(SKKN 2022) developing english speaking skill for the 11th graders at tinh gia 3 high school by using some efective activities and games for the post stages in speaking lessons

Through the initiative with the title “Developing English speaking skill for the 11 th graders at Tinh gia 3 high school by using some efective activities and games for the post-stages i

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 The reason of selecting the topic

Today we are witnessing the interaction and interdependence among nations in the world of information, science, technology, education and culture

In this context, English acts as an effective communication tool for the country's economic, scientific and technological development and regional integration, as well as for intercultural exchanges countries in the region and in the world That

is the reason why English is taught as a second language in most schools in Vietnam However there is a fact that most students who have studied English as

a foreign language for at least nine years before they enter university remain incompetent in their ability to use the language in communication There are many reasons for this failure and the most significant cause is the shortage of effective methods of teaching and leaning English speaking skill Teaching and learning English at high school takes place in a narrow environment of communication and lessons are not interesting enough to stimulate students Therefore, the innovation in teaching and learning speaking English skill is

necessary Through the initiative with the title “Developing English speaking skill for the 11 th graders at Tinh gia 3 high school by using some efective activities and games for the post-stages in speaking lessons” , I would like to

introduce some activities that I applied to my students and brought effectiveness

in teaching and learning speaking skill

In this study, there are exciting and useful activities of developing speaking skill

in post- stages from unit 1 to unit 16 of English 11 Of course, this study can’t

be perfect in limited time Therefore, I hope that the colleagues’ contribution will make it more perfectly

1.2 Objectives, tasks, methodology and scope of research

1.2.1 Objectives of research

1.2.1.1 For the students

- Provide learners with an overview of how to communicate in English effectively

- Help learners have chance to speak English and put their views and ideas into the lesson

1.2.1.2 For the teachers

- Find out the most effective methods and activities to improve students’ speaking English skill

- Know how to stimulate students to improve their speaking skills

1.2.2 Research tasks

- Find out the reason why most of students cannot communicate in English.

- Apply my research to teaching practices, then compare, contrast the implementation of the topic

- Evaluate and conclude the effectiveness of topic

1.2.3 Research methodology

To carry out the study, the following methods have been used:

Investigating methods: The aim of this method is to study the real situation of teaching speaking skill and the post- speaking at Tinh Gia 3 High school

Experimental methods: The aim of this method is to measure the effectiveness

of the short activities and games in the post- speaking stage

Analytic and synthetic methods: This method is used to analyze and synthesize the data collected from the questionnaire surveys

Comparative and contrastive methods: The aim of this method is to compare and contrast the data collected from the questionnaire surveys

1.2.4 Scope of research

The study focuses on using of activities and games in the post- speaking stage to increase the 11th graders’ interest at Tinh Gia 3 High school

2 PROBLEM SOLVING

2.1 Rationale and reality

2.1.1 Rationale

2.1.1.1 The nature of spoken language

Spoken language is language produced by clear sounds, as opposed to written language Many languages have no written form, only have spoken form Oral language or vocal language is produced with the vocal tract, as opposed to sign language, which is produced with the hands and face

According to Vanderkevent (1990) there are three components of speaking:

2.1.1.1.1 The speakers

Speakers are those who produce sound They express opinions or feelings to the hearers So if there are no speakers, no opinions or the feelings will be stated

2.1.1.1.2 The listeners

Listeners are those who receive the speaker’s opinions or feeling If there are no listeners, speakers will express their opinions by writing

2.1.1.1.3 The Utterances

The utterances are words or sentences, which are produced by the speakers to state the opinions If there are no utterances, the speech can’t be done

2.1.1.2 The importance of speaking skill.

Language is a tool for communication We communicate with others, to express our ideas, and to know others’ ideas as well Communication takes place, where there is speech Without speech we cannot communicate with one another The importance of speaking skills, hence is enormous for the learners of any language Without speech, a language is reduced to a mere script The use of language is an activity which takes place within the confines of our community

We use language in a variety of situations

2.1.1.3 Stages of teaching speaking

According to Brown (2009), a perfect teaching speaking lesson has to follow three following stages:

2.1.1.3.1 Pre- speaking stage

Pre- speaking begins before students actually speak Pre- speaking activities involve thought, reflection then provide opportunities for students to plan and organize for speaking Pre-speaking has some purposes such as choosing speaking topic, determining purpose, audience and format

2.1.1.3.2 While- speaking stage

While- speaking engages students in interactions with peers and other audiences

Students who have been provided with supportive, environments and

opportunities to prepare for their informal and formal speaking experiences are more likely to have the confidence to “go public” with their ideas and

information Some purposes for while- speaking are to express personal feelings, ideas or viewpoints; to tell a story; to entertain or amuse; to describe; to inform

or explain; to request; to inquire or question; to classify thinking; to explore and experiment with a variety of ideas and to converse and discuss

2.1.1.3.3 Post- speaking stage

This stage is like the follow – up stage After students have practised the target skill in the white – stage, they do an extension activity This helps students take the information or whatever they have produced in the white – stage, and do something meaningful with it This stage is usually an “information transfer” production – type exercise where students respond to what they have just learnt Tasks usually involve the productive skills The importance is that we have to definite exactly what activities we can use in the post – stage and who does most

of the work

In conclusion, in the Presentation – Practice – Production framework of teaching language, games can be used provided that they can be either for practising specific language items or skills or for more communicative language production

2.1.2 Reality

For many years working in high school myself and my colleagues frankly acknowledge the fact that students in high schools are weak in speaking English Most of the students are afraid of communicating in English, they mainly listen and understand, or write it down on paper whenever the teacher asks for pair or group activities This is understandable because the children's communication environment is limited, the vocabulary is too meager, accompanied by fear of grammar mistakes or not expressing yourself in a sentence

In addition, certain limitations in the application of methods, communication skills and methods of organizing teaching activities of teachers in each specific lesson also significantly affect the ability of students Besides, at the high school level, the study of English is often focused as a main exam subject in the national high school exam rather than an important means of communication This misperception from teachers and students needs to be changed

In order to have information and data for the study, I have designed the questionnaire surveys

The questionnaire survey for 5 teachers consists of six questions was designed to elicit their views on the following aspects (Appendix 1):

- Teachers’ attitude toward speaking skill and the post- speaking stage

- Reality of teaching the post- speaking stage in the speaking lesson

- Difficulties in teaching speaking in High school

- Frequency of using short activities and games the post- speaking stage

- Teachers’attitude toward the effect of games or short activities in the post- speaking stage

- Teachers’attitude in using short activities and games in the post speaking stage

With students I conducted a survey for 5 classes : 11A1,11A2,11A,11 A4 and 11A5 with 260 students The survey questionnaire number 1 is given before the experimental teaching There are seven questions(Appendix 2) which focus on the following areas:

- Students’ attitude toward speaking skill, speaking lesson and the post- speaking stage

- The reasons why students are less interested in the speaking lesson

- Students’ frequency of taking part in the short activities or games in the post- speaking stage

- Degree of students’ familiarity with the type of short activities and games

- Students’ opinions about the goals of using short activities and games in the post- speaking stage

And this is the results and data that I got from teachers and students’ questionnaire

T

he importance of speaking skill:

Table2.1: Attitude toward speaking skill (%)

Very important

Rather important

Not very important

Not important

at all

The importance of the post- speaking stage in learning and teaching speaking lessons.

Table 2.2: Attitude toward the post- speaking stage (%)

Problems of teaching and learning speaking skill in the post- speaking stage

Table2.3: Difficulties of teaching the post- speaking stage (%)

Students are lazy and passive 60%

Students are lack of knowledge 40 %

Table 2.4: The reasons which make students less interested in class (%)

Being afraid of making mistake 68.1%

Low level of English of proficiency 12.4%

The frequency of using short activities or games and the participation of

students in these activities in the post- speaking stage

Table2.5: The frequency of using short activities or games

in the post- speaking stage (%)

Short activities or games

Table 2.6: Kinds of short activities or games used in the post- speaking (%)

Short activities or games Always

(%)

Sometimes (%)

Rarely (%)

Never (%)

Table 2.7: The Level of the Students’ familiarity with each short activity or game

Short activities or

games

Know very well

Know quite well

Know a little

Don’t know

at all

The goals of using short activities and games in the post- speaking stage

Table 2.8: Opinions about the goals of using short activities and game in the

post- speaking stage (%)

Students’ opinion about the goals of using short

Summarize the main points of the lesson 20 14.9% Provide more chances for students to practice 20 19.1% Meet the requirement of task complettion in textbook 40 41.7%

From the shown figures, we can see that most teachers know the importance of speaking skill and they try their best to improve their speaking lessons as well as their student’s speaking skill by using short activities and games in the post-stage speaking lesson However, the effectiveness that they bring doesn’t live up their expectation

Besides, with the support from my colleagues, I aslo tested the students’ speaking skill in classes 11A1,11A3,11A4 by interviewing them and gave marks basing on 5 standards : vocabulary (10 points), grammar (10 points), pronunciation (10 points), fluency (10 points) and coherence (10 points) ( total score = 50/5)

Here are the questions in the interview

1 What’s your name ?

2 Where do you live ?

3 Can you tell some thing about your hometown ?

4 What do you like ? Why do you like it ?

5 What subject do you like? Why ?

6 Can you tell me something about your last vacation?

This is the results of 124 students

Table 2.9: The’levels of students speaking skill

Students Good

(9-10)

Above average (7-8)

Average (5-6)

Weakness (3-4)

Poverty (0-2)

124 1 = 0.8% 10 = 8.1% 20 = 16.2% 73 = 58.7% 20 = 16.2% From this result, we can see that most of interviewed students have low level in using and speaking English Therefore, chaging teaching method is necessary

2.2 Measure implementation

2.2.1 Factors of a successful speaking activity

Speaking in a second or foreign language has often been viewed as the most demanding of the four skills When attempting to speak, learners must

concentrate on their thoughts and encode their ideas in vocabulary and syntactic structures of the target language Ur (1996) indicates the four following

prerequisites of a successful speaking activity in the classroom:

Learners talk a lot: during speaking skill activities, learners should have chances

to talk a lot to develop their oral skill

Participants are even: all learners are involved in the activities and their

distribution for speaking chance are the same

Motivation is high: all the leaners are interested in talking and positively

participate in speaking activities

Language is of an appropriate level: this means that the language used by

teachers and learners to express their ideas and thoughts is understandable to others

Thus, from the factors mentioned above, it can be inferred that teachers should take the factors into consideration when teaching speaking skill

2.2.2 Solutions to the problems with speaking activities

Teaching English as a second language means being able to solve problems students may have in acquiring certain language skills In order to solve the problem of learning and teaching speaking skill, Ur (1996) offers the following solutions:

Group work: Group work increases the amount of time available for oral

practice and allows more than one student to benefit from speaking time

Working in groups also lowers the inhibitions of shy students who are not

comfortable speaking in front of the whole class

Easy language: Simple language makes it easier for students to speak for longer

without hesitation and gives them a sense of accomplishment Essential

vocabulary can be pre-taught or reviewed before the activity enabling students

to fill-out their speech with more interesting sentences and rich language

Interesting topic: Choosing a topic according to the interests of the class ensures

student motivation If the material and task instructions are presented clearly and enthusiastically, students will be more likely to meet the challenge set for them

Clear guidelines: Stating clearly what is expected from each student is essential

in ensuring that everyone in the group contributes towards the discussion

Appointing a leader to each group to regulate participation is a way to make sure that dominant students leave discussion opportunities open to more reserved students Feedback exposes the results of the discussion and motivates each student to follow the guidelines

English monitors: Teacher might appoint one of the groups as the monitor

because a monitor can be appointed to each group to remind students not to speak their mother tongue A lack of classroom management and discipline will encourage students easily comeback to use mother tongue as soon as they have problems Therefore, the best way to keep students speaking the target language

is that the teacher should be there as much as possible, reminding them and modeling the language use and there is no substitute for nagging

In short, teachers should take mentioned ways into consideration and base on certain situations of each group to find out their own method to enhance

speaking skill for their students

2.2.3 Short activities and games

2.2.3.1 The role of short activities and games in language teaching and learning process

Short activities and games (or communicative activities) really play an important part in language teaching and learning

Firstly, short activities and games encourage students’ interest because they ensure that communication is purposeful rather than artificial

Secondly, short activities and games offer opportunities to develop listening, speaking, reading and writing as well as to obtain intercultural and interactional competence in English Communicative activities can also help develop

cognitive ability such as analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing information

In addition, through communicative activities the students are encouraged to participate with their classmates actively Short activities and games are often

conducted with pair work and group work in which students talk to many

partners and interact with them This brings learners a feeling of security

because they feel easier to speak

Finally, short activities and games such as working in groups, in pairs or singing etc create a relatively safe environment for making mistakes a long with relaxed atmosphere, for there is little error correction or distract attention Moreover, students have a lot of fun when they learn with communicative activities This reduces their stress and anxiety about their performance

In conclusion, short activities and games can both bring about proficiency and greatly improve communicative competence

2.2.3.2 Principles of using short activities and games in speaking class.

Besides some principles that Ur (1996) has discusses, there are some things that teachers should remember when using short activities and games:

Good preparation: Careful prepared short activities or games is one key to

maintain the control of the class and the interest of the students To have a good preparation, teachers should know for sure the purpose of using the activities or games, how to carry out it and how it is carried out the most effectively for the activities and games

Simple activities and games: It means they last short time and easy for students

to understand

Good class organization: Teacher should divide class into small groups or teams

and must be sure that there is a balance in the level students in each group

In short, teachers should understand and pay attention to these principles before using short activities and games in speaking class

2.2.3.3 Some recommendations for using short activities and games in the post- speaking stage

2.2.3.3.1 The selection of short activities and games

In general, to achieve the good results in both teaching and studying foreign language, well-chosen activities and games is a good idea How to choose

appropriate speaking activities for teaching and learning English? When using activities and games, the writer should consider these things Firstly, activities and games must be fun and relax Activities and games should keep all of the students involved and interested Secondly, activities and games should be appropriate with the students’ language level and the content of the lesson Thirdly, activities and games should give students a chance to learn, practice, or review specific language materials Moreover, activities and games teacher should not be too long because they can make students feel bored

2.2.3.3.2 Time

Allocating time for each activity and game suitably is an important factor that affects to the success of the post- speaking stage Only within forty five minutes

of the speaking lesson, the teacher should distribute the time for the three stages equally According to communicative language teaching method, the post- speaking stage often takes from six to seven minutes; therefore, the short

activities and games should be performed only from five to seven minutes

2.2.3.3.3 Preparation

There is a common idea that it is very good to let students study and finish the speaking lesson in fun because students will be more motivated for their next class In order to do this, teachers can use short activities and games for post- speaking stage

Firstly, the teacher has to consider how to choose the most appropriate short activity and game for their class To do this, they should consider some aspects like: the size of the class, the level of the students, the period’s aims, the

preparation for the activities and time as well as Secondly, the teacher has to prepare some equipment or materials needed for the short activities and games such as: pictures, cards, visuals aids, sheets of paper, etc However, to have students’ attention to the game from the beginning to the end, those things

should be different from what are illustrated in the text book They must be clear, attractive, colorful and updated

2.2.3.3.4 Physical arrangement

A classroom with good physical arrangement will promote a positive learning environment Good physical arrangement is very necessary for carrying out short activities and games With each kind of games teacher should consider some aspects such as organization (group work, pairs work, individual work or the whole class), equipment need for using the activity, the safety issues when performing the activities and games, etc In general, pairs work and group work are two common types of performing short activities and games in the post- speaking stage They also have good points and bad points Thus, teachers

should decide what arrangement will suit best for their students in giving

situation

2.2.3.3.5 Management

Teacher plays a very important role in organizing short activities and games In order to make short activities and games become effective, the teacher should be aware of the importance of lesson management The teacher should be willing to

be a helper or a guider who are always willing for helping and making some suggestions to keep students on task According to Brown (2001), the teacher should not sit at the desk or leave the room and take a break He should not spend a large of time with one group and neglect the others or interrupt the students while they are performing their speaking Especially, teachers should only correct students’ errors when being asked to do so

Teacher should assign a group leader who will monitor the group activities When students are playing a short activity or game, the teacher should move around to check if students really join in the activities or only spend time for chatting Besides, teacher should encourage the students motivate them and make them feel more confident and more interested in the activities as well as in all lessons

2.2.3.3.6 Short activities and rules of games’ instructions

One of the most difficult things in using short activities and games is how to give instructions to students in order to make the activities and games run

smoothly To send exact messages to students, teachers should make sure that all

of the students are silent and fully focused on the teachers before the teachers explain any instructions Besides, teachers should explain instructions or rules clearly and easily Teachers have to give a clear signal for students to start and finish their working Let students know when they have to start and when they have to stop by giving clearly signal Teachers should check students’

understanding of the rules or instructions before starting the games or activities

2.2.3.3.7 Correction

It is unnecessary for teachers to correct students’ mistakes whenever students make because the main purpose here is to achieve fluency When carrying out the short activities and games, the teacher can find out the students’ mistakes easily but the students’ language mistakes should only be corrected after

finishing a short activity or game Because if teachers interrupt students to

correct their mistakes, they will be afraid or shy to continue speaking, so the speaking activities will be unsuccessful In the post- speaking stage, correction

is not really too important Due to the aims of using short activities and games in this stage is to increase the students’ interest; sometimes the teacher can ignore unimportant errors

2.2.3.4 Some suggested short activities and games to increase the 11 th graders’ interest in the post- speaking stage

Storytelling: Students re-tell the story in the content of the text in their own

words The teacher can help them by doing a mini drill first, usually using the same pictures or simplified statements that were used for predicting in the pre -stage task or ordering or selecting in the while - -stage task Students practise speaking in pairs or groups The re-telling with a picture can also be done as a chain story

Show and Tell

This classic classroom activity still has a place in modern classrooms Students simply bring in something they would like to Show and Tell to their classmates

It practices students speaking ability, and their ability to prepare short written scripts that they will have to read For those not talking it practices their

listening ability, especially if you add a could of quiz questions at the end of each show and tell part

You can change this by having a mystery box and they have to describe the item with out looking to their classmates and have them try to guess ( or the student

of course) what it is

Reporting

This activity can be carried in groups or whole class Teacher chooses a topic and gives the first sentence about the topic The first student repeats the sentence

of the teacher and adds one more sentence The second student repeats the

teacher’s and student’s sentences and adds one more sentence The third student repeats the teacher’s, the first and the second students’ sentences and adds one more sentence This process will continue to the last student

Discussion

Students work in two big groups: one group talks about the problems and the other talks about the solutions Students will discuss in group in 3 minutes Then