Improving grade 10th students’ speaking proficiency at a high school in dien bien through using role play activities

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES BÙI TRUNG NGA LINH IMPROVING GRADE 10TH STUDENTS’ SPEAKING PROFICIENCY AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN DIEN BIEN THROUGH USING ROLE-PLAY ACTIVITIES Cải thiện khả nói tiếng Anh học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Điện Biên qua sử dụng hoạt động role-play M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi, June 2018 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES BÙI TRUNG NGA LINH IMPROVING GRADE 10TH STUDENTS’ SPEAKING PROFICIENCY AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN DIEN BIEN THROUGH USING ROLE-PLAY ACTIVITIES Cải thiện khả nói tiếng Anh học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Điện Biên qua sử dụng hoạt động role-play M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Prof Dr Hoàng Văn Vân Hanoi, June 2018 DECLARATION I, Bùi Trung Nga Linh, hereby certify that the thesis entitled “Improving grade 10th Students‟ speaking proficiency at a high school in Dien Bien through role-play activities” is the result of my own research, and that the thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution Hanoi, June 2018 Student‟s signature Bùi Trung Nga Linh ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During the process of writing this thesis, I have been fortunate to receive support and assistance from a variety of people First and foremost, I would like to express my extreme gratitude to my supervisor, Prof Dr Hoàng Văn Vân for his patient and enthusiastic guidance, encouragement, invaluable assistance throughout my research I am also grateful to the lectures and all the staff members of the Faculty of PostGraduate Studies, ULIS, VNU for providing me valuable lessons, support and encouragement in fulfillment of this thesis My thanks also go to the principal, teachers and the 10th graders at X high school in Dien Bien for their cooperation and support for my data collection Finally, but most of all, my thanks to my beloved family who always supported and encouraged me to overcome the difficulties during my study Hanoi, June 2018 Bùi Trung Nga Linh i ABSTRACT This action research aimed at improving students‟ speaking proficiency by implementing role-play technique The research subjects were 32 grade 10th students in class 10A1 at X high school in Dien Bien city in the first semester The role-play activities were organized in each speaking lesson from unit to unit of the textbook “Tiếng Anh 10” This research was carried out in two cycles including steps: planning, doing action, observing and reflection The qualitative data were obtained by observing, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaires the grade 10 students in class 10A1 The instruments used to collect data were observation, teaching diaries, interviews, and questionnaires Pre-test and two post-tests were administered to obtain the quantitive data which were in the forms of speaking scores The research findings showed that the use of role-play activities improved students‟ speaking skills The improvement could be seen from: (1) Students‟ pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, comprehension and fluency (2) Students‟ confidence, enthusiasm, and opportunities to speak (3) The mean score of pre-test (4.984), post-test (6.437), and post-test (7.703) In conclusion, role-play was a trustworthy technique in promoting students‟ speaking competence ii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii ABBREVIATION vi LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF FIGURES vi PART A INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Research objectives 3 Research questions Scope of the study Design of the study PART B DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW Speaking 1.1 Definition of speaking 1.2 Difficulties in speaking 1.3 Teaching Speaking 1.3.1 Aspects of speaking 1.3.2 Types of speaking activities 10 1.3.3 The role of teachers in teaching speaking 14 1.3.4 Assessing speaking skills 16 Role-play 18 2.1 Definition of role-play 18 2.2 Types of role-play 19 2.3 Procedures for making successful role-play activities 22 iii Previous research on techniques/methods to improve students‟ speaking proficiency in general and role-play in particular 26 3.1 Techniques/methods used to improve students‟ speaking skill in general 26 3.2 Prior studies on using role-play to enhance students‟ speaking proficiency in particular 27 Summary 29 CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY 30 Research type 30 The setting of the study 31 2.1 An overview of X high school 31 2.2 The course outline of teaching and learning English 31 Selection of the participants 33 Data collection methods 34 4.1 Class observation 34 4.2 Testing students‟ performance 34 4.3 Semi-structured interviews 35 4.4 Questionnaires 35 Data analysis 35 Data collection procedure 36 6.1 Research cycle 36 CHAPTER III: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 39 Research findings 39 Discussion of the research findings 44 PART C: CONCLUSION 45 Conclusion 45 Implications 46 Suggestions 46 3.1 For teachers 46 3.2 For students 47 iv 3.3 For further studies 47 REFERENCES 48 APPENDICES 52 v ABBREVIATION ECAs: Extracurricular activities LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Sample of scoring rubric speaking 16 Table 2: Sample of scoring rubric speaking 17 Table 3: Speaking activities and topics designed for class 10A1 32 Table 5: The mean score of the pre-test 41 Table 6: The mean score of the pre-test 41 Table 7: The mean score of the post-test 41 Table : A summary about the improvement of students‟ speaking ability 43 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Action Research Process 30 Figure 2: The procedure of the research 38 Figure 3: The comparison of the mean score of each aspect among the tests 42 Figure 4: The comparison of the total mean scores of the students‟ speaking skills 42 vi PART A INTRODUCTION Rationale English has been used more and more widely, and it is considered as one of the most important languages in every part of the world It plays an instrumental role in all aspects such as education, travel and business, internet, and so on It helps people communicate with each other even they come from other countries Understanding the necessity of English in the development of society in the integration and globalization in general and of each individual in particular, the demand for learning English Vietnamese people gets stronger and stronger power That is the reason why the teaching and learning English has been paid more attention recently in Vietnam, and it cannot be denied that English is now a compulsory subject in language teaching programs at many schools and universities In teaching language, there are four major language skills taught such as listening, speaking, reading, writing Of all the four skills, speaking seems intuitively the most important: people who know a language are referred to as „speakers‟ of that language, as if speaking included all other kinds of knowing (Ur, 1996, p.117) It can be understood that when a man goods at speaking; he also goods at listening, reading and writing He will know how to use language actively to express and convey the message to the listeners easily Actually, the recent research also demonstrated that speaking is an important factor which helps the learners form and develop their language learning process such as developing listening skills (Regina, 1997), writing skills (Trachsel & Severino, 2004) and reading competence (Hilferty, 2005) Although it is considered as the central skill integrated with other skills, it is also seen as one of the most difficult and challenging skills that the language learners have to face Thus, this is the reason why the students are not interested in speaking lessons as well as find it very difficult to participate in speaking activities Based on my observation and teaching experience, there are some problems in teaching – learning speaking I can see that most my students are unwilling to formulation to avoid frequent repetition  Uses a wide vocabulary resource readily and flexibly to convey precise meaning  Uses a full range of pronunciation features with precision and subtlety  Is effortless to understand  Uses a full range  Fully of structures understand naturally and what is said appropriately and responds  Consistently to questions maintains a high with degree of appropriate grammatical answers accuracy accurately and quickly  Can express at length with a natural, effortless, unhesitating flow Pauses only to reflect on precisely the right words or to find an appropriate example or explanation Total Score = vocabulary + pronunciation + grammar + comprehension + fluency XXVI APPENDIX 8: STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SCORES XXVII STUDENTS’ PRE-TEST SCORE Number Aspects Total of Vocabulary Pronunciation Grammar Comprhension Fluency Score students 0.5 1 1 4.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 2.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 3 1 1 1 1 5 0.5 1 1 4.5 1 1 1 1 1.5 5.5 0.5 1 1 4.5 1.5 1 5.5 10 0.5 1 4.5 11 1 1 12 0.5 1 1 4.5 13 1 1 14 1 1 1.5 5.5 15 1 1.5 1.5 16 0.5 1 1 4.5 17 1 1.5 1.5 1.5 6.5 18 1 1 1.5 5.5 19 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 20 1 1.5 1.5 21 1 1 22 0.5 1 1 4.5 23 1 1 24 1 1 25 1 1.5 1 5.5 26 0.5 1 1 4.5 27 1 1 28 1 1 29 1 1 30 0.5 1 1 4.5 31 1 1.5 1 5.5 32 Total Mean Score 0.843 0.984 1.031 XXVIII 1.046 1.078 4.984 STUDENTS’ SCORE IN THE POST-TEST Number Aspects Total of Vocabulary Pronunciation Grammar Comprhension Fluency Score students 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 0.5 1 0.5 0.5 1 4.5 1 1 1.5 5.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 0.5 1 1.5 1.5 5.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7 1.5 1 1.5 1.5 6.5 1.5 1 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 10 1 1.5 1.5 11 1 1.5 1.5 12 1 1.5 1.5 13 1 1.5 1.5 1.5 6.5 14 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 15 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 16 1.5 1.5 1 17 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 18 1.5 1 1.5 1.5 6.5 19 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 20 1.5 1.5 1.5 6.5 21 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 22 1 1 23 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 24 1 1.5 1.5 1.5 6.5 25 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 26 1 1 27 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 28 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 29 1.5 1.5 1.5 6.5 30 1 1.5 5.5 31 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 32 Total Mean Score 1.156 1.265 1.250 XXIX 1.390 1.390 6.437 STUDENTS’ SCORE IN THE POST-TEST Number Aspects Total of Vocabulary Pronunciation Grammar Comprhension Fluency Score students 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 1 1.5 1.5 1 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 2 8.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 8 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 2 8.5 10 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 11 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 12 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 13 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 14 1.5 1.5 1.5 8.5 15 1.5 1.5 1.5 2 8.5 16 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 17 1.5 1.5 1.5 2 8.5 18 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 19 1.5 1.5 2 1.5 8.5 20 1.5 1.5 1.5 2 8.5 21 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 22 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 23 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 24 1.5 1.5 2 1.5 8.5 25 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 26 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 27 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 28 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 29 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 30 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 31 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 32 Total Mean Score 1.421 1.500 1.531 XXX 1.609 1.671 7.703 APPENDIX 9: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS XXXI INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR STUDENT Some questions may vary depending on the conversation Interview questions (After post-test 1) How is your score in the test? Are you satisfied with this result? What you think about teaching vocabulary, grammar or pronunciation at the same time with role-play activities? Which aspect did you make evident progress while participating in role-play activities? Are there any difficulties existing in your study speaking English through roleplay activities? Role-play activities are really effective for some students while the others are not So, can you suggest some ideas to improve you or your friends‟ speaking skill? Thanks for your cooperation! Interview questions (After post-test 2) How is your score in the test? Are you satisfied with this result? Is your speaking skill improved better by using role-play activities with the providing the background knowledge? How you feel about speaking lessons after applying role-play activities? Are there any difficulties in your study process? Can you propose some ideas to improve learning speaking English? Thanks for your cooperation! XXXII APPENDIX 10: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS XXXIII TRANSCRIPTS OF STUDENTS INTERVIEW IN CYCLE (After post-test 1) Student 1: Teacher – T Student – S1 T: How is your score in the test? S2: My score in this test is 7.5 T: Are you satisfied with this result? S2: I‟m quite satisfied with this result T: What you think about teaching vocabulary, grammar or pronunciation at the same time with role-play activities? S2: Good, very good For me, creating glossary is a good way to help me broaden my vocabulary It‟s very interesting because I can draw everything when make my glossary T: Which aspect did you make evident progress while participating in role-play activities? S2: Maybe those are grammar and comprehension I can use a range of complex structures with some flexibility, and can understand and respond most questions at average speed T: Are there any difficulties existing in your study speaking English through role-play activities? S2: Although I can understand most questions when making conversation but sometimes I can‟t answer it because I lack knowledge about those situations Furthermore, I feel quite bored if I have to practice speaking on the spot T: Role-play activities are really effective for some students while the others are not So, can you suggest some ideas to improve you or your friends‟ speaking skill? S2: I hope that I can practice with other friends and be creative in playing my roles I also want to be provided more knowledge about difficult situations so that I can solve it easily T: Thank you for your sharing! XXXIV Student 2: Teacher – T Student – S2 T: How is your score in the test? S2: I get mark T: Are you satisfied with this result? S2: No I feel quite bored with this result I know I‟m not good at English, but I don‟t think it‟s too bad like this T: What you think about teaching vocabulary, grammar or pronunciation at the same time with role-play activities? S2: I think it‟s good My speaking skills is improved a little bit than before thanks to learning vocabulary and pronunciation T: Which aspect did you make evident progress while participating in role-play activities? S2: I think that is pronunciation and grammar I known how to mix of simple and complex structures, and pronounced some words accurately T: Are there any difficulties existing in your study speaking English through role-play activities? S2: I‟m still shy and worry about making mistakes I don‟t know how to solve some role-play situations because I have never been in those situations T: Role-play activities are really effective for some students while the others are not So, can you suggest some ideas to improve you or your friends‟ speaking skill? S2: I offer there has more opportunities to practice speaking English in class, and I want to have more knowledge about the situations so that I can apply to solve the problems Moreover, it can be better if teacher allow me to create interesting activities in my role-playing T: Thanks for your sharing! XXXV TRANSCRIPTS OF STUDENTS INTERVIEW IN CYCLE (After post-test 2) Student 1: Teacher – T Student – S1 T: How is your score in the test? S1: It‟s 8.5 T: Are you satisfied with this result? S1: I‟m very satisfied I have never felt happy like this T: Is your speaking skill improved better by using role-play activities with the providing the background knowledge? S1: Yes I learnt very things from this implementation I can use these social background knowledge to solve the difficult problems in my life T: Can you give an example, please? S1: Well For example, I played a leader of the local government and my friend was a citizen We had to discusse about plans to improve their life in the village I had never faced with difficult situation like this Thanks to teacher‟s giving instructions and cues, I could deduce and act out the solutions easily T: Good job So how you feel about speaking lessons after applying roleplay activities? S1: I feel so interested in joining role-play activities I also feel the speaking lessons become more comfortable and exciting than before T: Are there any difficulties in your study process? S1: No T: Can you propose some ideas to improve learning speaking English? S1: I have no ideas for this (~smile) It depends on teacher‟s decision T: Thanks for your cooperation! XXXVI Student 2: Teacher – T Student – S2 T: How is your score in the test? S2: My score is T: Are you satisfied with this result? S2: Not really, but it‟s still good for me because I know my ability T: Is your speaking skill improved better by using role-play activities with the providing the background knowledge? S2: Oh, of course Yes My first-test‟s score just was 2.5 After implementing role-play activities with learning vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar and now I am provided the social background knowledge, I can be confident to solve the same situations in real life T: To be more specific, can you give an example, please? S2: For example, when I went to the “Media mart” I met a guess who was wondering what type of the mass media he should choose By my experience, I analyzed and helped him choose the suitable one T: Amazing You‟ve done a great job How you feel about speaking lessons after applying role-play activities? S2: Well, the speaking lessons become more exciting and enjoyable than before I also have more motivation and be more active to involve speaking activities T: Are there any difficulties in your study process? S2: I still feel vocabulary, pronunciation and fluency are quite difficult because I don‟t spend much time to enhance them T: Can you propose some ideas to improve learning speaking English? S2: I‟m not sure but it would be better if I have an online conversation partner or some websites to help me self-learn English at home T: A great idea And one more thing, Would you like to practice role-play activities in your speaking lessons next semester? S2: Sure It‟s very interesting, so I expect it would be applied in the next semester T: Thanks for your cooperation! XXXVII APPENDIX 11: QUESTIONNAIRES XXXVIII QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS IN CYCLE This survey questionnaire is designed for the study on “Improving grade 10 th students‟ speaking proficiency through role play activities at a high school in Dien Bien city” Your faithful answers to the questions are very important to the success of the study The data collected are only used in research paper, so you can be assured that your identification are not revealed Background information: Name: …………………… Gender: Male Female (1) Strongly disagree (2) Disagree (3) Agree (4) Strongly agree Role-play activities increased opportunities for me to practice speaking skills Role-play activities motivated me to participate in speaking lessons I improved my speaking skill thanks to learning vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar Role-play help me increase my speaking test I felt more confident when I spoke English by using role-play The classroom atmosphere was exciting when the teacher used role-play activities in our speaking lessons Can you suggest some solutions to improve your speaking skills? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… What you expect to improve the other lessons with role-play in next week? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Thank you very much for your cooperation! XXXIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS IN CYCLE This survey questionnaire is designed for the study on “Improving grade 10 th students‟ speaking proficiency through role play activities at a high school in Dien Bien city” Your faithful answers to the questions are very important to the success of the study The data collected are only used in research paper, so you can be assured that your identification are not revealed Background information: Name: …………………… Gender: Male Female (1) Strongly disagree Questions (2) Disagree (3) Agree (4) Strongly agree I can apply social background knowledge in practicing role-play activities My speaking skills is improved through using role-play activities I have more opportunities to express myself when role-playing I felt so excited when using role-playing props I can solve same or nearly same situations in real life thanks to learning through roleplay I hope that the role-play activities will be used in our speaking lessons next semester What aspects of this course are most useful or valuable? Are there any difficulties that you still have in speaking lessons? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Is this program really effective for your speaking skills? How would you improve this course? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Thank you very much for your cooperation! XL ... qualitatively and quantitatively All of the data gather from observation sheets, teaching diaries, questionnaires, and interview transcripts were analyzed qualitatively, while the data obtained... During attending four years at Hanoi National University of Education and from my own experience, I realize that creating enjoyable and effective activities in the classroom plays a vital role; ... Makes no grammatical errors, or a few minor grammatical errors that not interfere with communication Uses a range of grammatical structures, but may make several grammatical errors that not interfere