Developing learner autonomy in learning speaking skill for the first year English-major students at the University of Commerce: an action research

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES *** PHẠM THỊ PHƯỢNG DEVELOPING LEARNER AUTONOMY IN LEARNING SPEAKING SKILL FOR THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISHMAJOR STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COMMERCE: AN ACTION RESEARCH (Phát huy tính tự chủ kỹ nói cho sinh viên chuyên ngữ năm thứ trường Đại học Thương mại: Nghiên cứu áp dụng) M.A MINOR THESIS Field : English Methodology Code : 60 14 10 Hanoi, 2010 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES *** PHẠM THỊ PHƯỢNG DEVELOPING LEARNER AUTONOMY IN LEARNING SPEAKING SKILL FOR THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISHMAJOR STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COMMERCE: AN ACTION RESEARCH (Phát huy tính tự chủ kỹ nói cho sinh viên chuyên ngành tiếng Anh năm thứ trường Đại học Thương mại: Nghiên cứu áp dụng) M.A MINOR THESIS Field : English Methodology Code : 60 14 10 Supervisor : Đỗ Bá Quý, M.Ed Hanoi, 2010 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vi PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale for the study Aims of the study Scope of the study Structure of the study PART B DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Learner autonomy 1.1.1 Definition of autonomy 1.1.2 Roles of autonomy 1.1.3 Characteristics of learner autonomy 1.1.4 Teacher‟s roles in learner autonomy 1.1.5 Ways to develop autonomy 10 1.2 Speaking skill 13 1.2.1 The nature of speaking and characteristics of an effective speaking lesson 13 1.2.2 Autonomy in speaking skill 14 CHAPTER AN OVERVIEW OF TEACHING AND LEARNING SITUATION AT ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, UNIVERSITY OF COMMERCE (VUC) 17 2.1 English department at VUC 17 2.2 The teaching syllabus for speaking skill 17 2.3 The opportunities and constraints of the context 19 2.3.1 The opportunities of the context 19 2.3.2 The constraints of the context 19 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 20 3.1 Research question 20 v 3.2 Subjects of the study 20 3.3 Research design 20 3.3.1 Description of data collection instruments 23 3.3.2 Detailed description of module 24 3.3.3 Detailed description of module 25 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 27 4.1 Students‟ performance and attitudes towards the project 27 4.2 Student‟s speaking proficiency 31 4.3 Students‟ attitudes towards learning process 33 PART C CONCLUSION 36 Conclusions 36 Recommendations 36 Limitations 38 Suggestions for further study 38 REFERENCES 39 APPENDIX I APPENDIX V APPENDIX VI APPENDIX .VII APPENDIX X APPENDIX XIII APPENDIX XVI APPENDIX XVII APPENDIX XVIII vi LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Characteristics of independent learning Table 2: Students‟ attitudes and performance during the project 27 Table 3: The benefits of the projects to the students 29 Table 4: Students‟ self-evaluation of their speaking skill 32 Figure 1: The Learner Independence Continuum Figure 2: Students‟ opinions on the continuity of a similar project 30 Figure 3: Level of students‟ involvement during the project 31 Figure 4: Students‟ changes in their perception of learner autonomy 34 PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale for the study Over the last three decades, learner autonomy in language learning has been a “buzz-word” in the field of second language education In fact, few teachers will disagree with the importance of helping language learners become more self-directed It is so robust that there are numerous books and articles (Holec, 1981; Dickinson 1987; Riley 1988; Little, 1991; Little, 1999; Littlewood, 1999; Tudor, 1996, etc.) and the proliferation of researches on the theme (Kavaliauskiene, 2003; Ali, 2000; Coombe, 2001; Barrett & Daborn, 2001; Malcolm, 2001; Luchini & Rosello, 2007, etc.) Despite the concerted effort made to implant learner autonomy, it is still at a low level in the university setting in Vietnam The students in University of Commerce are of no exception Even the students who major in English exhibit low responsibility in their English - learning process The students are lukewarm and lack of determination and self-discipline to learn independently Observations in the classrooms reveal the lack of the cooperative learning The general atmosphere in the class seems to be very formal Students only raise their voices once they are called upon When asked to work in pairs and groups in speaking lessons, they start to write down their own ideas as a long presentation or some key points and revise their own work individually, and ready to communicate only when they are perfectly sure of their part and their ideas Furthermore, they are generally reluctant to question the teacher or give their opinions An open discussion in Vietnamese with the students explicates that their low autonomy has resulted from psychological, social and personal grounds Their misleading beliefs, minute confidence, restricted knowledge as well as the previous learning experience are agreed upon as the primary causes of their passive learning style The beliefs and attitudes learners hold have a profound influence on their learning behaviors It is, therefore, essential to assist students in moving towards greater autonomy, especially in learning speaking Teachers should validate the importance of autonomy to the students as an ancient proverb going “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.” This situation compels the conduction of this research to aid students in their second language learning and life-long learning This is genuinely no easy task since autonomy does not flourish automatically Due to the highly complex nature of language and language learning, augmenting autonomy in language learners often proves to be a doubly difficult objective Although few researches have been done in Vietnam to boost student‟s active engagement in speaking, a large number of studies in other countries have reported favorable results in developing their students‟ autonomy Experimental practice has been exploited to empower teachers by bringing a research perspective into their classrooms, where ordinary classroom activities are modified for their investigative potential Most of them use awareness-raising activities, portfolio, self-assessment, homework and assignment in their studies Inaugurated from these practices, the present paper is an attempt to search the current researches then devise a pertinent project of actions for the students in English Department, University of Commerce (VUC), who have mediocre level of learning autonomy The expectation is to help learners generate a sense of autonomy in language learning, elevate the students‟ speaking skill as well as render effective speaking lessons Aims of the study This research aims at - identifying the current VUC English – major freshmen‟s autonomy in speaking skill - working out the appropriate scheme of actions to improve the situation - finding out the effectiveness of the selected activities in the action plan - reflecting the results of the study From the outcomes, some implications will be suggested for handling and applying classroom activities to promote the students‟ autonomy in learning speaking In particular, it is conducted to ascertain the answer to the following question: Can raising students' awareness of the importance of learner autonomy and application of selected activities help improve autonomy in learning speaking skill for first year Englishmajor students at the University of Commerce ? Methods of study As mentioned above, this is an action research to solve the problem of low level of learner autonomy at English Department, VUC To reach the goal, a project is launched into the classroom environment It is divided into two modules, the former consists of selected awareness-raising activities, learner contract signing, and essential speaking-strategies training activities to raise students‟ awareness of the problem as well as equip them with necessary skills to acquire more confidence in speaking skill The latter pertains to the practice of such skills in doing their home assignments and in-class activities to habituate their speaking practice and active engagement Besides, public appearance is deferred to the final stage, when students have become more experienced Specifically, students practice working in pairs before having public speaking to amplify their self-reliance progressively After the action, questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations are conducted to get the feedback The data aims at getting the students evaluation on the activities and more remarkably, to examine whether they become more autonomous Scope of the study Learner autonomy is undoubted to be the vast issue in the second language learning It encompasses different aspects and areas Therefore, this study touches upon only one researchable aspect of autonomy, i.e., developing autonomy in speaking skill In the literature, there is a range of actions to ensure students self-directed learning; however, several pertinent activities are adopted in consideration of the context of University of Commerce and the small scale of this research for the sake of limited time and students‟ low level Furthermore, the subjects of this study are the first year students who major in English as these freshmen often exhibit the least autonomy in learning and implore a good start for their students‟ life Structure of the study This paper is organized into three main parts as follows: Part A: Introduction This part presents the rationale, the aim, scope, method and design of the study Part B: Development This part is divided into different chapters Chapter serves as the theoretical background for the study, presenting the concepts and relevant theories Chapter gives an overview of teaching and learning situation at English Department, VUC Chapter deals with the actual procedures of the study: methodology, subjects and data collection procedures Chapter presents the finding and analysis of the data collected Part C: Conclusion This last part of the study recaps the main content of the study and deals with some suggestions for improving student‟s autonomy in studying speaking skill In addition, it also poses several directions for future research PART B DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter serves as the theoretical background for the study The definitions and roles of autonomy and speaking skill were given to clarify the subject matters investigated and the significance of the matters Moreover, the characteristics of autonomy, roles of teachers and ways to develop learner autonomy receive more details and attention as to find out an efficient learner autonomy enhancing process 1.1 Learner autonomy 1.1.1 Definition of autonomy Nowadays, the language teaching has become more and more communication-oriented, pushing the traditional classroom teaching to a situation of big challenge The learnercentered ones are replacing the traditional classrooms where teachers play the role of knowledge transmission This learner-centered approach in EFL has brought out the notion of leaner autonomy in learning EFL Among the scholars in this field, Holec, one of the earliest advocates of autonomy in language teaching Holec began by defining learner autonomy as the “ability to take charge of one‟s own learning” (1981, p 3) He endorses that this ability “is not inborn but must be acquired either by “natural” means or by formal learning, i.e in a systematic, deliberate way”, and stresses the idea of man as “producer of his society” but not “product of his society” (Holec 1981, p.1) His definition remains the basis for many researchers Nevertheless, there is no consensus as to what the term “autonomy” really is For Little (1999), autonomy is “a capacity for a certain range of highly explicit behavior that embraces both the process and the content of learning” (p 11) Littlewood (1999, p 73) regards autonomy in educational terms as “involving students‟ capacity to use their learning independently of teachers.” Scharle and Szabo (2000, p 4) holds that autonomy means “the freedom and ability to manage one‟s own affairs, which entails the right to make decisions as well.” Although definitions of learner autonomy have varied, they all agree that students should take responsibility for their own learning Taking responsibility involves learners in taking ownership (partial or total) of processes which have traditionally belonged to the teacher, such as deciding on learning objectives, selecting learning methods and assessing progress Since it is acknowledged that none of us can escape entirely from the cultural assumptions and practices that have shaped us, the concept of learner autonomy has shifted from individual to situational view As Riley (1988, p 17) and Tudor (1996, pp 141-142) suggest, the ideas and practice of autonomy and learner-centeredness are ethnocentric Little (1999) remarks that “we must always pay careful attention to the cultural setting in which learning takes place” as “all learning is socially situated and culturally constrained” (pp 15-16) In other words, the concept of autonomy certainly incorporates aspects of learners' national or regional cultures Thus, we should match aspects of autonomy with the characteristics and needs of our learners in relation to our specific contexts Although autonomy has been interpreted differently, it is essential to point out what autonomy is not Little (1991, p.3) indicates five misconceptions about autonomy: 1) autonomy is synonymous with self-instruction, 2) autonomous learners make the teacher redundant, 3) autonomy is a new methodology, 4) autonomy is a single easily described behavior, and 5) autonomy is a steady state achieved by certain learners What needs to be highlighted is that autonomy is a universal human capacity that cannot be nurtured overnight Teachers should create an autonomous leaning environment in relation to a specific context to cultivate a kind of learner who can continue their life-long learning independently 1.1.2 Roles of autonomy Developing learner autonomy has sound theoretical, practical and experiential grounds It is rooted on the theory of constructivism and learner-centered, which are reckoned as the current profitable trends in second language learning and a great number of proven researches in the field Constructivists assert that different men construe the universe in different way and their perception of the world can only achieved by means of successive own discoveries and investigations (Kelly, 1963) Consequently, to learn a second language successfully, students must “take proactive roles to build up and construct the knowledge” (Candy, 1991, p.270) rather than being taught by others In addition, autonomy is closely related with and deemed to be borne out of learner-centered approach The learner-centered theory posits that learners must be the focus and the initiators as well as the responsible actor assuring the success of learning a language but not the teachers It embraces improving the student‟s awareness of himself or herself as a learner, the X APPENDIX PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT ĐÁNH GIÁ CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG NÂNG CAO TÍNH TỰ CHỦ Phiếu điều tra phần nghiên cứu tính chủ động học kỹ nói sinh viên năm thứ khoa Tiếng Anh – Đại học Thương Mại Mục đích phiếu điều tra tìm hiểu mức độ tiến sinh viên đánh giá sinh viên hoạt động nâng cao tính chủ động áp dụng cho học phần kỹ tiếng Anh I.3 Việc hoàn thành phiếu cách khách quan góp phần quan trọng vào thành công nghiên cứu Kết phiếu khảo sát dùng cho mục đích nghiên cứu Xin chân trọng cảm ơn! Đánh dấu vào lựa chọn tương ứng em cho câu Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý Khơng đồng ý Đồng ý Hoàn toàn đồng ý THÁI ĐỘ VÀ MỨC ĐỘ THAM GIA CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG NHẰM NÂNG CAO TÍNH TỰ CHỦ KHI HỌC NĨI STT THÁI ĐỘ VÀ MỨC ĐỘ THAM GIA 1.1 Em thấy hoạt động chọn đưa vào áp dụng thú vị 1.2 Khi thực hoạt động này, em sử dụng tiếng Anh nhiều để giao tiếp với bạn 1.3 Bạn em thực hợp tác để hoàn thành nhiệm vụ học tập giao 1.4 Bạn em hào hứng tham gia hoạt động 1.5 Em chọn chủ đề mà thân em cảm thấy thích 1.6 Em dùng tiếng Việt để giao tiếp không nhớ hay diễn đạt tiếng Anh 1.7 Em chọn chủ đề cho tập giao cách có mục đích 1.8 Chủ đề em chọn chủ đề dễ triển khai tốt 1.9 Khi cặp chúng em hoàn thành xong phần việc mình, chúng em khơng làm thêm nhiệm vụ khác 1.10 Em giữ lại tập làm để ôn lại TỰ ĐÁNH GIÁ KỸ NĂNG NÓI CỦA BẢN THÂN CÁC ĐÁNH GIÁ 2.1 Em cảm thấy nói nhanh phản ứng nhanh mà không cần chuẩn bị trước 2.2 Em cố gắng huy động kiến thức có để giao tiếp cách trơi chảy 2.3 Khi gặp khó khăn giao tiếp, em thường dùng cách diễn đạt khác (paraphrasing) 2.4 Em dùng ngôn ngữ chức (functional language) để trì hội thoại có xu hướng bị gián đoạn hay kết thúc nhanh 2.5 Em diễn đạt ý tưởng xây dựng câu hoàn toàn mặt XI 2.6 2.7 2.8 ngữ pháp Em không quan tâm đến độ xác ngữ pháp để đảm bảo trơi chảy nói Em thực nhiều nhiệm vụ kỹ nói với chủ đề khác Em nghĩ tiếng Việt dịch tiếng Anh để giao tiếp QUAN ĐIỂM VỀ NGOẠI NGỮ VÀ QUÁ TRÌNH HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ CÁC QUAN ĐIỂM 3.1 Học ngoại ngữ cần tự học nhiều + Trước tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau tham gia vào nghiên cứu 3.2 Nếu lớp học khơng hữu ích, em tự học nhà + Trước tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau tham gia vào nghiên cứu 3.3 Em khơng nghĩ tiến không đến lớp học + Trước tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau tham gia vào nghiên cứu 3.4 Trong lớp học ngoại ngữ, em mong muốn giáo viên giải thích tất điều cho chúng em + Trước tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau tham gia vào nghiên cứu 3.5 Cách học ngoại ngữ tốt có giáo viên giải thích học + Trước tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau tham gia vào nghiên cứu 3.6 Giáo viên cần đưa từ vựng cho học sinh học + Trước tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau tham gia vào nghiên cứu 3.7 Em làm tập giáo u cầu nộp + Trước tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau tham gia vào nghiên cứu 3.8 Tất tập phải giáo viên chấm điểm + Trước tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau tham gia vào nghiên cứu 3.9 Em thích làm nhiệm vụ học tập với hình thức làm theo nhóm hay theo cặp + Trước tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau tham gia vào nghiên cứu 3.10 Một tập đáng làm chấm điểm + Trước tham gia vào nghiên cứu + Sau tham gia vào nghiên cứu 4 THÁI ĐỘ CHUNG VỀ NGHIÊN CỨU ÁP DỤNG THÁI ĐỘ 4.1 Các hoạt động nhằm phát huy tính chủ động người học giúp em nâng cao trình độ nói tiếng Anh 4.2 Các hoạt động nhằm phát huy tính chủ động người học giúp em XII xây dựng hồn thành kế hoạch học tập để nâng cao trình độ tiếng Anh nói chung 4.3 Các hoạt động nhằm phát huy tính chủ động người học giúp em học cách tự học 4.4 Các hoạt động nhằm phát huy tính chủ động người học giúp em tích lũy từ vựng cụm từ nhiều lĩnh vực khác 4.5 Em mong muốn thực hoạt động tương tự kỳ học tới tập khơng tính vào thang điểm chung Nhận xét hoạt động nhằm phát huy tính chủ động người học áp dụng: ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………… XIII APPENDIX FEEDBACK QUESTIONNAIRE RESULT Identify your degree of agreement or disagreement with a statement by putting a tick in one of four responses The four options are presented as follows: Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree ATTITUDES AND PERFORMANCE DURING THE PROJECT No ATTITUDES AND ACTIVITIES 1.1 I find the selected activities interesting 21 0% 11% 75% 14% When doing the activities, I spoke English more 20 with my friends 0% 14% 72% 14% My friends cooperated well to fulfill the task 17 0% 11% 61% 28% My partners seemed to be interested in doing the 21 task 0% 11% 75% 14% I chose the topics which attracted my attention 17 0% 14% 61% 25% I used Vietnamese whenever I couldn‟t find the 3 16 word in English 11% 56% 22% I had a purpose in mind when choosing what to 18 read for my assignments 14% 64% 15% The topics which I used to select were as easy for 13 13 me to prepare as possible 46% 8% 0% 20 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 11% 7% 46% When we finished the task before the other pairs, XIV 1.10 we didn‟t anything else 14% 72% 14% 0% I kept a record of my assignment for revision 17 7% 14% 61% 18% 11 17 SELF-EVALUATION OF SPEAKING SKILL EVALUTION 2.1 I feel that I now can work faster and cope with unpredictability spontaneously 0% 2.2 I try to use what I have already known to speak without hesitations 0% 2.3 When I encounter difficulties in communication, I use paraphrasing 0% 2.4 If the conversation tends to break down, I use functional language to maintain it 0% 2.5 I communicate ideas rather than constructing completely grammatically correct sentences 2.6 I don‟t care about accuracy at an expense of fluency 39% 61% 0% 26 7% 93% 0% 24 14% 86% 0% 11 13 14% 39% 47% 11 12 0% 18% 39% 43% 18 14% 64% 22% 0% 2.7 I am able to perform a range of speaking tasks on different topics 2.8 I think in Vietnamese before creating the English version 10 16 7% 36% 57% 0% 24 7% 86% 7% 0% XV GENERAL ATTITUDES TO THE PROJECT ATTITUDES 4.1 The self-directed learning activities help me improve 21 86% 7% 22 79% 14% 20 0% 7% 72% 21% 18 10 0% 0% 64% 36% 14 50% 14% my English speaking proficiency 0% 7% 4.2 The self-directed learning activities help me to make and complete a plan to improve my English 0% 7% 4.3 The self-directed learning activities help me to learn ways to study by myself 4.4 The self-directed learning activities help me to acquire a number of active words, phrases and expressions on 2 different fields 4.5 I would like to a similar project next terms even if it isn‟t counted as our marks 10 0% 36% XVI APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS How you see yourself now as a language learner? Or have any beliefs about your change? (Is there something that you feel that you have learnt as a learner in a different way than before?) Can you tell me about your performance during the project? - How you and your partners choose the topics? - How you find your partners? - What you if you‟re finished but others haven‟t? - What have you done with your records? - What difficulties were you confronted with in your out-of-class English during the project? How have you been evaluating your speaking skill? Do you want to continue this project in the next semester? What if you are not assessed in doing it? Give your reasons XVII APPENDIX OBSERVATION SHEET (adopted from Nunan (1995)) Overall class motivation This observation sheet is designed to get more information about the students‟ involvement in the activities It is a class-as-a-whole observation, not individual student one Circle a number 1- to see how involved in the Not very involved Low Not really Low Not really Low very involved learning task the students are Circle a number 1- to see the level of students‟ high concentration on the learning task Circle a number 1- to see the students‟ enjoyment very much so of the activities Circle a number 1- to see the level of students‟ high intensity of application Circle a number 1- to see the students‟ persistent very much so attention to the learning task Circle a number 1- to see students‟ evaluation of high the activities and the way of class management Comment: …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… XVIII APPENDIX CONVERSATION PHRASES AND EXPRESSIONS FOR SPEAKING KEEPING A CONVERSATION GOING Making comments Unbelievable! That's interesting Is that right? Interesting point I would add Hmmm I hadn't thought of that before No! – to show surprise I don't believe it! – to show surprise Wow! – to show admiration or surprise That's incredible/ interesting / amazing / unbelievable – to show great interest in the subject of conversation How awful / terrible – to show sympathy with someone else's bad news Asking questions Really? -to show surprise And you? - when someone asks you how you are Did you? -can be used to encourage someone to tell their story For example, I saw her last night Did you? Yes, she was with one of her friends, and she REPHRASING Sometimes we say things that other people don't understand, or we give the wrong impression This is an example conversation where one person says something that the other person thinks is strange LUIZ: English is a very easy language to learn IRENE: What you mean? LUIZ: Well, what I meant to say was that it is easy if you practice every day IRENE: Oh, right XIX Rephrasing expressions What I meant to say was… Let me rephrase that… Let me put this another way… Perhaps I'm not making myself clear… Back to the beginning If you're explaining something, and you realize that the other person doesn't understand, you can use the following phrases: If we go back to the beginning… The basic idea is… One way of looking at it is… Another way of looking at it is… If you forget the word you want to use, you can say: I can't find the word I'm looking for… I'm not sure that this is the right word, but… What I want to say is… GIVE YOURSELF TIME TO THINK Let me see well…/ actually…/ in fact…/OK…/ So… you see…/ let‟s see…/ let me see…/ you know… the thing is…/ the point is…/ that is… Anyway,… Well, as I was saying… GIVING OPINIONS Asking for Opinions Do you have any thoughts on that? How you feel about that? What's your view/opinion/idea? How you see the situation? What are your thoughts on all of this? Do you have anything to say about this? What you think? Do you agree? Wouldn't you say? XX Giving Opinions Outlining Facts According to Lisa The fact is that If you ask me It seems to me that … The (main) point is that … In my opinion,/ experience … This proves that … I am of the opinion that …/ I take the view What it comes down to is that … that It is obvious that … My personal view is that … It is certain that … As far as I understand / can see, … One can say that … As I see it, … / From my point of view … It is clear that … As far as I know / I‟m concerned… / From There is no doubt that … what I know … I believe one can (safely) say … I think/believe/suppose/feel … I am sure/certain/convinced that … AGREEING AND DISAGREEING Agreeing Disagreeing I agree I don't think so So I (No.) That's not right Me too Yes, but Me neither (Agreeing about a negative (I'm sorry, but) I don't agree idea.) I'm not sure I agree with you I don't either (Agreeing about a negative idea.) (I'm afraid) I don't agree (I'm afraid) I disagree You're right /That's right (I'm afraid) I can't agree with you Good idea (I'm afraid) I don't share your opinion I think that's a good idea There is more to it than that I think you're right The problem is that … I agree with you I (very much) doubt whether … There are many reasons for … I cannot share this / that / the view There is no doubt about it that … I cannot agree with this idea I simply must agree with that What I object to is … XXI I am of the same opinion Unlike … I think … I am I couldn't agree with you more I'm afraid I disagree That's so true I beg to differ That's for sure Not necessarily (slang) Tell me about it! That's not always true You have a point there That's not always the case weak) I suppose so./I guess so No, I'm not so sure about that Strong agreement Disagreeing strongly I couldn't agree with you more (strong) No way You're absolutely right I don't agree at all I agree entirely I totally disagree I totally agree I couldn't agree with you less I completely/absolutely agree with … This is in complete contradiction to … I agree with you 100 percent I am of a different opinion because … Absolutely I'd say the exact opposite That's exactly how I feel Exactly Agreeing in part I agree with you up to a point, but That's quite true, but I agree with you in principle, but It is only partly true that I can agree with that only with reservations Conceding to Make a Point Settling an argument That may be true, but Let's just move on, shall we? I may be wrong, but Let's drop it You might be right, but I think we're going to have to agree to You have a good point, but disagree You could say that, but (sarcastic) Whatever you say./If you say Correct me if I'm wrong, but so I don't mean to be rude, but I hate to bring this up, but I don't mean to be negative, but XXII INTERRUPTING Interrupting politely Excuse me…, but… Can I add something here? Sorry to interrupt (you), but… I don't mean to intrude, but Sorry for interrupting you, but… Could I inject something here? I really don‟t want to interrupt you, but… Do you mind if I jump in here? I‟d like to say that… Is it okay if I jump in for a second? That reminds me of… If I might add something By the way… (chuyển chủ đề) Can I throw my two cents in? Wait a minute… (after accidentally interrupting someone) Sorry, but the point I need to clarify here Sorry, go ahead OR Sorry, you were is… saying Pardon me, May I interrupt (for a minute)? (after being interrupted) You didn't let me finish Getting back to the topic Anyway, Now, where was I? Where were we? What were you saying? You were saying To get back to CHECKING FOR UNDERSTANDING Checking for Understanding Expressing Lack of Understanding Do you know what I'm saying/mean? I don't get it Do you understand? (I'm sorry.) I don't understand Are you following me? / What you mean? Are you with me (so far)? I'm not following you Have you got it? / Got it? I don't quite follow you Any questions? I'm not sure I get what you mean Showing Understanding I see / understand / get it./ got it I see your point Gotcha (Informal) What was that again? XXIII CLARIFYING Clarifying your own ideas Clarifying another's ideas In other words, You mean What I mean is What you mean is What I'm trying to say is What you're saying is What I wanted to say was (I think) what she means is To clarify, What he's trying to say is Asking for Clarification If I understand you, (you're saying What you mean (by that)? that ) What are you trying to say? If I'm hearing you correctly, What was that again? So, you think (that) Could you clarify that? So, your idea is Could you elaborate (on that)? Let me elaborate Could you tell me a little more about it? Let me tell you a little more (about it) Could you give (me) some details? Let me give you some details Could you fill me in on that? PROVIDING EXAMPLES Take for example (the case of) … Look at … For instance … / For example … Let me give you an example 10 CLASSROOM PHRASES STUDENTS ASKING QUESTIONS Asking about words What's “cổ tức” in English?/ How you say/call “cổ tức” in English?/ What's the English word for “cổ tức”? What is the meaning of “dividend”?/ What does “dividend” mean?/ What does it mean? What is the opposite meaning of “hot”? “Cold” is the opposite meaning of “hot” What is another meaning for “big”? Large is another meaning for “big” How should I pronounce “book”? /How you pronounce this word? / Would you pronounce the word “book”? How you spell book? / How you spell that? What does USA stand for? XXIV Where's the stress in dividend? Asking to repeat Could / Can/Would you repeat that, please? Could / can you say that/it again, please? Are you saying book? /Can you say that again, please? Could you explain it once more, please?/ Could you explain a little bit more about that? Can you speak more slowly? / Can you speak more loudly? / Would you read the last sentence a little more slowly?/ Would you mind speaking louder? Pardon me?