Using the case study activity to encourage the second year students of business administration at hai phong university to speak english

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LAGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ MẾN USING THE “CASE-STUDY” ACTIVITY TO ND ENCOURAGE YEAR STUDENTS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AT HAI PHONG UNIVERSITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH SỬ DỤNG HOẠT ĐỘNG“CASE-STUDY” ĐỂ KHUYẾN KHÍCH SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI NGÀNH QUẢN TRỊ KINH DOANH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC HẢI PHÒNG NÓI TIẾNG ANH M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Ha Noi - 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LAGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ MẾN USING THE “CASE-STUDY” ACTIVITY TO ND ENCOURAGE YEAR STUDENTS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AT HAI PHONG UNIVERSITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH SỬ DỤNG HOẠT ĐỘNG “CASE-STUDY” ĐỂ KHUYẾN KHÍCH SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI NGÀNH QUẢN TRỊ KINH DOANH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC HẢI PHỊNG NĨI TIẾNG ANH M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor: NGUYỄN VIỆT HÙNG, MA Ha Noi – 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I: INTRODUCTION Background of the study Aims of the study and research questions The scope of the study Significance of the study The methods of the study Organization of the thesis PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Speaking skill 1.1.1 Definition of speaking 1.1.2 Teaching speaking according to communicative appro 1.1.3 Principles of teaching speaking 1.1.4 Speaking difficulties of language learners 1.2 Students‟ oral participation 1.2.1 Definition of students‟ participation 1.2.2 Factors affecting students‟ participation in oral activi 1.3 Characteristics of a successful oral activity CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.1 The setting of the study 2.2 Participants 2.3 The instruments 2.3 1Questionnaires iv 2.3.2 Classroom observation 2.4 Data collection procedure 2.5 Data analysis procedure CHAPTER 3: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA 3.1 3.1.1 Students' degree of participation in the "case-study" activities Students‟ speaking time per task 3.2 Factors encouraging students to speak in the "case-study" activity 3.3 Factors inhibiting students to speak in the case - study activity 3.4 Students‟ desires CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS 4.1 Findings 4.1.1 The positive impact of the case-study on the students 4.1.2 Factors affecting student's participation in the "case- 4.2 Pedagogical implications 4.2.1 Clear instructions 4.2.2 Developing learner autonomy in vocabulary learnin 4.2.3 Oral correction technique 4.2.4 The emphasis on the case-study background and cult 4.2.6 Building a supportive learning environment PART III: CONCLUSION Conclusion Limitations and suggestions of the study REFERENCES APPENDIX I: OBSERVATION SHEET APPENDIX II: QUESTIONNAIRES v PART I: INTRODUCTION This initial part states the background of the study, together with the aims, scope and the methods of the whole paper Above all, it is in this chapter that the research questions are identified to work as clear guidelines for the whole research Background of the study Since the spread of English to almost aspects of the world, people are getting more and more aware of the importance of the language In Vietnam, English has been seen as a necessary device to closer to a dreaming job, especially a job in a foreign company Therefore, there is an increasing demand for learning the language for communication In that context, the new framework of learner-center approach and the advent of communicative language teaching in the realm of teaching English as a foreign language have exerted the great impact on the teaching and learning English, in which students‟ oral skills and their active participation in class activities have come to take on added importance Following the communicative approach, teachers make great effort to get their students to talk as much as possible in their classes According to the studies on what constitutes a “good language learner”, in the oral activities, student who raised their hands more often responded to teacher elicitation did better on test than other students (Naiman et al 1978, cited in Breen 2001) However, in Hai Phong University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, where students need the ability to express themselves in English as a powerful device for their future career, especially in modern society where working with foreigners often occurs After years of applying the communicative language teaching into practice, it has been noticed that student‟s active participation, particularly in observable speaking classes are not prominent Hence, the author takes the focus on the “case-study” activity, an activity in the text book “Market Leader”, the official ESP syllabus of Economics and Business Administration Faculty at Hai Phong University to carry out the research on “Using the case-study activity to encourage nd year students of Business Administration to speak English” Aims of the study and research questions “Case-study” is an activity in the text book “Market Leader” This activity provides students with writing skills, speaking skills and problem solving skills Therefore, this research aims at analyzing the ability of “case-study” activity applying in real learning situation to encourage students to speak English In order to achieve the purpose stated above, the study revolves around the following questions: To what extent students participate actively in the “case-study” activity from the perspectives of 2nd year students of Business Administration at Hai Phong University? What are factors encouraging or inhibiting students to take part in the case- study activity? What are the implications to enhance students‟ active participation in speaking lesson? The scope of the study In the text book Market Leader, the official syllabus of nd year students of Business Administration at Hai Phong University, the case studies are linked to the business topics of each unit They give students opportunities to practice speaking skills in realistic business situations Each case study ends with a writing task The research only focuses on the oral tasks of the case-study activity It seeks to find out the Students‟ degree of participation in the case-study activity, factors encouraging as well as inhibiting them in those tasks and their desires, the expectant activities from the teacher to enhance their active participation in the speaking period It should also be noted that within the scope of a graduation paper, the sample of the research is limited to 40 second year students of K11A class of Business Administration at Hai Phong University so that the researcher can get the specific and accurate information and data from each student grasping the comprehensive learning situation to find out feasible solutions encouraging students to speak English Significance of the study The finding of this study can draw learners‟ attention on their attitudes towards classroom participation, thus making them aware of factors that motivate as well as demotivate their participation in the case-study activity As a result, researcher can identify the roots of student‟s obstacles as well as motivations, has a closer look at students‟ psychological features and their own needs In addition, student‟s desires, what they expect the teacher can change in the case-study activity will also made known to teachers, who hopefully will initiate possible adjustment in using case-study activity to encourage students to speak English Finally, future researchers who share the same interest may find helpful information from this research to conduct further studies into this area The methods of the study The method of this study is survey study because it was conducted by using questionnaires and teacher‟s self-observation to collect data It was a qualitative and quantitative study Employing both approaches, it is hoped to achieve the reliable results for the study Organization of the thesis The thesis consists of main parts Part 1: Introduction deals with the background, the aims and the research questions, the scope, the significance, the methods of the study, and the organization of the thesis Part 2: Development This part includes chapters: Chapter 1: Literature Review lays the theoretical foundation for the study by discussing Definition of Key terms and Framework Chapter 2: Research Methodology details the methods which have been adopted and the procedures which have been followed when researchers conducted the study Chapter 3: Presentation and analysis of data presents and discusses the degree of students‟ participation in the case-study activity and some demotivative factors affected their performance Chapter 4: Findings and pedagogical implications presents the findings with comment and suggests what teachers should to enlarge the students‟ participation in speaking activities Part 3: Conclusion ends the study by summarizing the main points, revealing the limitations and suggesting further studies PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter aims to shed light on the literature of the study, specifically, the theoretical background and the theoretical framework will be reviewed To begin with, an overview of the theoretical background will be presented from definition of speaking, approach and principles of teaching speaking, definition of students‟ participation Subsequently, factors affecting students‟participation and characteristics of a successful oral activity will also be discussed, which is to form a theoretical framework for the study 1.1 Speaking skill 1.1.1 Definition of speaking There is a long history of the study of the speaking skill in language learning Many variants of speaking definition were provided by different linguistics First of all, it is worthy to consider the Byrne‟s view He suggested that “oral communication is a two-way process between speakers and listeners, involving the productive skills of speaking and receptive skills of understanding” (p 19) in which the speaker functions as the person encoding the massage and the listener functions as the one decoding the massage Moreover, a clear distinction between written and spoken language was made: “…in contrast to the written language, where sentences are carefully structured and linked together, speech is characterized by incomplete and sometimes ungrammatical utterances and by frequent false and repetitions” (p 24) Bygates (1987) held the similar idea that “speech is not writingspeaking like a book is, in two words, disagreeable and difficult.” (p 102) According to the author, conditions and the reciprocity are the two primary differences between speech and writing In speech, the former includes time factor and other associated problems like planning, memory and production under pressure affect the form of spoken language Besides, the later indicates that listeners can generally show their agreement or disagreement with speakers; thus, speakers can pay attention to listeners and adapt their message according to their reaction Meanwhile, in writing, readers‟ understanding and potential problems such as what readers want to read are factors that the writers have to anticipate or predict in each of their works From these two first points of view, it is clearly seen that the researchers have defined speaking basing on the emphasis on the differences between spoken and written language Besides, Brown and Yule (1983) suggested that spoken language consists of short, fragmentary utterances in a range of pronunciation Therefore, speaking is “an inter-active process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and process information (Florez, 1999 as cited in Bailey, Kathleen, 2005) The author also described it as a process which is spontaneous, open-ended, and evolving but it is not completely unpredictable In a nutshell, speaking is basically defined as a productive, oral skill which is spontaneous and comprehensible Within the framework of this study, the well-rounded definition of Byrne has been adopted as the core foundation for the development of the research 1.1.2 Teaching speaking according to communicative approach The focus on communicative proficiency rather than the mastery is the most striking feature provided in the theory of Communicative Language However, she also suggested that the particular choice of student grouping, whether by interest, ability, random choice or student choice depends on what the teacher‟s desired outcome is for the group Therefore the teacher should think through the grouping choice carefully when doing the lesson plans and group students in a way that will most efficiently complement the teacher‟s teaching style and desired learning outcome 4.2.6 Building a supportive learning environment Obviously, once students feel a sense of support from their teacher and peers, it is likely that they will be more willing to speak in the target language In her study, Hue (2010) proposed powerful techniques that teachers can use to create supportive atmosphere for students Encourage peer support in the classroom First of all, teacher should encourage the peer support in class In her study, Hue cited the Tsui (1996)‟s theory as the foundation for the initiative technique that “allowing students to check their answers with their peers before offering them to the whole class also encourages students to speak up.” Similarly, they can be allowed to have a discussion with their peers before talking to the whole class so that they will feel more confident in speaking English Tolerate L1 use when appropriate In the second place, the teacher should be tolerant when students use the L1 in necessary situations Hue proposed that at a low English communicative level, students are not able to convey their every thought Therefore, teachers should be tolerant of some L1 use She also based on the Nation (1997)‟s theory that using L1 can help learning in many cases The teachers‟ attitude to L1 use should be positive so that students are not humiliated when they use L1 to assist L2 development When L1 use is not necessary, the teachers should 42 tactically lead students back to using English, e.g by commenting or asking a question in English instead of showing strong objections Make the classroom environment a non-threatening place Moreover, making the classroom environment a non-threatening place is an effective technique that is worthy to consider According to Hue (2010) the classroom should be an environment where students are not scared of making communicative mistakes and being ambiguous in communicating Situations that make students anxious such as correcting mistakes on the spot, calling on students at random (Young, 1991), calling on students without allowing them to prepare for the answers, and calling on a student simply because he/she is quiet or not concentrating should be avoided Otherwise, what the teacher gets from students is usually not desired language use but threatened faces and this will have negative effects on the students‟ feelings and attitudes afterwards Introduce opportunities for students to speak English outside the class Finally, opportunities such as English clubs inside and outside the school should be introduced to students Hue suggested that the benefits of and tactics for participation should be clearly explained to them Classroom activities can also be linked to these club activities For example, students can be asked in the class to report on their participation in the clubs or they can share their experience with their classmates More opportunities for speaking English outside the class can also be created For instance, students can be put into groups to some projects and if possible, their group work should be recorded They may also be asked to carry out and record interviews with foreigners who are visiting or living around When asked about their desire in the case-study activity, 90% hope that their teacher should create opportunities for students to contact to foreigners 43 in and outside the class Furthermore, creating opportunities to exchange ideas and experiences in English to real successful businesspeople is another desire accounting for 70% of the sample So that the teacher sometimes should invite some foreign friends or native teachers teaching in some English centers inside the city to take part in the speaking lesson Moreover, it is highly recommended that the teacher should hold the conference with the participation of some businesspeople It is not too difficult to carry out this job because the teacher can invite the former students of the Economics and Business Administration Faculty who now have become mature entrepreneurs to join the conference with present students In the conference, in English, they can share their plans, goals, and priorities and discuss challenges and barriers They also teach, encourage, inspire, and motivate They also instruct and teach the future fellow leaders - their next generation, in any position of responsibility, to likewise In short, the solutions are ranked from the most specific, day-to-day basis to the most long-term one Although short-term and long-term measures should be taken in parallel, it is believed that short-term solutions should receive priority to be completed first This will create more opportunities for the long-term ones to be successful 44 PART III: CONCLUSION Conclusion The study was carried out with an aim to use the case study to encourage 2nd year students of Business Administration to speak English The findings show that a considerable number of students willing to speak English in class; however, there is still a wide range of students unwilling to take part in the oral activities The longer the silence takes over the class, the more the teachers try to find out the ways to stimulate students This actually makes the researcher carry out this study Major findings At the first place, the findings of this study suggests that the “case-study”an activity in the text book Market Leader has a beneficial influence on the students The first distinctive evidence comes from the students‟ speaking time in the case-study activity with a gradual increase of students‟ speaking time per task through lessons Moreover, the high level of students‟ participation, their active and enthusiastic attitude in oral activities have shown the high motivation and demonstrated the positive effect of the casestudy on students Secondly, the statistical results have stated the major factors that encourage or inhibit students in the case-study activity Practicing with realistic business problems and situations is the principle factor with the highest proportion with 90% of the total Various and interesting topics and competitive atmosphere come next with 80% and 60% respectively In addition, the technique in which tasks are mixed with games, role plays is another important element motivating students in the case-study activity 45 Whilst, students cited that difficult textbook instruction, large vocabulary, poor pronunciation and lack of confidence are fundamental reasons inhibiting them to speak English Moreover, some other factors like difficulties in using power point, other students talk too much, lack of time for preparing or too fast speaking speed of the teachers also contribute to the low level of student's participation Furthermore, the research has found out students‟ needs and desires, what they want their teacher to change for a better adaption in the speaking lessons First and foremost, most students hope their teachers give them the feedback regularly by using techniques like praises or grades It is obvious that students desire to live in a more active learning environment They expect to have opportunities to communicate to native speakers, or chance to experience and study with bright example of businesspeople, team-working with competitive atmosphere and different friends at different levels for various tasks In addition, learners want practicing with more suitable activities in which, tasks are mixed with games, role-plays, songs, film, etc and in those activities the teacher will give clearer instructions to help them easily follow all these tasks All those factors highly and deeply motivate them in the case-study activities Implications Based on those findings, the research gives a wide range of suggestions for the teachers to better adapt the case-study activity in speaking lessons Firstly, due to the difficult text book instruction, teachers should make those clearer and easier for students to understand and follow Developing learner autonomy in vocabulary learning is a very useful one for the students to overcome difficulties of large vocabulary and poor pronunciation It is highly recommended that the teacher should bear in mind principles of error correction to choose the most suitable ways to correct students so that they 46 will find motivated when being corrected Moreover, it is so important for the teacher to have the emphasis on the case-study background and cultural features hidden inside the language By opening a new cultural horizon, teachers can attract students to the lesson with a deeper understanding of each topic as well as the relationship between language and culture Subsequently, teachers should provide learners with variety of group work activities Teachers can group students by interest, ability, random student grouping or by student choice Last but not least, it is the teacher, who can build a supportive learning environment by encouraging peer support in the classroom, tolerating L1 use when appropriate, making the classroom environment a non-threatening place and introducing opportunities for students to speak English outside the class Limitations and suggestions of the study Although the researcher has made effort toward carrying out this study such as the triangulation of data collection methods, namely observation, survey questionnaires for learners, due to the limitation of time, lack of resources and the researcher‟s ability, shortcomings are unavoidable First of all, the research has been carried out in a very small scope The number of students involved in the survey is still limited, so to some extends, the findings may not be generalized to all students of Business Administration Department Moreover, the researcher only used survey questionnaires and classroom observation as the main instruments for data collection In order to make the obtained results more reliable, different instruments for data collection should be applied Therefore, to carry out better and more efficient study with large scope, surely the researcher in the coming time with her further research should 47 invite more learners at other levels and more teachers to participate in the studies 48 REFERENCES Allwright, R (1984) The Importance of Interaction in Classroom language Learning Applied Liguistics, (2), 156 - 157 Breen, M P (2001) Overt Participation and Convert Acquisition in the Language Classroom In M.P Burns, A & Joyce, H (1997) Focus on Speaking Sydney: National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research Bygates, M.L (1957) Speaking Oxfford University Press Byrne, D (1980) Teaching Oral English Longman Group Ltd, London Suhor, C & Thais, C (Eds) (1984) Speaking and Writing Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English Doff, A (1995) Teaching English: A Training Course for Teachers Teachers’ Handbook Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Dornyei, Z (2001) Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom Cambrige: Cambrige University Press Dornyei, Z (2007) Research Methods in Applied Linguistics Oxford University Press Green, D (2008) Class Participation in Teacher Training Colleges: What is it and What Factors Influence it? ELTED Vol 11 Hinkle, E., 1999 Culture in Second Language Teaching London:CUP Hue, N M (2010) Encouraging Reluctant ESL/ EFL Learners to Speak in the Classroom The TESL Journal, Vol XVI, No3 Retrieved March, 2010 from iteslj Org/ techniques/ Hue-Reluctant Speakers.html 49 Jenifer, W (2004) Classroom Organization Retrieved September 13rd, 2008 from www.suite101.org.cn/a68563 Jim, S (2005) Learning Teaching Macmilan Press Luu, T.T & Nguyen, T K N., 2010 Theorical on Oral Interactions in EFL Classroom Studies in Literature and Language, 1, (4) M Bailey, K (2005) Practical English Language Teaching: Speaking Newyork Nation, P (1997) L1 and L2 Use in the Classroom: a Systematic Approach TESL Reporter, 30(2) 19-27 Nunan, D (2003) Practical English Language Teaching Newyork: MC Graw-Hill Richards, J C & Rodgers, T S (1986) Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Ur, P (1996) A Course in Language & Teaching: Practice and Theory Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Trang, T T T (2007) Demotivation: Understanding Resistance to English Language Learning-The case-study of Vietnamese students The Journal of Asia Vol 4, No 1, pp.79 -105 Tsui, A (1996) Reticence and Anxiety in Second Language Learning Cambridge: Cambridge University press Young, D.J (1991) Creating a Low-Anxiety Classroom Environment: What does Language Anxiety Research Suggest? The Modern Language Journal, 75(iv), 426-439 50 APPENDIX I: OBSERVATION SHEET Students will work in groups of five, there are 10 minutes for each task Therefore, each student has at least minutes to speak Order Name Ngô Quang Thường Nguyễn Viết Tiến Mai Quang Toàn Vũ Đức Trình Phạm Minh Tuấn Phạm Ngọc Tuấn Nguyễn Văn Sáng Đoàn Thị Hiền Bùi Yến Chi 10 Trần Thị Thu Hương 11 Bùi Thị Trang 12 Đỗ Thị Hồng Vân 13 Phạm Anh Tuấn 14 Nguyễn Minh Phượng 15 Vũ Thị Tú Quyên 16 Phạm Văn Trường 17 Hoàng Mạnh Thắng 18 Đinh Văn Thông I 19 Nguyễn Văn Thuyên 20 Nguyễn Hữu Hậu 21 Nguyễn Anh Tuấn 22 Nguyễn Đức Tâm 23 Đỗ Quang Tiến 24 Vũ Thị Lan Anh 25 Vũ Thị Dung 26 Trương Thị Đông 27 Vũ Thị Hảo 28 Nguyễn Quốc Huy 29 Lê Thị Hương 30 Đỗ Thị Thuỳ Linh 31 Bùi Thị Bích Phương 32 Nguyễn Thị Thanh Thanh 33 Đỗ Minh Vương 34 Nguyễn Thị Thanh Huyền 35 Nguyễn Thị Hoài Thu 36 Phạm Thị Chọn 37 Phạm Ngọc Chung 38 Nguyễn Thành Dương 39 Đoàn Ngọc Dưỡng 40 Nguyễn Thành Đạt II APPENDIX II: QUESTIONNAIRES Dear my fellow students, my name is Pham Thi Men, from EK19 class Currently, I am conducting my graduation paper on “Using the case-study activity to encourage 2nd year students of Business Administration at Hai Phong University to speak English” Your assistance in responding to the following questions is highly appreciated The content of your answer in this questionnaire are absolutely confidential and information identifying the respondents will not be disclosed under any circumstance Thank you very much for your kind cooperation I STUDENTS’ DEGREE OF PARTICIPATION IN THE CASE-STUDY ACTIVITY Question How you access your degree of participation in the case-study activity? (Please tick cross (x) before the answer which is the most suitable for you) A I'm willing to speak English in any "case - study" activities B I like speaking English when appointed by the teacher C I only like to speak English with friend at the same table D I like to speak English when I have already prepared the speaking content at home E I'm shy when participating in the "case - study" activities Your detailed answers for the following questions would be of great help for me to have closer look on your difficulties, your interests as well as your desires for the adjustment and improvement in our learning and teaching process II Factors encouraging students to speak in the "case - study" activity Question What factors that encourage you to participate in the case-study activities? III … III Factor inhibiting students to speak in the case - study activity Question What factors that inhibit (discourage) you in the case-study activities? IV Students’ desires Question 4: What activities you expect from the teacher to encourage you speak more in the case-study activities? IV ... Leader”, the official ESP syllabus of Economics and Business Administration Faculty at Hai Phong University to carry out the research on ? ?Using the case- study activity to encourage nd year students of. .. 2nd year students of Business Administration at Hai Phong University? What are factors encouraging or inhibiting students to take part in the case- study activity? What are the implications to. .. enhance students? ?? active participation in speaking lesson? The scope of the study In the text book Market Leader, the official syllabus of nd year students of Business Administration at Hai Phong University,