An investigation into the use of useful expressions to enhance speaking skills for the third-year students at hanoi university of business and technology

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES _  LÊ HỒNG PHƯỢNG AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF USEFUL EXPRESSIONS TO ENHANCE SPEAKING SKILLS FOR THE THIRD-YEAR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY NGHIÊN CỨU CÁCH SỬ DỤNG CÁC CỤM TỪ HỮU ÍCH GIÚP NÂNG CAO KĨ NĂNG NÓI CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ BA TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KINH DOANH CÔNG NGHỆ HÀ NỘI M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI - 2017 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES _  LÊ HỒNG PHƯỢNG AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF USEFUL EXPRESSIONS TO ENHANCE SPEAKING SKILLS FOR THE THIRD-YEAR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY NGHIÊN CỨU CÁCH SỬ DỤNG CÁC CỤM TỪ HỮU ÍCH GIÚP NÂNG CAO KĨ NĂNG NĨI CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ BA TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KINH DOANH CÔNG NGHỆ HÀ NỘI M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr Dương Thị Nụ HANOI - 2017 DECLARATION I hereby certify that this thesis is entirely my own work I have provided fully documented references to the others‟ work The material in this thesis has not been submitted for assessment in any other formal course I also accept all the requirements of ULIS relating to the retention and use of M.A Graduation Thesis deposited in the library Hanoi, May 2017 Lê Hồng Phượng i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis would not be fulfilled without the help of some people, and in some ways, I would like to thank everyone who has taught me, inspired me, challenged me, and supported me during the process of conducting this thesis I would like to express my deepest thanks to my beloved supervisor, Duong Thi Nu, Ph.D, for her great assistance as well as her dedicated guidance she gave me while I was carrying out my project I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all lecturers in Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their interesting lectures and professional dedication which have inspired me to conduct this thesis I would also like to express my thanks to my colleagues at Faculty of English, my third-year students at Faculty of Management at Hanoi University of Business and Technology for their willingness to participate in the research Without their help, this project could not be completed Last but not least, I am most thankful to my family and my closed friends who have always inspired and encouraged me all the time Hanoi, May 2017 Lê Hồng Phượng ii ABSTRACT The majority of second language learners encounter problems when they speak in the target language For the number of the students at Hanoi University of Business and Technology, the matter might be a big obstacle Because of their various and low levels before entering the school, the students find it difficult to master speaking skills in English In this project, the researcher conducts an investigation in the use of useful expressions to the third-year students within weeks The research was formulated as an action one which used a questionnaire as a research instrument to collect quantitative and qualitative about students attitudes and the effectiveness of using useful expressions in learning speaking skills As can be seen from the qualitative and quantitative data, difficulties, limitations and challenges still occurred during the research; however, to some extent, the students made much progress in their speaking competence The results suggested the use of useful expressions as one of the effective ways to teach and learn speaking in English iii TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENT iv PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims and objectives 1.3 Scope of the study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Method of the study 1.6 Design of the study PART - CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of terminology 1.2 The role of speaking in language learning 1.3 Components of speaking competence 1.4 Different techniques used to teach pronunciation 10 1.5 The role of useful expression or fixed expression in developing speaking skill 10 1.6 Previous studies 11 1.6.1 Lexical bundles 11 1.6.2 Idiomatic expression 13 1.6.3 Useful expressions .14 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 15 2.1 Context of the study 15 2.2 The study 17 2.2.1 Participants .17 2.2.2 Data collection instruments .17 2.2.3 Questionnaire .18 2.2.4 Pre-test and Post-test results .20 2.2.5 Analysis techniques 2.2.6 Data presentation and analysis 21 2.2.7 Procedure 21 iv 2.3 A statement and a sample of assessment ………………………………………….24 2.3.1 Assessment requirements and criteria .24 2.3.2 The principles for grading 24 2.3.3 A sample of assessment .25 Chapter 3: DATA ANALYSIS 27 3.1 Students‟ general attitude towards using useful expressions in learning speaking skill .27 3.1.1 Students‟ attitude towards interest in using useful expression in learning speaking skill 27 3.1.2 Students‟ opinion towards the suitability of using useful expressions in speaking lessons 29 3.1.3 Students‟ opinion towards the practical aspect of using useful expressions in speaking lessons .30 3.1.4 Students‟ opinion towards their improvements after learning useful expressions 31 3.1.5 Students‟ difficulties in doing the project 32 3.2 The effectiveness of the research 33 3.3 The pre- test‟s and post-test‟s results 34 PART 3:CONCLUSION 39 Recapitulation 39 Main findings 39 Limitation of the study 40 Suggestions for further study 41 REFERENCES 42 APPENDICES I v PART 1: INTRODUCTION This part is dedicated to introducing the rationale of the study, the problem to be addressed in the study, the aims and objectives of the study, and the research questions to be answered It will also present the scope of the study and an overview of the methods and the design of the study 1.1 Rationale Speaking skills is one of crucial parts of second language learning and teaching “The ability to speak in a foreign language is at the very heart of what it means to be able to use a foreign language” (Louma, 2004) The mastery of this output skill in English is a priority for many second language or foreign-language learners In this global era, English is utilized as an international medium of communication and it helps people to work and cooperate in a common language It is the fact that the learners are often evaluated their success in the language learning as well as the effectiveness of their English course through their spoken language proficiency Unfortunately, speaking skill is a complicated and multifaceted skill which is not easy to be improved and takes a long time to make progress Up to now, various approaches to teaching speaking, therefore, have been recommended to help deal with this issue In most universities in Vietnam, English is a compulsory subject which equips students for effective workplace communication after their graduation It goes without saying that at Hanoi University of Business and Technology (hereafter HUBT), a private university, it is not an exception Being a teacher of English at English Department at HUBT, the author has had an opportunity to teach English mainly for communication in four skills listening, speaking, reading and writing Thanks to approaching all students from the freshmen to the seniors at all levels in all majors, the researcher herself has found that her students have a number of problems with speaking skill They are not willing to speak due to many reasons such as poor pronunciation, being afraid of making mistakes, lack of vocabulary and not having a language environment to practice English and so on During the first few courses, the author had many frustrations because even some of her students had motivation to learn English, they could not make progress in speaking skill Some students said to her “I can understand your English, but when I speak to „real people‟ I can‟t understand them” The writer has decided to introduce some changes with the desire for motivating and supporting her students to learn English speaking skill better through an action research whose result will be presented in this thesis entitled “An investigation into method of English teaching speaking skill using Useful Expressions for the third-year students at Hanoi University of Business and Technology.” The third-year students who are selected to be the participants in this study have already had two years learning English at HUBT as well as they soon have to gain a TOEIC certificate to graduate Furthermore, in order to seek for jobs in an international workforce environment when Vietnam joined global organizations like WTO, TPP and soon Asian Union, learners especially need to be accustomed to and use common phrases, useful expressions which are familiar with people in the workplace context Hence, they are able to communicate well with their seniors, colleagues, or clients Hopefully, the study will also help to facilitate her teaching, especially teaching speaking skill which she is interested in 1.2 Aims and objectives The aim of the current study is to investigate the effectiveness of the method of teaching speaking skill using Useful Expressions for the third-year students at HUBT This fundamental aim can be achieved when the two following objectives are met The first objective of the study is to seek for the effectiveness of using useful expressions for the students‟ improvement The other one is to explore the students‟ attitudes towards using useful expressions technique 1.3 Scope of the study In order to improve students‟ speaking skill, teachers can use varieties of techniques However, this study merely focuses on studying the effectiveness of teaching useful expressions to improve students‟ speaking skill This action research is applied in five consecutive speaking lessons The action is carried out for the third-year students of all majors in a class of about 30 students at HUBT within weeks The collected data are analyzed and discussed to figure out how using useful expressions contribute to enhance students‟ speaking skill 1.4 Research questions This study is conducted to find the answers for the following questions: What is the students‟ attitude towards useful expressions? To what extent does the use of useful expressions enhance speaking skill for the students from the teacher and the students‟ perspectives? 1.5 Method of the study Action research is employed in this study Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used in this research The data were collected by means of: - Questionnaires - Interviews The questionnaire is designed to gather data about the students‟ ideas on the intended criteria Information gathered from interviews with teachers will be notetaken, analyzed and used for providing more information These two research instruments are used in three phases of the action research for preliminary investigation, exploration of the effects that the action creates, and reflection on the action phase 1.6 Design of the study A part from the Introduction and Conclusion, the study is organized into three main parts: Literature Review, Methodology, Results and Discussion In the first part, Introduction consists of the rationale, aims, research questions, significance of the study, scope of the study, and the design of the study In the second part, chapter - Literature Review mentions the theoretical background of the study and the review of the previous studies The next chapter - Methodology describes the overall picture of how the research is carried out from the first step of determining the research design to the last step of gathering the results Student A is attending with his boss (student B) they Student B is attending with a junior colleague don‟t understand the Student C is a colleague of students A and B from situation a subsidiary who met student A at the same Work in pairs or conference last year individually Student D is attending the conference for the first Practice time and doesn‟t know anyone Divide class into fours, allocating roles of students A, B, C, and D Get students A and B to prepare their roles together, with student C and D each preparing their roles separately Go round and assist where necessary When the groups are ready, get them to begin the role play At this point, students remain seated Go round and monitor language, noting the strong points and those that need improvement, especially in relation networking language Bring the class to order Mention some of the good points in the language teacher heard and work on a half of dozen points that need improvement Ask one or two groups to repeat their “performances” in front of class POST- Go through the expressions in the useful language Take note TEACH box, telling students that teacher will check them homework the orally on it in the next lesson Make question if Ask students to see if they have any questions necessary Stand up and say “goodbye” VII LESSON PLAN UNIT 5:ADVERTISING I CLASS DESCRIPTION  The 30 third-year students majoring in Management at Hanoi University of Business and Technology II DURATION:90 minutes III OBJECTIVES: By the end of this lesson, the students should be able to  To get familiar with phrases in the Useful expressions and practice them efficiently  To develop students‟ speaking skill in real situation in business III TEACHING AIDS AND REFERENCES :  Chalk and black board  Computer, projector and loudspeaker  Textbook and teacher‟s book: the 3rd edition Intermediate Market Leader IV PROCEDURES: Stages Teacher’s activities Students’ activities WARM Display a short video of famous presenters and ask Watch a video UP students to guess the topic and Introduce the topic topic guess the Skills: starting and structuring a presentation PRE- Ask students mention what needs for preparation Listen and take TEACH of a presentation Make a list of them note the Tell the students to pay attention to some of the objectives of the language associated with a presentation that lessons and teacher is going to introduce based on the useful useful language box expressions WHILE- Get students to check the expressions against those Take VIII notes if TEACH in the useful language box, deciding if they are necessary formal or informal Put question if Put students into pairs Allocate one of the three they don‟t presentation situations to each pair Remind them understand the about the importance not just of greeting the situation audience, but of signaling structure as well Work in pairs Get students to prepare their presentation openings, Work writing notes rather than a complete text Go round individually and assist where necessary Get them to practice Practice their presentation with each other Bring the class to order and work on any remaining parts individually Mention some of the good points in the language teacher heard and work on some points that need improvement Ask one or two students to give their presentation in front of class Go over any problems and tell remaining students that they should be particularly aware of these when they give their presentation later POST- Go through the expressions in the useful language Take note TEACH box, telling students that teacher will check them homework the orally on it in the next lesson Make question if Ask students to see if they have any questions necessary Stand up and say “goodbye” IX LESSON PLAN UNIT 6:MONEY I CLASS DESCRIPTION  The 30 third-year students majoring in Management at Hanoi University of Business and Technology II DURATION:90 minutes III OBJECTIVES: By the end of this lesson, the students should be able to  To get familiar with phrases in the Useful expressions and practice them efficiently  To develop students‟ speaking skill in real situation in business III TEACHING AIDS AND REFERENCES :  Chalk and black board  Computer, projector and loudspeaker  Textbook and teacher‟s book: the 3rd edition Intermediate Market Leader IV PROCEDURES: Stages Teacher’s activities Students’ activities WARM Give some numbers and call some students to read Answer UP aloud them T‟s questions Introduce the topic Skills: Dealing with figures PRE- With the whole class, point out that figures is Listen and take TEACH another way of referring to numbers note Ask students mention numbers in different contexts objectives Make a list of them the of the lessons and Tell the students to pay attention to some of the useful language associated with numbers that teacher is expressions going to introduce based on the useful language box X WHILE- Go through the examples in the useful language box Take notes if TEACH Explain some words “roughly, about, approximately, necessary nearly and almost” Put question if Write each types of number on the board Ask they students to read aloud individually don‟t understand the Explain the task and get students to work in pairs situation Make sure that the student A and B are in the correct Work in pairs page Also ensure that everyone understands that Work student A is looking at the correct version of the individually article and student B is looking at a version with Practice errors in some of the figures Go round and assist where necessary Bring the class to order and work on any problems that were causing particular difficulty Tell the students that they are going to hear student B‟s version Play the recording, check the answer key, stop at key points, and get students to repeat the numbers, concentrating on their pronunciation Get students to work on task individually Go round and assist where necessary POST- Go over any problems Take note the TEACH Go through the expressions in the useful language homework box, telling students that teacher will check them Make question orally on it in the next lesson if necessary Ask students to see if they have any questions Stand up and say “goodbye” XI LESSON PLAN UNIT 7:CULTURES I CLASS DESCRIPTION  The 30 third-year students majoring in Management at Hanoi University of Business and Technology II DURATION: 90 minutes III OBJECTIVES: By the end of this lesson, the students should be able to  To get familiar with phrases in the Useful expressions and practice them efficiently  To develop students‟ speaking skill in real situation in business IV TEACHING AIDS AND REFERENCES :  Chalk and black board  Computer, projector and loudspeaker  Textbook and teacher‟s book: the 3rd edition Intermediate Market Leader V Stages PROCEDURES: Teacher’s activities Students’ activities WARM Display a video about several small talks of social Watch a UP English and ask students to guess the topic and Introduce the topic topic guess video the Skills: Social English PRE- Tell the students that they will be doing “social Listen and take TEACH English” situations note the objectives of the lessons and useful expressions XII WHILE- Get students to listen to the dialogue once right Take TEACH notes if through, then again, stopping after each exchange necessary and getting students to make some suggestions to Put question if they improve don‟t Get one or two pairs to perform the improved understand version, and then with feeling the situation Go through the useful expressions and explain any Listen and take difficulties notes Put students into pairs Get them to suggest Work in pairs situations in which the expressions are used Go Work round the room and help where necessary individually Play the recording, stopping after each item Get Practice students to write down exactly what they hear Explain the task and get students to work on it in pairs Go round and assist where necessary Bring the class to order and elicit the answers Play the recording and get students to check their answers Get students to practice the conversation in pairs Go round the room and assist where necessary, especially with intonation Get some pairs to “perform” the conversation for the whole class POST- Go through the expressions in the useful language Take note TEACH box again, telling students that teacher will check homework the them orally on it in the next lesson Make question if Ask students to see if they have any questions necessary Stand up and say “goodbye” XIII LESSON PLAN UNIT 8:UMAN RESOURCES I CLASS DESCRIPTION  The 30 third-year students majoring in Management at Hanoi University of Business and Technology II DURATION: 90 minutes III OBJECTIVES: By the end of this lesson, the students should be able to  To get familiar with phrases in the Useful expressions and practice them efficiently  To develop students‟ speaking skill in real situation in business IV TEACHING AIDS AND REFERENCES :  Chalk and black board  Computer, projector and loudspeaker  Textbook and teacher‟s book: the 3rd edition Intermediate Market Leader V PROCEDURES: Stages Teacher’s activities Students’ activities WARM Display a short video of the phone Watch a video and guess the UP calls and ask students to guess the topic topic Listen and take note Introduce the topic objectives of the lessons the Skills: Getting information on the phone Listen and take note the useful PRE- Activity 1: TEACH Tell the students to pay attention to expressions some of the language associated with getting information on the phone that teacher is going to introduce based on the useful language box Take notes if necessary WHILE- Activity 2: TEACH Get students to look through the XIV conversation and to anticipate what Put question if they don‟t might be in the gaps Then play the understand the situation recording and get students to complete the conversation Work individually Play the recording again to clarify any remaining difficulties Work in pairs With the whole class, elicit the answers Practice Activity 3: Ensure students understand the situation Put them into pair and allocate roles Go round the class and assist where necessary Go round the class and monitor the language being used Note down some good points and half a dozen that need further work, especially in relation to the language used when getting information on the telephone Bring the class to order Praise good points and work on those that need further practice, getting individual students to say the correct thing Get one or two pairs to repeat their role play in front of the class POST- Go through again the expressions in Take note the homework TEACH the useful language box, telling Make question if necessary students that teacher will check them Stand up and say “goodbye” orally on it in the next lesson Ask students to see if they have any questions XV UNIT 4: ORGANISATION SKILLS: SOCIALISING: INTRODUCTIONS AND NETWORKING USEFUL LANGUAGE GREETINGS Hello, Great to see you again Hi, How are you? How's everything going? INTRODUCING YOURSELF I'm from / I‟m with / I work for (Company) I‟m in Sales I‟m in charge of I‟m resoponsible for I work with RESPONDING Fine, thanks Not too bad, thanks Pleased to meet you INTRODUCING SOMEONE ELSE Can I introduce you to Miriam? Robert, have you met Vladimir? TALKING ABOUT COMMON INTERESTS You and Tom have something in common You bothlike/ enjoy/ are interested in TALKING ABOUT YOUR COMPANY The company was founded in We make/ manufacture/ sell/ distribute/ supply We have subsidiaries/ factories/ branches/ outlets in We have a workforce of 2.000 XVI NETWORKING We're very interested in Do you know anyone who could help us? Could you let me have their contract details? Could i call him and metion your name? UNIT 5: ADVERTISING SKILLS: STARTING AND STRUCTURING PRESENTATIONS USEFUL LANGUAGE INTRODUCING YOURSELF On behalf of Alpha Advertising, I'd like to welcome you My name's Marc Hayward INTRODUCING THE TOPIC I'm going to tell you about the ideas we've come up with for the ad campaign Hi, everyone, I'm This morning, I'd Marc Hayward Good like to outline the campaign concept to see you all we've developed for you GIVING A PLAN OF YOUR TALK I've divided my presentation into three parts Firstly, I'll give you the background Secondly, I'll discuss the media we plan to use Finally, I'll talk you through the storyboard INVITING QUESTIONS If there's anything you're not clear about, feel free to stop me and ask any questions My talk is in three parts I'll start with the background to I'd be grateful if you leave any the campaign, move on to the media we plan to use, could questions to the end and finish with the storyboard for the commercial XVII UNIT 6: MONEY SKILLS: DEALING WITH FIGURES USEFUL LANGUAGE YEARS DECIMALS 1984: nineteen eighty-four 16.5: sixteen point five 2012: two thousand and 17.38%: seventeen point three twelve or twenty twelve eight per cent 0.185: (nought/ zero) paint one eight five CURRENCIES 0.15 three pounds fifteen $7.80 seven dollars eighty €250 two hundred and fifty euros Ơ125 one hundred and twenty-five yen FRACTIONS ẳ: A quarter 2/3: two thirds ẵ: a half ắ: three quarters BIGGER NUMBERS 3,560: three thousand five hundred and sixty (BrE)/ Three thousand five hundred sixty (ArnE) 598,347: five hundred and ninety-eight thousand, three hundred and forty-seven (BrE)/ Five hundred ninety- eight thousand, three hundred forty-seven (ArnE) 1,300,402: one mil/ion three hundred thousand, four hundred two (AmE)/ One million three hundred thousand, four hundred and two (BrE) 1m: one 10 mil/ion (1,000,000) 3bn: three billion (3,000,000,000) $7.5bn: seven point five billion dollars €478m: four hundred and seventy-eight mil/ion euros (BrE)/ four hundred seventy-eight million euros (ArnE) XVIII UNIT 7: CULTURES SKILLS: SOCIAL ENGLISH USEFUL LANGUAGE Congratulations! Excuse me Help yourself I don't mind Yes, please It's on me I'm afraid That's no problem Make yourself at home That sounds good After you Cheers! Sorry Could you ? XVIII XIX Bad luck Not at all UNIT 8: HUMAN RESOURCES SKILLS: GETTING INFORMATION ON THE TELEPHONE USEFUL LANGUAGE SAYING WHO YOU ARE Good morning, my name's Lisa Mann Hello, Ben speaking STATING YOUR PURPOSE I'm calling about The reason I'm calling is ASKING FOR INFORMATION I was wondering if you could give me ? Could you tell me ? I'd also like to know Could I ask you ? CHECKING INFORMATION Just to get this clear There's just one other thing, I'd like to check Are you saying ? SHOWING INTEREST Certainly, what you need to know? No, don't worry I look forward to getting it That's correct Good luck XXI XX ENDING A CALL OK, I think that's everything Right, I think that's all I need to know XXI