results of the post-test ………………………………… 32 Table 5: Students’ opinion of the optional lessons using ProjectBased Learning ……………………………………………………… 34 Table 6: The criteria of speaking skill have been improved by the students……………………………………………………………… 35 Table 7: Ss’ changes after taking part in the lessons using PBL…… 36 Table 8: The difficulties students encountered when carrying out their projects………………………………………………………… 37 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii List of abbreviations and symbols iv List of charts, figures and tables iv Table of contents v PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the research Aims of the research Scope of the research Research questions Methodology 5.1 Definition 5.2 Reason for the use of action research 5.3 Action research design 5.4 Participants 5.5 Procedures PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Speaking skill 1.1.1 Definition of speaking 1.1.2 Functions of speaking 1.1.3 The importance of teaching speaking skill 1.2 Communicative Language Teaching 1.3 Project – Based Learning 1.3.1 Definitions of Project-Based Learning 1.3.2 Key features of Project- Based Learning 10 1.3.3 Teacher’s role in Project- Based Learning 11 1.3.4 Stages in project work 11 1.3.4.1 Stage 1: Speculation 11 1.3.4.2 Stage 2: Designing the project activities 11 v 1.3.4.3 Stage 3: Conducting the project activities 12 1.3.4 Stage 4: Evaluation 12 CHAPTER II: THE STUDY 13 2.1 Research questions and design 13 2.2 Planning stage 13 2.2.1 The problem 13 2.2.2 Evaluation of the students' speaking skill through a pre-test 13 2.2.3 Conducting a questionnaire to get information from students 15 2.2.4 Drawing a plan of action to solve the problems 16 2.3 Acting stage 17 2.3.1 Theme 1: Conservation 17 2.3.2 Theme 2: Music 18 2.3.3.Theme 3: Cities 20 2.3 Theme 4: Historical Places 21 2.4 Observing stage 22 2.4.1 Brief description of the first lesson with theme “Conservation” 22 2.4.2 Brief description of the first lesson with theme “Music” 25 2.4.3 Brief description of the first lesson with theme “Cities” 27 2.4.4 Brief description of the first lesson with theme “Historical Places” 29 2.5 Evaluation stage 31 2.5.1 Evaluation of the students' speaking skill through a post-test 31 2.5.2 Evaluation of the students' speaking skill through the results of the interview with two teachers 33 2.5.3 Evaluation of the students' speaking skill through the results of the questionnaire with students 34 PART C: CONCLUSION 39 Recapitulation 39 2.Conclusions 39 Limitations and suggestions for further research 40 Implications for developing speaking skill through Project Based Learning 41 REFERENCES 42 APPENDICES I vi PART A: INTRODUCTION Rational of the research Realizing that foreign language proficiency is really essential for students in an increasingly connected world, in Vietnam, Ministry of Education and Training has put more emphasis on teaching and learning foreign languages, especially English than ever before It is the Vietnam’s National Foreign Language 2020 Project that is a milestone in improving teaching and learning foreign languages With the recognition of the importance of developing language skills for students, AnLao High School has implemented the seven year system course books - English 10, 11, 12 to help students to master four English language skills Experiencing seven years teaching these course books, the researcher encountered quite a few problems in terms of the low English proficiency of the students in speaking skill Students got into a lot of difficulties in speaking English, and the most serious problem was the lack of confidence Consequently, students had limited success in developing English speaking skill Problems relating to the contents of a speech like ideas and grammar were the second and third most common Students usually had little idea about what to say and they might be even unsure how to use the correct grammar Besides, pronunciation was another major obstacle This fact confirms the following opinion, “The acquisition of good pronunciation…is commonly held to be the most difficult of all tasks in second language learning” (Carrasquillo, 1994, p.136) The researcher considered the use of Project-Based Learning as an appropriate strategy to help the students overcome all the difficulties in developing speaking English because PBL goes on over a period of time, resulting in products and presentations in which some aspects of speaking as confidence, ideas, grammar, and pronunciation can be enhanced by students Moreover, students can foster the development of other skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, and problem solving through each project Considering the positive contributions of PBL, the researcher conducted a study on the implementation of Project-Based Learning (PBL) to develop the English speaking skill for the tenth- grade students at An Lao High School Aims of the research The research aims to: - find out the tenth- grade students’ attitudes towards the use of Project-Based Learning in their optional English lessons - discover how the use of Project-Based Learning in teaching English helps develop students’ English speaking skill Scope of the research The research focused on using Project-Based Learning in teaching English in optional English lessons to the tenth-grade students at AnLao High School in the second term of the school-year of 2013-2014 Research questions How can the use of Project-Based Learning in teaching English help develop AnLao tenth-grade students’ English speaking skill? What are the attitudes of AnLao tenth-grade students towards the use of Project- Based Learning in their optional English lessons? Methods of the research It was action research with mixed methods for data collection that became the methodology of the research The tools for data capture involved two questionnaires for students, an interview with teachers, a pre-test, a post-test, class observation and teachers’ journals 5.1 Definition Action research, according to Parsons and Brown (2002) is a form of investigation designed for use by teachers to attempt to solve problems and improve professional practices in their own classrooms It involves systematic observations and data collection which can be then used by the practitioner-researcher in reflection, decision-making and the development of more effective classroom strategies 2.5.2 Evaluation of the students' speaking skill through the results of the interview with two teachers The two volunteer teachers were interviewed to give their opinions of the effectiveness of Project Based Learning in developing students' speaking skill (see APPENDIX 2) These were the results of the interview a Do you usually use Project Based Learning in teaching English to your students? Why or Why not? Both of the teachers did not usually use Project -Based Learning in teaching English to their students The reasons they gave are shown as follows: - It took up a lot of time - They did not know Project Based Learning well - They did not know how to design a project for students b Are you satisfied with the students' performance in their presentations? - Both of them were satisfied with the students' performance in their presentations They saw that the students had made much progress in speaking skill through their different projects c Do you think using Project Based Learning can develop students’ speaking skill? - Both of them thought that Project-Based Learning could develop students' speaking skill d Do you think about whether to apply Project-Based Learning to your English teaching? - Both of them wanted to apply PBL to their teaching when having time The results of the interview demonstrated that there was agreement on the effectiveness of PBL between the two teachers Although this method consumed a lot of time, it was considered as an appropriate strategy to develop students' speaking skill Project-Based Learning really offered a wide range of benefits to students 33 2.5.3 Evaluation of the students' speaking skill through the results of the questionnaire with students The 40 students were given a post-trying out-questionnaire with questions for evaluation (see APPENDIX 3) Question 1: What you think about using Project Based Learning in the optional lessons? a too difficult b challenging but interesting c normal d too easy Table 5: Students’ opinion of the optional lessons using Project Based Learning Choice Question What you think about using Project Based Learning in the optional lessons? a b c d (20 %) 30 (75 %) (5 %) (0%) As can be seen from Table 5, 75% of the students found using Project Based Learning in the optional lessons interesting because the projects posed big challenge to them However, 20% of the students had difficulty in using PBL There were only a small number of the students (5%) who had no idea of it These facts might be concluded that the try – out stage of conducting the optional lessons using PBL had certain good influence on the students' learning attitude so that they could achieve their goals and gain confidence in English speaking skill Question 2: Do you think using Project Based Learning in the lessons has helped develop your English speaking skill? 34 Chart 1:Using PBL has helped develop your English speaking skill 80.00% 72.50% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% Percentage 30.00% 17.50% 20.00% 10% 10.00% 0% 0% 0.00% strongly agree agree I don't know disagree extremely disagree This chart represents 90% of the students believed that Project Based Learning had developed their English speaking skill The number of students who had no ideas of the effectiveness of PBL made up a small percentage (10%) This could be seen as the success of the action research Question 3: Which criteria of speaking skill have you improved? a fluency b vocabulary c grammatical accuracy d pronunciation e interactive communication f all of a, b, c, d and e Table 6: The criteria of speaking skill have been improved by the students Question Choice d a b c e f Which criteria of speaking skill have you (0 %) (0 %) (0 %) (0 %) (0 %) 36 (90 %) improved? The data in the table shows most of the students (90%) have made much progress in their English speaking skill thanks to the lessons using Project Based Learning All criteria of English speaking skill including fluency, vocabulary, grammatical accuracy, pronunciation, interactive communication met expectations 35 It was the results of the post-test that provided convincing evidence of their improvements There were only a small percentage of students (10%) who did not give any information Question 4: What are your opinions of your own changes after taking part in the lessons using Project Based Learning? a strongly agree b agree c I don't know d disagree e extremely disagree Table 7: Ss’ changes after taking part in the lessons using PBL Changes a b c d e I have made progress in speaking 21 15 2 (5%) (5%) (0%) English I am motivated to take part in the lessons I have taken greater responsibility for my own learning I have developed collaborating skill I have gained confidence in speaking in front of the audience (52.5%) (37.5%) 20 16 2 (50%) (40%) (5%) (5%) (0%) 15 21 (7.5%) (2.5%) (0%) (37.5%) (52.5%) 16 21 0 (40%) (52.5%) (7.5%) (0%) (0%) 16 19 0 (0%) (0%) (40%) (47.5%) (12.5%) As can be seen from the table 7, taking part in the lessons using PBL has made some changes to students First, when being asked to evaluate their own English speaking competence, 90% of the students believed that they had improved their English speaking skill It can be inferred from the second change that the students' interest in the lessons increased considerably In other words, PBL was superior to other methods in terms of ways to motivate students to learn English 36 The percentage (90%) of the students said that they took greater responsibility for their own learning could be considered a big success marking new steps forward of the students' attitude towards learning Besides, collaboration is increasingly important in today's working environments as well as for the majority of prestigious occupations of the future Thus, it was with great pleasure that PBL made students team players (92.5%) Students gained cooperation while participating in a group Finally, public speaking skill is valuable both in students' personal life and career PBL engaged students in public speaking through their presentations This increased their confidence in speaking English (87.5%) It may also help to reduce anxiety about situations in which they can be called to speak in public in the future To sum up, these findings provide us evidence of the fact that teachers can change the situations if they know how to use Project Based Learning in teaching English effectively Question 5: Which difficulties did you encounter when carrying out your projects? You can choose more than one answer a I was not familiar with group work b The duration of a project is too long c I had difficulty accepting the new role of the teacher as a facilitator Table 8: The difficulties students encountered when carrying out their projects Question Choice b a Which difficulties did you encounter when carrying out your projects? 17 (42.5 %) (20%) c (15%) The data from table shows that most of the students encountered some difficulties when carrying out their projects for the first time The most serious problem related to the fact that 42.5 % of the students were not familiar with group work At the beginning, although clear roles for group members were assigned, 37 some students dominated the work, while others did little work Another difficulty concerned the long duration of the projects Some students (20%) seemed to have lost interest and motivation by the end of the project Finally, some students (15%) had difficulty accepting the new role of the teacher as a facilitator At the beginning of project work some students felt apprehensive of project work 38 PART C: CONCLUSION Recapitulation The previous chapters show that using Project Based Learning in English speaking lessons consumed a lot of time Most of teachers did not have opportunities to practice PBL or they even did not know how to use it However, from the author's experience in teaching English with PBL, two lessons can be drawn First, PBL can be used effectively to develop student's English speaking skill Second, it offers a good solution to English teaching and learning in optional lessons The thesis has described a research in which the author made effort to solve problems in terms of the low English proficiency of the students in speaking skill by applying Project Based Learning The results of the research represented that students had positive attitude towards the use of Project Based Learning in English lessons As a result, most of students had the greatest improvement in speaking skill In addition, their collaborative skill improved dramatically After the project work, students knew that being a team member; they had to learn to be responsible for their roles assigned to them Most importantly, most of the students, regardless of language performance, or motivational intensity seemed to have developed their cooperative skill Also, their computer skills improved, mainly, the ability to use the internet to search for information To sum up, PBL provides students with not only good English speaking skill but also some necessary skills for integration and development in the 21st century The data analysis of the research also interpreted that the students had to cope with some difficulties as mentioned above The teacher remedied these problems by providing procedures for task completion and engaging students in different projects in the hope that they can overcome the difficulties Conclusions According to the study on developing students’ speaking through PBL for tenth- grade students, the researcher comes to the conclusion that PBL could 39 improve the students’ speaking very well The researcher explained to the students what PBL was before giving them the projects to complete based on the themes in the text book The students in group of carried out their projects then performed them in front of the class As demonstrated by the results of the study, the students gave positive response towards the implementation of PBL They gradually enjoyed the discussion and the performance based on what they had made There was also improvement in the students’ speaking skill Clearly, the study has given the answers to all research questions and achieved its aims Being aware of the fact that education is not offered with individual teaching methods, the author is willing to experiment with non-traditional teaching practices (PBL) as powerful tools for the achievement of teaching aims such as increased motivation, interest, and English speaking performance in the context of teaching English as a foreign language The study is also carried out in the hope that it would be beneficial for teachers of English who want to apply PBL in their language teaching In short, PBL is considered an appropriate strategy which is superior to other methods to develop students’ English speaking skill It should be an innovative aspect in English teaching and learning thanks to its benefits to students and teachers Limitations and suggestions for further research The study still has some limitations To begin with, the modest scale of the study only takes place in optional periods with a small number of students (40 students) Meanwhile, there is only one class for each grade at the author’s school which has one optional period per week If I meet the school’s curriculum, I cannot carry out the lessons with PBL for other classes due to the time limitation Besides, the researcher’s practical experience and knowledge of PBL is limited because this method is still very new to teachers Hopefully, these problems will be solved in the 40 future researches to see how effectively PBL works in language learning and teaching Implications for developing speaking skill through Project Based Learning Project Based Learning that was implemented towards small group discussion increased the student’s participation in the learning process Students interacted well in a small group before they performed in a big discussion In their small groups, the students managed to prepare their speech before they appeared in front of the class They were actively involved in the discussions, so their speaking skill improved Besides, as evidenced from the teacher’s journals and the results of the posttest, the students’ performance in their presentations was significantly improved through each project All criteria of English speaking ability met expectations This indicated that the implementation of Project Based Learning was successful 41 REFERENCES Brinia,V (2006) Experiential learning in the subject “Organisation and business administration” in general upper secondary school: A suggestion for effective education Carrasquill Teaching English as a second Language: A resource guide Garland Publishing, Inc NewYord & London/1994 Fried-Booth, D.L (2002) Project work (2nd ed.) New York: Oxford University Press Fragoulis, I, & Mega, G (2009) The project method and visible thinking: A comparative study Presentation in the 1stPanhellenic Conference of Educational Sciences, 28-31 may, 2009 George Lucas Educational Foundation (2001, November 1) Project-based learning research Edutopia (retrieved from www.edutopia.org*.) Haines, S (1989) Projects for the EFL classroom: Resource material for teachers Walton-on-Thames, UK: Nelson Jack C Richard (2008) Teaching Listening and Speaking – From theory to practice Cambridge University Press 2008 Levy, M (1997) Project-based learning for language teachers: reflecting on the process In R Debski, J Gassin, & M Smith (Eds.), Language learning through social computing, (pp.181-191) Melbourne:Applied Linguistic Association of Australia and Horwood Language Center Nunan, D (1989) Design Tasks for the Communicative Classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 10 Nunan, D (1991) Language Teaching Methodology: A Textbook for Teachers New York: Prentice Hall Regents 11 Nunan, David (1999) Second Language Teaching and Learning Boston, Massachusetts Heinle & Heinle Publishers 42 12 Papandreou, A., P (1994) An application of the projects approach to EFL English teaching Forum, 32(3), 41-42 13 Parsons, R D., & Brown, K S (2002) Teacher as reflective practitioner and action researcher 14 Skehan, P (1998) A cognitive approach to language learning Oxford: Oxford University Press 15 Stoller, F L (2007) Project-based learning: An effective means for promoting purposeful language use In Selected Papers from the 16th International Symposium on English Teaching 16 Thomas, J.W (2000) A Review of the Research on Project-Based Learning The Autodesk Foundation 17 WBT The European Language Certificates Communication and Competence (retrieved from http://berkancitak.wikispaces.com/file/view/TELC) 43 APPENDICES Appendix 1: PRE-TRYING-OUT QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS The following questionnaire is conducted to find the causes of low English proficiency of the students in speaking skill Please circle the most appropriate options according to you Question 1: Are you afraid of speaking in front of the class? a Yes b No Questions 2: What are the reasons why you are afraid of speaking English in front of the class? You can choose more than one answer a bad pronunciation b lack of vocabulary c fear of mistakes d fear of other people's opinions e fear of speaking in public Question 3: What you think of the speaking activities in English speaking lessons? a boring b interesting Question 4: Do you work in groups actively in the English speaking lessons? a Yes b No Question 5: How often you practice speaking English in front of the class? a usually b sometimes c rarely I Appendix 2: AN INTERVIEW WITH TWO TEACHERS The following interview is carried out to get the teachers’ opinions of the effectiveness of Project Based Learning in developing students' speaking skill Question 1: Do you usually use Project Based Learning in teaching English to your students? Why or Why not? Question 2: Are you satisfied with the students' performance in their presentations? Question 3: Do you think using Project Based Learning can develop students’ speaking skill? Question 4: Do you think about whether to apply Project Based Learning to your English teaching? II Appendix 3: POST-TRYING-OUT QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS The following questionnaire is conducted to get students’ opinions of the effectiveness of Project Based Learning in developing students' speaking skill Please circle the most appropriate options according to you Question 1: What you think about the optional lessons using Project Based Learning? a too difficult b challenging but interesting c normal d too easy Question 2: Do you think using Project Based Learning in the lessons have developed your English speaking skill? a strongly agree b agree c I don't know d disagree e extremely disagree Question 3: Which criteria of speaking skill have you improved? a fluency b vocabulary c grammatical accuracy d pronunciation e interactive communication f all of a, b, c, d and e Question 4: What are your opinions of your own changes after taking part in the lessons using Project Based Learning? a strongly agree III b agree c I don't know d disagree e extremely disagree Your own changes: I have made progress in speaking English I am motivated to take part in the lessons I have taken greater responsibility for my own learning I have developed collaborating skill I have gained confidence in speaking in front of the audience Question 5: Which difficulties did you encounter when carrying out your projects? a I was not familiar with group work b The duration of a project is too long c I had difficulty accepting the new role of the teacher as a facilitator IV