An investigation into the teaching and learning of english speaking skills of grade 11th students at vo thi sau high school in vung tau city

427 00312 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSTTY AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE TEACHING AND LEARNING SPEAKING SKILLS OF GRADE OF ENGLISH 11'" STUDENTS AT VO THI SAU HIGH SCHOOL IN VUNG TAU CITY TRUONG DAI HOC Md TP.HCM THU VIEN A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) Submitted by MAI QUOC DANH Supervisor: Dr HO THANH MY PHUONG HO CHI MINH CITY, NOVEMBER 2013 STATEMENT I certify TEACHING AND STUDENTS AT thesis this that LEARNING VO THI SAU OF AUTHORSHIP entitled OF ENGLISH HIGH INVESTIGATION “AN SPEAKING SCHOOL IN VUNG SKILLS TAU INTO THE OF GRADE 11" is my own CITY” work Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution » NOVEMBER Mai Quoc Danh ii 2013 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude and deep appreciation to my supervisor, Dr Ho Thanh My Phuong, insightful comments for her help and warm encouragement, as well as her on my work from the beginning to the end of my study The thesis would not have been completed without her academic guidance and invaluable support Also, my thanks go to all of my lecturers at HCMC Open University for their helpful instructions during the Master in TESOL training course In addition, I would like to extend my special thanks to Mr.Vo Van Tuan, the head of the English department at Vo Thi Sau (VTS) high school, for providing me with valuable advice and access to the related resources on my thesis The completion of this study would not have been possible without the cooperation from English teachers and 100 students at Vo Thi Sau high school who participated in the study I am grateful to all of them for providing useful data for the analysis of this study Last but not least, my thanks go to my family for their ongoing support, and my classmates and friends for their valuable suggestions, inspiration, and proofreading to improve my research ili ABSTRACT English has been applied to officially teach students of grade for a long time and likely to students of grade 3, according to the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET, 2010) Also, some improvement has been made in teaching methods, textbooks, curriculum, etc., with a hope to improve students’ speaking skills in high school Students, however even after several years at school, cannot communicate well, even in simple situations, according to most of language teachers and experts This study was to investigate the teaching and learning of the English speaking skills of grade 11 students at VTS high school in Vung Tau city The study was conducted using the data from interviews with teachers, a survey from 100 students, and classroom observations The study explored what the teachers and students normally to develop students’ speaking skills At the same time, difficulties were identified and then helped suggest necessary conditions and solutions in order to improve students’ English speaking skills The results of the study clearly pointed out that the teachers have tried their best to apply many brainstorming; of communicative and interviews They activities such also scaffold as discussions, role students with needed plays; language input; created very comfortable learning atmosphere aiming to foster the students’ speaking However, students’ communicative competence has still been limited the students’ lack of vocabulary and ideas, imperfectly learned pronunciation, confidence lacking, speaking time limitation in class, low level of frequency of practice were some most common challenges revealed in the current situation As a result, possible solutions were also indicated for related shortcomings iv The study finally showed that the duty of improvement students’ English speaking skills require collective efforts It requires efforts from teachers to improve their teaching techniques to be flexible regarding the unavoidable situations; from school authorities to support teachers with needed conditions; and from efforts of students themselves to take advantage of possible opportunities to practice English speaking TABLES OF CONTENTS Page STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP :cssssssssessesstssseseessesseesssssssesenseneesseseesnsanessecnecsnenneeneenaeey ii ,.\0).6)/9À940919)6)9)/15011 00121575775 iii BÃI Ì TTTÍ sy sa: 2c: c¿ co xi9 3/603E414/858207212025363364.419019/01542484094043184600400148222810)21324014001-2044k9EĐA1001354030/7591994E370234E 1V TAELE OF(CCMIETNIS sSẲsSẲằẲ cỖ.62 0014c6c-cc166200303Y6o3.C00kkstis9Av959 vi LIST OF FIGURLES G