An investigation into the instructional strategies to develop speaking skills for the second year students at vinh phuc teacher training college

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES **************** ĐỖ THỊ CẨM VÂN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES TO DEVELOP SPEAKING SKILLS FOR THE SECOND YEAR STUDENTS AT VINH PHUC TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE (Nghiên cứu chiến lược giảng dạy nhằm nâng cao kỹ nói cho sinh viên năm thứ hai Trường Cao đẳng Sư phạm Vĩnh Phúc) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.01.11 Hanoi – 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES **************** ĐỖ THỊ CẨM VÂN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES TO DEVELOP SPEAKING SKILLS FOR THE SECOND YEAR STUDENTS AT VINH PHUC TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE (Nghiên cứu chiến lược giảng dạy nhằm nâng cao kỹ nói cho sinh viên năm thứ hai Trường Cao đẳng Sư phạm Vĩnh Phúc) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.01.11 Supervisor: Dr Tô Thị Thu Hương Hanoi - 2014 DECLARATION I, Do Thi Cam Van, hereby declare that the work in this thesis is the result of my own research It is recognized that should this declaration be found to be false, disciplinary actions could be taken and penalties could be imposed in accordance with university policies and rules Hanoi, 2014 Đỗ Thị Cẩm Vân i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would love to express my sincere thanks to a number of people whose invaluable support and encouragement were of great help in completing of this study First of all, I would like to advance my special gratitude to Dr To Thi Thu Huong - my supervisor for her guidance, invaluable advice as well as critical comments during the research process Without her tireless help, this study could not have been finished Secondly, my thanks go to Dr Le Van Canh for his contributions through giving me helpful advice when I started the study I am thankful to all the staff of the Post- Graduate Department of University of Language International Studies, VNU for giving me assistance and encouraging me to complete the thesis A further acknowledgement goes to my dear friends from the Master's Course I would also like to acknowledge the 15 English teachers and 60 second -year students from K17, English Department, Vinh Phuc Teacher Training College for their participation and cooperation during the data collection process Finally, special words of thanks are sent to my beloved family for their encouragement even in the hardest time when I was confused and exhausted ii ABSTRACT The study is entitled “An investigation into the instructional strategies to develop speaking skills for the second year students at Vinh Phuc Teacher Training College” It was conducted to examine the second year students’ difficulties in their English speaking skills, find out the instructional strategies applied by English language teachers in speaking classes, and show how role- play practice affecting students’ performance in speaking skills The study was carried out on sixty second- year students and fifteen English teachers at Vinh Phuc Teacher Training College during weeks by questionnaires, semi- structured interviews, test, and personal observations The findings indicated students’ good awareness and varied attitudes towards the problems they have to face, and the difficulties they had in the learning process In addition, the study showed a range of the instructional strategies the teachers applied to motivate their students’ participation in speaking lessons And role- playing was the most popularly used at Vinh Phuc Teacher Training College iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration ……………………………………………………………… i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of appendices vi List of abbreviations vii List of figures vii List of tables viii INTRODUCTION Rationale Scope of the study Aims of the study Significance of the study Methods of the study Design of the study DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW Overview of speaking skills 1.1 Definition of speaking and teaching speaking skills 1.2 Principles for teaching speaking skills Communicative Language Teaching Today 2.1 Definition of communicative language teaching 2.2 Current trends in communicative language teaching 2.3 Classroom activities in communicative language teaching Instructional strategies 10 3.1 Definition 10 3.2 Instructional strategies model 11 Role- play 13 iv CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY The context 15 1.1 Description of the English speaking classe and its objectives at Vinh Phuc Teacher Training College 15 1.2 Description of the students 17 1.3 Description of the teachers 17 Method and procedure 18 2.1 Selection of participants 18 2.2 Data collection methods 18 2.2.1 Questionnaires 19 2.2.2 Semi-structured interviews 19 2.2.3 Observations 20 2.3 Data collection procedures 20 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Teachers’ instructional strategies in English speaking classes 22 1.1 Instructional strategies used by teachers in speaking lessons 22 1.2 Which instructional strategies help the students to overcome their difficulties in speaking lessons? 29 1.2.1 Students’ difficulties in the speaking classes 30 1.2.2 Which instructional strategies help the students to overcome their difficulties in speaking lessons? 33 Effect of role- play practice to students’ performance in English speaking classes 33 CONCLUSION Summary of the study 39 Limitations of the study 39 Suggestions for further studies 40 REFERENCES 41 APPENDICES I v LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1: Transcripts of student interviews (schedule 1) Appendix 2: Transcripts of student interviews (schedule 2) Appendix 3: Transcripts of teacher interviews (schedule 1) Appendix 4: Transcripts of teacher interviews (schedule 2) Appendix 5: Teacher interview schedules Appendix 6: Student interview schedules Appendix 7: Mid- term test Appendix 8: Mid- term test: K 17 English A Appendix 9: Mid- term test: K 17 English C Appendix 10: Students’ questionnaire Appendix 11: Teachers’ questionnaire Appendix 12: Findings from observation vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ED: English Department EFL: English as a Foreign Language CLT: Communicative Language Teaching MA: Master of Arts PhD: Doctor of Philosophy Q: Question S: Student T: Teacher VTTC: Vinh Phuc Teacher Training College LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Importance of the teachers’ instructional strategies from the teachers’ points of view Figure 2: Instructional strategies the teachers applied in English speaking lessons Figure 3: The instructional strategy motivated the students the most in English speaking lessons Figure 4: Importance of the teachers’ instructional strategies from the students’ points of view Figure 5: Instructional strategies the teachers used from the students’ points of view Figure 6: Instructional strategy motivated the students the most from the students Figure 7: Students’ difficulties in English speaking lessons Figure 8: Students’ difficulties from the teachers’ points of view Figure 9: Students’ result from the mid- term test vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Speaking activities and topics designed for the second year English majored students Table 2: Importance of the teachers’ instructional strategies from the teachers’ points of view Table 3: The instructional strategies the teachers applied and which instructional strategy motivated the students the most in English speaking lessons Table 4: Importance of the teachers’ instructional strategies from the students’ points of view Table 5: The instructional strategies the teachers applied and which instructional strategy motivated the students the most in English speaking lessons from the students’ points of view Table 6: Students’ difficulties in English speaking lessons Table 7: Students’ difficulties in English speaking lessons from the teachers’ points of view Table 8: Students’ perceptions towards role- play Table 9: Students’ result from the mid- term test viii APPENDIX 6: STUDENT INTERVIEW SCHEDULES Student interview schedule 1 What are your difficulties in studying speaking skills? What has affected your participation in speaking class? Student interview schedule How you evaluate your level and quality of your participation in the speaking lesson today? What the instructional strategies your teacher often applies to motivate students in the speaking classes? Do you like them? XIV APPENDIX 7: ĐỀ SỐ PART 1: Introduction Introduce yourself and your family PART 2: Language functions Student 1: Can you read aloud the following numbers? 15/11/2009 ¼ 1.07 Student 2: What does each of the following initials stand for? PhD etc GMT PART 3: Role-play situation One member plays the role of a tour guide and the other plays the role of the visitor The tour guide introduces to the visitor the some famous beauty spots around Hanoi Visitors can ask the tour guide any questions if they want ĐỀ SỐ PART 1: Introduction Introduce yourself and your family PART 2: Language functions Student 1: Can you read aloud the following numbers? 16/9/1783 1/5 2,550 Student 2: What does each of the following initials stand for? B.C ASEAN IQ PART 3: Role-play situation Imagine that you are going to take part in an entrance exam at a famous university but you don’t know any information about it You will play the role of that student and your friend will play the role of the member of the training office of that university (You can ask information about its location, its background, its staff, etc) XV ĐỀ SỐ PART 1: Introduction Introduce yourself and your family PART 2: Language functions Student 1: What does each of the following initials stand for? UFO UN e.g Student 2: Can you read aloud the following numbers? 14/2/2011 ½ 3.05 PART 3: Role-play situation You now are living in Phuc Yen town, Vinh Phuc province Your town is planning the project “Green world’ to protect the environment You will play the role of the jounalist, and your friend will play the role of the member of “Green world” project Discuss the situation and the sollution of the environmental pollution in Phuc Yen ĐỀ SỐ PART 1: Introduction Introduce yourself and your family PART 2: Language functions Student 1: Can you read aloud the following numbers? 1/1/2009 ¾ 2.09 Student 2: What does each of the following initials stand for? GNP IMF Co.,Ltd PART 3: Role-play situation Imagine you have just graduated from the university You are looking for a job in a big computer You play the role of the interviewee and your friend will play the role of the interviewer XVI HƯỚNG DẪN CHẤM Hình thức thi: Nói theo cặp đơi Cách tổ chức thi: Các thí sinh tự chọn người nói cặp với (đối tượng lớp, phịng thi) Giám thị gọi thí sinh theo danh sách phịng thi Nếu phịng thi có số lẻ thí sinh cuối phép chọn thí sinh khác dự thi, lần nói thứ hai khơng tính điểm Mỗi cặp dự thi bốc thăm MỘT đề, muốn đổi đề trừ 20% điểm Hướng dẫn chấm: Phần 1: (2,0 điểm) Hai thí sinh giới thiệu thân gia đình Phần 2: (3,0 điểm) Hai thí sinh trả lời câu hỏi đề thi Mỗi câu trả lời tính 1,0 điểm Chú ý: Ở cặp đơi, thí sinh gọi vào trước PHẢI làm nhiệm vụ STUDENT Phần 3: (5,0 điểm) Hai thí sinh thực phần thi cách phân vai cho tình đưa đề thi sau thực đoạn hội thoại Tiêu chí cho điểm phần thi cụ thể sau: - Fluency (1,0 điểm) - Accuracy (1,0 điểm) - Interaction (1,0 điểm) - Content (2,0 điểm) XVII APPENDIX 8: MID- TERM TEST: K 17 ENGLISH A TT Họ tên Ngày sinh Trú quán Điểm Lê Thị Ngọc A 27/11/1995 Sông Lô - Vĩnh Phúc Nguyễn Thị Vân A 16/9/1995 Yên Lạc - Vĩnh Phúc Bùi Thị B 09/01/1995 Tam Dương - Vĩnh Phúc Đỗ Thị Đ 08/9/1995 Tam Dương - Vĩnh Phúc Đỗ Thị Bích H 01/5/1995 Lập Thạch - Vĩnh Phúc Trần Thị Thanh H 17/12/1995 Sông Lô - Vĩnh Phúc 7 Lê Thị H 26/12/1995 Sông Lô - Vĩnh Phúc Nguyễn Thi Thu H 26/6/1995 Vĩnh Tường- Vĩnh Phúc Lê Thanh H 16/08/1995 Tam Dương - Vĩnh Phúc 10 Phạm Thị Thu H 28/02/1995 Sông Lô - Vĩnh Phúc 11 Bùi Thị H 15/07/1994 Phúc Yên - Vĩnh Phúc 12 Nguyễn Thị Bích L 05/9/1995 Tam Đảo- Vĩnh Phúc 13 Nguyền Thùy L 09/08/1995 Phúc Yên - Vĩnh Phúc 14 Nguyễn Thị L 21/06/1994 Yên Lạc - Vĩnh Phúc 15 Phạm Hoàng Kiều L 21/12/1995 Yên Lạc - Vĩnh Phúc 16 Vũ Thị L 05/04/1995 Yên Lạc - Vĩnh Phúc 17 Nguyễn Thị Thúy Ng 01/07/1995 Phúc Yên - Vĩnh Phúc 18 Trần Thị Ng 15/04/1995 Bình Xun- Vĩnh Phúc 19 Hồng Huyền Ng 02/02/1995 Vĩnh Yên- Vĩnh Phúc XVIII 20 Trần Thị Ph 10/11/1995 21 Nguyễn Hồng Qu 23/08/1995 Bình Xuyên - Vĩnh Phúc 22 Nguyễn Thị Th 28/01/1994 Vĩnh Tường- Vĩnh Phúc 23 Trần Thị Th 28/03/1995 Vĩnh Tường - Vĩnh Phúc 24 Hà Thị Th 27/08/1995 Sông Lô - Vĩnh Phúc 25 Nguyễn Thị Lệ Th 02/11/1995 Bình Xuyên - Vĩnh Phúc 26 Trần Thị Thu Th 20/02/1995 Lập Thạch - Vĩnh Phúc 27 Nguyễn Thị Thu Th 31/01/1995 Sông Lô - Vĩnh Phúc 28 Vũ Thị Hà Tr 11/10/1995 Tam Dương - Vĩnh Phúc 29 Nguyễn Thị Bảo Tr 17/03/1995 Lập Thạch - Vĩnh Phúc 30 Trần Thu Tr 09/05/1995 Bình Xuyên - Vĩnh Phúc XIX Tam Đảo- Vĩnh Phúc APPENDIX Mid- term test: K 17 English C TT Tên Ngày sinh Trú quán Điểm Trần Thị Kim A 28/10/1995 Tam Đảo- Vĩnh Phúc Nguyễn Thị B 28/10/1995 Yên lạc- Vĩnh Phúc Nguyễn Thị B 25/08/1994 Phạm Mạnh C 17/12/1995 Vĩnh Tường- Vĩnh Phúc Vĩnh Yên- Vĩnh Phúc Nguyễn Thị Thu H 18/11/1995 Vĩnh Yên- Vĩnh Phúc Vũ Thái H 14/10/1995 Lập Thạch- Vĩnh Phúc Nguyễn Thị Thu H 04/12/1995 Nguyễn Thị Thanh H 21/08/1995 Tam Dương- Vĩnh Phúc Sông Lô- Vĩnh Phúc Nguyễn Thị H 02/09/1995 Phúc Yên- Vĩnh Phúc 10 Lê Thị H 10/10/1995 11 Nguyễn Thị H 27/11/1994 Bình Xuyên- Vĩnh Phúc Phúc Yên- Vĩnh Phúc 12 Lê Thị H 14/12/1995 Lập Thạch- Vĩnh Phúc 13 Nguyễn Thị H 08/03/1995 Yên lạc- Vĩnh Phúc 14 Trương Thị Thanh H 24/08/1995 Phúc Yên- Vĩnh Phúc 15 Nguyễn Thị Thanh H 11/11/1995 Sông Lô- Vĩnh Phúc 16 Nguyễn Thanh L 23/09/1994 17 Nguyễn Thị Thùy L 30/01/1995 Tam Dương- Vĩnh Phúc Lập Thạch- Vĩnh Phúc 18 Nguyễn Thị Thúy Ng 12/08/1993 Vĩnh Yên- Vĩnh Phúc 19 Lương Thị Ng 11/07/1995 Phúc Yên- Vĩnh Phúc 20 Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Nh 21/08/1995 21 Tạ Phương O 20/07/1995 Tam Dương- Vĩnh Phúc Yên lạc- Vĩnh Phúc XX 22 Phạm Thị Kiều O 20/02/1995 Sông Lô- Vĩnh Phúc 23 Nguyễn Thị T 19/09/1995 Sông Lô- Vĩnh Phúc 24 Hoàng Thị Phương Tr 28/02/1995 Vĩnh Yên- Vĩnh Phúc 25 Nguyễn Thị Tr 05/01/1995 Lập Thạch- Vĩnh Phúc 26 Nguyễn Hồng Tr 19/08/1995 Vĩnh Yên- Vĩnh Phúc 27 Ngô Thị Thu Tr 04/04/1995 Yên lạc- Vĩnh Phúc 28 Nguyễn Thị Kiều Tr 12/01/1995 29 Nguyễn Thị Thùy Tr 07/06/1995 Tam Dương- Vĩnh Phúc Yên lạc- Vĩnh Phúc 30 Dương Thị Y 25/12/1995 Lập Thạch- Vĩnh Phúc XXI APPENDIX 10: QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR STUDENTS) This survey questionnaire is designed for the study on: “An investigation into the instructional strategies to develop speaking skills for the second year students at Vinh Phuc Teacher Training College” Your assistance in completing the following questions is greatly appreciated You can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussions or data analysis What are your difficulties when you study English speaking skills? Tick the answers that are appropriate A You lack vocabularies B You are not interested in the instructional strategies your teacher applied C You are shy and inconfident D You lack the information related to the topic E Their pronunciation is not good How important are the teachers’ instructional strategies to English learning? Tick the answer that is the most appropriate A Essential D Not very important B Very important E Not important at all C Rather important What are the instructional strategies your teacher often applies in your English speaking classes? Tick the answers that are appropriate A Group work F Pair work B Jigsaw activities G Reasoning- gap activities C Role- play H Information- gap activities D Task- completion activities I Information- gathering activities E Opinion- sharing activities K Information- transfer activities XXII If your English teacher applied these instructional strategies in your English speaking classes, what would motivate you the most? Tick the answer that is the most appropriate A Group work F Pair work B Jigsaw activities G Reasoning- gap activities C Role- play H Information- gap activities D Task- completion activities I Information- gathering activities E Opinion- sharing activities K Information- transfer activities STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS ROLE- PLAY ACTIVITIES To what extent to you agree or disagree with the following statements? Put a tick in the appropriate space provided if you STRONGLY DISAGREE with the statement if you DISAGREE with the statement if you are NEUTRAL if you AGREE with the statement if you STRONGLY AGREE with the statement No Statements Role- play increases students’ interactions, promotes their communicative competence, interactive skills, and interpersonal relationships Role- play helps the students more actively in the English speaking skills Role- play creates chances for students to use English more Role- play helps the students more confident to present about the topic Role- play forces the students to practice more in English Role- play helps the students overcome their shyness Role- play is time- consuming Role- play leads misunderstanding among the members of the groups XXIII APPENDIX 11: QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR TEACHERS) This survey questionnaire is designed for the study on: “An investigation into the instructional strategies to develop speaking skills for the second year students at Vinh Phuc Teacher Training College” Your assistance in completing the following questions is greatly appreciated You can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussions or data analysis 1.What are your students’ difficulties when they study English speaking skills? Tick the answers that are the most appropriate A They lack vocabularies B They are not interested in the instructional strategies you applied C They are shy and inconfident D They lack the information related to the topic E Their pronunciation is not good How important are the teachers’ instructional strategies to English teaching and learning? Tick the answer that is the most appropriate A Essential D Not very important B Very important E Not important at all C Rather important What are the instructional strategies you often applied in your English speaking classes? A Group work F Pair work B Jigsaw activities G Reasoning- gap activities C Role- play H Information- gap activities D Task- completion activities I Information- gathering activities E Opinion- sharing activities K Information- transfer activities XXIV If you applied these instructional strategies in your English speaking classes, what would you think motivate your students the most? A Group work F Pair work B Jigsaw activities G Reasoning- gap activities C Role- play H Information- gap activities D Task- completion activities I Information- gathering activities E Opinion- sharing activities K Information- transfer activities Thank you very much for your co-operation and assistance! XXV APPENDIX 12: FINDINGS FROM OBSERVATIONS Observation Date of observation: Time: Duration of role- play: 11 minutes Class: Role- play observation Put a dash (/) for each turn Members Number of turns taken Total amount of talking time Member 4.10 minutes Member 15 seconds Member 1.30 minutes Teacher’s instructional strategies Put a tick (√) when the teacher uses that strategy No Instructional strategies Teacher application Information- transfer activities Group work √ Role- play √ Pair work √ Information- gathering activities Opinion- sharing activities Reasoning- gap activities Jigsaw activities Information- gap activities √ 10 Task- completion activities √ XXVI Observation Date of observation: Time: Duration of role- play: 10 minutes Class: Role- play observation Put a dash (/) for each turn Members Number of turns taken Total amount of talking time Member 2.10 minutes Member 3.05 minutes Teacher’s instructional strategies Put a tick (√) when the teacher uses that strategy No Instructional strategies Teacher application Information- transfer activities Group work √ Role- play √ Pair work √ Information- gathering activities Opinion- sharing activities Reasoning- gap activities Jigsaw activities Information- gap activities 10 Task- completion activities √ √ XXVII Observation Date of observation: Time: Duration of role- play: minutes Class: Role- play observation Put a dash (/) for each turn Members Number of turns taken Total amount of talking time Member 1.50 minutes Member 3 minutes Member 1.30 minutes Teacher’s instructional strategies Put a tick (√) when the teacher uses that strategy No Instructional strategies Teacher application Information- transfer activities Group work √ Role- play √ Pair work √ Information- gathering activities √ Opinion- sharing activities √ Reasoning- gap activities Jigsaw activities Information- gap activities 10 Task- completion activities √ XXVIII ... strategies to develop speaking skills for the second year students at Vinh Phuc Teacher Training College? ?? It was conducted to examine the second year students? ?? difficulties in their English speaking. .. LITERATURE REVIEW In the investigation into the instructional strategies to develop students? ?? speaking abilities, the study needs to present the previous and current literature on the speaking skills. .. strategic learners The purposes of the instructional strategies are: - To motivate students and help them focus attention - To organize information for understanding and remembering - To monitor