Using simulations to improve english speaking skills for second year students majoring in hotel management at a college in hanoi

Speaking English fluently is one of the most difficult and challenging skills for most of students. The majority of students have difficulties in communicating because of a lack of practice environment, lack of vocabulary, structures and practical knowledge. Therefore, in order to improve speaking skills for students, it is a duty to increase real life practice situations so that students have more chances to practice. One of the methods used to increase speaking skills during speaking lessons is through using simulation situations. By using simulations, students’ language skills will be associated with future career situations. This study aims to understand the effectiveness of applying simulation situations in teaching speaking skills to ESP students. The study also explores the difficulties facing students when participating in simulations. Based on the students opinions as well as the results of the tests, the author gives some suggestions on how to apply appropriate simulated situations in teaching English speaking skills. The research results indicated that the application of simulation skills created many positive aspects in developing speaking skills for students: students had improvement in pronunciation, vocabulary, and positive attitude towards learning speaking skills as well as knowledge about the future career. Besides, the research also showed some difficulties that students encountered in applying simulations. In

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ THU USING SIMULATIONS TO IMPROVE ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS FOR SECOND YEAR STUDENTS MAJORING IN HOTEL MANAGEMENT AT A COLLEGE IN HANOI (Sử dụng tình mơ để nâng cao kỹ nói tiếng Anh cho sinh viên năm thứ hai chuyên ngành Quản trị Khách sạn trường Cao đẳng Hà Nội) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi, 2020 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ THU USING SIMULATIONS TO IMPROVE ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS FOR SECOND YEAR STUDENTS MAJORING IN HOTEL MANAGEMENT AT A COLLEGE IN HANOI (Sử dụng tình mơ để nâng cao kỹ nói tiếng Anh cho sinh viên năm thứ hai chuyên ngành Quản trị Khách sạn trường Cao đẳng Hà Nội) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Dr Trần Thị Thu Hiền Hanoi, 2020 DECLARATION The work provided in this thesis, unless otherwise referenced, is the researcher‟s own work, and has not been submitted elsewhere for any other degree or qualification Hanoi, 2020 Signature Pham Thi Thu Approved by SUPERVISOR Date: 18th Sept 2020 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to a number of people who have given me significant help, encouragement, and support in the completion of my thesis In the first place, I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Tran Thi Thu Hien for her valuable time, patience, guidance, advice, correction, and encouragement throughout the stages of the thesis writing Without her guidance and support, this study would not have been completed My sincere thanks also go to all my lecturers and in Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their interesting lectures which have inspired me to conduct this research Besides, I would like to thank my colleagues and my students at Hanoi Tourism College who have participated in this research and helped me during my study Last but not least, I would like to send my special thanks to my parents, my husband and my children who encourage and share the hardship with me Their great encouragement and love have helped me to overcome the difficulties in the study ii ABSTRACT This research aimed at using simulation technique to improve speaking skills in English for specific purposes for students majoring in Hotel Management It was an action research study with both qualitative and quantitative data collected from second-year students majoring in Hotel Management at a college in Hanoi The qualitative data were collected by delivering questionnaires, interviewing the students Meanwhile, the quantitative data were collected through assessing the students‟ speaking performance by comparing the results of the pre-test and the post-test The procedure of this action research consisted of initiation, preliminary investigation, hypothesis, intervention, evaluation, and dissemination The research has shown that using simulation technique could successfully improve the students‟ speaking competence in general and in some important aspects related to speaking skills including fluency, vocabulary and pronunciation Besides, difficulties faced by students in using simulations are also recognized iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AR Action Research Com Comprehension ESP English for Specific Purposes Pron Pronunciation Vocab Vocabulary iv LISTS OF CHARTS, FIGURES AND TABLES Chart 4.1 Overall mean score of the pre-test and the post-test 36 Chart 4.2 Scores of students‟ pre-test and post-test 37 Figure 2.1 The structure of a simulation (Sturtridge, 1977) 18 Figure 3.1: Detailed action research mode (Susman 1983) 24 Figure 3.2: Cyclical AR model based on Kemmis and Mc Taggart (1988) 26 Table 2.1 Simulations vs Role plays (Bambrough, 1994) 17 Table 4.1 The pre-test results 34 Table 4.2 The pre-test vs the post-test results 36 Table 4.3 Pronunciation improvement 38 Table 4.4 Fluency improvement 38 Table 4.5 Vocabulary improvement 39 Table 4.6 Students‟ improvement of each speaking indicator 39 Table 4.7 Confidence improvement 40 Table 4.8 Students‟ attitude towards simulations 41 Table 4.9 Preparation for the future job 42 Table 4.10 Difficulties in performing in simulations 43 Table 4.11 Difficulties in cooperating with a partner 44 v TABLES OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv LISTS OF CHARTS, FIGURES AND TABLES v CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale for the study Aim and objectives of the study Research questions Scope of the study Methods of the study Significance of the study Structural organization of the thesis CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Speaking skills 2.1.1 Definition of speaking skills 2.1.2 Characteristics of speaking skills 2.1.3 Characteristics of a successful speaking activity 2.1.4 Teaching speaking 2.1.5 Speaking Assessment 10 2.2 Simulations 10 2.2.1 Definition of simulations in language teaching and learning 10 2.2.2 Characteristics of simulations 11 2.2.3 Benefits of simulations 12 2.2.4 Limitations of simulations 14 2.2.5 Simulations in teaching speaking skills 16 vi 2.3 Previous studies 19 2.4 Summary 20 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 21 3.1 Restatement of research questions 21 3.2 Research setting 21 3.3 Participants 22 3.4 Research method 23 3.4.1 An overview of action research 23 3.4.2 Action research cycle 24 3.4.3 Rationale for the use of an action research 27 3.5 Research procedure 27 3.5.1 Step 1: Initiation (Week 1) 28 3.5.2 Step 2: Preliminary investigation (Week 2) 28 3.5.3 Step 3: Hypotheses (Week 3) 28 3.5.4 Step 4: Intervention (Week -14) 29 3.5.5 Step 5: Evaluation (Week 15) 29 3.5.6 Step 6: Dissemination 30 3.6 Data collection instruments 30 3.6.1 Pre-test and post-test (Appendix 1&2) 30 3.6.2 Questionnaire (Appendix 4) 31 3.6.3 Interview 32 3.7 Data analysis 32 3.8 Summary 33 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 34 4.1 Students‟ improvement in speaking skills 34 4.1.1 Students‟ general improvement 34 4.1.2 Students‟ improvement in some aspects of speaking skills 37 4.2 Students‟ perceptions of the benefits of simulations to their learning of vii speaking 40 4.2.1 Students‟ confidence improvement 40 4.2.2 Perception improvement 41 4.2.3 Students‟ perceived benefits of simulations to their future jobs 42 4.3 Students‟ perceived challenges in performing in simulations 43 4.3.1 Difficulties in performing some situations 43 4.3.2 Lack of practical experience 43 4.3.3 Affective factors 44 4.4 Discussion 44 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 46 5.1 Recapitulation 46 5.2 Implications 46 5.2.1 Setting the time effectively for each simulation 46 5.2.2 Delivering clear and careful explanations about a simulation 47 5.2.3 Employing simulated situations suitable for students‟ interest 47 5.3 Limitations of the research 47 5.4 Recommendations and suggestions for future research 47 REFERENCES 49 APPENDICES I APPENDIX 1: PRE-TEST I APPENDIX 2: POST-TEST II APPENDIX 3: THE SPEAKING TEST RATING SCALE III APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONNAIRE V APPENDIX 5: INTERVIEW VII APPENDIX 6: LESSON PLAN SAMPLE VIII viii training hotel staffs A similar study on the students at another department would be conducted Secondly, the material chosen was English in Tourism, which was one of the many kinds of English for Specific Purposes Similar studies may be about other ESP Finally, this study was done with the speaking skills It is recommended to investigate the effectiveness of using simulation technique to improve students‟ other skills such as listening, writing, reading as well 48 REFERENCES Altrichter, H., Posch, P & Somekh, B (1993) Teachers investigate their work: An Introduction to Methods of Action research London: Routledge Bambrough, P (1994) Simulations in English Teaching Buckingham: Open University Press Bassey, M (1998) Action Research for 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Talk about your personality and your hobbies II Topic (4 marks) What job would you most like? Why? III Extra questions (3 marks) What‟s your ideal job? Give your own reasons What‟s your favorite sport now? What sports you think are the most exciting? the most boring? I APPENDIX 2: POST-TEST ENGLISH SPEAKING EXAM (Time allowance: minutes) I Introduction (2 marks) Imagine you are a receptionist Describe your job: - your duties at work - other people at work - personal qualities you need to the job - the reasons why you like your job II Questions (4 marks) Name common types of hotel and describe each of them in terms of location, its facilities and services, kinds of guests, duration of stay, and prices Name 10 main departments in a hotel Which is/are the most important? Why? III Situations (4 marks) Guest Reserve a room for yourself, your partner and two young children Arrival on 13 March and departure on 15 March You need a cot for a baby (age 15 months) You would like to know the room rate Your credit card number is 9863 8542 9917 Reservation clerk You are a reservation clerk at a hotel Answer the phone with the name of the hotel Take all the necessary details and confirm the reservation details II APPENDIX 3: THE SPEAKING TEST RATING SCALE No Criteria Pronunciation Grammar Vocabulary Rating Description Scores Has few traces of foreign language Always intelligible, thought one is concious of a definite accent Pronunciation problems necessities concentrated listening and occasionnally lead to misunderstanding Very hard to understand because of pronunciation problem, most frequently to be asked to repeat Pronunciation problem to serve as to make speech virtually intelligible Make a few (if any) noticeable errors of grammar and word order Occasionally makes grammatical and or word orders errors that not, however obscure meaning Make frequent errors of grammar and word order, which occasionally obscure meaning Grammar and word order errors make comprehension difficult, must often rephrases sentence Errors in grammar and word order, so, severe as to make speech virtually unintelligible Use of vocabulary and idioms is virtually that of native speaker Sometimes uses inappropriate terms and must rephrases ideas because of lexical and equities Frequently uses the wrong words conversation somewhat limited because of iadequate vocabulary Misuse of words and very limited vocabulary makes comprehension quite difficult Vocabulary limitation so extreme as to make III Fluency 5 Comprehension conversation virtually impossible Speech as fluent and sfforts less as that of native speaker Speed of speech seems to be slightly sffected by language problem Speech and fluency are strongly affected by language problem Usually hesitant, often forced into silence by language limitation Speech is so halting and fragmentary as to make conversation virtually impossible Appears to understand everything without difficulty Understand nearly everything at normal speed although occasionally repetition may be necessary Understand most of what is said at slower than normal speed without repetition Has great difficulty following what is said Can comprehend only „social conversation‟ spoken slowly and with frequent repetition Cannot be said to understand even simple conversation Notes: - Maximum raw score: 25 - Final score = (The raw score x 10)/25 (Round-up) IV APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONNAIRE (Conducted after the application of simulation) Strongly Agree agree Neutral Strongly disagree I like practicing simulations with my friends I am encouraged in speaking lessons using simulations / I get excited while speaking English The realistic situations in speaking lessons are helpful and good enough for students I would like the teacher to employ more simulations to improve my speaking skills as well as my professional skills I know more terms of hotel management My vocabulary of Hotel Management is enriched I know more structures to V Disagree communicate in my future job situations I pronounce English words more correctly I am more fluent in speaking English 10 I am more confident in communicating English 11 I am not afraid of making mistakes while speaking in English 12 I find that I am better prepared for my future job 13 I can practice tasks related to hotel situations 14 Some situations are too difficult to practice 15 I cannot perform well in simulated situations when the teacher changes my partner VI APPENDIX 5: INTERVIEW (Conducted after every simulation with students chosen randomly by the researcher) What you think of the lesson today? In comparison with other speaking lessons, you participate more in the lesson? If „yes‟, can you clarify how the new teaching method helps you? If „no‟, what are the difficulties that prevented you from engaging in the task? Do you enjoy the teaching and learning process? How you feel about your speaking skills? Is there any improvement? What can learn from the simulation technique? What difficulties you encounter in the performance in simulation to develop your speaking skills? What should you to overcome these difficulties? VII APPENDIX 6: LESSON PLAN SAMPLE Lesson 2: The check-in Time: 45 minutes Students profile: Age 19, second-year students at Hotel Management Department Objectives: By the end of the lesson, students should be able to deal with changes in bookings; check-in Materials: HTC Hotel – The Front Office, desk, notebook, pen, telephone, name tag, Warm up (5‟) Related to the - Match the room types with the pictures previous lesson Pre-simulation preparation (Phrase 1) (5‟) Model - Explain vocabulary and structures related to check-in procedure Example: Greetings: Good morning, Sir/Madam How may I help you? Ask for the guest‟s name: And your name, please?/ Can I have your name, please? / Could you pell that please? Ask the guest to sign in the registration form: Could you just sign here, please Tell the guest‟s room: It‟s room 401, on the fourth floor - Give them tasks cards, explain about roles and tasks While-simulation performance (Phrase 2) (30‟) Form groups - Have the students in a group of two practice the check-in procedure One student is a guest, one student is a VIII receptionist - Go around to observe and give help if neccessary Post-simulation assessment (Phrase 3) (5‟) End activity up - Assess what the students learned: Check-in procedure between a guest and a receptionist IX ... these features in mind when designing speaking tasks for students 2.1.4 Teaching speaking Spratt, Pulverness and William (2005) state that teaching speaking means developing learners ? ?speaking skills. .. in simulations in speaking lessons The researcher carried out an action research study on the topic of using simulations to improve English speaking skills for second- year students majoring in. .. majoring in Hotel Management at a college in Hanoi for a fifteen-week period The research was conducted on second- year students in the Hotel Management Department at a college in Hanoi Regarding its