Luận văn the application of communicative activities to develop speaking skills for 10th graders in son tay high school hanoi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSLTY OF LANGUAGES AND ENTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES ——tzee42‡>——— LE PHUONG LAN THE APPLICATION OF COMMUNICATIVE AC

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSLTY OF LANGUAGES AND ENTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

——tzee42‡>———

LE PHUONG LAN

THE APPLICATION OF COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES

TO DEVELOP SPEAKING SKILLS FOR 10" GRADERS

IN SON TAY HIGH SCHOOL-HANOL

(ONG DUNG CAC HOAT DONG GIAO TLEP DE PHAT TRLEN KY NANG NOI

CHO HOC SINH LỚP 10 TRƯỜNG THPT SƠN TAY-HA NỘI)

MLA MINOR THESIS

Field : ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY

Code : 601410

HANOL 2011

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOT UNIVERSLTY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

———z+Kwe##>~———

LÊ PHƯƠNG LAN

THE APPLICATION OF COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES

TO DEVELOP SPEAKING SKILLS FOR 10™ GRADERS

IN SON TAY TIGHT SCTIOOL-TTANOT

(UNG DUNG CAC HOAT DONG GIAO TIEP DE PHAT TRLEN KỸ NĂNG NÓI

CHO HOC SINH LGP 10 TRUGING THPT SON TAY-HA NỘI)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Vield : ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY Code : 601410

Supervisor: Prot Dr Hoang Van Vân

HANOTL 2011

1 Rationale of the study

2 Aims of the sturly

3 Research questions

4 Scope of the study

5 Design of the study

DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

LL UNDERSTANDING SPEAKING

1.1.1 Spoken language versus written language

1.1.2, Lmplications tor teaching

1.2 TEACHING SPEAKING

1.2.1 The speaking needs and goals of language students

1.2.2, Approaches to teaching speaking

1.2.3 Principles for teaching speaking

1.3 COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES

1.3.1, What are communicative activities?

1.3.2, Purposes of communicative activities

1.3.3 Types of oral communicative activities

1.3.3.4, Problem solving

13.3.5, Simulation and role-play

Chapter 2: METHODOLOGY

2.1 RESEARCH SETTING

2.1.4, An overview of Sen Tay ITigh School

2.1.2, The teachers of English in Son Tay High School

2.1.3 The students in Son Lay High School

2.1.4, The current situation of English teaching and learning in Son Tay

High Schoal

2.2 RESEARCH METHODS

2.2.1 Description of the subjects

2.2.2 Data colfection instruments

2.2.3 Procedures

2.2.4, Methods of data analysis

Chapter 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 DATA ANALYSIS

3.1.1 Results of teachers’ survey questionnaire

3.1.2, Results of students’ survey questionnaire

3.2 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

3.2.1, Findings from classroom observation

3.2.2, Findings from survey questionnaire

3.3 SUMMARY

Chapter 4: IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1 Some kinds of effective communicative activities

4.2 Some considerations and suggestions on using

communicative activities

CONCLUSTON REFERENCES

Information about Teachers’ CLT training

‘The teachers’ time of using communicative activities

Kinds of cormmmicative activities teachsrs usually use in their English teaching process

Major obstacles teachers encounter when they apply cornmunicative activitios in thair English toaching Some strategies the teachers have applied to overcome these obstacles

The reasons for spoaking of studsnts in classroom Kinds of communicative activities that students were fond of

Master of Art

INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

‘The introduction of the new textbook “English 10” into teaching at Son ‘Tay High Schoo! in 2006 has marked real renovation in language teaching and leaning fram the traditional approach-grarmar translation method, which only concentrates on the ability of using grammar mules precisely, to communicative approach, which focuses on

communivation abilily Nonetheless, the toachers of English at Son Tay High School find ib difficult to teach speaking successfully because of the class size, the students’ language

devel, and additionally, students are not acquainted with CLI Moreover, the majority of

the (cachers were trained under the strong influence of the Grarmuar-Translafion thethod, which impedes them from teaching speaking successfully even the new textbook follows the communicative approach,

Asa teacher of English at Son Tay Iigh School in [anci, | often receive similar questions fiom many students For cxample, “I can understand grammar and sentence structures well, but | feel embarrassed to talk in English” or “What should I do to speak English well?” In my reality of teaching, there are a Tol of students who have perfect knowledge of grammar that works wonderfully for reading and writing but cannot express themselves to the teachers On the other hand, I often hear a lot of complaints from the colleagues: “Students seem so quiel and lavy during speaking lessons ILis very difficult to amake them participate in spouking activitics” Thereforg, the idea af doing something +useft for my colleagues and students has wped me to conduet the research

Another reason why the study was carried out lies in my love for teaching speaking By doing the study, T can know more abont the challenges m teaching and learning speaking skills so that I can find relevant techniques along with activities to improve my teaching speaking at Son Tay Iligh Schoal

The above reasons have inspired me to conduct a study on “The application of

communicative activities to develop speaking skills for 10° graders at Son Tay High

School-Hanoi” with the hope to make a little contribution to the quality of teaching and learning speaking skills far Grado 10th at, Son Tay High School

2, Aims of the study

The aims of t udy arc to addbess the following issues:

© The difficulties that teachers and students face in the process of leaching and learning speaking skills,

» The application of some uscfil communicative activities to improvz

English speaking ability for 10“ graders

3 Research questions

To achieve these aims, the following Iwo Tesearch questions are addressed:

1 What communicutive activities can make the speaking lessons more effective?

2 What obstacles have the teachers and students faced in their speaking lessans?

4, Scape of the study

This study is concemed with the application of comnrunicative activities to develop speaking skills to the students in grade 10" at Son Tay High School ‘Ihe researcher is not

planning on studying a larger population of the whole students at Son Tay High School,

just on the students in grade 10“ in order to tind out what communicative activities are

applied and the obstacles experienced by these students and teachers of English then offer

some recommendations with the hope that teaching and learning speaking skills will be

improved

5 Design of the study

Apart from acknowledgement, abstract, table of contents and appendices, this thesis

is structured in three main parts narncly: Introduction, Development, and Conclusion

‘The first part “introduction” presents the rationale, aims, research questions, scope of the

study and its design

The second part “Development” includes four chapters

Chapter 1, Theoretical Background, begins with the literature on understanding speaking,

including the comparison of spoken language with written language and implication for

leaching, Then comes the lileraim: on teaching speaking wilh the speaking needs and goals of language students, some approaches to teaching speaking and principles for teaching speaking The rest of the chapter is on communicative activities, its purposes and its different types

Chapter 2 is composed of two sections The first section presents the local situation in Son

‘Tay High School The second section provides the research methods that involve

information about the subjects, data collection instruments and procedures Also the micthods of data analysis are mention

Chapter 3 presents major findings and discussion

Chapter 4 gives recommendations for more effective application of Communicative Activities in developing students’ speaking skills

‘The third part is the conclusions of the study.

DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

LL UNDERSTANDING SPEAKING

1.1.1 Spoken Tanguage versus written language

Communication between humans has its own characteristics The speaker speaks and the writer writes because they want to say something and they have a communicative plspose For example they may want to give information abpul some special events, they

aay want to make a claim or they may want to arpue In addition, both the speaker and the writer select the language they think is appropriate for their purpose of communication However, there are significant differences between spaken language and written language:

‘Understanding the different characteristics between the two modes of communication is

‘very important for educators, in order to design an appropriate curriculum in teaching integrating skills and thus to promote learners’ language acquisition

Spoken and written language scrve different social purposes, therefore they have different characteristics and have their own systematic patterns and language forms Tarmer (1996), Burns (1997) and many other scholars have distinguished the different features between spoken and written language The first and perhaps the most obvious difference between spoken and written language is that “speech and writing are typically used in different kinds of siluations” (urns: 8), When we speak, we are usually interacting dircetly with others such as talking on the phoue or chatting with Gionds in the eale, The Janguage produced during talk is spontaneous and relatively unplamied Speakers have less time to plan than writers do and they often have to produce what they want to say on the Tun, As @ conscquenes, speakers tend to hesitate, use more informal ar cveryilay lamignage, make mistakes or change the topic in the middle of the conversation, Speakers use a mmmber of linguistic devices, which are called: parataxis and hypo taxis formulaic expressions and ellipsis (Burns: 18)

‘Harmer (1996) states that the significant different feature between spoken and

written language concerns the need for accuracy and the level of accuracy Writers are usually elon aud not in crcot contac! with the audionee As a resull, they do nol reecive immediate feedback tiom the reader and sometimes get no fzedback at all Native speakers constantly make “mistakes” when they are speaking ‘They hesitate and say the same thing

in different ways and they often change the subject of what they are saying in mid-

Another different characteristic of written and spoken language is in the overall

structures of spoken and written texts (Burns, 1997) Written texts are usually logically

organized with a distinel bagitming, middle and ond structures Il is ganorally possible (or readers to predict quite easily how the text is likely to be structured Spoken texts, on the other hand, ar2 more open-ended and dynamic with one utterance leading te another Speakers also tend to change their topic of conversation during the talk Therefore it is difficult for the speakers and listencrs to predict the cxact direction the interaction will take

Finally, spoken and wrillen languages «

Halliday (1989) in Bums (199

language is more grammatically complicated Writers tend to use lexical words such as

2 grarumatically differenl According ta

written language is more lexically dense while spoken

nouns or noun groups, speakers tend to use verbs and grammatical words such as pronouns and conjunctions or linking words such as “and”, “hut” and "becaus” to produce clauses 1.1.2 Luplications for teaching

Understanding the characteristics of spaken and written language, the linguistic similarities and differences is very important for language teachers to have an appropriate approach to teaching reproductive and receptive skills, The followings are factors that EFL teachers should take into account in order fo assist EFL students’ speaking skills

The primary need of EFL Icamers is the need to hear and practice with samples of natural speech of native speakers and to be aware of the language typically used in spoken communication, ‘this results from the fact that EFL leamers lack opportunity to be exposed

to natural spoaking cnvironmont, therefore they carmot have the chanec to pick ig the sounds and vocabulary of spoken language Burns (1997) asserts that the teachers in order

to prepare students to use spoken language effectively in social situation need to present

students with authentic spoken texts in the classroom [1owever the materials chosen for

can uations, In olher wards, students

fcetively use appropriate language in appropriate s

need to be equipped with not only the srammatical structures but also of how language is used in social context,

Moreover, according (o Nunan (1991), it is very trmportimt for the teacher to encourage students to speak and motivate students before they listen Speakers speak

‘because they want to speak and have a communicative purpose and people listen because they want to know what the speakers say as well as to find out what the purpose is However, in the formal classroom context, especially in EFL classrooms, students tend to feel unsure and embarrassed to speak because they are affaid of being “wrong” Nunan

(1991) stales thal if students are actively engaged in attempting lo cornmunicate, learning

to speak a second or forsign language will be facilitated If students do not want to be involved in the speaking lesson, the lesson will not be effective Therefore, the teacher

should choose the topic thal reflecls sludents’ needs or thal is relaled lo sindent, background

and inter: Tn addition, while studonis speak, the teacher shonld be a participant or

listener rather than an inshuctor who tends to stop them to correct mistakes By intervening

students for correction, the teacher may discourage students from attempting to express

their 1dgas in English Sinoc onc of the features of spoken language is spcech docs nol require a high level of accuracy like writing, leamer mistakes should be tolerated until they are given feedback at the end of the activity This helps bring about the concept of self

confidenes, which is very important in promoting learners’ speaking skills

1.2 TEACHING SPEAKING

1.2.1 The sueaking needs and goals of language students

One of the aims of most of the language programs used by teachers today is to develop spoken language skills, and mest programs aim to integrate both spoken and

written language Llowever, the emphasis given to speaking in a language program varies according to the needs and goals of the sludents and the focus of the cours:

According to Bums (1997), decisions about teaching speaking will inevitably

depend on the learners’ goal and their needs in developing speaking skills The most important starting point when deciding how to leach speaking is to gather background data about students such as age, fanguage background and previous language learning, their goals, needs and the contexts in which they will need to use English, It also involves

asscasing their current level of spoken language competency or proficiency Sheits (1993)

‘has suggested that the development of communicative ability has to be related to the needs

of leamers ‘They have both immediate and potential communicative needs ‘'hey need to iow how to express their own earrings in the hers-and-now of the classroom as they share knowledge, experiences, interests, opinions and feelings Leamers also need to be prepared to use the language for real communication outside the classroom

Bums (1997) has also shown that in deciding what spoken language to include

ina program, it is valuable to investigate the students’ purposes and goals for improving their speaking skills This can be done through interviews, individual and class discussions

and through class surveys

Harmer (1996) has shown that students may have “short-term goals” and “Jong- term goals” in learning a language Long-term goals might have something to do with a wish to get a beller job al some future date, or a desire lo be able to communicate with members of a largel language cormmmily Shorl-lorm goats tight include such (hings as wanting to pass an end-ofsemester test or wanting to finish a unit in a book, Some students may simply consider that learning a language involves learning to speak and may

‘betiove thal il is up Lo the leacher to devide what they should loam

In considering students’ speaking needs, we should also consider the role of spoken languags in the classroom Spoken language is central to the management of the classroom and we should be aware of the levels and types of language we, as teachers, use to manage the classroom If we ask students participate in classroom activities, we need to make sure that we nse spoken instructions which they can understand, We also need to familiarize students with lypes of texls which we nso lo manage the classroom and the texts which develop classroom social interactions

When making realistic judgments about how quickly stadents will devefop spoken

languags, it is important lo consider the opportunities they have to practig spoken language outside the classroom, and their willingness to take advantage of these opportunities, Knowing how often students are likely to engage in spoken interactions outside Ihe classroom will influence decisions about what spoken language Isxls ta introduce into the program It will also influence the types of out-of-class tasks set to encourage the students to interact outside the classroom,

1.2

Approaches tu teaching speaking

In this section we will consider some theoretical approaches which have intormed Janguage teaching in- the twentieth century and which have had various implications for the teaching of spoaking,

The first approach we would like to mention here is the grammar-iranslation approach, The grammar-translation approach emerged in response to a growing interest in

‘the learning of foreign, generally European, languages in the nineteenth century The focus

of this approach in language Icarning is on thc knowledge of grammar and on applying this knowledge in the process of translating from one language to another, One of the central features of the approach was the praseniation of the new language through individuat sentences which exemplified grammatical points A typical lesson would include the presentation of a new grammatical point, a list of new vocabulary items to be leaned and

¢ sentences for sindents to translate

prac

The granmar-tanstation approach placed considerable emphasis om accuracy and stressed the production of complete sentences, As the approach was based on written, prammatical sources, the teaching of speaking was, in effect, neglected and teachmg itself took place through the medium of the leamel's first kmguage This approach alsa encouraged a word-by-word construction of sentences, which ignored meaning and often produced unnatural sound in sentences One of the main goals of this approach was to develop skills that would allow learner to read the works of great literature or to experience the intellectual discipline of studying and analyzing grammatical structure

Richards and Rodgers (1986) has shown that in the fizst half of the twentieth contury, the Ihcories of American structural linguisls such as Bloorfickd (1993) and Fries (1945) gradually replaced the more traditional approaches of classical humanism and the structural approach became influential in language teaching And it was considered one of

the most common approaches to teaching speaking and listening ‘his approach was based

om the view that language is acquirsd by stimuli and inmitation Tl was an approach which gave a much greater emphasis to speaking than the previous grammar-transtation approach

‘This approach to teaching focuses on audio-lingual method of imitation, repetition and response Bums (1997) has also shown thal, en the one hand, this approach lo leaching speaking and listening forms habits of speaking, with good intonation and cotrect grammar

Leamers were trained in correct speech-patferns and expected to practice them ‘There was

a strong emphasis on topetilion and on building up of tinguistic ites through drills and exercises which focused on grammatical structures and pattems, On the other hand, this approach places little interest in the context for speaking, Learners’ activities involved intense practice int anral-oral skills and focused on activitios such as drills and substitution exercises taken fiom a graded syllabus There was little interest in the contexts for speaking, which were used merely as a situational vehicle for the more important practice

of grammatical structure, Learners may find it difficult to perform in a context different from what they have becn taught, However, in the EFL context where students Jack opportunity to be exposed to the natural speaking environment for self correction, imitation

of sounds, intonation and vocabulary plays @ great importance in the early developmental stage of language acquisition,

‘Another approach to teaching speaking and listening is communicative approach

‘This approach hased on the view thal language must be seen in a social context rather than,

as grammatical stucturcs According to Bums et al (1997), this approach craphasizes the idea about linguistic eompetence by taking up the issue of the speakers” performance or languag use Communicative competence includes not only linguistic knowledge, but also Jmowledge af the cutlural and commumeative systems available to the speakers, and thsir relationship with the setting, participant, purpose, channel of communication and topic Communicative approach of teaching focuses on teaching how to use language for communicative purposes

“The main features of the communicative approach are the followings

% Hirst, language is viewed within social context rather than as a system of

grammatical patterns,

% Second, the teaching content is developed on the basis of stndent needs, a concern with all the four macro skills of language, rather than primarily with reading and writing,

% Third, there is tolerance of leamer errors as an inevitable aspect of language acquisition

= Finally, this approach to teaching encowages students to learn independently and emphasizes the role of the teacher as a facilitator of the leaming process

Since the 1971

conmunivalive approach has had a major influence on teaching and leaming in many parts of the would One of the major benefits of communicative janguage teaching (CL1) is that it has brought about a more comprehensive view of lonching ømd tearing CLT cmphasives tho dovelopinent of teamers* abiilily and willingness to use the target language appropriately and accurately for the purposes of effective communication (Sheils, 1993) However, this is not to imply that the communicative approach has been universally accepted and practiced

Mothodologics based on communicative approach to teaching speaking tend to focus on spoken language use rather than the form of the language ‘This has meant that in the classroom the teacher has hean encouraged to focus on activities which will gel students speaking and attention has been paid to providing them with the means to interact Asa result, there was often little guidance given to teachers on how to integrate a focus on the form of spoken language

1.2.3 Principtes for teaching speaking

Attitudes toward teaching have changed somewhat since the nineteenth century

‘This is particularly true of the last twenty-five years which have seen a change of focus from “language structure” to “language usc” In the arca of speaking, rescarchers have put increasing emphasis on “natural speech”, That is to say there has been a shift in focus from the product of speaking to the process involved

The governing principle for the processes involved is to give students more and more opportunities “to use language as they wish, to express their own ideas so that they become aware that they have leamt something useful to them personally, and thus they are cneomaged lo go on learning” (Byme, 1987-2) However, teachers way help students progress through several steps First the teachers present new language to the students, then they must practice the new language ina controlled way Finally students can try to use the

Janguags they have leat in free or creative speech ior this purpose, teaching spoken

to avoid overwhelming them, provide them with enough structured practice so they can begin interacting at a basic level ‘This encourages more speaking as welll as reduces

students’ fear Later, more Gee production can come afler structure practice In order to

raise beginner students’ ability to use language, we should provide them with activities which involve dialogues and functional use of the language stating the goal of the activities lo the students Byme highlights the meaning of the dialogues and conchudes thal dialogue is the best way to begin Ieaming speaking because they present the spoken language directly in situations in which it is most common used, they permit and encourage learners to practice the language in the same way and they encourage active participation in the lesson

Bums (1997) has suggested some general principles for the teaching speaking, ramely

® Speaking invotves an understanding of the way in which context influences the choices of language made

% Speaking involves understanding thal spoken texts differ from written texts in their grammatical patlorns and discourse stratagios

© Speaking activities should focus on whole texts in contexts, rather than on sentence level grammatical constructions in isolation

saking activilics sim to đevclop the confidence, desire and abilily to use the

% Spoken discourse types ar texts can be analyzed with leamers for their typical

structures and grammatical patterns.

1.3 COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES

1.3.1 What are communicative activities?

According to Harmer (1991), whatever activity the students are involved in, if it is

to be genuinely commmmicative and if it is really promoting language use, the students should have a desire (o communicale TẾ they do not want to be involved in communication then that communication will probably not be effective The students should have some kind of communicative purpose, in other words they should be using language in some

way to achicve an objective Than their attention should be ecntared on the content of what

is being said or written and not the language form that is being used $0, communicative activities are the ones whtich involve learning through using language for a communicative Purpose

In comamnicative activities, the students will have to deal with a variety of Janguage (either receptively or productively) rather than just one grammatical construction

‘While the students are engaged in the communicative activity the teacher should not inforvene, which moans he/she should not correct mistakes This would undermine ths communicative purpose of the activity [he teacher may of course be involved in the aclivily as a participant, and will also be watching and listening very carefully in order lo

be able to conduct feedback

“Thus for non-communicative activities there will be no desire to communicate on the part of the sludents and they will have no communicative purpose fr olher words, where the studants are involved in a drilf or in ropatition, they will bs motivated nol by & desire to reach a communicative objective, but by the need to reach the objective of accuracy

Harmer (1991) has summanved thosz points in a figure called “The communicative

continuum”:

“no communicative desire * a desire to commumicate

* no communicative purpose * a communiealive purpose

* one language item * variety of language

* teacher intervention * no teacher intervention

Of coursc nol all classroom activilics ar cithcr “communicative” or “non-

communicative” There are techniques that fall somewhere between the two extremes

ilarmer has also divided work on the productive skills into three major stages: introducing new language practice and communicative activities The introduction of new

language is frequently an activity that falls at the “non-communicative” end of the

continuum Often here the teacher will work with controlled techniques, asking students to

repeal and perform in drills At the same time the teacher will insist on accuracy,

correcting when the students make mistake Practice activities are those which fall somewhere between the two extremes the continuum While students perform them they may have 4 communicative purpose, and while they may be working in pairs, thers may

also be a lack Language variety, and the materials may determine what the students do or say Practice activities, then, often have some features of both non-communicative and

communicative activilizs Commumicative activities ara those which exhibit the characteristics at the “communicative” end of the confimmum Students are somehow

involved in activities that give them both the desire to communicate and a purpose which

involves them ina varied use of language

1.3.2 Purposes of communicative activities

According to Littlewood (1990), communicative activities have been designed to provide an opportunity for leamrs to produce language that they have recently leamt The followings arc some contributions that commmmicative activitics can make to languagz Jeamning:

They provide “whole-task practice” While non-commumivative activilies provides training in the pat-skills, communicative activities provide practice in the total skills, sometimes called “whole-task practice” Leaming to swim, for example, usually involves not only separate practice of individual movements (part-skills), but also actual attempts to swim short distances (whole- tisk pmetiec) In forcign language learning, our means for providing leamers with whole- task practice in the classroom is through various kinds of communicative activity structured in order to suit the learners’ level of ability

They improve the motivation: ‘The leamers’ ultimate objective is to take part im communivation with others Their motivation to team is more likely lo be sustained if they can see how their classroom learning is related to this objective and help them to achieve it with increasing success

They alow natural learning Many aspecls of language teaming can take place only through natural processes, which operate when a person is involved in using the language for communication if this is so, commnmicative activity Gnside or outside the classrnom) is an important part of the total teaming process,

They can create a context which supports learning, Communicative activity provides opportunities for positive personal relationship to develop among Jearners and

‘between learners and teachers These ralalianships ean help lo “humanize” the classroom and to create an environment that supports the individual in his efforts to Jearn

1.3.3 Types of oral communicative activities

Different linguists have had different ideas on the distinction of communicative activitics Littlewood (1990) distinguishes them into two main categories, which he calls

“functional communication activities” and “social interaction activities” Harmer (1991)

looks al the commumicative activities with oral and writisn focuses So he distinguishes them into “oral communicative activities” and “written communicative activities” Harmer's idea seems clearer to the researcher of this thesis when studying the types of communivative activities,

In this ction we will took al those lypes of activitios with a largely oral focus (although we should not forget the points about skill integration) Those activities are all designed to provoke spoken commmnication between students and/or between the teacher and the students

1.3.3.1 Communication games

Llarmer (1991) has suggested that in communication games activities students are put into a situation in which they have to usc all or any of the language they possess to complete a game-like task ‘This type of communicative activities produces the simplest

patierns of interaction ‘I'he sitvation is always that one sindent (or group) possesses

information which anothor stuđơnl (or group) must discover

Communication games activities include finding the differences (or similarities);

describe and arrange; story reconstruction and/or poem reconstruction (Bygate, 1987) In

each case of this type of activities it is the overcoming of the information gap rather than the production of correct language thal signals the sĩ

to dispense entirely with the “structure crutches” provided by the teacher

,

Songs

Thare are many good rationales for using songs in English classroom, They are

“quthentie material” 'hey enhance student's sense of achievement in that, for example, they can sing a song lator by thomsclves Music crcates a relaxing almosphers because tha whole class sings together Songs allows maximum participation by every student in both listening and speaking Additionally, amsic makes a mice change fom standard textbook and it is good for developing students’ instincts about intonation and rhythm Eken (1996: 46) states that songs can be used:

* to present a topic, a language point, lexis, etc;

+ 1a practice a language poinl, lexis, ele;

+ to encourage extensive and intensive listening,

+ to stimulate discussion of attitudes and feelings;

* to encourage crealivity and use of imagination,

+ ta provids a relaxed classroom atmosphare and

+ to bring variety and fun to learning

In order to choose a suitable song, the teacher should keep in mind that (1) Songs aust be @ reasonable length, range, and rhythm (2) Song should have repetitive Lyries or chorus which is easy to leam This allows slower students to follow (3) The emotional and conceptual content of a song should be appropriate to the age and maturity of your students, (4) Songs must be pedagogically appropriate to the lesson (Quan: 2004)

‘As demonstrated, songs are valuable in language teaching and leaming ‘the teacher is obliged to successfully integrate songs into a language lesson

13.3.3 Discussion

In this type of activity students “have to pool the infonmation in the discussion” (Littlewood, 1990: 27) ‘The discussion may be about a proper problem, addiction, for

example or about a given controversial proposition such as “Peaple who buy fur coats should pay a 100% fax” Studemls have to prepare arguments cither in faver of the

‘proposition or against the proposition

Sheils (1993) has indicated the value of discussion activities as follows:

“Discussion activities involve learners in personal and fluent use of the target language They require them to reflect, io evaluate dala or arguments, lo listen carefiully to others, ta have an open mind and to develop the skills and expressions necessary for a real discussion The exchange of opinion or feelings should assist

learners in getting to know themselves and their classmates better”

Harmer (1991) has said that many teachers ean be heard complaining that their students have nothing to say or thal they have no opinions and are not prepared to disenss

anything Part of the problem here is the way in which some teachers approach discussion

as an activity If students are asked to express themselves fluently on a difficult topic in

front of their peers in a foreign language (often with no warning), they may find

themselves reluctant to do so So before asking students to discuss as a whole class, teacher

should put them in groups to try out the topic This will allow them to give opinion in a

Jess threalening environment than in front of the whole class I will also give the leacher a

chance to see if the topic is interesting for the students

Discussion activities are an important part of many lessons ‘he main thing to

yemember is thal “proper organivation can ensure their success Lack of il can provoke

their failure” (Harmer, 1991: 125)

13.3.4 Problem solving

Problem sclving activities encourage students to talk together to find a salution to

(asel of) problems or asks According lo Lilflewood (1990), this type of activily dispenses

completely with the need to share mformation Students now have access to all the relevant facts The stimulus for communication comes from the need to discuss and evaluate these

facts, in pairs or groups, in order to solve a problem or reach a decision

Problem solving activities need not be based only on everyday situations that arise inside or outside the classroom The teacher may also present more vnusual situations, in order lo simulate the students’ ingenuity In these aetivitics sludents must nol only analyze

information, but also argue, justify and persuade, in order to reach a common decision

‘They therefore provide a context for a still wider range of communicative fimetions, They

also make it still more necessary for students to develop skills in managing the interaction

ai the interpersonal level This Gack oflen produces # high degree of personal involvernent among the participants

1.3.3.5 Sinnttation and role-play

According Lo Tlarmer (1991), the idea of a simnulation is to create the gretence of a seal-life situation in the classroom: students “sirmulate” the real-world Thus we might ask them to pretend that they are at an airport, or we might organize them to get together to

plan an imaginary reunion, Whal wa are trying lo do artificially of cours:

students practice in real-world English Students are asked to adopt a specific role in this situation in some cases, they may simply have to act as themselves In others, they may

is lo give

fave to adopt a- simulated identily

There is some controversy about the usefulness of simulations, particularly where students are asked to play roles, but many teachers f2el that they have certain advantages because students do not have to take responsibility for their own actions and words, In other words, it is the character who spcaks, net thomsclves It has certainly boon noticed that some shy students are more talkative when playing roles

Lilllewood (1992: 49) says: “ simmlation and role-play are well-established as techniques for organizing controlled, pre-commmunicative language practice, which

prepares students later to take part in fully spontaneous interaction”

Bygale (1987) states that role-play may he allocated in several ways:

Rolo-play controfled dough ened dialogues Role-play controlled through cued situations and goal

Role-play confrolled through cues and information

Rolz This type of activity coudd be used far students at different levels of proficiency in

Jay in the form of debate or discussion

Chapter 2: METHODOLOGY

2.1, RESEARCH SETTING

2.1.1 An overview of Son Tay High School

Son Tay Tigh School is located in the West of Hanoi Founded in 1959, Son Tay High School is one of the oldest as well as biggest schools in the area At present, there are

45 classes with over 2000 students placed into three different grades: grade 10th, Lith and 12th The leaching staff cormposes of more than 120 teachers of 12 compulsory subjects, of whom two-thirds are young, creative and well trained whereas the others are experienced and enthusiastic in 2007, with the innovation in educational policy, Son ‘Tay High School

is one of the schools in Hanoi which has high percentages of high school graduated students

2.1.2, The teachers of English in Son Tay High School

There are twelve teachers of English currently working in Son Tay High School Nearly all of thom arc female whose age ranks from 28 to 50 Among thom, one half studied at Hanoi Foreign Language Veachers Training College One-fifth was former ieachers of Rassian and French who gradualzd from the same college Another quarter tha was trained from in-service training programs has experienced teaching for many years However, their communication ability as well as new teaching methods should be improved

Obviously, the age of the English teacher staff reveals the fret that many of them were trained in the traditional method-the grammar-translation one, Few of them have taken retraining courses to improve their English and their teaching methods ‘This

constrains thom froin leachingg speaking ¢

enthusiastic in working, Of the 12 teachers, two teachers are going to get M.A degree, At the present, each teacher has to teach fifteen periods divided into 5 classes per week

ively Nevorthicless, most of them are severe,

excluding the burden of marking cxaminations and time for a lot of different school work Apparently, the teachers in Son Tay High School have to deal with a heavy workload in order to fulfill their task

2.1.3 The students in Son Tay High School

The majority of students in the study at Son Tay High School are aged from 15 to

18 Most of them come from urban areas and they have learnt English since they were at

primary schools ‘Therefore, their nglish proficiency is some how better than students from tural parts duc lo the availability of opporiunitics to allend part-time English cours

Among them, there are a large number of students who are really interested in learning English and want to develop their ability in using English In contrast, the other part of students is lowly motivated They tend to regard Tngtish as less important than other subjects and they study Enplish only in order to pass the examinations

2.1.4, The situation of English teaching and learning in Son Tay High School

2LAL The syllahus of teaching and learning

At Son Tay High School, English is one of the compulsory subjects in the curriculum, ‘'he syllabus and the textbooks for English including “Tieng Anh 10”, “tieng Anh 11°, “Tiong Anh 12” are proscribed by the Ministry af Education and Training

English curriculum for grade 10th students is divided into two semesters with a total of 105 periods, 3 periods per week Each period is 45 minutes long

The textbook which is currently used for teaching and leaming English for grade 10th at Son Tay high school is “Tieng Anh 10” which was designed following

communicative approach The textbook consists of 16 units with 5 parts in each unit

arranging as follows: reading, speaking, listening, writing and language focus in which a variety of exercises and tasks was compiled for practice Also, there exists a consolidate unit after every 3 units The objective of these units is to examine how well the students have achieved in (he previous units

LEAD The teaching and learning English speaking skills

Tt has been accepted that students’ communicative ability is the proper aim for language teaching ‘This makes teaching and leaming speaking skills seem to be an inmporlant part in any English course Like numy olher high schools in Vietnam, teaching and leammg speaking skills at Son Tay High School are affected by some constraints such

as large class size, students” unfamiliarity with CLT, students” low English proficiency, students’ low participation in class time, Normally, in a class at Son Tay High school, a number of students who have a good knowledge of English are eager and active during the class while a majority of those with low English proficiency are very passive Besides, lack

of training in teaching methods, especially CIT tuakes il difficult for ths teachers to access

to new approach, which makes the teaching and leaning, speaking skills more challenging