An investigation into the reality of teaching and learning speaking skills to the 2nd year non-major english students at pre-intermediate level of proficiency at hanoi university of industry

An investigation into the reality of teaching and learning speaking skills to the 2nd year non-major english students at pre-intermediate level of proficiency at hanoi university of industry

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HANOICOLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE

POST GRADUATE STUDIES -*** -

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP HÀ NỘI

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English MethodologyCode: 601410

HANOI, DECEMBER 2008

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HANOICOLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE

POST GRADUATE STUDIES -***** -

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP HÀ NỘI

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English MethodologyCode: 601410

Supervisor: Ms Đỗ Thị Mai Thanh MA

HANOI, DECEMBER 2008

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOICOLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGESDEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT

I certify that the minor thesis entitled: “An investigation into the Reality of Teaching andLearning Speaking Skills to the 2nd year non-major English students at Pre-Intermediate levelof Proficiency at Hanoi University of Industry” is submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of Master of Arts is the result of my own work, except whereotherwise acknowledge and that this minor thesis or any part of the same had not been submittedfor a higher degree to any other universities or institutions.

Date:…….……….Signature: ………

It is my pleasure to acknowledge my debt to the Board of Management of ForeignLanguages Department for their support and the favorable conditions they have granted meduring my study.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express my deepnest thanks to all theteachers and colleagues, especially Ms Le Thi Thu Huong in the non-major English group 2 atHanoi University of Industry for their help in completing the survey questionnaires, for theirconstructive suggestions to this research, and for their willingness to share their relevantproblems with me.

I am most thankful to the students of K9 at Faculties of Economics, Engineering,Chemistry, Electronic and Computer Science at Hanoi University of Industry whose cooperationis great significance to the completion of the study.

Finally, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my parents, my husband whose lovingsupport has been encouraging me to fulfill this thesis successfully.

The thesis consists of three main parts: the introduction, the development, and theconclusion The introduction - gives rationale for the study and sets up the aims, scopes andmethods of the study The develoment - which is considered as the main part of the study,includes three chapters with differents functions Chapter 1 provides theoretical backgroundabout Communicative Language Teaching, speaking skills, three main stages of speaking andmotivation in a speaking lesson Chapter 2 investigates the current teaching and learning Englishspeaking to the 2nd year non-major English students at Hanoi University of Industry, theproblems encountered by both teachers and students as well as the materials used in teachingand learning English speaking to 2nd year non-major English students are exposed This chapteralso deals with the research methodology which covers participants, the settings of the study, thedata collection methods, the data analysis, and the findings and discussions Chapter 3 offerssome possible suggestions to improve the teaching and learning English speaking to 2nd yearnon-major English students Part three - the conclusion - sums up the issues addressed andsuggests some main points for further research.

LIST OF ABREVIATIONS

Ss : StudentsTs : Teachers

HaUI: : Hanoi University of Industry

CLT : Communicative Language TeachingN : Number

Voc : VocabularyStru : Structures

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

Table 1: Teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards speaking skill and the role of teaching

Table 2: Students’ purposes of learning English and their participation in learning to speak

Table 3: Teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards speaking materials and appropriate time for teaching and learning English speaking 24Table 4: Pre-speaking activities carried out by teachers and students’ responses 26Table 5: While-speaking activities carried out by teachers and students’ responses 27Table 6: Post-speaking activities carried out by teachers and students’ responses 28Table 7: Teachers’ techniques to teach English speaking and students’ responses 29Table 7.1: Teachers’ techniques to deal with students’ low speaking level and their

Table 7.2: Teachers’ techniques to encourage students to speak and improve their

Chart 1: Teachers’ attitudes towards Communicative Language Teaching 22Chart 2: Teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards students’ speaking competence 23Chart 3: Teachers’ and students’difficulties in teaching and learning English speaking 25Chart 3.1: Teachers’ difficulties in teaching English speaking skills 25Chart 3.2: Students’difficulties in learning English speaking skills 25

1.3.2 Problems with Speaking Activities 11

2.1 Practical Situation of Teaching and Learning English Speaking Skills at HaUI 15

2.1.1 Description of the English Course and its Objectives at HaUI 15

2.2.4 Data Analysis of the Teachers’ and Students’ Survey Questionnaires 20

2.3.1 Teachers’ and Students’ Attitudes towards Speaking and Speaking Materials 33 2.3.2 Teachers’ and Students’ Problems in Teaching and Learning to Speak

3.1 Improving Teachers’ Classroom Techniques to Teach Speaking Materials 38

3.1.1 Increasing Students’ Speaking Interest and Motivation 38

3.1.2 Applying Different Activities in Teaching Speaking 39

3.1.3 Activating Students to Work in Different Stages of Speaking 41

3.2.1 Making Students Aware of the Nature of Speaking Process 42

3.2.2 Encouraging Students to Develop Speaking Habits 42

3.4 Improving Teachers’ Professional Knowledge, Teaching Methodology and

3.4.1 Improving Teachers’ Professional Knowledge 45

REFERENCES

Brown, G &Yule, G (1983) Teaching the spoken English Cambridge: Cambridge University

Brown, H Douglas (1994) Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language

Pegagogy Prentice Hall Regents.

Burkart, G S (1998) Spoken Language: What it is and how to teach it Washington, DC:Centre for Applied Linguistics Retrieved from www.nclrc.org.

Byrne, D (1991) Techniques for classroom interaction London: Longman.

Canale, M and Swain, M (1980) Approaches to Communicative Competence Singapore:

Celce-Murcia & L Mc-Intosh (eds) (1979) Teaching English as Second or Foreign

Language Rowley Massachusetts: Newbury House.

Cohen, A D (1998) Strategies in Learning and Using a Second Language New York:

Das, B K (1985) Communicative Language Teaching Seameo Recl.

Doff, A (1988) Teaching English: A training course for teachers Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Downs, M (2000) Increasing Students Motivation Teacher’s Edition, 4, 8-13.

Harmer, J (1991) The Practice of English Language Teaching Longman: London and New

Ellis, R (1997) Second Language Acquisition Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Le Van Canh (2004) Understanding Foreign Language Teaching Methodology National

University Publishing House.

Lighbow, P M and Spada, N (1999) How Language are Learned Oxford: Oxford

University Press.

Littlewood, W (1981) Communicative Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Lewis, M and Hill, J (1992) Practical Techniques for Language Teaching London:

Comercial Colour Press.

Mathews-Aldinli, J and Van Horne, R V (2006) Promoting the Success of Multilevel ESL

Classes: What Teachers and Administrators Can Do Centre for Adult English Language

Acquisition (CAELA) Retrieved from www.cal.org/caela/els_resources

Nunan, D (1989) Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Nunan, D (1991) Language Teaching Methodology UK: Prentice-Hall International.

Nunan, D (1991) Reseach Method in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University

Nuttall, C (1996) Teaching Reading skills in a Foreign Language Macmillan.

Pattison, P (1987) Developing Communicative Skills Cambridge: Cambridge University

River, W M and Temperley, M S (1986) A Practical Guide to the Teaching of English as a

Second or Foreign Language Oxford University Press.

Savinon, S J (1983) Communicative Competence: Theory and Classroom Practice

Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.

Ur, P (1996) A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS

This survey is designed to collect information for the study on “An investigation into theReality of Teaching and Learning English Speaking to the 2nd year non-major English studentsat Hanoi University of Industry” Your assistance in completing the following items is highlyappreciated You can be certain that this is for research purpose only and that you will not beidentified in any discussion of the data.

Before answering the questions, please fill in some information:

* Gender : Male/ Female* Your age :

* How long have you been teaching English? (0-3 years; 4-5 years; 6-8 years; more than 10years)

* What materials are you using to teach English at your University?

3 What do you think of your students’ Speaking competence at HaUI?

A Really bad B Bad C Quite good D Good E Really good

4 What are the appropriate periods (45 minutes/period) for teaching and learning EnglishSpeaking to the 2nd year non-major students?

A 1 period/ week C 3-4 periods/ week.

B 1-2 periods/ week D More than 4 periods/ week.

5 What do you think of the materials used for teaching and learning Speaking to the 2nd

year non-major English students at Pre-Intermediate level of Proficiency at yourUniversity?

A Difficult and boring C Interesting and stimulating.B Difficult but interesting D Easy and boring.

6 What are your difficulties in teaching Speaking skills to the 2nd year students at Intermediate level of Proficiency?

Pre-A Students’ low motivation E Large and heterogeneous class.B Students’ low level of English proficiency F Inappropriate materials.

C Time limitation G Poor teaching equipments.

D Students’ laziness H Others (please specify)

7 Does your university have enough modern equipments (such as radio, TV, computer,video, projector etc.) for teaching English Speaking skills?

A Yes B No C Some of the equipments (please name)

9 Do you apply CLT in teaching Speaking?

A Yes B No I use method.

10 What do you always do before a Speaking task?

A Do nothing and go straight to the task.B Only instruct students how to do the task.

C Give students some background knowledge about the topic.

D Provide some necessary vocabulary and structures related to the topic.E Discuss with students to lead them to the topic.

F Brainstorm the topic.

G Others (please specify)

11 What do you do while students practice Speaking?

A Help students with useful vocabulary and structures.B Go around the class to monitor.

C Stay at your seat and relax.D Take time to do other things.

E Others ( please specify)……….

12 What do you do when students show low motivation in Speaking activities?

A Carry out on-going assessments (giving students marks for participation).B Let them choose their favourite partners.

C Give them some more support about vocabulary, structures and ideas.D Encourage students to willingly take part in the activities.

E Ignore them.

F Others ( please specify)……….

13.What do you often do after your students finish practising?

A Call some pairs to check.

B Appoint one or two groups to present.C Exchange pairs to pairs / groups to groups.D Check as the whole class.

E Don’t check at all.

F Others ( please specify)……….

14 What do you do when students keep making mistakes?

A Keep silent and encourage them to continue.

B Keep silent but do not encourage them to continue.

C Interrupt them and correct the mistake every time they make.D Wait until students finish and correct all mistakes they made.E Get angry and ask them to stop.

F Others ( please specify)……….

15 How do you deal with students’ low level of spoken English?

A Select and organize simple communicative activities.B Give students chances in different Speaking activities.C Translate instructions into Vietnamese.

D Give them the English equivalents from their ideas in Vietnamese.E Criticize them for their low level.

F Neglect them.

G Others ( please specify)……….

16 What do you do to encourage your students to speak?

A Suggest interesting topics for discussion.

B Give students some useful suggestions related to the topic.C Let students choose topics themselves to discuss.

D Use other authentic materials (visual aids, stories, songs, video clips, movies, etc.)E Involve students in the real English Speaking environment.

F Carry out on-going assessments (giving students marks for participation) G Do nothing.

H Others ( please specify)……….

17 What do you do to improve your students’ Speaking skills?

A Ask students to learn by heart all learnt vocabulary and structures.B Ask students to practise English everyday.

C Ask students try to speak as much English as possible.D Advise students try to communicate with native speakers.

E Suggest students taking an English course in Foreign language Centers.F Others ( please specify)……….

APPENDIX 2: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS

Phiếu thu thập thông tin này được lập ra nhằm mục đích giúp các sinh viên không chuyên nămthứ hai trình độ tiền trung cấp tại trường Đại Học Công Nghiệp Hà Nội nâng cao kĩ năng nói.Việc tham gia trả lời các câu hỏi của các bạn sẽ là nguồn đóng góp rất có giá trị để chúng tôihoàn thiện cách dạy và học nói tiếng Anh cho sinh viên năm thứ hai không chuyên tại trường đạihọc này.

Xin vui lòng trả lời những câu hỏi dưới đây một cách trung thực và chính xác nhất.Chúng tôi đánh giá cao sự giúp đỡ của các bạn.

Trước khi trả lời các câu hỏi, xin vui lòng điền đầy đủ các thông tin dưới đây:

- Bạn đã học tiếng Anh được bao lâu rồi? ( chưa đến 1 năm; 1-2 năm; 3-5 năm; hơn 5 năm)- Bạn đang học những giáo trình tiếng Anh nào tại trường:

Xin vui lòng khoanh tròn những câu trả lời phù hợp cho những câu hỏi sau:

1 Mục đích học tiếng Anh của bạn là gì?

A Để vượt qua được các kỳ thi tiếng Anh D Để đi du học.

B Để giao tiếp E Để dễ tìm việc làm khi ra trường.C Để giải trí F Ý kiến khác

2 Theo bạn, kĩ năng nào trong bốn kĩ năng sau là khó nhất?

3 Quan điểm của bạn về việc học nói tiếng Anh ở trên lớp như thế nào?

A Rất cần thiết C Không cần thiết lắm.

4 Bạn có sẵn sàng nói tiếng Anh trong giờ không?

A Có, tôi rất thích nói tiếng Anh trong giờ.B Có, nhưng chỉ đôi khi.

C Không, tôi không sẵn sàng nói tiếng Anh trong giờ.

5 Tại sao bạn không sẵn sàng nói tiếng Anh trong giờ?

A Tôi ngại nói sai D Giáo viên dạy chưa hay.

B Tôi không quen với việc nói tiếng Anh trong giờ E Ý kiến khác C Mục đích học tiếng Anh của tôi không phải để giao tiếp.

6 Bạn đánh giá khả năng nói của mình như thế nào?

9 Bạn thường gặp những khó khăn gì khi học nói tiếng Anh?

A Bạn không hứng thú E Lớp đông và trình độ không tương đương.B Khả năng nói tiếng Anh của bạn chưa tốt F Giáo trình không phù hợp.

C Bạn không có đủ thời gian học G Thiếu các phương tiện giảng dạy trên lớp.D Bạn lười biếng H Ý kiến khác

10 Theo bạn, nguyên nhân nào ảnh hưởng tới khả năng nói của bạn nhiều nhất?

A Năng lực của bạn D Chủ đề nói.

B Tinh thần của bạn E Phương pháp giảng dạy của giáo viên.C Hứng thú của bạn F Ý kiến khác

11 Trường bạn có trang bị các phương tiện giảng dạy hiện đại như đài, ti vi, máy vi tính, đầu video, máy chiếu v.v để phục vụ cho việc dạy nói tiếng Anh không?

A Có B Không C Chỉ có một vài phương tiện giảng dạy như:

12 Giáo viên của bạn thường làm gì trước khi bắt đầu bài học nói tiếng Anh?

A Không làm gì và vào bài mới luôn.

B Chỉ hướng dẫn sinh viên cách tiến hành hoạt động nói.