Teaching speaking skill to young learners at vus etsc problems and recommendations m a 60 14 10

This thesis, therefore, aims to identify the problems and solutions to develop the speaking skill for Vietnamese learners, especially young learners in Vietnam USA Society Training Servi

NGUYEN THI BAO TRAN

TEACHING SPEAKING SKILL TO

YOUNG LEARNERS AT VUS-ETSC: PROBLEMS

AND RECOMMENDATIONS

A Thesis in Master of Arts Major: TESOL

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

For the degree of Master of Arts

Supervisor

NGUYEN THAI AN, Ph.D

HO CHI MINH CITY, 2010

I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled:

TEACHING SPEAKING SKILL TO YOUNG LEARNERS AT VUS-ETSC: PROBLEMS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

in terms of the statements of Requirements for Thesis in Master’s Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee

HoChiMinh City, January, 2010

NGUYEN THI BAO TRAN

I hereby state that I, Nguyen Thi Bao Tran, being the candidate for the degree

of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library

In terms of these conditions I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purposes of the study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for care, loan or reproduction of theses

Ho Chi Minh City, January, 2010

NGUYEN THI BAO TRAN

First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Mr Nguyen Thai An, for his patient guidance encouragement and valuable advice throughout my research Without his help, I could not have finished the thesis

I owe a great deal to all my lecturers for their helpful instructions during the Master course at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities I would like

to thank all the teachers and students at Vietnam USA Society Training Service (VUS) for their help and co- cooperation completing the questionnaire

Last but not least, my sincere thanks go to my family, my friends, and my colleagues whose support has been especially important to the success of my educational endeavors

represent the external world to one another: the people, places, things, actions and events that we can observe In the time of globalization nowadays, the definition of language has changed It is not the language that people have to master the aspects of language, such as grammar and vocabulary to pass the exams or to fulfill the school’s requirements, but it is the ability to communicate effectively This thesis, therefore, aims to identify the problems and solutions to develop the speaking skill for Vietnamese learners, especially young learners in Vietnam USA Society Training Service Center (VUS-ETSC) where teaching and learning of English are much concerned with the spoken form

As an effort to identify the problems, a survey was carried out to investigate students’ learning experience, their awareness as well as their expectation towards the speaking skill of English in VUS The findings from the survey included students’ passive English learning experience with little or no participation to oral practice both inside and outside the classroom, low motivation in learning affected by ineffective teaching methods and inappropriate curriculum in VUS nowadays It was also found out that although most learners seem to lack confidence in expressing their own opinions, they have high expectation of speaking practice at school in preparation for their future careers or higher study

In consideration of students’ prior and existing grammatical and semantic knowledge in light of student-centered approach, the thesis came up with suggestions and implications of practical techniques and strategies for VUS teachers to help develop the students’ oral competence in the context of

communicative activities in a cooperative learning environment, classroom management skills, techniques to select supplementary teaching materials and ways of testing or assessment

The thesis is written in view of looking for better changes in the teaching and learning of English in VUS in particular and in other foreign language centers which are in similar circumstances

Certificate of originality i

Retention and use of the thesis ii

Acknowledgements iii

Abstract iv

Table of contents vi

List of tables x

List of abbreviations xi

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 The rationale of the study 1

1.2 General background to the study 2

1.3 Purposes of the study 5

1.4 Overview of the thesis 5

1.5 Problem statement 6

1.6 Significance of the study 6

1.7 Limitations of the study 7

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 The nature of speaking 8

2.1.1 Definition 8

2.1.2 Types of speaking 8

2.1.3 The role of speaking in second language acquisition 9

2.1.3.1 The nature of second language acquisition (SLA) 9

2.1.3.2 The role of speaking in SLA 9

2.2 The overview of communicative competence .10

2.3 The overview about young learners 11

2.4.1 Definition 15

2.4.2 Factors influencing young learners’ oral communication 16

2.4.2.1 Age 16

2.4.2.2 Personality 16

2.4.2.3 Attitude 17

2.4.2.4 Motivation 18

a Definition 18

b Kinds of motivation 19

c Factors affecting second language learners’ motivation 20

2.5 Classroom interaction 25

2.5.1 Definition 25

2.5.2 The importance of interaction in oral classroom 25

2.5.3 Factors affecting the success of the classroom interaction 26

2.5.3.1 Social climate .26

2.5.3.2 Variety in learning activities 26

2.5.3.3 Students’ participation opportunities 26

2.5.3.5 Feedback and correction 26

2.6 Approaches applied in teaching speaking English to young learners 27

2.6.1 Communicative approach (CLT) 27

2.6.1.1 Definition …………27

2.6.1.2 The roles of the teacher and students 29

2.6.1.3 Classroom activities .30

2.6.2 The learner-centered approach (LCT) 30

2.6.2.1 Definition ……30

2.6.2.2 The roles of the teachers and students 31

2.6.3 The total physical response (TPR) .32

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research questions 38

3.2 Research design 38

3.3 Characteristics of subjects 39

3.3.1 Teachers’ profiles 39

3.3.2 Students’ profiles 40

3.4 Instruments 40

3.4.1 Questionnaires 41

3.4.2 The final oral test .42

3.5 Procedure 42

Chapter 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 4.1 Teachers’ viewpoints about the teaching and learning at VUS 43

4.2 Students’ responses to the questionnaires 53

4.2.1 Students’ viewpoints about the teaching and learning at VUS 53

4.2.2 Students’ learning experience 54

4.2.3 Students’ attitudes and expectation of speaking English 59

4.2.4 Students’ preferences in English classes 60

4.2.5 Students’ results in the Final oral exam 62

4.2.6 Summary 63

Chapter 5: IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 5.1 Implications for motivation 64

5.2 Games in the English speaking classroom 68

5.3 Helping students gain confidence .70

5.4 Dealing with introverts 72

5.6 Teaching pronunciation 77

5.6.1 English sounds without equivalents 77

5.6.2 Unvoiced explosive endings .79

5.6.3 Fricative 79

5.6.4 Releasing sounds 80

5.6.5 Consonant clusters 82

5.6.6 Linking 82

5.6.7 Word stress and changes in pronunciation 83

5.6.8 Intonation .84

5.6.9 Homophones 85

5.7 Teaching culture .86

5.8 Dealing with the overusing of mother tongue .90

5.9 Using pictures effectively 93

5.10 Conducting warmers 95

5.11 The interaction between teachers and students 96

5.12 Dealing with wandering minds 98

5.13 Assigning homework 99

5.14 Summary 101

CONCLUSION 102

BIBLIOGRAPHY 104

APPENDIX 1: Questionnaires for teachers at VUS – ETSC (in English) 111

APPENDIX 2: Questionnaires for students at VUS – ETSC (in Vietnamese) 117 APPENDIX 3: Games for English Speaking Activities 122

APPENDIX 4: Games for learning Vocabulary 127

APPENDIX 5:Warm-up Activities 131

Table 1: Teachers’ viewpoint about American Headway Book 43

Table 2: Teachers’ activities in speaking classes at VUS 44

Table 3: Teachers’ difficulties in teaching speaking English at VUS 46

Table 4: Reasons for the students’ difficulties in speaking English 48

Table 5: Reasons for teachers’ unequal attention to students 49

Table 6: Teachers’ problems in using pictures 50

Table 7: Teachers’ difficulties in using warm-ups 50

Table 8: Activities to improve students’ speaking skill 51

Table 9: Activities to motivate students in learning speaking English 51

Table 10: Teachers’ correction 53

Table 11: Students’ viewpoint about the benefit of learning English at VUS 53

Table 12: Students’ viewpoint about learning English at VUS 54

Table 13: Activities in English speaking classes 55

Table 14: Students’ participation in English speaking activities 57

Table 15: Students’ listening comprehension 58

Table 16: Students’ reasons for little participation in speaking activities 59

Table 17: Students’ reasons for learning English 60

Table 18: Students’ preferences in English speaking classes 60

Table 19: The final oral exam results 62

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

VUS-ETSC/VUS: Vietnam USA Society Training Service Center SLA: Second Language Acquisition

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

ELT: English Language Teaching

CLT: Communicative Approach

LCT: Learner- Centered Approach

TPR: Total Physical Response

L1: The mother tongue

L2: Second language

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This study aims to investigate the teaching and learning English speaking skill at Vietnam USA Society English Training Service System Center (VUS-ETSC) A survey was conducted at VUS with 250 students chosen at random to explore their learning experience, their awareness as well as their expectation towards the learning of English at VUS The study then, based on the findings, pointed out the causes why most students can not express themselves freely and naturally in English, and then came up with practical suggestions to help develop students’ speaking skill

1.1 The rationale of the study

Today the world is undergoing a rapid change which is caused by globalization process This process affects all spheres of human activities, in which communication takes the most decisive and basic role for the success of others such

as culture, politics and education Along with this, the language that plays the most essential scale is English The need of the world leads to the increase in the demand for English study Therefore, learners of English nowadays not only learn the language itself but also the ability to communicate effectively with people of different backgrounds and cultures In other words, we call it communication competence, which involves communication values and motives, the knowledge of the language, communication and intercultural norms, behaviors and traditions, communication management skills and reflection skills

With such importance, teaching staff at VUS-ETSC have felt an urge to apply newest methods in teaching, especially in speaking, which is considered the most difficult communicative language skill

It has been widely recognized that speaking, particularly in a second or foreign language, is the most difficult to teach and learn Speaking is the productive skill in

the oral mode It is more complicated than it seems at first and involves more than just pronouncing words If we are to improve speaking skill, we must become more aware of not only the language but also ourselves, our motivations, our behaviors, the audience’s psychology, and their reactions to the speaker’s faults and omissions

To put it differently, it requires learners to master many complicated factors that can not be omitted if a person wants to communicate efficiently

Having been a teacher of English as a foreign language for several years, I realize that many young learners face many difficulties in mastering this skill of language They can not retain what they have learned for a long time, but encounter obstacles

to put the language into practice or even get bored and have no interest at all We, as English teachers, should find ways to help our learners overcome difficulties and improve their communicative speaking skill so that they can find the lessons enjoyable as well as have more motives for further study

1.2 General background to the study

This section is a brief description of Vietnam USA Society English Training Service System Center (VUS-ETSC), English courses and the course book at this center Its purpose is to provide the background information essential for an understanding of the issues discussed in this study

VUS-ETSC has been in operation since 1997 and has been one of the most popular foreign language centers in Ho Chi Minh City with over 300 teachers including foreign and Vietnamese teachers The English training program has been the cooperation with the City University of New York (CUNY) VUS-ETSC offers classes at all levels for children, teenagers and adults The teenagers’ program is called Young Leaders programs and organized at six levels named Y1 (Young 1), Y2, Y3, Y4, Y5, Y6, Y7, Y8, Y9, Y10, Y11, Y12 with the duration of 10 weeks for each level

The teenagers who I am focusing on are around the ages from 10 to 16, studying at Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4 and Y5, most of whom have finished English classes for children

Their parents send them to the evening classes with the hope that they can have more chances to speak with foreigners and improve their communicative competence as well as review what they have learned in high school

* Description of the curriculum of speaking classes at VUS

The teaching material is American Headway series by Cambridge University Press,

including six books used in six Young leader classes Students are supposed to finish each level / class within 10 weeks Each unit consists of many tasks focusing

on grammar, speaking, listening and writing that I can not present all the details in this thesis Therefore, I would like to just make it short and concise The followings are the main oral topics in each unit

Young 1 level: (Headway 1A)

Unit 1: Getting to know each other

Unit 2: Introducing about yourself and your family

Unit 3: Asking and introducing about other people

Unit 4: Talking about your daily activities and your hobbies

Unit 5: Describing the house and giving directions

Unit 6: Talking about possibility and answering the phone

Unit 7: Celebrating special days

Young 2 level: (Headway 1B)

Unit 8: Telling stories about you and your family

Unit 9: Talking about meals of the day, a typical main meal, your typical breakfast your family lunch and dinner and food in Vietnam

Unit 10: Telling about your city, your hometown (people, famous ones, places, things)

Unit 11: Going shopping and buying clothes

Unit 12: Talking about some places you went to in the past

Unit 13: Telling stories

Unit 14: Discussing about people and life in the future

Young 3 level: (Headway 2A)

Unit 1: Getting to know you

Unit 2: Talking about the way we live

Unit 3: Telling stories

Unit 4: Talk about famous products with well-known brands in many countries, list and compare them with your classmates

Unit 5: What do you want to be in the future?

Unit 6: Talking about Hollywood’s kids

Unit 7: Kinds of favorite music, your favorite bands, and your favorite

Young 4 level: (Headway 2B)

Unit 8: Giving advice

Unit 9: Going to some places and your relationship with parents, friends

Unit 10: Talking about the stories

Unit 11: Talking about historical events

Unit 12: Talking about some places you would like to visit and things you would like to buy if you had a lot of money

Unit 13: Best and worst jobs in the world

Unit 14: Discussing about the stories

Young 5 level: (Headway 3A)

Unit 1: Your favorite websites, your last plane trip, health care and sport events Unit 2: Talking about your happiest time, activities, and days

Unit 3: Telling tales

Unit 4: Talking about the proverbs

Unit 5: Going on vacation

Unit 6: Talking about world’s favorite food

1.3 Purposes of the study

The followings are the aims of this study:

 Identifying the problems the students and the teachers have in their speaking class at VUS-ETSC

 Finding the most efficient and suitable ways to apply Communicative approach and Learner-centered approach to teaching at VUS-ETSC

 Suggesting techniques and solutions to overcome the problems to help the learning and teaching of speaking skill in order that learners can study more efficiently and enjoyably

1.4 Overview of the thesis

The thesis consists of five chapters Apart from chapter one - the introduction of the thesis – other chapters are organized as followed:

Chapter Two presents a review of the literature relevant to the study It starts with

the nature of speaking The overview of communicative competence, oral communication, classroom interaction, approaches applied in language teaching, the role of the teacher, the learner and teaching material in speaking classes are also discussed in details Those lay the foundation for the following situation analysis and solutions

Chapter Three describes the methodology employed in the study It includes a

presentation of the research questions, the research design, and a description of the subjects, instruments and data collection procedures

Chapter Four analyses the collected data and draw out the findings

Chapter Five provides the implications and suggestions about how to make the

speaking lessons more communicative and how to reduce the existing problems at VUS-ETSC

1.5 Problem statement

The motive for the thesis formulation is the reality of the present English proficiency at VUS which raises a great deal of concern among teachers Studies of the English speaking language itself and English language teaching at VUS have shown a lot of existing difficulties which slow down the progress of mastering and communicating in English as well as demotivate the interests of learning the language The problems come from the educators’ inadequate and inflexible teaching methods, the language itself such as the pronunciation, the sounds, the vocabulary, and the structures, and the learners themselves such as their backgrounds, their personalities and their motives for study Young learners find speaking English abstract and embarrassing, English vocabulary difficult to remember and English lessons boring and unreal They prefer the class which is not only the place to study but also their playground with English Learning by heart vocabulary, grammar, structures and doing exercises may help them temporarily remember the target language but it is not certain that they will retain the knowledge for a long time Students may quickly forget the patterns and vocabulary; they can not use them in practice, do not remember what words to express their ideas, even get embarrassed and are afraid of making mistakes when they happen to meet foreigners on the streets

As an educator of English language at VUS for many years, I have been aware of these difficulties Therefore, like other teachers at VUS, I have expected to find effective methods to help Vietnamese young learners (from 10 to 16 years old) to easily master the language so that they can go further in the communication with the world and feel more excited with their study

1.6 Significance of the study

This research is of significance to the domain of foreign language teaching, especially speaking skill as it extends the knowledge base that currently exists in that field The concept of the English language and speaking skill is generally the

same for every institution and every learner However, it is not easy for each individual to overcome the difficulties caused by the difference from their backgrounds, their interests, their personalities and their needs to be able to communicate in the language Therefore, the research which explores the problems and suggests some solutions will help to raise awareness among teachers and young learners who are interested in learning English

1.7 Limitations of the study

The thesis has investigated the difficulties and the solutions for developing skill for young learners at VUS in general but it has not taken the differences among individuals concerning age, time of learning as well as their background knowledge into account Besides, the differences in students’ ability, the teaching staff require a flexible application of the solutions to the problems suggested in the study

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 The Nature of Speaking

2.1.1 Definition

Speaking is generally considered one of the major productive skills as suggested by McDonough Shaw (1983:152) “It is a skill which enables us to produce utterances, when genuinely communicatively, speaking is desire and purpose driven, in other words we genuinely want to communicate something to achieve a particular end.”

On the other hand, the language of interaction is used to establish and maintain social relationships or ‘listener oriented’ Consequently, interactive speaking situations include face-to-face conversations, in which we are alternately listening and speaking They are the activities that put students in such kinds of situations as opening and closing conversations, making small-talks, joking, recounting personal incidents and experiences, turn-taking, interrupting, and reacting to others

2.1.3 The role of speaking in SLA

2.1.3.1 The nature of second language acquisition (SLA)

Of the studies in SLA, the most influential, most attractive but most controversial theory has been Krashen’s Input Hypothesis: “Humans acquire language in only one way by understanding messages or by receiving “comprehensible input” (Krashen, 1985)

In order to make the comprehensible input, Ellis (1994:696) states that we can do it either “through simplification, with the help of context, or by negotiating non- and misunderstanding” That is to say, language acquisition is through the effort of trying to comprehend what other people are saying In Krashen’s opinion, such

“comprehensible input” should be beyond the learner’s current level Krashen calls this input “i+1” The learners progress from one stage to another continually and naturally The developmental scale is largely based on the sequences of acquisition Krashen’s position is based on his strong belief that acquisition and learning are not related In his Acquisition/Learning Hypothesis, Krashen (1985) draws a clear line between “acquisition” and “learning” Children acquire their first language unconsciously but adults learn a second language by consciously adopting rules of language and learning strategies

According to Krashen’s Input Hypothesis, the teacher should provide students with optimal input, which is authentic, interesting and relevant because to some extent,

we can say the quality and amount of input determines the success or failure in SLA

2.1.3.2 The role of speaking in SLA

“Speaking makes you a more fluent language user; speaking is a chance to notice

the gaps between what you want to say and what you can say; it is a chance to test hypotheses about language.” (Marilyn, 1999)

Krashen (1981) states "What theory implies, quite simply, is that language acquisition, first or second, occurs when comprehension of real messages occurs Language acquisition does not require extensive use of conscious grammatical rules, and does not require tedious drill Real language acquisition develops slowly, and speaking skills emerge significantly later than listening skills, even when conditions are perfect.”

Since language is acquired by comprehensible input, and in fact someone who is not able to speak for physical reasons can still acquire the full ability to understand language, speaking plays an indirect role in second language acquisition in two ways: “1) speaking produces conversation, which produces comprehensible input, and 2) your speaking allows native speakers to judge what level you are at and then adjust their speak downward to you, providing that your input is more easily understood.” (Krashen, 1981)

Besides, speaking is viewed in the larger context of communication with the focus

on the speaker's ability to take in messages, negotiate meaning, and produce

comprehensible output Swain (1993) argues for the importance of comprehensible output that requires the learners to negotiate meaning, formulate and test hypotheses about the structures and functions of the language they produce

Through the process of adjusting their language output in order to make their messages more comprehensible to native speakers, language learners improve the accuracy of their language production

2.2 The overview of Communicative Competence

Sauvignon (1983) defines communicative competence as the ability to function in truly communicative settings that is in a dynamic exchange in which linguistic competence must adjust itself to the total informational input of one or more interlocutors Communicative competence is also context-specific, which means that communicators know how to make choices specific to the situation It is

different from performance It is what one knows while performance is what one does

Sauvignon (1983), Swain (1980) and Canale (1983) point out that communicative

competence consists of four competences: grammatical competence, discourse

competence, social linguistic competence and strategic competence

Grammatical competence is the knowledge of structure and form of the language, knowing how to use the grammar, syntax, and vocabulary of a language

Discourse competence is the knowledge of interpreting the larger context and constructing longer stretches of language so that the parts make up a coherent whole

Social linguistic competence is the knowledge of using and responding to language appropriately, the given setting, the topic, and the relationship among people

Strategic competence is the knowledge of recognizing and repairing communication breakdowns, of working around gaps in one’s knowledge of the language and learning more about the language and the context

To achieve communicative competence, Hymes, D.H (1971) suggests the four dimensions that a person needs to cover, that is whether something is formally possible or feasible, whether something is appropriate (adequate, happy, successful)

in relation to a context in which it is used and evaluated and whether something is

in fact done, and actually performed

To sum up, communicative competence is the ability to use the language competently and appropriately to accomplish communication goals The desired outcome of the learning process is the ability to use competently, not the ability to use the language exactly as the native speaker does Communicative competence determines speaking proficiency (Scarcella,1992)

2.3 The overview about young learners

2.3.1 Definition

There are many theories about young learners According to Purwaningsih (2000),“Young Learners are learners in Elementary School aging 9-10 years old who are learning English as foreign language” Etty Maryati Hoesein (1998) states that “Young Learners are the students of Elementary School who are at grade four

up to grade six Their ages range from ten to twelve years of age” Furthermore, the Cambridge Young Learners English Tests consists of four key levels of assessment: Starters (7 years old), Movers (8 – 9 years old), Flyers ( 9-11 years old) and Young leaders ( 11 – 16 years old).”

From those three statements, we may conclude that Young Learners are English foreign language learners who are studying in Elementary or Senior High School aging 7-16

In my thesis, the young learners I would like to focus are those from 10 or 11 to 16 years old These students are attending Young leaders English program at VUS

2.3.2 The characteristics of young learners

According to Slatterly, M., & Willis, J (2001), young learners from ten to sixteen years old have the following characteristics: They are developing as thinkers; at those ages, they start to understand the difference between the real and the imaginary The brain is developing to approach a level that they have clearer concepts of the world around and have a longer attention span The intellectual, motor and social skills developing help them plan and organize how best to carry out an activity, from that, they can work with others and learn from others Young learners at those ages can be reliable and take responsibility for class activities and routines

In other words, they are eager to find out the knowledge about the people and situations different from their own experience Young learners begin to understand

cause and effect They can work well in groups and begin a more systematic approach to language learning

Furthermore, Slatterly, M., & Willis, J (2001) also point out that the cognitive characteristics of the young learner develop on the following aspects:

*Patterning

At those ages, the brain looks for patterns as it organizes information according to

schematic maps and categories Therefore, as teachers, we ought to create complex, meaningful experiences from which they construct their own patterns of

understanding

For example, teachers should not teach these followings: f z g i h r c t u w d h, as

separate sounds because it requires great effort since the series of letters is presented in isolation and is meaningless If we ask students to memorize these

series of letters in words such as yet, paper, snow, drive, boat, when, through, the

task would be somewhat easier If, on the other hand, the teacher uses a meaningful

sentence such as The boy is going to Disneyland when school is over for the

summer, the brain has much more of an opportunity to attach meaning and make

connections

*Emotions

Emotions have a great effect on all learning Caine’s (1997:105) states that

emotions are critical to the brain’s patterning If an event is related to positive emotions, there is a greater chance for successful patterning to take place Jensen (2005) puts it even more forcefully: “Emotions drive attention, create meaning, and

have their own memory pathways.”

Many of our student activities have positive emotions associated with them, such as games, songs, rhymes, and lessons involving movement and physical activity Creating a warm emotional climate in which children feel self-confident, free, and

highly motivated is equally as important as providing activities that have emotional connections

Stephen Krashen (1981), in his hypothesis of the “affective filter,” highlights the importance of emotions in the fact that children are known to resist learning when learning is unpleasant, painful, or being attempted in a punitive environment Krashen believes that the brain erects to block out second-language input, no matter how carefully designed that input may be The filter goes up in the presence of anxiety or low self-confidence, or in the absence of motivation The filter goes down, and the language input can come through, when motivation is high, when a student is self-confident, and when the learning takes place in a relatively anxiety-free environment

*Social Dimension

As Frank Smith (1994) put it, “Language is not a genetic gift It is a social gift.” If

the social interaction is an important part of the learning, meaning can be constructed much more readily Besides, Ellis (2008:2) affirms that “the opportunity

to interact in the second language is central to developing second language proficiency” Games, role-plays, and partner and small-group activities motivate young learners at the same time as they enhance learning

Therefore, in Ellis’ opinion, the brain can attach meaning in the ways the social dimension of games and classroom rituals provides Once the students have learned

a concept, they can practice it in partners and small groups The social relationships

of partner and small group activities add to the richness of meaning-based experiences for the brain

*Learning Styles

Slatterly, M., & Willis, J (2001) believe that the individual learners in foreign

language classes differ in many ways, at every level of instruction

Some learners thrive in a highly social and interactive environment; others feel more comfortable and may do better when they can think and learn alone Some learners are motivated and empowered by carefully structured, linear tasks and unvarying routines The same students enjoy classes if the teacher keeps them guessing Many students need a supportive emotional climate in which to learn, and regular assurance that they are valued as people Some students need to touch, or move, in order to learn Some students benefit most from visuals and teachers’ gestures when they are learning or reviewing language

2.4 The nature of Oral Communication

2.4.1 Definition

Oral communication is a two-way process between speaker and listener (or listeners) and involves the productive skill of speaking and the receptive skill of understanding (or listening with understanding)

According to Dorn Byrne (1986:8, 9), both speakers and listeners have a positive function to perform In simple terms, the speaker has to encode the message he wishes to convey in appropriate language, while the listener has to decode or interpret the message It should be kept in mind that the listener’s interpretation will not necessarily correspond to the speaker’s intended meaning The message itself, in normal speech, usually contains a good deal of information that is redundant It contains more information than the listener actually needs in order to understand, so that he is not obliged to follow with the maximum attention

At the same time, the listener is helped by the prosodic features, such as stress and intonation, which are parts of the meaning of the spoken utterance, as well as by facial and body movements such as gestures We should also note that, in contrast

to the written language, where sentences are carefully structured and linked together, speech is often characterized by incomplete and sometimes ungrammatical utterances, and by frequent false starts and repetitions

2.4.2 Factors influencing young learners’ oral communication

As Cook (2000) finds that language acquisition is unequal to learners It has been suggested that there are many major factors, which affect the second language acquisition: age, personality, attitude, gender, motivation, social cultural factors, language environment, and the style of communication of the teacher

2.4.2.1 Age

Age is thought as an important factor to determine the success or failure of learning

a foreign language Scovel (1969) argues that only children, not adults can attain native-like pronunciation in the L2 Oyama’s study (1976) also shows that many adults fail to reach native-like proficiency in a second language

Before the child begins to speak and to perceive, the uncommitted cortex is a blank slate on which nothing has been written In the ensuing years much is written, and the writing is normally never erased After the age of ten or twelve, the general functional connections have been established and fixed for speech cortex

With young learners, language development is very much linked to what they can

do at those particular ages Five to seven year olds are quite different from eight to ten year olds in the way they learn and understand concepts This affects the way

we approach language with them and the type of activities we can use

It seems that it is because of the phenomenon called “fossilization”- the permanent cessation of second language development - that adult learners can not reach perfect pronunciation in L2 or a foreign language They also have problems such as intonation, stress and other phonological nuisances which may lead to misunderstandings or communication breakdown

Coppersmith (1967:4-5) defines self-esteem as a personal judgment of worthiness expressed in the attitudes that individual holds towards himself Anxiety is the feeling of uneasiness, frustration, self-doubt, apprehension or worry (Brown,1994:141) Learners with low self-esteem are more likely to be concerned that their classmates think about them This fear of making mistakes or appearing foolish heightens their anxiety There would be no successful cognitive or affective activity that can be carried out without some degrees of self-esteem, self confidence, knowledge of oneself and beliefs in their own capabilities for that activity (Brown, 1994:136)

Shumin (1997) concludes that speaking a foreign language in public especially in front of native speakers is often anxiety- provoking If someone feels that he is good

at the language, he will have confidence to speak, and participate in the learning activities On the contrary, if he looks down on himself, then he never dares to talk and do anything

2.4.2.3 Attitudes

Another factor is learners’ attitudes This is because an ESL/EFL learner's motivation in language learning is affected by his/her attitudes towards learning the language Gardner and Lambert (1972:3) state that “the learners’ motivation to learn

is thought to be determined by his attitudes towards the other group in particular and by his orientation towards the learning task itself”

Therefore, Gardner (1980:267) defines attitude as "the sum total of a man's feelings, prejudice or bias, preconceived notions, fears, threats, and convictions about any specified topic" Besides, Ajzan (1988:4) considers attitudes as “a disposition to respond favourably or unfavourably to an object, person, or event” Baker (1992:10) defines attitudes as “a hypothetical construct used to explain the direction and persistence of human behaviour”

Gardner (1985:10) also considers attitudes as components of motivation in language learning In his study, motivation refers to the combination of effort plus desire to

achieve the goal of learning the language plus favourable attitudes towards learning the language However, Wenden (1991) proposed a broader definition of the concept “attitudes” He states that the term “attitudes” includes three components namely, cognitive, affective and behavioural A cognitive component is made up of the beliefs and ideas or opinions about the object of the attitude The affective one refers to the feeling and emotions that one has towards an object, 'likes' or 'dislikes', 'with' or 'against' Finally, the behavioural component refers to one's consisting actions or behavioural intentions towards the object

From a different angle, McGuire (1969:157) suggests that it is possible that the three components are so closely interrelated Learning a language is also closely related to the attitudes towards the languages (Starks & Paltridge, 1996) Karahan (2007:84) avers that “positive language attitudes let learners have positive orientation towards learning English” Consequently, attitudes may play a very crucial role in language learning as they would appear to influence students’ success

or failure in their learning

2.4.2.4 Motivation

a Definition

Among the factors affecting SLA, motivation is the most important one Motivation

is commonly thought as an “inner drive, impulse, emotion or desire that moves one

to a particular action.” (Brown,1994:152)

Ellis (1994:715) considers motivation as “the effort which learners put into learning

an L2 as a result of their need or desire to learn it” Lightbrown and Spada (2001: 33) define motivation in SLA as “a complex phenomenon which can be defined in terms of two factors: learners’ communicative needs and their attitudes towards the second language community” They say when learners feel the need to speak the second language in order to communicate or to fulfill professional ambitions; they will be motivated to acquire proficiency in it

b Kinds of motivation

* Integrative and instrumental motivation

Gardner and Lambert (1972) point out two kinds of motivation, that is, integrative motivation and instrumental motivation

In their study (1972), the integrative motivation refers to learning the language in order to take part in the culture of its people and instrumental motivation means a learner learns the language for a career goal or other practical reasons Both motivations can influence learning process and result

If a student takes “integrative” as his target, he will look for opportunities to learn about the target culture, its people, and the language Finally, he will become more successful in the L2 classroom Instrumental motivation, on the other hand, means the student learns a second language in order to pass an examination or to get a job Cook (2000) shows that students with no instrumental or integrative motivation will find it difficult to learn a second language in the classroom He suggests that teachers may go along with or at least be sufficiently aware of the students’ motivation so as to smooth over any problems “If the speaker’s only reason for learning the second language is external pressure, internal motivation may be minimal and general attitudes towards learning may be negative.” (Lightbrown & Spada, 2001:33)

*Intrinsic & extrinsic motivation

Pintrich (2000a) mentions two other kinds: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation to engage in an activity for its own sake People who are intrinsically motivated work on tasks they find enjoyable Extrinsic motivation is motivation to engage in an activity as a means to an end Individuals who are extrinsically motivated work on tasks because they believe that participation will result in desirable outcomes such as a reward, teacher’s praise, or avoidance of punishment

Intrinsic motivation lies in the interest of the learner and his attitude For example,

if the teacher is caring and humorous, and effectively attracts learners’ attention by well-desired lessons, the learners will show greatly

In short, researches have shown that whether second language learning is successful

or not closely relates to these types of motivation

c Factors affecting second language learners’ motivation

There are many factors which affect second language learners’ motivation and the most important ones are as follows:

*Goal orientation

Pintrich (2000a) defines “Goals refer to potentially accessible, conscious, cognitive representations They represent a unit of structured knowledge or personal, subjective conception or theory about the purposes of achievement tasks as well as other elements referring to how success and competence are defined, the role of effort, error and evaluation norms.” Therefore, goals play a very important role in the learners’ success

Besides, Smith (1998) adds that goals can be conceptualized as a part of a network

of connection among different aspects of goals as well as the strategies and means

for attaining them They are also considered as the cognitive links between specific behaviors and general motives with certain stability in the subjects (Seifert, 1996) According to Dornyei (2000:27), goal orientations can be divided into two types opposite to each other One is mastery orientation, the other is performance orientation The focus of mastery orientation is on the content of learning; while the focus of performance orientation is on demonstrating ability, getting good grades and surpassing other learners Learners who hold mastery orientations believe that efforts will lead to success and the emphasis of L2 learning is on the personal improvement Learners who hold performance orientations, on the contrary, just look on L2 learning as a way to achieve a goal and the accompanying public cognition

Both mastery orientations and performance orientations lead to intense motivation; however, mastery orientations seem superior to performance orientations because they are associated with an intrinsic interest in learning activities and positive attitudes towards learning While as, in a short term, performance orientations work more effectively than mastery orientations because the learners are deeply motivated by the external rewards, teachers’ or parents’ praise; in a long term, mastery orientations are more beneficial for the language learners Thus goal orientations influence learners’ motivation to learn a second language in different ways

*Gender

Female and male behave differently in several communicative domains According

to Spolky (1969:37), female are long prejudiced to talk more than male Female speakers have been found not only to produce more standard pronunciation but also

to use “better “or more “correct” forms than men (Trudgill, 1983:87)

Brown (1994:240) finds that women seem to have less confidence in what they say than men Men employ stronger expletives and tend to interrupt more than women whereas women are likely to use more polite language It can explain why women’s

speech is socially better than men (Trudgill, 1983:88) The difference in the language of men and women can also be found in the topics they choose to discuss Spolky (1998:37) conclude that women like to select more personal topics such as their home, their family, and their domestic activities Men’s talk, on the other hand,

is associated with the outside world and economic activities

Then, discussing about the classroom activities, Spolky (1969:40) proves that girls have the following unique characteristics: comfortable asking questions in class, responding to shopping questions, thriving in a relaxed environment and working in pairs or alone

Boys, on the other hand, do better in competitive environments They enjoy based lessons or time-oriented tasks and prefer waiting with asking questions to avoiding less smart responds to sports questions

*Emotion and attitudes towards the second language

The emotional factor refers to the emotional change of the learner that affects the motivation Some students like their course because they like the teacher McCroskey and Richmond (1992) indicate that students who like and respect a teacher on a personal level will experience greater cognitive learning, and become more motivated toward subject matters As a result, according to Mehrabian (1990: 325) the relationship between the teacher and learners sometimes influences learners’ attitudes towards L2 learning In particular, the study effect is relied on

“the degree of perceived physical and/or psychological closeness between people”

*Social environment and demands

Ellis (1994:193) maintains that social environment though is the external factor affects the learner’s motivation In his opinion, social factors such as the ethnic background a learner has may affect his or her motivation to learn a particular language If their society neglects the foreign language, the learners may have no

motivation to learn it Social environment includes people’s attitude towards the foreign language in the community and the demands for it from the job market It also includes the syllabus for foreign language learning, expects from parents, and the influence of their peers

*Social cultural factors

According to Brown (1994), language is a form of social action because linguistics communication occurs in the context of structured interpersonal exchange, and meaning is thus socially regulated Therefore, learners will have to learn something

of the culture of the speakers and of that language Thus, to speak a language one must know not only how the language is used in a social context but also its own rules of usages as when, how and what to say

Due to the lack of understanding of the target culture, it is hard for non-native speakers to choose an appropriate form to a certain situation Scollon (2001:21) puts it: “When two people have similar histories, backgrounds, and experiences, their communication works fairly easily because the inference each made about the other means will be based on the common experience and knowledge.”

*Language environment

Dalay (1982:13) says that the language environment encompasses everything the language learners hear and see in the new language It may include a wide variety of situations such as exchanges in restaurants, stores, conversations with friends, watching televisions, reading streets signs, and newspapers as well as classroom activities or it may be very sparse, including only language classroom activities and

a few books and records

Spolky (1969:65) presents a general distinction between natural language environment and educational settings or instructed learning In natural language learning, the language is being used for communication The learner is surrounded

by fluent speakers of the target language, the context is the real outside world, open

and stimulating, and the language used is free and normal In formal classroom, the language is used to teach, only the teacher is fluent, the context is inside the classroom With the closed four walls, and language used is carefully controlled and simplified It is therefore assumed that natural settings lead to higher level of L2 proficiency than educational settings However, Ellis (2000:117) states that learners who receive formal instruction (educational settings) become more grammatically accurate than those who do not

*The style of communication of the teacher

Pollard (1984) specifies it is the teacher considered as the source of initiation of the interaction in the classroom The teacher is the authority in the classroom, he may provide learners with guidance and support in L2 learning, and also, he may weaken learners’ motivation because of his inappropriate responses to learners’ learning activities

Therefore, the teacher’s personality, behavior and teaching methods will all have strong impact on learners The personal qualities of the teacher, such as commitment, warmth, trustworthiness and competence determine the relationship between the teacher and learners, the degree of learners’ being attracted to engage

in learning tasks, and learners’ need to do well in the classroom so as to please the teacher Experience shows that teachers who are humorous, address learners by names, talk about some personal topics in the class will shorten their distance with learners, and consequently enhance learners’ classroom motivation

2.5 Classroom Interaction

2.5.1 Definition

In his study, Counihan (1998) states that interaction is both verbal and non-verbal

communication Interaction is spontaneous participation of all conversational parties

in exchanging parties, in exchanging both social and personal data as the vast of majority everyday talking done by natives Interaction involves emotion, creativity,

agreement, disagreement, people waiting patiently to get in a word, sighing, nodding, and gesticulating

Classroom interaction is when the whole class is engaged in pairs or groups of conversation Counihan (1998) suggests that classroom interaction happens when the students direct the dialogue at one another and not at or through the teacher and comment immediately on what another student has just said Therefore, the students may disagree with or challenge another student’s statement When they interrupt one another, to insert an opinion or question; as a result, paralinguistics, such as exclamation, gesture and body language is exploited

2.5.2 The importance of interaction in an oral class

Interaction brings a language environment where students have chance to use the language, they communicate with not only the teacher but other students as well As

a result, they can improve their listening comprehension and learn how to express various language functions, such as asking questions, making requests, explaining a phenomenon or making predictions Furthermore, teachers as observing students’ interaction will be able to find out the strong and weak points in the aspect of communicative competence and their need for real communication as well

“Interaction is a major means by which learners explore the relationship between what they already know and new observations or interpretations which they meet.” (Cullinan, 1993:2)

2.5.3 Aspects of the successful classroom interaction

According to Celce Murcia (1979), the followings are four important aspects that determine the success of classroom interaction that teachers should pay attention to

2.5.3.1 Social climate

It is the proper atmosphere created by the teachers and students so that students can

be motivated to communicate to their teacher and other peers in a relaxed, positive

and constructive way If the students enjoy their study, then they can feel at ease and confident to participate in the class’ activities

2.5.3.2 Variety in learning activities

Variety means teachers present the lesson in many ways of teaching, students are guided to do variety of tasks, join in different activities in class such as pair work, group work, listening to a song, value clarification, skill competition, games, telling

a story, role playing and talking about a daily topic

2.5.3.3 Students’ participation opportunities

In general, students’ participation means allowing students to have as much input as possible into the class itself, such as syllabus activities, assignments, grading, management, pair works and group works

2.5.3.4 Feedback and correction

Students may feel that they are wasting time when they do not get feedback or correction Giving feedback shows the students how and where they are improving,

as well as what they need to work on

Besides, Richards (1996:188)state that “errors are integral part of language learning and not evidence of failure to learn” Many studies have indicated that errors are signals that learning occurs; in other words, errors indicate learners’ stage which reflects parts of lesson that have been understood and to be improved (Smith, 1994 and Hedge, 2000) Error correction is defined as ‘a response either to the content of what a student has produced or to the form of the utterance

However, error correction in speaking is highly challenging and possibly perplexing in comparison with the individual variables such as contexts, pronunciation, vocabulary, and spontaneity as influential parts in speaking There are many factors to be carefully considered such as learners’ level, which errors to

be corrected, when, and how to correct To reiterate, it is emphasized that errors are inevitable in language learning; thus, appropriate error correction method is needed

Over-correction and poor correction techniques can demotivate the learner and may lead to a reluctance to try out new language or even to speak at all (Simon, Darn and Steve, 2005)

2.6 Approaches applied in teaching speaking English to young learners

2.6.1 Communicative approach (CLT)

2.6.1.1 Definition

Communicative language teaching (CLT) is an approach to the teaching of second

and foreign languages that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language Communicative language teaching relates forms to meaning (Littlewood, 1981)

CLT places great emphasis on helping students use the target language in a variety

of contexts and places great emphasis on learning language functions CLT is usually characterized as a broad approach to teaching, rather than as a teaching method with a clearly defined set of classroom practices

Nunan’s (1991) have proved five features of CLT, that is an emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language, the introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation, the provision of opportunities for learners

to focus, not only on language but also on the learning management process, the enhancement of the learner’s own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning and an attempt to link classroom language learning with language activities outside the classroom

As Brown (1994:245) has put it, the goal of language teaching is learners’ ability to communicate in the target language and the content of the language teaching course will include semantic notions and social functions, not just linguistic structures Moreover, in communicative approach, language techniques are designed to learner

in pragmatic, authentic, functional use of language of meaningful purposes Organization language forms are not the central focus but rather aspects of language that enable the learners to accomplish those purposes Besides, fluency and

accuracy are seen as complementary principles underlying communicative techniques At times, fluency may have to take on more importance than accuracy

in order to keep learners meaningfully engaged in language use

Harmer (1998:32) agrees that communicative approach follows the following procedures: new teaching points are introduced with dialogues, followed by controlled practice of the main the grammatical patterns The teaching points are then contextualized through situational practice This serves as an introduction to a freer practice activity, such as role play or improvisation Teaching points are introduced in dialogues form, grammatical items are isolated for controlled practice, and then freer activities are provided Pair and group work are suggested to encourage students to use and practice functions and forms

Communicative language teaching makes use of real-life situations that necessitate communication The teacher sets up a situation that students are likely to encounter

in real life Unlike the audio-lingual method of language teaching, which relies on repetition and drills, the communicative approach can leave students in suspense as

to the outcome of a class exercise, which will vary according to their reactions and responses

2.6.1.2 The roles of the teachers and students in communicative language teaching

* The role of the teachers

Teachers in communicative classrooms will find themselves talking less, listening more and becoming active facilitators of their students' learning (Freeman, 1986) Teachers set up the exercise, but because the students' performance is the goal, the teachers must step back and observe, sometimes acts as a referee or a monitor Therefore, the roles of the teachers are very important in the classroom Freeman (1986) shows that teachers are facilitators and monitors rather than leading the class They give students opportunities to express their individuality by having them share the ideas and opinions on a regular basis