Áp dụng phương pháp dạy học tích hợp với nội dung để phát triển kỹ năng nói cho sinh viên chuyên ngành du lịch tại một trường đại học ở hà nội​

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN TÁ NAM APPLYING CONTENT BASED INSTRUCTION TO DEVELOP SPEAKIN

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN TÁ NAM

APPLYING CONTENT BASED INSTRUCTION TO DEVELOP SPEAKING SKILLS FOR STUDENTS MAJORING IN TOURISM

AT A PUBLIC UNIVERSITY IN HANOI

(Áp dụng phương pháp dạy học tích hợp với nội dung để phát triển kỹ năng nói cho sinh viên chuyên ngành du lịch tại một trường đại học ở 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 POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN TÁ NAM

APPLYING CONTENT BASED INSTRUCTION TO DEVELOP SPEAKING SKILLS FOR STUDENTS MAJORING IN TOURISM

AT A PUBLIC UNIVERSITY IN HANOI

(Áp dụng phương pháp dạy học tích hợp với nội dung để phát triển kỹ năng nói cho sinh viên chuyên ngành du lịch tại một trường đại học ở hà nội)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01

Supervisor : Dr Vũ Thị Thanh Nhã

HANOI-2020

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS i

DECLARATION iv

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v

ABSTRACT vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES viii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1.Rationale of the study 1

1.2.Aims and objectives of the study 2

1.3.Research questions 2

1.4.Scope of the study 3

1.5.Significance of the study 3

1.6.Organization of the thesis 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1.Content-based instruction 5

2.1.1.Definitions of Content-based instruction 5

2.1.2.Types of Content-based instruction 6

2.1.2.1.Theme – based Model 7

2.1.2.2.Sheltered Model 7

2.1.2.3.Adjunct Model 8

2.1.3.Benefits and Challenges of Content-based instruction 9

2.1.3.1.Benefits of Content-based instruction 9

2.1.3.2.Challenges of Content-based instruction 10

2.1.4.Problems existing in teaching English speaking for tourism students 11

2.1.5 CBI in teaching English speaking for tourism students 13

2.2.Teaching speaking skills: 15

2.2.1.Overview of speaking skills 15

2.2.2.Speaking skills for tour guides 18

2.2.3.Traditional Teaching speaking 19

2.2.4.CBI teaching Speaking 20

2.3.Previous studies 20

2.3.1.Previous studies in the world 21

2.3.2.Previous studies in Vietnam 22

2.4.Summary 23

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 25

3.1.Context of the study 25

3.1.1.Setting of the study 25

3.1.2.Participants 27

3.1.3.Materials 27

3.1.3.1.Teaching materials 27

3.1.3.2.Course requirement for students 28

3.1.3.3.Speaking in each lesson 28

3.1.3.4.The relevance of the book 29

3.1.3.5.Classroom procedures for a period of Speaking teaching 30

3.1.4.A model lesson 31

3.2.Research study 32

3.2.1.Research approach 32

3.2.2.Research procedure 32

3.3.Data collection instruments 34

3.3.1.Questionnaire 34

3.3.2.Teaching diaries 35

3.4.Data analysis methods 36

3.5.Summary 36

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 37

4.1.Findings 37

4.1.1 To what extend CBI is implemented to develop speaking skills for students at the Faculty of Tourism at a university 37

4.1.2.Students‘ attitudes toward CBI implementation 41

4.1.3.Students‘ improvement after the course 45

4.2.Discussion 48

4.2.1 Some experience lessons after applying CBI into teaching speaking 48

4.2.2.Previous related finding discussion 49

4.2.3 Students‘ participation 50

4.2.4 Reading materials 51

4.2.5.Suggested changes 52

4.3.Summary 52

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 53

1.Recapitulation 53

2.Concluding remarks 53

3.Limitations 54

4.Recommendations 54

REFERENCES 56 APPENDICES I

APPENDIX 1 The questionnaire on applying Content-based instruction to

develop speaking skills for students majoring in Tourism I APPENDIX 2 Criteria for teaching diaries III APPENDIX 3 A sample of teaching diary IV APPENDIX 4 A sample lesson plan for the experimental Class VII APPENDIX 5 Extra material for Unit 1 XI APPENDIX 6 Lesson plan number 1: Working in a hotel XII APPENDIX 7 Lesson plan number 2: Water city XIV APPENDIX 8 Lesson plan number 2: Water city XV

DECLARATION

I, Nguyen Ta Nam, hereby certify that the thesis entitled ―Applying content-based instruction to develop speaking skills for students majoring in tourism at a public university in Hanoi.‖ is submitted for the partial fulfillment

of the Degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi I also declare that this thesis is the result of my research and efforts and it has not been submitted for any other purposes

Hanoi, 2020

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt thank and my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr Vu Thi Thanh Nha for her enlightening guidance, precious suggestions, and invaluable encouragement during my fulfillment of this minor thesis

My sincere thanks go to all of the lecturers and the staff of the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies at the University of Languages and International Studies for their valuable lectures on which my minor thesis was laid the foundation

I truly wish to thank all the students of class QTLH D2019 at a public university who have actively participated in the research

I am deeply grateful to my family for their great support and to many of

my friends for their notable assistance

ABSTRACT

This research aimed to find out how Content-based instruction was implemented to improve speaking skills for university tourism students and their attitudes toward this CBI method Data were obtained through the questionnaires and teaching diaries instruments and then analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively The findings indicate that most of the students achieved considerable progress in their speaking while being taught with CBI method in speaking lessons, and their attitudes toward CBI implementation were positive Besides, the findings and discussion of the research suggested how to implement CBI Theme-based Model into teaching students to speak in class and how to ensure that each lesson focus on both Content learning objectives and Language learning objectives

Keywords: Content-based instruction, Speaking, Vietnamese tourism,

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CBI: Content-based Instruction

CBLP: Content-based Lesson Plans

ESP: English for Specific Purposes

LSP: Language for Specific Purposes

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Figure 1: Students‘ roadmap to learning English in the Faculty of Culture and

Tourism 26

Figure 2 Classroom procedures of speaking teaching to students learning English in the faculty of Culture and Tourism 30

Figure 3: Dialectic Action Research Spiral Mills (2003, pp.18-19) 33

Figure 4: The objectives that the teacher wants students to have after the lessons 38

Figure 5: Topics of lessons are necessary for students‘ career in the future 39

Figure 6: Students‘ favorite activities in speaking lessons 39

Figure 7: Teacher‘s emphasis is on subject content 41

Figure 8: Suitability of CBI implementation for students majoring in tourism 42 Figure 9: Students‘ teaching method preference 42

Figure 10: Topics of lessons are necessary for students‘ career in the future 43

Figure 11: Students‘ speaking anxiety 44

Figure 12: Students‘ interest in learning English 44

Figure 14: Students‘ confidence after the course 46

Figure 15: Students‘ presentation skills after the course 47

Figure 16: Students who can talk about tourism-related topics 47

Figure 17: Students‘ improvement in tourism-related vocabulary 48

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

In this chapter the rationale of this study is explained, the aims and objectives of the study are provided Then it is followed by the research questions, the scope of the study, and the significance of the study Finally, the organization of the thesis is provided

1.1 Rationale of the study

There is no doubt that studying methodologies to improve Teaching and Studying quality is more and more important The fact that, in some non-major English universities, there are still many students who are not good at studying English, especially Speaking, and teachers have been facing a lot of new arising problems Therefore, this thesis is about studying how to apply the Content-Based Instruction (CBI) Method in teaching third-year students majoring in tourism in a public university in Hanoi, Vietnam because of its effectiveness ―English for International Tourism‖ is the book that has been using to teach students for several years, and it cannot be denied that this book has many interesting parts about teaching speaking, but the result still does not meet the need for reality It is because most students are not still excited to speak in the class even when teachers have tried many ways to encourage them to speak out Rivers (1981) also argues that in communicating, speaking is used twice as much as reading and writing

It is no doubt that communication plays a vital role in human life It not only helps to facilitate the process of sharing information and knowledge but also helps people to develop relationships with others Therefore, the importance

of communication cannot be underestimated Every day, we communicate with a lot of people including our families, our friends, our colleagues, or even strangers We should learn how to communicate effectively to make our lives better

Speaking is one of the important skills that students of the Tourism Faculty need to master It is means students can communicate with visitors or customers or to express what they want to speak, what they want to introduce to

the visitors Besides, to become a tour guide, especially an international tour guide, students need to have a good level of speaking and good knowledge about the beauty spots in the tour program

Moreover, students need to study much more about the knowledge of tour information in Hanoi, not only the things written in the book so that they can meet the demands of jobs when they are working in a tourism career That is the reason why improving students‘ speaking ability with several extra materials for speaking activities in ―English for International Tourism‖ applying CBI method

is very important This is also exactly the belief that led the author to conduct this action research entitled ―Applying Content-Base Instruction to develop speaking skills for students majoring in Tourism at a public university in Hanoi.‖ to find out good ways to help the students improve their speaking skill

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study

This research aimed at studying how to apply CBI method in teaching Speaking skills for third-year students in Tourism Faculty effectively With the expectation of being able to help those students improve their speaking skills, this thesis was conducted to evaluate how content-based instructions could help students to be better at speaking or making presentations Moreover, based on the analysis of the cause of the problem the objective of this thesis was to know the attitudes of students toward Content-based Instruction (CBI) implementation

1.3 Research questions

To achieve the aims and objectives mentioned above, the following research questions were addressed:

1 To what extend is CBI implemented to develop speaking skills for students

at the Faculty of Tourism at a university?

2 What are students’ attitudes toward CBI implementation?

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1.4 Scope of the study

There have been various activities and teaching methods that help learners improve their speaking skills; however; within the limitation of a minor thesis, this study is about to focus on the impact of content-based instruction on improving students‘ speaking skills

This study was implemented with the third-year students of Tourism faculty in a public university in Hanoi whose speaking skills are at the Pre-intermediate level and they are working with the course book ―English for International Tourism‖ written by Strutt (2003)

1.5 Significance of the study

Theoretical significance: There have been many studies about

Content-based instruction in the world, and this study is conducted with the hope of making Content-based instruction more popular and make practical contributions to the field of English for Specific Purposes or ESP for short in Vietnam Especially, the proposed theoretical significance of this thesis is to supply teachers of English a different aspect to approach Content-based instruction application in Vietnam with both its advantages and disadvantages

Practical significance: The thesis is conducted to find out how CBI is

applied in teaching speaking for students majoring in Tourism and how students‘ attitudes are toward it After that, there will have some suggestions about how to approach content-based instruction effectively

1.6 Organization of the thesis

The study consists of five chapters: they are introduction; literature review; methodology; data analysis and findings and conclusion

Chapter 1 is the introduction presenting the rationale, aims, objectives, research

questions, scope, significance, and design of the study

Chapter 2 is the literature review that reviews theoretical issues related to the

nature of Content-based instruction, speaking skills, the importance of reading strategies, teaching speaking strategies, and their classifications

Chapter 3 is about the methodology of the study, including the background

information of the context where the study is conducted, the subject, the instruments used to collect data, and the procedures of data collection

Chapter 4 is about the data analysis and findings which aims at describing the

analysis of data in detail and giving a summary of the findings as well as a thorough discussion of the findings of the study Besides, some explanations and interpretations of the findings are also presented in this chapter

Chapter 5 is the conclusion of the study, it provides a summary of the main

issues and conclusion Furthermore, the limitations as well as some recommendations for further research are also discussed in this part

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the author would like to provide foundation knowledge

of Content-based instruction and teaching speaking methods for students so that the author can apply it to this study to answer the research questions

2.1 Content-based instruction

2.1.1 Definitions of Content-based instruction

According to Richards and Rodgers (2001), Content-based instruction (CBI) is ―an approach to second language teaching in which teaching is organized around the content or information that students will acquire, rather than around linguistic or other types of syllabus‖ (Richards & Rodgers 2001,p.204) CBI is defined by Brinton et al (1989) as an approach in which particular content is integrated within language teaching, aiming at the success

of students learning a language They state that the curriculum in CBI is organized around the academic needs of students in which the focus is the students‘ acquisition of information through language learning by developing their academic language skills

Snow (2001) emphasizes the connection between CBI and the tradition

of English for particular Purposes, where the components of education such as materials and curriculum are based on the needs of learners determined in advance, the aim of which is to prepare students to be successful in their academic studies

Krahnke (1987) defines CBI as the teaching of content or information in the language, which is learned with little or no direct or explicit effort to teach the language itself separately from the content being taught‖ (p.240)

Grabe and Stoller (1997) emphasize the complementation of content and language to each other in CBI: ―the language is as a medium for learning content and content as a source for learning a language‖ for an overall definition of the approach Following these definitions, Richards and Rodgers (2001) stress the importance in CBI of using language as a vehicle for acquiring knowledge,

pointing out the three common assumptions about language and language learning in CBI as follows:

1 Language is text and discourse-based: language learning is beyond the formation of sentences, and the knowledge to be conveyed or comprehended underlies the nature of language in CBI

2 Language use draws on integrated skills: In CBI, language is the use of all skills reflecting the real world

3 Language is purposeful: Language is learned or taught for a specific purpose due to the expectations or needs of learners (p.208) According to Briton, Snow, and Weshe (1989), the application of CBI in language teaching incorporates the practical experiences and theories of several types of language teaching models

in which the target language is developed through subject matter content Examples are Language Across the Curriculum, Language for Specific Purposes, and Immersion Education Programs (Briton, Snow & Weshe,1989; Richards & Rodgers, 2001)

The language used for specific purposes is described to be the best example of a content-based language model aiming at preparing the learners for real demands Samples of language for specific purposes were initial developed

in Britain at universities and occupational settings for adults having identifiable second language objectives (Briton, Snow, and Weshe,1989)

In short, CBI in language teaching has been widely used in a variety of different settings since the 1980s such as English as Specific Purpose ( ESP); Language for Specific Purpose (LSP)… CBI refers to an approach rather than a method, so specific techniques or activities are associated with it It is recommended that ― authentic‖ materials are more identified and utilized Last but not least, CBI also provides the opportunity for teachers to match learners‘ interests and demands with interesting, meaningful content

2.1.2 Types of Content-based instruction

Brinton et al (1989) stated that CBI has three common models in elementary, secondary, and university education: the theme-based model, the

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sheltered model, and the adjunct model According to Richards and Rodgers (2001), there are two more models of CBI in addition to these: team-teaching and skills-based approaches, which are also applied in educational settings In this thesis, the author would like to discuss the three kinds of models of Briton et

al (1989)

2.1.2.1 Theme – based Model

The first model of CBI is the theme-based model, where language courses are designed around themes or topics which are integrated into teaching all skills (Briton et al,1989) The teacher arranges language learning activities around those topics or themes in a different way compared with traditional language courses in which the topics are specifically used for a single activity (Snow,2001) It is reported by Snow (2001) that the theme-based model has been widely used in language courses of college or university level students with different backgrounds but with a common goal in need of academic English skills

The theme-based model is mainly applied in adult schools, language institutions, and all other language programs It is suitable for low to advanced students

2.1.2.2 Sheltered Model

The second model is named sheltered content instruction For the second time, the main objective is that students understand the content The fact that students are still learning the target language which makes the teachers change the lesson (vocabulary, speed, and others) so that the students can grasp the materials Moreover, the teacher also offers some class time to explain what is related to the content of a specific lesson (Brinton, 2003) According to Richards and Rodgers(2001), It is pointed out that the teacher is a content expert In other words, the strategies which are used by language teachers in this model make the content of the lessons approachable to students (Stryker & Leaver, 1997)

In the sheltered model, the content courses are given by a content specialist who is a native speaker of the target language to a segregated group of

ESL students (Brinton et al,1989) To be able to make the course comprehensible, the teacher uses a level of language which is appropriate for the students (Richards & Rodgers,2001) Besides, the sheltered courses are required

to have changed such as carefully selected texts and linguistic adjustments that help comprehension (Brinton et al, 1989)

2.1.2.3 Adjunct Model

In the adjunct model, a language course and a content course are linked and sharing the same objectives and assignments (Brinton et al,1989) Learners need to attend the content course and language course at the same time The language course complements non-native learners‘ needs in order to be successful in the content course (Snow,2001) Moreover, the adjunct courses also aim to help the non-native students have more self-confidence by providing them practical tasks to accomplish using the language (Stryker & Leaver,1997) According to Briton et al (1989), the adjunct model is suitable for high intermediate to advanced levels

well-In summary, these three models of content-based instruction share many common features Firstly, authentic tasks and materials are used in the three models Secondly, the significant principles which are helpful to students to deal with the content materials are also shared in different ways In this thesis, the author followed the theme-based model It began with a review of CBI and its theme-based approach and then discussed the program design, curriculum development, and instructional practice of the program The impacts of the theme-based approach were researched based on the questionnaire and the teaching diaries Theme-Based teaching (also termed theme-based instruction or topic-based teaching) is one of the approaches with the broader model of content-based instruction (CBI) in which the emphasis is on exposing students

to a highly contextualized second language environment by using the subject matter as the content of language learning In a theme-based course, different teaching activities are integrated by their content, the teaching of different skill areas is incorporated into the theme Other important advantages of Theme-

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Based Teaching for language learning as suggested by Cameron (2001) include the fact that new vocabulary items can be learned easily, with the theme providing a meaningful context for understanding, and for the natural use of a wide range of discourse types, both written and spoken

2.1.3 Benefits and Challenges of Content-based instruction

Like other approaches, CBI is not absolutely the perfect method It has both benefits and challenges in teaching and learning

2.1.3.1 Benefits of Content-based instruction

Grabe and Stoller (1997) share that keeping students motivated and interested are two important factors underlying content-based instruction Motivation and interest are also crucial in supporting learners successful with challenging, informative activities that help learners develop complex skills, including listening; speaking; reading, and writing

Being motivated: This one is very important because language learners tend to

be significantly more motivated when authentic materials, content, and contexts are used This is in contrast to traditional instructional methods and materials such as textbooks, translating memorization, and grammar practice Since CBI embraces the use of authentic materials, learners tend to appreciate their school experience significantly more We all know that humans have a natural desire to learn; it is just a matter of finding ways to make new material interesting, and CBI does just that

Being more active: CBI provides students with the opportunity to think

actively The materials are always connected to real life Learns do not have to study with traditional methods but a new method that can make them more excited, more interested, and learners who learn via the CBI method are better equipped to apply their language abilities in real-life contexts

Critical thinking improvement: Related to the point above, CBI allows

students to improve critical thinking and life skills that might be used in countless ways outside of the language learning environment in the future The CBI approach helps learners use language skills across school subjects rather

than traditional approaches that restrain language learning

Classroom management success: When learning is made more fun and

interesting in the classes, students‘ behavior problems will naturally decrease Therefore, the management in the class will be certainly much better

2.1.3.2 Challenges of Content-based instruction

Stryker and Leaver (1993) state that there may be some challenges for learners to take participate in CBI courses CBI is in the "learning by doing" school of pedagogy and learners are required to be more active in different roles and more cooperative with each other Besides, they also need a commitment to learning language skills in CBI courses This is a challenge for learners who are accustomed to studying with traditional methods in whole-class, independent, and traditional learning and teaching models Additionally, learners need to possess a minimum level of language skills so that they can understand the knowledge or information in the CBI courses

Stryker and Leaver (1993) also suggest that learners ought to be prepared both psychologically and cognitively for CBI If learners are not well prepared, teachers should offer the missing plans needs for learners Or learners need to be stopped from enrolling in CBI courses until they are ready It is suggested that those teachers need to design a lesson that is interesting and attractive enough to encourage students to take participate in the lessons Moreover, teachers need to know how to shelter the content of the lessons to make it accessible to students Another challenge is that language teachers have been trained to teach linguistic knowledge rather than a content subject so far Therefore, teachers "may be insufficiently grounded to teach subject matters." (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.220) Undeniably, language teachers have not been trained to teach content subjects as in CBI courses, and they may be questioned about their credibility as well From my perspective, I would say that teaching a language teacher can ask for support from content teachers Additionally, teaching language teachers can choose a content subject that is familiar with and easy to instruct Do not try to teach all subject‘s content, that is, language teachers should begin with small or short paragraphs

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Another challenge or issue associated with CBI is that language teachers are always paying attention to the content area teaching and neglect teaching-related language skills Therefore, teachers may forget the main purpose of CBI

is to enhance language development for learners through content areas rather than content learning If language skill development components are missing, it

is not called CBI The language learning aspect should have equal priority with the content learning in CBI (Cristopher, 1996)

In summary, although CBI can be challenging and demanding for both the teachers and the students, it can be very stimulating and rewarding as well Language learning becomes more interesting and motivating CBI offers a wide educational knowledge to students in the form of the different topics instructed This helps students develop valuable study skills such as note-taking, summarizing, and extracting key information from texts Developing collaborative skills, especially when using group work, which can have great working value

2.1.4 Problems existing in teaching English speaking for tourism students

Speaking skill is very important to students who want to become an international tour guide However, to be able to speak English fluently and use English to make presentation skillfully, students are still coping up with some difficulties CBI implementation in teaching speaking might be considered to be one of the effective methods to help students improve their English speaking Firstly, the English of students in tourism faculty, when they entered X public university, is not of uniform levels Most of them are not very good at English On the other hand, they study Elementary English in the first and second semesters, and then until the fifth semester they just study English for tourism After two or three gap semesters without teaching and learning English, students nearly forget everything This is also the main reason that affects the quality of students‘ learning English

Secondly, current tourism English classes in X university still adopts the traditional teacher-centered model, although the teachers have combined a variety of teaching methods In most of the classes, teachers explain the

knowledge first, then students learn and practice in groups: that is the students' language output process The teacher takes a dominant role in the process, while the learning enthusiasm of learners does not motivate properly Learners are more passive in class As far as we can see, these teaching methods are quite outdated And the new teaching methods which are beneficial to learners need to

be introduced and applied

Thirdly, students' academic bases are relatively weak in higher vocational universities; especially in English, their listening and speaking skills are still quite weak In addition, learners' learning motivation is not strong, and they are short of initiative spirits Therefore, teachers ought to update their teaching methods and optimize their teaching skills to stimulate students' learning interests and learning spirits

On the other hand, in Tourism English speaking classes, there is plenty

of specialized vocabulary about tourism involved Such as words relate to historical places, legends, culture, cuisine, or several specialized vocabularies in the customs declaration form Learners' output in speaking English and comprehension of listening articles are often affected by their inadequate vocabulary reserve Therefore, the enlargement of specialized vocabulary in tourism English is an important way to improve the tourism English curriculum, while specialized vocabulary should be acquainted in the process of learning tourism professional knowledge That consists of the core idea of content-based instruction All in all, the reformation of tourism English audio-oral classes should be achieved imminently The content-based instruction concentrates on learners' cognitive and psychological needs, and it uses real, meaningful materials, deploys various teaching methods in flexible ways Learners can acquire new information and explore new knowledge based on their current knowledge system This kind of teaching, which uses language learning as the tool of content learning and consider content learning as the aim of language learning, can meet the requirements of tourism English speaking classes in higher university

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2.1.5 CBI in teaching English speaking for tourism students

In 1997, Stoller and Grabe put forward the "six Ts" method "Six Ts" represent themes, texts, topics, threads, tasks, and transitions1 "six Ts" method

is more specific curriculum guidance Collecting the real, helpful teaching materials into several themes which should be based on the learners' interests and language abilities Each theme is subdivided into several subtopics Making

a plan of teaching activities based on the tasks (subject content), making the students master the professional knowledge of tourism and improve the level of their English speaking and listening at the same time Based on the core concept

of content-based instruction, the writer analyzes the application of content-based instruction to tourism English speaking classes from the following aspects Firstly, the themes in the class should be determined based on students' interests, language abilities, and cognitive development levels The teaching material named "English for International Tourism" divides its contents according to the six elements of tourism: transportation, reception, restaurant, tour, shopping, and entertainment According to different themes, the teacher can take students to companies that join the university-enterprise cooperation program, such as a four-star hotel or travel agency, to do the field research Ask students to collect first-hand materials, and organize the data combined with actual work requirements In the class, students do the role-play according to their sorted data, trying to simulate the real working scene In that way, students are more easily to digest the professional knowledge of tourism and can master the English language better This method not only cultivates students' initiative learning ability but also fosters their team cooperation spirit

Secondly, it is the texts or the subject content consist of teaching materials and related exercises, such as audio materials like video and film data, reading materials like magazines and newspapers, workplaces like training rooms and practice bases Modification of material's content should be done by

1

Stoller, F L & Grabe, W A Six—T's Approach to Content-Based Instruction [G] // In Snow, M

A & Brinton, D M (eds) The Content-Based Classroom: Perspectives on Integrating Language and

Content New York: Longman, 1997

the teachers according to the requirements of themes The difficult part of the content should be cut for the students, while materials that are interesting and associated with real-life should be added In this way, students will be more eager to learn and this will help students improve their English and improve teachers' teaching effect

Thirdly, in teaching speaking, topics are very important The same theme can be divided into different topics, while detailed learning and more in-depth inquires can be achieved through different topics For example, the first theme

of " English for International Tourism " is working in a hotel The teacher can subdivide it into the advantages and disadvantages of working in a hotel In the classroom, the teacher divides the blackboard into two parts: Advantages and Disadvantages The students can be required to talk about these and the teacher writes them into the blackboard so they everyone can see it clearly Therefore, the teacher can get good teaching results and feedback

Fourthly, it is the threads In order to reflect the relevance of the curriculum, the threads are used to combine different themes Take " English for International Tourism " as an example The book is divided into many themes: transportation, hotels, restaurants, tour, reception, shopping, and entertainment The thread of these themes is the elements of tourism They are classifications of the integrations of tourism elements The thread of tourism elements combines these themes and reflects the systematic, organized teaching The thread is also a standard to select teaching materials It helps teachers to select materials with appropriateness Under the guidance of the logical framework, teachers can organize different activities for certain purposes

Fifthly, it is about the tasks Briefly speaking, the tasks are teaching activities designed based on subject content The target of tourism English audio-oral classes is to cultivate students' listening and speaking skills, but the tasks cannot be designed with utilitarianism to realize this goal English audio-oral classes should be designed based on specialized knowledge in tourism, trying to make students grasp specialized knowledge At the same time, teachers

Sixthly, transitions refer to these clever connections between different themes Themes are key to content-based instruction, and the threads combine different themes Transitions deal with questions like how to combine different themes, and which kinds of methods should be used to lead students transit from one theme to another Transitions are equivalent to the introduction of new lessons Natural, novel transitions, like introductions, can help students to move

on to the next topic naturally without abruptness They can also help to hold students' learning interests If the teacher uses a good transition, students will be eager to learn new knowledge, and at the same time, they can review the old knowledge, and learn the new knowledge through their precedent knowledge system In this way, the teaching results can be unexpected good and expected goals can be achieved

2.2 Teaching speaking skills:

2.2.1 Overview of speaking skills

To be able to understand what speaking skills are, we first need to understand what speaking is Lindsay and Knight (2006), said that speaking is not only an activity that produces sound, combines phrases, and contracts the grammatical structure correctly, but it is also an interaction with other people in which there is communication and delivering a message together in speaking It can be understood that speaking is the communication between two persons to share, ask, and give information, and so on Speaking is one of the language arts that are most frequently used around the world, the art of speaking is very complex Generally, there are at least four components of speaking skills include

comprehension, vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and fluency This is agreed by Brown and Yule (1983) who stated that speaking is very important and it helps us to express our needs such as feelings, services, etc The speakers speak to the listeners not only to express what in their mind but also to express what they need whether information or service Most people may spend their daily life to communicate with each other In learning speaking the student who needs some points to develop their speaking in English, they are by producing connected speech, having the ability to interact, discussing the gaps around in their knowledge, speaking in a range context, balancing accuracy and fluency According to Chany and Burke (1998, p.13) ― speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and nonverbal symbols,

in a variety of context.‖

Speaking is a productive language skill (Siahaan, 2008) It means that speaking is a person‘s skills to produce sounds that exist at the meaning and be understood by other people, so that able to create good communication Furthermore, speaking is the use of language to communicate with others (Fulcher, 2003) It means that this activity involves two or more people in whom the participants are both hearers and speakers having to react to whatever they hear and make their contribution a high speed, so each participant has the intention or a set of intentions that he wants So, the English teacher should active the students speaking ability by providing communicative language activities and interesting media in the classroom and then giving them the opportunities to practice their speaking skills as much as possible

According to (Bailey, 2000, p.25), speaking is a process of interaction where speakers intend to build meaning through producing, receiving, and processing information

From those theories, it can be concluded that speaking skill is related to communication Speaking is a skill to use a language appropriate to express someone‘s ideas, opinions, or feelings to give or get information and knowledge from other people who do communication

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― Speaking skills is the ability to talk at any time and in any situation You must know to whom you are talking and make them enjoy so that you can reach your goals the way you want‖ after that, the writer also said that we should

be careful that if someone has the skills to talk, this does not mean he is a good speaker, presenter, lecturer or negotiator

On the other hand, speaking skills are the skills which give us the ability to communicate in effective ways These skills help the speaker convey his message in a passionate, thoughtful, and convincing manner Therefore, speaking skills are productive skills in the oral mode

Good speaking skills is the act of generating words that can be understood

by listeners A good speaker is clear and informative Speaking skills is very important for language learners, especially for students who want to be an international tour guide Language is the most effective tool for communication

We communicate with others, to express our ideas, and to know others‘ ideas as well Communication takes place, where there is speech Without speech, we cannot communicate with one another The use of language is an activity that takes place within the confines of our community We use language in a variety

of situations People at their workplaces, i.e researchers working either in a medical laboratory or in a language laboratory, are supposed to speak correctly and effectively in order to communicate well with one another Any gap in commutation results in misunderstandings and problems For the smooth running of any system, the speakers of a language need to be especially and purposefully trained in the skill of speaking

In order to become a skilled communicator one needs to be proficient in each of the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, but to attain the level of being able to speak skillfully, provides the speaker with some distinct advantages The capacity to express one‘s thoughts, opinions, and feelings, in the form of words put together in a meaningful way, provides the speaker with these advantages The joy of sharing one‘s ideas with others is immense When we speak to others we come to have a better understanding of

ourselves, as Robert Frost once said: ‗‗I am a writer of books in retrospect, I talk

to understand, I teach to learn.‘‘ Undoubtedly, clarity in speech reflects clear thinking

An effective speaker can gain the attention of the audience and hold it until the completion of his message Speaking skills are important for career success, but certainly not limited to one‘s professional aspirations Speaking skills can also enhance one‘s personal life

Communication is the foundation of all human relationships At first, strangers start talking and getting to know each other, and then the relationships are formed when they have more interaction and communication Communicating helps people to express their ideas and feelings, and it, at the same time, helps us to understand the emotion and thoughts of others As a result, we will develop affection or hatred toward other people, and positive or negative relationships will be created

2.2.2 Speaking skills for tour guides

According to Sari Luoma (2004) in the book: Assessing Speaking (Cambridge Language Assessment) basic Types of Speaking includes Imitative; Intensive; Responsive The speaking skill may be suitable for a tour guide is responsive Because responsive skill is not academic but it is about interaction and test comprehension, limited level of very short conversations such as questions eliciting open-ended responses e.g what do you think about the weather today? Or giving instructions and directions e.g describe how to make

a typical dish from your country, or paraphrasing a story e.g hear the little story and respond with two or three sentences (p 162)

Since speaking is considered as ―the most basic means of human communication‖ (Celce-Murcia, 2003, p 103), attempts to link both the interactional and transactional usages have been argued for by Brown and Yule (1983, p.3) and Kingen (2000, p 218)

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2.2.3 Traditional Teaching speaking

There is a range of teaching speaking methods but there are not many about communicative language teaching methods According to Brown (2004,

pp 331-332) in the book ―Teaching by Principles‖ principles for teaching speaking skills include; 1) Focusing on fluency and accuracy which considering the learning objective; 2) Preparing intrinsically techniques to motivate the students in learning; 3) Authenticating language use in an appropriate context; 4) Providing appropriate feedback and correction; 5) Capitalizing on the natural link between speaking and listening; 6) Giving students opportunities to communicate in the learning process as much as possible, and 7) Encouraging them to develop their speaking strategies and styles Many different teaching speaking methods have been applied by the lecturers Some methods specifying on teaching general communication skills and emphasizing the abilities to express ideas meaningfully and it can be understood by the interlocutor than to grammatical accuracy or perfect pronunciation Other instructors emphasize accurate grammar and pronunciation from the very beginning or set out to teach the basic grammar in the first phase

of learning a language (Richards & Rogers, 1986, p 20) Those methods are more explicitly described in Pollard‘s book (2008), they are:

Communicative Approach: This method is based on the theory of language

acquisition that pointed out the language use rather than the study of grammar

It emphasizes on creating situations where the students have more opportunities

to say something, just like as children do in their childhood The strategies used

in this method are; authentic material, scrambled sentence, language games, picture strip story, and role play

Task-based Learning: In this method, the lecturer prepares a task for students

to do individually or in a group on a subject or a topic that has not been studied yet in the classroom or the topic has been studied previously to strengthen their comprehension of the topic

2.2.4 CBI teaching Speaking

The CBI teaching method is different from the above traditional teaching methods The CBI method is an approach to language teaching that engages core topics and skills of certain courses but still focuses on working on the knowledge of the language (Stryker, 1997; Stoller, 2008) This means that the teaching and learning materials of the subject matter, CBI is built on the principles of Communicative language teaching The classroom needs to be filled with real and meaningful communication where information is exchanged

It depends on what kind of speaking activity it is and what the demands are of that activity For example: in their Book Teaching Speaking, Goh and Burns (2012) recommend a seven-stage cycle of activities in a speaking lesson:

1 Focus learners‘ attention on speaking: Students think about a speaking activity, what it involves, and what they can anticipate

2 Provide input and/or guide planning: This may involve pre-teaching vocabulary, expressions, or discourse features and plan for an activity they will carry out in class (e.g a presentation or a transaction)

3 Conduct speaking tasks: Students practice a communicative speaking task with a focus on fluency

4 Focus on language/skills/strategies: Students examine their performance or look at other performances of the task, as well as transcripts of how the task can

be carried out, and review different features of the task

5 Repeat speaking task: The activity is performed a second time

6 Direct learners‘ reflection on learning: Students review and reflect on what they have learned and difficulties they encountered

7 Facilitate feedback on learning: Teacher provides feedback on their performance

2.3 Previous studies

There have been a lot of studies on implementing CBI into teaching languages, in the world, but there are not many of them in the context of Vietnam, especially for third-year students in the Faculty of Culture and Tourism

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2.3.1 Previous studies in the world

Bugis ( 2015) in ― Improving Students‘ Speaking Skill Through based Instruction (CBI)‖ showed that the objectives of this research were to find out the practice of Content-Based Instruction (CBI) improve the learners‘ English speaking skills at the Tenth Grade of SMA Negeri Sawa and to find out the use of Content-Based Instruction (CBI) that can motivate the students in learning speaking In this research, the researcher used pre-experiment design and concluded that Content-Based Instruction (CBI) can improve the students speaking skills and the students‘ interest to use Content-Based Instruction (CBI)

Content-in the learnContent-ing process

Li (2011) was about to find whether and to what extent content-based instruction improved the students' speaking skills, and describe the teaching and learning situation when content-based instruction was applied in the speaking class The research findings indicated that CBI was effective in two facets: the first one is in improving students' speaking ability: students' speaking level increased; students could confidently communicate with their friends, and the use of mother tongue was reduced; the second one is in improving class situation: the atmosphere in the whole class became alive; students enjoyed the speaking activities; with this method, students had great motivation to learn speaking; after that, speaking became easy and fun to the students The results of this study showed that CBI was effective and beneficial to improve the students' speaking competency

In the thesis ― The Application of Content-based Instruction to Tourism English Audio-Oral Teaching‖, Xin (2016) stated that the current teaching of tourism English cannot meet the demand of the tourism market Content-based instruction combines language teaching with specific subject content It organizes teaching activities according to the content of the subjects, which can stimulate the students' interest and internal motivation The author also showed that by applying CBI into teaching English for tourism students can help students improve their learning foreign language

After studying CBI methodologies and domestic as well as oversea researches about it, the author would like to implement the first model of CBI-the theme-based model into teaching speaking for students majoring in tourism, because the theme-based model has been widely used in language courses of college or university level students with different backgrounds but with a common goal in need of academic English skills (Snow,2001) Besides, the theme-based model is mainly applied in adult schools and all other language programs which is more suitable for low to advanced students

CBI aims to develop both the students‘ language and their content knowledge‖ (Butler, 2005, p 229) Therefore, in this course, language courses are designed around themes or topics which are integrated into teaching all skills, and then, the teacher arranges language learning activities around those topics or themes in a different way

2.3.2 Previous studies in Vietnam

In Vietnam, a number of studies on Content-based instruction have been conducted but the ones studying about applying CBI in teaching speaking for tourism students are not much As far as I have found, in Vietnam, there is a thesis named ― Using a content-based approach to teaching environmental English to students: action research‖ by Mai ( 2014) The study was conducted

to investigate the effectiveness of using a content-based approach to teaching English to students of environmental major at Central College of Natural

Resources and Environment The objectives of the thesis were about to examine the extent to which the attitude of students toward English skills and ESP at Central College of Natural Resources and Environment was changed following the application of the content-based approach to teaching Environmental English in their class and to investigate how effective the application of CBI was in helping students learn Environmental English The study shows that this application of a content-based approach had brought about positive results for the learners at the elementary level of English It is to enrich students' specific terms as well as improve their English skills related to their major

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Do (2007) conducted an experiment aiming to investigate the influence

of language games on students' retention of ESP vocabulary at Nam Định College of Construction There were three tests administered and the results of the tests were analyzed by using Paired Samples T-test and Independent t-test In the study, the findings indicated that language games made a big contribution to students' ESP vocabulary retention Also, there was a distinction between strong students and weak ones Thus, teachers should have more preparation when teaching in classes

Nguyen (2014) with the thesis named ― improving students‘ vocabulary retention through content-based instruction‖ investigated the effectiveness of the use of content-based instruction on the freshmen‘s vocabulary retention at Ha Long college of Arts, culture, and tourism The result of the investigation showed considerable improvement in memorizing the vocabulary of the students

in the class The findings of the study also indicated that CBI should be used for future vocabulary learning and teaching

In summary, thanks to the previous studies about CBI, the author could achieve more about the theories and the models of the CBI method However, studying the implementation of CBI to develop speaking skills for students at a faculty of tourism at a university is still very rare Therefore, this is a good chance for the author to carry out this From previous studies, CBI has been proved to be an effective means of engaging students in learning and it has not been studied quite much in Vietnam

2.4 Summary

This chapter is an overview of the literature related to the study The chapter first reviews the concepts of speaking skills, the importance of speaking skills, and the types of speaking skills The second part reviews the concepts of

Content-based instruction, types of CBI, and its benefits and challenges

The thesis also states that Tourism English still adopts traditional teaching methods It mainly focuses on theoretical knowledge instead of practice, especially in speaking skills This has caused students unable to

flexibly apply the learned knowledge of the English language to practice It is hard to achieve the target of effective English communication in their future occupations This also results in a lack of professional skills Therefore, it is urgent to change traditional teaching methodology This study aimed to apply CBI to teaching speaking to improve the current situation

This chapter also presents a brief review of some previous studies related

to the thesis There have been many studies surrounding CBI, but not many studies conducted to teach English to Tourism students Therefore, in this study, the author aimed to do implement CBI to a group of university students to explore the effectiveness of applying CBI

Based on the literature review of the teaching models, I decided to take the following principles in CBI teaching:

Course objectives: The course objectives of CBI method are Content learning

objectives and Language learning objectives Every lesson should have both types, in other words, the aims of CBI is ― killing two birds with one stone‖ Learning by doing and Language in Context

Pedagogical approaches and teaching formats: Language learning tasks and

methods depend on those favored by the instructor

Lesson plans of CBI: CBI lesson is also a guide for the teacher and they

motivate students to learn something through the use of language The language learning is selected related to the topic of interest; in the lesson, students learn

developed according to the needs of the students and focused on it created a final project related to the content of the unit) Besides, CBI lesson has diverse activities such as videos, readings, newspapers, charts, graphs, and radio programs, and it is developed according to the needs of the students and focused

on it created a final project related to the content of the unit

The following chapter will present a detailed methodology for the thesis

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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

This chapter elaborates on the methodology which was employed in the research and research procedures to collect and analyse data

3.1 Context of the study

This thesis was aimed at studying the effectiveness of the application of Content-based Instruction to develop speaking skills for students majoring in Tourism at a public university in Hanoi The study is carried out to answer the following questions:

1 To what extend is CBI implemented to develop speaking skills for students

at the Faculty of Tourism at a university?

2 What are students’ attitudes toward CBI implementation?

3.1.1 Setting of the study

The faculty of Culture and Tourism at X University is located in Hanoi, Vietnam This is a quite young faculty, which was established in 1996, so there have been many things that need to be improved as fast as possible, especially the quality of students‘ learning English

The main purpose of the faculty is being able to provide a source of high-quality staff in the Tourism industry for both domestic and international tourism markets, so teaching and learning English most effectively with the best result is really necessary and urgent

Because the faculty of X university is still very young, so the quality of students from the first days of the entrance to university is also not very equivalent Especially, most of the students‘ English level is not good enough Moreover, students have just finished their high school education, the teaching and learning English speaking in high school is not normally concentrated on Therefore, when entering university, they need a certain amount of time to learn

to speak English, to catch up with the demand of the curriculum and the real market

Below is the Students‘ roadmap to learning English:

Figure 1: Students‘ roadmap to learning English in the Faculty of Culture and Tourism

The objectives of the course are that after completing this course students may have basic knowledge about the tourism industry in general and hotels in particular such as types of accommodation, hotels, facilities, and services of the hotel Besides, students need to achieve basic knowledge about the jobs that can be assumed in each hotel field such as tasks, requirements for quality, skills, language knowledge, of each job for instance: Receptionist, housekeeping, Bellman, … On the other hand, students need to have the ability

to practice English in different sections and positions, especially with fluent speaking skills when communicating with guests to be able to capture and process information correctly, sufficiently, and reasonably in communication situations; capacity to solve problems; and how to persuade, how to make a presentation at sightseeing

Students are from different provinces and cities, they are students who still think that English is merely a subject at school but a stool, a skill they must have when going to work

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For the above reasons, teaching and learning English is a challenge for both teachers and students Most teachers are still applying traditional teaching methodologies, and most of the students are still learning passively in the class

As a result, the effectiveness of both teaching and learning is not high

3.1.2 Participants

To achieve the aim of the study and be able to answer the two above questions, the participants of the study are 33 third-year students of Tourism major from the same class and a teacher of the course as an observer in the Faculty of Culture and Tourism in a public university in Hanoi

Ten students are male and twenty-three students are female aged between 19 and 21 All of them have learned English for at least 8 years since secondary school, and up to then, they had pass A2 and B1 English level and were learning English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

3.1.3 Materials

3.1.3.1 Teaching materials

The textbook used for this course was ― English for International Tourism‖, a pre-intermediate coursebook, which was written by Dubicka and O‘Keeffe (2003) This book is for third-year students ( delivered in the fifth semester) to study English specialized in Tourism

In English for Tourism 1, there were 9 weeks of 5 periods scheduled as follow: see Appendix 8 - Course schedule (9 weeks)

English for International Tourism ( Pre-intermediate student‘s book) is designed for the ones who need to improve their English because they are being trained to work or are already working in the hotel or tourism industries This book is suitable for students who already have a basic knowledge of English It

is suitable for students studying in either a monolingual or a multilingual classroom situation

The syllabus of this book is multi-layered

Based on the topic areas and professional skills which are relevant to the students, this book incorporates a related comprehensive grammar and vocabulary syllabus and systematic work on speaking, listening, reading, and

writing Besides, it takes an integrated approach to pronunciation and includes revision

English for International Tourism (pre-intermediate student‘s book) contains fifteen units Each unit of the book is designed to help students deals with an area of the hospitality and tourism industry and related professional skills such as dealing with complaints of guests, talking on the telephone, asking and taking orders in a restaurant Besides, in each unit, there is a grammar and a lexical focus

3.1.3.2 Course requirement for students

The biggest requirement for students after attending the course is mastering not only the language skills but also the content ( tourism and hospitality knowledge) After the course, students can confidently communicate and have a good knowledge of what is related to tourism such as receptionist communication, restaurant services communication, and problem-solving

3.1.3.3 Speaking in each lesson

There is a strong focus on speaking skills throughout the course because

of the ability to communicate well in hotels, restaurants, and the tourism industry is essential There is a variety of different speaking activities in the students' book Students then can practice the language through realistic tasks with appropriate language and level of professional formality which are necessary for many different situations The speaking tasks in the book are designed from basic telephone conservation to more complicated problem-solving activities

In each lesson, the warm-up speaking part is always arranged at the beginning Most of the speaking parts in this course suggest students speak about the advantages and disadvantages of tourism-related tourism topics I think this arrangement is quite interesting and suitable Because this part is always very entertaining and stress-free to the students

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3.1.3.4 The relevance of the book

The book English for International Tourism ( pre-intermediate student‘s book) is designed according to the theory of the Communicative Approach The communicative approach is much more student-orientated because it is based on students‘ needs and interests The communicative approach also seeks to personalize and localize language and adapt it to the interests of students Moreover, it seeks to use authentic resources, so it is more interesting and motivating for students Moreover, (Willis,1996, p.7) contends that for oral language learning to happen, there should be four conditions to be met, and they are: the chance to practice the language, motivation, exposure, and proper instruction

The strength of the coursebook is that the syllabus of this book is layered It focuses on the speaking parts and its content is mostly about tourism which is very suitable for students studying Culture and Tourism Faculty at X public university in Hanoi

Whereas, the weakness of the book is that the topics of some units are too broad, and this is not very suitable for students For instance, in unit 12 in the book, the content of the lesson is mainly about ski equipment and ski resort jobs; in unit 7, the content of the lesson is mainly about traveling on safari and these are not practical in Vietnam's situation Most students‘ English level is still not good enough, so they need to study on the main content and topics that are necessary for them in their future career, after graduating from university

In addition, sometimes the knowledge provided in the book is not

enough for the students For example, in Unit 1 the topic is about All in a day’s

work ( hospitality) Most of the lesson topic is about hospitality, but the practical

knowledge of the hospitality industry in the book is not enough For example, this unit lacks knowledge about the duties of doorman, porter, receptionist, and housekeeping

3.1.3.5 Classroom procedures for a period of Speaking teaching

When applying CBI in teaching English Speaking for Tourism students, the author would like to apply the ― Six Ts‖ method of Stoller and Grabe (1997) The six Ts includes Themes; Texts, Topics, Threads, Task, and Transitions Therefore, the speaking periods in the class are applied forward to the following procedures

Figure 2 Classroom procedures of speaking teaching to students learning English in the

faculty of Culture and Tourism The Theme and the Topic are introduced in the warm-up part The Text

is the extra reading material and it is in the input part The Thread is applied during the lesson to help students combine other themes in the previous or the following lessons The Task is in working in a group or the pair-speaking part The Transition is in the warm-up part or in the output part to help students move

on to the next topic naturally without abruptness