Using Using Discussion Activities to Increase Motivation and Speaking Proficiency of Second-Year EFL Students at Hanoi University of Business and Technology: An Action Research Study

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES - LÃ THỊ HƯỜNG USING DISCUSSION ACTIVTIES TO INCREASE MOTIVATION AND SPEAKING PROFICIENCY OF SECOND-YEAR EFL STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY: AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG THẢO LUẬN NHẰM NÂNG CAO ĐỘNG LỰC VÀ TRÌNH ĐỘ NĨI CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KINH DOANH VÀ CÔNG NGHỆ HÀ NỘI) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111 Hanoi, 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES - LÃ THỊ HƯỜNG USING DISCUSSION ACTIVTIES TO INCREASE MOTIVATION AND SPEAKING PROFICIENCY OF SECOND-YEAR EFL STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY: AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG THẢO LUẬN NHẰM NÂNG CAO ĐỘNG LỰC VÀ TRÌNH ĐỘ NÓI CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KINH DOANH VÀ CÔNG NGHỆ HÀ NỘI) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111 Supervisor: Nguyễn Đức Hoạt, Dr Hanoi, 2014 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis represents my own work for the Degree of Master in TESOL at the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies - Vietnam National University, and that it has not been previously submitted to this University or any other institution in application for admission to a degree, diploma or other qualifications Lã Thị Hường Hà Nội 2014 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to acknowledge the debt of gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Duc Hoat for his helpful suggestions, invaluable critical feedback and encouragement in the writing of this study Without his guidance and help, this work would not have been completed My sincere thanks go to all the staff at the Department of Post-graduate Studies, Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies for giving me assistance and the lecturers who conducted the Master's course for providing me with valuable knowledge I would also like to express my deep sense of gratitude to my dear students of class KT1713, whose participation in and dedication to the research remain invaluable have been acknowledged Without their precious support, the thesis would not have taken shaped I am also indebted to my colleagues at Hanoi University of Business and Technology for their enthusiastic assistance and co-operation Finally, the support extended to me by the members of my family has been immeasurable I would also like to express my thanks to my parents and my husband for their wholehearted encouragement Ha Noi, December 29th 2013 La Thi Huong ABSTRACT The study was carried out with an attempt to increase motivation and speaking proficiency of the second-year EFL students at Hanoi University of Business and Technology by using discussion activities The subjects participating in the research were 14 second-year EFL students in Economics Faculty at Hanoi University of Business and Technology To achieve the desired aims of the study, an action research was carried out Class observation and survey questionnaires for students were used to measure students' level of motivation before and after the implementation Besides, to clearly see the change in students' speaking proficiency after applying discussion activities in speaking lessons, oral tests were also used as data collection method The results of the study showed that discussion activities helped increase motivation of almost all of the students in speaking lessons In addition, the results also revealed that after using discussion activities in speaking lessons, some of the students could improve their scores in the post-test Although there was not too much change, it was proved that discussion activities played a certain role in improving the students' speaking proficiency LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES TABLES: Table 1.1 Students' oral evaluation criteria 13 Table 2.1 The timetable of the action implementation 25 Table 3.1 Students' speaking opportunities during speaking lessons 32 Table 3.2 Students' comments on discussion activities 35 Table 3.3 Results of Pre-test 38 Table 3.4 Results of students' speaking performance in the pre-test 39 Table 3.5 Results of Post-test 40 Table 3.6 Results of students' speaking performance in the post-test 40 FIGURES: Figure 2.1 Kemmis and McTaggart's action research spiral 23 Figure 3.1 Students' levels of interest in English speaking lessons and discussion activities 31 Figure 3.2 Students' difficulties in learning speaking English 32 Figure 3.3 Students' preferences for types of discussion activities 33 Figure 3.4 Students' levels of motivation 34 Figure 3.5 Students' levels of interest when participating in discussion activities 35 Figure 3.6 Students' preferences for discussion activities 36 Figure 3.7 Overall class motivation scores for all students 37 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES iv PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Statement of the problem and rationale of the study Aims of the study 3 Research questions Significance of the study Scope of the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Speaking skill 1.1.1 The importance of teaching and learning speaking skill 1.1.2 EFL speaking processes 1.2 Characteristics of a successful speaking activity 1.3 Discussion and students' speaking proficiency 1.3.1 The role of discussion in improving students' speaking proficiency 1.3.2 Types of Discussion Activities 1.3.2.1 Brainstorming activities 1.3.2.2 Organizing activities 1.3.2.3 Compounding activities 11 1.4 Assessing speaking skill 12 1.4.1 Oral tests 12 1.4.2 Speaking proficiency testing criteria 13 1.5 Motivation 15 1.5.1 Definitions 15 1.5.2 Types of Motivation in language learning 16 1.5.3 Factors affecting motivation in foreign language learning 16 1.5.4 Techniques for improving students’ motivation in speakinglessons 18 1.6 Previous research 20 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 22 2.1 Research design 22 2.2 Setting and subjects of the study 23 2.3 Research procedures 24 2.3.1 Conducting preliminary investigation 25 2.3.2 Planning the action 26 2.3.2.1 Choosing discussion activities 26 2.3.2.2 Preparing the discussion activities 26 2.3.3 Implementing the action 26 2.3.4 Observing the action 27 2.3.5 Reflecting the action 27 2.4 Data collection instruments 28 2.4.1 Survey questionnaires 28 2.4.2 Class observation 28 2.4.3 Oral tests 28 2.4.3.1 Pre-test and Post-test 29 2.4.3.2 The reliability and validity of the tests 29 2.5 Data analysis 30 2.6 Summary 30 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 31 3.1 Levels of students' motivation 31 3.1.1 Pre-action questionnaire results 31 3.1.2 After action findings 34 3.1.2.1 After action questionnaire findings 34 3.1.2.2 Class observation findings 37 3.2 Students' speaking proficiency 38 3.2.1 Pre-test results 38 3.2.2 Post-test results 39 3.3 Reflection 41 PART III: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 44 Summary of major findings 44 Recommendations 44 Limitations of the study 45 Suggestions for further study 46 REFERENCES 47 APPENDICES I PART I: INTRODUCTION Statement of the problem and rationale of the study One of the main purposes of studying English is to use it for communication According to O'Malley and Pierce (1996), among the four skills, speaking seems to be an important skill that learners should acquire Therefore, to teach learners of English to be able to speak English well is said to be one of primary goals in learning the target language However, for non-native EFL speakers it is not easy to communicate effectively in English because learners of English have to master many important elements of English including vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, fluency and comprehension This requires teachers of English to apply creative teaching methods to the teaching and learning speaking skill so that they can motivate their students to take part in speaking activities and also increase their speaking proficiency At Hanoi University of Business and Technology (HUBT), the teachers of English have used a lot of activities with the aim to increase motivation of their students and their speaking proficiency as well Among the activities given in the course book namely "Market Leader - Pre-intermediate", discussion activities such as guessing, comparing, surveys or detecting differences are usually used in speaking classes During the teaching and learning English speaking for the second-year EFL students, however, many problems arising have challenged the teachers and their students to their goal The most apparent problem is that some students seem to have no or little interest in the discussion activities Some not find the activities interesting enough; therefore, they not join in the activities at all or just join them when they are asked to Even for some others who are willing to take part in the activities not have enough vocabulary and background knowledge, or sometimes cannot work with friends to a certain task effectively; therefore, they gradually lose interest in the discussion activities Another problem is that some teachers use the same discussion activities in almost speaking classes Nhận xét A Các hoạt động thảo luận giúp em cảm thấy thư giãn và thich thú B Các hoạt động thảo luận giúp em làm giảm lo lắng và tăng thêm tự tin nói C Các hoạt đợng thảo luận đưa cho em nhiều hợi để nói tiếng Anh D Các hoạt động thảo luận giúp cho bài học nói thú vị em bạn tham gia vào giải vấn đề đưa E Các hoạt động giúp em cải thiện đợng lực học nói nhiều Em có mong muốn cô giáo em sử dụng hoạt động học nói tương lai khơng? □ Có □ Không Cảm ơn hợp tác em! VIII Appendix 2: Class observation OBSERVATION SHEET - OVERALL CLASS MOTIVATION (Adapted from Peacock, 1997) Observer : Date : Teacher : Class : No of students present: Time : Material : Unit : Observation focus: levels of students' motivation generated by the tasks is average mark for any one item Instructions: ● This sheet is for observing the class as a whole, not individual students ● Complete this sheet when the lesson is drawing to a close ● Circle ONE number of each other below ● Add final comments after the lesson at the bottom of the sheet if you wish Mark how involved in the activities the students are Not very involved Very involved Mark the levels of students' concentration on the activities Low High The students are enjoying the activities Not really Very much The students are paying persistent attention to the activities Not really Very much Mark students' activity level (effort/ intensity of application) Low High The students find the speaking activities interesting Not really Very much The speaking activities are challenging for the students IX Not really Very much The speaking activities are appropriate for the students Not really Very much Comments: X Appendix 3: ORAL TESTS Pre-test Part 1: Introduce yourselves Part 2: Read aloud the following dialogue with your partner: St A: We need to discuss the problem of quality with the new LT60 components Basically, we have two alternatives We can either accept a wastage rate of 10% or we can delay the schedule and redesign the component Any views on this, Mark? St B: Yes, the important thing here is the timing The customers can't wait any longer for this product It's 90% OK I think we should go ahead with production St A: I'm not sure I agree Waste costs money We need zero defects St B: But we haven't got time St A: I'm sorry, but I don't think we should start production until the design is OK Part 3: Discussion In business, great ideas plays an important part in the success of a product Can you think of some ways in which great ideas are generated? Discuss with your partner XI Post-test Part 1: Introduce yourselves Part 2: Read aloud the following dialogue with your partner: St A: Ah, Monique St B: Sorry I'm late St A: That's OK A glass of champagne? St B: Thank you So what does a wine journalist do? St A: Well, I go to the wine regions and I interview people in the business to get information for my articles I travel to Italy two or three times a year St B: Do you enjoy the job? St A: Yes, I really love my work, especially the travelling I meet so many interesting people St B: I enjoy travelling, too St A: Yes, I see from your business card that your translation agency has offices in Paris, London and Rome Where you live? St B: In London But I often travel in Europe and I come to Paris regularly, usually for work Sometimes I come to visit my parents They live near Dijon So, why you need a translation agency? St A: Well, to help with interviews for my book about Italian wines St B: Oh, really? How interesting! We have a lot to discuss St A: Yes, we Do you have time for dinner? The lobster is really excellent St B: Thank you very much Part 3: Discussion Many company spend a lot of money on corporate entertaining Do you think the money is well spent? Why or why not? Discuss with your friend XII Appendix 4: Speaking Band Descriptors (Adapted from IELTS Speaking Band Descriptors - Published Version and The frame of Harris's oral English rating scale) Band Fluency and Vocabulary Grammar Pronunciation coherence 10 * speaks fluently * uses vocabulary * uses a full range * with only rare with repetition the given topics class speaks coherently fully not only a full the range of or and precision in structures learned in pronunciation self-correction * flexibility of uses but others features with related naturally and precision with appropriately * is effortless to appropriate understand cohesive features * develops topics coherently and appropriately * speaks fluently * uses a wide * uses a wide range * uses a wide with only vocabulary occasional resource repetition; and hesitation is convey usually of not only the range of readily structures learned in pronunciation flexibly to class but others features precise related meaning with * is easy with flexibility and understand content-related and occasional occasional throughout sometimes inappropriacies search to inaccuracies for language * develop topics quite coherently XIII to and appropriately * speaks * uses vocabulary * uses coherently, sometimes a range of * uses a range but resource flexibly both the structures of pronunciation with to discuss one of learned in class and features noticeable effort with the related topics others with some some flexibility learned in class flexibility * * L1 accent has sometimes some effect on makes grammatical intelligibility mistakes * is willing to * uses a wide * uses a range of * can generally speak at length but range of both the structures be sometimes to learned in class and throughout, loses vocabulary coherence due to discuss one of the others repetition hesitation or related can meaning * mispronunciation frequently of words make makes grammatical sounds quite mistakes, but with frequent topics limited flexibility learned in class * but understood or reduces which clarity clear, sometimes causes with comprehension inappropriacies problems * speaks slowly * manages to talk * produces a limited * can generally with repetition hesitation frequent about the related range of both the be or topics learned in structures learned in throughout class but * produces simple vocabulary speech understood uses class and others with * quite limited flexibility fluently usually * usually makes mispronunciation grammatical of words mistakes and causes sounds, XIV has or which some makes an effort comprehension to understand problems * can not develop * topics coherently frequently * produces basic * makes errors on sentence forms and mispronunciation * speaks slowly word choice and some with frequent must repetition correct s rephrases sentences inadequacies frequent and and because of lexical *errors hesitation are cause are difficulty for the frequently produces listener and usually lead to misunderstanding * speaks with long * usually makes * pauses errors on and word basic * conversation is which sentences makes * usually makes word errors of grammar mistakes * has difficulty to choice link usually in order pronouncing obscure words even limited because of meaning familiar ones, inadequate and requires a vocabulary great effort to understand * is usually * sometimes * grammar and * very hard to hesitant to produce word order errors understand even make because comprehension pronunciation often forced into difficult problems silence * simple sentences, and by must of usually * must frequently language rephrase sentences be asked limitation and restrict himself repeat to to basic patterns * pauses lengthily * only produces * can not produce * before most words * very isolated words little XV pronunciation basic sentence is so severe as to forms make speech communication virtually possible unintelligible * no communication possible * no rateable language * does not attend XVI Appendix Lesson Plans UNIT 10: CONFLICT Lesson plan: Skills - Listening and Speaking Target learners: a class of second-year students, level: Pre-intermediate Objectives: 2.1 Educational aims: During the lesson, Ss will - Have a chance to practice the listening skill – listening for specific information - Practice the skills to deal with conflict in a negotiation 2.2 Knowledge: - General knowledge: Ss will be provided with some certain vocabulary and useful language that are necessary when businesspeople deal with conflict with their business partner in a negotiation - Language teaching points: certain words or phrases and expressions used in different parts of a negotiation - New words: consistency, patience, calmness, enthusiasm, formality, credibility Methods: integrated Teaching aids: course book, handout, cassette player, board Timing:135 minutes (3 periods) Detailed plan: Stages Teacher's activities Students' activities Pre- - Discuss with the whole class some good - Together with the T, discuss speaking ways of dealing with conflict in a with friends some good ways XVII negotiation (7 minutes) of dealing with conflict in a negotiation (10 minutes) - Ask Ss to listen to two businessmen - Listen to two businessmen giving solutions to the conflict they have, dealing with their conflict and then play the recording Then check the answer the three questions answers (10 minutes) Then correct Answers: answers any wrong To have five reserved parking spaces for staff on a "first come, first served" basis She says it's not a solution - Staff need somewhere to park The idea that the company will pay 30 percent of the cost of parking in the public car park - Note down some useful - Give Ss some useful language to calm language to calm people down people down and create solutions (5 and minutes) create solutions to conflict While- Task 1: Whose solutions are the best? speaking (debates) (p.95) - Divide the class into three groups: - Ss work in groups as groups of five, and group of four Tell Ss assigned by the T, try to find that group supports the solutions of the out argument in 15 minutes union representative; group supports the solutions of the general manager which is on the opposite; group tries to make a compromise Ask each group to prepare their case in 15 minutes, and arrange Ss seating in a circle XVIII Ask Ss to work in their groups discussing their argument - Then ask all members of group to talk - After discussing in groups, Ss about their solutions together Next, ask will start the debates group talk about their solutions After Members of group talk that, ask three groups to give their about their solutions Next, argument The debates will stop until two group talk about their of the three groups cannot give any solutions After that, three convincing argument groups take turn to give their argument The debates will stop until two of the three groups cannot give any convincing argument - Give Ss feedback - Listen to T's feedback Post- Task: Discussing the solutions (p 95) Speaking - Ask Ss to work in pairs and tell Ss that - In pairs, Ss negotiate with they need to negotiate to find out the each other to find out the solutions to the problems using the useful solutions to the problems using language the useful language the T has given (10 minutes) - Then call some pairs to present - Some pairs will present - Give Ss some comments - Listening to T's comments XIX UNIT 12: PRODUCTS Lesson plan: Skills - Speaking Target learners: a class of second-year students, level: Pre-intermediate Objectives: 2.1 Educational aims: During the lesson, Ss will - Have a chance to practice the listening skill – listening for specific information - Practice the skills when presenting a product 2.2 Knowledge: - General knowledge: Ss will be provided with some certain vocabulary and useful language that are necessary when businesspeople present a product to their partners - Language teaching points: certain words or phrases and expressions used in different parts of a presentation on a new product - New words: robust, elegant, user-friendly, well-designed, high-quality Methods: integrated Teaching aids: pictures, course book, handout, cassette player, board Timing:135 minutes (3 periods) Detailed plan: Stages Teacher's activities Students' activities Pre- - play the recorder and ask Ss to listen and - listen to the recorder and speaking circle the adjectives that they hear circle the adjectives that are Answer: attractive, stylish, robust, elegant, mentioned user-friendly, well-designed, high-quality, flexible, practical - explain the meaning of the new words to - note down the meaning of the Ss the new words XX - ask Ss to make some simple sentences - in individual, make simple individually to describe a certain product sentences to describe a certain using the adjectives product using the adjectives - suggest some steps to present a product - pay attention to the steps to Ss: when presenting a product as * Introducing the product well as some useful phrases in * Describing the product each step * Stating the product's uses * Mentioning selling points * Inviting questions Then provide Ss with some useful phrases in each steps While- ● Task 1: Presenting a product speaking - Ask Ss to work in pairs choosing one of - Work in pairs, choose one of the four products given in the course book the given products in the to present course book to present Give Ss 10 minutes to prepare for their (prepare in 10 minutes) presentation - Go around the class, give any help - After 10 minutes, ask some pairs to - Present the product in pairs present the product they have chosen - Listen to T, correct any - Give any feedback to Ss mistakes ● Task 2: Which product will attract more consumers? (a "balloon debate") - Give instructions about the game-like - Listen to the T's instruction activity Work in groups as being Divide the class into three groups (2 assigned by the T groups of five, and group of four): two XXI of these are the direct opposite of each other ('Hongha notebooks are the best choice for Vietnamese students', and 'Campus notebooks are the best choice for Vietnamese students'), and a third optional - a compromise - Ask each group to prepare their case in - Prepare for the cases in 15 minutes, arrange Ss seating in a circle groups in 15 minutes Ask Ss to prepare for their views in terms of the three steps: describing the product, stating the product's uses and mentioning selling points - After that, T turns on the music, and asks - Throw out the ball till the Ss to start the game by throwing out the song is played The Ss ball to others When the song is over, asks keeping the ball after the the the Ss throwing the ball to give their song is over will have to give argument in one sentence The debate will their continue until only one group survive argument in one sentence The debate will continue until only one group survive - Give Ss feedback - Listen to T's feedback Post- Ask Ss to summarize what they have In groups, summarize what speaking debated in their groups, then requires a they have debated, then a member of each group to report it member of each group will report it XXII