The effect of role play on enhancing speaking skill for first year english majors at nong lam university in ho chi minh city m a 60 14 10

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE  THE EFFECT OF ROLE-PLAY ON ENHANCING SPEAKING SKILL FOR FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT NONG LAM UNIVERSITY IN HO CHI MINH CITY A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Department of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By DUONG MY THAM Supervised by DANG THI HUONG, Ed.D HO CHI MINH CITY, MARCH 2011 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby certify that this thesis entitled “The effect of role-play on enhancing speaking skill for first-year English majors at Nong Lam University in Ho Chi Minh City” is my own work This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution Ho Chi Minh City, March 3rd, 2011 DUONG MY THAM RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, DUONG MY THAM, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and the use of Master’s Theses deposited in Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by Library for the care, loan or reproduction of theses Ho Chi Minh City, March 3rd, 2011 DUONG MY THAM ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr DANG THI HUONG, who offered me valuable comments and guidance to the completion of this thesis Without her encouragement and assistance, this work would not have been done I am grateful to all my teachers for their helpful instructions during the M.A course I would like to send my sincere thanks to all teachers at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Nong Lam University for their help with the data collection for this study and all my students who were willing to answer the questionnaire as well as to take part in the interview Last but not least, my special thanks go to my family, especially my parents, who have sacrificed their whole life for the happiness of their children, for their great support ABSTRACT This thesis aims at (1) investigating the problems of the first-year English majors at Nong Lam University – Ho Chi Minh City in learning English speaking skill; (2) examining the advantages and disadvantages of role-play with a focus on the effect of role-play in teaching and learning English speaking skill; and (3) suggesting some possible ways to improve the teaching and learning of English speaking skill through role-play Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed in this study Thirty-three questionnaires were delivered to the first-year English majors who took a 15-week English speaking course with role-play for the experiment; and ten questionnaires were delivered to Vietnamese teachers of English to get their ideas about learning and teaching English speaking skill through role-play Interviews were also conducted with fifteen students in the experimental group to know their attitudes towards role-play used for studying spoken English Furthermore, in order to confirm the results of the study, the scores of diagnostic and achievement tests for the experimental and the control groups were analysed The study discovered that (1) in addition to poor pronunciation and vocabulary, some psychological factors such as shyness, anxiety, and fear of making mistakes prevent them from using the target language and (2) role-play gives students many opportunities to practise spoken English effectively in real life situations and promote students’ interaction As a result, students can speak English confidently, naturally, and fluently with English native speakers or those who use English as a means of communications in any circumstances TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Certificate of originality i Retention and use of the thesis ii Acknowledgement iii Abstract iv Table of contents v List of tables viii List of figures ix Abbreviations x Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Organization of the study Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 The nature of speaking 2.2 The effect of role-play on teaching spoken English 10 2.2.1 What is role-play? 10 2.2.2 Advantages and disadvantages of role-play 14 2.3 Brief introduction of teaching methods relating to speaking 17 2.3.1 The Direct Method 17 2.3.2 The Audio-Lingual Method 18 2.3.3 Communicative Language Teaching 18 2.4 The roles of teachers and learners in CLT 20 2.5 Communicative competence 21 2.6 Nonverbal communication 24 2.7 Factors affecting EFL learners’ speaking 25 2.8 Fluency and accuracy 30 2.9 Speaking assessment 31 2.10 Classroom management 34 Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 37 3.1 Research questions 37 3.2 Research design 37 3.2.1 Characteristics of subjects 39 3.2.2 The experimental teaching 41 3.2.3 Instruments 42 3.2.4 Data collection procedures 46 Chapter 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 48 4.1 Teachers’ responses to the questionnaire 48 4.2 Students’ responses to the questionnaire 55 4.3 Students’ responses to interview 64 4.4 Students’ test score 68 Chapter 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 74 5.1 Conclusions 74 5.2 Recommendations 76 5.2.1 To students 76 5.2.2 To teachers 77 5.2.3 To administrators 79 5.2.4 Materials 79 BIBLIOGRAPHY 81 APPENDIX 1: Questionnaire for teachers 88 APPENDIX 2: Questionnaire for students (in Vietnamese) 93 APPENDIX 3: Interview for students (in Vietnamese) 97 APPENDIX 4: Course description 98 APPENDIX 5: A communication task 99 APPENDIX 6: A role-play 100 APPENDIX 7: Procedures of a role-play 101 APPENDIX 8: The sample of a speaking lesson plan 102 APPENDIX 9: Criteria to assess students’ speaking ability 104 APPENDIX 10: Anova figures on students’ achievement scores 106 APPENDIX 11: Anova figures on students’ diagnostic and achievement scores 108 APPENDIX 12: The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) 109 LIST OF TABLES Page 3.1: Personal information of the teachers 40 3.2: Personal information of the students 41 4.1: Teachers’ ideas about students’ weaknesses in English speaking 49 4.2: Teachers’ ideas about students’ attitudes towards speaking English 49 4.3: Teachers’ ideas about students’ frequency of practising English speaking 50 4.4: Teachers’ ideas about students’ favourite classroom activities 52 4.5: Teachers’ ideas about the advantages of role-play 52 4.6: Teachers’ ideas about the disadvantages of role-play 53 4.7: To what extent does role-play improve students’ speaking ability? 54 4.8: Students’ weaknesses in speaking English 56 4.9: Students’ frequency of practising English speaking 58 4.10: Students’ favourite classroom activities 59 4.11: Students’ ideas about the advantages of role-play 59 4.12: Students’ ideas about the disadvantages of role-play 61 4.13: Do you like to practise English speaking skill through role-play? 63 4.14: Students’ opinions about the textbook 64 4.15: Results of the diagnostic and achievement tests 69 4.16: Interactive communication scores 71 4.17: Task completion scores 72 4.18: Fluency scores 73 LIST OF FIGURES Page 4.1: Teachers’ ideas about students’ favourite types of interaction 51 4.2: Students’ ideas about the importance of speaking skill 56 4.3: Students’ attitudes towards speaking English 57 4.4: Students’ favourite types of interaction 58 4.5: Speaking scores frequency distribution 70 98 nhiều hồn tồn khơng Nói lưu lốt Nói tự nhiên Nói tự tin Nói xác (Sử dụng ngơn ngữ lúc, nơi) Ý kiến khác _ 15 Trong khóa học vừa rồi, bạn có thích luyện nói với hoạt động đóng kịch theo tình khơng? Có Khơng Khơng rõ 16 Bạn có thích tiếp tục luyện nói với hoạt động đóng kịch theo tình khóa học khơng? Có Khơng Khơng rõ Phần III: ĐÁNH GIÁ VỀ GIÁO TRÌNH HỌC 17 Theo bạn, giáo trình luyện nói “Let’s Talk 2” có phù hợp khơng? Có Khơng Khơng rõ 18 Xin cho biết ý kiến bạn giáo trình “Let’s Talk 2” Đồng ý Khơng đồng ý Đề tài hấp dẫn Các hoạt động dễ hiểu Hình ảnh hấp dẫn Ít từ vựng Ít tình thực tế 19 Theo bạn, giáo viên kết hợp tình thực tế với hoạt động sách giáo khoa có hơp lý khơng? Có Khơng Khơng rõ 20 Để nâng cao hiệu dạy học nói tiếng Anh, bạn thấy cần cải thiện gì? a GIÁO VIÊN _ 99 b GIÁO TRÌNH _ c CƠ SỞ VẬT CHẤT _ _ 100 APPENDIX 3: INTERVIEW FOR STUDENTS (in Vietnamese) Tuổi: Giới tính: Thời gian học tiếng Anh: Bạn tự đánh giá bạn người học nói tiếng Anh? (tự tin, bình thường, hay khơng tự tin) Sau bạn sử dụng hoạt động đóng kịch theo tình (role-play) để luyện nói tiếng Anh, bạn thấy khả nói có tiến khơng?Nếu có, bạn thấy tiến nào? Bạn chọn nhiều đáp án  Nói tự nhiên   Nói lưu lốt   Nói tự tin   Nói xác (dùng ngơn ngữ lúc, nơi)   Ý kiến khác _ Bạn có thích sử dụng hoạt động đóng kịch theo tình để luyện nói tiếng Anh khơng? Tại sao? Khi dùng hoạt động đóng kịch theo tình để luyện nói tiếng Anh lớp, bạn có nhiều hội để nói khơng? 101 APPENDIX 4: COURSE DESCRIPTION (Year I, Semester I) Subject: Speaking Textbook: Let’s Talk Aim and objectives: This course is designed to provide students with opportunities to practise English speaking skill By the end of the course, it is expected that through the speaking lessons, students will be able to communicate in English Attendance: Students have to attend a succession of 15 meetings in one semester During the course, students’ participation or performance form part of the continuous assessment Thus, it will affect students’ final results Requirements and grading: (1) Attendance and Participation 10% (2) Diagnostic test 40% (3) Achievement test 50% Detailed description of the course contents: Week Topic/Contents Diagnostic test Introduction & Unit (Getting to know you) Unit (Getting to know more about you ) Unit (Relationships) Unit (cont.) Unit (Earning a living) Unit (Leisure time) Unit (Games and sports) Unit (Vacation time) 10 Unit 11 (The environment) 11 Unit 11 (cont.) 12 Unit 12 (News and current events) 13 Unit 12 (cont.) 14 Unit 13 (Living in the city) 15 Unit 13 (cont.) 102 16 Achievement test APPENDIX 5: A COMMUNICATION TASK Walk around the classroom, and find out one person who answers YES to each question Then ask an additional question to get more information Write the person’s name and the addition information Try to get a different student’s name for each question Who…? Name Additional information lives in an apartment has a pet wants to go to graduate school knows how to say “Good morning” in three language When you finish, rejoin your group Tell them what you learned about your classmates (cited in Let’s Talk 2, 2002: 80) 103 APPENDIX 6: A ROLE-PLAY TOPIC: GETTING TO KNOW MORE ABOUT YOU Card A: You imagine that you and your partner meet at a party for new students Make small talk and find out some interesting facts about your partner Your name is Samuel Wong (male)/ Samantha Wong (female) Your information:  You went to high school in the U.S  You like all kinds of sports, especially swimming  You recently visited relatives in Australia  You think that you met student B at a film festival last weekend, but you don’t remember his/her name TOPIC: GETTING TO KNOW MORE ABOUT YOU Card B: You imagine that you and your partner meet at a party for new students Make small talk and find out some interesting facts about your partner Your name is Christopher Suzuki (male)/ Christine Suzuki (female) Your information:  You were on the soccer team in high school  You love music, especially rock  You recently went rock climbing in India  You think that you met Student A at a film festival last weekend, but you don't remember his/her name (cited in New Person to Person 2, 2005: 9) 104 APPENDIX 7: PROCEDURES OF A ROLE-PLAY Level: pre-intermediate upwards Time: 25 minutes Organization: The whole class Preparation: Ask the students to use the following headings and write a biographical card for him or her according to the teacher’s role cards (see Appendix 6) Tell them they may indulge in their widest fantasies: Name: ………………………………………………………………………… Gender: …………………………………………………………………………… Place of birth: ………………………………………………………………… Special interests: ……………………………………………………………… Recent life events: …………………………………………………………… Where and when did you meet each other? ……………………………………………………………………… Procedure: The preparation for this activity may take students a little time Make sure they are all happy with their biographical role cards before you move into the activity Bring the class together and ask them to circulate around in the classroom Explain that they have been invited to a party and that they are going to talk with other people at the party in their identities and see whether they have met each other before The teacher can also go around and listen out for errors which were not predictable The teacher could even join in the conversations where there are obvious difficulties Follow-up: Initiate a discussion with the whole class on the kind of parties the students prefer, i.e big ones, small ones, fancy dress, etc 105 APPENDIX 8: THE SAMPLE OF A SPEAKING LESSON PLAN Theme: Getting to know more about you Textbook: Let’s Talk Time: 90 minutes Level: Pre-intermediate Objectives:  To help students practise communicative competence through arguing with each other and question-and-answer activity  To provide students with structures and knowledge to prepare for roleplaying  To give students opportunities to apply the knowledge in the lessons into role-plays Materials (role cards, the textbook, board, and chalk) Assumptions:  Students already know what role-play is  Students are familiar with speaking tasks in the textbook  Students have relevant background knowledge Procedure and contents: Time 5’ Content Lesson 2A: Making a Teacher’s tasks Students’ tasks T asks students to look at the Ss talk with partners about the pictures and to discuss in pair pictures good by asking Interaction S-S the questions in the textbook impression Activity 1A (Pair work) 10’ Activity (Pair work) 1B T explains difficult words and Ss listen and take notes if phrases to students necessary T asks students to choose the Ss select the statements in the things they usually when textbook and compare their meeting a new person for the ideas first time and to compare their ideas T-S S-S 106 15’ Activity (Join 1C another T directs students to discuss the Ss discuss the questions in questions in the textbook group T asks students to choose Ss Getting statements in the textbook and statements alone and compare personal compare their choices with the partners pair) 5’ T groups two pairs into one Lesson 2B: Activity choices with their 1A partners 1B T instructs students to write one read and choose the S-S S-S (pair work) 15’ Activity Ss write questions T-S Ss read the questions out T-S T asks students to discuss the Ss discuss the questions with S-S questions below each other Activity 1C T provides students with role- Ss role-play and ask the (Role-play) plays and explains procedures teacher for any help (pair work) question for each person listed in the textbook T gets students’ questions and writes them on the board 25’ S-S clearly to students (presented in Appendix 7) T initiates a discussion with the Ss answer whole class on the kind of questions the teacher’s T-S T requests them to finish the Ss interview classmates to S-S (Communicat- communication task (presented complete the task ion task) in Appendix 5) after explaining parties students prefer 15’ Activity 3D the instruction T checks information in some Ss questionnaires by asking the questions interviewees again about the questions asked answer the teacher’s T-S 107 APPENDIX 9: CRITERIA TO ASSESS STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ABILITY Criteria to grade students’ speaking skill at the diagnostic and achievement tests were based on the CELS Test of Speaking (see section 2.9), interaction criteria cited in Bygate (1997: 65), and Hughes (2003)’s proficiency description which included fluency, grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, and task completion The grading scale applied for the two tests focused on the following Interactive communication (30%) Scores Students’ performance One-way communication lasts during the conversation There is two-way communication between two students, little functional language and few strategies to maintain interaction Students can interact at required speed with other students by initiating and responding appropriately to fulfill the task requirements; functional language and strategies to maintain interaction and a willingness to develop the conversation are used during the speech Accuracy (30%) Scores Students’ performance Little language is produced Vocabulary is adequate but not rich, grammatical mistakes are obvious, and foreign accent is slight Vocabulary is rich, there are no grammatical mistakes, and accent is native-like 108 Task completion (20%) Scores 0.5 1.5 Students’ performance Tasks are not completed at all Tasks are relatively completed, but there are some misunderstandings Tasks are completed with few difficulties Tasks are completed successfully, and communicative goals are achieved Fluency (20%) Scores 0.5 1.5 Students’ performance Speech is frequently stopped Students can get ideas across, but hesitantly and briefly There is effective communication in short turns There is easy and effective communication in long turns 109 APPENDIX 10: ANOVA FIGURES ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT SCORES ANOVA tool in Excel software was used to identify the differences between the two groups In particular, if the P-value was smaller than 0.05, there was a clear difference between them The results of students’ speaking scores on interactive communication, task completion, and fluency were shown as follows Table 10.1: ANOVA figures on interactive communication between the control and experimental groups Anova: Single Factor SUMMARY Groups Count Sum Average Variance Group A 33 500 15.15151515 38.25758 Group B 33 680 20.60606061 43.37121 Df MS 490.9090909 40.81439394 F 12.02784 ANOVA Source of Variation Between Groups Within Groups SS 490.9090909 2612.121212 Total 3103.030303 64 65 P-value 0.000942462 F crit 3.990923688 110 Table 10.2: ANOVA figures on task completion between the control and experimental groups Anova: Single Factor SUMMARY Groups Count Sum Average Variance Group A 33 300 9.090909091 11.647727 Group B 33 410 12.42424242 18.939394 MS F P-value F crit 11.987616 0.000959719 3.990923688 ANOVA Source of Variation SS Df Between Groups 183.3333333 183.3333333 Within Groups 978.7878788 64 15.29356061 Total 1162.121212 65 Table 10.3: ANOVA figures on fluency between the control and experimental groups Anova: Single Factor SUMMARY Average Variance Group A Groups Count 33 Sum 325 9.848484848 13.257576 Group B 33 395 11.96969697 13.967803 MS F ANOVA Source of Variation SS Df Between Groups 74.24242424 74.24242424 Within Groups 871.2121212 64 13.61268939 Total 945.4545455 65 5.453913 P-value F crit 0.022671637 3.990923688 111 APPENDIX 11: ANOVA FIGURES ON STUDENTS’ DIAGNOSTIC AND ACHIEVEMENT SCORES Table 11.1: ANOVA figures on diagnostic and achievement scores in the control group Anova: Single Factor SUMMARY Groups Row Row Count 33 33 ANOVA Source of Variation Between Groups Within Groups SS 1.833333333 51.33333333 Total 53.16666667 Sum 198 209 Average 6.333333 Variance 0.6875 0.916666667 df MS 1.833333 0.802083 F 2.285714286 64 P-value 0.135492412 F crit 3.990923688 65 Table 11.2: ANOVA figures on diagnostic and achievement scores in the experimental group Anova: Single Factor SUMMARY Groups Row Row Count 33 33 Sum 201 226 Average 6.090909091 6.848484848 Variance 0.897727273 1.007575758 MS 9.46969697 0.952651515 F 9.940357853 ANOVA Source of Variation Between Groups Within Groups SS 9.46969697 60.96969697 df Total 70.43939394 65 64 P-value 0.002461477 F crit 3.990923688 112 APPENDIX 12: COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK OF REFERENCE (CEFR) ... great support ABSTRACT This thesis aims at (1) investigating the problems of the first- year English majors at Nong Lam University – Ho Chi Minh City in learning English speaking skill; (2) examining... effect of role- play on enhancing speaking skill for first- year English majors at NLU-HCMC based on the following reasearch questions: What are the advantages and disadvantages of role- play? How... the first- year English majors at NLU-HCMC in learning English speaking skill; (2) To examine the advantages and disadvantages of role- play with a focus on the effect of role play in teaching and