Hiệu quả của việc sử dụng VOA NEWS để dạy kỹ năng nói cho sinh viên chuyên tiếng anh trường đại học hồng đức

After the lesson, a question has always appeared in the author’s mind “How to provide students with the fresh information to enrich their knowledge?” From that day, the author has spent

rationale based on theoretical, pedagogical and contextual grounds, which serve as a foundation for the study The focus of the study 1s lined in the third section, together with the research aims, objectives, questions and scope The final section of this part describes the organization of the study

1.1 Rationale

English nowadays is increasingly being used as a tool for interaction among non-native speakers It has become the vital device for communication in all fields It is regarded as a bridge which joins people all over the world together

The atmosphere of English Language Teaching in Vietnam has been greatly improved in the past 15 years since the country opened its door to the rest world and welcomed diplomatic, economic, social and education relations with many other nations English has become the major medium of communication between the Vietnamese and their foreign partners Today, when globalization is an irreversible trend in the international arena, the role of English in Vietnam 1s ever more critical

It cannot be denied that English has become an international language It is the means of communication in all the fields of our everyday life In Vietnam, English has been taught and learnt widely People learn English for many reasons : getting a better job, travelling, reading books, magazines or newspapers in English, improving knowledge, being teachers

of English

The communicative approach in language teaching has become more and more predominant in recent years all over the world In Vietnam this approach has been used popularly for teaching learners’ four language skills, especially speaking skills It is also recognized that in recent years, in the field of second language acquisition (SLA), researchers have been more interested in studying the learning process than the learning product and in the development of communicative competence than that of linguistic

classroom teaching techniques such as Pair-work, Group-work, Role-play, Improvisation, Pantomime, Interviewing, Presentation as well as various kinds of language teaching materials such as authentic materials, published materials and supplementary materials have been used They are all effective techniques and useful materials At Hong Duc University, teachers of English usually use these techniques and materials to teach speaking skills to students However, they only use the materials that are designed for speaking sections in course books or textbooks or they sometimes provide students with some pieces of news cut from English newspapers Being a teacher of English, the author is very interested in teaching speaking skills and she has been teaching speaking skills for nearly five years She usually wants to improve this skills herself and to make something new for her speaking classes The matter is, one day, she went to class with the hope to share some hot new information with her students about what has just happened in the world She entered the class After greeting the whole class, she was very excited to raise a question: “Are you interested in the event happened yesterday in the world?” An absolute silence with surprising facial expressions With a little disappointment, the author told her students the news After the lesson, a question has always appeared in the author’s mind

“How to provide students with the fresh information to enrich their knowledge?” From that day, the author has spent time accessing internet and she discovers that a kind of materials that helps language learners widen their knowledge and develop their speaking skills effectively is using VOA news Learners may use information they hear or read from VOA news to enrich their oral presentation By this way they can improve their speaking skills, listening skills and also reading and writing skills The author decides to focus on teaching material, as this is an aspect of evaluation that nearly all teachers do at sometimes, even if itis only an informal basis

Following the tendency mentioned above and to answer the author’s question, the present study is intended to investigate the effect of using VOA news to teach speaking skills for the third-year English major students at Hong Duc University, based on theoretical, pedagogical and contextual grounds

tasks in the lessons of speaking skills employed by language teachers to enhance the effect

of using it as a means to provide comprehensible input in teaching and learning speaking skills

1.3 Aims of the study

The study aims to apply VOA news as a kind of language teaching materials in teaching speaking skills to the third-year English major students of Department of foreign languages

at Hong Duc University

1.4 Objectives of the study

Within the framework of a minor M.A thesis, the study attempts to:

(1) review the theoretical literature on VOA news as a kind of language teaching materials used to provide students with suitable authentic materials and its role in teaching EFL and speaking skills, so as to provide teachers with a better understanding about these subject

1.5 Research questions

The research questions addressed in the study are:

1 What language teaching materials have been used frequently to teach speaking skills to English majors at Hong Duc University?

2 To what extent do teachers of English majors at Hong Duc University use VOA news as

a kind of language teaching materials in their speaking classes?

3 To what extent does VOA news work in EFL speaking classes at Hong Duc University? 1.6 Scope of the study

This study is concerned with the development of English speaking skills for the third year English major students of Department of foreign languages at Hong Duc University The focus is on effect of applying VOA news as language teaching materials to teach speaking skills, as it is believed this provides students with not only very fresh materials but also the improvement of listening skills, reading skills and writing skills The materials presented are to serve only as guidelines, which can be modified and adapted to answer the requirements of different situations The sample of instructional materials in the teaching

of speaking will consist of three lessons only due to the time constrains, and can act as a guide for language teachers in providing instructional materials are adapted from relevant VOA news programs used by teachers at Hong Duc University with some modifications 1.7 Methods of the study

In order to successfully fulfill the task and reach the objectives of the study, quantitative and qualitative methods are mainly used The survey data, which are collected for the study

be used in supporting for the information from the survey

Survey questionnaires were used to collect information and evidence for the study with the hope that the research would be reliable and processing of data would be manageable within limited time budget

1.8 Design of the study

The study is presented in three parts: introduction, development and conclusion

Part one INTRODUCTION introduces the rationale, aims, focus, objectives, research

questions, scope, methods and design of the study

Part two DEVELOPMENT concludes 3 chapters:

Chapter one is the literature reviews This chapter intends to set up the framework of the study It focuses on the theory of the nature of language skills and communication Some discussions on definitions, purposes of using VOA news as a kind of language teaching materials used to provide students with suitable authentic materials to help them develop their speaking skills; VOA news as a kind of authentic materials used in teaching speaking Some principles in teaching speaking and some strategies of approaches are also

mentioned

Chapter two includes two sections The first section presents the local situation in the foreign language department, Hong Duc University, with a brief description of the speaking learning and teaching conditions, students, teachers and course books used for teaching speaking to students of English majors at Hong Duc University The second section describes the research methodology that includes the description of the subjects, setting, data collection instruments and procedures

Part three CONCLUSION includes the implications and suggestions for teaching speaking using VOA news as a kind of language teaching materials Recommendations for further research are also mentioned in this part.

CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW

1 Communicative approach

1.1 The communicative Approach

The communicative approach starts from a theory of language as communication It refers

to the beliefs and theories of the language teaching, which emphasize that the goal of language teaching is communicative competence (Rechards, 1985)

1.2 Communicative activities

‘Communicative activities’ refers to the techniques which are employed in the communicative method in language teaching The activities involve ‘doing’ things with language Communicative activities have some characteristics: They are purposeful, authentic materials are used and they are based on the information gap principles

2 Definition of speaking skills

2.1 Introduction

‘We learn languages in order to be able to speak, easily, comfortably, confidently This is true for people who need to learn English for work or study, or even for those who want to learn Spanish or Chinese for travel Most people want to learn to speak.’ (Byrne, 1991 :9) According to Bygate (1987) speaking is the productive skill in the oral mode It, like the other skills, is more complicated than it seems at first and involves more than just pronouncing words

Interaction, the act of communicating with another person , plays an important part in second language learning Ellis (1997) presents some benefits of learners’ output in

provides students with encouragement and chances to test themselves Further more, students are able to be reflected on their own out put For all these reasons, speaking is also one of necessary skills that students have to acquire in learning a foreign language

2.2 Nature of language skills and the oral communication

It is believed that language communication involves some language skills In teaching and learning a foreign language, language skills are four-macro skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing, among which listening and reading are believed to be receptive skills, and speaking and writing are productive ones Of the four skills, speaking plays a very important role since it is the first step to identify who knows and does not know a language The nature of oral communication is comprehended as a two-way process between the speaker and the listener

2.3 Elements involved in speaking a foreign language

Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information (Brown, 1994; Burns & Joyce, 1997) According to Hedge (2000), speaking a foreign language competently involves the ability to make oneself understood and to manage interaction Speaker’s oral skills has an impact on the success of any exchange Knowledge that a good speaker has to process:

- Sounds, stress patterns, rhythmic structures and intonations of the language

VOA will serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news VOA news will

be accurate, objective, and comprehensive VOA will represent America, not any single segment of American society, and will therefore present a balanced and comprehensive projection of significant American thought and institutions VOA will present the policies

of the United States clearly and effectively, and will also present responsible discussions and opinion on these policies

3.2 Some fast facts of VOA news:

Audience: more than 115 million weekly

Media: radio, television, and the Internet

Languages: 44

Budget: $166 million (FY 2006)

Headquarters: Washington, D.C

Employees: more than 1,100

Mission: To broadcast accurate, balanced, and comprehensive news and information to an international audience

Facilities: 27 radio broadcast studios, 33 production and recording studios, 30 professional audio mixing and dubbing stations, 4 television studios, 20 video editing

suites, and facilities for master control, recording, scheduling, and feed intake

History: Broadcasts began in 1942, as a response to the need of peoples in closed and war-

torn societies for reliable news

3.3 VOA broadcasts

¢ more than 1,000 hours of programs are produced each week

¢ 25 of VOA's 44 languages broadcast on television

¢ Program content includes news, features, education, and culture, in discussion, call-in,

live, and pre-recorded formats

¢ VOA has a growing worldwide network of more than 1,200 local affiliate stations, which include FM and medium wave (MW or AM) radio stations, television stations and networks, and cable systems

3.4 VOA and Technology

¢ VOA has the largest integrated digital audio system in the world

¢ A network of transmitting stations operated by the international Broadcasting Bureau, along with some leased stations, sends VOA's programs instantaneously around the world

¢ The website, www.VOANews.com provides a wide range of English-language news reports and serves as a portal to homepages of all 44 languages broadcast by VOA, as well

as other information about VOA

¢ VOANews.com pages feature text, audio/video files on demand, and live-streamed programs

The broadcasts in 44 languages make VOAone of the largest multimedia news organizations in the world

"The news may be good The news may be bad We shall tell you the truth.” (William

Harlan Hale, Ist VOA broadcast, 1942)

4 VOA news — a kind of authentic materials

4.1 Authentic materials

There are trends in EFL material developments, among which is the trend of exploiting authentic materials in language classroom McGrath’s findings focus on authentic materials

in his book “ Material Evaluation and design for Language Teaching” and a case study on

the use of news and current events in creating ESL/Efl lessons, which is introduced in the article “Creating ESL/EFL Lessons Based on News and Current Events”, the ITESL Journal

11(9) Sept 2005, by Sean Banville

In definition, authentic materials are usually defined as those which have been produced for purposes other than to teach language, for example print materials such as newspapers

or timetables, or spoken materials such as public announcements [Nunan, 1998, cited in

McGrath, 2002p.105]

The definition of authentic materials used here is taken from Peacock (1997): materials that have been produced to fulfill some social purpose in the language community

There are some more definitions of authentic materials Harmer (1991) points out that

“materials which are designed for native speakers; they are real texts designed not for language students, but for the speakers of the language” Jodan (1997:113) states that

“texts that are not written for language teaching purposes” etc

There are many references to authentic material in the ELT literature Books and journals contain thorough explanations of why it should or should not be included in lessons, and how it is to be used or best exploited But those authors who support the use of authentic materials have in common one idea: "exposure" In other words, the benefit students get from being exposed to the language in authentic materials

Widdowson's (1990) differentiation of the terms "authentic" and "genuine material” has been a seminal one in the field so the author should like to mention it here: Authentic would be material designed for native speakers of English used in the classroom in a way similar to the one it was designed for For example, a radio news report brought into the class so students discuss the report on pollution in the city where learners live

4.2 The Advantages of authentic materials

Using authentic materials in the classroom, even when not done in an authentic situation,

and provided it is appropriately exploited, is significant for many reasons, amongst which

are:

e Students are exposed to real discourse, as in videos of interviews with famous people where intermediate students listen for gist

e Authentic materials keep students informed about what is happening in the world,

so they have an intrinsic educational value As teachers, we are educators working within the school system, so education and general development are part of our responsibilities (Sanderson, 1999)

e They can produce a sense of achievement, e.g., a brochure on England given to students to plan a 4-day visit

e The same piece of materials can be used under different circumstances if the task 1s

4.3 The Disadvantages of authentic materials

The disadvantages mentioned by several writers are:

e They may be too culturally based, so unnecessarily difficult to understand outside the language community

e The vocabulary might not be relevant to the student's immediate needs

e Too many structures are mixed so lower levels have a hard time decoding the texts

e Special preparation is necessary which can be time consuming

e With listening: too many different accents

e The material can become outdated easily, e.g news

In conclusion, authentic materials adaptation is necessary and must be carefully done No matter what the source of the materials or their purposes in class, however, successful adaptation requires careful attention to the semantic, lexical, syntactic, and discourse elements of the original texts

4.4 Sources of Authentic Materials

In today's globalized world, examples abound, but the most commonly used perhaps are:

newspapers, TV programs, menus, magazines, the internet, movies, songs, brochures, comics, literature (novels, poems and short stories), and so forth

4.4.1 Literature

The reason for using literature in the class has been stated by Ezra Pound (2002): "Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree." Of course, the focus should be on teaching language, not literature In other words, the idea should be using literary texts as one kind among other texts With that in mind, the tasks should aim at meaning and not form, especially literary form or stylistics

4.4.2 Computer Software

Software that has been specially designed for English instruction has received some criticism particularly from teachers who back up a humanistic approach to language teaching They state they see no reason why exercises that can be done with a textbook should be carried out with a computer This idea stems from software such as Gapkit, Grammar mastery II and others that are really computer-guided drills This position is quite

understandable However, together with Tense Buster, and others that drills are not all

computers have to offer to EFL teaching

General software can be used in class, be it in a genuine or in an authentic way An example is Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?, that gives students opportunities to interact not only with the computer but with other students as well There are other

examples of adventure games where learners need to discover clues and unravel mysteries These games usually involve a good amount of reading and with the use of multimedia they involve a good range of sounds, speakers of different ages and accents, and excellent images Students can play in pairs or threes and discuss what to do next, so that the interaction that takes place is also a part of the learning process Another advantage these games have is that they promote computer literacy, a badly needed skill in the modern

world

4.4.3 The Internet

The Internet can be a wonderful resource for authentic materials for FL teachers The standards goal areas serve as clear guides for teachers in their search for useful materials

on the Web Once located, these materials can be used to create marvelous activities that

address the standards and enhance FL instruction by following sound pedagogical models This triangulation of resources and effort can only improve our teaching and, hence, our students’ learning

With the advent of the World Wide Web, teachers have at their disposal large amounts of

texts, visual stimuli, newspapers, magazines, live radio and T.V., video clips and much

more There are endless lists of useful materials for the language classroom There needs to

be a task, preferably one in which meaning is central and has some connection to the real world Treasure hunts and other information searching activities are probably the most useful More and more sites have interactive sections The range of authentic materials that may be found on the Internet is extensive, but just because something is on the Internet does not make it accurate and is no guarantee of quality We need to be selective about what we use, but we also can be more successful in finding quality materials if we explore

a broad range of sites To the teacher who is new to the Internet, the expanse of the Web can be daunting

5 VOA news as a kind of language teaching materials

5.1 Benefits of VOA news in teaching speaking

As mentioned above, VOA news provides students with authentic materials through listening or reading so students may base on the information from those materials to expand the content of their speeches VOA news can develop previous experience for students It creates situation in which there is a need for precise communication VOA news can help challenge students to discover new truths or insights by confronting them with previous unknown predicament VOA news increases motivation and provides the incentive to work hard It fosters a sense of responsibility and co-operation among students

if they are made to work in pairs or in groups VOA news can motivate teachers to meet the needs of students It promotes students’ learning process When the teacher uses these materials to draw back to a lesson and gives students something with which they can associate a word, phrase or concept, the students will have a greater impact in their mind about the lesson That is why it is a great advantage to the learning process

5.2 Purposes of using VOA news in teaching speaking skills

VOA news can be used as a kind of language teaching materials to provide students with various kinds of knowledge in the pre-, while- and post- speaking stages VOA news also improves listening skills and reading skills It provides the opportunity for the students to listen to the real talks or read the real stories and get information that they may use for their speaking tasks VOA news can help restore the totality of information by reversing the learning process, beginning with needed knowledge and towards language use This makes the speech more meaningful and attempts to prepare students for real-life situation with real language environment

Language learning must be appeal to the creative intuitive aspect of personality as well as the conscious and rational part VOA news can be used to provide opportunity for the students to be involved actively Effective learning takes place as the student involves himself in the tasks and is motivated to use the target language

Some teachers argue that VOA news is not necessary because they have enough textbooks which contain real-life information and accurate information about the language, interesting books and a lot of exercises They also point out that there are many other more effective language teaching materials to teach speaking that do not force teachers to need

great time and effort to prepare for the lessons So what are the reasons for using VOA news as a kind of language teaching materials?

First of all, while the textbooks are usually aimed at developing accuracy and trying to provide learners with authentic materials but these materials are not up-to-date, VOA news

is used as a means to provide learners with most up-to-date authentic materials Secondly, VOA news is used as a means to offer a context for language speaking development

6 Common types of using VOA news as a language teaching materials in the EFL

classroom

We generally agree that the classroom is a good environment to bring in information and develop good educational skills Our main interest is not to give our students lessons about the English language but to develop the students’ ingenuity of using English for a wide range of communicative purposes, particularly the speaking skills And we should have a good grasp of a variety of techniques and procedures through which the speaking ability

can be refined

6.1 Phases in teaching speaking skills

According to Byrne (1991:22-31), there are three phases to enhance students’ speaking ability They are Presentation phase (Pre-speaking stage), Practice phase (While-speaking stage) and Production phase (Post-speaking stage) They are briefly summarized as follows: 6.1.1 The presentation phase (Pre-speaking stage)

At this phase teachers work as an informant for these reasons: teachers know English much

better than students; teachers choose the materials to teach; teachers provide this in such a

way they the meaning of the new language is as intelligeble and memorable as possible, whereas the students are motionless They heed, try to understand, and say very little This phase is teacher-centred

6.1.2 The practice phase (While-speaking stage)

Unlike the presentation phase, it is the students’ turn to do most of the talking At this stage, the teacher does the minimum amount of talking He provides the maximum amount

of practice Practice is normally in the form of exercises or activities for improvement of fluency At the end of this phase, Ur (1996:12) pointed out what the teachers should bear in mind First, attention must be fully paid by the students Second, the target language must

be clearly heard or repeated in many ways to reinforce the learners’ perception Third, learners understand the meaning of the new materials Finally, short termed memory of the materials must be created for later use in the lesson through a colorful, dramatic and unusual presentation

6.1.3 The production phase (Post-speaking stage)

At any level, students need chances to speak English freely even if they make mistakes A real speaking of English takes place when the students are able to use English for themselves, not for the teacher Accordingly, we must take on the role of a manager or a guide to supply activities for free expressions and care for them as they carry them out

6.2 In which phase (stage) can VOA news be used?

According to the aim of using VOA news as a kind of language teaching materials to teach speaking skills in this study, VOA news can be used as a means to provide students with real-life fresh materials so presentation phase or pre-speaking stage is the most suitable one

in which VOA news will be used There are some reasons for using VOA news in this phase

First of all, when starting a lesson, a teacher always wants his/her students to be interested

in what he/she is going to teach For this purpose, the teacher chooses and designs materials, makes them comprehensible input to provide students People are curious and usually interested in something new or strange VOA news is a kind of authentic materials

It is usually fresh easy to attract students Secondly, in order to create an oral presentation about a specific topic, it is much easier for students to be provided with wide and fresh information or knowledge relating to that topic Based on these information or knowledge, students make their own presentation In this case, VOA news is a great help Finally, before speaking it is a better idea for a teacher to provide students with some listening or reading tasks

6.3 How to use VOA news?

As it is mentioned above, VOA news is a kind of authentic materials so they are very difficult for students to use if teacher does not deal with them first To use them effectively, teacher must find out the way to make them relevant to students’ level and students’ needs and make sure that the teacher wants to adapt the materials in some way The teacher may change the materials in some way, for example by devising new materials either instead of

or in addition to some part of the existing materials Besides, the teacher may design some tasks for students to carry out based on the given materials

McGrath (2002) mentions some criteria for the selection of authentic materials to use They

are:

- relevant (to syllabus, to learners’ needs)

- intrinsic interest of topic/theme

- cultural appropriateness

- linguistic demands

- cognitive demands

- logistical considerations: 1.g length, legibility/audibility

- quality (as a model of use or a representative token of a text-type)

Stage 2: Focus on meaning The meaning that we ask students to extract should be related

to the meanings the intended reader is expected to derive from the text

Stage 3: Focus on the language Since students are actually language learners, a focus on the language is necessary This may be intended to serve various purposes: provision of

models, vocabulary enrichment, skills development, etc.

CHAPTER II: DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDY

The first part of this chapter is the overview of English teaching and learning situations in Foreign Language Department at Hong Duc University Some points have been taken into consideration such as the conditions in which English is taught, the students’ background and their needs, the teaching staff and the materials they have been using The second part

of this chapter is the research methodology which consists of the description of the subjects

of the study and procedures for carrying out the research with the samples of lesson plans

in which materials of VOA news are used for the classroom research lessons

1 The overview of teaching and learning situations in Foreign Language Department

at Hong Duc University

1.1 An overview of the Foreign Language Department of Hong Duc University

Thanh Hoa is one of the biggest provinces in Vietnam where there is a young university called Hong Duc University Established in 1997, by the amalgamation of three local colleges It has nine departments, four centres and eight offices Foreign language department is one of the biggest departments of Hong Duc University Here, English teaching and learning has become popular Progressive strides have been made toward establishing a communicative language teaching wave at the Department of Foreign Languages of the University The department has a mission: to teach English to students of different departments in the University Besides, it also has a very important task: to train teachers of English for high secondary schools around the province Every school year about eighty English major students are enrolled They are trained to become teachers of English

1.2 Students’ background and needs

The students’ level of English when entering university is rather high because like students

of English from other big universities around the country, they have to take national entrance exams on English, Literature and Maths and they have to reach the marks of 25 or 25.5 They came from different districts of Thanh hoa province Some of them come from

rural areas Most of the students did have at least seven years to learn English at high schools and some of them learnt English for three years However, there is a difference in ability among them

At high schools, the students focus on doing written exercises so that they can solve the tasks as fast and correctly as possible They ignore speaking skills because they do not have

to take an English oral exam to enter university Therefore, in the first speaking lessons, they can hardly ever speak in English fluently and it is very difficult for them to express their ideas in English orally

At Hong Duc University, the students have to develop four basic language skills at the same time so they meet a lot of difficulties, especially in speaking skills

Most of the third year students of foreign language department at Hong Duc University who take part in this study were born from 1985 — 1986 All of them will become teachers

of English after graduation

1.3 Teaching staff

Foreign language department has thirty-two teachers, among them twenty-two are teachers

of English Most of them have had special training in teaching different foreign language skills and fields of foreign language teaching and learning There are only four teachers who got M.A degree and the others got B.A degree From the beginning of its foundation, Hong Duc University has had good relationship with some Universities and educational organizations of foreign countries in the area and in the world such as Thailand, Singapore, Canada, Australia and America Nearly every year some teachers are sent to these countries

to improve their English and to attend English teaching methodology courses Also, Hong Duc University has had a very good relationship with the organization of The Project Trust

— UK, so every year two English volunteer teachers are sent to teach English at the department and they help students with speaking skills and listening skills

To meet the demand of the increased needs of English for communication, teachers of English at the department have been searching for more suitable and effective method and

teaching materials, and have come to decide on using the Communicative Language Teaching Approach at all levels The goal is to motivate students to use target language competently

1.4 Course books and teaching materials for teaching speaking skills

At Hong Duc University, students of English have four year course with eight semesters for university level and three year course with six semesters for college level

For university level, each semester has fifteen weeks For the first and second year, students have three forty-five minute periods of speaking skills every week For the third year and the first semester of the fourth year, they have only two forty-five minute periods

of speaking skills every week They do not have speaking lessons for the eighth semester

For college level, each semester also has fifteen weeks For the first and second year, students have four forty-five minute periods of speaking skills every week For the third year, they have only two forty-five minute periods of speaking skills every week They do not have speaking lessons for the sixth semester

The main textbooks for teaching speaking skills are Let’s Talk 1, 2 and 3 by Leo Jones, which have been designed in detail for speaking syllabus for six semesters For the first semester of the fourth year the text book for speaking skills is Interaction 2 by Judith Tanka & Linda R Baker, which has also been designed in detail for speaking syllabus However, the teachers who are in charge of teaching speaking skills are not satisfied with this teaching syllabus because of not enough materials to develop students’ speaking skills Therefore, the teachers have to use extra materials to support and design their speaking lessons based on the topics assigned and relevant to the students’ level

The need for the good resource books is still a matter for teachers of speaking skills They usually find it difficult to find suitable books and materials for their speaking lessons Hong Duc University has a library for reference materials for teachers and students but they are not very new and they do not very much meet the demand of new language teaching approach Therefore, looking for more relevant and suitable materials to teach