An investigation into the difficulties faced by teachers in teaching english speaking skills to mường ethnic students at bac son high school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRỊNH THỊ HOAN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE DIFFICULTIES FACED BY TEACHERS IN TEACHING ENGLISH SPEAKING ́ SKILLS TO MƢỜNG ETHNIC STUDENTS AT BĂC SƠN HIGH SCHOOL (Nghiên cƣ́u nhƣƣ̃ng khókhăn giáo viên găpp̣ phải daỵ ki ƣ̃năng nói cho hocp̣ sinh dân tôcp̣ Mƣờng taịtrƣờng THPT Bắc Sơn ) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 HA NOI-2013 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRỊNH THỊ HOAN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE DIFFICULTIES FACED BY TEACHERS IN TEACHING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS TO ́ MƢỜNG ETHNIC STUDENTS AT BĂC SƠN HIGH SCHOOL (Nghiên cƣ́u nhƣƣ̃ng khókhăn giáo viên găpp̣ phải daỵ ki ƣ̃năng nói cho hocp̣ sinh dân tôcp̣ Mƣờng taịtrƣờng THPT Bắc Sơn ) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor : Dr Nguyêñ Huy Ky HA NOI-2013 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative Language Teaching BS: Bắc Sơn ESL: English as a Second Language ELT: English Language Teaching EFL: English as a Foreign Language iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Participants‟ age, gender and years of experience Table 2: Teachers' ideas about teaching speaking skills to Mường ethnic minority students Table 3: Teachers‟ attitude towards teaching English speaking skills in the textbook “English 11” Table 4: Teachers‟ ideas about CLT Table 5: Teachers‟ difficulties in teaching English speaking skills Table 6: Teachers‟ attitude towards learners keeping making mistakes and ways to correct them Table 7: Teachers‟ techniques applied currently in teaching speaking to reduce the difficulties and to encourage students to speak English Table 8: Students‟ opinions on the speaking topics presented in the textbook “ Tiếng Anh 11” Table 9: Students‟ reasons for learning English Table 10: Students‟ attitudes towards learning English speaking skills Table 11: Factors that make students unwilling to speak in English Table 12: Students‟ ideas about teachers‟ reactions to their mistakes Table 13: Students‟ ideas about their teachers‟ current techniques used for teaching English speaking skills v TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP………………………………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………… ………… .ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS …………………………………….………… iv LIST OF TABLES ………………………………………….………….… v Part A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale……………………………………………………………… Aims of the study………………………………………… Research questions………………………………………………… …… Scope of the study………………………………………………………… Methods of the study………………… ……………………………… ….3 Design of the study………………………………………………… … .3 Part B: DEVELOPMENT…………………………………………… …… ….4 Chapter : LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………….… 1.1 An overview of Communicative Language Teaching 1.1.1 Definitions of Communicative Language Teaching 1.1.2 Characteristics of Communicative Language Teaching… … 1.1.3 Roles of teachers in CLT 1.1.4 Roles of learners in CLT 1.2 Nature of Language skills and oral communication 1.2.1 Nature of Language skills 1.2.2 Oral communication 1.3 An overview of speaking in language teaching and learning 1.3.1 Definitions of speaking 1.3.2 The characteristics of speaking 1.3.3 The role of speaking in language teaching and learning vi 1.3.4 Approaches to the teaching of speaking 10 1.4 Summary……………………………………………… … 12 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 13 2.1 Research setting 13 2.1.1 An overview of the research site 13 2.1.2 Description of the teachers of English at Bắc Sơn high school 13 2.1.3 Description of the students at Bắc Sơn high school 14 2.1.4 The teaching and learning English speaking skills 14 2.2 Methodology study 15 2.2.1 Participants 15 2.2.2 The Instruments 16 2.3 Data collection and analysis procedure 17 2.3.1 Data collection 17 2.3.2 Data analysis 17 2.4 Summary 17 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS 18 3.1 Data analysis of teachers‟ survey questionnaire 18 3.2 Data analysis of students‟ survey questionnaire 26 3.3 Summary 33 CHAPTER 4: MAJOR FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .35 4.1 Summary of the findings 35 4.1.1 Difficulties from the teachers 35 4.1.1.1 Shortage of Training in CLT 35 4.1.1.2 Misunderstanding of the teaching method 35 4.1.2 Difficulties from the students 36 4.1.2.1 Limited English proficiency 36 4.1.2.2 Limited motivation in learning 36 4.1.2.3 Use of Vietnamese during pair work or group work 36 vii 4.1.2.4 Students‟ negative psychological factors 37 4.1.3 Other difficulties 37 4.1.3.1 Large size of the class 37 4.1.3.2 Difficulties from the textbook “ Tiếng Anh 11” 37 4.2 Recommendations 38 4.2.1 Improving CLT knowledge for the teachers 38 4.2.2 Making speaking communicative activities 38 4.2.3 Building positive environment in class 40 4.3 Summary 40 Part C: CONCLUSION 41 1.Conclusions 41 Limitations of the study…………………………………………… .….41 Suggestions for further study…………………………………… …… 42 REFERENCES 43 APPENDICES I APPENDIX A I APPENDIX B V APPENDIX C VIII viii PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study As we know that we are living in the world of globalization English is a common language and is spoken in many countries It is considered as universal language in many fields such as: science, technology, diplomacy and so on Most of the universities worldwide include English as one of their major subjects Vietnam is also competing with the other countries in terms of education and many other things Hence, we are forced to meet global standards In Vietnam, English has become a compulsory subject in the curriculum and it is considered as one of the major subjects for the national secondary school and high school examinations Ministry of Education and Training in Vietnam (2006) has stated that the objective of language teaching is teaching learners to communicate fluently, appropriately and spontaneously in the cultural context of the target language In recent years, the study of English has gained momentum because it is partly the change in education policies of our government The number of people who wish to know and master English has become more and more increasing, especially since Vietnam adopted an open-door policy, teaching and learning English have been paid much attention to There still exist many difficulties facing English language teachers in Vietnam in general and English language teachers at Bắc S ơn high school in particular in teaching speaking skills to students The teachers of English at Bắc Sơn high school find it difficult to teach speaking successfully because of remote and mountainous area, ethnic majority students, students‟ low level, students‟ poor living conditions, lack of materials and facilities The teaching and learning English process at Bắc Sơn high school seems to still focus too much on grammar and structures Students are very good at doing exercises of written forms, these forms of exercises mostly concern grammar, reading or writing comprehension The consequence is that students have many difficulties in speaking There are many students who have perfect knowledge of grammar but can‟t express themselves to the teacher Therefore, they usually keep quiet and lazy during speaking lessons It is very difficult to make them participate in speaking activities All of the above reasons have inspired the author to the research on “An investigation into the difficulties faced by teachers in teaching English speaking skills to Mường ethnic students at Bắc S ơn high school” with the hope to investigate the teachers‟ difficulties in teaching English speaking, then I will present some recommendations that can help the teachers overcome those difficulties, and thereby make a small contribution to the quality of teaching and learning speaking skills at Bắc Sơn high school Aims of the study The study is aimed at: - Investigating the current situation of teaching and learning of speaking skills at Bắc Sơn high school - Identifying the difficulties and obstacles that the teachers at Bắc Sơn high school have faced when teaching speaking skills - Making some suggestions for the teachers at Bắc S ơn high school with the hope of helping the students overcome their inhibition, and thereby improve students‟ speaking skills Research questions My study aims at answering the following research questions: - What are the current techniques of teaching speaking skills used at Bắc S ơn high school? - What kinds of difficulties the teachers at Bắc Sơn high school often meet in teaching English speaking skills to Mường ethnic students? - What are the most effective ways that help the teachers at Bắc Sơn high school to overcome these difficulties? Scope of the study The researcher only intends to give a brief overview of current English speaking teaching and learning situations of grade 11 students at Bắc Sơn high school, and to focus 2 Limitations of the study Although the study has been seriously and intensively carried out, like many other studies, there are still some limitations Firstly, the number of students involved in the survey is still limited, so, the findings may, to some extent, the results may not be generalized for all students of the school Secondly, the researcher only use survey questionnaire as the main instrument for data collections Thus, the perceptions may not always be accurate and reliable In order to make obtained result more reliable, different instruments for data collection should be applied Moreover, the activities suggested in the research are selected from different reliable but limited sources Meanwhile, the rank of activities compatible with CLT is multitudinous There are many others depending on different contexts, so teachers and students can exploit their own advantages to improve the situation Suggestions for further study Owing to the limitations of the time, the present paper on English speaking teaching and learning was conducted with only a small sample of students at Bắc Sơn high school Therefore, the researcher should the research on a larger sample of students in other contexts to confirm the validity of the findings of this study In this study, it is impossible for the researcher to simultaneously conduct a whole study on other aspects of English language such as grammar and other language skills There are some suggestions for further researches: - A study on the problems in teaching Listening/ Reading or Writing to Mường students at Bắc Sơn high school - A study on techniques and activities for the minority students which help them improve their speaking skills To get a better and more efficient study, surely the researcher in the coming time with the future research there will be a similar one which overcomes these weaknesses Therefore, the writer would highly appreciate all the remarks, comments and suggestions from teachers, colleagues and readers as well 42 REFERENCES Bock, G ( 2000) Difficulties in Implementing Communicative Theory in Viet Nam Teacher’s Edition , 2, 24- 28 Breen, M and C N Candlin.(1980) The Essentials of a Communicative Curriculum in Language Teaching Applied Linguistics Brown, G., & Yule, G (1983) Teaching the Spoken Language Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 4.Bygate, M (1985) Speaking Oxford: Oxford University Press 5.Bygate, M (1987) Speaking Oxford: Oxford University Press 6.Bygate, M (1991) Speaking Oxford: Oxford University Press 7.Byrne, D (1988) Focus on the Classroom Hong Kong: Modern English Publications 8.Byrne, D (1991) Teaching Oral English London: Longman 9.Canale, M and Swain M( 1980) Approaches to Communicative Competence 10 Dublin F (1995) (ed) The craft of Material Writing In P Byrd (ed), Material Writer‟s guide (p 64- 78) Boston: Heinl and Heinl 11 Ellis, R (1990) Instructed second language acquisition Oxford: Basil Blackwell 12 Harmer, J (1993) The practice of English Language Teaching Harlow: Longman 13 Hoang Van Van et all (2006) Tieng Anh 11 Education Publishing House 14 Hutchinson, Tom (1987) English for Specific Purposes: a learning-centered approach Cambridge University Press 15 Larsen- Freeman, D ( 1986) Techniques and Principles on Language Teaching Oxford: OUP 16 Littlewood, W (1981) Communicative Language Teaching: Cambridge University Press 17 Long, M , and Crookes, G ( 1992) Three Approaches to Task- based Syllabus Design TESOL Quaterly 18 Nunan, D (1989) Designing tasks for the communicative classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 43 19 Nunan, D (1990) Designing tasks for the communicative classroom Sydney: MUP 20 Nunan, D ( 1991) Language Teaching Methodology New Jersey: Prentice Hall International 21 Pattison, P ( 1987) Developing Communication Skill Cambridge: CUP 22 Penny Cook, A (1989) The Concept of Method, Interested knowledge, and The Politics of Language Teaching TESOL Quaterly 23 Richards, J.C & Rodgers , T.S (1996) Approaches and methods in language teaching: Cambridge University Press 24 Richard, J C and Rodgers, T S ( 2001) Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching Cambridge: CUP 25 Sagvinon, S J (1983) Communicative Competence: Theory and Classroom Practice Reading Addison- Wesley Publishing Company 26 Ur, P 1996 A Course in Language Teaching Cambridge University Press 44 APPENDICES0 APPENDIX A Survey questionnaire for teachers This questionnaire is designed for my research into the problems in Teaching English Speaking skills to Mườ ng students at Bắc Sơ n high school Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated The data collected are used in the research paper only, not for any other purpose Thank you very much for your cooperation * Background information - Your name: ………………………………………………………………   - Your gender: Male Female - Your age: …………………………………………………………… - Your years of teaching English: ………………………………………… Which grade are you teaching? Please circle the letter A, B, C or D beside the option(s) appropriate to you Question How students at Bắc Sơn high school? A Difficult Question What are your opinions on the textbook “Tiếng Anh 11”? A Good book (various topics, real situations, various activities, appropriate vocabulary) B Normal book (various topics, but some of them aren‟t appropriate, real situations, few interesting activities) C Bad book (Wide vocabulary, complex grammar) D Others:……………………………………………………… Question What you think of the time for speaking practice in the textbook? A Long B Medium C Short D Too short Question Have you ever been trained in Communicative Language Teaching? I A Yes, in English Language Teaching workshops B Yes, in English Teaching- Training courses C No, I have never been trained in CLT D Others ( Please specify)………………………………… Question As for you, CLT: (You may circle more than one) A Is learner- centered approach B Involves no grammar teaching C Involves teaching speaking only, not other skills D Always emphasizes fluency over accuracy E Is an effective approach for your students Question What is the average number of students in your English class ? A 30 – 40 B 40 – 50 C More than 50 Question What are the difficulties you have faced in teaching speaking skills to Muong ethnic students in grade 11 at Bắc Sơn high school? (You may circle more than one) A Students‟ low level of English proficiency B Students‟ lack of motivation C Large sized - classes D Students‟ negative psychological factors (fear of mistake, shyness, anxiety, lack of confidence ) E Students‟ use of mother - tongue language and making noise during groupwork or pairwork F Difficult speaking topics G Students‟ limited cultural knowledge Question Do you correct your students’ errors when they are performing their tasks? A Very often B Often C Not very often D Never Question What you when your students make mistakes in speaking activities? A Silent until they have finished their task, smile and encourge them to go on B Silent, but not willing enough to smile and supportive C Interrupt them and correct II D Get angry when they keep making the same mistakes Question 10 What you to deal with students’ low - level English proficiency? (You may circle more than one) A Give simple and clear instruction B Organize simple communicative activities C Criticize them for their level D Give learners assistance or chances to obtain assistance from friends Question 11 What you when your students show low motivation in speaking lessons? (You may circle more than one) A Use teaching aids to draw students‟ attention B Suggest interesting topics for discussion C Create the comfortable and co-operative learning atmosphere D Neglect them Question 12 What you to deal with large - sized classes? (You may circle more than one) A Get students to as much interactive work as possible B Use pair work and group work C Enhance the skills of class management and class organization D Do nothing Question 13 How often you use pairwork or group work in your English lessons? A Usually B Sometimes C Seldom D Never Question 14 What you usually to create interest for your students in speaking lessons? (You may circle more than one) A Provide them some new words, structures and B suggestions for doing the tasks Introduce interesting and familiar topics and several extra activities outside the textbook , then let them choose to disscuss C Praise them D Do nothing Question 15 Can you give some suggestions to improve the teaching English speaking skills to Mường ethnic students at Bắc Sơn high school? III Thank you for taking time to complete this questionnaire IV APPENDIX B Survey questionnaire for students This questionnaire is designed for my research into the problems in Teaching English Speaking skills to Mường students at Bắ c Sơn high school I would appreciate highly your assistance if you could answer all these questions by circling the letter A, B, C or D beside the option(s) appropriate to you The data collected are used in the research paper only, not for any other purpose Thank you very much for your cooperation! Question Did you learn English before high school? A Yes B No If yes : How long did you learn English before? ………………….years Question How you find speaking topics and activities introduced in the textbook “Tiếng Anh 11”? A Very difficult B Difficult C Ok D Easy Question Why you learn English? (You may circle more than one) A To be an obligatory subject in curriculum B To pass examinations C To listen to music, play games, read books, magazines, newspapers…in English D To be interested in English or enjoy learning English E Others:…………………………………………………… Question How is speaking skill important to you? A Very important B Important C Not very important D not important at all Question How much you feel interested in speaking English in class? A Very much B Rather C Little V D Not at all Question Do you often speak English in class time? A Yes, often B Yes, sometimes C Rarely D Never except when asked by the teacher Question What factors make you unwilling to speak in English class? (You may circle more than one) A Have low level of English language proficiency B Being fearful of losing face C Teachers‟ unenthusiasm and unfriendliness D Unable to find words, structures or ideas E Too much teachers and students‟ talking time F Boring / Difficult topics Question How often does your teacher correct students’ mistakes while you are performing tasks? A Never B Seldom C Sometimes D Frequently Question What does your teacher if you make mistakes in speaking? A Gets angry and interrupts you to correct B Interrupts you, tells you they are wrong (Positive way/ feedback) and corect mistakes C Waits until you finish your presentation, collects the errors, then correct them for you D Waits until you finish your presentation, collects the errors, then encourage you to correct them yourself E Listens to you and does nothing with your mistakes Question 10 Which of the following activities are you often given in English speaking classes? (You may circle more than one) A Role play B Discussions C Games D Interviews Question 11 What does your teacher often to stimulate you to practice speaking? (You may circle more than one) A.Chooses interesting and appropriate topics B Applies some interesting activities such as: role- play, games, songs VI C Gives marks D Lets you choose your own partner Question 12 Are you given enough time for a discussion? A Usually enough B Sometimes enough C Little D Not enough Question 13 What you want your teacher to to improve your speaking skills? Thank you for taking time to complete this questionnaire VII APPENDIX C ́ PHIÊU KHẢO SÁT (DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH) Phiếu khảo sát này đươcc̣ thiết kếtrong nghiên cứu của để tìm hiểu vềnhững khókhăn của giáo viên dạy kĩ nói ở trường THPT Bắc Sơn Tôi se đ ̃ ánh giácao sự giúp đỡcủa các em nếu các em cóthểtrảlời các câu hỏi bằng cách khoanh tròn A, B, C hay D ứng với lựa chọn thích hợp nhất với các em Sốliêụ thu đươcc̣ chỉsử dụng vào mục đích nghiên cứu, không vì mục đích nào khác Cảm ơn rất nhiều vì sự hợp tác của em! Câu 1.Trước vào THPT em đãhocc̣ Tiếng Anh chưa? A Có B Chưa Nếu học Tiếng Anh:: Em đa h ̃ occ̣ đươcc̣ mấy năm rồi? năm Câu Em thấy các chủđềvàhoaṭ đôngc̣ nói đươcc̣ giới thiêụ sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh lớp 11 thếnào? A Hay B Tạm được C Nhàm chán D Khó Câu Em hãy nêu lído em hocc̣ môn Tiếng Anh ?( Em cóthểkhoanh tròn môṭ đáp án) A Là một môn học bắt buộc B Để vượt qua các kì thi C Để nghe nhạc, chơi tròchơi, đocc̣ sách, báo, tạp chí bằng Tiếng Anh D Vì yêu thich́ môn Tiếng Anh Câu Kĩ nói quan trọng với em thế nào? A Rất quan trongc̣ B Quan trongc̣ C Không quan trongc̣ lắm D Không quan trongc̣ tínào Câu Em thić h hocc̣ nói Tiếng Anh nhiều thếnào? VIII A Rất nhiều B Nhiều C Ít D Không thích tí nào Câu Em cóthường nói Tiếng Anh giờhocc̣ không? A Thường xuyên B Thỉnh thoảng C Ít D Không bao giờtrừ bi gc̣ iáo viên goi Câu Những yếu tốnào sau làm em ngại nói giờ học nói Tiếng Anh? (Em có thể khoanh tròn một đáp án) A Khả ngôn ngữ Tiếng Anh thấp B Em sơ xc̣ ấu hô C Sự không nhiệt tình và thân thiện của giáo viên D Thiếu từ, cấu trúc hoăcc̣ ýtưởng E Giáo viên hoăcc̣ các hocc̣ sinh khác nói quánhiều F Chủ đề nói nhàm chán hoặc khó Câu Giáo viên thường xuyên sửa lỗi cho em em nói thế nào? A Không bao giờ B Hiếm C Thỉnh thoảng D Thường xuyên Câu Giáo viên của em thường làm gin ̀ ếu em mắc lỗi nói giờ Tiếng Anh? A Tức giận và ngắt lời em để sửa lỗi B Ngắt lời em, nói rằng em sai ( theo cách tich́ cưcc̣) và sửa lỗi C Đợi cho đến em nói xong, tông hơpc̣ các lỗi, sau đósau đósửa chúng cho em D Đợi cho đến em nói xong, tông hơpc̣ các lỗi, khuyến khich́ em tư sc̣ ửa lỗi E Lắng nghe em nói và không sửa lỗi cho em Câu 10 Những hoaṭ đôngc̣ sau em thường đươcc̣ thưcc̣ hiêṇ giờhọc nói Tiếng Anh ? ( Em cóthểkhoanh tròn môṭ đáp án) A Đóng kich B Thảo luận C Chơi tròchơi D Phỏng vấn Câu 11 Giáo viên của em thường làm gì để khuyến khích em nói (Em cóthể khoanh tròn một đáp án) A Chọn những chủ đề thú vi và phù hợp với em B Tô chức một số hoạt động đóng kich, trò chơi, bài hát C Cho điểm IX D Để cho em chọn bạn để thảo luận Câu 12 Em thường cóđủthời gian đểthảo luâṇ không? A Luôn B Thỉnh thoảng C Ít D Không Câu 13 Em muốn giáo viên của em làm gìđểgiúp em nâng cao ki ̃năng nói của em? Cám ơn sư cc̣ ôngc̣ tác của các em! X ... into the difficulties faced by teachers in teaching English speaking skills to Mường ethnic students at Bắc S ơn high school? ?? with the hope to investigate the teachers? ?? difficulties in teaching. .. teaching speaking skills to Mường students at Bắc S ơn high school All of them admit that teaching teaching to these students is really difficult 3.1.2 Teachers? ?? attitude towards teaching English. .. are the current techniques of teaching speaking skills used at Bắc S ơn high school? - What kinds of difficulties the teachers at Bắc Sơn high school often meet in teaching English speaking skills