Using speaking worksheets to improve efl learners’ speaking ability

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY - THESIS: USING SPEAKING WORKSHEETS TO IMPROVE EFL LEARNERS’ SPEAKING ABILITY Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Supervisor: Dr Trần Thị Ngọc Yến Student: Vương Thị Lan NGHE AN, 2019 ABSTRACT Using cues as stimuli to facilitate speaking is appreciated by language educators, especially those in favor of communicative teaching However, little research has been carried out in Viet Nam regarding this aspect of pedagogy, given the need to improve its low-competence learners in speaking This study examined the use of worksheets as stimuli in speaking lessons, and aims to investigate the beliefs of teachers and students about the use of worksheets in English language speaking classrooms Eighty four 10th students from two classes at a high school in Nghe An province, one of the two was randomly assigned to be the experimental group while the other was assigned to be the control group were involved Before the experiment, all participants in the two classes did a General English test and then sat pre- test A post-test was administered after the treatment to measure the participant„s speaking fluency and accuracy The collected data were analyzed in terms of fluency (number of words per minute) and accuracy (number of errors per 100 words) The data collected from the experiment yielded interesting findings The results showed that there was an improvement in students‟ accuracy and fluency in spoken English after the implementation of the speaking worksheet strategy Thus, it can be said that using speaking worksheet strategy could improve students‟ speaking ability The study will be a useful reference for teachers and practitioners in designing stimuli for English speaking lessons ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Mrs Tran Thi Ngoc Yen Without her valuable direction, keen insight, precious orientation, warm encouragement, and constant support throughout this project, I would not have accomplished my thesis I would like to thank her very much for her support, enthusiasm and understanding over these past months I would also like to thank all of the lecturers who taught me during the two year-course for their valuable knowledge, enthusiastically detailed guidance and useful suggestions Next, I wish to express my sincere thanks to all teachers of English who assisted and encouraged me alot during my course and the two classes at Phan Dang Luu high school I worked with in order to gather the data for my study Last but not least, I would like to express my deep thanks to my family members for supporting me with all their love and sympathy in completion of this thesis No matter how hard I have tried to fulfill my task, I realize that this thesis is far from being perfect due to my limitations of knowledge and ability Therefore, any criticisms, ideas and suggestions for the improvement of this thesis are greatly appreciated TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of study 1.3 Research questions………………… 1.4 Scope of study………………………………………… 1.5 Method of the study 1.6 Thesis design………………………… CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 The speaking skill 2.1.1 Definition of speaking skill 2.1.2 Functions of speaking 2.1.3 The nature of speaking ability 2.1.4 Micro and macro skills of speaking ability 2.1.5 The aspects of speaking ability 2.2 Assessing speaking ability 2.2.1 Indicators of speaking ability 2.2.2 Fluency, accuracy and complexity 2.2.3 Rubrics for assessing EFL speaking ability 2.2.4 Methods to assess speaking ability 2.3 Teaching speaking to EFL learners 2.3 General outline of a speaking lesson 2.3.2 EFL learners‟ difficulties in learning to speak English 2.3.3 Factors affecting EFL learners‟ speaking ability 2.3.4 Methods and activities to improve speaking ability 2.3.4.1 Accuracy-oriented activities 2.3.4.2 Fluency-oriented activities 2.4 Worksheets in English language teaching 2.4.1 Definitions 2.4.2 Types of worksheets 2.4.3 Principles of using worksheets in teaching English 2.4.4 Benefits of worksheets in English language teaching CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research questions 3.2 Materials 3.3 Participants 3.4 Procedures CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Results 4.1.1 General English test results 4.1.2 Pre-test and post-test results 4.2 Discussion 4.2.1 The effects of speaking worksheets on EFL learners‟ speaking fluency 4.2.2 The effects of speaking worksheets on EFL learners‟ accuracy in grammar CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 5.1 Summary of findings 5.2 Implications 5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further research REFERENCES APPENDICES APPENDIX A APPENDIX B APPENDIX C APPENDIX D APPENDIX E CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION This chapter is made up of five parts which offer an overview of the study including the rationale, aims and objectives, research questions and scopes of the study 1.1 Rationale English has been considered to be the important means of communication all over the world in recent years In Vietnam, English is not only a great interest but also an increasing demand for most people English is now, therefore, a compulsory subject in many schools and universities in the system of our national education It plays a key role in helping students prepare for intergrating with the English speaking world This is the reason why most of schools in Viet Nam are trying to innovate the curriculum as well as the teaching methods, which is aimed at developing students‟ English communication skills English is divided into four skills which are as follows: listening, speaking, reading, and writing; therefore, speaking is the second skill and has an important role in communication Speaking is the first way to interact with others in the social community Furthermore, the success in learning a language at first can be seen from the ability of the learner‟s speaking According to Brown and Yule (1983), spoken language production is often considered one of the most difficult aspects of language learning In reality, many language learners find it difficult to express themselves in spoken language in the target language Ur (1996) stated that speaking seems to be the most important skill of all the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) because people who know a language are usually referred to as speakers of that language The major goal of all English language teaching should be to give learners the ability to use English effectively, fluently and accurately in communication (Davies & Pearse, 1998) However, not all language learners after many years studying English can communicate fluently and accurately because they lack necessary knowledge, ideas, vocabulary and so on….Besides, some teachers not often use interesting teaching methods or techniques that can motivate learners to speak As a teacher of English at a high school in the rural area, I have been teaching students a large number of speaking lessons for many years I noticed that most of the students were not willing to take part in speaking activities They were nervous to produce utterances in English in or out of the classroom Because of the speaking anxiety, many of them were unable to answer the questions in speaking tests, some made a lot mistakes in grammatical item and vocabulary Gradually, they found speaking lessons difficult and boring all time Therefore, having taken account internal factors that affects negatively EFL learners to speak, I made up my mind to use speaking worksheets in order to reduce students‟ anxiety and encourage them to speak With this, students-students interaction could be promoted and they also had a lot of opportunities whether in pairs or groups to practice speaking accordance to the real situations and context use of how English conversation is actually performed On the other hand, with given target expressions, vocabulary, and grammar included in the worksheets, this might help the EFL high school students to achieve not only accuracy but also fluency in speaking Afterwards, I have found that using speaking worksheets has benefited my students so much in improving their ELF accuracy in spoken language as well as the motivation in their spirit of learning foreign language As things can be seen above, I have decided to carry out a research on “ Using speaking worksheets to improve EFL learners’ speaking ability” with the hope to help EFL learners improve their accuracy and fluency in speaking 1.2 Aims of the study The study aimed to explore the effects of worksheets on EFL learners‟ speaking ability It focussed on two aspects of speaking performance: fluency and accuracy 1.3 Research questions This research set out to seek for the answers to the following questions: Does the use of speaking worksheets help EFL learners to improve their speaking fluency? How does the use of speaking worksheets affect EFL learners‟ grammar accuracy in speaking? 1.4 Scope of study This study only focussed on using speaking worksheets to improve English speaking ability Fluency and accuracy are the two aspects examined in this study 1.5 Method of the study The main method employed in this study is experimental All comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusion were based on the data analysis The combination of different instruments used in this research helped to gain reliable data 1.6 Thesis design The thesis consists of five chapters: Chapter 1- the Introduction, is a brief overview of the study with more details of rationale, aims, research questions, scope of study and method of the study as well as design of the study Chapter is the literature review This chapter presents the theoretical background of the research which contains four main issues: speaking ability, assessing speaking ability, teaching speaking to EFL learners, Worksheets in English language teaching Chapter 3, deals with the research methodology In this chapter, the focus will be on background information of the subject of the study, the instruments used to collect data and the procedure of data collection Chapter presents the results and discussions of the effects of the use of speaking worksheets to improve EFL learners‟ speaking ability Chapter is the conclusion, devoted to the summary of the findings and implications accuracy and fluency to help teachers and students at high schools to get over difficulties in learning and teaching English This chapter also provides the limitations of the study as well as some recommendations for further study Chapter LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Speaking skill It discusses the definition of speaking, the nature of speaking, the function of speaking, and the aspect of speaking ability, and macro and micro skill of speaking ability 2.1.1 Definition of speaking skill We cannot deny that speaking is an integral skill and the key to communicate with other people and it seems much more difficult than other skills English is spoken all over the world as an international language for people‟s interaction purpose People use the term “speaking” in various ways According to the Oxford Dictionary of Current English (2009, p 414), speaking is “the action of conveying information or expressing one‟s thoughts and feelings in spoken language” According to Burn and Joyce (1997), speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including the participants themselves, their collective experience, the physical environment, and the purposes for speaking Scheter (1999) defined speaking as to utter words or articulate sounds, as human beings to express thought by words, as the organs may be so obstructed that a man may not be able to speak Chaney (1998, p.13), however, considered speaking a process: “speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal or non-verbal symbols in a variety of contexts” Sharing the same viewpoint, Florez (1999, p 1) added that speaking is an “interactive” process, which consists of three main stages “producing, receiving and processing information.” In language teaching and learning, speaking is considered a skill to practice and master In this light, Nunan (2003, p 48) put it that “speaking is the productive oral skill It consists of producing systematic verbal utterance to convey meaning.” Also considering speaking as a skill, both Bygate (1987) and Hilferty (2000) reached the same conclusion about the distinction between knowledge and skill in speaking lessons Bygate (1987, p 3) considered speaking as crucial in the teaching of speaking Indeed, to be a good learner of speaking, studying knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, intonation, etc is not enough but the skill to use this knowledge to communicate successfully is indispensable Hilferty (2000)stated that speaking is also understood is the productive skill in the oral mode It, like the oral skills, is more complicated than it seems at first and involves more than just pronouncing words In summary, the concepts of speaking are various, i.e speaking as an action, a process and a skill In this study, the term “speaking” will be used to refer to a skill related to language teaching and learning process 2.1.2 Functions of speaking In 2012, Brown and Yule in Fauzi (2012, p 4) described a useful distinction between two basic language function These are the transactional function, which is primarily concerned with the transfer of information, and the interactional function, in which the primary purpose of speech is the maintenance of social relationship When considering the development of speaking ability between monologue and dialogue, people can‟t help mentioning another basic distinction The ability to give an uninterrupted oral presentation is very clear from interacting one people and another speaker for transactional and intersectional purpose, while, all native speakers can and use language interaction, not all native speaker have the ability to be extempore on a given subject to group of listeners Furthermore, in 2012, Brown and Yule in Fauzi (2012, p 4) discussed that most language teaching is concerned with developing skills in short intersectional exchanges in which the learner is only required to make one or two utterance at a time For the above statement, in 2012 Bygate in Fauzi (2012, p 5) distinguished that “ between motor-perceptive skill, which are concerned with correctly using the sound and structures of language, and interactional skill, which involves motor perceptive skill for the purpose of communication” motor perceptive skill are developed in the language classroom through activities such as model dialogues, patterns practice, oral drills and so on, until relatively recently, it was assumed that the mastery of motor perceptive skill was that needed all one, in order to communicated successfully 2.1.3 The nature of speaking ability In Islamiyah in 2007, Brown (2007, p.14) introduced that speaking has been a productive skill that can be directly and empirically observed, those observations are invariably collared by the accuracy and fluency He also stated that speaking is the product of creative construction of linguistic strings; the speakers make choices of lexicon, structure, and discourse According to Poerdarminta (in Islamiyah, 2007, p.14), the classical meaning of speaking is the ability to talk, and to speak The main purpose of speaking is to send the message for the other one or to be able to communicate about something in language and understood by someone who becomes a listener 10 17 Kayi, H (2006) Teaching Speaking: Activities to Promote Speaking in a Second Language University of Nevada The Internet TESL Journal, Vol.XII 18 Koponen, M (1995) Let your language and thoughts flow! Is there a case for fluency in ELT and applied linguistics? Paper presented at the Language Testing Forum, Newcastle, UK, November 1995 19 Lennon, P (1990) Investigating fluency in EFL: A quantitative approach Language Learning, 40, 387-412 20 Luoma, S (2004) Assessing speaking 21 Oxford Dictionary of current English ( 2009 , p 414) 22 Richards J C and Theodore S R (2001) Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (2nd ed) Combridge, Combridge University Press 23 Shumin, K., Factors to consider Developing Adult EFL Student's Speaking Abilities English Teaching Forum, Vol 35, No 3, (pp 6-15) (1997) 24 Underhill, N 1987 Testing spoken language A handbook of oral testing techniques Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 25 Ur, P (1996) A Course in Language Teaching Practice and Theory Cambridge: University Press 62 APPENDIX A GENERAL ENGLISH TEST Time: 45 minutes ENGLISH PROFICIENCY TEST FULL NAME: Class: Level: A2 63 64 65 66 67 APPENDIX B LESSON PLAN FOR EXPERIMENTAL GROUP Period : 62 UNIT 10: CONSERVATION B SPEAKING : I/ Objectives : Educational aim : To help Students realize the importance of a good natural environment and make their contribution their parts to the protect of the natural environment knowledge : Genereal knowledge :Ss learn about the functions of ecotourism and about how to protect and save the natural environment Language: Sentences and expressing opinion and making suggestions about nature conservation Skills : Fluency and accuracy in expressing opinionand making suggestions about nature conservation II/ Method : Mainly communication III/ Teaching aids : Speaking worksheets, Real objects and pictures of some rare animals “ a whale ,an elephant….” IV/ Procedure : Time Teacher‟s activities Students’ activities 5‟ WARM-UP: Playing game WARM-UP: Game: Naming - Get students to play a game - two teams play a game - Divide the whole class into two teams - base on pictures on worksheets, - Deliver worksheets on which some name as many animals as pictures of endangered species of possible animals are printed - - hand in their answer to teacher Two teams, in one minute, name each species of animal 7‟ - One point for a correct answer and any team having more points will be the winner - Give feedback and declare the winner Show a picture of a part of a national park and pictures of some endandered species Answers : 68 and asks questions : We can see animals and plants What can you see in a national park ? living in their natural habitats What does “friendly with nature” mean ? It means not “doing harm to the WHILE YOU SPEAK natural environment “ Task 1: Discussing the questions about the features of the new kind of zoo WHILE YOU SPEAK Instruction: You are required to work in Task 1: Discussing the questions pairs to put the actions printed on the about the features of the new kind sheets in the order of importance and then of zoo 8‟ say what we should or should not Ask Ss to read through the two paragraphs Pre-teach new words: -Elicit or teaches some new words: Sensitive (adJ): quick to respond to, - Help them ro pronounce voca correctly or be affected by Ak Ss to work in pairs to discuss the two slight changes, signals, or influences questions in the book using the information Imprison (v): put or keep in prison in paragraph A I· and B Reconstruct (v): build again Go around to observe Ss working Breed (v): cause (an animal) to Asks some Ss to present their answers produce offspring * Check up Vocabulary Reintroduce (v): put (a species of - Deliver handouts on which new words are animal or plant) back into a former jumbed habitat - Students working in pairs rearrange them Pair work into meaningfulwords in one minute Give feedback and correct answers: without looking at the notebooks - Call on some pairs to give the key endangered species develop Task 2: Showing agreement They are opened to help or The animals are not kept in cages disagreement about the new kind of zoo They can live in their natural Instruction: Follow are some ideas about environment the new kind of zoo discussed in task You Asking are required to show your agreement or opinions disagreement by putting the expressions in What the right box on worksheets Then share think of ? for Giving opinions you I think your ideas with a partner Before Ss the task, T elicits or 69 introduces some structures Ss can use to Do you think ask for someone's opinions, ? I don't think Do you agree In my opinion with ? to give their opinions, and show their Showing Showing agt:eement or disagreement politely: agreement disagreement Ask Ss to work individually to tick the suitable box to show their agreement or I agree with disagreement Yes, I Ask Ss to work in pairs to share their ideas you are right think Ss can explain their ideas as well - Go round to observe and offer help, taking I don't really think so Yes, but I would doubt Exactly that notes of Ss' mistakes for later correction - Call on some Ss to talk about their ideas and asks 8‟ other Ss to add more Task 3: Discussing the Task 3: Discussing the advantages and advantages and disadvantages of disadvantages of zoos of the new kind zoos of the new kind Instruction: You are going to discuss the Group work 8‟ advantages and disadvantages of the new advantages disadvantages kind of zoo using the cues provided on the -The -The money worksheets conditions the spent on Ask Ss to work in groups to discuss the animals are in advantages and disadvantages of the new -The animals of the animals kind of zoo that can visit recontructions natural -Go round toobserve and offers help enviroment - Take notes of Ss' mistakes for later -The correction that the keepers Task 4:Reporting on the discussion results: may have Call some Ss to report that their groups have Task 4: Reporting discussed discussion results: dangers on the Ask other Ss to takes note and compare with Whole class 70 7‟ their groups' ideas AFTER YOU SPEAK : 2‟ Takes notes of their errors AFTER YOU SPEAK : Gives feedback on Ss' answers Whole class Corrects any typical mistakes Report HOMEWORK : Summarises the main points HOMEWORK : asks Ss to the extra exercise as homework Whole class 71 APPENDIX C LESSON PLAN FOR CONTROL GROUP Period : 62 UNIT:10 CONSERVATION B SPEAKING : I/ Objectives : Educational aim : To help Students realize the importance of a good natural environment and make their contribution their parts to the protect of the natural environment knowledge : Genereal knowledge :Ss learn about the functions of ecotourism and about how to protect and save the natural environment Language : Sentences and expressing opinion and making suggestions about nature conservation Skills : Fluency and accuracy in expressing opinionand making suggestions about nature conservation II/ Method :Mainly communication III/ Teaching aids : Real objects and pictures of some rare animals “ a whale ,an elephant….” IV/ Procedure : Time Teacher‟s activities Students’ activities 5‟ WARM-UP: WARM-UP: Show a picture of a part of a national park Answers : and pictures of some endandered species We can see animals and plants and asks questions : living in their natural habitats What can you see in a national park ? It means not “doing harm to the What does “friendly with nature” mean ? natural environment “ WHILE YOU SPEAK Task 1: Discussing the questions about WHILE YOU SPEAK 7‟ the features of the new kind of zoo Task 1: Discussing the questions Instruction: You are required to work in about the features of the new kind pairs to put the actions in the order of of zoo importance and then say what we should or Some new words: should not Sensitive (adJ): quick to respond to, 72 Asks Ss to read through the two or be affected by paragraphs slight changes, signals, or influences -Elicits or teaches some new words: Imprison (v): put or keep in prison Aks Ss to work in pairs to discuss the two Reconstruct (v): build again questions in the book using the information Breed (v): cause (an animal) to in paragraph A I· and B produce offspring Goes around to observe Ss working Reintroduce (v): put (a species of Asks some Ss to present their answers animal or plant) back into a former Task 2: Showing agreement or habitat disagreement about the new kind of zoo 8‟ Pair work Instruction: Following are some ideas Give feedback and correct answers: about the new kind of zoo discussed in task They are opened to help You are required to show your agreement endangered species develop or disagreement by ticking the right box The animals are not kept in cages Then share your ideas with a partner They can live in their natural Before Ss the task, T elicits or environment introduces some structures Ss can use to Asking ask for someone's opinions, opinions What for Giving opinions you think of ? Do you think I think I don't think ? Do you agree In my opinion with ? to give their opinions, and show their Showing Showing agt:eement or disagreement politely: agreement disagreement Asks Ss to work individually to tick the suitable box to show their agreement or I agree with disagreement Yes, I Asks Ss to work in pairs to share their you are right ideas Ss can explain their ideas as well - Goes round to observe and offer help, Exactly think I don't really think so Yes, but I would doubt that 73 taking notes of Ss' mistakes for later correction - Calls on some Ss to talk about their 8‟ ideas and asks Task other Ss to add more advantages and disadvantages of 3: Discussing the Task 3: Discussing the advantages and zoos of the new kind disadvantages of zoos of the new kind 8‟ Group work Instruction: You are going to discuss advantages disadvantages the advantages and disadvantages of -The -The money the new kind of zoo using the cues conditions the spent on provided in the textbook animals are in Asks Ss to work in groups to discuss the -The animals of the animals advantages and disadvantages of the new that can visit recontructions natural kind of zoo enviroment -Goes round toobserve and offers help -The - Takes notes of Ss' mistakes for later that the keepers correction may have Task 4: Reporting on the discussion Task results: 4: Reporting dangers on the discussion results: Calls some Ss to report that their groups Whole class 7‟ have discussed Asks other Ss to takes note and compare 2‟ with their groups' ideas AFTER YOU SPEAK : AFTER YOU SPEAK : Whole class Takes notes of their errors Report Gives feedback on Ss' answers Corrects any typical mistakes HOMEWORK : HOMEWORK : Whole class Summarises the main points asks Ss to the extra exercise as homework 74 APPENDIX D PRE TEST Topics for speaking Introduce yourself Talk about your family Talk about your hobbies APPENDIX E POST TEST Topics for speaking: Introduce yourself Talk about your hometown Talk about a cultural historical site in Viet Nam you and your classmates would like to visit 75 76 ... have decided to carry out a research on “ Using speaking worksheets to improve EFL learners’ speaking ability? ?? with the hope to help EFL learners improve their accuracy and fluency in speaking 1.2... speaking ability 2.2 Assessing speaking ability 2.2.1 Indicators of speaking ability 2.2.2 Fluency, accuracy and complexity 2.2.3 Rubrics for assessing EFL speaking ability 2.2.4 Methods to assess speaking. .. speaking ability 2.3 Teaching speaking to EFL learners 2.3 General outline of a speaking lesson 2.3.2 EFL learners‟ difficulties in learning to speak English 2.3.3 Factors affecting EFL learners‟ speaking