An investigation common methods of teaching english speaking skill to 10th graders in tayninh province from perception to performance

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI MY PHUONG AN INVESTIGATION INTO COMMON METHODS OF TEACHING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL TO 10TH GRADERS IN TAYNINH PROVINCE: FROM PERCEPTION TO PERFORMANCE Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Code: 60140111 Submitted by Supervisor: TRAN BA TIEN, Ph.D VINH, AUGUST 2017 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled “An Investigation into Common Methods of Teaching English Speaking Skill to Tenth-graders in Tay Ninh Province: from Perception to Performance” is my own work Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis does not contain material published or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma This thesis has not been submitted for any degree in any other tertiary institution Vinh City, August 2017 NGUYEN THI MY PHUONG i ABSTRACT In the period of industrialization and modernization, learning English is increasingly becoming an essential need Accordingly, There are four skills in teaching and learning a language: listening, speaking, reading and writing, but out of the four skills, it can be said that speaking is considered as the most important skill to be mastered Many researches have been done on speaking up to the present time, however, methods of teaching speaking skills have actually not been systematically evaluated Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate whether the current speaking teaching methods being applied by English teachers in speaking classes were appropriate and met the objectives of teaching speaking for grade 10 defined by the Ministry of Education and Training As a result, three common methods such as Grammar-Translation method, Audio-lingual method and Communicative Language Teaching are applied in teaching speaking skills for grade 10 by teachers According to the data collected, most of tenth-grade students could meet the objectives defined by the Ministry of Education and Training for grade 10 Teachers might make use of some suitable techniques of Audio-lingual method while Communicative Language Teaching was suggested being applied as the main method Further, the research pointed out the possible solutions to solve some difficulties in the process of teaching speaking skills ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to send my big thanks to countless people who have helped me in writing up my dissertation Without their forbearance, benevolence, and indeed their unconditional love and committed sharing, my work could not have been accomplished Firstly, I would like to express my very great appreciation to my supervisor, Mr Tran Ba Tien, for his valuable and constructive suggestions I really appreciated his kindness, patient guidance, and insightful comments that have guided me through obstacles and barriers during along period of time to complete my paper Secondly, I am grateful to thirty two high schools in Tay Ninh province, English teaching staff and the tenth-grade students taking part in the research Your cooperation, assistance, and contributions have been vital for my thesis Thirdly, I am thankful to my classmates and friends in giving good advice, feedback and in providing resources I would like to offer my special thanks to my dearest classmates who read and guided my writing through its complexity Besides this, I am thankful to all lecturers who have made comments and suggestions to improve my dissertation Last but not least, I am greatly indebted my family for their sacrifice in order to offer me opportunity to the pursuit of my higher education You are not only my pride but also my strength It is worth naming the kindness of my soul mate in giving me big encouragement, patience, and help iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii LIST OF TABLES viii Chapter INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.1.1 General background 1.1.2 Problems in Tay Ninh high schools 1.2 Statement of purpose 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 The scope and limitation of the study 1.6 Overview of thesis chapters Chapter LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Teaching speaking skills 2.1.1 What is spoken English? 2.1.2 The nature of speaking 2.1.3 Sub-skills influencing spoken proficiency 2.1.4 Stages of teaching speaking 2.1.5 Principles of teaching speaking skills 2.1.6 The common English speaking teaching methods 10 2.2 Evaluation of teaching 16 2.2.1 Definition of evaluation and its significance in language teaching 16 2.2.2 Principles of teaching evaluation 18 2.2.3 Rubrics and their importance in teaching practice 19 2.2.4 Bloom’s Taxonomy 21 2.3 Researches on evaluation of English speaking teaching methods 21 Chapter 22 iv METHODOLOGY 22 3.1 Research site 22 3.2 Participants and sampling 22 3.2.1 Classroom observation participants 22 3.2.2 Questionnaire participants 22 3.2.3 Interview participants 22 Table 3.1: Interview participants’ background 23 3.2.4 Oral test participants 23 3.3 Methods of data collection 23 3.4 Data collection instruments 24 3.4.1 Classroom observations 24 3.4.2 Questionnaire for teachers 25 3.4.3 Teacher interviews 25 3.4.4 Oral tests for students 26 3.5 Data collection procedures 27 3.6 Analytical framework 30 Chapter 31 DATA REPORT, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS 31 4.1 Results 31 4.1.1 What kinds of English speaking teaching methods are being used for grade 10 at high schools in Tay Ninh province? 31 4.1.2 Do those methods help to achieve the curriculum objectives of teaching English speaking for grade 10 in high schools defined by the MOET? 35 4.1.3 How should English speaking be taught at high schools in Tay Ninh province in order to meet the objectives of teaching English speaking for grade 10 in high schools defined by the MOET? 44 4.1.3.1 The difficulties that teachers have encountered in teaching English speaking at high schools in Tay Ninh province 44 in teaching English speaking at high schools in Tay Ninh province 44 4.1.3.2 The ways to teach English speaking at high schools in Tay Ninh province in order to meet the objectives of teaching English speaking for grade 10 in high schools defined by the MOET 45 4.2 Discussion 45 4.2.1 Methods of teaching English speaking skills being used at high schools in v Tay Ninh province 46 4.2.2 The appropriateness of those teaching methods with the objectives of teaching English speaking for grade 10 in high schools defined by the MOET 48 4.2.3 The difficulties in teaching speaking and solutions 53 4.2.4 Concluding remarks 57 Chapter 58 CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 58 5.1 Summary of main findings 58 5.1.1 Research Question 1: What kinds of English speaking teaching methods are being used for tenth-grade graders at high schools in Tay Ninh province? 58 5.1.2 Research Question 2: Do those methods help to achieve the curriculum objectives of teaching English speaking for tenth-grade graders in high schools defined by the MOET? 58 5.1.3 Research Question 3: How should English speaking be taught at high schools in Tay Ninh province in order to meet the objectives of teaching English speaking for tenth-grade graders in high schools defined by the MOET? 59 5.2 Implications 59 5.2.1 Teachers 59 5.2.2 Students 61 5.2.3 The school managers, the DOET and the MOET 61 5.3 Suggestions for further researches 62 REFERENCES 63 APPENDICES 67 APPENDIX 1: THE OBJECTIVES OF TEACHING ENGLISH SPEAKING FOR GRADE 10 IN HIGH SCHOOLS DEFINED BY THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING 67 APPENDIX 69 APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONAIRE FOR TEACHERS 71 APPENDIX 4: INTERVIEW FOR TEACHERS 73 APPENDIX 5: THE CONTENT OF SPEAKING TESTS FOR TENTHGRADE STUDENTS 78 APPENDIX 6: PHIẾU ĐÁNH GIÁ KỸ NĂNG NÓI CỦA HỌC SINH 82 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Units of spoken language (Van Lier, 1995,p.15)…………………… Figure 4.1: The number of teachers knew the objectives of teaching English speaking for grade 10 defined by the MOET…………………………………….42 Figure 4.2: The teachers’ responses towards the question whether the current methods of teaching English speaking meet the objectives of teaching English speaking for grade 10 defined by the MOET………………… ……………… 43 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: The distinction between the key terms evaluation, assessment, measurement and test (Kerri-Lee Krause, Sandra Bochner, and Sue Duchesne, 2003, p.405) 17 Table 3.1: Interview participants’ background 23 Table 3.2: Levels of 40 students for oral tests 23 Table 3.3: Classes of 40 students for oral tests 23 Table 3.4: Data collection procedure 28 Table 4.1: The speaking activities in speaking lessons 32 Table 4.2: Students’ level of fluency at the end of grade 10 36 Table 4.3: Students’ vocabulary at the end of grade10 37 Table 4.4: Students’ grammar at the end of grade 10 38 Table 4.5: Students’ pronunciation at the end of grade 10 40 Table 4.6: Students’ level of interaction with listeners at the end of grade 10 41 Table 4.7: The difficulties that teachers have encountered in teaching English speaking at high school in Tay Ninh province 44 vii i ABBREVIATIONS GTM Grammar-Translation Method ALM: Audio-lingual Method CLT Communicative Language Teaching MOET Ministry of Education and Training DOET Department of Education and Training ix APPENDIX CLASS OBSERVATION CHECKLIST Name of the teacher:……………………………………………………… Date:……………………… Time:……………………… Class: …………………… Unit:……………………… Number of students in the class:………… Name of school:……………………………… METHODS OF TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS IN TAY NINH HIGH SCHOOLS Note: Circle letter A if the items observed are true What is observed Apply I The Audio-lingual Method Teacher asks students to remember and then imitate phrases A Teacher asks students to learn sentences and structures by repetition Teacher pays little attention to the explanation of grammar Teacher teaches new words in dialogues Teacher encourages students to speak only English Teacher teaches proper pronunciation Teacher corrects students’ errors at once A A A A A A A Teacher reinforces students’ accurate responses A Teacher pays attention to the use of English 10 Teacher interacts with students in English more often than A students interact with each other II The Communicative Language Teaching A 11 Teacher does everything with a communicative intent A A 12 Teacher uses games 13 Teacher uses songs A A 14 Teacher uses quizzes role-play A 15 Teacher uses problem-solving tasks 16 Teacher uses authentic materials 17 Teacher asks students to work in groups A A A 69 Comments 18 Teacher establishes situations for students interact with each other in English more often than she/he interacts with students 19 Teacher notes students’ errors during fluency activities and return to them later with an accuracy-based activity 20 Teacher uses English during communicative activities, in explaining the activities or in III Othershomework (Please specify) assigning ……………………………………………………………… ………… ……………………………………………………………… ………… 70 A A A A APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONAIRE FOR TEACHERS Dear colleagues, Thank you for being willing to help me by joining this survey The results are very important to my research about the investigation into methods of teaching English speaking for grade 10 at Tay Ninh high schools Please try to answer all questions as honestly as you can There is no “right” or “wrong” answers All of them are used for research purposes only Thank you very much for your cooperation Methods of teaching English speaking skills at high schools in Tay Ninh province: Which activities you use in your speaking classes? ITEM S and then imitate phrases You ask students to remember You ask students to learn sentences and structures by repetition You pay little attention to the explanation of grammar You teach new words in dialogues You encourage students to speak only the target language You teach proper pronunciation You correct students’ errors at once You reinforce students’ accurate responses You pay attention to the use of English 10 You interact with your students more often than students interact with each other 11 You everything with a communicative intent 12 You use games 13 You use songs 14 You use quizzes role-play 15 You use problem-solving tasks 16 You use authentic materials 17 You ask students to work in groups 71 YES NO 18 You establish situations for students to interact with each other more often than you interact with students 19 You note students’ errors during fluency activities and return to them later with an accuracy-based activity 20 You use the target language during communicative activities, in explaining the activities or in assigning 21 Others: homework …………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… …………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… …………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… …………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… 72 APPENDIX 4: INTERVIEW FOR TEACHERS Dear colleagues, Thank you for being willing to help me by joining this interview The results are very important to my research about the evaluation of methods of teaching English speaking for grade 10 at high schools in Tay Ninh province Please try to answer all questions as honestly as you can There is no “right” or “wrong” answers All of them are used for research purposes only Thank you very much for your cooperation Part I: What are the difficulties you have encountered in teaching English speaking at your high school? Passive students ITEM S YES NO The differences in students’ English background Low student proficiency Lack of students’ motivation to attain fluency Students use Vietnamese during pair work or group work Students’ own habit in practicing grammar Big classes Teacher’s insufficiency at spoken English Have little time to give practice in class 10 Fixed curriculum 11 Lack of facilities (movable tables, overhead projectors, LCD, TV, cassette players, etc.) 12 Lack of authentic teaching materials 13 Lack of means to evaluate students’ speaking ability 14 Others: …………………………………………………………………………………… 73 Part II: Methods of teaching English speaking skills at your school: Which activities you use in your speaking classes? ITEM S and then imitate phrases 15 You ask students to remember 16 You ask students to learn sentences and structures by repetition 17 You pay little attention to the explanation of grammar YES NO 18 You teach new words in dialogues 19 You encourage students to speak only the target language 20 You teach proper pronunciation 21 You correct students’ errors at once 22 You reinforce students’ accurate responses 23 You pay attention to the use of English 24 You interact with your students more often than students interact with each other 25 You everything with a communicative intent 26 You use games 27 You use songs 28 You use quizzes role-play 29 You use problem-solving tasks 30 You use authentic materials 31 You ask students to work in groups 32 You establish situations for students to interact with each other more often than you interact with students 33 You note students’ errors during fluency activities and return to them later with an accuracy-based activity 34 You use the target language during communicative activities, in explaining the activities or in assigning 35 Others: homework …………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… …………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… …………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… …………………………………………………………………………………… 74 ……………… Part III: Evaluation of English speaking teaching methods at your school 36 In your own opinion, how many percent of your students belong to five a Level of fluency following groups after they finish grade10? Unsatisfactory Students can not speak anything Satisfactory Students can speak but with the slow speed; they often hesitate or repeat words; they can not convey efficiently the topic content Fairly good Students can speak rather fluently and coherently, sometimes they hesitate; they can convey rather efficiently the topic content Good Students can speak rather fluently and coherently, they rarely hesitate; you can convey efficiently the topic content Excellent Students can speak fluently and coherently; they can convey efficiently and appropriately the topic content Students can not use any related vocabulary Students can use some familiar vocabulary related to the topic and can express some of their ideas Students can use many familiar vocabulary related to the topic and can express most of their ideas You can use vocabulary appropriately , variously and can express most of their ideas You can use vocabulary appropriately, variously, correctly, and interestingly and can express flexibly all of their ideas b Vocabulary Percentage of students Percentage of students 75 c Grammar Students cannot use any simple or complex structures Students can use simple structures but still have many errors when using complex structures to express their ideas Students can use correctly simple structures but still have some errors when using complex structures to express their ideas Students can use correctly simple structures and many complex structures to express their ideas Students can use correctly and interestingly all simple and complex structures to express their ideas Students cannot pronounce words Students can pronounce but not clearly; the listener can understand the information they convey but with difficulties Students can pronounce rather clearly; the listener can easily understand the information they convey Students can pronounce clearly and correctly but the intonation is not natural; the listener can easily understand the information they convey Students can pronounce clearly and correctly but the intonation is natural; the listener can easily understand the information they convey Students cannot interact with the listeners Students can interact with the listeners by using common utterances but they respond slowly, passively and inflexibly in developing conversation Students can interact with the listeners by using common utterances but they are rather active and flexible in developing conversation Students can interact with the listeners and they are active and flexible in developing conversation Students can interact with the listeners and they are active, flexible and sensitive in communicating and developing conversation d Pronunciation Percentage of students e Level of interaction with the listeners Percentage of students Percentage of students 37 Do you know the objectives of teaching English speaking for grade 10 in high schools defined by the Ministry of Education and Training? Yes (go to question 39, question 40 and question 41) No 76 38 In your own opinion, what are the objectives of teaching English speaking for grade 10 at high schools defined by the Ministry of Education and Training? ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 39 In your opinion, your methods of teaching English speaking meet the objectives of teaching English speaking for grade 10 defined by Vietnamese MOET? Yes No 40 In your opinion, how should English speaking be taught at high schools in Tay Ninh province in order to meet the objectives of teaching English speaking for grade 10 in high schools defined by the Ministry of Education and Training? ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 77 APPENDIX 5: THE CONTENT OF SPEAKING TESTS FOR TENTH- GRADE STUDENTS CARD Part 1: You have minutes to prepare and then present the following topic in minutes: Talk about daily activities in your family Part 2: Make a conversation with the teacher in following situations: Asking for and giving information from a timetable CARD Part 1: You have minutes to prepare and then present the following topic in minutes: Talk about your favourite subject Part 2: Make a conversation with the teacher in following situations: Asking and answering questions about your high school CARD Part 1: You have minutes to prepare and then present the following topic in minutes: Talk about your background Part 2: Make a conversation with the teacher in following situations: Asking and answering questions about your idol’s back ground 78 CARD Part 1: You have minutes to prepare and then present the following topic in minutes: Talk about the importance of computer in our life Part 2: Make a conversation with the teacher in following situations: Asking and answering questions about the advantages and disadvantages of some modern inventions CARD Part 1: You have minutes to prepare and then present the following topic in minutes: Talk about one kind of media that you like best Part 2: Make a conversation with the teacher in following situations: Asking and answering questions about the advantages and disadvantages of TV CARD Part 1: You have minutes to prepare and then present the following topic in minutes: Talk about your plan in near future Part 2: Make a conversation with the teacher in following situations: Expressing agreement and disagreement with what students should to learn independently 79 CARD Part 1: You have minutes to prepare and then present the following topic in minutes: Talk about what we should to protect our environment in our village Part 2: Make a conversation with the teacher in following situations: Suggest some effective ways to protect our environment CARD Part 1: You have minutes to prepare and then present the following topic in minutes: Talk about your favorite kind of music Part 2: Make a conversation with the teacher in following situations: Asking and answering questions about the importance of entertainment in our modern life CARD Part 1: You have minutes to prepare and then present the following topic in minutes: Talk about your favorite kind of sports Part 2: Make a conversation with the teacher in following situations: Asking and answering questions about the sport event you know or you like best 80 CARD 10 Part 1: You have minutes to prepare and then present the following topic in minutes: Talk about a famous places you have ever visited Part 2: Make a conversation with the teacher in following situations: Asking and answering questions about a famous places you want to visit in near future 81 APPENDIX 6: PHIẾU ĐÁNH GIÁ KỸ NĂNG NÓI CỦA HỌC SINH Họ tên học sinh: …………………………….………….Lớp: ………………… Trường: ………………………………………………… MỤC TIÊU Theo Bloom Vận dụng kiến thức chủ đề cụ thể (hoạt động ngày, giáo dục, thôngtin cá nhân, khoa học công nghệ, phương tiện thông tin đại chúng, bảo tồn tự nhiên, giải trí, thể thao, địa danh) để hỏi đáp nói chủ đề TIÊU CHÍ ĐÁNH GIÁ Thẻ: …… CHỈ SỐ ĐÁNH GIÁ KHÔNG ĐẠT (04.9) Ngập Mức độ ngừng mạch lạc khơng trơi chảy nói TRUNG BÌNH KHÁ (6.57.9) (56.4) Nói tốc độ chậm, nhiều lúc ngập ngừng lặp từ, mạch lạc; chưa phát triển đầy đủ nội dung chủ đề GIỎI (88.9) XUẤT SẮC (910) Nói lưu lốt, ngập ngừng, tương đối mạch lạc; phát triển tương đối đầy đủ nội dung chủ đề nói Nói tương đối lưu lốt, mạch lạc, ngập ngừng; phát triển đầyđủ nội dung chủ đề nói Nói lưu lốt, trơi chảy, mạch lạc; phát triển đầy đủ hợp lý nội dung chủ đềnói Sử dụng nhiều từ vựng quen thuộc, diễn đạt quan điểm thân Lựa chọn sử dụng từ vựng hợp lý, tương đối đa dạng; diễn đạt đầy đủ quan điểm thân Lựa chọn sử dụng từ vựng hợp lý, đa dạng, xác, độc đáo; diễn đạt linh hoạt, đầy đủ quan điểm thân ĐIỂM ĐÁNH GIÁ Không sử dụng từ có liên Phạm vi quan đến từ vựng chủ đề để diễn đạt ý kiến thân ĐIỂM ĐÁNH GIÁ Sử dụng số từ vựng quen thuộc có liên quan đến chủ đề, diễn đạt vài ý kiến thân 82 Không sử dụng cấu trúc câu Phạm vi đơn giản ngữ pháp phức tạp Sử dụng cấu trúc câu đơn giản mắc nhiều lỗi sử dụng câu phức để diễn đạt ý kiến Sử dụng cấu trúc câu đơn giản mắc số lỗi sử dụng câu phức để diễn đạt ý kiến Sử dụng cấu trúc câu đơn giản nhiều dạng câu phức thông dụng để diễn đạt ý kiến Sử dụng đa dạng cấu trúc câu từ đơn giản đến phức tạp cách xác, độc diễn đạt ý kiến Không phát âm từ Phát âm chưa rõràng, người nghe hiểu thông tin cần truyền đạt khó khăn Phát âm tương đối rõ ràng, người nghe hiểu thơng tin cần truyền đạt dễ dàng Phát âm rõ ràng, xác ngữ điệu chưa tự nhiên, người nghe hiểu thông tin cần truyền đạt cách dễ dàng Phát âm chuẩn, rõ ràng, ngữ điệu tự nhiên, người nghe hiểu thơng tin cần truyền đạt cách dễdàng Đối đáp câu giao tiếp thông thường, phản ứng chậm, bị động không linh hoạt phát triển đối thoại Đối đáp câu giao tiếp thông thường, phản ứng tương đối chủ động đủ linh hoạt phát triển đối thoại Đối đáp tương đối chủ động linh hoạt phát triển đối thoại Đối đáp chủ động linh hoạt, phản ứng nhạy bén giao tiếp, phát triển đối thoại Phát âm ĐIỂM ĐÁNH GIÁ Không đối đáp với Mức độ người phản ứng nghe đối đáp với người nghe ĐIỂM ĐÁNH GIÁ 83 ...STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled ? ?An Investigation into Common Methods of Teaching English Speaking Skill to Tenth -graders in Tay Ninh Province: from. .. 2.1.5 Principles of teaching speaking skills Brown (1994) points out some following principles of teaching speaking which teachers should keep in mind when organizing speaking activities To start... teaching speaking 2.1.5 Principles of teaching speaking skills 2.1.6 The common English speaking teaching methods 10 2.2 Evaluation of teaching 16 2.2.1 Definition