(Luận văn thạc sĩ) an exploratory study on teaching and learning speaking english at binh gia high school lang son problems and solutions

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* LƢƠNG THỊ HUYỀN AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON TEACHING AND LEARNING SPEAKING ENGLISH AT BINH GIA HIGH SCHOOL - LANG SON: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS Thực trạng dạy học nói Tiếng Anh trƣờng Trung Học Phổ Thơng Bình Gia - Lạng Sơn: Những khó khăn cách giải M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111 Hanoi, 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* LƢƠNG THỊ HUYỀN AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON TEACHING AND LEARNING SPEAKING ENGLISH AT BINH GIA HIGH SCHOOL - LANG SON: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS Thực trạng dạy học nói Tiếng Anh trƣờng Trung Học Phổ Thơng Bình Gia - Lạng Sơn: Những khó khăn cách giải M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111 SUPERVISOR: HOÀNG THỊ XUÂN HOA, Ph.D Hanoi, 2014 i DECLARATION I certify that the thesis entitled “An exploratory study on teaching and learning speaking English at Binh Gia high school - Lang Son : Problems and solutions ” is the result of my own study and the substance of this research has not been submitted for degree to any other university or institution Hanoi, August 2014 Signature Luong Thi Huyen ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, PhD for her precious instructions, helpful suggestions, and especially, invaluable critical feedback and correction during the research I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all of my lecturers at the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University Ha Noi, whose support and considerations have enabled me to pursue the course I also wish to acknowledge the great support and precious help with the data collection and analysis of my colleagues and students at Binh Gia High School Without them, I could not have completed my thesis Last but not least, my heartfelt thanks are due to my beloved family members who are always besides me to support and encourage me to fulfill my study iii ABSTRACT English speaking is an important skill and most used to express opinions, explanations, make arguments in daily life Students need to speak English fluently to get better result in learning English and get a good job in the future This minor thesis aimed at investigating some difficulties that students and teachers at Binh Gia High School have encountered in learning and teaching English speaking skill and suggesting solutions to overcome these difficulties The subjects of the study were 120 students and 12 teachers of English The data of the research was collected from both students‟ and teachers‟ questionnaires, interviews The findings showed that students' difficulties in learning English speaking skill were low level of English proficiency, lack of motivation and using mother tongue problem Teachers' difficulties in teaching English speaking skill were insufficient communicative competence and inappropriate method In addition, other difficulties in learning and teaching English speaking skill of students and teachers were large and multi-level classes, current testing system and lack of class time From these findings, some recommendations were made with the aim to improve the teaching and learning English at Binh Gia High School iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES vii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Aims of the study 3 Method and procedure of the research Scope of the study Organization of the paper PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Speaking skill 1.1.1 Definition of speaking 1.1.2 Characteristics of speaking 1.1.3 The role of speaking in foreign language teaching 1.2 Teaching and learning speaking skill 1.2.1 Teaching speaking skill 1.2.2 Learning speaking skill 1.2.3 Problems in teaching and learning speaking skill 10 1.3.Using CLT in teaching speaking skill 10 1.4 Summary 12 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 13 2.1 The context 13 2.1.1 Overview of the English textbook 13 2.1.2 An overview of Binh Gia High School 13 2.1.3 The students at BGHS 14 2.1.4 The teachers at BGHS 14 v 2.2 Research questions 14 2.3 Participants 15 2.4 Data collection instruments 15 2.4.1 Questionnaire 15 2.4.2 Interview 16 2.5 Data collection procedure 16 2.6 Data analysis 17 2.7 Summary 17 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 18 3.1 Data analysis 18 3.1.1 Results of the survey questionnaires 18 3.2 Findings 30 3.2.1 Difficulties from the students 30 3.2.2 Difficulties from the teachers 31 3.2.3 Problems from other factors 33 PART III: CONCLUSION 35 Conclusions 35 Solutions perceived by teachers and students to overcome teachers‟ and students' difficulties 35 2.1 Teachers‟ solutions 35 2.2 Students' solutions 37 Limitations of the study 39 Recommendations for further study 40 REFERENCES 41 APPENDIX I APPENDIX IV APPENDIX VII APPENDIX X APPENDIX XI APPENDIX XII vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT: Communication Language Teaching BGHS: Bình Gia High School %: Percentage vii LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Charts Chart 1: Teachers‟ and students‟ opinion about the importance of English speaking skill Chart 2: Teachers‟ and students‟ opinion about the importance of English speaking kill in comparison with other skills Chart 3: Teachers‟ and students‟ opinions about students‟ passion of learning English peaking skill Chart 4: Teachers‟ and students‟ judgment about students‟ speaking competence Tables Table 1: Information about students and teachers participating in the survey Table 2: Teachers‟ years of teaching English and students‟ years of learning English Table 3: Students‟ reasons for learning English speaking skill Table 4: jj Teachers‟ difficulties when teaching speaking skill Table 5: Teachers‟ solutions to improve the speaking lessons Table 6: Teachers‟ suggested solutions to improve the speaking lesson Table 7: Students‟ difficulties when learning English speaking skill PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study O‟Malley and Pierce (1996) stated that speaking is an important skill that a learner should acquire It is very important in order to enable students to communicate effectively through oral language because the disability of the students to speak may lead them to be unable to express their ideas even in a simple form of conversation In addition, Burn and Joyce (1997: 54-55) stated that one of the aims of most language programs is to develop spoken language skills and most programs aim to integrate both spoken and written language Learning a language means using it in communication in oral or written form, and being able to express feeling, thoughts, and experiences in various contexts Lade (1964: 51) stated that to know the language is to use it He further stated that students not know a sentence until he can speak it One of the main tasks assigned to foreign language teaching at school is that of training students to be communicatively competent Speaking is "the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts" (Chaney, 1998: 13) In any second language teaching and learning, speaking is always believed to be the most vital skill Learning a target language makes no sense if you cannot communicate in it successfully For many years, teaching speaking has been undervalued and English teachers have continued to teach speaking just as a repetition of drills or memorization of dialogues However, with the rapid progress of globalization, English speaking skill is thought to be the key to one‟s success in his career The goal of teaching speaking should improve students' communicative skills, because, only in that way, students can express themselves and learn how to follow the social and cultural rules appropriate in each communicative circumstance Classroom activities that develop learners‟ ability to express themselves through speech would therefore seem an important component of a language course However, in some places in Vietnam English teaching and learning has been strongly influenced by the traditional methods Teachers as well as students pay much attention to the grammatical items In these classes, teachers mainly focus on explaining the grammatical rules and structures to students who are considered as passive recipients As a result, those students might be structurally competent but communicative incompetent That causes a lot of difficulties in using English in real-life communication 40 your students to overcome their fears about speaking English? Don't worry if you are not completely fluent The more you practice, the more you will improve your own oral skills as well as help your students improve theirs Limitations of the study Although the study has certain strengths, due to the researcher's limited ability, it is obvious that the study has got a number of drawbacks Firstly, the number of students involved in the survey is still limited, so the findings may to some extent, not be generalized to all students Secondly, the produces of data collection and data analysis have been carried out on a scientific and suitable research methodology Therefore, the conclusions and ideas in the study are all guaranteed in term of science Thirdly, the study was carried out on a various theoretical background presented in part two chapter one "Literature review" The techniques in the research are selected from different reliable but limited sources In spite of the unavoidable limitation, the researcher believes that this study will be beneficial to the teaching of speaking skill to students at BGHS and this may lead to students‟ speaking Recommendations for further study This study has only focused on the teaching of English speaking skill to students of grade 10 at BGHS The study has only mentioned a very small part of the issues related to the teaching and learning of speaking skills There are some suggestions for further researches: A research on techniques and activities for students which help them to improve their speaking skill A study on the ways of introducing students to current ways of learning speaking skill 41 REFERENCES Baker, J., & Westrup, H (2003), Essential speaking skills London: Continuum Brown, G and Yule, G (1983) Teaching the spoken Language Cambridge University Press Brown, H.D (1994), Teaching by principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents Burns, A & Joyce, H (1997) Focus on Speaking Sydney: National Center for English Language Teaching and References Brown, H D (2002), Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (3rd Edition) Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press Brumfit, C (1984) Communicative Methodology in Language Teaching – The role of fluency and accuracy Cambridge University Press Byrne, D (1976) Teach Oral English London: Longman Bui, H (2004) Situation of learning English at HUS Improving English Teaching, Hanoi: Vietnam National University Bygate, M (1987) Speaking Oxford: Oxford University Press 10 Bygate, M (1991) Speaking Oxford: Oxford University Press 11 Nunan, D (1991) Language Teaching Methodology: A Textbook for Teachers New York: Prentice Hall Regents 12.Canale, M and Swain M (1980) Approaches to communicative Competence Singapore: RELC 13 Burkart, G.S (1998), “Spoken Language: What it is and how to teach it” Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1998 Retrieved from http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/speaking/spindex.htm 14 Das, B K (1985) Communicative Language Teaching SEAMEO Regional Language Centre 15 Seliger, H.W., & Shohamy, E (1995) Second Language Research Methods (3rd) Oxford: OUP 16 Doff, A (1988) Teaching: A training course for Teachers Cambridge University Press 17 Bygate, M (1987), Speaking Oxford: Oxford University Press 42 18 Littlewood, W (1981) Communicative Language Teaching Cambridge University Press 19 Rivers (1981) Teaching Foreign Language Skills Second Edition Chicago: University of Chicago Press 20 Pattison, P (1987) Developing Communicative skills Cambridge University Press 21 Burns, A., & Joyce, H (1997), Focus on Speaking Sydney: NCELTR 22 Kennedy, C and Kennedy, J (1996) Teacher attitudes and change implementation system, 24(3) Elsevier Science Ltd 23 Richards, J.C (1983) Communicative Needs in Foreign Language Learning ELT Journal V37 1983 24 Brown, G and Yule, G (1983) Teaching the spoken language Cambridge University Press 25 Chaudron, C (1988), Second Language Classrooms: Research on Teaching and Learning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 26 Nunan, D (1991), Language Teaching Methodology: a textbook for Teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Pr I APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (English version) This questionnaire is conducted with a view to finding out difficulties from teachers and students when teaching and learning English speaking skill at Binh Gia High School Your assistance in completing the following items is highly appreciated, and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data In completing these following questions, please choose the answer by circling the letter next to your choice, or ranking items in order, or expressing your ideas in the provided space Thank you very much in advance! How long have you been learning English? A Less than year B 1-3 years C More than 3-7 years D more than years How is English speaking important to you? A Very essential B Essential C Not very essential D Not essential at all In comparison with other skills (listening, reading and writing), speaking is … A More important than other skills B As important as other skills C Less important than other skills How much you like learning speaking skill? A Very much D Not really B Quite much C Normal E Not at all What you think about your speaking skill? A Very good D Bad B Quite good E Quite bad C Good F Very bad What is your purpose of learning English speaking skills? A I learn English to pass examinations B Because English is an international language C I learn English to communicate with foreigners D I like English II E It was a compulsory subject F Others (please specify) ………… Below is a list of statements about difficulties when learning English speaking skill To what extent you agree or disagree with each statement Please put a tick (√ ) in the appropriate space provided Strongly agree (SA) – Agree (A) – No idea (NI) – Disagree (D) – Strongly disagree (SD) Statements SA A NI D SD (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) A I don‟t have enough vocabulary and grammar to express my ideas B I‟m very nervous and afraid of losing my face in front of my peers and my teacher C My teacher does not usually give clear instructions D My teachers‟ ways of conveying knowledge are boring and uncreative E My partners are not willing to speak English F I have no chance to use English outside class G Teaching and learning facilities such as projector, video, TV and Internet are not used very often H The class time for English speaking is limited I The topics for speaking in the textbook are not interesting J The topics in the textbook are difficult K Others To improve my English speaking skill, I had to A Practice speaking English at home B Take part in extra courses to improve grammar and vocabulary C Take part in extra English activities III D Read English books, magazines Listen to English songs E Participate in English speaking clubs In your opinion, what should your teacher to motivate you to learn speaking English? A Teachers should be more encouraging, helpful and enthusiastic B Teachers should test speaking skill more often C Teacher should give appropriate feedback D Teachers should make the speaking lessons more interesting E Students should work harder to improve their grammar and vocabulary F Teacher should create a co-operative and non-threatening classroom environment G The school should improve learning conditions H Teacher should make use of teaching facilities I Others Thank you very much! IV APPENDIX PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA CHO HỌC SINH (Vietnamese version) Bảng câu hỏi thực nhằm tìm hiểu khó khăn giáo viên học sinh dạy học kỹ nói tiếng Anh trường Trung Học Phổ Thơng Bình Gia Những ý kiến em quan trọng nghiên cứu Các liệu điều tra phục vụ cho việc nghiên cứu, khơng mục đích khác Để hoàn thành câu hỏi sau, em khoanh tròn chữ cái, xếp ý theo thứ tự viết câu trả lời em vào khoảng trống cho sẵn Xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác em! Em học tiếng Anh đƣợc năm rồi? A Chưa đến năm B Từ đến năm C Từ đến năm D Hơn năm Em nghĩ nhƣ tầm quan trọng việc học nói tiếng Anh? A Rất quan trọng B Quan trọng C Bình thường D Khơng quan trọng So sánh với kĩ khác ( nghe, đọc viết), nói A Quan trọng kĩ khác B Quan trọng kĩ khác C Không quan trọng kĩ khác Mức độ thích học nói tiếng Anh em nhƣ nào? A Rất thích B Thích D Khơng thích E Khơng thích tý C Bình thường Em nghĩ kĩ nói tiếng Anh nhƣ nào? A Rất tốt B.Khá tốt C Tốt D Tồi E Khá tồi F Rất tồi Mục đích học nói tiếng Anh em gì? A Để vượt qua kì thi B Bởi tiếng Anh ngôn ngữ quốc tế C Để giao tiếp với người nước ngồi D Em thích Tiếng Anh V E Bắt buộc phải học F Những lý khác Em cho biết quan điểm em nhận định sau khó khăn học nói tiếng Anh (Đánh dấu (√) vào tƣơng ứng với câu trả lời em) - Hoàn tồn đồng ý (1) – Đồng ý (2) – Khơng có ý kiến (3) – Khơng đồng ý (4) – Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý (5) Nhận định A Em khơng có đủ từ vựng cấu trúc ngữ pháp để diễn đạt ý kiến B Em thường căng thẳng sợ xấu hổ nói tiếng Anh trước mặt cô giáo bạn C Giáo viên thường không dẫn rõ ràng D Phương pháp dạy học giáo viên buồn tẻ, không sáng tạo E Các bạn bên cạnh em khơng thích nói tiếng Anh F Em khơng có hội thực hành nói tiếng Anh bên ngồi lớp học G Nhà trường thiếu trang thiết bị phục vụ dạy học (máy chiếu, băng video, tivi, internet) H Thời lượng cho việc học nói tiếng Anh cịn I Chủ đề nói sách giáo khoa không thú vị J Chủ đề nói sách giáo khoa khó K Những khó khăn khác Để phát triển kĩ nói tiếng Anh em phải A Luyện tập nói tiếng Anh nhà B Tham gia khóa học thêm để nâng cao ngữ pháp từ vựng C Tham gia hoạt động Tiếng Anh D Đọc sách, tạp chí tiếng Anh Nghe hát Tiếng Anh E Tham gia câu lạc nói tiếng Anh F Những giải pháp khác VI Theo em, giáo viên nên làm để gây hứng thú cho em việc học nói tiếng Anh? A Khuyến khích, giúp đỡ nhiệt tình với em học B Giáo viên nên kiểm tra kĩ nói tiếng Anh thường xuyên C Giáo viên nên đưa nhận xét phù hợp D Giáo viên nên thiết kế học nói thú vị E Học sinh nên học tập chăm để nâng cao khả ngữ pháp từ vựng F Tạo môi trường học thân thiện, hỗ trợ lẫn G Nhà trường nên đầu tư trang thiết bị dạy học H Sử dụng phương tiện dạy học cách phù hợp I Những giải pháp khác Cảm ơn nhiều hợp tác em! VII APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS This questionnaire is conducted with a view to finding out difficulties from teachers and students when teaching and learning English speaking skill at Binh Gia High School Your assistance in completing the following items is highly appreciated, and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data In completing these following questions, please choose the answer by circling the letter next to your choice, or ranking items in order, or expressing your ideas in the provided space Thank you very much in advance! How long have you been teaching English ? A Less than years B 3-6 years C More than 6-9 years D More than years What is your idea about teaching and learning English speaking to the students at BGHS ? A Very essential B Essential C Not very essential D Not essential at all In comparison with other skills (listening, reading and writing), speaking is … A More important than other skills B As important as other skills C Less important than other skills How much you like teaching speaking skill? A Very much D Not really B Quite much C Normal E Not at all What you think about your students’ speaking skill? A Very good D Bad B Quite good E Quite bad C Good F Very bad VIII Below is a list of statements about difficulties when teaching English speaking skill To what extent you agree or disagree with each statement Please put a tick (√ ) in the appropriate space provided Strongly agree (SA) – Agree (A) – No idea (NI) – Disagree (D) – Strongly disagree (SD) Statements SA A NI D SD (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) A Students‟ low motivation B Students' low linguistic competence C Lack of time D large and multi-level class E Students' lack of background knowledge F Students‟ preference of speaking Vietnamese in class G Difficult speaking tasks H Difficult and unfamiliar speaking topics I No tests on speaking skill J Others To improve the speaking lessons, I had to A Suggest interesting topics B Encourage them to speak by asking easier questions C Prepare the speaking section more carefully ( use visal aids, change the tasks appropriately D Spend more time testing students' speaking competence E Organize English speaking clubs F Others To overcome the difficulties, the teachers should A Give students clear instruction for each task B Divide the class into small groups C Point out the monitor to help us control the groups D Keep students speaking the target language throughout IX F Use more authentic material G Adapt the speaking tasks to suit the students H Facilitate necessary equipment I Others Thank you very much! X APPENDIX QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEWS (For students) Questions for students How long have you been learning English and how you feel about your learning English? What is your goal of learning English? Why you think speaking skill is very important? In your opinion, is speaking skill easy or difficult? If difficult, why? If easy, why? What you think about speaking activities used by your teacher? What you think about the importance of teacher‟s praise and encouragement to your speaking? What you think of your teacher‟s competence and teaching method? Which kinds of teaching and learning facilities are used in speaking classes? Do you often complete your speaking tasks in the class? Why/ Why not? 10 Can you make some suggestions about how to motivate your learning in speaking skill? XI APPENDIX QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEWS (For teachers) Questions for teachers How often you speak English in your speaking lesson? What are the reasons for these? In your opinion, what are the factors for the difficulties your students face in speaking activities? What you usually with the long speaking sections of the new textbook? How you test your students‟ speaking skill in class? What should you to increase students‟ participation in speaking activities? XII APPENDIX The specific description of the speaking sections in the English 10 textbook Lesson Title/ Topic Speaking A day in the life of Talking about daily activities School talks Making questions and answers in small conversations People’s background Talking about people‟s background Special Education Interviewing and reporting interview results Technology and you Talking about the uses of modern technology An excursion Giving opinions The mass media Talking about types of the mass media The story of my village Talking about plans and their possible results Undersea World Talk about causes, consequences and offer solutions 10 Conservation Talking about the new kind of zoos 11 National parks Expressing agreement and disagreement 12 Music Talking about favorite kinds of music 13 Films and cinema Talking about films 14 The World cup Talking about the world cup winners 15 Cities Comparing two cities 16 Historical Places Talking about historical places from given information ... mentioned reasons have inspired the writer to conduct a research titled ? ?An exploratory study on teaching and learning speaking English at Binh Gia High School - Lang Son : Problems and solutions. .. conversation in the language For the reasons mentioned above, it is really vital that language teachers should pay great attention to the teaching of speaking skill 1.2 Teaching and learning speaking. .. questionnaires and interviews The scheme and coding table in this research emerged from an examination of the data rather than being determined beforehand and imposed on the data and information