A study on using short stories to improve the effeciency of teaching speaking and listening skills to students at haiphong foreign language centre

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  TRỊNH THỊ THANH NHÀN A STUDY ON USING SHORT STORIES TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF TEACHING SPEAKING AND LISTENING SKILLS TO STUDENTS AT HAIPHONG FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTRE (Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng truyện ngắn để nâng cao hiệu dạy kỹ Nghe Nói cho học viên Trung tâm Ngoại ngữ - Đại học Hải Phòng) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: Code: Hanoi, 2010 Methodology VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  TRỊNH THỊ THANH NHÀN A STUDY ON USING SHORT STORIES TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF TEACHING SPEAKING AND LISTENING SKILLS TO STUDENTS AT HAIPHONG FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTRE (Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng truyện ngắn để nâng cao hiệu dạy kỹ Nghe Nói cho học viên Trung tâm Ngoại ngữ - Đại học Hải Phòng) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: Methodology Code: Supervisor: Nguyễn Thúy Hương, M.A Hanoi, 2010 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgements i Table of contents ii PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Background to the study Aims of the study Scope of the study Research questions Methods of the study Design of the study PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Speaking and Listening in foreign language learning 1.1.1 Speaking skill in foreign language teaching 1.1.2 Listening skill in foreign language teaching 1.2 Literature in language teaching 2.2.1 Concept of Literature 1.2.1.1 Definitions 1.2.1.2 Genres Concept of short stories 1.2.2 Short stories in language teaching 1.2.2.1 Advantages of short stories in teaching language skills 1.2.2.2 How to choose short stories in teaching language skills 13 iii 1.3 Summary 16 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 17 2.1 Subjects of the study 17 2.2 Data collection instruments 17 2.2.1 Questionnaire 17 2.2.2 Questionnaire 18 2.3 Procedures 18 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 20 3.1 Results and Discussion 20 3.1.1 Results from the first questionnaire 20 3.1.2 Description of the application of short stories in the eight weeks 25 3.1.3 Results from the second questionnaire 25 3.2 Findings 30 3.3 Summary 31 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS 32 4.1 Suggested activities for using short stories in teaching listening and speaking skills 32 4.1.1 Suggested activities 32 4.1.2 Sample lesson plans 33 PART 3: CONCLUSION 36 Suggestions for further study 36 Conclusion 36 REFERENCES 38 LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES List of figures Page Figure Students’ enjoyment in reading short stories 20 Figure Students’ preference in terms of the length of a short story 21 Figure Students’ favourite topics 22 Figure Reasons why students not like reading short stories 24 Figure Activities in the pre-stage 26 Figure Students’ activities when reading a short story 27 Figure Activities in the post-stage 28 Figure Students’ participation in the class activities 29 Figure Benefits students gain from the lesson using short stories 30 List of tables Table Students’ difficulties in dealing with a short story 23 PART 1: INTRODUCTION This part gives an introduction to the study, including the background to the study, the aims, the scope, the research questions and the methods as well as the design of the study Background to the study Haiphong Foreign Language Centre is one of the biggest and most prestigious language centres in Haiphong, with well-qualified and enthusiastic teachers The number of English teachers at this centre is 68 (15 male teachers and 53 female teachers) including 24 full-time teachers and 44 part-time teachers Most teachers at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre graduated from universities such as Vietnam University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Hanoi University, Haiphong University and Haiphong Private University, etc A half of the teachers have less-than-5year teaching experience They are very eager to access new teaching methods and apply those methods in teaching practice Every month a professional meeting is held at the centre, so that teachers can discuss problems and exchange ideas They are all eager to apply initiatives in teaching, and ready to welcome new ideas At Haiphong Foreign Language Centre there are classes for students of three levels: Elementary, Pre-intermediate and Intermediate Each level consists of two courses, each lasting from three to five months The main course books in use are Streamlines English – Departures, Connections and Destinations (by Bernard Hartley and Peter Viney, 1982) Recently, „Headway‟, „Lifelines‟ textbooks were made use of to improve students‟ listening and speaking skills Besides, supplementary materials like „Facts and Figures‟, „Cause and Effect‟, „Let‟s talk‟, „Listen carefully‟, are also used by the teachers Students at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre are of all ages and walks of life, including university or college students, school-children The others are in-service learners Their purposes of learning and language levels are quite different The major purposes of learning English of learners are for their studies and their jobs Some of them learn English for fun, but this is not common In general, they are hardworking and very involved in the learning process As most of them are young learners, they learn very quickly and make a lot of progress Some learners, who are at the age of 40 to 50 and over, have difficulties in learning because of many reasons (busy with work or family, limited ability, etc.) The majority of learners come to the centre with the hope of achieving a good command of English They consider the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing very important, but speaking and listening are given the top priority as these two skills can help them achieve their goals of learning and working Good listening and speaking skills can help university and/ or college students pass oral examinations at University or College easily, and those who work with foreign partners wish to use English effectively to negotiate and gain contracts as well as attract investment from foreign companies Being aware of the importance of teaching speaking and listening skills to students, the writer often asks herself, “How can we improve students‟ speaking and listening skills?” and “Could there be any other material to help encourage students‟ involvement in speaking and listening lessons?” The idea of using short stories as supplementary materials came to her when she read the M.A thesis of Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tu, “A study on using short stories to improve the efficiency of teaching English to the first year students at Vietnam Maritime University” (2005) Encouraged by what Nguyen had achieved, the writer decided to conduct “A study on using short stories to improve the efficiency of teaching speaking and listening skills to students at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre” Aims of the study The study aims at: - Investigating the students‟ attitude towards the use of short stories in language learning - Finding out how short stories improve the efficiency of teaching speaking and listening skills to students at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre - Giving some suggestions on using short stories in the speaking and listening lessons Scope of the study In this minor thesis the writer intends to deal with the question of how short stories help improve the efficiency of teaching speaking and listening skills, in which speaking skill is paid more attention and listening skill is considered the integrating skill The stories used in the research are two or three pages long only, with simple contents, of a variety of topics according to the students‟ preference such as love, friendship, schools, etc Research questions This paper is carried out in order to answer the following questions Question 1: What are the attitudes of students at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre towards the use of short stories in language teaching? Question 2: Can applying short stories help improve the efficiency of teaching speaking and listening skills at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre? Methods of the study The quantitative method is used in this paper The data collected are from the intermediate students at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre Survey questionnaires are used to collect data and evidences for the paper, and then data are analyzed quantitatively There are two questionnaires for students The first questionnaire consists of questions, the aims of which are to find out the students‟ preference of types of short stories and their attitude toward the use of short stories in foreign language learning The second questionnaire includes questions, which aim at investigating the effects of short stories in teaching listening and speaking skills Design of the study This paper is organized into three parts Each part deals with an important aspect of the study Part presents overview introduction of the study that includes the background of the study, the aims, the scope, the research questions and the method as well as the design of the study Part consists of four chapters Chapter reviews some theoretical issues relevant to the study in two main parts: Speaking and listening in foreign language learning and Literature in language teaching Chapter gives a profile of the subjects of the study as well as description of data collection instruments and research procedures Chapter presents the data analysis and findings Chapter discusses some suggested techniques for using short stories in teaching speaking and listening skills Part points out the limitations of the study and gives conclusion to the study PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, the theoretical background to the study, including the theories on speaking and listening in foreign language teaching and theories on literature in language teaching, with a focus on short stories, is reviewed 1.1 Speaking and Listening in foreign language teaching 1.1.1 Speaking skill in foreign language teaching For the purpose of analysis and instruction, language has been divided into different skill areas These can be discussed in the framework of how we learn our first language A child first learns to practice language by speaking, combined with listening Then, when school begins, children learn by the skills of reading and writing As learners grow in their language ability and use, the different skills are most often integrated with each other so that they are being in used in coordination with each other In conversation, when one person is the speaker, another is the listener After listening and understanding, the hearer responds by speaking Just think of all the different conversations you have in one day and compare that with how much written communication you in one way Which you more of? Of course, in our daily lives, most of us speak more than we write In academic setting, while students are listening, they may also be writing notes or reading a handout As a teacher, you will be reading your lesson plans and then speaking to your students We can see that, in order to show that you understand anything, you have to speak it out Therefore, Lawtie (2004) affirmed, “Speaking is fundamental to human communication.” (cited in Nguyen Thi Le Thuy, 2008) In Florez (1999), speaking is “an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information” It is often spontaneous, open-ended, and evolving.” (cited in Le Van Canh‟s lecture, 2009) Martin (1987) believes that speaking is the skill by which they are most frequently judged and thought Learners often need to be able to speak with confidence Speaking skill is regarded as the vehicle of social solidarity, of social ranking, of professional advancement and business It is also a medium through which much language is learnt” (cited in Nguyen Thi Le Thuy, 2008) 29  Question collected information about the students‟ participation in activities based on short stories and how actively they take part in those activities 25 20 15 10 Figure Students’ participation in the class activities The statistics in Figure reveals that nearly most of the students took part in the lessons using short stories 22 of the students said that they took part in the lessons very actively, 12 affirmed they took part rather actively participants just took part in the lesson, but not very actively Only of the respondents admitted that they did not join the lessons 30  Question asks about the benefits the students gain from the lessons using short stories 25 20 15 10 Figure Benefits students gain from the lesson using short stories After eight weeks of applying short stories in two classes, the students gained some significant benefits students said that thanks to short stories, their vocabulary was enlarged 20 students agreed that they felt more confident in expressing their ideas, and 12 affirmed that their listening skill was improved of them stated that their cultural knowledge was broadened However, there are still students who said that they got nothing from the lessons using short stories It can be seen from the data that the integration of short stories resulted in some achievements, but there still exist some problems which need dealing with so that the use of short stories can help all students make progress in their learning process 3.2 Findings - Analysis of data collected from the questionnaires indicate that it is possible to use short stories in speaking and listening lessons as a large number of learners like to read short stories and have positive attitude toward the integration of stories in class As a result most of them were motivated to get involved in the class activities such as role-play, storytelling, discussion or drama This is the decisive factor leading to the success of the study - A large number of students are interested in short stories with the length of some pages and with common topics as love, students‟ life, family or social issues This 31 information is very important for the teacher to choose suitable stories to motivate students - When reading or listening to a short story, students have difficulties with language use like vocabulary and grammar as well as culture and theme within the short story To deal with these difficulties, it is very necessary for the teacher to design suitable preactivities such as presenting new words, introducing the content of the story or involving students to discuss the topic relevant so that these activities can help students understand the story more easily The questionnaire also reveals the reasons why some students not like reading short stories Based on this, the teacher can find ways to encourage every student in story reading 3.3 Summary This chapter has presented the results analysis and discussion, as well as findings based on the data The assessment of the students proves that short stories when selected carefully can be useful supplementary material to enhance students‟ listening and speaking skills Experience gotten from the eight weeks implementing the research and results of data analysis help the researcher arrive at some conclusion and recommendations on how to best integrate short stories in teaching speaking and listening skills, which will be presented in the next chapter 32 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS 4.1 Suggested activities for using short stories in teaching listening and speaking skills 4.1.1 Suggested activities  Story-telling with pictures: This activity aims at creating and telling stories cooperatively Procedure: - Put students into groups of four people - Have each student pick one picture from the file - Have each group choose a scribe to keep notes - Have the group create a short story using all four pictures, and have the scribe take written notes about the group‟s story (Model this procedure with some unused pictures) - Have the group choose one or more members to tell their story to the whole class, holding up the pictures for illustration  Picture-sorting: The students are given a pack of pictures and asked to number them and work out the plot, then tell the story to the class After that, the teacher will play the recording of the original story and compare with the whole class  Story-retelling: In this activity, teacher chooses two different stories, which should be parallel either in theme, or in superficial content and hand each of them out the class in advance, or asks each student to choose a story he/ she likes In class, ask students to work with a partner with a different story Then the students tell each other their story When they finish, the teacher can ask them whether they like the story or not and why  Discussion: Many students, after reading or listening to a story, are really interested in expressing their own ideas toward the story or the characters in the story This activity is a good one for them to discuss what they think of the story 33 Procedure: - Select a story and hand it out to the students in advance - Tell the story to the students (or play the story for them to listen to) so that the students can remember the content of the story - Allow five minutes reflection time after telling, and then ask students to discuss their interpretations of the story in group of three or four - Note: For this very open, direct exercise to be effective the story chosen should be capable of a very wide range of interpretation; the complexity should lie in the story rather in the language  Role-playing: The students play the roles of some characters in the story, action out some scene in the story as assigned by the teacher The dialogues can be made up by the students themselves 4.1.2 Sample lesson plans 4.1.2.1 ‘The Gift of the Magi’ by O Henry This lesson plan is based on the story “The Gift of the Magi” by O Henry * Warm-up: Teacher leads the students in the topic of the story by asking them questions: - Do you often give gifts to your family/ your friends? - On which occasions you often give gifts to everyone? - Do you often give cheap or expensive gifts? - Let‟s imagine: Today is a very special occasion for you and your boyfriend Both of you often give presents to each other on this occasion However, you have difficulty in finance; you not have enough money to buy even a very cheap gift for your boyfriend What would you in this situation? * Pre-stage: - Teacher presents the general idea of the story - Then, give out sentences which are events in the story Ask students to arrange the events in the right order in the story 34 - Students listen to the story three times to check if their arrangement is correct or not * While-stage: The teacher hands out the story for students to read New words are explained in a glossary Some activities in the class: - Story-telling: Divide the class into small groups of four or five, ask them to retell the story, one by one, from the beginning to the end of the story - Role-play: Divide the class into small group of four or five, and ask each group to find the words which best describe the two main characters: Della and Jim After that, the teacher gives each group a role-play situation and asks them to roleplay conversations between the characters according to the table below After having some time to prepare, students perform their drama in front of the class The other groups are encouraged to give comments Role-play assignment slips You are Della and the woman at „Sofronie‟ Hairdresser‟s Role-play their conversation You and Della and Jim Role-play their conversation when Jim came back from work and saw Della‟s new hair style Role-play the conversation You are Della and the shop assistant at the shop where Della bought a platinum fob chain for Jim Role-play the conversation You are Jim and the shop assistant at the shop where Jim sold his watch Role-play the conversation You are Jim and the shop assistant at the shop where Jim bought the comb for Della Role-play the conversation - Discussing the story: Teacher asks students to work in groups to express their own idea of the two characters‟ action After some time of discussing, some students present their own idea in front of the class 35 4.1.2.2 'The Birthmark' by Nathaniel Hawthorne This lesson plan is based on the story “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne * Activity 1: Listening and Gap-filling The story with ten words missing was delivered to the students They were going to listen to the story for three times, and while listening, the students had to fill one word in each blank to complete the story * Activity 2: Discussion Students were divided into four groups of five or six There were two topics for four groups to discuss Topic is “Do you agree with what Aylmer did? If you were in his situation, would you like what he did? Explain why?” Topic is “What you think of Georgiana? If you were her, would you like what she did? Explain why?” Students were allowed to discuss in their group in 20 minutes, and then each representative of each group would present their group ideas in front of the class * Activity 3: Role-play Teacher had students work in pairs Students created a role-play using script Students learnt by heart the lines of Aylmer and Georgiana individually then practice and design their performance Some pairs performed their role-play in front of the class 36 PART 3: CONCLUSION Suggestions for further study The study has just covered a very small area of literature with a small population of students at a foreign language centre There are still many fields related to the use of literature in language classes, followings are some suggestions for further studies - Using literature in teaching writing and reading skills - Using literature for students of lower levels - Using literature in teaching culture in the language classroom Conclusion On the whole, the study can be considered satisfactorily good for the following reasons First, the theoretical issues related to the use of short stories reviewed in chapter of the study have provided a strong foundation on which language teachers can base in order to use short stories effectively in teaching language skills Second, the findings have shown the major issues relating to the use of short stories in language teaching and learning at the researcher‟s language centre These issues have helped her design lesson plans that integrate short stories, implement them and gain some achievements in teaching listening and speaking skills in her two classes Finally, the study has provided several practical recommendations for the use of short stories to improve the efficiency of teaching speaking and listening skills to students However, the study has still shown some limitations Due to the limitation of time, the research was only carried out in two classes with 45 students at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre If further studies could be implemented with a larger population, the results would be more reliable Another weakness of this study is that the discussion in chapter has not been well backed up by the theoretical issued reviewed in chapter Therefore, these arguments are not satisfactorily convincing It is much hoped that the study is of interest to those who are keen on using literature in language teaching in general, and in teaching and learning English in general, in listening and speaking skills in particular 37 38 REFERENCES Bailey, K.M & Savage, L (1993) New Ways in Teaching Speaking.Illinois USA Collie, J.& Slater, S (1991) Literature in the Language Classroom.Cambridge University Press Gajdusek, L (1988) Toward Wider Use of Literature in ESL: Why and How TESOL Quarterly 22 Howie, S.H (1993) Critical thinking: A critical skill for students Reading TODAY, 24 Johnson, D.M (1987) Approaches to Research in Second Language Learning.Longman Lazar, G.(1993) Literature and Language Teaching.Cambridge University Press Le Van Canh (2009) Lectures for Post-graduate students Nguyen, Thi Le Thuy (2008) How to Maximize Part-time Students’ Involvement in English Speaking Lessons at Hai Phong Foreign Languages Centre Nguyen,Thi Ngoc Tu (2005) A Study on Using Short Stories to Improve the Efficiency of Teaching English to the First Year Students at Vietnam Maritime University 10 Nunan, D (1991) Language Teaching Methodology.Prentice Hall International UK Limited 11 Pulverness, A (2003) English Teaching Essentials Literature.English Teaching Professional, Issue 29, October 2003 12 Rocha, E.R (2005) Benefits of Using Short Stories in the EFL Context Asian EFL Journal volume November 2005 13 Rossister, M.(2003-2004) Narrative and Stories in Adult Teaching and Learning ERIC Digest, http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-4/adult-teaching.html 14 Tran, Thi Nga (2003) Incorporating Literature into English Classes in Vietnam Teacher Edition 11, March 15 Widdowson, H.G.( 1983) Talking shop: On literature and ELT.ELT Journal.Vo 37 No January 16 http://www.cliffsnotes.com/Section/What-is-a-definition-of-short-story-.id305403,articleId-7941.html 39 17 http://www.creativefreelancerblog.com/2008/06/better-speaking.html 18 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drama 19 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry 20 http://www.homepage.bnvbamberg.de/gk_english/short_story/short_story_definition.ht m 21 http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1994/TNY_CARDS_0059 22 http://www.thefreedictionary.com/literature 23 http://www.thefreedictionary.com/novel 24 http://voaspecialenglish.com/ APPENDIX Questionnaire Questionnaire on students’ attitude toward the use of short stories in learning listening and speaking skills I would like to ask you to help me by answering the following questions concerning your involvement in speaking lessons The information obtained from it will serve as a background survey for the M.A thesis I am interested in your personal opinions Please give your answers sincerely as only this will guarantee the success of the investigation Your response to the questionnaire will be of great value to the thesis and kept confidential Question 1: Do you like reading short stories in English? A Yes B No IF YES Question 2: What is the length of stories that you like to read? A Just some sentences B Half a page C A page D Some pages Question 3: Which topics would you like to read? A Love B Students’ life C Family D Social issues E Others (please specify) (More than one option can be possible) Question 4: What problems you have to deal with when reading or listening to a short story? A Many new words B Many new grammatical structures C Different cultural background D Unclear theme (More than one option can be possible) IF NO Question 5: Why you not like reading short stories? A They are not relevant to the exam B They are too long to read C They are too difficult to understand D Others (please specify): Thank you very much for your cooperation! APPENDIX Questionnaire Questionnaire on the effects of short story in teaching listening and speaking skills I would like to ask you to help me by answering the following questions concerning your involvement in speaking lessons The information obtained from it will serve as a background survey for the M.A thesis I am interested in your personal opinions Please give your answers sincerely as only this will guarantee the success of the investigation Your response to the questionnaire will be of great value to the thesis and kept confidential Question 1: Which of the following activities you think the most useful for you before you read or listen to a short story in the class? A Present new words B Introduce the content of the story C Involve students to discuss the topic relevant to the story D All of the above E Nothing Question 2: What you often when you read or listen to a short story? A Try to take notes as much as possible B Try to remember the content C Write down all news words and look up all them in the dictionary D Others (please specify): Question 3: What tasks you like to most after reading or listening to a short story? A Role-play B Story-telling C Discussion D Drama Question 4: Do you take part in activities based on short stories? A Yes, very actively B Yes, rather actively C Yes, but not very actively D No, I not take part in any activities Question 5: What benefit you gain from the lessons using short stories? A Vocabulary is enlarged B I am more confident in expressing ideas C Listening skill is improved D Cultural knowledge is broadened E Nothing Thank you very much for your cooperation! ... the efficiency of teaching speaking and listening skills to students at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre? ?? Aims of the study The study aims at: - Investigating the students? ?? attitude towards the. .. data collected are from the intermediate students at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre Survey questionnaires are used to collect data and evidences for the paper, and then data are analyzed quantitatively... order to answer the following questions Question 1: What are the attitudes of students at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre towards the use of short stories in language teaching? Question 2: Can applying