Teaching the speaking skill in enterprise i to students at thaibinh economic and technical college challenges and recommendations

i Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt Formatted: Centered Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES POST – GRADUATE DEPARTMENT Formatted: Heading 1, Space Before: pt Formatted: Top: 1.38", Bottom: 1.18" HOÀNG THỊ HẰNG Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 18 pt Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 18 pt, Bold "Teaching the speaking skill in Enterprise I to Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 18 pt students at Thaibinh Economic and Technical College: challenges and recommendations" (Dạy kỹ nói theo giáo trình Enterprise I cho sinh viên trường Cao đẳng Kinh tế - Kỹ thuật Thái Bình: khó khăn giải pháp) MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS ENGLISH METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 10 HANOI - 2009 Formatted: Line spacing: single Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i ii VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES POST – GRADUATE DEPARTMENT Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt Formatted: Centered Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt HOÀNG THỊ HẰNG "Teaching the speaking skill in Enterprise I to students at Thaibinh Economic and Technical College: challenges and recommendations" (Dạy kỹ nói theo giáo trình Enterprise I cho sinh viên trường Cao đẳng Kinh tế - Kỹ thuật Thái Bình: khó khăn giải pháp) MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS ENGLISH METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 10 INSTRUCTOR: Dr Dư ơng Thị Nụ Formatted: Font: Times New Roman Formatted: Centered HANOI - 2009 Formatted: Font: Not Italic Formatted: Line spacing: single Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i i VIETNAM NATIONA L UNIVERSITY, HANOI COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES POST – GRADUATE DEPARTMENT Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt Formatted: Centered Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt HOÀNG THỊ HẰNG Formatted: Heading 1, Space Before: pt Formatted: Top: 1.38", Bottom: 1.18" "Teaching the speaking skill in Enterprise I to Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 18 pt Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 18 pt, Bold Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 18 pt students at Thaibinh Economic and Technical College: challenges and recommendations" (Dạy kỹ nói theo giáo trình Enterprise I cho sinh viên trường Cao đẳng Kinh tế - Kỹ thuật Thái Bình: khó khăn giải pháp) MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS ENGLISH METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 10 HANOI - 2009 Formatted: Line spacing: single Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i ii VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES POST – GRADUATE DEPARTMENT Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt Formatted: Centered Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt HOÀNG THỊ HẰNG "Teaching the speaking skill in Enterprise I to students at Thaibinh Economic and Technical College: challenges and recommendations" (Dạy kỹ nói theo giáo trình Enterprise I cho sinh viên trường Cao đẳng Kinh tế - Kỹ thuật Thái Bình: khó khăn giải pháp) MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS ENGLISH METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 10 INSTRUCTOR: Dr Dư ơng Thị Nụ Formatted: Font: Times New Roman Formatted: Centered HANOI - 2009 Formatted: Font: Not Italic Formatted: Line spacing: single Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i vii Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt Formatted: Centered Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 DEFINITION OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE, SPEAKING AND CONVERSATION 1.2 THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE SKILLS, SPEAKING SKILL AND CONVERSATION 1.2.1 The nature of Language Skills 1.2.2 The nature of Speaking Skill 1.2.3 Conversation 1.2.4 Conversation openings CHAPTER 2: CONVERSATION–OPENING TEACHING AND LEARNING 2.1 AN OVERVIEW 2.2 CONVERSATION-OPENING TEACHING AND LEARNING 2.2.1 Questionnaires for Teachers 2.2.2 Questionnaires for Students CHAPTER 3: CHALLENGES 3.1 CHALLENGES FROM THE COURSE-BOOK 3.2 LITTLE EXPERIENCED TEACHERS 3.3 INAPPROPRIATE TEACHING METHOD 3.4 PASSIVE LEARNING STUDENTS CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS 4.1 IDENTIFYING THE OBJECTIVE CLEARLY 4.2 CONFERENCING ON TEACHING METHODS 4.3 BUILDING SAMPLE LESSON PLANS 4.4 CHANGING STUDENTS' PASSIVE LEARNING HABIT CONCLUSION 4440 REFERENCES 4742 APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONAIRE FOR TEACHERS I APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENTS III ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I Formatted: Line spacing: 1.5 lines INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 DEFINITION OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE, SPEAKING AND CONVERSATION 1.2 THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE SKILLS, SPEAKING SKILL AND CONVERSATION 1.2.1 The nature of Language Skills 1.2.2 The nature of Speaking Skill i viii Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" 1.2.3 Conversation Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt 1.2.4 Conversation openings Formatted: Centered CHAPTER 2: CONVERSATION–OPENING TEACHING AND LEARNING 12 Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt 2.1 AN OVERVIEW 12 2.2 CONVERSATION-OPENING TEACHING AND LEARNING 14 2.2.1 Questionnaires for Teachers 15 2.2.2 Questionnaires for Students 20 CHAPTER 3: CHALLENGES 25 3.1 CHALLENGES FROM THE COURSE-BOOK 25 3.2 LITTLE EXPERIENCED TEACHERS 26 3.3 INAPPROPRIATE TEACHING METHOD 26 3.4 PASSIVE LEARNING STUDENTS 27 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS 29 4.1 IDENTIFYING THE OBJECTIVE CLEARLY 31 4.2 CONFERENCING ON TEACHING METHODS 32 4.3 BUILDING SAMPLE LESSON PLANS 33 4.4 CHANGING STUDENTS' PASSIVE LEARNING HABIT 35 CONCLUSION 40 REFERENCES 42 APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONAIRE FOR TEACHERS I APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENTS III ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 DEFINITION OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE, SPEAKING AND CONVERSATION 1.2 THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE SKILLS, SPEAKING SKILL AND CONVERSATION 1.2.1 The nature of Language Skills 1.2.2 The nature of Speaking skill 1.2.3 Conversation 1.2.4 Conversation openings Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i ix CHAPTER 2: CONVERSATION–OPENING TEACHING AND LEARNING 10 2.1 AN OVERVIEW 10 Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt 2.2 CONVERSATION-OPENING TEACHING AND LEARNING 12 Formatted: Centered 2.2.1 Questionnaires for Teachers 12 Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt 2.2.2 Questionnaires for Students 16 CHAPTER 3: CHALLENGES 20 3.1 CHALLENGES FROM THE COURSE-BOOK 20 3.2 LITTLE EXPERIENCED TEACHERS 21 3.3 INAPPROPRIATE TEACHING METHOD 21 3.4 PASSIVE LEARNING STUDENTS 22 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS 23 4.1 IDENTIFYING THE OBJECTIVE CLEARLY 24 4.2 CONFERENCING ON TEACHING METHODS 25 4.3 BUILDING COMMON LESSON PLANS 26 4.4 CHANGING STUDENTS' PASSIVE LEARNING HABIT 28 CONCLUSION 32 REFERENCES 34 APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONAIRE FOR TEACHERS I APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENTS III Formatted: Font: 12 pt Formatted: TOC 1, Line spacing: 1.5 lines Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i x LIST OF TABLES Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt Formatted: Centered TABLE 1: THE TEACHING EXPERIENCE 1715 Formatted: Indent: Left: 0", Hanging: 0.39", TABLE 2: THE TEACHING OF CONVERSATION-OPENINGS 1816 Line spacing: 1.5 lines TABLE 3: ASSESSMENT ON STUDENTS’ LEARNING 2119 TABLE 4: ASSESSMENT ON THE COURSE-BOOK2219 TABLE 5: STUDENTS' ATTITUDE TOWARDS LEARNING THE SPEAKING SKILL 2321 TABLE 6: THE LEARNING OF CONVERSATION-OPENINGS 2421 TABLE 7: LEARNING CONSCIOUSNESS 2623 TABLE 9: FEASIBILITY OF RECOMMENDATIONS (QUESTIONNAIRES FOR TEACHERS) .3330 TABLE 1: THE TEACHING EXPERIENCE 13 TABLE 2: THE TEACHING OF CONVERSATION-OPENINGS 13 TABLE 3: ASSESSMENT ON STUDENTS’ LEARNING 15 Field Code Changed Formatted: Font: 12 pt Formatted: Font: 12 pt Formatted: Font: 12 pt Formatted: Font: 12 pt Formatted: Font: 12 pt Formatted: Font: 12 pt Formatted: Font: 12 pt Formatted: Font: 12 pt Formatted: Line spacing: 1.5 lines TABLE 4: ASSESSMENT ON THE COURSE-BOOK 16 TABLE 5: STUDENTS' ATTITUDE TOWARDS LEARNING THE SPEAKING SKILL 17 TABLE 6: THE LEARNING OF CONVERSATION-OPENINGS 17 TABLE 7: LEARNING CONSCIOUSNESS 18 TABLE 9: FEASIBILITY OF RECOMMENDATIONS (QUESTIONNAIRES FOR TEACHERS) 23 Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i Formatted: Left: 1.38", Right: 0.79", Top: 1.38", Bottom: 1.18" INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Nowadays English is referred to as the "lingua franca" of the modern era It is so widely spoken by both native and non-native speakers all over the world It is an important tool for operating on the world stage English is also the language of globalization of international business, the Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 12 pt language of computers and the Internet, the dominant international language in science, aviation, entertainment, radio and diplomacy ” According to Crystal (2004:4), English is “the world‟s first truly global language” The Economist says, English is the language of globalization of international business, it is the language of computers and the Internet, the dominant international language in science, aviation, entertainment, radio and diplomacy ” According to Crystal (2004:4), English is “the world‟s first truly global language” Nowadays English is referred to as the "lingua franca" of the modern era English is so widely spoken: it is the language of international communication by native and non-native speakers all over the world; it is an important tool for operating on the world stage, the working language of the Asian Trade group ASEAN and the official language of the European Bank The Economist says, English is the language of globalization of international business, it is the language of computers and the Internet, the dominant international language in science, aviation, entertainment, radio and diplomacy ” According to Crystal (2004:4), English is “the world‟s first truly global language” It is undeniable that in a globalization world, in a globalization world, English has become a tool that helps to achieve success in career and life; of which, English speaking skill is of the most important skills General Director of the Educational Testing Service Dr Zoubir Yazid said if learners were hesitant to communicate in English, they would gradually forget almost all of what they had learned Young people learn to speak English to prove a competitive advantage in global companies and organizations In many fields, the ability to speak English is mandatory However, for a long time, English is mainly performed with the grammar translation method at most non-English major education institutes with a big focus on the form of the i Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" language which are mainly grammatical and vocabulary items Testing and evaluation of English was still based on reading and grammar exercises; the use of English for communication was ignored Consequently, learners became structure competent, but communicative incompetent., and they found it challenging to make communications in English At Thaibinh Economic and Technical College (TETC), also with a traditional teaching method which is Grammar Translation, teachers concentrated too much on vocabulary and grammar, much more than the time they spent on practicing speaking skill As a result, TETC students were passive recipients only, and they always found it challenging to make communications in English.and they were always shy and not confident to speak English Formatted: English (United States) The above reality requires the English teaching as a foreign language at TETC to make changes For over two years, the English speaking skill has been taught to TETC students with a big concern However, despite much effort, the effectiveness of speaking lessons is still not high As an EFL teacher, I have been highly aware of how to have effective speaking lessons Exploring appropriate solutions to teaching the English speaking skill is always of my big concern This drives me to the study namely "Teaching the speaking skill in Enterprise I to students at Thaibinh Economic and Technical College: challenges and recommendations" Scope of the study The thesis is a case study about the teaching of the English speaking skill to TETC firstyear students via the course book “Enterprise I” Formatted: Font: Not Bold, Not Italic, Font color: Auto As it is required by the College, the main focus of “Enterprise I” is to teach conversation However, in an effort of a minor thesis, I centre my paper only on the language of Conversation-openings Therefore, finding current challenges and making appropriate recommendations for how to teach conversation-openings effectively to the first year students of TETC are the limitations of the thesis Aims of the study Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i Within the framework of an M.A thesis, the study aims to should be planned in detail in both content and time Definitely, with well-planned seminars, teachers will be clear on many different problems: course objective, teaching Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt problems and necessary solutions Formatted: Centered Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt 4.3 Building sample common lesson plans Theory and practice have a dialectical relationship with each others The theory systematizes the practice and be supplemented and perfected by the practice Therefore, only when the theory is applied into practice, can it bring into play its effects In order to apply best the theory of teaching conversation openings to TETC students as it is agreed in conferences, building commonsample lesson plans is a suggestion The followings are suggestions for how to build the lesson plans: Adjusting textbook It is a fact that Enterprise I is not designed for teaching conversations only, or designed with a focus on conversations It is constructed to teach four English skills Therefore, in order to make a more concentration on conversation ability in English, I suggest to adjust activities designed in Enterprise I First of all, teachers have to be clear that adjusting activities in order to focuses more on conversation openings is a necessity Then teachers are suggested to work together in order build diverse exercises and activities In terms of exercises, beside the type of 'gap-filling' designed in the course-book, teachers should create more extra-exercises in types of 'matching', communicative game like 'sentence repetition' Activities are not only 'cued conversation', 'role-play' should be applied frequently to reduce boring imitation, and to build more creative learning atmosphere This requires a little invention and flexibility of teachers Therefore, in case of inexperienced TETC teachers, a unification of public intelligence is necessary Contextualizing tasks Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i A strong point of Enterprise I is that it is designed with diverse situations commonly seen Formatted: Font: Italic in daily business such as 'in the office', 'at the airport', 'an appointment', 'a meeting', 'an interview', 'a telephone call' And so this textbook supports students much in their future job However, it will be better if teachers can link these situations to real working contexts Students are suggested to start their conversation in accordance with not only textbook situations but also imagined real contexts In this way, openings structures are also contextualized It is a fact that today's learning serves students' future job Therefore, contextualization is very necessary It enables students to imagine how their future job will be, helps them enrich their limited practical knowledge Controlling pair work or small group work TETC classes are normally quite big Therefore, in order to keep every student participating in speaking tasks, teachers should make use of pair-work or group-work It is highly possible that at the beginning of group work, teachers might find it more difficult to control the class; the class may also be noisier… However, the benefits of group work are well worth Firstly, group work can maximize learners‟ speaking time in class Group work is a great chance for every student to speak, express and exchange their own opinions with classmates The teacher-centered lessons will be substituted by more learner-centered ones Teachers only play role as a manager Students are let to speak more, their practice is multiplied As a result, lessons will be more effective Teachers will escape from the hard and boring work of explaining everything Instead, they play the role as a manager At the same time, students are let to speak more Students' practice is multiplied As a result, lessons will be more effective Secondly, this kind of activitygroup-work gives students an opportunity to rehearse their responses in small groups or pairs before being asked to speak in front of the whole class In addition, students are let to talk among themselves That helps students feel more confident Therefore, they feel willing to speak i 39 Balancing the time for teachers' explanation and students' practice right TETC students have a bad learning habit, thathabit, which is, listening passively Factually, Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt students may listen a lot and understand a lot of language knowledge However, learning to Formatted: Centered speak English requires students to practice a lot If students not practice what they read Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt and learn, they will forget all one after another Therefore, teachers have to help their students to change their bad learning habit by planning timetable for their knowledge introduction instruction and students' practice appropriately I believe that when teachers can balance their explanation and students‟ practice well, speaking lessons will be much more effective 4.4 Changing students' passive learning habit Helping students to change their passive learning habit requires teachers‟ patience, high decision and detailed planning Therefore, I suggest the following solutions: Planning and controlling students’ self-study Living in a strongly developing and integrating world with big and diverse knowledge and quickly changing information, students are suggested to actively self-study to match up with practical requirements It can not be denied that with so limited class hours, self-study is so important Only good self-study leads to creative learning and bring good study results Therefore, teachers are suggested to manage students‟ self-study well Educating self-study awareness for students Self-study is far different from class study For class study, students get direct control from their teachers, and rely much on teachers Learning atmosphere is also different Every student follows teachers' instruction with no exception Students study in an effervescent class with many classmates However, for the self-study activity of students, teachers can not have direct control No one keeps an eye on students Therefore, self-study awareness plays a key role in determining effectiveness of self-study Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i 40 For a long time, almost our students are used to studying only in class It is time now for them to change this habit In my point of view, self-study awareness for their students It is teachers who are highly possible of educating the learning awareness for the students and assisting them to build an active studying method create a new studying way for the students, educating the awareness for students day after day It is for sure that gradually students will method, and make self-study become a habit At that time, self-study will go into orderly routines, be a regular activity without any force or compulsion self-study themselves Learning effectiveness is certainly better Planning self-study for students: In order to achieve a high effectiveness of self-study, teachers are suggested to orient selfstudy for their students Based on the learning target of Enterprise I and students' desire, teachers need to build a good plan for students' self-study which matches well the requirements and objectives of the course, suitable for each learning stage and students' English proficiency Teachers' responsibility is to advice issues related to the lesson topics, or even fix some compelling tasks for their all students Teachers also need to show requirements in details: what requirements are, what activities need to be conducted, what results are expected to reach, when expired time is, what follow-up activities are, what type of reporting, written or oral, is required It is a fact that when students know clearly what they have to do, they will it better Instructing students to self-plan their study: Factually, no students have the same conditions in time and work Therefore, every student needs a private plan for studying and fulfilling assigned tasks It is supposed that teachers need to assist their students to make good plans for self-study Besides, teachers may also instruct the students to group work at home Group learning is an effective way of learning the English speaking skill This will be a good chance for students to support and learn from each others Students can learn diverse ideas as well as good learning methods from their group mates They will understand the issue more allsidedly Their knowledge will be multiplied i 41 Instructing information recourse: Nowadays, information is so diverse and available in books, on internet, on TV channels However, the findings show that almost students not know where to find good learning materials Therefore, teachers need to show students where to find useful Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt materials, and let students explore different information resources themselves Then Formatted: Centered students can learn how to collect information and materials effectively, and finding a Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt particular way of learning the English speaking skill for themselves Building measures of regular evaluation Evaluating the learning results of students needs to be a regular work Thanks to this evaluation, teachers know quite exactly what the students can receive from the lessons during learning process: what they have received, what they still lack in terms of knowledge, skills and methodology Then teachers know how to adjust lessons that follows Also via examination and evaluation, students know exactly how they have studied, and what results are Then, students know how they have to study in the near future At the same time, examination and evaluation also require students to collect, classify and synthesize knowledge This helps students develop thinking ability and memory, enhance awareness and possibility of students in their study Improving learning regulations: In recent years, the college has paid great attention to managing well learning regulations Such the management leaves clear effects, especially in encouraging students' self-study It is suggested that these regulations need carrying out better in real conditions of English learning and teaching Rule 1: 5-step learning process o Step 1: Sself-study and prepare the lesson before going to class o Step 2: Focus intelligence for class-discussing and learning o Step 3: Fulfill draft of the fundamentals after each three lessons o Step 4: Oorganize student-group discussions Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i 42 o Step 5: Discuss under teachers' control Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt Rule 2: 5-skill training, including: Formatted: Centered o English learning skill o English expressing skill o Communication skill o Problem-solving skill o Report-writing skill Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt Rule 3: 10 steps of real-life survey Following resolution No 15 of the College Party issued in 2005, teachers have organized many real-life surveys for students The purpose of these surveys are to link the theory that students have learnt to real working environment, a good opportunity for students to understand well how they have to work in the future Then students themselves identify better their learning objectives and how they have to learn to reach the objectives In order to organize such real-life surveys for students, TETC teachers are required to follow 10 steps as follows: o Step 1: Building real-life surveying plan o Step 2: Contacting o Step 3: Instructing field, operations, function; positions and possibilities of surveying place for students o Step 4: Implementing practice plan o Step 5: Requiring students to collect information and write personal reports o Step 6: Inviting lecturers to come and to introduce typical reports o Step 7: Requiring students to add updated information to their personal reports o Step 8: Requiring students to self-organize group-discussions o Step 9: Organizing class-discussions under teachers' control o Step 10: Requiring students to make final changes and submit their personal reports Activating the passion of learning English for students Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i 43 It is a common knowledge that the passion towards English is very important If someone likes English, he/she will spend time on it, actively plan timetable to learn English without any forces Spontaneous study always let learners have Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt good minds to accept and receive knowledge In other words, the learning passion supports Formatted: Centered students' memory Students will remember better and so they study more effectively Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt Therefore, teachers need to activate English learning passion in their students The findings show that TETC students are quite interested in learning the English speaking skill However, due to different causes, they still keep quiet Therefore, it is for sure that if students are timely encouraged and cared, they will become less shy and learn more actively In this case, teachers should establish close relationships with their students, let them feel confident to ask teachers questions, be ready to share experience in learning to speak, show tolerance to students' mistakes and share teachers' previous similar mistakes These require patience of teachers Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i CONCLUSION After enormous effort, the study obtained certain achievements This section presents a summary of those achievements, some conclusions of the study, limitations of the study and suggested direction for further research Em viết vài câu giới thiệu cho nội dung phần conclusson, để người đọc không cảm thấy đột ngột Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt Formatted: Normal, Justified, Space Before: pt Formatted: Font color: Auto Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt Formatted: Font color: Auto Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt Summary of the study This study is conducted to discover three research questions as well as to find out suitable solutions for teaching conversation openings Three questions have been answered as follows: Being a teacher of English, my big concern is to find out appropriate solutions to teach the Formatted: Font color: Auto English speaking skill in general, the conversation-openings in particular effectively to my students This is the reason why I conduct this study The study has answered three research questions: Firstly, the study identifies clearly that conversation-opening teaching and learning at TETC are ineffective The researching results show that TETC teachers are confused in teaching conversation openings They underestimate the role of conversation openings, consider them to be unimportant Therefore, they tend to ignore them in lectures TETC students also ignore conversation openings accordingly As a result, students always find it difficult to start a particular conversation Secondly, TETC teachers encounter a lot of difficulties in teaching conversation openings; of which, big challenges include challenges from the course-book, little experienced teachers, inappropriate teaching method, and passive learning students the study shows big challenges that TETC teachers encounter in teaching conversation Formatted: Font color: Auto openings These challenges include challenges from the course-book, little experienced teachers, inappropriate teaching method, and passive learning students Thirdly, on the basis of the real situation, four categories of solutions to teaching conversation openings effectively to TETC students are suggested: identifying the objective clearly, conferencing on teaching methods, building common lesson plans, i 45 Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" changing students' passive learning habit via measures such as controlling students‟ selfstudy, improving learning regulations, activating the passion towards learning English for Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt students… Formatted: Centered Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt the study tries to make recommendations for how to teach conversation openings effectively Formatted: Font color: Auto to TETC students Four categories of solutions are suggested: identifying the objective clearly, conferencing on teaching methods, building common lesson plans, changing students' passive learning habit via measures such as controlling students‟ self-study, improving learning regulations, activating the passion towards learning English for students… In conclusion, success in teaching speaking in general, in teaching conversation openings in particular must be the result of comprehensive efforts from both teachers and learners So, along with efforts to prepare lessons thoroughly, teachers are supposed to let their studentsstudents‟ self-effort via working hard such as self-study, lesson preparation, etc It is believed that the flexible and creative applicationcreative application of the above Formatted: Font color: Auto recommendations in a certain time will bring TETC teachers and learners effective speaking lessons Formatted: Font color: Auto (em rút vài kết luận dựa kết nghiên cứu viết vào đoạn này) Limitations and suggestions for further study Despite much effort, the study can not avoid certain limitations: the number of learners and teachers involved in the survey is limited; so the findings, to some extent, are still in the small scale Moreover, the research is only a finding in order to make feasible recommendations for how to teach conversation openings effectively to TETC students, and then how to teach the English speaking skill is inferred; no pilot action is carried out to test the effectiveness of these recommended solutions In the near future, an action research is intended to conduct a piloting program in the real condition of Thaibinh Economic and Technical College i Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 12 pt Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i 47 REFERENCES Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt Formatted: Centered Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt E.1 Brown, G and Yule, G (1983) Teaching the Spoken Language, Cambridge University Press F.2 Eva Kiss (2002), Conversation Openings and Closings, Scholary Paper G.3 George Psathas, Conversation analysis: the Study of Talk-in-Interaction Formatted: Indent: Left: 0.25", Hanging: 0.25", Numbered + Level: + Numbering Style: 1, 2, 3, … + Start at: + Alignment: Left + Aligned at: 0.25" + Tab after: 0.5" + Indent at: 0.5" Boston University Press H.4 Harmer, J (1991), The practice of English Language Teaching, LongmanLightbrown O.M&Spada,N.(1999) How Languages are Learned Oxford University Press I.5 http://www.grin.com/e-book/30747/conversation-openings-and-closings# J.6 Nunan, D (1995) Language Teaching Methodology Phoenix ELT & Prentice Hall Macmillan K.7 Pattison, P (1992) Developing Communication Skills Cambridge University Press L.8 Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Zelman N,E (1996) Conversation Insprirations Pro Ligua Associates Formatted: German (Germany) 10 Brown, G, & Yule, G., Teaching Spoken English, CUP, 1983a 11 Formatted: Font: Not Bold Marianne Celce-Murcia, Towards More Context and Discourse in Grammar Instruction, TESL-EJ, September 2007, Volume 11, Number 12 Michael Swan, Grammar, Meaning and Pragmatics: Sorting Out the Muddle,TESL-EJ, September 2007, Volume 11, Number Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i I APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONAIRE FOR TEACHERS Have you ever taught the English speaking skill before? A Yes, a lot B Yes, a little Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt C No, I've never How long have you been teaching Enterprise I? Formatted: Centered Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt A 1-2 years B 3-5 years C More than years How much you care for teaching Conversation-openings? A Very much B Not very much C Little D Not at all What conversation-openings of the followings you usually teach? A Greetings (Hi, hello,…) B Introducing C Addressing (Hey, Stephanie) D Requesting/questioning E Other What you usually to teach Conversation-opening language? A Warming-up B Making presentationPresenting instructionsInstructing knowledge C Asking students practice as examples D Controlling extra-practice E.Controlling real-life productions What activities you use? A Information-gap filling Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i II B Matching exercises C Communicative games D Cued conversation or Role-play Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt E Discussion in pairs or in groups Formatted: Centered What you usually in order to have your students to speak? Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt A Requesting B Caring and encouraging C Assisting (materials…) D Planning students' self-study E Planning stimulus activities such as English club, seminar How you evaluate your students in learning the English speaking skill? A Active learning B Passive learning C Low English proficiency D High English proficiency E Multilevel How you evaluate the speaking activities and exercises relating to conversationopenings in Enterprise I A Interesting B Boring C Various D Simple E Helpful F Not really helpful 10 In your opinion, which ways of the followings will be really helpful to you? A Conferencing English teaching methodology B Adjusting activities in Enterprise I C Building common sample lesson plans D Planning and controlling students' self-study E Improving learning regulations Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i III F Planning stimulus activities such as English club, seminar… APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENTS Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt Formatted: Centered Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt Do you like learning to speak? A Very much B Yes, but not very much Formatted: Line spacing: 1.5 lines C A little Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt D Not at all How much are you interested in Conversation-openings? A Very much B Not very much C Little D Not at all Which conversation-openings of the followings have you learned? A Greetings and introducing (hi, I am.…) B Addressing (Hey, Stephanie) C Requesting/questioning D Other Do you find it difficult to start a Conversation naturally and appropriately? A Very difficult B Quite difficult C Not very difficult D Easy What difficulties you encounter in opening a conversation? A Lacking words B Lacking structure C Lacking fluency D Lacking variety In case of not knowing how you should start a conversation, what you do? A Asking my teacher B Asking my friends Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i IV C Self-exploring materials Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt D Keeping quiet What you usually before speaking lessons? Formatted: Centered Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt A Previewing lessons B Pre-learning vocabulary C Studying extra-materials D Preparing speaking exercises What you wish? A To be provided with more materials B To be guided for self-study C To attend conferences on English learning methods D To be involved in stimulus activities such as English club, seminar Formatted: Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt Formatted: Line spacing: 1.5 lines Formatted: Left, Tab stops: 3.05", Centered + Not at 3" + 6" i ... Not at 3" + 6" i 16 Speaking Enterprise activities I activities in are mainly reading - saying and remembering, asking and answering, and sometimes playing roles Speaking is integrated within... HẰNG "Teaching the speaking skill in Enterprise I to students at Thaibinh Economic and Technical College: challenges and recommendations" (Dạy kỹ n? ?i theo giáo trình Enterprise I cho sinh viên... HẰNG "Teaching the speaking skill in Enterprise I to students at Thaibinh Economic and Technical College: challenges and recommendations" (Dạy kỹ n? ?i theo giáo trình Enterprise I cho sinh viên