An action research project on improving students’ speaking skills through drama based english language teaching at a secondary school in dong anh district ha noi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES -*** - NGUYỄN THỊ VIỆT HÀ AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON IMPROVING STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL THROUGH DRAMA-BASED ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL IN DONG ANH DISTRICT, HA NOI (Nghiên cứu hành động cải thiện kỹ Nói cho học sinh qua việc giảng dạy Tiếng Anh dựa kịch trường THCS Đông Anh, Hà Nội) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS (Type I) Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01 Hanoi - 2019 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES -*** - NGUYỄN THỊ VIỆT HÀ AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON IMPROVING STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL THROUGH DRAMA-BASED ENGISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL IN DONG ANH DISTRICT, HA NOI (Nghiên cứu hành động cải thiện kỹ Nói cho học sinh qua việc giảng dạy Tiếng Anh dựa kịch trường THCS Đông Anh, Hà Nội) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01 Supervisor : Prof Dr Nguyễn Hòa Hanoi - 2019 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work and effort and that it has not been submitted to any other university or institution wholly or partially Hanoi, April 2019 Nguyễn Thị Việt Hà i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor Dr Nguyễn Hòa who gave me a lot of valuable guidance, encouragements, criticisms and correction throughout my thesis writing I am indebted to 34 sixth grade students at DA secondary school, who provided me with lots of useful information by answering my questionnaires My sincere thanks go to my family, my friends for their encouragement and support that help me to complete my work ii ASTRACT This thesis reports the result of an action research on improving students‟ speaking skill through drama based language teaching at a secondary school in Dong Anh district with the help of 34 grade 6th students as research participants The research addressed two issues (1) the impact of drama techniques on students‟ speaking skill; (2) the impact of drama techniques on their motivation in English lessons The instruments used for data collection and analysis of the study include three tests and two questionnaires for the students, an interview with ten students to know about difficulties and gaps of learning English speaking lessons with drama activities Research findings showed that drama technique was beneficial to help students improve their speaking ability and motivate them in learning English speaking skill Based on the findings, some implications would be given for both the teacher and the students This study is expected to be a useful suggestion to both teachers and students in teaching and learning English speaking skill Key words: Drama Techniques, drama activities, speaking iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ASTRACT iii LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES vii LIST OF CHARTS vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Methods of the study 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Scope of the study 1.7 Structure of the thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Speaking skill 2.1.1 Definition of speaking 2.1.2 The Importance of Speaking Skills 2.1.3 The Components of Speaking Skill 2.1.4 Characteristics of Successful Speaking Activities 2.1.5 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) 2.2 Drama technique 10 2.2.1 Definition of “drama activities” 10 2.2.2 Theoretical framework 11 2.2.3 The benefits of using drama activities in EFL class 12 2.2.4 Teacher and student role 16 2.2.5 Common types of drama activities 17 iv 2.3 Previous Studies 22 2.4 Summary 23 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 25 3.1 Research questions and context of the study 25 3.1.1 Research questions restated 25 3.1.2 Context of the study 25 3.1.3 Participants 26 3.2 Design of the study 26 3.3 Instruments 29 3.3.1 Pre- test and post- test (Appendix 2, 3, 4) 30 3.3.2 Questionnaire (Appendix 8) 30 3.3.3 Interview 32 3.4 Procedure 32 3.4.1 Cycle 32 3.4.2 Cycle 33 3.5 Data analysis 34 3.6 Summary 34 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 35 4.1 Findings and discussions for the research question “What impact drama techniques have on students‟ speaking skills? 35 4.1.1 Data collected from the pre-test and post –test in the first cycle (Appendix 6) 35 4.1.2 Data collected from the post –test in cycle (Appendix 6) 36 4.1.3 Data collected from questionnaire with students about their speaking skill self- evaluation 37 4.1.4 Data collected from interview with students about their speaking skill selfevaluation 40 4.2 Findings and discussions for the research question “What impact drama techniques have on students‟ motivation? 41 4.2.1 Data collected from questionnaire with students about their attitudes towards the use of Drama Activities in their English Speaking lessons 41 v 4.2.2 Data collected from interview with students about their attitudes towards the use of Drama Activities in their English Speaking lessons.(see Appendix 9) 46 4.3 Summary 48 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 48 5.1 Recapitulation 49 5.2 Conclusion 49 5.3 Limitations 50 5.4 Recommendation 51 5.4.1 Recommendation for teachers 51 5.4.2 Recommendation for students 52 5.5 Suggestions for further research 53 REFERENCES 54 APPENDICES I APPENDIX 1A: LESSON PLAN I APPENDIX 1B: LESSON PLAN FOR TOPIC 1: MY NEW SCHOOL III APPENDIX 2: PRE-TEST FOR STUDENTS VIII APPENDIX 3: POST- TEST FOR STUDENTS XI APPENDIX 4: POST- TEST FOR STUDENTS XIII SPEAKING TOPIC CARD XIII APPENDIX 5: SPEAKING ASSESSMENT CRITERIA CARD XV APPENDIX 6: STUDENTS‟ SCORE IN PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST IN CYCLE XVI APPENDIX 6: STUDENTS' SCORE IN POST-TEST IN CYCLE 1&2 XVII APPENDIX 6: STUDENTS' SCORE IN PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST XVIII APPENDIX 7: PRE-SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS XX APPENDIX 8: POST - SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS IN XXV APPENDIX 9: INTERVIEW GUIDE WITH STUDENTS XXVIII APPENDIX 10 XXIX vi LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: The results of the pre- test and post- test in cycle 35 Table 4.2: The results of the post- test in cycle 37 Table 4.3: The language skills have been improved by the students 39 Table 4.4: Students‟ opinion of the applying Drama activities 42 Table 4.5: Students‟ opinion of the continuing working with Drama activities and situations 44 Table 6: Students‟ suggestions for the teacher in the class 45 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Action research cycles ( Kemmis & Mc Taggart, 1988) 27 Figure 2.2.Action research cycles (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988, cited by Burn 2010) 27 LIST OF CHARTS Chart 4.1: Compare the results of the pre- test and post – test in cycle 36 Chart 4.2: Compare the results of the tests in both cycle and 37 Chart 3: You can speak English better through this style learning 38 Chart 4.4: Pronunciation, lexical resource and grammatical range have improved by the students 40 Chart 4.5: Students‟ opinion of learning English through Drama activities 41 Chart 4.6: Students‟ opinion of the applying Drama activities 43 vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the study Speaking may be the most important and interesting component of any language It represents the most natural and common form of communication among humans We can easily say that people speak more than they write, so speaking is also probably the main goal for anyone studying a foreign language Despite so, it can be often obstructed by a series of factors, such as shyness, lack of self-confidence, fear of other people‟s judgment, laziness, and so forth Sometimes it is not simple to overcome such difficulties people may have with oral communication in a foreign language and this can often lead to stress, discouragement and lack of interest in learning Having been teaching English for several years at a secondary school, I have found that most of my students make not so much progress in their learning English, especially speaking Students seemed to use their first language most of the time, making little or no effort at all when practicing their speaking skills Also, they felt embarrassed and contained from speaking in front of their mates, showing annoyance, bother and no collaboration, especially, students in grade because they not have enough lessons to practice speaking English in the class How to improve speaking skills for students becomes my biggest concern I always try to find out the best ways to encourage my students to learn English better and be confident to speak English in and outside the classroom I have read many books and articles about advantages of using drama activities in teaching English I have found many researches in our country and in the world about using drama techniques on improving students‟ Speaking English skill I myself took part in a Teaching English through drama course offered by Professor Dr Gary B Carkin at the Post Graduate Office of the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University last year This 11 day course was useful for me The course led participants through the various approaches and APPENDIX 5: SPEAKING ASSESSMENT CRITERIA CARD Student’s name:………………………………Speaking topic card ………… Assessing criteria (1) Message content Addressing the test questions Richness of ideas (2) Vocabulary and grammar range Use of appropriate words and phrases to make meaning clear Control of basic grammar (tenses, subject-verb agreement) and use of sentence patterns (simple and complex) to make meaning clear (3) Fluency and coherence Frequency of pauses, short and long delays Use of discourse organizing words, connectors (and, but, first, next, because…) (4) Attitude and comprehensibility Confidence, willingness to communicate Volume, Pronunciation, word stress, speech rhythm Total XV Rating scale 7 10 10 10 /40 10 APPENDIX 6: STUDENTS’ SCORE IN PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST IN CYCLE Student Cycle Student Pre- Post- test test S1 50 52 0.2 S2 61 76 S3 67 S4 code Cycle Pre- Post test -test S18 45 50 0.4 1.5 S19 42 50 0.8 80 1.3 S20 70 55 -1.5 56 62 0.6 S21 50 61 1.1 S5 67 84 1.7 S22 57 78 3.1 S6 88 88 S23 56 68 1.2 S7 65 63 0.2 S24 71 74 0.3 S8 45 48 0.3 S25 59 66 0.7 S9 80 80 S26 83 85 0.2 S10 80 67 1.3 S27 42 45 0.3 S11 61 71 1.0 S28 54 56 0.2 S12 44 46 0.2 S29 58 65 0.7 S13 49 54 0.5 S30 55 55 S14 78 82 0.4 S31 45 50 0.5 S15 55 63 0.8 S32 53 64 1.1 S16 67 70 0.3 S33 64 73 0.9 S17 66 66 S34 57 67 1.0 code Diff XVI Diff APPENDIX 6: STUDENTS' SCORE IN POST-TEST IN CYCLE 1&2 Post- Post- Post- Post- Student test test Student test test code Cycle Cycle code Cycle Cycle 2 S1 52 67 1.0 S18 50 50 S2 76 82 0.6 S19 50 60 1.0 S3 80 82 0.2 S20 55 71 1.6 S4 62 73 0.9 S21 61 67 0.6 S5 84 87 0.3 S22 78 82 0.4 S6 88 90 0.2 S23 68 77 0.9 S7 63 77 1.4 S24 74 80 0.6 S8 48 55 0.9 S25 66 75 0.9 S9 80 80 S26 85 92 0.7 S10 67 82 1.5 S27 45 57 1.2 S11 71 73 0.2 S28 56 67 1.1 S12 46 50 0.4 S29 65 70 0.5 S13 54 67 1.3 S30 55 77 2.4 S14 82 87 0.5 S31 50 60 1.0 S15 63 67 0.4 S32 64 67 0.3 S16 70 75 0.5 S33 73 84 1.1 S17 66 67 0.2 S34 67 76 0.9 Diff XVII Diff APPENDIX 6: STUDENTS' SCORE IN PRE-TEST AND POST-TESTS Student code Cycle Cycle Diff Student code Pre- Post- Post- test test test S1 50 52 67 1.5 S18 S2 61 76 82 2.1 S3 67 80 82 S4 56 62 S5 67 S6 Cycle Cycle Diff Post Post- -test test 45 50 50 0.5 S19 42 50 60 1.8 1.5 S20 70 55 71 0.1 73 1.7 S21 50 61 67 1.7 84 87 2.0 S22 57 78 82 2.5 88 87 90 0.2 S23 56 68 77 1.1 S7 65 63 77 1.2 S24 71 74 80 0.9 S8 45 48 50 0.5 S25 59 66 75 1.6 S9 80 80 81 0.1 S26 83 85 92 0.9 S10 80 67 82 0.2 S27 42 45 57 1.2 S11 61 71 73 1.2 S28 54 56 67 1.3 S12 44 46 50 0.6 S29 58 65 70 1.2 S13 49 54 67 1.8 S30 55 55 77 2.2 S14 78 82 87 0.9 S31 45 50 60 1.5 S15 55 63 67 1.2 S32 53 64 67 1.4 S16 67 70 75 0.8 S33 64 73 84 2.0 S17 66 66 67 0.1 S34 57 67 76 1.9 XVIII Pre-test APPENDIX 7: PRE-SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (Vietnamese) Chào em, cô thực bảng câu hỏi điều tra với mục đích thu thập số liệu cho đề tài “Nghiên cứu hành động cải thiện kỹ nói cho học sinh qua việc giảng dạy Tiếng Anh dựa kịch trường THCS Đông Anh, Hà Nội.” Các em khoanh câu trả lời cho câu hỏi viết câu trả lời Cô cảm ơn tham gia em Câu hỏi 1: Em thấy việc thực hành nghe nói qua hội thoại Tiếng Anh sách giáo khoa nào? a Thú vị b Bình thường c Nhàm chán d Quá khó Câu hỏi 2: Em có ngại đứng nói trước lớp khơng ? Hãy nêu lí sao? a Có b Khơng Lí do: …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… Câu hỏi 3: Em có thích học Tiếng Anh qua hoạt động tình kịch khơng? a Có b Khơng Câu hỏi 4: Em biết hoạt động kịch hoạt động sau? a Đóng vai b Chỗ ngồi nóng c Kể chuyện d Kịch câm XIX APPENDIX 7: PRE-SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (English) This survey questionnaire is designed for my thesis: “An action research project on improving students’ speaking skills through drama-based English language teaching at a secondary school in Dong Anh district, Ha Noi” Your assistance completing this survey questionnaire is highly appreciated Please circle the most appropriate options according to you or write the answer where necessary Question 1: Are the dialogues in the textbook too difficult, too easy; boring or interesting to speak and listen? a Interesting c Boring b normal d too difficult Question 2: Are you afraid of speaking in front of the class? Give your reasons a Yes b No Give your reason: …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… Question 3: Do you like learning English through activities and dramas? a Yes b No Question 4: Which kinds of the following dramas you know? a Role play b Hot Seating c Storytelling d Mime Thank you very much for your assistance! XX APPENDIX 8: POST- SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (Vietnamese) Phiếu thu thập thông tin phần nghiên cứu việc sử dụng kỹ thuật kịch dạy nói cho học sinh trung học sở Việc tham gia trả lời câu hỏi em cải thiện việc dạy học nói tiếng Anh cấp trung học sở Các em trả lời câu hỏi cách trung thực xác Cơ cảm ơn giúp đỡ em Trước trả lời câu hỏi, em điền đầy đủ thông tin đây: -Họ tên: - Giới tính: Nam/ Nữ - Tuổi: Khoanh tròn câu trả lời mà em thấy phù hợp cho câu hỏi sau: Câu hỏi Em có thích học Tiếng Anh qua hoạt động kịch khơng? A Rất thích B Thích C Bình thường D Khơng thích Câu hỏi Em cho ý kiến hoạt động kịch ? Đóng vai (Role play) A Rất thích B Thích C Bình thường D Khơng thích C Bình thường D Khơng thích B Thích C Bình thường D Khơng thích B Thích C Bình thường D Khơng thích Chỗ ngồi nóng (Hot Seating) A Rất thích B Thích Kể chuyện ( Storytelling) A Rất thích Kịch câm (mime) A Rất thích Câu hỏi Em có thích thực hoạt động học sau khơng? A Rất thích B Thích C Bình thường D Khơng thích Câu hỏi 4: Em cho ý kiến tình áp dụng học đây? XXI Đóng vai phóng viên kênh truyền hình trường kể hoạt động trường em A Rất thích B Thích C Bình thường D Khơng thích Đóng vai hướng dẫn viên du lịch kể quê hương em A Rất thích B Thích C Bình thường D Khơng thích Đóng vai nhà lịch sử kể di tích lịch sử quê hương em A Rất thích B Thích C Bình thường D Khơng thích Đóng vai phóng viên giới thiệu kỳ quan thiên nhiên giới A Rất thích B Thích C Bình thường D Khơng thích Đóng vai phóng viên giới thiệu hoạt động truyền thống ngày Tết A Rất thích B Thích C Bình thường D Khơng thích Phỏng vấn người bạn nước ngồi ngơi trường bạn A Rất thích B Thích C Bình thường D Khơng thích Phỏng vấn người bạn lớp người bạn thân bạn A Rất thích B Thích C Bình thường D Khơng thích Phỏng vấn du khách nước ngồi di tích lịch sử A Rất thích B Thích C Bình thường D Khơng thích Phỏng vấn du khách kỳ quan giới A Rất thích B Thích C Bình thường D Khơng thích 10 Phỏng vấn người bạn nước hoạt động ngày Tết A Rất thích B Thích C Bình thường D Khơng thích Câu hỏi Em có thích thực hoạt động tình học sau khơng? A Rất thích B Thích C Bình thường D Khơng thích Câu hỏi Em nghĩ vui vẻ, tự tin tự học điều khơng? A Hồn tồn đồng ý B Đồng ý C Khơng đồng ý D Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý XXII Câu hỏi Em có nghĩ em nói Tiếng Anh tốt qua cách học khơng? A Hồn tồn đồng ý B Đồng ý C Khơng đồng ý D Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý Câu hỏi Em cảm thấy phát huy kỹ qua cách học không? Kỹ hợp tác với bạn A Hoàn toàn đồng ý B Đồng ý C Khơng đồng ý D Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý Kỹ thuyết trình A Hồn tồn đồng ý B Đồng ý C Khơng đồng ý D Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý Kỹ sử dụng từ A Hoàn toàn đồng ý B Đồng ý C Khơng đồng ý D Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý Kỹ tư A Hoàn toàn đồng ý B Đồng ý C Khơng đồng ý D Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý Tự tìm hiểu kến thức thực kế XXIII A Hoàn toàn đồng ý B Đồng ý C Khơng đồng ý D Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý Câu hỏi Em thấy khả phát âm, vốn từ kiến thức ngữ pháp em có tốt qua cách học khơng? A Hồn tồn đồng ý B Đồng ý C Không đồng ý D Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý Câu hỏi 10: Em khoanh vào điều em muốn cô thay đổi để em học tốt theo cách học này? Cô cần nói tiếng Anh tiếng Việt giải thích Cơ cần nói hồn tồn tiếng Việt giải thích Cơ nên nói chậm Cơ nên làm mẫu trước để em học theo Cô nên cho chúng em cụm từ theo chủ điểm Ý kiến khác: Chúc em hạnh phúc thành công! XXIV APPENDIX 8: POST - SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS IN (English) This questionnaire is part of research in applying drama technique in teaching secondary students speaking skill Your response will help improve teaching and learning secondary speaking skill Please answer the following questions honestly and exactly Thanks so much for your help Please fill in the infomation about you: Name Male/Female Age Please circle the answer you find suitable for you Question 1: Do you like learning English through Drama activities? A Strongly like B Like C Normal D Dislike Question 2: Give your ideas about the following common drama activities? Role play A Strongly like B Like C Normal D Dislike B Like C Normal D Dislike B Like C Normal D Dislike B Like C Normal D Dislike Hot seating A Strongly like Storytelling A Strongly like Mime A Strongly like Question 3: Do you like to carry out these activities in the next lessons? A Strongly like B Like C Normal D Dislike Question 4: Give your ideas about the applying situations in the lessons below Play a role as a reporter of your school TV channel to tell about activities at your school A Strongly like B Like C Normal D Dislike Play a role as a tourist guide to tell about your hometown A Strongly like B Like C Normal XXV D Dislike Play a role as a historian to tell about a historical place in your hometown A Strongly like B Like C Normal D Dislike Play a role as a reporter to introduce about a natural wonder in the world A Strongly like B Like C Normal D Dislike Question 5: Do you like to carry out these situations in the next lessons? A Strongly like B Like C Normal D Dislike Question 6: Do you think you feel happy, confident and find something for selflearning? A Strongly agree B Agree C Disagree D Strongly disagree Question 7: Do you think you can speak English better through this style learning? A Strongly agree B Agree C Disagree D Strongly disagree Question 8: Do you think your following skills have improved through this style learning? Co-operation skill A Strongly agree B Agree C Disagree D Strongly disagree B Agree C Disagree D Strongly disagree B Agree C Disagree D Strongly disagree B Agree C Disagree D Strongly disagree C Disagree D Strongly disagree Presentation skill A Strongly agree Skill of using vocabulary A Strongly agree Thinking skills A Strongly agree Self- learning actual knowledge A Strongly agree B Agree Question 9: Do you think your pronunciation, lexical resource and grammatical range and accuracy have been improved through this style learning? A Strongly agree B Agree C Disagree XXVI D Strongly disagree Question 10: Circle the following statements you want my changes in order to help you study better with this learning style You need speak both English and Vietnamese to explain You need speak all in Vietnamese to explain You should speak more slowly You should sample activities before I You should give us vocabulary related the topics Other ideas Good luck and success XXVII APPENDIX 9: INTERVIEW GUIDE WITH STUDENTS (Vietnamese) Con có thấy học tiếng Anh qua hoạt động kịch vui thú vị không? Con thấy học trôi nhanh mong học tiếp để tham gia hoạt động kịch bạn khơng? Khi tưởng tượng phóng viên, hướng dẫn viên, nhà lịch sử có cần tự tìm hiểu trước xem cơng việc, phong cách họ để đóng vai họ khơng? Trong lúc tham gia hoạt động kịch thấy làm việc bạn vui học thuộc từ, mẫu câu nhanh khơng? Con gặp khó khăn vấn đề học nói qua hoạt động kịch? APPENDIX 9: INTERVIEW GUIDE WITH STUDENTS (English) Do you find funny and interesting to learn Enlish through drama activities? Do you think the lessons go fast and you look forward to continuing the next lesson to join in other drama activities with your classmates? When immagining to be a tourist guide, historian, you need to understand their work, identity to play as their roles perfectly? Do you find happy to cooperate with your classmate and learn by heart new words and model sentences better when working with drama activitis? Do you find any difficulties when learning speaking skill through drama activities? XXVIII APPENDIX 10: LESSON PLAN FOR TOPIC 1: MY NEW SCHOOL HANDOUT XXIX ... verbal expressions and gestures using his imagination and memory According to Shand (2008), "educational drama and Second Language Instruction educational drama refers to using creative drama techniques... language to chat and transmit messages in different and appropriate situations That is to say speaking is an important skill which deserves more attention in both first and second language because it... that a drama can help the learners understand the lesson easily than the traditional instruction “By using drama techniques to teach English, the monotony of a conversational English class can