Adapting speaking tasks in the textbook tieng anh 10 to improve the effectiveness of speaking lessons at thuong cat high school a case study

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES  NGUYỄN THỊ NHUNG ADAPTING SPEAKING TASKS IN THE TEXTBOOK “TIENG ANH 10” TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SPEAKING LESSONS AT THUONG CAT HIGH SCHOOL: A CASE STUDY Điều chỉnh nhiệm vụ nói sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 10 nhằm tăng hiệu dạy nói trường THPT Thượng Cát : Một nghiên cứu điển hình M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HA NOI, 2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES  NGUYỄN THỊ NHUNG ADAPTING SPEAKING TASKS IN THE TEXTBOOK “TIENG ANH 10” TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SPEAKING LESSONS AT THUONG CAT HIGH SCHOOL: A CASE STUDY Điều chỉnh nhiệm vụ nói sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 10 nhằm tăng hiệu dạy nói trường THPT Thượng Cát : Một nghiên cứu điển hình M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Prof Nguyễn Hòa HA NOI, 2016 DECLARATION I hereby certify the thesis entitled “Adapting speaking tasks in the textbook Tieng Anh 10 to improve the effectiveness of speaking lessons at Thuong Cat High School: A case study.” as my own study in the fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi Signature Nguyễn Thị Nhung i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have benefited a great deal of support from a number of people during the time carrying out this thesis I would like first and foremost to express my profound gratitude and appreciation to my supervisor, Prof Nguyễn Hòa for his invaluable and insightful comments, his deliberate guidance and wholehearted supervision without which the thesis would not have been possible My thanks are also offered to all my respected lecturers in the M.A course, Assoc Prof Lê Hùng Tiến, Prof Nguyễn Quang, Assoc Dr Lê Văn Canh, Assoc Dr Lâm Quang Đông, Dr Huỳnh Anh Tuấn…., for their informative and valuable lectures that have enlightened my research path of the study Special acknowledgement is also given to my students from class 10D1 Thuong Cat High School for their participation in the lessons My appreciation is also extended to my colleagues in the English Division of Thuong Cat High School for their assistance and work sharing Last but not least, my heartfelt thanks go to my family and my close friends for their understanding, love, and support ii ABSTRACT In the teaching context of Thuong Cat High School in Bac Tu Liem, Ha Noi, the adaptation of speaking tasks in the textbook „Tieng Anh 10‟ is necessary because teaching and learning speaking is not usually efficient The students can hardly take part in speaking tasks seriously though they have the desire to speak English This mini action research is conducted in order to investigate how adapted tasks help students of low level to get more involved in speaking, as well as improve their language accuracy and fluency Oral tests together with survey questionnaire and observations are the main instruments of data collection They are delivered to 40 grade-10 students to collect individual scores, their opinions about speaking tasks in the textbook and their behaviors while doing speaking tasks Based on the data, together with advantages in methodology, the speaking tasks are adapted and speaking activities are implemented as pilot teaching is employed to realize the objectives of the action research The results indicate that most of the adapted tasks bring about some clear improvement in the students‟ participation and their language proficiency without omitting available textbook tasks Finally, some limitations of the study are discussed iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS  ESL/ EFL: English as Second/ Foreign Language  MC: Master Of Ceremonies  T: Teacher  Ss: Students  Gv: Giáo viên  Hs: Học sinh iv LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Table 1: The students‟ motivation in learning English speaking Table 2+3: The students‟ opinions about English speaking skills in the textbook Tieng Anh 10 Table 4: The students‟ general evaluation of their current speaking lessons Table 5: The students‟ participation in speaking lessons Table 6: Factors prevent the students from participating in speaking in the class Table 7: The students‟ opinion about the way their teacher taught English speaking Table 8: The students‟ evaluation of their teacher‟s task adaptation Table 9: The students‟ scores in the Pre-test Table 10: The students‟ opinions about the vocabulary relating to the topics in the speaking tasks Table 11+12: The students‟ opinions about the topics of speaking tasks Table 13+14: The students‟ opinions about the speaking tasks Table 15: The students‟ response to the adapted tasks for Unit 14 Table 16: The students‟ response to the adapted tasks for Unit 16 Table 17: The students‟ scores in Post-test after Unit 12 Table 18: The students‟ scores in Post-test after Unit 16 Figure 1: The students‟ motivation in learning English speaking v Figure 2: The students‟ opinions about the textbook‟s topics in the textbook Tieng Anh 10 Figure 3: The students‟ opinions about the textbook‟s speaking activities in the textbook Tieng Anh 10 Figure 4: The students‟ general evaluation of their current speaking lessons Figure 5: The students‟ participation in speaking lessons Figure 6: : Factors prevented the students from participating in speaking in the class Figure 7: The students‟ opinion about the way their teachers taught speaking Figure 8: The students‟ evaluation of their teacher‟s adaptation Figure 9: The students‟ scores in the Pre-test Figure 10: The students‟ opinions about the vocabulary relating to the topics in the speaking tasks Figure 11: The students‟ opinions about the topic‟s familiarity of the speaking tasks Figure 13: The students‟ opinions about the speaking tasks‟ ease Figure 14: The students‟ opinions about the speaking tasks‟ interesting organization Figure 15: The students‟ response to the adapted tasks for Unit 14 Figure 16: The students‟ response to the adapted tasks for Unit 16 Figure 17: The students‟ scores in the Post-test after Unit 12 Figure 18: The students‟ scores in the Post-test after Unit 16 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale for the study Aims of the study Research questions Scope of the study Methods of the study Design of the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 The teaching of speaking 1.1.1.1 The role of spoken English 1.1.1.2 Nature of spoken discourse 1.1.1.3 Functions of speaking 1.1.1.4 Implications for teaching b Talk as transaction 1.1.2 Related factors affecting students‟ speaking 1.1.2.1 Context vii 1.1.2.2 Teachers 10 1.1.2.3 Learners 10 1.1.2.4 Materials 11 1.2 Tasks and task adaptation 11 1.2.1 Tasks in FL/SL learning and teaching 12 1.2.2 Task adaptation in FL/SL learning and teaching 12 1.2.2.1 The need of task adaptation 12 1.2.2.2 What is adaptation? 12 1.2.2.3 Reasons for adaptation 13 1.2.2.4 Approaches to task adaptation 14 1.3 Summary 16 CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODS 17 2.1 The case of the study 17 2.1.1 Setting of the study 17 2.1.2 The learners 17 2.1.3 Speaking materials 18 2.2 An action research 18 2.2.1 Applied steps 18 2.2.2 The adaptation of speaking tasks in Tieng Anh 10 20 2.3 Instrumentation and Procedures 27 2.3.1 Instrument 1: Preliminary Survey 28 2.3.2 Instrument 2: Oral tests 29 2.3.3 Instrument 3: Survey Questionnaire 29 2.3.4 Instrument 4: Survey for Response to Adaptation 29 viii + The above statements are printed in seven pieces of paper and put in the Magic Hat + Seven students in turn pick out seven pieces of paper and read aloud the action + The rest of the class listen to and gine their opinions e.g I think …/ I (do not) agree with… Field-note 2: Unit 11 B Speaking- Task (page 114) Name of observer: Nguyễn Thị Nhung th Date and time of observation: at 8:25, on March Length of observation: approximately 15ms Teacher: Nguyễn Thị Nhung Students: class 10D1 th Grade level: 10 Objective of observation: What is the students‟ language level? Task Most of the students in Nga‟s class are not happy with their excursion to Huong Pagoda Now they are talking about what they wish they had or hadn‟t done Examples: If we hadn‟t gone by coach, we wouldn‟t have got carsick If we had gone by bike, we wouldn‟t have got carsick Continue their talk, using the ideas in Task “ After I gave the students some new vocabulary, helped them practice pronunciation, almost all of them could talk about what they wish they had or hadn‟t done in the excursion However, after several sentences, they got bored with the monotonousness Not much speaking happens and some Ss were distracted by talking other things.” Reflection: - The matter of participation is in the course - Suggested adaptation: + Game: Lucky number + The rules:  T divides class into two big groups and lets them name their groups XIII  T writes on board or prepares before on A0 paper with 10 numbers among which there are two lucky numbers If these two lucky numbers are chosen the group gets 10 point without doing anything Other eight numbers are eight “If” sentences that Ss have to make to express their wish They get five points with each correct answer  The group with the most points is the winner 10 XIV  Observation 2: Anecdotal record ( In Vietnamese) Name of observer: Nguyễn Thị Nhung nd Date and time of observation: at 11:10, on April Length of observation: approximately 45ms Teacher: Nguyễn Thị Lan Students: class 10D1 th Grade level: 10 Objective of observation: - How the students participate in speaking activities? - What is the students‟ language level? 11:12 Lớp trưởng: Stand up Cả lớp: Good morning, teacher Giáo viên(gv): How are you? Học sinh (hs): I am fine, thank you WARM UP Gv: Do you want to play a game? Hs: Yes! Sáu ảnh hobbies có sẵn sách giáo khoa hiển thị hình Hs làm việc theo đơi, nói cho bạn biết thích làm thời gian rỗi Gv đi lại lại, hỏi học sinh: “ What is your hobby?” Hs trả lời (rất bé): “I like… ” Gv gọi số hs trả lời câu hỏi Hs trả lời giống nhau: “I like… ” Thỉnh thoảng gv hỏi thêm: “Why?” Hs trả lời khó khăn Khơng khí học chìm xuống BEFORE YOU SPEAK Gv cho hs học từ mới: animals, famous people, mushrooms Có tranh ảnh, dạy phát âm kiểm tra phát âm hs khơng có ví dụ tập WHILE YOU SPEAK Task XV Hs xem đoạn hội thoại John Xuân Xuân: Tell me what music you like John: I like love songs Xuân: Tell me some songs you like best John: Well, I must say I‟d rather like Endless Love My heart will go on Xuân: Is that the songs in the film Titanic? John: Right What about you? Xuân: I like pop… Hs làm việc theo đôi, đọc lại hội thoại Hs đôi, người cầm sách giáo khoa, đọc đoạn hội thoai Task 2, người vai Thỉnh thoảng gv gọi đôi đứng dậy đọc Đôi này, hai người đứng cạnh nhau, người sách giáo khoa, đọc phần ĐƠI NÀO CŨNG NHẤT QUYẾT KHƠNG NHÌN MẶT NHAU Reflection: - Điều chứng tỏ hs không chủ động tham gia vào hoạt động nói - Hs đọc Tiếng Anh, chứng tỏ trình độ ngơn ngữ Tiếng Anh cịn thấp - Kỹ nói đoạn hội thoại, ngồi vấn đề ngơn ngữ cịn u cầu giao tiếp mắt (eye-contact) tự nhiên Gv cần rèn luyện đặt yêu cầu với hs vấn đề Gv: Do you want to play a game? Hs: Yes! GV: Ai có trí nhớ tốt? Who? Một vài gợi ý hiển thị hình: - music, love songs, - What ………………………….? Titanic, pop - Is that………………………….? - What about…………………….? Lớp chia thành nhiều nhóm Các nhóm có phút để chuẩn bị: số nhóm (gv định) nhớ tồn câu hỏi Xuân Các nhóm khác gợi nhớ câu trả lời John Cả lớp ồn Đơi ba hs nói thao thao, nhiều hs khác ngắc ngứ suốt trình nói Vài hs lơ đễnh khơng nhớ Sau phút, nhóm người đứng lên nói câu hỏi câu trả lời nhớ Hs gặp nhiều khó khăn XVI Reflection: Có lẽ gv không bổ xung thêm bước dạy trước thực hành để đảm bảo hs hiểu đầy đủ đoạn hội thoại biết cách phát âm ngữ điệu Task Màn hình lại hiển thị sơ đồ, coi gợi ý Dựa vào sơ đồ hội thoại mẫu, hs làm việc theo nhóm tạo đoạn hội thoại tương tự chủ đề stamp collection Collection How to collect: from friends/ buy/ exchange Where to keep: album How to organize: classify into groups Plan for future: collect more, display, exchange Why to collect: broaden one‟s general knowledge Reflection: Việc gv hạn chế chủ đề sưu tầm tem không gắn với sống thực người học không tạo hứng thú cho em Sau phút: Một số đôi lên tiến hành hội thoại vừa chuẩn bị xong Các nhóm làm sưu tầm tem: giống với gợi ý giáo viên hội thoại mẫu sách giáo khoa, Task Một nhóm làm sưu tầm mơ hình tơ, cụ thể: Hs 1: What you collect? Hs 2: I collect model cars Hs 1: How you collect them? Hs 2: I exchange them with my friend I buy them at Luong Van Can street Hs 1: How you organize them? Hs 2: I classify them into cars from Japan, from America, from Korea Reflection: Hs thường có xu hướng người hỏi, người trả lời từ đầu đến cuối Như giao tiếp thực Gv nên giúp hs chuyển vai AFTER YOU SPEAK Hs tiếp cận với số từ nhóm từ Màn hình hiển thị bảng sau đây: XVII Ways of agreement I think so Me too Yes, I‟d love to Yes, I‟d be delighted Reflection: Đây từ nhóm từ dùng để giúp cho hội thoại tự nhiên Gv nên cung cấp liệu ngôn ngữ trước phần WHILE YOU SPEAK HOMEWORK Write a paragraph about your hobbies Gv hướng dẫn vài câu Trống hết Lớp trưởng: Stand up Hs: Goodbye teacher Gv: Goodbye XVIII  While Observation Name of observer: Nguyễn Thị Nhung nd Date and time of observation: at 8:45, on 17 April Length of observation: approximately 25ms Teacher: Nguyễn Thị Nhung Students: class 10D1 th Grade level: 10 Aims and objectives of the observation: to maximize students‟ listening and speaking time about the World Cup tournaments Unit 14 (Page 145, the textbook Tieng Anh 10) + After finishing the pre-speaking task with the whole class, teacher (T) introduces task 2, checks students‟ (Ss) pronunciation to make sure that they can pronounce correctly the names of given country + T asks a pair to read aloud the example + T plays roles with a good Student as an example  - “Gap” activity in group work Teacher introduces the task: Now you are going to work in groups of four, ask and answer about blank World Cup tournaments to fill your cards in two different pairs - T makes sure each group contain two similar sets of cards (A group= 1A1B, 1A- 1B or A group= 2A- 2B, 2A- 2B) and each Ss will work with two different parners of the group - Ss should base themselves on the model conversation in the textbook  Ss quickly make groups, get their cards and ask & answer with a partner to fill their cards The students started to ask and answer about the Worldd Cup tournaments No students refused to talk Some students just spoke with reluctance Some spoke smoothly  After about seven minutes, most Ss complete fill in the information of two World Cup tournaments They change their roles actively and continue the task Most Ss completed their cards - Teacher goes round checking and offering help XIX  Sometimes, Ss asked the teacher for the pronunciation of some names of country that they not remember  Some students spoke in Vietnamese, the teacher asked them to speak in English Finally, T calls on some pairs perform in front of the class While Ss speak, T - takes notes of their errors if any and feedbacks after that  The teacher asked for volunteers Most of the students raised their hands with “me, me” The atmosphere of the class is quite exciting  This implies that Ss pracrice quite well and they were totally confident to speak in front of the class All pairs were called performed rather well except some minor mistakes of pronunciation - The task finished after 20 minutes XX  While Observation Name of observer: Nguyễn Thị Nhung nd Date and time of observation: at 7:55, on 14 May Length of observation: approximately 20 ms Teacher: Nguyễn Thị Nhung Students: class 10D1 th Grade level: 10 Aims and objectives: Students can talk about a hostorical place they have been to or know about 2.3.1 Unit 16 (Page170, the textbook Tieng Anh 10) After finishing the pre-speaking task and while-speaking task 2: Contextualizing and Role-play - The teacher sets the context of a radio program: imagine that you are the guest of a radio program “My favorite historical place” and you are asked about your favourite historical place that you have been to or know about by the MC of the show - The teachers asks Ss to work in groups of fou, casts the roles of the interview and lets the students act the show Group roles - Each group acts out the show - One student, who is the MC of the show, is appointed by the teacher as the leader The MC should ask the questions for the fllowing suggestions: XXI where - Teacher lets Ss practice all the questions, calls one student writes the questions on board and asks Ss to take notes carefully all the questions before working in groups - One student is the guest of the show - The others listen, provide help and take notes all the possibilities => The students in each group played their role in the show under the control of the leaders => Many students spoke fluently Some who had difficulty with the vocabulary produced just some individual words Then, they got the help from teacher or other members of the group to complete their answers => Some shy Ss speak more and ask more for help in group work => All students took notes Most did by themselves, some copied out their partners‟ - Making sure all group member change the role, which is followed by the teacher and the leader of the group => All Ss changed their roles actively - T calls some Ss act out the show in front of the class => Four pairs were called to act out the show before class two out of four speak quite naturally without much pause XXII - While Ss speak, T takes notes of their errors if any and feedbacks after that => Ss didn‟t make many errors of pronuciation Errors of some word choice were taken notes Personalizing the reporting - Ss form new groups with the cards from teacher and report about one historical place among those that they have learned from their former group They are advised to use their own words - The teacher gives each group a set of card numbered from to 4, which is then delivered to group members With the teacher‟s instruction, all of the students with cards number move to form a new group of four Ss The same to the other three groups => Ss formed groups quickly Noone refused to talk Sometimes Vietnamese was still found - Ss work in new groups and make the reporting: one student report while others take notes - Some Ss are called to report before class => Two Ss are called Both reported quite fluently except some minor errors of pronunciation - While Ss speak, T takes notes of their errors if any and feedbacks after that XXIII APPENDIX Example for contextualizing - Grade 12 Unit 4: School education system B Speaking Task Work in groups Talk about the similarities and differences between the school system in Vietnam and in England • Context setting: - Our Miss Class has a chance to study abroad in England Her Dad likes the school system in England so much, but her Mum prefers the one in Vietnam - Work in group of Let girls be the mums and boys be the dads, the other group members are daughters - Discuss the similarities and and differences between the school system in Vietnam and in England to come to a decision Example for personalizing - Grade 10 Unit 5: Technology and you B Speaking Task Work in pairs Ask and answer questions about the uses of modern inventions Example: A: Can/Could you tell me what a cell phone is used for? B: Well, it is used to talk to people when you are away from home Radio TV Fax machine Electric cooker warm) Air conditioner XXIV Personalizing: Let‟s imagine that the monitor got lost in the jungle (like Tarzan) in 10 years, then all of a sudden, he appeared in your house, and he didn‟t know how to use the following modern inventions His continual question was: “Could you tell me what a ………used for?” Example for group roles - Grade 12 Unit 11: Books B Speaking Task Work in pairs Ask and answer about the book you are reading or you have read Note down the answers - Adaptation: Work in groups • Group roles: (appointed by the teacher) - One student: asks - One student: answers (the leader) - One student: takes note - One student: reports (the spoke man) Example for role-play: - Grade 10 Unit 2: School talks B Speaking Task Complete the following conversation with suitable words, phrases or sentences in the box and then practice it with a partner What‟s the matter with you Awful/ tired/ sick/ cold A headache/ a cold/ backache/ toothache You should/ You‟d better go home and have a rest A: B: A: B: A: Hello, Hoa You don‟t look very happy …………………………… ? Hi, Nam I feel……………… I‟ve got……………………………… Sorry to hear that …………………………………………………… Yes That‟s a great idea Goodbye, Nam See you later Example for „gap‟ activities XXV - Grade 10 Unit 15: Cities B Speaking Task Work in pairs One reads the information about New York and the other about London Then ask and answer questions about the two cities New York Founded: 1624 Population: million Area: 946 square km National holidays: days Many high buildings One big park People: friendly, open Transport: convenient Example: A: When was New York founded? B: It was founded in 1624 And what about London? A: It was founded in 43 A.D XXVI ... language All of these above have inspired me to conduct the study titled ? ?Adapting speaking tasks in the textbook Tieng Anh 10 to improve the effectiveness of speaking lessons at Thuong Cat High School: ... their opinions about speaking tasks in the textbook and their behaviors while doing speaking tasks Based on the data, together with advantages in methodology, the speaking tasks are adapted and... more adapted activities to teach other speaking lessons basing on the textbook Tieng Anh 10 to the students 2.2.2 The adaptation of speaking tasks in Tieng Anh 10 Based on the findings from the