Áp dụng các hoạt động giải quyết vấn đề trong dạy nói cho sinh viên năm thứ hai chuyên anh tại đại học thương mại

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ THANH HÀ APPLYING PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES TO TEACH SPEAKING SKILLS TO THE SECOND YEAR ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS AT VIETNAM UNIVERSITY OF COMMERCE ÁP DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG GIẢI QUYẾT VẤN ĐỀ TRONG DẠY NÓI CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI CHUYÊN ANH TẠI ĐẠI HỌC THƯƠNG MẠI M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60.14.10 HANOI, 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ THANH HÀ APPLYING PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES TO TEACH SPEAKING SKILLS TO THE SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS AT VIETNAM UNIVERSITY OF COMMERCE ÁP DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG GIẢI QUYẾT VẤN ĐỀ TRONG DẠY NÓI CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI CHUYÊN ANH TẠI ĐẠI HỌC THƯƠNG MẠI M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60.14.10 Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Trầ n Xuân Điêp̣ HANOI, 2014 DECLARATION I hereby certify that the minor thesis entitled: “Applying Problem-Solving Activities in Teaching Speaking Skills for the Second-year English-Major Students at Vietnam University of Commerce” is the result of my own research to fulfill the MA Degree at Post-Graduate Department, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi The substance of this thesis has not, wholly or partially, been submitted for degree to any other university or institution Signature Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would love to express my deep indebtedness to a number of people whose invaluable support and encouragement were of great help in the completion of this study First and foremost, I would like to advance my special gratitude and respect to my minor thesis advisor, Assoc Prof Dr Tran Xuan Diep for his invaluable suggestions, continuous support, great encouragement, motivating attitude as well as critical comments from the beginning of my study I could never have achieved this without his support I am also thankful to all my teachers at the English department, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi My special thanks to 40 second-year students at Vietnam University of Commerce for their invaluable support and cooperation to start and complete my thesis Lastly, my special words of thanks are extent to my family for their endless help, patience and support ii ABSTRACT The current study entitled “Applying Problem-Solving Activities in Teaching Speaking Skills for the Second-year English-Major Students at Vietnam University of Commerce” was carried out to find out the effectiveness of problem-solving activities in improving students‟ speaking competence as well as investigate the students‟ motivation towards the use of problem-solving activities in speaking lessons at Vietnam University of Commerce (VUC), and then give some pedagogical implications for teachers An action research was implemented with 40 students of English Department at VUC during four weeks Data were collected by observations, oral tests, questionnaires, and student‟s journals To answer two research questions (1) To what extent does the application of problem-solving activities improve students‟ speaking skills? and (2) What are the effects of problem-solving activities on students‟ motivation?, four speaking lessons were conducted in the form of problem-solving activities The main findings highlighted the students‟ improvement in speaking skills after the treatment This was shown by the students‟ journals and comparisons of results of oral pre-test and post-test, which have the same format and criteria for assessing The analyses of the postintervention questionnaire and observation sheet also indicated that the students are more interested and involved in speaking lessons Thus, it is expected that the results of this study could benefit English teachers in general and English teachers in VUC in particular to enhance their speaking lessons iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Procedures of the Study 25 Table 2: Results of Question in the Questionnaire Before the Intervention 27 Table 3: Results of Question in the Questionnaire Before the Intervention 27 Table 4: Results of Question in the Questionnaire Before the Intervention 28 Table 5: Results of Question in the Questionnaire Before the Intervention 28 Table 6: Results of Question in the Questionnaire Before the Intervention 29 Table 7: Means and Standard Deviations of the Scores of the Pre-test and Post-test 31 Table 8: Correlations of the Pre-test and Post-test 31 Table 9: Paired Sample T-Tests 32 Table 10: Students’ Level of Involvement 35 Table 11: Students’ Interest and Benefits 36 Figure 1: Action Research Model ( Kemmis, 1988) 19 Figure 2: Comparison of Results of Pre-test and Post-test 30 Figure Students’ Level Motivation 34 Abbreviation VCU: Vietnam University of Commerce iv TABLES OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the Study 1.2 Aims of the Study .2 1.3 Objectives of the Study 1.4 Research Questions 1.5 Scope of the Study 1.6 Significance of the Study 1.7 Methodology 1.8 Design of the Study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Theoretical Background 1.1.1 An Overview of Speaking .5 1.1.1.1 Some Concepts of Speaking 1.1.1.2 The Roles of Speaking Skills in Language Teaching 1.1.1.3 Principles of Teaching Speaking 1.1.1.4 Classroom Speaking Activities .7 1.1.2 Problem-Solving Activities .8 1.1.2.1 Definitions of Problem Solving 1.1.2.2 Kinds of Problem-Solving activities .10 1.1.2.3 Advantages of the Application of Problem-Solving Activities in Teaching Speaking 11 1.1.3 Procedures of Conducting Problem-Solving Activities in a Group 13 1.2 Review of Related Works .14 v 1.3 Justification for the Study .15 1.4 Summary 16 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODS 17 2.1 The Setting 17 2.2 Subjects .18 2.3 Research Approach 18 2.4 Data Collection Instruments 19 2.4.1 Speaking Pre-test and Post-test .19 2.4.2 Questionnaires 20 2.4.3 Observation Sheet 20 2.4.4 Students’Journals 21 2.5 Intervention: The Application of Problem-Solving Activities .21 2.6 Data Collection Procedures 24 2.7 Data Analysis 25 2.8 Summary 26 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 27 3.1 Preliminary Investigation 27 3.1.1 Findings 27 3.1.2 Discussion .29 3.2 Evaluation 30 3.2.1 Research Question .30 3.2.1.1 Results from Pre-test and Post-test .30 3.2.1.2 Discussion 32 3.2.1.3 Results from Students’ Journals 33 3.2.2 Research Question .34 3.2.2.1 Results from Observation Sheet 34 vi 3.2.2.2 Discussion 35 3.2.2.3 Results from Questionnaire .35 3.2.2.4 Discussion 37 3.3 Summary 37 PART C: CONCLUSIONS 39 4.1 Recapitulation of Main Ideas 39 4.2 Limitations of the Study 40 4.3 Suggestions for Further Studies 40 REFERENCES 41 APPENDICES………………………………………………………………………I vii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the Study Among four skills, speaking plays the most essential part in communication In fact, Vietnamese students realize the necessity as well as importance of enhancing language skills in order to meet future job‟s needs and communicate in social conversations However, it is hard for most of them to use English in the real situations In the real context of Vietnam University of Commerce, lecture-oriented method is still applied at present although there have been a large number of changes about teaching materials and supplementary activities Students not feel elated and enthusiastic when participating in speaking lessons Their lack of confidence as well as uninteresting speaking activities leads to demotivate them to join in In addition, other problems such as lack of vocabulary, involvement or enjoyment have great impacts on their participation in speaking lessons To solve these problems, more effective speaking activities need to be exploited so as to enhance learners‟ communicative competence and help them get more involved in speaking lessons, so current teachers need to actively engage students in speaking activities that are enjoyable and are based on a more communicative approach One of them is problem-solving activities, which received many supports from scholars and teachers Using problem-solving activities is regarded as an effective way to practise communication skills in which students work with each other to find out appropriate solutions to a specific problem Therefore, this is a good chance for them to interact with teachers or other students, which encourage them to be more cheerful and inspired Moreover, their discussion will help them share information, create new ideas and boost their self-confidence Thus, their speaking skill will also be improved Students use target language as a means to solve a problem, which also increases their motivation, participation and critical thinking REFERENCES Asep Rahmat Hidayat (2008) Teaching speaking using problem-solving method at class tenth of SMA BINA MUDACICALENGKA Jakarta: Kencana Prenada Media Group Bassey, M (1998) „Action Research for Improving Practice’, in Halsall, R (ed.), Teacher Research and School Improvement: Opening Doors from the Inside Buckingham: Open University Press Brown, J.D (2001) Using Surveys in Language Programs Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Bygate, M., (1987) Spoken language pedagogy Oxford: Oxford University Press Byrne, D (1986) Teaching oral English London: Longman group UK Limited Chaney, A.L (1998) Teaching Oral Communication in Grades K-8 Boston: Allyn&Bacon Chuyen, H.T (2011) Using problem-based strategy in teaching English in a high school Nha Trang University Crook and Schmidt (1991) The practice of social research (3rd ed.) Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Heylighen F.(1988) Formulating the Problem of Problem-Formulation Cybernetics and Systems '88, Trappl R (ed.), (Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht), p 949-957 Harmer, J (2001) Coursebooks A human, cultural and linguistic disaster? met,8(4), 5–10 Harris, P D (1969) Testing English as a second language USA: McGraw-Hill Kemmis, Stephen and Robin McTaggart.(1988) The action research planner Victoria, Australia: Deakin University Press Klipppel, F (1984), Keep talking: Communicative fluency activities for language teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Lawrence, M (1972) Enquiry Method & Problem Solving in EFL classroom: Vol 6, No Laie, Hawaii, Fall 1972 TESOL 41 Littlewood, W (1981) Communicative language teaching: An introduction Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press Littlewood, W (1990) Communicative language Teaching An Introduction Cambridge University Press Mayer, R E., & Wittrock, R C (2006) Problem solving In P A Alexander & P H Winne (Eds.), Handbook of educational psychology (2nd ed., pp 287– 304) Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum J Mc Donough, S Mc Donough (1997) Research methods for English language teachers Arnold, Delh Natela DOGHONADZE & Gulnara GORGILADZE (2008) Problem solving in teaching foreign languages to students of pedagogical departments IBSU Scientific Journal Nation, I.S.P (1990) Teaching and Learning Vocabulary New York: Newbury House Nunan, D (1989) Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Nunan, D (1991) Language teaching method Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall Nunan, D (1992), Research Method in Language Learning, Cambridge University Press Oradee, T (2012) Developing Speaking Skills Using Three Communicativ Activities (Discussion, Problem-Solving, and RolePlaying) International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol 2, No Ormond, J.E (2006) Essentials of Educational Psychology Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall Richards, J., Platt, J., and Webber, H (1986) Longman dictionary of applied linguistics London: Longman Group Limited Rivers, W.M (1987) Interactive Language Teaching Cambridge Language Teaching Library 42 Shumin, K (1997) Factors to consider: Developing adult EFL students’ speaking abilities English Teaching Forum, 35(3) Scott, R (1981) Speaking (In Johnson & Morrow Eds) London: Longman Theodore Huebner (1960) Audio Visual Technique in Teaching Foreign Language New York: Cambridge University Press, p Ur, P (1996) A course in language teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Wallace, M J., 2001, Action Research for Language Teachers, Cambridge: CUP Wright, T.(1987) Roles of teachers and learners Oxford: Oxford University Press 43 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE (BEFORE THE INTERVENTION) MY NAME IS NGUYEN THI THANH HA FROM K21A AT POST-GRADUATE STUDIES, ULIS, VNU I AM CONDUCTING MY M.A THESIS ENTITLED “APPLYING PROBLEMSOLVING ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS TO THE SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT VIETNAM UNIVERSITY OF COMMERCE” I WOULD LIKE YOU TO HELP ME FINISH THIS SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE YOUR ASSISTANCE IN RESPONDING THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS WOULD MAKE A GREAT CONTRIBUTION TO THE COMPLETION OF MY THESIS YOU CAN BE ASSURED THAT YOUR NAME WILL NOT BE MENTIONED IN ANY DISCUSSION OF THE DATA COMPLETE THESE QUESTIONS, PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS TO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP! DIRECTIONS: PLEASE RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS AS HONESTLY AS POSSIBLE PUT A TICK IN THE BOX THAT CORRESPONDS TO YOUR ANSWER CHOICE QUESTION 1: HOW IMPORTANT IS SPEAKING SKILL TO YOU? VERY RATHER NOT AT ALL LITTLE QUESTION 2: DO YOU THINK WHAT LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY IS SPEAKING? TOO EASY EASY NORMAL DIFFICULT TOO DIFFICULT QUESTION 3: WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING FEARS DO YOU COME ACROSS WITH WHEN SPEAKING? LOOKING FOOLISH/EMBARRASSMENT FORGETTING WHAT YOU NEED/WANT TO SAY CRITICISM FROM AUDIENCE TOO MANY PEOPLE WATCHING/LOOKING AT YOU BEING LAUGHED AT I QUESTION 4: DO YOU THINK SPEAKING ACTIVITIES GIVEN IN CLASS HELP YOU IMPROVE YOUR SPEAKING SKILLS? STRONG AGREE DISAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL STRONGLY DISAGREE QUESTION 5: WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING FACTORS CAUSE DIFFICULTIES WHEN SPEAKING ENGLISH? BAD GRAMMAR INSUFFICIENT VOCABULARY SHYNESS POOR PRONUNCIATION II APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE (AFTER THE INTERVENTION) MY NAME IS NGUYEN THI THANH HA FROM K21A AT POST-GRADUATE STUDIES, ULIS, VNU I AM CONDUCTING MY M.A THESIS ENTITLED “APPLYING PROBLEMSOLVING ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS TO THE SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT VIETNAM UNIVERSITY OF COMMERCE” I WOULD LIKE YOU TO HELP ME FINISH THIS SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE YOUR ASSISTANCE IN RESPONDING THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS WOULD MAKE A GREAT CONTRIBUTION TO THE COMPLETION OF MY THESIS YOU CAN BE ASSURED THAT YOUR NAME WILL NOT BE MENTIONED IN ANY DISCUSSION OF THE DATA COMPLETE THESE QUESTIONS, PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS TO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP! PLEASE CIRCLE ONE NUMBER FOR EACH STATEMENT BELOW TO INDICATE YOUR CHOICE: QUESTION 1: WHAT IS YOUR LEVEL OF INVOLVEMENT IN THE PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES? NOT ALL AT LITTLE ENOUGH MUCH VERY MUCH IN THE FOLLOWING TABLE PLEASE RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS AS HONESTLY AS POSSIBLE PUT A TICK () IN THE BOX THAT CORRESPONDS TO YOUR ANSWER CHOICE FROM QUESTION TO QUESTION 9: REMEMBER, THERE ARE NO RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS! STATEMENT AGREE I am interested in doing problem-solving III NEUTR DISAGR AL EE activities very much I felt excited and comfortable when working on these problem-solving activities THE LESSONS IN THIS COURSE WERE VERY BORING PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES WERE VERY HELPFUL TO ENHANCE MY SPEAKING COMPETENCE WITH THE HELP OF PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES, I WAS MUCH MORE MOTIVATED AND FEEL FREE PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES CREATED THE REAL NEED FOR ME TO COMMUNICATE PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES HELPED ME PRACTICE WHAT I HAVE LEARNT IN REAL CONVERSATION 10 THANKS TO PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES, MY DECISION MAKING WAS IMPROVED IV APPENDIX OBSERVATION SHEET (ADAPTED FROM NUNAN 1989, P.110) DATE: OBSERVER: …………………………… …………………………………… TEACHER: ……………………………… TIME OF ………………………… CLASS: NUMBER OF ………………… LEVEL OF ………………………… CLASS: STUDENTS: OBSERVATION FOCUS: LEVEL OF STUDENT MOTIVATION GENERATED BY THE TEACHING MATERIALS IN USE, IS AN AVERAGE MARK FOR ANY ONE ITEM INSTRUCTIONS:  This sheet is for observing the class as a whole, not individual student  Complete this sheet when the activity is drawing to a close  Circle ONE number for each statement below  Add final comments at the bottom of the sheet if you wish Mark how involved in the learning task the students are not very involved very involved Mark the level of the student concentration on the learning task low high The students are enjoying the activity not really very much so The students are paying persistent (extended) attention to the learning task not really very much so Mark the student‟s activity level (effort/ intensity of application) low high The students find the teaching materials interesting not really very much so Studying through problem-solving activities is challenging for students not really very much so The applied method is appropriate for students not really very much so V APPENDIX CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING SPEAKING TESTS (ADAPTED FROM HARRIS, 1969, P.18) SPEAKING CRITERIA SCORE FURTHER EXPLANATION S Has fewer traces of foreign accent Always intelligible, though one is conscious of a definite Pronunciation problem necessitate concentrated listening and occasionally lead to Pronunciation misunderstanding Very hard to understand because of pronunciation problems It must frequently be asked to repeat Pronunciation problems so severe as to make speech virtually unintelligible Grammar Vocabulary Makes few (if any) noticeable errors of grammar of word order Occasionally makes grammatical and/or wordorder errors which not, however, obscure meaning Makes frequent errors of grammar and word order which occasionally obscure meaning Grammar and word order errors make comprehension difficult Must often rephrase sentence and/or restrict himself to basic patterns Errors in grammar and word order so severe as to make speech virtually unintelligible Use of vocabulary and idiom is virtually that of a native speaker Sometimes uses inappropriate terms and/or must rephrase ideas because of lexical inadequacies VI Fluency Frequently uses the wrong words, conversation somewhat limited because of inadequate vocabulary Misuse of words and very limited vocabulary make comprehension quite difficult Vocabulary limitations so extreme as to make conversation virtually impossible Speech as fluent and effortless as that of native speaker Speed of speech seems to be slightly affected by language problems Speed and fluency are rather strongly affected by language problems Usually hesitant, often forced into silence by language limitations Speech is halting and fragmentary as to make conversation virtually impossible Comprehension Appears to understand everything without difficulty Understands nearly everything at normal speed although occasional repetition may be necessary Understands most of what is said as slower-thannormal speed with repetitions Has great difficulty following what is said; can comprehend only "social conversation" spoken slowly and with frequent repetitions Cannot be said to understand even simple conversational English VII APPENDIX RECORDS OF SCORES OF STUDENTS’ PRETEST AND POSTTEST STUDENT TEST CODE PRE-TEST POST-TEST S01 6.5 S02 8 S03 8,0 7,5 S04 8,0 7,0 S05 7 S06 8.5 S07 8.5 S08 7.5 S09 7 S10 8,0 8.5 S11 8.5 S12 7,5 7.5 S13 8,5 S14 S15 6,5 8,0 S16 7,0 8,0 S17 7.5 8,5 S18 8.5 9,0 S19 S20 7.5 S21 8,5 S22 8 S23 7,0 8,0 VIII S24 7,5 8.5 S25 9,0 S26 S27 9,0 S28 7.5 S29 6.5 7.5 S30 8 S31 7,0 7,5 S32 8,0 8,5 S33 S34 7 S35 7,5 S36 6.5 S37 7,0 8,0 S38 8,0 S39 8,0 8,0 S40 7.5 IX APPENDIX ORAL PRE-TEST STUDENT A: YOU ARE INTERVIEWING STUDENT B FOR A JOB AT YOUR SPORTS CLUB ASK B THE RIGHT QUESTIONS TO OBTAIN THE ANSWERS BELOW SCORE ONE POINT FOR EACH CORRECT ANSWER YOU RECEIVE - At weekends - The Economist - Since I was at school - For two years - Several years ago - No, not yet - During the holidays - In the next six months - No, only a few weeks - No, I haven‟t STUDENT B: YOU ARE BEING INTERVIEWED FOR A JOB AT STUDENT A‟S SPORTS CLUB ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THEY ASK ORAL POST-TEST STUDENT A: YOU ARE A RESEARCHER AT NY UNIVERSITY‟S STERN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, AND AN EXPERT IN E-TAILING ANSWER B‟S QUESTIONS, ADDING DETAILS AND OPINIONS STUDENT B: YOU ARE A JOURNALIST INTERVIEWING A RESEARCHER FROM NY UNIVERSITY‟S STERN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ASK FOR INFORMATION AND OPINIONS ABOUT: - The problem of visitors who just browse websites without buying - Customer-tracking software and customer privacy - Animated sales reps - Your own question X APPENDIX LESSON PLAN TOPIC: CORPORATE CULTURE DURATION: 50 MINUTES I Aim: - Provide students with useful knowledge about culture at workplace - Encourage students to use useful language to discuss or exchange information with each other II Materials: - TEXTBOOK, CD III ANTICIPATED PROBLEMS: SS MAY HAVE DIFFICULTY IN EXPRESS THEIR FEELINGS ABOUT COMPANY CULTURE IV PROCEDURE: A PRE-SPEAKING (10 minutes) * Aim: to introduce the topic of work culture and work placements (internship) and provide students with language and knowledge and to highlight useful expression - Brainstorm words and phrases related to the topic and write them on board (e.g.: internship, the structure of company, work placement, office etiquette, relationship with colleague, etc.) - Introduce the recording of a conversation about work placement problems Tell Ss to listen to the tape and complete the task by answering some questions Call on some Ss to finish it Play the tape several times if necessary Ask other Ss in the class to comment on the work done by these students on the board Play the tape again and check the exercise in front of the class as a whole - Ask students to work in small groups to the task provided by the teacher Give students some minutes to think and discuss with their group members B WHILE- SPEAKING (30 minutes) - Students work in groups of three or four to rank the words according to size and give the reasons for their choice XI - Teacher gives instruction to the students - Teacher goes around and provides help when necessary - Teacher calls on some groups to practice in front of the class - Class listen to some groups presenting their ideas - Teacher gives feedback on students‟ presentation C POST- SPEAKING (10 minutes) - TEACHER ASKS SS TO WORK IN PAIRS AND TALK ABOUT THEIR WISH FOR THEIR FUTURE CAREER (PERKS, COLLEAGUE, AND ENVIRONMENT) - CALL SOME PAIRS TO PERFORM IN FRONT OF THE CLASS - MAKE NECESSARY COMMENTS AND CORRECTIONS XII ... UNIVERSITY OF COMMERCE ÁP DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG GIẢI QUYẾT VẤN ĐỀ TRONG DẠY NÓI CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI CHUYÊN ANH TẠI ĐẠI HỌC THƯƠNG MẠI M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology... THANH HÀ APPLYING PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES TO TEACH SPEAKING SKILLS TO THE SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS AT VIETNAM UNIVERSITY OF COMMERCE ÁP DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG GIẢI QUYẾT VẤN ĐỀ TRONG DẠY... the language classroom in Thai context In this study, a one group pre-test and post-test design was also employed for 49 students at a secondary school in Udon Thani, Thailand to assess their English