Problems facing 10th form students in english speaking classes

Vinh university Foreign languages department *** - lữ thị thu thủy Problems facing 10th form students in english Speaking classes and some suggested solutions Những vấn đề học sinh lớp 10 gặp phảI (tiết) Học nói tiếng anh số giảI pháp đề nghị graduation paper field: methodology Vinh 2006 ****** i Acknowledgements The study would not have been completed without the help and encouragements of many people which I thank very much First of all I would like to express my sincere thanks to the teachers at the Foreign Languages Department of Vinh University who have given me a chance to the thesis and have equipped the firm foundation knowledge for me to finish it Secondly, I would like to extend grateful and deep thanks to my supervisor, M.A Nguyen Thi Van Lam, whose useful instructions and advices, as well as detail critical comments and encouragements help me a great deal from the beginning to the end of the thesis writing process My greatest debt is to Miss Sandy, who has enthusiastically helped me much with useful instructions and precious sources of materials I also would like to express my special thanks to the teachers of English and students in Duc Tho high school who have helped me to carry out the surveys for my thesis Finally, I am really thankful to my beloved family, my friends for their help and encouragement during the time I write the thesis Although the study has been done with all my attempts, my limitations of ability and knowledge may cause mistakes in the thesis Therefore, it is my sole responsibility for any shortcomings that the thesis may be considered to have Vinh, May 2006 Lu Thi Thu Thuy ii Table of contents page Acknowledgements i table of contents ii Part I: Introduction 1 The Justification of the Study The Aims of the Study The Scope of the Study The Methods of the Study The Design of the Study Part II: Investigation Chapter1: The Theoretical Background 1.1 An overview on Communicative Approach 1.2 Speaking Skills 1.2.1 What is Speaking ? 1.2.2 The Position of Speaking Skill among Four Language Skills 1.2.3 Characteristics of a Successful Speaking Activity 1.2.4 Principles to Teach Speaking in Communicative Approach 1.2.4.1 Principles for Beginning Levels 1.2.4.2 Principles for Intermediate and Advanced Levels 1.3 Problems with Learning Speaking Process Chapter 2: Situation Analysis 15 2.1 The Overview of the Survey 15 2.1.1 Objective of the Survey 15 2.1.2 Informants and Their Background 15 2.1.2.1 The Teachers 15 2.1.2.2 The Students 15 iii 2.2 Description of the Survey 16 2.3 Survey Result and Data Analysis 16 2.4 Summary 21 Chapter 3: Suggested Solutions to the Problems Facing 10th Form Students in Speaking Classes 22 3.1 General Solutions to the Problems Facing Students 22 3.1.1 Use Group Work 22 3.1.2 Base the Activity on Easy Language 22 3.1.3 Make a Careful Choice of Topic and Task to Stimulate Interest 22 3.1.4 Give Some Instruction or Training in Discussion Skills 23 3.1.5 Keep Students Speaking the Target Language 23 3.2 Suggested Activities 24 3.2.1 Group Work 24 3.2.1.1 The Purpose of the Activity 24 3.2.1.2 The Procedures of the Activity 24 3.2.1.3 Some Specific Suggested Group Work Activities 26 3.2.2 Role Plays 27 3.2.2.1 The Purpose of the Activity 27 3.2.2.2 The Procedures of the Activity 28 3.2.2.3 Some Specific Suggested Role-play Activities 28 3.2.3 Games for Speaking 32 3.2.3.1 The Purpose of the Activity 32 3.2.3.2 The Procedures of the Activity 32 3.2.3.3 Some Specific Suggested Games 32 3.2.4 Using Audiovisual Aids 35 3.2.4.1 The Purpose of the Activity 35 3.2.4.2 The Procedures of the Activity 36 3.2.4.3 Some Specific Suggested Activities iv 36 Part III: Conclusion 39 Recapitulation of the Study 39 Suggestion for Further Studies 40 References 41 Appendix 42 Part I: Introduction The Justification of the Study No one can deny the importance of English in life English has become the vital device for communication in all fields It makes all different countries in the world closer Being studied English is the wish and opportunity of many people, especially students in all levels of educational system The greatest purpose of studying English is to master in communicating this language And among four basic language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing, speaking is seen as the central skill to achieve that purpose It has often been viewed as the most demanding of the four skills However, in fact, at schools, especially at high schools, speaking is not paid much attention to Students find it difficult, even uninteresting, or they are not really aware of the importance of speaking English To have students concentrate on learning speaking is not easy Therefore, the author conducts this study Besides the above objective reason, the most important one for choosing the study is that the author likes speaking English, and she desires to master it She regrets that she did not pay much attention to speaking when being at high school v Furthermore, in the near future she will be a teacher of English, so her wish is that through the thesis she could find out some problems that students, especially 10th form students, encounter in speaking classes and give useful suggested solutions to help students achieve more success in speaking English In fact, there have been many people writing about the thesis concerning with speaking However, the author hopes that her study “Problems facing 10th form students in English speaking classes and some suggested solutions” is to be applied in high schools in Viet Nam because of its reality and easy practice The Aims of the Thesis For the reasons mentioned above, the thesis is to be done in the hope that it may contribute to the improvement in teaching and learning English in general and teaching and learning speaking skills in particular The thesis aims to: - Help teachers and students be aware of the importance of speaking English - Provide an overview on the Communicative Approach and the nature of the speaking skills - Present information about problems in the speaking classes and realistic problems 10th form students face with in speaking classes - Suggest useful solutions to those problems The Scope of Study Improving speaking is too great a term to talk about It is impossible to cover all the matters concerning speaking skills Several techniques can be used to upgrade students’ ability and no technique is better than others In this paper, the author would like to focus on some problems that 10th form students in Duc Tho commonly face in speaking classes with some suggested solutions for those The Methods of the Study vi In the course of writing this paper, the author bases herself on information associated with speaking skills collected from different sources: references, books and Internet The set of the survey questionnaire is to be conducted and sent to students in the 10th form of Duc Tho high School to bring about the analysis that will help her research to have a deep, clear, genuine look into the problems In addition, observation will also take place in some classrooms during speaking lessons to get necessary information for my work The Design of the Study The thesis consists of three main parts: Part I entitled “Introduction” outlines the background of the study In this part, information about the reasons for choosing the thesis, the aims, the scope, the method and the design of the study are provided Part II, with the title “Investigation”, comprises chapters: Chapter entitled “The Theoretical Background” provides all concepts related to the study Chapter is about “Situation Analysis” which is dealt with the factual situation of learning speaking and the problems of learning speaking at Duc Tho high school in Ha Tinh Chapter discusses some suggested solutions to solve the problems facing 10th form students in speaking classes Part III is the “Conclusion” which presents a brief overview on the achievement of the thesis and suggests some extensive topics relating to the thesis The study ends up with “References” including a list of sources of materials and “Appendix” with the questionnaires of the survey vii Part ii: investigation Chapter 1: Theoretical background This chapter deals with the theoretical concepts closely related to the study 1.1 An Overview on Communicative Approach Among the approaches and methods in learning and teaching, the Communicative Approach is considered the most communicative one and has been used most in teaching and learning According to Celce-Murcia (1979:9) the purpose of language is communication She combines many different linguists’ view and gives specific features of the Communicative Approach a It is assumed that the goal of language teaching is learner ability to communicate in the target language b It is assumed that the content of a language course will include semantic notions and social functions, not just linguistic structures c Students regularly work in groups or pairs to transfer meaning in situations in which one person has information that the others lack d Students often engage in role play or dramatization to adjust their use of the target language to different social contexts e Classroom materials and activities are often authentic to reflect real-life situations and demands f Skills are integrated from the beginning; a given activity might involve reading, speaking, listening, and also writing g The teacher’s role is primarily to facilitate communication and only secondarily to correct errors viii h The teacher should be able to use the target language fluently and appropriately In addition, Carter and Nunan (2001:15) claim that the Communicative Approach is developed in two ways First, a notional-functional approach attempt to extend the teaching of grammar to include the teaching of interactional notions Second, a learner-centred approach emerges to emphasize the importance for learning the meanings learners want to communicate, and working out how to express them The Communicative Approach aims to make communicative competence Students’ communicative competence is their ability to use language correctly and appropriately in any particular circumstance of communication It is this ability that helps students to communicate successfully in real life 1.2 Speaking Skills 1.2.1 What is Speaking? Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving, and processing information Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including the participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical environment and the purpose for speaking 1.2.2 The Position of Speaking Skill among Four Language Skills It is difficult to say which skill is the most important among four language skills However, speaking seems intuitively the most important and the closest to the goal of language teaching: communicative competence People say that who know a language are referred to as "speakers" of that language, as if speaking includes all other kinds of knowing and many, if not most, foreign language learners are primarily interested in learning to speak However, speaking in a second or foreign language has often been viewed as “the most demanding of four skills" (Bailey and Savage 1994, P.7) 1.2.3 Characteristics of a Successful Speaking Activity ix According to Ur (1996:12) there are characteristics of a successful speaking activity Firstly, learners talk a lot There is a fact that often most of time is taken up with teacher talk or pauses Learners always have to be the centre of all speaking activities, teachers only play the role as guides Secondly, the participation is even There will not be a successful speaking activity if every classroom discussion is only dominated by a minority of talkative participants All learners get a chance to speak, and contributions are fairly evenly distributed Thirdly, motivation is high Interesting topics and new things attract learners to talk part in speaking activities They are eager to speak and really want to express their feelings and opinions in order to contribute to achieving a task objective The last characteristic is that language is of an acceptable level Depending on learners' age and abilities, learners are given an acceptable level of language They express themselves in utterances that are relevant easily comprehensible to each other, and an acceptable level of language accuracy 1.2.4 Principles to Teach Speaking in Communicative Approach Forseth, R&C, et, al (1994:31) divide the principles into two groups: principles for beginning levels and principles for intermediate and advanced levels 1.2.4.1 Principles for Beginning Levels The first principle is to limit the objectives to avoid making learners confused Teachers must show specific objectives in limit and provide learners with enough structured practice to help them determine the obvious goal of speaking activity and concentrate on what they should speak This avoids making them confused, reduces learners' fear and encourages more speaking After that more free production can come after structured practice to help learners to develop their speaking For example, in order to have learners practice the simple past tense, the teacher can ask them the question "what did you last Sunday?"(structured practice), and the learner will response: "I stayed at home" Instead of that way the teacher can say: "please, retell what x To overcome the problems discussed in the previous chapters, the suggested ideas are based on Ur’s as follows: 3.1.1 Using Group Work This increases the sheer amount of learner talk going on in a limited period of time and also lowers the inhibitions of learners who are unwilling to speak in front of the full class It is true that group work means the teacher cannot supervise all learner speech, so that not all utterances will be corrected, and learners may occasionally slip into their native language; nevertheless, even taking into consideration occasional mistakes and mother-tongue use, the amount of time remaining for positive, useful oral practice is still likely to be far more than in the full-class set-up 3.1.2 Basing the Activity on Easy Language In general, the level of language needed for a discussion should be lower than that used in intensive language-learning activities in the same class: it should be easily recalled and produced by the participants, so that they can speak fluently with the minimum of hesitation It is good idea to teach or review essential vocabulary before the activity starts 3.1.3 Making a Careful Choice of Topics and Tasks to Stimulate Interest On the whole, the clearer the purpose of the discussion is the more motivated participants will be A good topic is the one to which learners can relate using ideas from their own experience and knowledge; the ‘ability-grouping’ topic is therefore appropriate for most schoolchildren, schoolteachers or young people whose school memories are fresh It should also represent a genuine controversy, in which participants are likely to be fairly evenly divided Some questions or suggested lines of thought can help to stimulate discussion, but not too many arguments for and against should be ‘fed’ to the class in advance: leave room for their own initiative and originality A topic-centred discussion can be done as a formal debate, where a motion is proposed and opposed by prepared xxvii speakers, discussed further by members of the group, and finally voted on by all A good task is essentially goal-oriented: it requires the group, or pair, to achieve an objective that is usually expressed by an observable result, such as brief notes or lists, a rearrangement of jumbled items, a drawing, a spoken summary This result should be attainable only by interaction between participants, so within the definition of the task you often find instructions such as ‘reach a consensus’, or ‘find out everyone’s opinion’ A task is often enhanced if there is some kind of visual focus to base the talking on: a picture, for example 3.1.4 Giving Some Instruction or Training in Discussion Skills If the task is based on group discussion then includes instructions about participation when introducing it For example, tell learners to make sure that everyone in the group contributes to the discussion; appoint a chairperson to each group who will regulate participation 3.1.5 Keeping Students Speaking the Target Language You might appoint one member of the group as monitor, whose job is to remind participants to use the target language, and perhaps to report later to the teacher how well the group has managed to keep to it Even if there is no actual penalty attached, the very awareness that someone is monitoring such lapses helps participants to be more careful However, when all is said and done, the best way to keep students speaking the target language is simply to be there yourself as much as possible, reminding them and modeling the language use yourself: there is no substitute for nagging 3.2 Suggested Activities to Solve the Problems The best way to solve the problems students face in speaking classes is to supply useful activities for them During the teaching observation and teaching practice time as well as through studying the materials the author could provide xxviii the activities which are believed to be useful for overcoming the above problems 3.2.1 Group Work 3.2.1.1 The Purpose of the Activity This activity has become increasingly popular in language teaching since it is seen to have many advantages Group work is a cooperative activity: three or more students, perhaps, discussing a topic, doing a role-play or solving a problem In groups, students tend to participate more equally, and they are also more able to experiment and use the language than they are in a whole-class arrangement Group work is aimed at giving the students chances for greater independence Because they work together without the teacher’s control, they take some of their own learning decisions, they decide what language to use to complete a certain task, and they can work without the pressure of the whole class listening to what they are doing Decisions are cooperatively arrived at and responsibilities are shared 3.2.1.2 Procedures of the Activity The teacher divides the class into the groups of three or more students Let your students sit together in their own groups The instructions of the topics or situations in the textbook or outside the textbook that are given at the beginning are crucial: if the students not understand exactly what they have to there will be time-wasting, confusion, lack of effective practice and possible loss of control Select tasks that are simple enough to describe easily; and in monolingual classes you may find it cost-effective to explain some of all in the students’ mother tongue It is advisable to give the instructions before giving out material; and a preliminary rehearsal or ‘dry run’ of a sample of the activity with the full class can help to clarify things Note, however, that if your students have already done similar activities you will be able to shorten the process, giving only brief guidelines Try to foresee what language will be needed, and have a preliminary quick review of appropriate grammar or vocabulary Finally, before giving the sign to xxix start tell the class what the arrangements are for stopping: if there is a time limit, or a set signal for stopping, say what it is; if the groups simply stop when they have finished, then tell them what they will have to next It is wise to have a ‘reserve’ task planned to occupy members of groups who finish earlier than expected Your job during the activity is to go from group to group, monitor, and either contribute or keep out of the way – whichever is likely to be more helpful If you decide to intervene, your contribution may take the form of: - providing general approval and support; - helping students who are having difficulty; - keeping the students using the target language; - tactfully regulating participation in a discussion where you find some students are over-dominant and others silent When time of discussion is over, let the leader of each group present their own group’s ideas, and the others in group can give ideas to support their leader Other groups also present their ways to solve problems, they may agree or disagree with their friends If you have set a time limit, then this will help you draw the activity to a close at a certain point In principle, try to finish the activity while the students are still enjoying it and interested, or only just beginning to flag A feedback session usually takes place in the context of full-class interaction after the end of the group work Feedback on the task may take many forms: giving the right solution, if there is one; listening to and evaluating suggestions; pooling ideas on the board; displaying materials the groups have produced; and so on Your main objective here is to express appreciation of the effort that has been invested and its results Feedback on language may be integrated into this discussion of the task, or provide the focus of a separate class session later 3.2.1.3 Some Specific Suggested Group Work Activities 3.2.1.3.1 Where’ s the Beef? Procedures: xxx Explain that students may need to go food shopping while visiting a foreign country, and it may be beneficial to learn about the supermarkets and the products sold there Write on the chalkboard some of the products that are normally found in a supermarket, and then elicit and write down the students’ suggestions Have the students categorize them (e.g, dairy products, meats, fruits, vegetables) Place the students into groups of three or four Draw the outline of a store on the chalkboard, with an entrance marked in the lower left corner and an exit marked in the lower right corner Off to the side of the skeleton floor plan, draw four or five small squares to represent each register, and several rectangles representing freezers, refrigerators, and shelves that can be placed in the store later by the students Have the students draw the same outline on their papers Have each group draw the freezers, refrigerators, and shelves in the most suitable places inside the store Students can then place various products and foods in the appropriate locations on the shelves and freezers Have the groups consider how to best satisfy customers’ needs while stocking their supermarket (Remind the students that they can use the front of the shelves and cash register areas for display purposes.) 10 Introduce some useful expressions for the groups to use as they negotiate their floor plans Some examples include: - I think the bread should go there because it is close to the peanut butter - The toys should be placed next to the cash register because 11 After the groups have designed the supermarkets, change the groups and have each student discuss their original group’s design with the new partners 3.2.1.3.2 Storytelling with Pictures Procedures: Put students into groups of four people xxxi Have each student pick one picture from the file Have each group chooses scribe to keep notes Have the group create a short story using all four pictures, and have the scribe take written notes about the group’s story (Model this procedure with some unused pictures.) Have the group choose one or more members to tell their story to the whole class, holding up the pictures for illustration 3.2.1.3.3 My Partner Said: Procedures: Pair off students, have them pick a text, picture, or cartoon and discuss the material together (Texts and materials can include short stories, poems, articles, excerpts from a book, paintings, caricatures.) Have students decide what their own interpretation of the material is and then exchange these ideas with their partners Have each student retell the partner’s comments back to the partner, who is in an ‘active listening’ mode The partner can interrupt at any point during the narration to negotiate misinterpretations of his original point of view Divide students into small groups and ask one student in each group to summarize all the other points of view 3.2.2 Role Plays 3.2.2.1 The Purpose of the Activity Role-play activities are those where students are asked to imagine that they are in different situations and act accordingly We may tell them to roleplay being guests at a party, travel agents answering customer questions or participants in a public meeting about a road-building project for example Role-play activities help the students to feel the influences and pressures in their role It is suggested that role-play is particularly effective with attitudinal issues This activity is the high degree of student participation They are realistic and students’ emotions can be felt Moreover, students can teach their peers about their feelings in their role rather than the teacher telling them xxxii 3.2.2.2 The Procedures of the Activity Divide the class into pairs or groups depending on the situations they have to make the role-play; Give the situation for the role-play and tell students time for prepare and perform the role-play; Introduce the role-play and indicate its function in the learning, i.e why you are doing it; Monitor the role-play and only step in if things go badly wrong, e.g a student is going to be embarrassed; Debrief the students so that they are no longer ‘in role’; Ensure that the role-play is analyzed and related to the intended learning outcome While the activity is going on, the teacher goes round the groups promping where necessary and making notes on examples of good and bad English usage that he or she hears When time is over, the duty of each group or pair is to perform what they have prepared; 9.The teacher then gives the students feedback: what he or she heard and was impressed by; what mistakes he or she heard which he or she thinks they might all benefit from concentrating on 3.2.2.3 Some Specific Suggested Role-play Activities 3.2.2.3.1 Conversation Creation Procedures: Write a two-person conversation on the board If new vocabulary is being introduced in the lesson, include it in the conversation Read through the dialogue, having students repeat the new vocabulary and practice in pairs Have pairs of students demonstrate their ability by reading the dialogue aloud xxxiii Have students guess who the intended discourse participants might be and volunteer information on the style and register of the discourse, (and how it differed from the one they worked with the day before) Have the students guess the meaning of the new vocabulary in context For example: A: Hi there, how are you? B: Fine, and you? A: Great! You know, I’m really excited about class today B: Oh yeah, why’s that? A: Well, we’re studying the solar system Hey, you know how many planets there are in our solar system? B: I think there are twelve, but I don’t know what they are called? Do you? A: Let’s see, there’s Jupiter, the Earth, of course, the Moon, B: The Moon isn’t a planet, It’s a satellite A: Oh, I guess, I’m going to learn a lot today B: Me too, It should be interesting 3.2.2.3.2 Students-Centered Production Procedures: Have the students choose a topic (e.g weather, greetings, hobbies) Write two or three key words on the board Ask for suggestions from the students and write several key words on the board as the students write in their books From each of these key words, ask for two or three words or phrases that relate to them and write them down (e.g for the key word “weather”, one may offer “It’s cold today, isn’t it?” For 10 key words, the students should produce 25-30 more connecting words or phrases Ask the students to write a plan for their dialogue (i.e a rough outline, a rationale for what they want to say) xxxiv Circulate and help students articulate what they want to say (Most students will want to make notes or be writing their outline, but the teacher can help to make their ideas clear to the listener.) If the students are not forthcoming with ideas or inspiration, offer suggestions to help them find some direction When they finish this, have the students confer with their partners, and check each other’s work to confirm that main ideas are in place, and they understand the topic The students are then ready to start their dialogues Have one student start by stating the scenario or situation, for example, “I spoke to the bus driver” or “My friend was waiting hours,” and opposite, write the actual speech quotation (The students may also draw pictures and explain the pictures to their partner or teacher.) 10 Finally, with the culmination of the schematic mapping, work generation exercises, schemata building and written plans, ask the students to develop a polished dialogue, concentrating on coherence and fluency 3.2.2.3.3 Interactive Dialogue Practice Procedures: Divide the class into groups (four students each is preferable) Have the class listen to a recording of the dialogue (or demonstrate it yourself) Have students mark the text for phrasing, stress, and intonation, as you demonstrate the body language and show how the helpers can be effective prompters by feeding the performers phrases of a suitable length for repetition Have two students take the role of the helpers, sit behind the performers, and whisper the lines of the dialogue to them (have the performers close their books and face their partners in the dialogue) Have the performers repeat the lines of the dialogue to their partner, trying to communicate the meaning, using appropriate body language (If the performers not understand the lines, they can ask the helpers to repeat them.) Have the helpers and performers switch roles and the dialogue again xxxv As students become familiar with the dialogue, have performers try to say the lines without being prompted, turning to the helpers only when necessary 3.2.2.3.4 A Cocktail Party Procedures: Create a set of identity cards Put one pair of cards in an envelope for each pair of students present Have students pick an “identity” out of the envelope and commit their identity to memory Have students take a few minutes to think up a name for themselves and a short life history based on what is written on the card Start the party by passing around drinks Encourage introductions After the party starts, tell students to find their “partner” by asking questions to uncover the other student’s identity Have students try to avoid answering questions directly so that they can avoid being identified for as long as possible In the name of improving English fluency, you can act as the host or hostess and break up the groups or pairs that form throughout the party to extend the time needed to find partners (You can say things like “Oh, darling, what’s your name? let me introduce you to so and so!”) After being identified, have the students sit down and continue their conversations in character Working with the partner, have the students write a short dialogue in line with the identity they’re developed at the party Help the students with language problems that arise 3.2.3 Games for Speaking 3.2.3.1 The Purpose of the Activity Game is a learning situation with an element of competition and/or cooperation It can stimulate and involve students when they interact with other students and/or the game Games are often fun and motivate students much Most of students are excited to enjoy the games These activities create an atmosphere of cooperation and teamwork in which students must use their xxxvi language resources to communicate information with their partners Moreover, these activities are a good way to begin or end a lesson, depending on what else needs to be accomplished Furthermore, when students take part in a game show, they tend to get so involved that they forget their inhibitions about speaking In addition, games not only develop students’ speaking and listening skill, but also help them increase motivation and greater progress 3.2.3.2 The Procedures of the Activity Try out and test the game prior to use with students; ensure rules are clear and understood by students; Introduce the game and rules in its learning context; Monitor program and assist only when essential; Give immediate feedback; Summarize and consolidate the learning outcomes 3.2.3.3 Some Specific Suggested Games 3.2.3.3.1 Singing Hide-and-Seek Procedures: Assume the “seeker” role of hide-and-seek for the first few times the game is played, and tell the students to go and hide while you count to 15 (Other students can accompany newer students to hiding places.) After counting aloud to 15, start singing “Where is Peter? Where is Peter?” (or any of the students’ names) to the tune of “Where is Peter?” Have the students pop up from the hiding place when they hear their names called, and sing (or say in rhythm) “Here I am! Here I am!” (you can sing for the students who are still reluctant.) While stretching out your hand, sing “How are you today, miss (or sir)?” Have the student reply, “Very well (fine), I thank you” and shake hands Then sing “Run away! Run away!” and have the student run off Repeat this with each student in the class 3.2.3.3.2 Partners Procedures: xxxvii Pair off students with an unfamiliar partner Give partners 3-5 minutes to talk together with instructions to try and find out as much as possible about each other Give students examples of questions and answers they can create (Prepare a list of suggested questions for low-level or extremely quiet classes.) To begin the game, have four students and their partners sit in front of class (The other students are the audience and will take their turn as contestants later.) Have students in the audience keep track of how many of the contestants’ answers match their partners’ answers Act as the master of ceremonies and ask the partners sitting on the right to leave the room Ask each remaining partner three questions, in order, about the partner who has left the room Have the partners come back into the classroom and take their places One by one, ask the students who were outside the classroom the same questions their partners have just answered If the answers match, the pair gets five points 10 Repeat the procedure with the partners sitting on the left side, or if the class is large move on to new sets of partners The pair with the most points at the end of the game wins 3.2.3.3.3 Paraphrasing Races Procedures: Divide students into teams of two to five people Show the students examples of paraphrasing (e.g He went to the zoo; He went to a place that has animals in cages; He didn’t go to a movie [unacceptable for above sentences]) Read a sentence (or write it on the board), and have the students come up with as many rephrasings as they can in minutes xxxviii At the end of minutes, ask each group to read aloud their paraphrases Give one point to each team for each acceptable paraphrase they generate Repeat steps and for as many sentences as you want After all the sentences are finished, tally the total points for each team and declare a winner 3.2.3.3.4 Lucky Numbers Procedures: Prepare a large hard sheet of paper and glue boxes with marking numbers from 1-9 on it Write down the word or phrase of word or sentence in or boxes, not forget to have or lucky numbers in the left Divide the class into two teams, (it is better to let each team choose the name for their team) Present requirements and rules of the game to the whole class (It may have students make sentences with words or phrases of words, or answer the questions using what they have been learnt in the learning context) Have one student of each team say “One, Two, Three” to get their turn Which team plays first, choose the number and follow the require If they answer well, they will get one point for their team In case, the team chooses the box with lucky number, they don’t have anything, but still get one point Each team chooses their number turn by turn The teacher gives feedback and declares which team wins (the team gets more points) 3.2.3.3.5 Who is a Millionaire? Procedures: Prepare or more questionnaires which relate to the learning context (one easier questionnaire for the first turn, the left for the second turn but more difficult) Introduce the game to the whole class xxxix Read the first questionnaire loudly and get students who have the most quickly correct answer to go to board to continue the game Read the left questionnaires and the duty of students is to listen and choose A, B, or C, who have one correct answer will get one point Ask the student who has the correct answer the reason why he or she chooses it, (it is aimed at practicing more speaking) The teacher gives feedback and announces which student wins (It is better to prepare some small presents for the winners) 3.2.4 Using Audiovisual Aids 3.2.4.1 The Purpose of the Activity To the new textbook program, using audiovisual aids is very necessary for learning process, especially for learning speaking Audiovisual aids in learning speaking process to help students both hear and see are real things, pictures, objects, tapes or videotapes Using audiovisual aids is the method of bringing realism into the class It can be linked to a range of other teaching strategies as a means of providing variety and realism Audiovisual aids help students focus on overall comprehension rather than accuracy They can provoke students’ thought and are used as triggers Moreover, when seeing and hearing their lessons through audiovisual aids, the students are motivated and attracted As a result, more speaking will happen In addition, using audiovisual aids is relatively cheap and very convenient Students can practice speaking in the class and at home as well 3.2.4.2 The Procedures of the Activity Firstly, determine the title, name, or purpose of the audiovisual aids Help students understand the way in which information is organized in the audiovisual aids Determine what symbols or terms to explain or clarify for the students Introduce the audiovisual aids and the activity and provide students to the key points After viewing, assess the learning xl Stop for questions or replay any important points Give feedback 3.2.4.3 Some Specific Suggested Activities Using Audiovisual Aids 3.2.4.3.1 Tell Me What You See Procedures: Divide the students into four groups and give each group 10 minutes to prepare a 3-minute story The story should involve a series of actions that can be acted out easily (e.g somebody being robbed and helped by two passersby.) After each group prepares its story, have the groups mime the events in their stories in front of the class while group is miming , have all members of group take turns orally describing the events of the story Audiotape the oral descriptions After group finishes, have group mime their own story while group orally describes the events (Again, audiotape the oral descriptions.) After every group has finished miming their own story and describing the story acted out by another group, play the audiotaped descriptions to the whole class Have the miming group comment on the interpretations of their story and have the whole class discuss the language used to communicate meaning 3.2.4.3.2 Cloze Music Video Procedures: Create a cloze exercise by listening to the music video and writing down the words, leaving out the words appropriate to the level of students in you class Hand out the cloze exercise to the students and encourage students to first fill in some of the blanks without hearing or seeing the song Ask the students (in pairs) to guess at the meaning of the song as well as the title and solicit information they may already have concerning the artists Play the video until the fifth blank has been passed and put the video on pause while students fill in the blanks (Time varies with student level.) xli ... learning speaking and the problems of learning speaking at Duc Tho high school in Ha Tinh Chapter discusses some suggested solutions to solve the problems facing 10th form students in speaking classes. .. successfully in real life 1.2 Speaking Skills 1.2.1 What is Speaking? Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving, and processing information Its form. .. are also to find out the real problems which 10th students facing in speaking classes at this level and present useful activities to help them improve learning speaking 2.1.2 Informants and Their