A study on the use of oral presentation activities to motivate the second year students at hanoi university of business and technology in english speaking lessons

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES -*** NGUYỄN THỊ HÀ PHƢƠNG A STUDY ON THE USE OF ORAL PRESENTATION ACTIVITIES TO MOTIVATE SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSONS (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG THUYẾT TRÌNH ĐỂ TẠO HỨNG THÚ HỌC TẬP TRONG GIỜ HỌC KỸ NĂNG NÓI TIẾNG ANH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KINH DOANH VÀ CÔNG NGHỆ HÀ NỘI) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111 HA NOI, 2015 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES -*** - NGUYỄN THỊ HÀ PHƢƠNG A STUDY ON THE USE OF ORAL PRESENTATION ACTIVITIES TO MOTIVATE SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSONS (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG THUYẾT TRÌNH ĐỂ TẠO HỨNG THÚ HỌC TẬP TRONG GIỜ HỌC KỸ NĂNG NÓI TIẾNG ANH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KINH DOANH VÀ CÔNG NGHỆ HÀ NỘI) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111 Supervisor: Assoc.Prof.Dr Nguyễn Phƣơng Nga HA NOI, 2015 DECLARATION I hereby declare that the minor thesis entitled “A study on the use of oral presentation activities to motivate the second-year students at Hanoi University of Business and Technology in English speaking lessons” is my original work and based on my own research I have proved fully documented references to the others‟ work I also accept all the requirements of Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies relating to the retention and use of M.A Graduation Thesis deposited in the library Hanoi, 2015 Nguyễn Thị Hà Phương i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my beloved supervisor Assoc.Prof.Dr Nguyen Phuong Nga for her continuous support of my thesis, for her patience, motivation, enthusiasm and immense knowledge Her guidance helped me during the time of research and writing of this thesis Besides my supervisor, I would like to take this chance to express my gratitude to all the lecturers in Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, Hanoi University of Language and International Studies, Vietnam National University for their interesting lectures which have inspired me to conduct this thesis My sincere thanks also go to the second-year students and my colleagues at Hanoi University of Business and Technology for their willingness to take part in the research Without their help, this study could not be completed successfully Last but not least, I would like to thank my family especially my husband and my son for their love, special care and support during the process of writing this thesis ii ABSTRACT Teaching and learning English effectively depends on many factors among which motivation is considered as an important one The question how to keep English learners motivated especially in English speaking lessons is not easy to answer This study was conducted to investigate the situation of using oral presentation activities to motivate second-year students at Hanoi University of Business and Technology in English speaking lessons Survey questionnaires for teachers and students were employed to find out the answers for the research questions Based on the findings of the research it was revealed that oral presentation acitivites were applied in English speaking lessons at different level of frequency and the use of oral presentation activities were beneficial to students when students to some extents were motivated and they became more interested in English speaking activities However, during the application of oral presentation activities, there were still some obstacles for teachers and difficulties for students which should be taken in consideration to find out the solutions From the findings of the study, some suggestions for improving oral presentation activities have given out to help make English lessons more interesting to students iii CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION Aims and Objectives of the Study Research Methodology .3 Scope of the Study Design of the Study Significance of the Study PART B: DEVELOPMENT .5 Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW I Theoretical Background Oral Presentation 1.1 Definitions of Oral Presentation 1.2 Types of Oral Presentation 1.3 The Advantages and Disadvantages of Oral Presentations 1.4 Oral Presentation Activities 11 Speaking Skills .17 2.1 Conceptions of Speaking .17 2.3 Characteristics of a successful speaking activity 19 Motivation 20 3.1 Definitions of Motivation 20 3.2 Motivation and English speaking learning 21 II Review of Previous Relevant Studies 21 Chapter 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 28 Context of the study .28 Methodology 29 2.2.1 Participants .29 2.2.1.1 The students 29 2.2.1.2 The teachers 29 2.2.2 Instruments .30 iv Survey questionnaire for teachers 30 Survey questionnaire for students 30 2.2.3 Procedures of collecting data 31 2.2.4 Procedures of analyzing data 31 Chapter 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 32 Research question 1: How are OPAs Used in English Speaking Lessons to Motivate Students? .32 Research question 2: To what extent are the students motivated when OPAs are applied in English speaking lessons? 36 Teachers‟ recommendations and students‟ expectations for improving OPAs in English speaking lessons 41 Summary 44 PART 3: CONCLUSION 45 Summary and Conclusion of the Study 45 Implications of the study 45 Limitations of the study 46 Suggestions for further study 46 REFERENCES 47 APPENDICES I Appendix 1: Survey questionnaire for students I Appendix 2: Survey questionnaire for teachers VI v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS HUBT: Hanoi University of Business and Technology OPAs: Oral Presentation Activities CLT: Communicative Language Teaching EFL: English as Foreign Language ESL: English as Second Language EGAP: English for General Academic Purposes LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Teachers‟ frequency in using OPAs to motivate students in English speaking lessons Table 3.2 lessons Students‟ opinions on the use of OPAs in their English speaking Table 3.3 Teachers‟ and students‟ opinions on the use of OPAs in English speaking lessons Table 3.4 Obstacles for teachers in using OPAs in English speaking lessons Table 3.5 Students‟ difficulties when participating in OPAs in their English speaking lessons Table 3.6 Teachers‟ perceptions of students‟ motivation of OPAs in English speaking lessons Table 3.7 The level of students‟ motivation by the use of OPAs in their English speaking lessons Table 3.8 Teachers‟ and students‟ opinions on the motivation level by OPAs Table 3.9 Teachers‟ perception of students‟ benefits from participating OPAs in English speaking lessons Table 3.10 The level of benefit from the use of OPAs in students English speaking lessons Table 3.11 Teachers‟ recommendation to make OPAs more effective in English speaking lessons Table 3.12 Students‟ expectation from OPAs in English speaking lessons Table 3.13 Students‟ preference in giving oral presentations vi PART A: INTRODUCTION This part introduces briefly about the study including rationale, aims and objectives, research methodology, scope, design and significance of the study Rationale of the Study There is now a growing demand for mastering English since it is not only a useful means people need for their future career but also gives them the access to the modern world in the era of informatics and technology Therefore, teaching and learning English nowadays are paid much more attention than ever before and play a significant role in developing policies of many countries in the world In Vietnam, thanks to the open-door and integration policy, English has been widely used and becomes the most popular foreign language in the country among many foreign languages Moreover, English now is also a compulsory subjects at schools and universities As known that “The aims of foreign language instruction, especially English language instruction, is commonly defined in terms of four essential skills, reading, writing, listening, and speaking, of which speaking is becoming the most important aspect in developing one‟s communicative competence” (Moore, 1992: 9) In the recognition of the importance of speaking skill, there has been a dramatic change in the methodology of teaching English in recent years when the methods of English teaching have changed from traditional grammar translation approach to communicative approach which is now applied in many universities in Vietnam in general and in Hanoi University of Business and Technology in particular where the author has been teaching English for five years As a teacher of English, the author would really like to help her students to master English so that they are able to communicate confidently in English not only inside the class but also in daily life However, like many students at other universities, students at HUBT have low level of participation in English speaking activities Generally speaking, the students not pay much attention to their speaking skills; they usually keep quiet in speaking lessons because they feel shy or afraid of making mistakes and revealing their weaknesses Among a variety of reasons for students‟ poor participations students‟ lack of motivation is one reason that teachers should pay special attention and seek for solutions to motivate students to speak English Students once motivated will be likely to be involved more in English speaking activities in the classroom as well as practice it more outside in the daily life Among all the methods used to motivate students‟ participation in speaking lessons, “presentation activity is a great way to have students practice all language system areas (vocabulary, grammar, discourse and phonology) and skills (speaking, reading, writing and listening)” (Hayton, 2005) In brief, all of the reasons mentioned above have inspired the author to conduct “A study on the use of oral presentation activities to motivate the second-year students at Hanoi University of Business and Technology in English speaking lessons” Aims and Objectives of the Study The study aims to explore the situation of using oral presentation activities (hereafter OPAs) to motivate second-year students at Hanoi Unversity of Business and Technology (HUBT) in English speaking lessons to find out whether students are motivated to join and to speak English With the aim above, there are three specific objectives below: - to study how OPAs are used in English speaking lessons - to study whether the students are motivated to speak English - to give suggestions to motivate students in English speaking lessons Two research questions will be addressed as follows: How are OPAs used in English speaking lessons to motivate students? To what extent are the students motivated by OPAs? Table 3.12 reveals that 100% students expect their teachers to choose appropriate topics and situations, praise them and give OPAs topics for preparation in advance In addition, 100% students expect that their teachers create comfortable language atmosphere in English speaking lessons, provides language items in advance and give clear instructions In comparison with statistics in Table 3.11, it can be shown that there are some similarities between teachers recommendations and students‟ expectations when students expect their teachers to give more time for OPAs preparation in groups (95%), let students choose pairs or groups by themselves (95%), correct the mistakes at appropriate time (75%), give more time to practice in pairs (70%), provide students with relevant language structures (65.5%), give constructive feedback (65%), teach and practice oral presentation skills and have students OPAs homework (about 50%) In general, it can be seen from the two Tables that teachers‟ recommendations and students‟ expectations are quite similar Furthermore, students have some other expectations from OPAs which should be taken into teachers‟ consideration to help improve OPAs in English speaking lessons so as to motivate students to speak English The following Table 3.13 reports students‟ preference in giving oral presentations Not at all (%) Little (%) Much (%) Very much (%) In pairs 14 13 65 Individually 15 50 25 10 In large group (5-8 students) 20 30 32 18 18 17 65 In small students) groups (3-4 Table 3.13 Students’ preference in giving oral presentations 43 It is clearly shown in Table that over half of the students (65%) like giving an oral presentation in pairs and in small groups (3-4 students) and a half of them (50%) report that they have little interest in giving oral presentations individually It is interesting to notice that no percentage of the students admit that they not like giving oral presentations in small groups of three or four students; whereas 20% of them report they don‟t like working in large groups of five to eight students; 15% not like individual oral presentations and 14 % of them have no interest in pair oral presentations In conclusion, the data in Table reveals that most of the students like to give oral presentations in pairs and in small groups of three or four students and they hardly like individual presentations and large group oral presentations Summary Based on the results of student survey and teacher survey, findings have answered the two research questions It is concluded that OPAs have been used in English speaking classes at different frequency levels Although difficulties when applying OPAs could not be avoided, OPAs have to some extents helped motivating students to speak English There have been several OPAs by which students are strongly motivated such as Role-playing, Simulating, Debating, Group Oral Presentation, Advertising Products which shoule be applied more in English speaking lessons Moreoever, almost students like to give oral presentations in pairs and in small groups of three or four students Therefore, those things should be taken into teachers‟ consideration to find out the solutions for better improvement 44 PART 3: CONCLUSION This study has investigated the actual situation of using OPAs in English speaking lessons to motivate students to speak English The study also aims at finding if the students are motivated by OPAs and giving out suggestions to help improve OPAs All the findings from two surveys are presented in the previous part The summaries of the findings and the conclusion for the research are presented as follows Summary and Conclusion of the Study The study aims at addressing the two research questions about how OPAs are used in English speaking lessons to motivate students and to what extent students are motivated by OPAs Based on data collection from the materials analysis and the survey questionnaires for teachers and students at HUBT, answers to two research questions are gained It is concluded that students actually participated in OPAs which are used by their teachers in English speaking lessons at different frequency levels It is obvious through the surveys that students are also motivated by the use of OPAs because OPAs not only improve their language skills but also help develop necessary soft skills for students However, it cannot be denied that during the application of OPAs both teachers and students face certain difficulties which should be taken into their consideration to give out the solutions for improvements Implications of the study Based on the findings of the study, there are some implications in the research as follows To begin with, in order to improve the quality of English lessons in general and English speaking lessons in specific as well as to motivate students to speak English,it is suggested that oral presentation activities should be appropriately applied in English speaking lessons Second, besides the application of OPAs in English speaking lessons teachers also pay attention to students‟ difficulties, their expectation and preference of OPAs, 45 which will make OPAs more effective to motivate students to involve in speaking English Limitations of the study The study has offered some meaningful findings, however, like many other studies, there is still limitation The study was only carried out at HUBT; therefore, the findings of the study are only applied at the universities whose contexts are similar to the context of HUBT As a result, it can not be applied at all universities in Vietnam Suggestions for further study According to some limitations of the study, there are some suggestions for further researchers Other studies might be on the same issue but carried out in a wider scope with larger samples in other university contexts Also, the authors of similar studies might use other methodologies such as case study or class observation or interview Besides, further studies might take these findings and suggestions into consideration to get better results in teaching speaking 46 REFERENCES Best, J.W (1981) Research in Education, 5thed Englewood Cliff, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Arjpru, T (2007) Using students‟ presentation in EFL speaking instruction Crookes, G and R W Schmidt (1991) Motivation: reopening the research agenda Language Learning 41/4: 469-512 Deci, L and Ryan, M (1985) Intrinsic motivation and self – determination in human behavior New York: Plenum Dörnyei, Z (1994) Motivation and motivating in the foreign language classroom The Modern Language Journal, 78/3, 273-284 Dörnyei, Z (1998) Motivation in second and foreign language teaching Language Teaching, 31(3), 117 – 135 Dörnyei, Z., & Csizér, K (1998) Ten Commandments for motivating language learners: Results of an empirical study Language Teaching Research, 2, 203 Dörnyei, Z and Otto I (1998) Motivation in action: a process model of L2 motivation Working papers in Applied Linguistics (Thames Valley university, London) 4: 43-69 Dörnyei, Z (2001a) Teaching and researching motivation Pearson Education Limited.England 10 Dörnyei, Z (2001b) Motivational strategies in the foreign language classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 11 Essberger, J (1998) English Speaking Practice through Presentations TEFL articles Retrieved January 15th 2011 from: http://www.englishclub.com/tefl-articles/englishspeaking-practicepresentations.htm 12 Gardner, R.C and Lambert, E (1972), Attitudes and Motivation in Second Language Learning, Rowley, MA: Newbury House 47 13 Gardner, R C (1985a) Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation London: Edward Arnold 14 Gardner, R C (1985b) The Attitude/Motivation Test Battery: Technical Report London, ON: University of Western Ontario 15 Gardner, R.C (2001) Language Learning Motivation: the Student, the Teacher, and the researcher Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education, 6, 1-18 16 Guilloteaux, M.J (2007) Motivating language learners: a classroom-oriented investigation of teachers‟ motivational practices and students‟ motivation (Doctoral dissertation) Retrieved January 15th 2011 from: http://etheses.nottingham.ac.uk/271/1/Guilloteaux_PhD.pdf 14 17 Hayton, T (2005) Student presentations Retrieved on September 5, 2010, from: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/student-presentations 18 Hopkins, D (1993) A teacher‟s guide to classroom research (2nd ed.) Buckingham, English/ Philadelphia: Open University Press 19 Kaul, A (2005) The effective presentation-talk your way to success Sage publications Inc, California 20 Keblawi, R (1998) Demotivation among Arab learners of English as a Foreign Language The Reading Matrix, Inc United States Retrieved November 15th 2010 from: www.Reading matrix.com/ online conference proceedings 2005 21 Jing, L (2009) Application of Oral Presentation in ESL Classroom of China Retrieved December 20th 2010 from: http://www.minds.wisconsin.edu 22 King, J (2002) Preparing EFL Learners for Oral Presentations The Internet TESL Journal, Vol VIII, No 3, March 2002 Retrieved January 15th 2011 from http://iteslj.org/Lessons/King-PublicSpeaking.html 23 Nunan, D (1992) Research methods in language learning Cambridge University Press 48 APPENDICES Appendix 1: Survey questionnaire for students This survey questionnaire is designed for my study on “The use of oral presentation activities to motivate the second-year students of Accounting faculty at HUBT in speaking lessons” Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated All the information provided by you is solely for the study purpose and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Please answer the following questions by checking (✔) the appropriate box (Please tick as many as appropriate) Part 1: Students’ opinions about the use of oral presentation activities (OPAs) in English speaking lessons How often are the following OPAs used in your English speaking lessons? OPAs Levels Always Usually Reading out aloud Simulating Role-playing Describing people Describing pictures Telling stories Group oral presentation Individual Oral presentation Debating Reporting Giving speech Advertising products Others: (Please list them here):………………… ………………………… I Sometimes Hardly Never To what extent are you motivated by the following OPAs? OPAs Levels Strongly motivated Motivated Rather motivated Not motivated at all Reading out aloud Simulating Role-playing Describing people Describing pictures Telling stories Group oral presentation Individual oral presentation Debating Reporting Giving speech Advertising products Others (Please list them here) …………………………… …………………………… To what extent are you motivated by the following benefits of OPAs? Benefits Levels Very Rather Having more chance to speak English Feeling more confident when speaking English Having more chance to express orally II Little Not at all Having more chance to exchange ideas with classmates Being more interested in learning English Improving English proficiency Learning from classmates Learning how to work in groups/ in pairs Learning how to use technology for oral presentations Acquiring more background knowledge through English Integrating four language skills Practicing meaningful oral English Being more decisive Reducing anxiety Improving self-confidence Improving independence Others (Please specify): …………………………… …………………………… Part 2: Students’ difficulties when OPAs are used in English speaking lessons How often you face the following difficulties when participating in OPAs? Difficulties Levels Always Usually Lack of vocabularies to express opinions Fear of making mistakes III Sometimes Hardly Never Fear of losing face Fear of being criticized Feeling anxious Feeling not confident Lack of group work skills Lack of relevant information searching skills Feeling not familiar with the use of technology for oral presentation Fear of loosing face Lack of preparation time Noisy class Low language proficiency Others (Please specify):………………… …………………………… Part 3: Students’ expectation from OPAs in English speaking lessons What would you expect your teacher to help improve your OPAs in English speaking lessons?  Giving clear instructions  Choosing appropriate topics and situations  Providing vocabularies and language items in advance  Providing students with necessary equipments and releavent language structures  Giving more time to practice in pairs  Giving more time for OPAs preparation in groups  Correcting the mistakes at appropriate time  Giving constructive feedback  Praising students  Creating comfortable language atmosphere in English speaking lessons  Let students choose groups or pairs themselves  Promoting learner-centered approach  Giving OPAs topics for preparation in advance IV  Teaching students oral presentation skills  Practicing students oral presentation skills in small groups  Having students work in groups or pairs to OPAs homework  Others (Please specify):……………………………… In which ways would you like to give an oral presentation?  In pairs  In large group (5-8 students)  Individually  In small groups (3-4 students) Thank you very much for your cooperation V Appendix 2: Survey questionnaire for teachers This survey questionnaire is designed for my study on “The use of oral presentation activities to motivate the second-year students of Accounting faculty at HUBT in speaking lessons” Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated All the information provided by you is solely for the study purpose and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Please answer the following questions by checking (✔) the appropriate box (Please tick as many as appropriate) Part 1: Teachers’ current use of oral presentation activities (OPAs) to motivate students in speaking lessons How often you use the following OPAs to motivate your students in speaking lessons? OPAs Levels Always Usually Reading out aloud Simulating Role-playing Describing people Describing pictures Telling stories Group oral presentation Individual Oral presentation Debating Reporting Giving speech Advertising products Others: (Please list them here…………………… VI Sometimes Hardly Never To what extent are the your students motivated by the following OPAs? OPAs Levels Strongly motivated Motivated Rather motivated Not motivated at all Reading out aloud Simulating Role-playing Describing people Describing pictures Telling stories Group oral presentation Individual oral presentation Debating Reporting Giving speech Advertising products Others (Please list them here)……………………… …………………………… Part 2: Teachers’ opinions about the use of OPAs to motivate students in speaking lessons How your students respond to OPAs? A Very interested C Not very interested D Bored B Interested How useful are OPAs to motivate students to speak English?  Very useful  Rather useful  Useful  Not very useful VII        Which benefits might your students get from OPAs? (Please tick as many as appropriate.) Giving students more chances to speak  Helping students learn how to use English technology for oral presentation Promoting learner-centered approach  Improving students‟ independence Encourging students to express themselves  Improving students‟ confedence orally  Building up teamwork for students Encouraging students exchange ideas with  Helping students reduce anxiety when classmates speaking English Improving students‟ English proficiency  Others (Please specify): Making students more interested in learning ………………………………………… English ………………………………………… …… Helping students learn from each other Part 3: Teachers’ difficulties in using OPAs as a motivator in speaking lessons       What obstacles you encounter when applying OPAs in English speaking lessons? (Please tick as many as appropriate.) Lack of time  Students‟ fear of making mistakes when speaking Lack of facilities  Students‟ lack of oral presentation skills Large class  Students‟ resistance to particitpate in the Noises during the lessons lesson Low level of students‟ English proficiency  Others (Please Students‟ shyness specify):…………………… ………………………………………… … Part 4: Teachers’ recommendations of making OPAs more effective in speaking lessons What recommendations you suggest to make OPAs more effective in speaking lessons? (Please tick as many as appropriate.)  Choosing appropriate topics  Practicing OPAs in small groups VIII  Choosing appropriate situations  Designing suitable speaking tasks for  Having students work in paris or groups to students  Giving clear instructions  Providing students with equipments and releavent language structures they need to be able to complete the task  Praising students     OPAs homework Giving students OPAs topics in advance Teaching students oral presentation skills Practicing students oral presentation skills Others (Please specify): …………………………………………… ……………… Thank you very much for your cooperation IX ... have inspired the author to conduct ? ?A study on the use of oral presentation activities to motivate the second- year students at Hanoi University of Business and Technology in English speaking lessons? ??... seminar paper on “Application of Oral Presentation in ESL classroom of China” Based on the literature review relating to research, studies and introduction of oral presentation as well as the analysis... can be individual oral presentation, pair oral presentation and group oral presentation This is up to the size of the class, the topic, and the aims and objectives that the teacher want to achieve