AN ACTION RESEARCH ON METHODS TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ CONFIDENCE IN SPEAKING ENGLISH AT NGUYEN BA NGOC LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ TUYẾT ANH AN ACTION RESEARCH ON METHODS TO IMPROVE STUD

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ TUYẾT ANH

AN ACTION RESEARCH ON METHODS TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ CONFIDENCE IN SPEAKING ENGLISH AT NGUYEN BA NGOC

LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL

Nghiên cứu hành đô ̣ng nhằm nâng cao khả năng tự tin

trong tiếng anh của ho ̣c sinh lớp 9 tại trường

Trung ho ̣c cơ sở Nguyễn Bá Ngo ̣c M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY

CODE: 60140111

HA NOI 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ TUYẾT ANH

AN ACTION RESEARCH ON METHODS TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ CONFIDENCE IN SPEAKING ENGLISH AT NGUYEN BA NGOC

LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL

Nghiên cứu hành đô ̣ng nhằm nâng cao khả năng tự tin

trong tiếng anh của ho ̣c sinh lớp 9 tại trường

Trung ho ̣c cơ sở Nguyễn Bá Ngo ̣c M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

SUPERVISOR: PROF.DR HOÀNG VĂN VÂN

HA NOI 2014

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this thesis is the results of my own research and that the substance of the thesis has not, wholly or part, been submitted for a degree to any other university or institution

Hanoi, June, 2014 Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Anh

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In completing my thesis, I have received warmly help from my supervisor, teachers and students of Nguyen Ba Ngoc Lower Secondary School, family and friends First and for most, I would like to show my deep gratitude to Prof Dr Hoàng Văn Vân who directly guides me Thanks to his useful advice and detailed comments in the preparation as well as the correction Besides he always supported and created favorable conditions for me to complete this thesis

Secondly, I would also like to express my deep thanks to the staff of the Faculty of Post- graduate Studies ULIS for their help and for their interesting lectures and support, which are really useful for this research

Thirdly, I would like to send my sincere thanks to the headmaster of Nguyen Ba Ngoc Lower Secondary School for giving a chance to talk and exchange ideas with the teachers and students

Fourthly, I also would like to send my special thanks to all English teachers at my school who take part in my talks and share their experience

Finally, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my family and my friends for their supports and encouragement Without them I might not have been able to complete the research

ABSTRACT

This research is conducted with the purpose to improving students‟ confidence in speaking skill at Nguyen Ba Ngoc Lower Secondary School The subjects of the study are 65 ninth graders of Nguyen Ba Ngoc Lower Secondary School The data are collected through talks with colleagues, students‟ pre- questionnaire and post- questionnaires and analysis of the textbook The research was conducted during the first semester of the school year

The study shows that most students at Nguyen Ba Ngoc Lower Secondary School experience many difficulties in speaking English They are not confident when they speak

or talk with their teachers and their friends To make situation better, an action plan was made which focus on using warm up activities, group work and project - based activities to help students to improve speaking skill

I hope that the study will be helpful to English teachers who share the same aspiration to help students to solve their problems in improving their students‟ confidence in speaking English

Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Anh

LISTS OF CHARTS CHARTS

Chart 1: Students‟ evaluation on their confidence

Chart 2: Factors making students lack of self confidence

Chart 3: Teaching method‟s affection

Chart 4: Students‟ impression on the textbook and English speaking lessons Chart 5: Students‟ frequency of speaking English in class

Chart 6: Students‟ frequency self- study at home after school

Chart 7: What makes students interested in learning English speaking skill best

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Declaration i

Acknowledgements ii

Abstract iii

List of charts and tables iv

Table of Contents v

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the research 1

2 Aims of the research 2

2.1 Aim 2

2.2 Objectives 2

3 Scope of the research 2

4 Research questions 2

5 Methodology 3

6 Design of the study 3

PART II: DEVELOPMENT 4

Chapter I: literature review 4

1.1 Speaking skills 4

1.1.1 Definitions of speaking and speaking skill 4

1.1.1.1 What is speaking? 4

1.1.1.2 What is speaking skill? 5

1.1.2 The difficulties in teaching and learning English speaking 6

1.1.3 Types of speaking 8

1.1.3.1 From-focused speaking 8

1.1.3.2 Meaning-focused speaking 8

1.1.3.3 Fluency-focused speaking 8

1.1.4 Definition of confidence 8

1.5 The importance of students‟ confidence in language learning 9

1.1.6 Main factors affecting students‟ English speaking 10

1.1.6.1 Fear of mistake 10

1.1.6.2 Shyness 10

1.1.6.3 Anxiety 11

1.1.6.4 Lack of confidence 11

1.1.6.5 Lack of motivation 11

1.1.6.6 Vocabulary 12

1.1.6.7 Pronunciation 12

1.1.6.8 Accent 12

CHAPTER II : THE METHODOLOGY 13

2.1.Context of the study 13

2.1.1 An overwiew of teaching and learning English at Nguyen Ba Ngoc Lower Secondary School 13

2.2 English teaching staff 13

2.3 The student 13

2.4 English learning and teaching condition 13

2.5 Textbook 14

2.6 Participants 14

2.7 Data collecting instruments 15

2.7.1 Talks with colleagues and personal class observation 15

2.7.1.1 Talks with colleagues 15

2.7.1.2 Personal class observation 15

2.7.2 Pre-Questionnaire table for students 15

2.7.3 Post-trying out questionnaire 15

2.8 Research procedure 16

2.8.1 Phrase 1: Diagnosing 16

2.8.2 Phrase 2: Action planning 17

2.8.3 Phrase 3: Taking action 17

2.8.4 Phrase 4: Evaluating 17

2.8.5 Phrase 5 Specifying learning 18

2.9 Summary 18

CHAPTER III: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 19

3.1 Diagnosing data 19

3.1.1 Analysis of the textbook 19

3.1.1.1 English 9 19

3.1.2 Analysis of talks with colleagues 19

3.1.3 Analysis of class observation 20

3.1.4 Analysis of students‟ pre-questionnaires 22

3.1.5 Drawing a plan of action to solve the problem 30

3.1.6 Some suggested solutions 31

3.1.7 Acting stage 32

3.1.7.1 Lesson using the warm up, work group and project – based activities 32

3.1.8 Action research evaluation 37

3.1.8.1 Post-questionnaire evaluation 37

3.1.9 Major findings and discussions 40

PART III: CONCLUSION 41

1 Recapitulation 41

2 Conclusions 41

3 Recommendations 42

4 Limitations and suggestions for further study 42

REFERENCES 43

APPENDICES I

PART I: INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the research

Nowadays, with the increasing development of international relations among countries, learning English, especially learning English speaking is playing a more and more important role People use English for communication and discussion at the world forums and in different aspects of life Learning a foreign language represents one of the essential requirements of today‟s society Besides other skills and knowledge, it is considered as one of the most influencing factors while applying for a job or sustaining in a particular work position under the condition of advancing the language level In Vietnam, English speaking is also very essential for people who want to find a good job Thus, learning English speaking has become more important than ever English teaching and learning in Vietnam has been developing at an unprecedented speed It has become the number one foreign language to be taught both inside and outside the formal educational system of many countries As a lower secondary English teacher, I know that how English has become one of the compulsory subjects in the curriculum and how Vietnamese education system appreciates the importance of English learning nowadays Most language teachers, following a traditional, test-oriented teaching approach, often concentrate on teaching English vocabulary, grammar, and sometimes on pronunciation, all the language elements covered in the textbooks Therefore students do not spend much time on speaking and as a result they lack their confidence when speaking the language

In order to study English as a foreign language and to be successful with it, students must be helped by the teacher to acquire skills in the four language skills, namely: speaking, listening, writing, and reading Of these four skills, speaking is the skill secondary school students need great support In my teaching experience, I have found that one of the aspects that they really need is to build their confidence

in speaking English That is why in this thesis I want to find out the factors that

affect their confidence in speaking, and help them over come it and speak English better That is the reason why I choose this research

2 Aims and objectives of the research

2.1 Aim

The overarching aim of this research is to find out ways to help students at Nguyen Ba Ngoc Lower Secondary School gain confidence in speaking English 2.2 Objectives

The above over archiving aim can be broken down into the following objectives:

 finding out in the literature the factors that affect students‟ confidence in speaking a foreign language;

 finding out the factors that affect Nguyen Ba Ngoc School students‟ confidence in speaking English; and

 offering some techniques (activities) for students to gain confidence in speaking English so that they can improve their speaking skill

3 Scope of the research

The present study focuses on improving the ninth graders English majors speaking skill at Nguyen Ba Ngoc Lower Secondary School In fact, there are lots

of techniques the teacher can use to teach students to speak English well However, due to the limitation of time, resources and knowledge of mine as well as some

other conditions, this thesis only focused on using “Warm up activities, work

group and project-based activities” in teaching English to ninth graders at Nguyen Ba Ngoc Lower Secondary School in the first term of the school-year

3 What should be done to help students at Nguyen Ba Ngoc Lower Secondary School gain confidence in speaking English?

5 Methodology

Action research

- Personal class observation and talks with colleagues: conducted at the

beginning of the study to find out students‟ problems in speaking skill

- Textbook analysis: the analysis focuses on the speaking tasks in the textbook

to see whether they are suitable and interests the students Then some adjustments could be made

- Pre-questionnaires for students (10 questions): conducted with 65 students

to find out problems and their expectations

- Trying out “warm up activities, work group and project - based

activities”

- Post- questionnaire for evaluation (4 questions)

6 Design of the study

The thesis consists of three parts as follows:

Part I: Introduction – provides the basis information such as rationale for the

study, aims and objects of the study, research questions, scope of the study, methods

of the study and design of the study

Part II: Development – consists of three chapters

Chapter 1 is literature review in which the theoretical background relevant to the purpose of the study is discussed

Chapter 2 is concerned with the methodology of the study in which a detailed description of how the study is conducted is provided

Chapter 3 provides a report on the data of the research

Part III: Conclusion – summarizes what has been studied Then

recommendations are proposed, some limitations of the study are pointed out, and some suggestions for further study are offered

PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REWIEW

The aim of this chapter is to review the literature relevant to the issues under study

Another definition of speaking is that "Speaking" is the delivery of language through the mouth To speak, we create sounds using many parts of our body, including the lungs, vocal tract, vocal chords, tongue, teeth and lips Speaking includes two forms: formal and informal Informal speaking is typically used with family and friends, or people you know well Formal speaking occurs in business or academic situations, or when meeting people for the first time

(http://www.englishclub)Besides, Nunan and Carter (2001) develop the idea that

speaking in a second language involves the developments of a particular type of communication skill It has occupied a special position in the history of language teaching, and only in the last two decades has it begun to emerge as a branch of teaching, learning and testing in its own right, rarely focusing on the production of spoken discourse In the field of action, speaking is the action of: conveying information or expressing one‟s feelings in speech, the activity of delivering speeches, communicating in a specified language, conveying meaning as though in

words ( http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/speaking)

Furthermore, there is also another definition of speaking which states that

“Speaking and the art of communication are a productive skill” Good speaking skill

is the act of generating words that can be understood by listeners

Brown (1994) also shares the opinions that speaking ability is integrated

closely to writing, reading, and listening So, in language teaching, it is of great importance to emphasize the interrelationship of skill From the above definitions and explanations of speaking in second language or foreign language learning, the definition of speaking in this study is summarized as the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a various context to express ideas, opinions, or feelings to others by using words or sounds of articulation in order to inform, to persuade, and to entertain that can be learnt by

using some teaching learning methodologies

1.1.1.2 What is speaking skill?

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 There are three kinds of speaking situations in which we find ourselves:

Interactive, partially interactive, and Non-interactive Interactive speaking situations include face-to-face conversations and telephone calls, in which we are alternately listening and speaking, and in which we have a chance to ask for clarification, repetition, or slower speech from our conversation partner Some speaking situations are partially interactive, such as when giving a speech to a live audience, where the convention is that the audience does not interrupt the speech The speaker nevertheless can see the audience and judge from the expressions on their faces and body language whether or not he or she is being understood Some few speaking situations may be totally non-interactive, such as when recording a speech for a radio broadcast Here are some of the micro-skills involved in speaking The speaker has to:

- Pronounce the distinctive sounds of a language clearly enough so that people can distinguish them This includes making tonal distinctions

- Use stress and rhythmic patterns, and intonation patterns of the language clearly enough so that people can understand what is said

- Use the correct forms of words This may mean, for example, changes in the tense, case, or gender

- Put words together in correct word order

- Use vocabulary appropriately

- Use the register or language variety that is appropriate to the situation and the relationship to the conversation partner

- Make clear to the listener the main sentence constituents, such as subject, verb, object, by whatever means the language uses

- Make the main ideas stand out from supporting ideas or information

- Make the discourse hang together so that people can follow what you are saying

1.1.2 Difficuties in teaching and learning English speaking

It is a commonly recognized that achieving proficiency in foreign language speaking in classroom conditions is not an easy task Even advanced learners often finish a language course with the conviction that they are not sufficiently prepared for speaking beyond the classroom This difficulty results basically from the character and inadequate frequency of speaking opportunities in the classroom in comparison to the abundance of natural varieties and genres of oral communication

In fact, selecting the most appropriate types of spoken discourse for classroom practice in a particular language course is a very hard decision which, unfortunately, hardly ever reflects the natural occurrence and distribution of communicative situations Other problems that are commonly observed in the language classroom are related to individual learners' personalities and attitudes to the learning process and learning speaking in particular They can be shown as the inhibition which is the fear of making mistakes, losing face, criticism or shyness The second thing is that learners have problems with finding ideas to speak, formulating opinions or relevant comments The third one is the low or uneven participation and this is often caused by the tendency of some learners to dominate in the group The last one is about the mother-tongue use which is particularly common in less disciplined or

less motivated classes, learners find it easier or more natural to express themselves

in their native language (Ur1995: 121)

In addition, as many teachers‟ observations indicate, the above situations occur

in language classrooms regardless of the level of proficiency or the number of students in the group Moreover, every learner enters any learning and communicative environment with his or her entire personality additionally shaped

by their prior learning and communicative experiences, both positive and negative This individual dimension is particularly noticeable among older and more advanced learners who often have a good insight into the nature of their individual difficulties, an accurate assessment of the skills they have already developed and, consequently, clearly defined needs

(https://repozytorium.amu.edu.pl/jspui/bitstream/10593/1680/1/Aleksandrzak.pdf )

The fact is that English is used for communication among people in the world As

an international language, it is necessary for us to learn it But we know that studying English as a foreign language is not easy Therefore, the students should be taught English from elementary level English skills are divided into four skills They cannot be separated each other So, in teaching and learning process the four skills must be taught in integration In the process, it is possible that many problems rise in every skill and need the attention to give the solution for it

Finally, the non linguistic problems are limited reference, limited time in practicing English, less frequency in studying English, never have partner in practicing English, never have chance to speak English with native speaker, simply shame and there is no habit in practicing English In coping with the problems there are no significant different ways, these are asking to friend or teacher, opening the dictionary, practicing with partners, reviewing the lesson at home, and trying to always be active in speaking activities

(http://www.researchgate.net)

1.1.3 Types of speaking

In speaking class, according to Brun & Joyce (1997), students must be exposed

to three key items:

1.1.3.1 Form- focused speaking

Form-focused instruction, that is, attention to detail of pronunciation grammar, vocabulary, and so on When learners begin speaking in another language, their speaking will need to be based on some form- focused learning An effective way to start is to base speaking on some useful, simple memorized phrases and sentences These may be greetings, simple personal description, and simple questions and answers As their proficiency and experience in the language develop, most of these sentences and phrases may be re-analyzed and incorporated into the learner‟s system of knowledge of the language; language use based on memorization can be the starting point for more creative use of the language

1.1.3.2 Meaning-focused speaking

Meaning-focused instruction, that is, opportunities to produce meaningful spoken messages with real communicative purposes In addition to form-focused speaking, language learners should be exposed to and given chances to practice and use meaning-focused communication, in which they must both produce and listen to meaningful oral communication

1.1.3.3 Fluency-focused speaking

Fluency in speaking is the aim of many language learners Signs of fluency include a reasonably fast speed of speaking and only a small number of pauses These signs indicate that the speaker does not have to spend a lot of time searching for the language terms needed to express the message

1.1.4 Definition of confidence

Self-confidence is the most significant in language learning It provides learners with the motivation and energy to become positive about their own learning It also creates the drive in them to acquire the targeted language, enjoy the learning process, and experience real communication “At the heart of all learning is a person‟s belief in his or her ability to accomplish the task” (Atsuta, 2003) “In