Using communicative classroom activities to support EFL students’ oral presentation an action research at an thi high school in hung yen province

HOÀNG THỊ VÂN VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Hoàng Thị Vân ENGLISH LANGUAGE USING COMMUNICATIVE CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES TO SUPPORT EFL STUDENTS’ ORAL PRESENTATION: AN ACTION RESEARCH AT ANTHI HIGH SCHOOL IN HUNG YEN PROVINCE MA THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSE: 2016 – 2018 HANOI, 2018 VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Hoàng Thị Vân USING COMMUNICATIVE CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES TO SUPPORT EFL STUDENTS’ ORAL PRESENTATION: AN ACTION RESEARCH AT ANTHI HIGH SCHOOL IN HUNG YEN PROVINCE Field: English Language Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Phạm Lan Anh, Ph.D HANOI, 2018 DECLARATION BY AUTHOR I, Hoàng Thị Vân, certify that the thesis entitled “Using communicative classroom activities to support EFL students’ oral presentation: An action research at An Thi High School in Hung Yen province” is the result of my research for the Degree of Master of Arts in English Language I confirm that this thesis has not been submitted for any other degrees The research reported in this thesis was approved by Graduate Academy of Social Sciences Author’s Signature Hoàng Thị Vân Approved by SUPERVISOR Phạm Lan Anh, Ph.D Date: ………………………… i ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS Although only one name appears as the author of this work, writing a thesis is indeed a collaborative effort I would like to express my sincere thanks to the many people who made it possible First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my M.A thesis’s supervisor, Dr Phạm Lan Anh for her kind consultation, invaluable encouragement as well as thorough correction in the process of completion Without her helpful guidance, this study would not have been achieved Next, I would like to convey my sincere appreciation and thanks to Mr Đặng Nguyên Giang and the staff of the Department of Foreign Languages, Graduate Academy of Social Sciences for granting me the honor of writing this thesis as well as their assistance and most valuable comments Specially, millions of my special thanks go to the teachers and students of An Thi High School who participated in this study for their kind and patient co-operation and encouragement They helped provide me with valuable data for the study so that I could have a better view of activities in presentation task in English speaking classes at An Thi High School in Hung Yen province Finally, I am deeply indebted to my family for their sympathy and support during all the time I was studying for M.A degree at Graduate Academy of Social Sciences Without their unconditional love and sincere contribution, I could not have overcome my difficulties and concentrated on my studies ii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION BY AUTHOR i ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS ii ABSTRACT vii LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF FIGURES & CHARTS ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims and Objectives of the Study 1.3 Research Questions 1.4 Scope of the Study 1.5 Significance of the Study 1.6 Research Methods 1.7 Structure of the Study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Communicative Competence 2.2 Communicative Language Teaching 2.3 Communicative Activities 2.3.1 Definition of Communicative Activities 2.3.2 Characteristics of communicative activities 2.4 Oral Presentation 10 2.4.1 General Understanding of Oral Presentation 10 2.4.2 Skills/ Sub-skills Involved in Oral Presentation 12 2.4.3 The Problems Faced by Students When Doing Oral Presentation 14 2.4.4 The Techniques to Overcome such Problems 17 2.4.4.1 Setting up the Presentation Class 17 iii 2.4.4.2 Organization of the Presentation 18 2.4.4.3 Presentation Skills 20 2.4.4.4 Performing Self Reflections 21 2.4.5 Evaluating and Assessing an Oral Presentation 22 2.5 Classroom Communicative Activities to Support Oral Presentation 23 2.6 Previous Studies 26 2.7 Summary 28 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 30 3.1 Research Design 30 3.1.1 Definitions of Action Research 30 3.3.2 Action Research Procedures 33 3.2 The Context of the Study 34 3.3 Participants 36 3.3.1 The Researcher- Teacher 36 3.3.2 The Teachers 36 3.3.3 The Students 37 3.4 Procedures of the Current Study 38 3.4.1 Diagnosing (week 1-2) 39 3.4.2 Planning (before the beginning of week 3) 39 3.4.3 Acting and Observing (from week to week 16) 40 3.4.3.1 The Detailed Action Plan 40 3.4.4 Reflecting (week 17- 18) 41 3.5 Data Collection Instruments 42 3.5.1 Diagnosing 42 3.5.1.1 Survey Questionnaire for Teachers and Students 42 3.5.1.2 English Speaking Test 44 iv 3.5.2 Acting and Observing 45 3.5.2.1 Lesson Plan 45 3.5.2.2 Speaking Observation Form 47 3.5.2.3 Students’ Opinion Form 48 3.6 Data Collection 48 3.7 Data Analysis 48 3.8 Summary 49 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 50 4.1 Data Collection and Analysis from Survey Questionnaire 50 4.1.1 Survey Questionnaire for Teachers 50 4.1.2 Survey Questionnaire for Students 55 4.2 The Data from the Speaking Test and English Speaking Observation 58 4.3 The Data from the Students’ Opinions through Communicative Activities 62 4.4 Discussion of the findings 64 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 67 5.1 Recapitulation 67 5.2 Concluding Remarks 68 5.3 Implications 69 5.3.1 Application of Communicative Activities 69 5.3.2 Practical Tips for Teachers 70 5.4 Limitations and Suggestions for Further Studies 72 5.4.1 Limitations 72 5.4.2 Suggestions for Further Studies 72 REFERENCES 73 APPENDIX 1: Survey Questionnaire for Teachers of English I APPENDIX 2: Survey Questionnaire for EFL Students III v APPENDIX 3: English Speaking Test V APPENDIX 4: Scoring Rubric for Oral Presentations VI APPENDIX 6: The three raters’ scores in English Speaking Test IX APPENDIX 7: Speaking Observation Form XI APPENDIX 8: Students’ Opinion Form XII APPENDIX 9: Lesson Plan XIV APPENDIX 10: Unit 3: Music- Lesson: Speaking (English 10 New) XVIII vi ABSTRACT This thesis has made attempts to examine: (1) the problems the students of the 10th grade An Thi High School face in doing their oral English presentation, (2) some kinds of communicative activities that can support the students in doing oral presentation tasks Specially, an action research project was carried out with the participation of 40 students in Grade 10A1 at An Thi High School in Hung Yen province The study lasted 18 weeks and involved some data instruments namely questionnaire, pre- test, observation, post-test The data collected in the initial stage showed that the obstacles of doing oral presentation tasks mainly came from the teaching methods and the differences of students’ English abilities, which resulted in differences in their attitude to speaking lessons An action plan of applying communicative classroom activities was implemented The data collected in the action stage pointed out that the students’ doing oral presentation was improved and the positive changes in their attitude toward speaking classes were also witnessed after the intervention vii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: A distinction between non- communicative activities 10 and communicative ones Table 2: Assessing Speaking Performance- Level B1 (CEFR) 22 Table 3: Procedures of the study 38 Table 4: Frame of Questionnaire for Teachers 43 Table 5: Frame of Questionnaire for Students 44 Table 6: A comparison of Mean Score on Pre-Test and Post- 59 Test by Three Raters Table 7: A comparison of the Speaking Observation in Each 60 Lesson Plan Table 8: The Mean Score of the Students’ Opinions toward Communicative Activities viii 63 How often does your teacher give speaking activities so that you can build up a report in the presentation task? A Always B Usually C Sometimes D Never How does your teacher organize these speaking activities? A Individuals B Pairs C Groups D None of them What activities you like most in a presentation task? A Individuals B Pairs C Groups D None of them When you speak English in the English speaking class? A When the teacher ask you B The lesson is interesting C When your classmates talk to you What prevents you from speaking English in the class time? A You have nothing to say B You feel shy in front of your classmates C Your teacher’s task gives you no stimulus D You are afraid of making mistakes IV APPENDIX 3: English Speaking Test Part 1: Interviewing Questions: (5 minutes) The teachers interview the students some questions that help them to have more ideas talking about their home life Can you tell me your name? Do you live in a nuclear family or an extended family? Do you have your both parents working? Do your parents often spend some time a day helping you with your homework? How much time you spend a day doing housework? Which household chores you like or dislike doing? Part 2: Presentation (10 minutes) After having a conversation with the teachers, students are asked to express their ideas about one of the following statements: Topic 1: People say that “Nowhere is sweeter than home” What you think about this statement? Topic 2: What you think the ideal family is like? The teachers listen to their oral production attentively, and then give some comments and marks for the representation based on the Scoring Rubric for Oral Presentations (Appendix 4) V APPENDIX 4: Scoring Rubric for Oral Presentations Level/ Category Behavior Scoring Criteria score Not able to understand or speak Only catch part of normal speech and unable continuous and accurate discourse (Communication) Gist of speech is relevant and can be basically understood Need to ask for repetition or clarification Present the case clearly and develop the speech coherently and constructively Some hesitation and repetition due to a measure of language but interacts effectively Can initiate, expand and develop a theme; speaking proficiency equivalent to that of an educated speaker; express ideas clear and relevant to the topic Speech is halting and fragmentary as to make the presentation virtually impossible Fluency Usually hesitant; often forced into silence by language limitations Speech and fluency are rather strongly affected by language problem Speed of speech seems to be slightly affected by language problem Speech as fluent and effortless as that of a VI native speaker Error in grammar and word order so severe as Grammar & Vocabulary to make speech virtually unintelligible Vocabulary limitation is so extreme to make the presentation finally impossible Grammar and word- order errors make comprehension difficult Must often rephrase sentences and/ or restrict self to basic patterns Misuse of words and very limited vocabulary make comprehension quite difficult Makes frequent errors of grammar and word order which occasionally obscure meaning Frequently uses wrong words; Presentation somewhat limited because of inadequate vocabulary Occasionally makes grammatical and/ or word- order errors which not obscure meaning Sometimes uses inappropriate terms and/ or must rephrase ideas because of lexical inadequacies Makes few (if any) noticeable errors of grammar and word- order Use of vocabulary and idioms is virtually that of a native speaker Total score 15 VII APPENDIX 5: □Pre- test English Speaking Ability Evaluation □Post- test Student……………………………Rater……………………Date: ………… Score Category Behavior (Communication) Fluency Grammar & Vocabulary Total score: …… VIII APPENDIX 6: The three raters’ scores in English Speaking Test Student Pre-test Post- test Rater Rater Rater Rater Rater Rater 5 9 3 8 3 3 8 3 4 5 4 8 6 8 3 8 8 9 11 12 12 10 10 11 14 14 15 10 10 10 10 13 13 13 11 3 12 10 10 11 13 4 8 14 3 8 15 8 11 13 11 16 6 9 17 6 9 18 9 9 19 3 9 20 4 10 21 6 9 10 22 6 23 3 7 24 3 25 9 11 14 14 26 9 13 12 13 27 5 10 10 11 IX 28 6 9 29 8 13 13 12 30 3 9 31 12 13 14 32 6 10 12 33 5 10 11 10 34 10 10 14 14 13 35 8 12 12 12 36 3 8 37 6 10 10 10 38 4 9 39 6 13 13 14 40 3 9 Mean 5,47 5,52 5,7 9,52 9,77 9,85 X APPENDIX 7: Speaking Observation Form Lesson plan:……………………… Time……… Date…… Class… Performance Excellent Good Fair Poor Very poor Learner is active to use English during the lesson Learner enjoys speaking Learner is self- confident to make conversation among their friends Learner provides ideas in classroom Learner asks some questions about the task Learner tried to edit himself while using language Learner uses sentences while using language The speech of leaner’s speech seems to be slightly affected by language problems Learner uses appropriate vocabulary and idioms to make oral presentation 10 Learner pronounces clearly XI APPENDIX 8: Students’ Opinion Form The researcher would like to ask for your cooperation in providing useful information for the thesis, M.A (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Please be ensured that your information will be kept strictly confidential Please check (v) the appropriate column according to your opinion Thank you for your cooperation 5= strongly agree, 4= agree, 3= uncertain 2= disagree, 1= strongly disagree Item Level of Opinion 11.Communicative activities are very interesting for me 12.Communicative activities help me to speak English 13.Communicative activities help me develop my English pronunciation 14.Communicative activities help me improve me English ability in doing oral presentation tasks 15.Communicative activities help me improve my grammar and vocabulary 16.Communicative activities help me have fun in the class 17.I have more confidence to speak English after I practise communicative activities in XII class 18.I have more chance to participate in class activities 19.Communicative activities help me think more analytically in English 20 Communicative activities help me speak English more fluently and correctly Total score XIII APPENDIX 9: Lesson Plan SPEAKING LESSON PLAN UNIT 3: MUSIC LESSON 4: SPEAKING Teacher: Hoàng Thị Vân Textbook: English 10 New (10-year program) Time: 45 minutes Class: 10 A1 at An Thi High School A Aims and Objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: - Talk about TV shows - Present their shows to the class - Complete the table with the notes from each show - Make a list of details about their shows B Preparations: - Teacher: Handouts, textbook, pieces of papers - Students: Textbook C Methods: - The whole lesson: Integrated, mainly communicative D Procedures: Stages/ Time Teacher’s activities Students’ activities Warm-up Name the pictures (7’) - Divide the class into groups - Work in group to find out the names - Stick pictures of some of the competitions competitions Suggested answer: - Ask each group to nominate Music Competition/ Music Show representatives to go to the Vietnam Idol XIV - blackboard to write the names of the The Way to the Olympia’s Peak competitions Ring the Golden Bell The group with more correct answers is the winner Beauty Contest Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? - Answer T’s questions (Students’ answers may vary)  Lead-in: -Ask Ss questions: + How often you watch TV contest shows? What are your favorite shows? + What you think about Vietnam Idol and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? - Today’s speaking lesson will help you know more about these shows - inform the class of the lesson Activity objectives : talking about TV shows (10’) - Listen to the teacher - write Talking about TV shows on the board and draw Ss’ attention to the TV - Look at the board blurbs - give Ss time to read the TV blurbs - read the TV blurbs - pre-teach some words : - listen and take notes celebrity panel ( groups of judges - give comments on the pictures including famous people) - work in pairs to complete the table VNR Records (names of a recording - complete the table on the board company ) Suggested answers : - elicit comments on the pictures and Vietnam Idol : XV get Ss to brainstorm the names of some - to find a pop star celebrities related to Vietnam Idol - the winner will be chosen by a shows celebrity panel and home viewers - ask Ss to work in pairs to complete the - the winner will get a recording table contract with VNR Records - call on some Ss to write the table on Who Wants to be a Millionaire the board and get the class to suggest - to find a winner who will get a big the facts to complete the table sum of money - the winner will answer a series of general knowledge questions - the amount of prize-money increases with the number of questions - draw Ss’ attention to the instructions - read the instructions carefully - get Ss to read the information and - read the information Activity make sure that they understand the - work individually to write down the (12’) activity facts - ask Ss to work individually to write - some Ss write their ideas about their down the facts for their imaginary TV shows on the board shows - give comments - call on some Ss to write the details about their shows on the board - elicit comments from the class This is an interactive and cooperative activity Activity - ask Ss to work in pairs to discuss, and - work in pairs to discuss (15’) come to an agreement on the facts used for their combined imaginary TV shows - have Ss rehearse the presentation in front of the class They should focus on learning tips for their presentations - make sure Ss understand the tips and XVI - give presentation apply them for their presentations - read the information and ask if Ss understand the words presentation, eye contact, and beforehand - give time for Ss to rehearse before their presentations In case there is a shortage of time, let this activity be prepared at home, and the presentation will be done during the next class Tips for presentations + smile, make eye contact + speak clearly, not too quickly + keep notes on small note cards E Homework (1’): - Teacher summarizes the main point and assigns homework: - Students, at home, have to write a write a few sentences expressing their opinions on one of the game shows mentioned in the last activity above and exercises in Workbook  Comments/ Feedbacks: ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… …… XVII APPENDIX 10: Unit 3: Music- Lesson: Speaking (English 10 New) XVIII ... decided to conduct the study on ? ?Using communicative classroom activities to support EFL students’ oral presentation: An action research at An Thi High school in Hung Yen province? ?? to find out... GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Hoàng Thị Vân USING COMMUNICATIVE CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES TO SUPPORT EFL STUDENTS’ ORAL PRESENTATION: AN ACTION RESEARCH AT ANTHI HIGH SCHOOL IN HUNG YEN PROVINCE. .. application of communicative language teaching approaches in developing the students’ ability in doing oral presentation task at secondary school level in general and at An Thi High School in Hung