Enhancing english speaking fluency for the first year students of faculty of english language in national economic university through role play activity

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  BÙI THỊ MỸ DUYÊN ENHANCING ENGLISH SPEAKING FLUENCY FOR THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS OF FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN NATIONAL ECONOMIC UNIVERSITY THROUGH ROLE PLAY ACTIVITY (Nâng cao kỹ nói Tiếng Anh trơi chảy cho sinh viên năm khoa Ngôn Ngữ Anh Trường Đại học Kinh tế Quốc dân thông qua hoạt động đóng vai) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME 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  BÙI THỊ MỸ DUYÊN ENHANCING ENGLISH SPEAKING FLUENCY FOR THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS OF FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN NATIONAL ECONOMIC UNIVERSITY THROUGH ROLE PLAY ACTIVITY (Nâng cao kỹ nói Tiếng Anh trơi chảy cho sinh viên năm khoa Ngôn Ngữ Anh Trường Đại học Kinh tế Quốc dân thơng qua hoạt động đóng vai) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Lê Văn Canh Hanoi – 2020 DECLARATION I certify that the minor thesis entitled “Enhancing English speaking fluency for the first year students of Faculty of English Language in National Economic University through role-play activity” is the result of my own work and has not been submitted in any form for another degree or diploma at any universities or other institutions Bui Thi My Duyen Hanoi, 2020 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge my truthful gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Le Van Canh, for his thorough reading, critical comments, invaluable guidance and precious corrections of the thesis It was his acute guidance that has enabled me to find the right way to complete this study I also would like to express my sincere thanks and appreciate the assistance and cooperation of the first-year students in classes from Faculty of English Language in National Economic University, who have been willing to complete my survey questionnaire and have given me useful opinions in the interviews to support for my research My special words of thanks are sent to my family, especially my husband and my parents who have given me constant encouragement and support throughout my research work Hanoi, 2020 ii ABSTRACT This is a micro-scale classroom action research conducted at the Faculty of English Language of one university in the capital of Vietnam Based on the preliminary study, the researcher found that some first-year students have low ability of speaking fluency, which motivated the researcher to decide to implement role play technique in teaching speaking skill The study aims at shedding the light on improving oral fluency of learners by acting in role plays as a good model for bringing real-life situations into the classroom Both qualitative and quantitative methods that consist of some instruments such as speaking test, observation checklists, field notes along with questionnaires & interviews from the learners were used The procedure of the research consists of four main stages: planning, implementation, observation and reflection The findings of this research showed that the teacher saw a significant improvement in their students‟ speaking fluency from one cycle to the following cycle and from both self-report of students The role-playing procedures implemented by the researcher in this study consist of major steps Those are deciding on the teaching materials, organizing the group ofthe students, providing the situation and dialogue to be role played, teaching the dialogue for role plays, having the students practice the role plays, having the students modify the situation and dialogue, and having the students perform the dialogue in front of the class The paper presents how roleplaying technique improve the speaking ability of the students iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF FIGURES ix CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aim and objective of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Methods of the study 1.6 Significance of the study 1.7 Structure of the thesis .4 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW .5 2.1 Previous studies .5 2.2 Speaking skills 2.2.1 Definition of speaking skills 2.2.2 Criteria of speaking skills 2.3 Speaking fluency .8 2.3.1 Definition of speaking fluency 2.3.2 Criteria for speaking fluency 2.4 Role-play as an instructional activity 10 2.4.1 Definition of role-playing 10 2.4.2 Advantages of role-play 10 iv 2.4.3 Disadvantages of role-play .12 2.4.4 Types of role-play 13 2.4.5 How to use role-play in the language classroom 15 2.4.6 The organization of a role-play activity 16 2.4.7 Stages of the role playing activities 16 2.4.8 The teacher‟s role in role-play 17 2.5 Summary 19 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .20 3.1 Research approach .20 3.2 Setting of the study .21 3.3 The participants 21 3.4 Data collection instruments 22 3.4.1 The questionnaire .22 3.4.2 Interviews 23 3.5 Methods of the study 23 3.6 The research Procedures 24 3.6.1 Identification of the problem 24 3.6.2 Planning the action 24 3.6.3 Implementing the action 25 3.6.4 Observation 27 3.6.5 Reflection 27 3.7 Summary 28 CHAPTER IV: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 29 4.1 Findings from teacher’s assessment 29 4.1.1 Students‟ Speaking Performance in Cycle 29 4.1.2 Students‟ Speaking Performance in Cycle 30 4.2 Analysis of students’ questionnaires and interviews 32 4.2.1 Analysis of students‟ questionnaires 32 4.2.2 Interview data 42 4.3 Discussion 47 v 4.3.1 Students‟ attitudes toward speaking fluency 47 4.3.2 Students‟ attitudes toward role play activity 48 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 49 5.1 Summary of main findings 49 5.2 Limitations of the study 50 5.3 Suggestions for the further research 50 REFERENCES 52 APPENDICES I APPENDIX A I SAMPLE LESSON PLAN I APPENDIX B1 IV QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS IV APPENDIX B2 VII APPENDIX 2: PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA CHO SINH VIÊN VII APPENDIX C X QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEWING STUDENTS X vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS FEL: Faculty of English Language NEU: National Economic University vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 The Analytical Scoring Rubric for Speaking Performance Table 2.2 The Analytical Scoring Rubric for Speaking Fluency 10 Table 3.1 Observation checklist 27 Table 4.1: Students' profiles (Total number of students: 27) 32 Table 4.2: Students‟ level at English speaking fluency 33 Table 4.3: Students‟difficulties in speaking English 34 Table 4.4: Activities used most by teachers in speaking lesson 36 Table 4.5: Activities students participate in most actively in speaking lesson 37 Table 4.6: Students‟ attitudes towards role play activity 38 Table 4.7: Teachers‟ frequency of using role play activity 39 Table 4.8: Reasons why teachers use role play activity 41 viii ... the context of the classroom at the Faculty of English Language of National Economic University The objectives of the study include gaining understanding of whether roleplay helps to reduce the. .. the students? ?? difficulties in speaking English fluently in the English speaking lessons and assessing the students? ?? improvements in their speaking fluency through role play activity from the first. .. entitled ? ?Enhancing English speaking fluency for the first year students of Faculty of English Language in National Economic University through role- play activity? ?? is the result of my own work and has