Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS using role play techiniques to motivate 2nd year accounting majored students at dainam univeristy to improve their speaking skill

LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Data collected from the survey questionnaire for teachers Table 2: Data collected from the survey questionnaire for students Figures illustrates data

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

PHẠM THỊ HẰNG NGA

YEAR ACCOUNTING- MAJORED STUDENTS AT DAINAM UNIVERSITY TO IMPROVE THEIR SPEAKING

SKILL

( Sử dụng thủ thuật đóng vai nhằm gây hứng thú trong các giờ học nói cho sinh viên năm thứ 2 chuyên ngành kế toán tại trường ĐH Đại Nam)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology

Code : 60 14 10

Hanoi, 2012

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

PHẠM THỊ HẰNG NGA

YEAR ACCOUNTING- MAJORED STUDENTS AT DAINAM UNIVERSITY TO IMPROVE THEIR SPEAKING

SKILL

( Sử dụng thủ thuật đóng vai nhằm gây hứng thú trong các giờ học nói cho sinh viên năm thứ 2 chuyên ngành kế toán tại trường ĐH Đại Nam)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60 14 10

Supervisor: Hoàng Thị Hồng Hải, M.A

Hanoi, 2012

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

3.1.1 Hypothesis 16

LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1: Data collected from the survey questionnaire for teachers Table 2: Data collected from the survey questionnaire for students

Figures illustrates data collected from the survey questionnaire for teachers

Figure 1: The frequency of using role play activities Figure 2: Teachers‟ opinion on role play

Figure 3: Students‟ attitude towards role play activities exploited by teachers Figure 4: Students‟ participation in role play activities

Figure 5: The effectiveness of role play in enhangcing students‟ participation Figure 6: Benefits of using role play

Figure 7: Frequency of difficulties faced by teachers Figure 8: Factors causing difficulties

Figure 9: Suggestions to make role play more effective

Figures illustrates data collected from the survey questionnaire for students

Figure 10: Frequency of applying role play Figure 11: Students‟ opinion on role play Figure 12: Students‟ participation in role play Figure 13: Benefits of role play

Figure 14: Frequency of difficulties faced by students Figure 15: Factors causing difficulties

Figure 16: Suggestions to make role play more effective

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

.1 Rationale

The past few decades have witnessed a radical methodological change in English language teaching Since its appearance in 1960s, the Communicative Approach has been widely applied in language teaching In the light of this approach, English is looked on as an international means of communication The context of international integration and development has attached increasing importance to communication in general and oral communication in particular That fact accounts for the need to educate communicatively competent students who after graduating from universities are able to take part in jobs concerning the use of English as an effective tool of communication

Oral communication skills, therefore, have become the focus of language teaching as far as the objectives of English courses of the English Department at Dainam University are concerned

Being put in a simple way, developing speaking skill among students is the focus of language teaching

However, like many other universities in Vietnam, the teachers at Dainam University are facing the problem of their students‟ low level of participation in speaking activities in their classrooms While there may be a variety of reasons for students‟ poor participations such as students‟ shyness when speaking in front of a crowd or their unwillingness to show weakness

in speaking English, I believe one such reason has been their lack of motivation In my opinion, it is the teachers‟ role to recognize the importance of motivation in English language learning and thereby try to seek ways to enhance their students‟ motivation in improving their speaking skills If motivated, even unmotivated learners will be likely to participate more in speaking activities in the classroom as well as practice it more outside the classroom

Of all the methods used to motivate students‟ participation in speaking lessons, Role Play method is very effective in inducing students‟ motivation As Doff (1988) points out, Role Play increases motivation Always talking about real life can become very dull, but the chance

to imagine different situations adds interest to a lesson In addition, Role Play gives a chance

to use language in new contexts and for new topics Role Play is also a technique that can

make the students work in pairs, support one another, make the class more interesting and reduce students‟ boredom Moreover, Role Play is fun and motivated, the students get the chance to speak more and it is useful to extend knowledge So Role Play can be seen as a bridge to join the theory inside the classroom to the reality outside the classroom Role Play has a lot of advantages It can increase learners‟ motivation, it gives chance to use language in new contexts and for new topics and it encourages learners to use natural expressions, intonation as well as gestures As a result, learners‟ ability communicate in the target language will be improved

The idea of applying role play techniques in order to motivate students to speak English is not

a recent practice; however, in Vietnam this technique has not been fully exploited by teachers

in English classes due to some limitations in English Teaching This assumption has led me to

undertake a research titled “Using Role Play technique to motivate Second year Accounting- majored students at Dainam University to improve their speaking skill.” I

am interested in analyzing the use of role play in teaching speaking for the students I also want to know the advantages and the problems encountered by learners and teachers in using

it

.2 Aims of the study

This study is aimed at investigating the use of Role Play technique in communicative English classes at Dainam University To be specific, the aims of the study are:

- To explore the frequency of employing Role Play and difficulties that students and teachers encounter when applying this technique in Speaking lesson at Dainam University

- To prove the hypothesis Role Play technique will help teachers motivate students to speak more in English Speaking lessons

1.3 Research Questions

With the purposes mentioned above, the research questions will be:

1 How often is Role Play applied in speaking lessons at Dainam University?

2 Does using Role Play motivate students to participate more in speaking class?

3 What difficulties do teachers and students encounter when Role Play is used in speaking lesson?

1.4 Method of the study

Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed to carry out the study The data were collected by means of questionnaires, interviews and observation

1.5.Scope of the study

The study focuses specifically on using Role Play in teaching speaking to the second year students at Accounting Department, Dainam University So the study limits itself to the teaching and learning Speaking only

1.6 Significance of the study

- Theoretical significance of the study: The study supplies the English language teachers with

the understanding of Role Play techniques in terms of types, advantages when employing them

- Practical significance of the study: The research provides the language teachers and learners

recommendations or suggestions for the successful exploitation of this technique

1.7.Organization of the thesis

This thesis consists of five chapters:

- Chapter 1, The Introduction, presents the rationale, the aims, the research questions,

the method of the study, the scope, the significance of the study

- Chapter 2, The Literature Review, deals with some theoretical background that is

relevant to the purpose of the study: Motivation and Role Play

- Chapter 3, The Methodology, reports the design of the study, the participants of the

study, the instruments used in the research and the statistical method to analyze the data

- Chapter 4, The Data Analysis and Findings, provides an analysis of the data as well as

the interpretation of the results

- Chapter 5: The Conclusion and Recommendation draws pedagogical implications

including a number of recommendations for teachers of English to apply Role Play as method to motivate students to participate in classroom speaking activities Limitations

of the study and suggestions for further possible research are also given in this part

- The Appendices are the last part of the thesis, following the References

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter will explore some theoretical background to the study Specifically, it firstly discusses the concept of motivation and later discusses how this concept relates to learning and teaching in several contexts In addition, the chapter will also review the concept of Role Play and its role in motivating students to speak English in class

2.1 Conceptualization of Motivation

There have been so far many researches on the theory of motivation which have generally come to a conclusion that motivation is an abstract concept used to describe the willingness of a person to expand effort to reach a particular goal

Some scholars and psychologists of the first half of the 20th century determined two

interior factors of motivation, instincts and drives, which are of great importance in our lives

However, in the second half of the 20th century, researchers found that self- actualizing

tendencies are the central force in motivation in people Maslow(1970) analyses two

groupings of seven levels of basic needs They are deficiency needs including physiological, safety, belongingness and love, and being needs consisting of cognitive, aesthetic and self-actualization Williams and Burden (1997) point out

"Motivation is concerned with such issues as why people decide to act in

certain ways and what factors influence the choices they make It also involves

decision as to the amount of effort people are prepared to expand in attempting

to achieve their goals" (p 119)

According to Dornyei (2001), the concept of motivation has been seen differently That is how individual‟s conscious attitudes, beliefs, and interpretation of events influence their behavior He also adds that motivation explains the reason why people decide to do something, how hard they are going to pursue it and how long they are willing to sustain the activities

2.1.1 Definition of Motivation in Second Language Learning

Motivation is not only a vital but also a highly complex factor determining success or failure

in L2 learning Therefore, the concept of motivation in L2 learning has been studied by a

number of authors Keller (1984) defines "interest" as one of the major components of

motivation in foreign and second language learning Nonetheless, Gardner (1985) sees the

important role of effort and desire to achieve the learning goal “Motivation in the present

context refers to the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning plus

favorable attitudes towards learning the language” (p 10)

Similarly, Ellis (1997) emphasizes the role of attitudes and effective states “Motivation

involves the attitudes and effective states that influence the degree of effort that learners make

to learn an L2” (p 75)

Meanwhile, Littlewood (1998) sees the complex combination of motivation from many different components:

In second language learning as in every other field of human learning,

motivation is the crucial force which determines whether a learner embarks on

a task at all, how much energy he devotes to it, and how long he perceives It is

a complex phenomenon and includes many components: the individual’s drive, need for achievement and success, curiosity, desire for stimulation and new

experience, and so on ( p 53 )

In addition, according to McKay and Tom (1992), it is the need and drive to communicate with others in a new language that provide strong motivation for most learners (p.2)

However, Gardner and Lambert (1972), two dominant researchers of the social

psychological approach, propose that the broad concept of the “integrative motive” consists of three main components: attitude, integrativeness and motivation

There are some other new approaches the researchers of which wish to make close the gap between theories of motivation in educational psychology and in the L2 field The

researchers of this period added some new elements to the concept of L2 motivation In his

framework of motivation, Dornyei (1994) classifies three levels: language level, learner level

and learning situational level, and in each level there are some different elements Moreover,

Marion Williams and Bob Burden (1997), propose a detailed framework of L2 motivation

with the Internal and External motivational influence They analyze nine internal factors as

follow: intrinsic interest of activity, perceived value of activity, sense of agency, mastery, concept, attitudes, affective states such as confidence, anxiety and fear, developmental age and gender The external factors consist of human factors such as parents, teachers, peers, feedback, rewards or punishments, the learning environment and the boarder context(Adapted from Dornyei, 2001)

self-In this study, I adopted Littlewood‟s definition, which sates that

Motivation is a complex phenomenon and includes many components: the individual’s drive and need for achievement and success, curiosity, desire for stimulation and new experience that make up her motivation In other words, motivation is both intrinsically and extrinsically- originated.” (1998)

In brief, there exist scores of definitions of motivation All definitions embody certain implications for L2 teaching and learning One such implication is that motivation is an important consideration in L2 teaching and learning When properly motivated in class, students will continue to make efforts to achieve their goals in learning the target language

2.1.2 Different kinds of motivation in language learning

Gardner and Lambert (1985) distinguish integrative and instrumental as two types of motivation Besides, researchers have added some other kinds such as resultative, intrinsic,

extrinsic, global, situational and task motivation

* Integrative motivation This type of motivation occurs when learners wish to identify

with the culture of the L2 group When speaking the target language, learners admire the culture and have a desire to become familiar with the society in which the language is used (Falk, 1978) It is, therefore, the interest in the people and culture of the language that creates student motivation in L2 learning and this type of motivation lies in the realm of intrinsic need

* Instrumental motivation This is characterized by the desire to obtain something practical from the study of L2 (Hudson, 2000) Ellis (1994) states "Some functional reasons

such as to pass an examination, to get a better job or to get a university place motivate learners to learn an L2 because it opens up educational and economic opportunities for them." (p.75)

* Resultative motivation Motivation is not only the cause of achievement, it is also the

result of learning Learning success may encourage learners to learn better Ellis (1994) points

out that the relationship between motivation and achievement is an interactive one and "A

high level of motivation does stimulate learning, but perceived success in achieving l2 goals can help to maintain existing motivation and even create new ones." (p 515)

*Intrinsic motivation This type of motivation plays a vital role in most learners' L2 learning success or failure For many learners, the reason for learning an L2 is the "interest in

the culture and the target language group" or the "positive attitudes towards the target language group" while for some others it is the interest in learning tasks Teaching methods

and learning activities may attract them, arouse and maintain their interest in doing the tasks

In short, intrinsic motivation "Involves the arousal and maintenance of curiosity and can ebb

and flow as a result of such factors as learners' particular interests and the extent to which they fell personality involved in learning activities." (Ellis, 1994, p 76)

*Extrinsic motivation derives from the influence of some kinds of external incentives,

including the influence of the teacher, the learner's desire to please significant people or their wish to succeed in an external exam, or peer group influence, which are different from the wish to learn for its own sake or interest in learning tasks

* Global motivation Brown (1994) defines global motivation as a general orientation

to the goal of an L2 learning which may be affected by such factors as previous education, social factors as well as the teacher's attitudes

* Situational motivation refers to the learning context: classroom, total environment

assumed to be influenced by teacher action Brown (1994) distinguishes the difference in situational motivation according to the situation in which learning takes place Thus the motivation in the classroom setting differs from that in natural setting

* Task motivation This motivation occurs when learners are performing some

particular tasks in learning performance An attractive task designed by the teacher in class

may encourage learners to invest their effort and energy in

2 2 Role Play technique as a motivating factor in speaking lesson

2.2.1 Definition of Role Play

In recent years, because of the fact that language teaching focuses much more on oral skills in order to respond to the students‟ needs for effective communication in their L2, a large number of communicative activities such as Role Play, Simulation, Drama, and so on are brought into language classes by teachers They provide learners with chances to practice the language they learn, to convey meanings that are functionally effective and appropriate to the social situations Of all these activities, role-play seems to be the most appropriate to develop communicative ability while their linguistic competence and cultural knowledge are limited

In order to understand Role Play, it is a good way to look at the differences between Simulation and Role-play Klippel (1991) claims that it is not easy to distinguish between role play and simulation because they both mirror the reality The main difference is that simulations are more structured and contain more diverse elements

Ladousse (1989) explains that simulations are complex, lengthy and relatively inflexible events which will always include an element of role play while role play can be a simple and brief technique to organize He sums up that it is not possible and profitable to make fine distinctions between these two

Role-play is defined in many ways according to different linguists Byrne (1986) defines play by the phrase “Let‟s pretend”, added by “Role-play is a way of taking the students out of the classroom for a while and showing them how English can be used in certain situations.” (p

role-117) In role-play activities, students are not themselves any more, they are put in either realistic or imaginative situations to act

Similarly, Harmer (1998) considers role-play activities are those where students are asked to imagine that they are in different situations and act accordingly We may tell them to role play

being guests at a party, travel agents and answering customer questions or participants in a public meeting about a road-building project

Ur (1996) also states that Role-play is used to refer to all the activities where learners imagine themselves in a situation outside the classroom, sometimes playing the role of someone other than themselves, and using language appropriate to this new context

Doff (1988) defines “Role-play is a way of bringing situations from real life into classroom.”

(p.232) He pointed out the two characteristics of role-play: imagination of a role and/or a situation and improvisation They may pretend to be a different person, doing something different The situation is fixed, but they make up the exact words to say as they go along

According to Cross (1991), Role-play is used a great deal in situations where the students‟

future use of the language can be defined fairly clearly It is enjoyable; it offers a mental escape from the classroom It can be tightly controlled, perhaps as a logical development of a dialogue in the textbook, or it can be relatively free, with considerably scope for imagination and creativity

Another definition stated by Wingate (1993) He said that in a Role-lay each student pretends

to be someone else and does something which has been set for them to do

So we can see that there are numerous definitions of role play The definition used for this study is from Ladousse( 1987) He proposes that “When students assume a “role”, they play a part (either their own or somebody else‟s) in a specific situation “ Play” means that the role is taken on a safe environment in which students are as inventive and playful as possible In the role, students are creating their own reality and, by doing so, are experimenting with their knowledge of the real world and developing their ability to interact with other people.” This definition precisely describes what my students often do in their speaking lessons when role play is applied as the main technique

In short, it is clearly that each scholar has his own opinion of Role-play; however, they all agree that Role-play is a technique which involves fantasy or imaginative to be someone else

or to be ourselves in a specific situation for a while, improvising dialogue and creating a real world in scenario It aims at the students to encourage thinking and creativity, lets students

develop and practice new language and behavioral skills in a relatively non-threatening setting, and can create the motivation and involvement necessary for learning to ooocur

2.2.2 Classification of Role-play

According to Littlewood (1981) Role-play can be divided into four types according to the nature of control exercised by the teacher The activities are part of a continuum ranging from pre-communicative activities The former is defined as activities that “…aim to equip the learner with some of the skills required for communication, without actually requiring him to perform communicative acts” (p.8) The later consists activities in which “…the learner uses the linguistic repertoire he has learnt in order to communicate specific meanings for specific purposes” (p.17) Four types of Role-play are parts of this continuum: Role-play controlled through cued dialogues, Role-play controlled through cues and information, Role-play controlled through situation and goals and Role-play in the form of debate and discussion

Role-play controlled through cued dialogues

In role-plays controlled through cued dialogues, each learner receives cues on separate cards

According to Littlewood (1981), “Two sets of cues must interlock closely” so that cues can only generate utterances that match cues that follow Even though learners‟ creativity is quite limited, this kind of role play still presents a certain amount of uncertainty and spontaneity inherent to real communication Learners have to listen to their partner before providing an appropriate response

Role-play controlled through cues and information

This kind of framework is obviously best suited to those situations where there is a natural initiator, whose cues can control the interaction These are mostly situations where one person needs to gather information or obtain a service For example, in a travel agency, where one learner needs to find out train time and fares, and the other has timetable and brochures

Another example is in a bank, where the manager has to obtain personal information about a client who wants to borrow money Because of the information-gathering element, this type of role-play may often be very similar to some of the functional communication activities

However, there is greater emphasis on the social context in which the information is obtained

Role-play controlled through situation and goals

All the activities in the previous sections provide a framework of specific cues for the learners

These enable the teacher to control the interaction and to ensure that learners express a particular range of meaning (In addition to any variations they may introduce) This cue also provides the learner with a supportive framework which relieves them of some of the responsibilities for creating the interaction themselves

As learners progress, teachers will not necessarily abandon the use of specific cues He will still sometimes want to produce a particular kind of interaction and elicit a particular range of functional meaning and forms There will also be increasing scope, however, for providing a looser structure, which gives learners greater responsibilities for creating the interaction themselves The control now determines not so much the specific meaning that learners express It is directed at the higher level of situation and the goals that learners have to achieve

through communication

In this role-play, learners are initially aware only of the overall situation and their own goals in

it They must negotiate the interaction itself as it unfolds, each partner responding spontaneously to the other‟s communicative acts and strategies

Role-play in the form of debate and discussion

The last Role-play in Littlewood‟s continuum “… is debate or discussion about a real or simulated issue” (p 57) The prerequisites for the activity are having adequate knowledge about the topic, and having opposite opinions or interests Learners can either get to a decision

or just put the issue to a vote at the end The interaction is a result of the conflict of opinions

The skill that learners need to practice is similar to those in the problem-solving activities The activity is also similar in nature to the discussion sessions Here, the simulated roles ensure that there will be sufficient conflict of opinion to sustain the interaction phase because students are usually interested in comparing their decisions with those of other groups It also gives students an opportunity to talk about problems they had and it rounds off the activity Beware;

however, of making this stage unduly long- to listen to fifteen groups of Ss reporting back in turn would clearly be tedious

In the view of the persons taking an actor, Laudousse (1997) explains that there are several types of role The first is the roles which correspond to a real need in the students‟ lives In this category, it involves such roles as doctors dealing with patients, or salesman traveling abroad The second type of role is the students play themselves in a variety of situations which may or may not have direct experience The example which include in this category is a customer complaining or a passenger asking for information The third type is the type that few students will ever experience directly themselves, but it is easy to play because the teachers have such vast indirect experience of them The television journalist is a good example of this type and it is very useful kind of role taken form real life The last type is fantasy roles, which are fictitious, imaginary and possible even absurd

In case of role play activities, according to Donn Byrne (1986), role play can be grouped into two forms, scripted and unscripted role play In details, those types of role play activities described as follows:

Scripted Role Play

This type involves interpreting either the textbook dialogue or reading text in the form of speech The main function of the text after all is to convey the meaning of language items in a memorably way

For more details, Doff (1988) gives example of scripted role play dialogue and reading text and how the process is:

Angela: Good morning I wan to send a letter to Singapore

Clerk: Yes, do you want to send it by air mail or ordinary mail?

Angela: I think I’ll send it air mail I want it to get there quickly How much does it cost?

Clerk: To Singapore? That will be 30 pence, please

Angela: Here you are

Clerk: Here’s your stamp, and here’s 20 pence change

Angela: Thank you Where is the post box?

Clerk: you want the air mail box It is over there, by the door

To demonstrate a role play activity based on the dialogue, the procedures given by Adrian Doff (1988) are as follows:

First, the teacher guides the role play by writing these prompts: (where?/ air mail/ how much?/

post box?/ thanks) Talk as you write to show what the prompts mean

Secondly, if necessary, go through the prompts one by one, and get students to give sentences

or questions for each one

Then, call two students to the front: one play the role as Angela and the other one is the post office clerk They should improvise the conversation using the prompts to help them Point out that the conversation should be similar to the one in the textbook, but not exactly the same; the conversation can be shorter than the presentation dialogue It should just cover the main points indicated by the prompts

Finally, call out a few pairs in turn and ask them to have other conversation based on the prompts

Unscripted Role Play

In contrast to Scripted Role-play, the situations of Unscripted Role-play do not depend on textbooks It is shown as a free role play or improvisation The students themselves have to decide what language to use and how the conversation should develop In order to do this activity, good preparation from teacher and students is necessary

The example and procedures of Unscripted Role- play which is adapted from Doff‟s book are

as follows:

One student has lost a bag

He/She is at the police station

The other student is the police officer, and ask for details

To bring out this ideas:

1/The teacher could prepare the whole class, by:

Discussing what the speakers might say or writing prompt on the board to guide the role play, and any key vocabulary

2/ The teacher could divide the class into pairs, and:

Let them discuss together what they may say Or let them all try out the role play privately, before calling on one or two pairs to act out in front of the class

2.2.3 Advantages of role-play

There are many advantages that can be gained through role play method Ments ( 1999) states that there are thirteen advantages that can be gained through role play method, they are:

a enables students to express hidden feelings

b enables students to discuss private issues and problems

c enables students to empathize with others and understand their motivations

d gives practice in various types of behavior

e portrays generalized social problems and dynamics of group interaction, formal and informal

f gives life and immediacy to academics descriptive materials ( history, English, economics, geography)

g provides opportunity for articulate students and emphasizes importance of verbal, emotional responses

non-h motivational and effective because it involves activity

i provides rapid feedback for both students and tutor

j is student-centered and addresses itself to the needs and concerns of the trainee; the group can control content and pace

k closes gap between training and real life situations

l changes attitudes

m permits training in the control of feelings and emotions

According to Ladousse (1997) there are some advantages of using Role-play The advantages are below:

a Through Role-play we can train students in speaking skills in any situation

b Role-play is very useful dress rehearsal for real lives It enables them not just to acquire set phrases, but also to lean how interaction might take place in a variety situation

c Role-play may help may shy students by providing them with mask

d Role-play is fun The students can enjoy their imagination trip

e Role-play gives the students a chance to explore and play with the possibilities offered

by the new language, and provide situations where this new language can be related to the students‟ own experiences (p 6)

Cross (1991) also states some advantages of Role-play They are:

a Role-play offers a mental scope from the classroom

b Role-play can be contrived to make the students apply the same language in a new context

c Role-play offers rehearsal for such later, genuine communication by engaging the students in simulated situations, forcing them to satisfy needs and express meanings

by use of their limited linguistic resources

d Role-play can make the weaker students restrict themselves to a few simple exchanges, while more able learners profit from the freedom to be creative and take risks.(p 285)

Dougill (1994) also states that the main benefit Role-play from the point of view of language teaching is that it enables a flow of language to be produced that might be otherwise difficult or impossible to create Role play can also recreate the language used in different situations, the sort of language students are likely to need outside the classroom

It seems that there are many reasons why teachers should use role play in their lessons

Most of all this activity develops learners‟ fluency in speaking; it supports interaction and increases motivation

In short, this chapter conceptualizes the discussion of issues and aspects concerning the topic of the study First, it concerns the concepts and ideas relating to motivation in general and in teaching second language in particular, the types and the importance of motivation

Then comes an overview on the nature of role play in which the definition, the types and the importance of role play are discussed The following chapters will present the investigation, the findings and recommendations of the research under the light of the above discussed theories

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

The third chapter presents the research site whose notable contextual feature is that learning English is compulsory and students tend to put their focus on communicative language competence Besides, the subjects of study and the data collection methods will also

be discussed in this chapter

3.1 Background to the study

3.1.1 Hypothesis

As mentioned in the first part of the study, this study is aimed at testing the following hypothesis: Using the activity of Role play is effective in arousing the University students‟

motivation in speaking English

3.1.2 Setting of the study

The study was conducted at Accounting Department, Dainam University At our University English is taught as a compulsory subject for students Here, students have to study English as

a means of communication during 6 semesters By the end of the course, students are expected

to be able to communicate in English at intermediate level Therefore, developing oral skills is the main focus of teaching and learning English at Dainam

The materials used during the courses are Market Leader from Elementary to Intermediate by David Cotton, David Falvey and Simon Kent Market Leader is the distinctive business English course that brings together the best in English language teaching with the best in business resources Market Leader develops language skills, increases knowledge of key business concepts and expands vocabulary The textbook put high emphasis on developing business communication in English so it presents a lot of situations which students can role

play to sort out, especially, in Case studies that bring together the language and business skills

in challenging and motivating scenarios Not only do these case studies develop speaking skill, but they also strengthen important business skills such as team work, negotiation and discussion skills

3.1.3 Subjects of the study

The participants of the studies include teachers and students for the survey questionnaire, for the further interview and classroom observation

Subjects for the survey questionnaire

The research was carried out at Dainam University with the participation of 246 second year students (from four groups) whose major is Accounting and 20 teachers who were at Division

2, English Department, Dainam University They were selected randomly by the researcher to ensure the objectiveness of the survey

The students

All the participated students are from four Accounting classes Among them there are

194 females and 52 males They are from 19 to 21 years old To those students, English was not their majors but a compulsory subject in the courses All of the surveyed students have learnt English for at least 6 years, especially some of them have learnt English for 10 years

Most of them can do grammar exercises very well but they have difficulties in mastering four language skills Of the four skills, as many of them revealed, they find speaking especially important yet challenging one That was the reason why most of students feel bored and unmotivated in speaking classes

The teachers

The 20 teachers teaching second-year students at Division 2, English Department were asked

to take part in the survey questionnaire for the teachers Among them, there were 4 males, and

16 females Their ages ranged from 22 to 41 Some of them have Master degree of English, some were studying post- graduate at Vietnam National University, Hanoi, or at Hanoi University

Subjects for the interview

The selection of informants for the interview was based on the survey data 20 students and 5 teachers were interviewed for more information about the impact of role play in English speaking lesson

Subjects for classroom observation

The classroom observation was conducted for five sessions that took forty five minutes for each in which the researcher acted as a teacher, as a researcher and a participant observer

Several speaking lessons at Accounting 0401 Class will be observed by the teacher and another teacher of English at English Department, Dainam University

3.2 Data collection

3.2.1 Method of data collection

Both quantitative and qualitative methods are employed to carry out the study That is, the data serving the research analysis and discussion were collected by means of:

The questionnaire for students

The questionnaire for the students, with 10 questions including closed and open ones, was administered to 246 students They were written in Vietnamese to make sure that students understood all questionnaire items All the questionnaires were designed with reference to

“Questionnaire design” by Eric Potter and Peter Spratt from Dakin University, 1995 and “ The post- experimental intrinsic motivation inventory” By Ryan, Koestner & Deci, 1991

The survey questionnaire includes five main parts as follows:

 Part 1 (question 1) was to find out the frequency of recruiting activity of role play in English speaking class

 Part 2(question 2) was about students‟ preference in role playing used in speaking lessons

 Part 3 (question 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) was to investigate effectiveness of using role play to increase students‟ motivation to speak English

 Part 4 including 2 questions (question 8, 9) was about the difficulties students often encounter when they took part in role play activities

 Part 5 (question 10) was given to collect students‟ recommendation for increasing the effectiveness of role play technique

The questionnaire for the teachers

The second questionnaire was given to 20 teachers at Division 2, English Department

The purpose of this questionnaire was to investigate the frequency of employing role play (question 1), the teachers‟ attitude toward role play( question 2), the impact of role play technique on students‟ participation (question3, 4, 5, 6, 7), difficulties in organizing role play activities (question 8, 9), and teachers‟ recommendation for increasing the effectiveness of role play ( question 10)

The questionnaire also consists of 10 questions written in Vietnamese and it was with reference to “Questionnaire design” by Eric Poter and Peter Spratt from Deakin Univeristy,

1995 and “ The post- experimental instrinsic motivation inventory” By Ryan, Koestner &

Deci, 1991

3.2.2.2 Interviews

A one- one interview was conducted after the administration of questionnaire and after the researcher had finished reading all the responses in the questionnaire The interview was carried out in Vietnamese in the form of informal conversation between the researcher and the students and in English between the researcher and the teachers 20 students and 5 teachers were selected for the interview The questions in the interview were basically based on those

in the questionnaire, but they were extended to cover more open-ended questions to get thorough understanding of the reasons behind each choice Each conversation lasted for 5 to

10 minutes The data were recorded, transcribed for the analysis purpose, and then translated into English

3.2.2.3.Class observation

The classroom observation was conducted for five sessions that took forty five minutes for each in which the researcher played the role of a teacher, a researcher and a participant as well By doing so, the researcher of this study was able to take on in every activity that has been set out to be observed During the observation, the researcher took note on everything that was going on in her class after the class In order to ensure the reliability of the results from the classroom observation, a colleague was invited to observe the class

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYIS & FINDINGS

This chapter will present and analyze the data collected from the survey questionnaires interview and class observation First, all the collected information from the survey questionnaires were read through to obtain a sense of the overall data and the interview transcriptions were jotted down in the form of reflective notes and summaries of field notes

The information was then calculated into the percentage and it is expressed as a percentage in the form of tables

4.1 Data analysis

4 1.1 Data analysis of teachers’ survey questionnaire and direct interview

The frequency of applying role play in teaching speaking skill( Question 1)

Question 1: How often do you use role play activities in your English speaking class?

Figure 1: The frequency of using role play activities

As can be seen from this chart, 55% of teachers often use role play as their teaching technique, and 7 out of 20 teachers said that they always asked their students to role play in pairs or in groups

In brief, it is obvious that role play is used very often in English speaking classes at Dainam University

Teachers’ attitude towards role play activities( Question 2)

Question 2: What do you think of role play activities?

What do you think of role play activities?

Number

of teachers

Percent (%)

c C Students have more opportunities to practice English 20 100

d D Role play makes my teaching more interesting because students involve more in my teaching

Figure 2: Teachers’ opinion on role play

Table 2 illustrates that all the teachers have a positive view about the usefulness of applying role play in teaching speaking skill 20 teachers agree that using role play technique enable their students to practice English more In other words, role play activities give students more opportunities to practice the target language in the class This also proves that this technique could increase students‟ participation in the class Moreover, for 75% of teachers, role play not only raises students‟ interest in learning but also makes teachers more enthusiastic in teaching More encouragingly, 6 out of 20 teachers also add other positive comments on role-play activities In their views, role-play encourages the use of critical thinking because it involves analyzing and problem solving Another reason supporting role-play is that it allows the interaction between classmates and peers, so it allows the exchange of knowledge between students Below is what the teachers said

“In my view, role play is an effective tool because it gives chance to students to practice speaking English”

Role play activities give students practice communicating in authentic ways and situations This will give them more confidence when presented with those scenarios when they are outside of class

“My students speak English more when they take part in role play activity”

“When asked to role play a situation, all my students even the passive ones practice English”

“ I think Role-play builds confidence because of raising students’ self-esteem and showing them that they can be successful in communicative

scenarios by using role-playing activities will help build their confidence when they need to communicate in real-life

situations

In short, we can come to conclusion that most of the teachers have positive attitude toward role play For them, role play is a motivator, which helps their teaching as well as their students learning process more effective

Teachers’ evaluation on the impact of role play on motivating the students’

participation in speaking lesson( Question 3, 4, 5,6, 7)

Question 3: How do most of your students respond to role-play activities?

How do most of your students respond to role-play activities?

Number

of teachers

Percent (%)

Figure 3: Students’ attitude to role play

When asked about their students‟ response to role play, all teachers (100%) said that their students were interested in these activities This shows that role play can increase students‟ interest in the lesson Most students find role play activities interesting, which make them participate more in the class

Question 4: What do most of your students do when they are asked to role play?

What do your students do?

Number

of teachers

Percent (%)

B Join only when feeling interested 2 10

C Join only when being asked 3 15

Figure 4: Students’ participation

From table 4, it is clear that most of the teachers (75%) claim that their students work with great interest when they take part in role play activities Only 10 % of them think that their students do not co-operate constantly, they only join when feeling interested Also 3 out of 20 teachers think that the students only join in the activities when the teachers ask them to do so

In addition, when interviewed, some teachers add that apart from the majority of good students, there are still some students do not join in role play, this is just a minor number and this is one problem of every class, not just English speaking class Below is what teachers said:

“Students join actively in role play, because thank to role-play they can play and study at the same time.”

“Students like to role play very much because it lets my students choose the role they like, so they are very happy and try as hard as they can to role play well.”

“Sometimes, if the topic is interesting, they are over excited, so it a little bit hard to control the noise

But if you don’t care much about the noise if noise makes the activity go along.”

“The participation of some students in role play is up and down They can be an active part this day, but the other day they are lazy speakers It a big headache for me to solve this phenomenon.”

“Some students join the role play simply because I ask them to do so It is their studying duties, they have to choice Otherwise, I will shout at them ”

Question 5: In your opinion, does role-play motivate students to speak more?

Does role-play motivate students to speak more?

Number

of teachers