Luận văn a comparative analysis among several types of communicative activities to reduce pre intermediate level learners’ anxiety in speaking english at ha noi foreign language teaching center

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNLVERSITY, HA NOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE DUONG THI NHAN A Comparative Analysis among Several Types of Communicative

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNLVERSITY, HA NOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE

DUONG THI NHAN

A Comparative Analysis among Several Types of Communicative Activities to Reduce Pre-Intermediate Level Learners' Anxiety in Speaking English at HaNoi Foreign Language Teaching Center

Phân tích so sánh một số hoạt động giao tiếp nhằm làm giảm sự

lo lắng của người học khi nói tiếng Anh tại trung tâm Ánh ngữ

sư phạm IIà Nội

M.A MINOR THESIS

HÀ NỘI— 2011

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNLVERSITY, HA NOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE

A Comparative Analysis among Several Types of Communicative Activities to Reduce Pre-Intermediate Level Learners' Anxiety in Speaking English at HaNoi Foreign Language Teaching Center

Phân tích so sánh một số hoạt động giao tiếp nhằm làm giảm sự

lo lắng của người học khi nói tiếng Anh tại trung tâm Ảnh ngữ

sư phạm TIIà Nội

M.A MINOR THESIS

Supervisor: Nguyễn Thu Lệ Hằng, M.A

HÀ NỘI-— 2011

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the Study

1.2 Aims of the study

1.3 Scope of the study

1.6 Design of the study

1.7 Definitions of ‘terms

PAT TWO: DEVELOPMENT

Chapter I: LITERATURE REVIEW

L.1 Overview of Communicative Language Teaching

131 Definitions of Communicative Activities 11

13.2, Benells of Conuuuricstvc Activitics in Teaching Spcaking English 11

13.3 Some Types of Communicative Aclivities cceeceeseeeoee L2

1.3.3.2 Information Gap csusesesreerrnsreoeeroo.14 1.3.3.3 Diseussion

13.4, Using Commumicative Activities to Reduce Learners’ Anxiety in Speaking

3.2.1.2 Procedure of a role-play 8GtiVHEV cueeerieirrrearereoeeeu3T

3.2.2 Infonnatliongapaetivilies esseeererrrreeeooeoo.38)

3.2.2.3, Reflection on implementing the aotivifY series

3.2.3.2 Procedure ofa điscussion activify - _.36 3.2.3.3 Reflection on implementing the activity cease seeeeseieoeuee.3ỔI

3.5 A Comparative Analysis of Some Communicative Activities to Reduce

3.6 ÄUNHALY, -

PART THREE: CONCLUSION

vii

List of Tables Table 1: The causes of the leamers’ anxicty in speaking English

‘Table 2: Some communicative activities used in speaking lessons

Table 3: The learners’ feeling about CA used in speaking lessons

Table 4: The learners’ feelings after participating in communicative activities in speaking

lessons Table S: Effeotives of reducing the learners” anxiety in speaking Frgtish through

communicative activitics

List of Charts Chart 1: J feel anxious when speaking English in class

Chart 2: The leamexs' participation extreme int commumicalive activities used in speaking

lessons

Chart 3: The learners’ interests in communicative activities

List of Abbreviations CAs: Communicative Activities

CLT: Communicative Language Teaching

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the Study

Nowadays, with the development of technology and information together with the spread of globalization, English becomes a global language because it is broadly used in various fields of our life such as in technology, business commerce, communication and

so on, As a result, learning English for communication skills as created a huge demand for teaching and Jearning English around the world The fact shows that communicative approach of teaching English is preferred in learning English Teaching English is not only

on linguistic competence of the language learners but also on the development of their communicative ability, Therefore, in order to develop the learners’ communicative ability, leachers need to creaie a good classroom environment which motivates their speaking

activities

In recent years in Vietnam, English has been playing a very important role in the development of the country firstly because it is an international language and secondly it is also scen as » tnean Ip promote tietial understanding and cooperation between Vizhiam and other countries, Consequently, more and mote people desire to know and focus on English to keep pace with the update development in technology in the world ‘Therefore,

of other pape, This is truc even when their language abilitics are rather good tn fact,

there is an excessive amount of anxiety negatively influencing many Ianguage learners” behaviors and educational outcomes Campbell and Ortiz (1991: 159) show that language anxiety among university students to be ‘alarming’ and estimate that up to one half of all Janguage students experience debilitating levels of language anxicty

As a teacher of English in Ila Nei Foreign Language ‘Teaching Center for nearly two , Ï have found thal leamers would tike lo speak English a Tol but they lack confidence

Tn fact, the alternpt lo creale a negotiating and sludents-contered learning atmosphere in English by teachers is usually unsuccessful The achievement of ettective communicative teaching becomes a daily headache to all English teachers here Inevitably, the lack of learners? participation in spa

đúng selivides leads to the teacher-cenlored learning in English lessons and leamers’ anxiety in learning a second language, especially in speaking English These reasons actually drive the researcher to the study “A comparative analysis

among several types of communicative activities to reduce Pre- intermediate level

learners’ anxiety in speaking English at HaNoi Foreign Language Teaching Center” with the aim of suggesting some communicative activities to reduce these leamers’ anxiety

in speaking Finglish

1.7 Aims of the study

‘This study aims at suggesting some communicative activities to reduce leamers’

In order to achieve these aims, the following objectives are established:

- Birstly, to review the real situation of teaching and learning speaking skills at Ha

Noi Foreign Language Teaching Center

+ Sccondly, lo investigals the current activities used in teaching speaking English at this center

- Thirdly, to suggest some communicative activities to reduce pre-intermediate level Icamers’ anxicty in speaking English at this contor

- Fourthly, to make @ comparison about which activities have effects on reducing leamers’ anxiely in spaaking Tglish,

1.3 Scope of the study

‘To reduce leamers” anxiety in speaking English, teachers can make use of various

activities and a number of teohmiques should be đone Liowovsr, within the framework of this M.A Minor Th

Jeamers’ anxiety in speaking English Therefore, this research only focuses on three

Lis Loo ambitious to list all communicative activities to reduce

communicative activities (that is, role-play, discussion, and information gap) and then

compares their effects on reducing learners’ anxiety in speaking classss

Moreover, due to the limit of tine, only a foreign language center in Hanoi is chosen for the research, All of 20 learners chosen are studying in a Pre-intermediate level class

1.4 Methods of the study

In arder to complete this research, qualitative method will be used The participants

of the study are the leamers at [la Noi Koreign Language ‘Teaching Center More

specifically, the rescarcher planned classroom abscrvations and did questionnaires consisting of pre-questionnaire and post-questionnaire to gather in-depth information about the real situation of teaching and learning speaking skills and which cormmuicative activities uscd in their speaking lessons It is belicved this method will bring about a complete look into this research

1⁄5 Research questions

The study is to apply some communicative activitics and compare them with the aim

of finding out the most effective one to reduce leamers’ speaking anxiety at Ha Noi Foreign Language ‘leaching Center To achieve this aim, answers to the following questions arc songht

+ Which speaking activities have been used in teaching speaking skill at this center?

1 Which will be the most effective ane, among three communicative activities- role-

play, discussion, and information gap- to reduce Pre-intermadiate lavel learners

anxiety in speaking English?

1.6 Design of the study

This minor thesis consists of tree main parts

Part One, INTRODUCTION, presents the rationale, the aims, scope, methods, design of the study, and definitions of terms

Part Two, DEVELOPMENT, is composed of four chapters as follows:

- Chapter One, Literature review, is concemed with a brief review of knowledge about overview of communicative langnage teaching, foreign language

anxiety, communicative activities and benefits of using commumicative activities to

reduce learners? arvxicly in speaking English

- Chapter Two, Methodology, is about the research method, research design, data analysis and the rationale for using five activities

+ Chapler Three, Dala Presentation and Analysis, is the part relating Lo pre- action research suvey, action plan implementation, observation results, post-action research survey, and a comparative analysis of communicative activities to reduce

Jeamners? anxiety in spanking Engtish

Pat Three, CONCLUSION, consists of four sub-parts: Summary of the study,

Lizaitations of the study, and Suggestions for further studies

‘uniqueness of the language learning process”

- Communicative activities (CA): melude any activities that encourage and require a learner

to spoak with and Tisten to olher learners, as well as with people in the communtity These

commmnicative activities contain a communicative purpose in any situations and a

concentration on language content not language form and communication without

ivachcrs” interference

- Action research (ARj: is the first and foremost siluational, being conecmed wilh the

identification and solution of problems in a specific context The aim of action research is

to improve the current state of affairs within the educational context in which the research

is being carried out

- Comparative analysis: ‘This term refers to comparing two or more things to get some

cerlain results.

PAT TWO: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVLEW

The main aim of this chapter is to present some theories relating to forcign language

1.1 Overview of Communicative Language Teaching

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is interested by the researchers such as

Chomsky, Richards & Rodgers (1986), Al-Mutawa and Kailani (1989), Ledge (2000) and

80 on, This is an approach lo the teaching of second oreign languages thal focuses on interaction as both the means and the fundamental aim of leaming a language Moreover, it

is considered as a “communicative approach to the teaching of foreign languages” or simple the “communicative approach”, According to Hymes (1972), he considers the goal

of Teaming a language is to develop “comnnmicative competence”, “Communicative competence” here not only refars to knowledge of the grammatical rates of a language and

‘how to form grammatical senlonecs bul also Lo know when, where and lo whorn to use these sentences in a speech community Similarly, Nunan (2004) states that “language can

be thought as a tool for communication rather than as sets of phonological, grammatical and lexical items to be memorized lead to the notion of developing different leaming programs to reficet the different communication necds of disparate grasps of learncr” (p.7)

CLT is an approach rather than a method of English language teaching focusing on students’ needs and individual affective factor, advocating several langnage- learning principles or kinds of classroom activities that best facilitate leaming Richards and Rodgers (1986:71) confirm some churacteristics of CLIT as follow

“Languagc is a systcm of the expression of meaning; the primary function

of language is for interaction and communication; the structure of

language is reflects its Rmclonal and communicaivs use; the prrmary

units of language are not merely its grarmunatical and structural features,

but categories of functional and communicative meaning as exemplified in

s, which give students an

opportunity to practice commmnicating meaningful in different contexts and in different

roles

Although CLT has many advantages in developing loamors’ communicative competence, it has some barriers such as high English language proficiency from teachers, Jarge class sizes to handle, lack of teacher training in effective CLT strategies, lack of practice among teachers in using effective CLT strategies, rmch time on the part of the teacher necded for preparing effective CLT activities, and much time required in the classroom for implementing effective CLI activities (Rowe, nd.)

Tn condlusio, CET is a new way of teaching and leaning a foreign language, especially English, It is mainly focus on the approach of teaching a language with the aim

of developing leamers’ interaction along with their communication Although it has some limitations above, ils benefits of using CLT in teaching and learning English ta develop learners ‘connmunicative abitity ara nol unacouptable, Providing for roal communicative activities in a language course by using CLT is tins considered to be one of the most important recent development in the curriculum

1.2 Foreign Language Anxiety

Learning a forcign language is not simple for learners bocause there are various factors afiecting their Jeaming such as intelligence, motivation, attitude, age, gender,

personality, anxiety, and so on (Skehan, 1989, cited in Wx, 2010: 174) Leaming

acquisition should be achieved naturally, but learning a foreign language in the classroom, for most students, is full of challenges One of the know challengcs comes from Icamers’ affective factor, that is, foreign language anxiety Its definition, sources as well as some effects in language learning will be discussed in the following parts

1.2.1 Definitions of Foreign Language Anxiety

Foreign language anxiety in this study is conducted as a variable that can influence Jearnet’s decisions te speak Linglish ‘Therefore, it is very important for the researcher to consider the «(ferent rescarch addressed the arca of language arpdcty

Horwitz et all, (1986) state foreign language anxiety as “a distinct complex of selt- perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors related to classroom language learning arising from the

‘uniqueness of the language Icaring proccss” (p.128) According to Speilberge (1983), anxiety is defined as the “subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness and worry associated with an aronsal of the antonommic nervous system” (p.15) In describing Janguage anxicty, Macintyre and Gardner (1991) waite:

“The anxious student may be characterized as an individual who perceives the L2 as an uncomfortable experience, who withdraws from voluntary participation, wha focts social prossnres nol fo make mistakes and who is less willing to try uneertain or novel linguistic forms” (p.112)

‘Therefore, it can be concluded that foreign language anxiety is the distinguished factor acconpanied with learners’ anxious foclings and stress along with their bchaviers during their leaming process It is a complex, multidimensional phenomenon When learners face with classroom anxiety — provoking situations, they often feel less oriented, Jess assertive than in the others, Thercforc, wachers of English or instructors should know that most of leamers’ anaicty relat: to their mental feclings and behaviors and find out the effective ways to reduce this

1.2.2 Possible Seurces nf Fareign Language Anxiely

It is obvious that language anxiety has a great influence on leamer’s language learning Therefore, there have becn a lot of the cailicr studics of its eauscs According to

Young (1991: 427), there are six potential causes of language anxiety including personal

and interpersonal anxieties, learner beliefs alvoul language learning, instructor beliefs about language (caching, instruclor-learner interactions, classroan procedures and Tanguage testing, From this list we can see that the author classities the causes into three main aspects, that is, the aspects of leamers, teachers and instructional practice to which Bailey” findings also foltowed (cits in Na, 7 2007)

Lowever, the most influential findings are from three authors Liorwitz, Llorwitz and

anxiety into thr

communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation

Communication apprehension is defined as “apprehension about others’ evaluation, avoidance of evalualive situations, and the expectations that ofhers would evaluate onesel ! negatively.” (Horwitz et al., 1986, p.128) Moreover, in leaming a forzign language, the

authors (1986) state that communication apprehension as manifested into difficulty in

spcaking in dyads or groups (oral curmmunicalion anxiety), or in public (stage fright’), or

in listening to or Jearning a spoken message (1eceiver anxiety).Next, the concept of test anxiety is defined as “a type of performance anxiety stemming from a fear of failure ‘Test-

anxious studunls often pul unrealistie demands em thansclves and fool thal anything los than a perfect test performance is a failure” (Horwitz et al, 1986: 127-128), Last is fear of negative evaluation which may stem fom learners’ classroom and require continual evaluation In a similar manner, Young (1991) maintains that this fear, imespective of whether it is real or imagined, must be an important situation that contributes to forcign

Janguage anxiety Uhis is broader in scope than test anxiety because it is not limited to test-

taking situations In contrast, il can happen in any social, evaluative siluation (Torwitz et

aÌ, 1986)

In fact, the reasons why leamers often cops with foreign language anxiety result from personal and interpersonal anxieties as well as learner instructor beliefs and intcractions In othor word, i dates from amdety of boing low or nogatively evaluation and difficulties in oral communication, Test anxiety is one of the above main faetors of foreign Janguage anxiety, yet this stndy will not focus on it becanse of my above learners’ aspects

Most of them are from the different universities or compartics with the aims of learning English as a communication or for their future job, so the study only discusses about two main sources of foreign language anxiety that is, communication apprehension and fear of negative valuation

1.2.3, Effects of Fercign Language Ansicty in Language Learning

It can be said that language anxicty is regarded as a simple transfer of other gencral Kinds of anxiety such as trait anxiety to language learning, It is a phenomenal issue caused

by the unique stress imposed on shidents in language classes This has a great influence on second language acquisition.

Some researchers confirm that a certain amount of anxiety in language learning can

uch as Alperl & Haber (1960) In Builey’s (1983) study of

competitiveness and anxiety, it was found that facilitative anxiety was one of the keys to cnlamec the Iearning proc

success, and closely related to competitiveness Horwitz et al (1986) affirm that language

jeamners who are anxious about learning a langage separale from cognitive processing imitations, He emphasizes that language anxiety itself can inhibit language learning

In contrast, studies reveal that anxiety may result in adverse effects on language 1eaming, iL is also believed that anxicty could motivate language learrting Krashon (1985) acknowledges the influences of the affective filter in second language anxiety in relation to input The higher the affective filter the less input someone is able to process According to the aulhor, this affective filler consists of staotive reactions snch as language anxioly (cited

in Zgutowicz, 2009, p 20) More specifically, Crookall and Oxford (1991) assert that serious language anxiety may adversely affect students: self-esteem, self-confidence, and ultimately hamper proficiency in language acquisition, Similarly, Turula (2004), and Von Worde (2003 statc that anxicty has a negative cfffct in language teaming Fears, nervousness, insecurity and lack of self-confidence are related to language anxiety MacIniyre and Gardner (1991) found that speaking is by far the main agent of anxiely- arousal, and that students with high anxiety perform worse than those with low anxiety,

Supporting this view, Liu (2007) desoribes that:

all the corslations involving language anxiety were found to be

five As languags ansicty scores incrcascd, the ralings of idoas expressed, output quality, and self-rated competence declined 1f was also found that anxions students tended to underestimate their ability and amore relaxcd sudents tended to be overestimuale their ability,” ¢p.120)

From these previous researches, the researcher finds that language anxiety plays an important role in learning a foreign language Although it can cnhanoc lcarners` äbility at some extents, it mostly prevents leamers from their language acquisition Besides, foreign language arodety has a great indluence on speaking, writing, reading and listening ability

among Ioarnors Especially about the anxiety in spouking skill, the roscarcher Lotally agrees with the opinion of Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) that studeuts are very self-

conscious when they are required to engage in speaking activities that expose their

Tl can nod deny that unxicty greatly influences in learning English in gencraf as welt

as in speaking English in particular As Young (1991: 429) states that “anxieties associated with classroom procedures center primarily on having to speak in the target language in front of a group”, Therefore, it can be concluded that specking activitics in the classroom create the most foreign language anxiety As a result, reducing leamers’ anxiety in speaking activitiss is of great importance in teaching and learning English This leads to many rescarchers focusing on some techniques to reduec Joarners’ anxicty in learning a Janguage, especially English However, the researcher in this study only emphasizes on some communicative activities with the aims of reducing leamers’ foreign language anxicly Definitions and benefits of communicative avlivities arc also discussed in the following parts

1.3.1 Definitions of Communicative Activities

Communicative activities include any activities that encourage and require a leamer

fo spaak with and lision ta othr learners When defining communicative activities, Harmer (1991: 50) states that:

“Communicative activities are those which exhibit the characteristics

at the communicative end of the continmum Students are somehow involved in activities thal give them both the desire lo cormnumicate and a purpose which involves them in a varied use of the language

Such activities are vital in the classroom since here the students can

do their best to use the Janguage as individuals, arriving at a degree

of language autonomy.”

Sam (1990) considers communicative activities as “the lechniques which are anployed in the communicative mothod in language teaching The laryguage-using

activities for communication are not restricted to conversation and may involve listening,

speaking, reading, writing or an integration of two or mors skills.” Furthermore, the author

slates

some characteristics of conmurricalive activities

interactive and conducted with others and often involving some form of discussion,

authentic materials are used together with realistic situations and authentic models and

cotrrnunicative are based on the information gap prinaipte

Referring to some principles of using communicative activities for language teaching,

and learning techniques, Morrow (1981) gives out some: Hirst, ‘Know what you are doing”

means thal each part of the lesson focuses on some operation which student would wanl to perform in the target language Second, ‘the whole is more than the sum of its parts’ refers

to the fact that it is necessary to work in the context of the whole in communication Commmication carol easily bs analyses into its various companculs without ils nalure being destroyed in the process, Third, ‘the processes are as important as the forms’ are the processes of communication such as information gap, choice and feedback should be as far

as possible replicated in trying lo devolop the ability of the siudcnt lo communicate in the

target language Forth, ‘to learn it, do i? means that practicing communicative activities

helps students learn to communicate, In this situation, teachers no longer dominate the Jearning situation, but she provides all the help the students needs to play an active role in their own Jeaming Last, ‘mistakes are not always mistakes’ is that there is the need for Hexibility in deciding to teat different things as ‘mistakes’ at different stages of the

Jeamning process towards communicative competence (Cited in Sam 1990)

The researcher finds the definition made by Sam (1990) meaningful and profound It supplies with a full insight of communicative activities, that is, they help them interact with cach other as well as encourage learners’ cormmuicative ability in learning a laryguage

1.3.2, Benvfits of Communicative Activities in Teaching Speaking English

This clzar that commumicative activities play a very important rale in developing Jearners’ commmnicative competence in paneral, as well as their speaking English ability in

particular Littlewood (1981/17) argues that there are some contributions that

communivative activitics can make to language Icaching such as “wholo-iask practice’, improving motivation, allowing natural leaming, and creating @ context that supports Jearning

First, communicative activities can provide “whole-task practice” In foreign Janguage Icarning, Iamnets practice various kinds of communicative activity with the whole- task practice designed to suit leamer’s level of ability

Second, communicative activities improve motivation The author goes on saying that the learners’ ultimate objective is to participate in communication with others Their

motivation to leam is more likely to be sustained if they can see how their classroom

Icarning is related lo this ohjcetive and hichps them to achieve iL wilh ier

ng suc Thirds, communicative activities allow natural learning, The author shows that learners’ language leaming only happens in natural processes of using the language for communication Therefore, communicalive activity is an imporlant tole of the total learning process

Forth, communicative activities create a context that supports learning According to the author, communicative aetivitios supply many chances

for learners lo practice their speaking skill, especially positive personal relationship among learners and between Jeamers and teacher Such relationship can help to “humanize the classroom and creates an cnvironment (hai supports the individual in his sfferts to foarn

To sum up, offering communicative activities can help tum English classrooms into

an active and enjoyable place where leamers can learn what they need and want to leam Some above contributions of communicative activities such as enhancing motivation, cicating a good Icaming cnvironment and supporting a natural Icaming make the researcher interested and apply them for the aims of the study,

1.3.3 Some Types of Communicative Activities

Littlewood (1981: 20) divides communicative activities into two types: functional

commnunivation activilics and social interaction aclivitics The List type is “the abilily to find language which will conycy an intended meaning effcctively in a spceific situation”,

Some activities of this type includes comparing sets of pictures; noting similarities and

differences; working out a likely sequence of events in a sel of pictures, discovering

‘missing features in a map or a picture, reconstructing story sequences The second one is

“the ability to take account of the social meaning as well as the fimctional meaning of different language forms” Avtivitics of this consist of conversation and discussion sessions, dialogues and role-play, simulations, skits, improvisations and debates Although there are a lot of communicative activities in teaching Lnglish, but in this study the researcher only gives out some below with the aim of reducing learners’ anxisty in speaking English at an English center

Richards (1985) states that collaborative communication activi

such as role-plays have the following charactoristics, that is, providing chances to practice strategies for opening, developing, and terminating conversational encounters; requiring leamers to cooperate to develop meanings; requiring the use of tum-taking rules; helping leamers

kinds of roles as well as encouraging the use of different speaking styles, giving out

negotiated completion of tasks; involving information sharing, concentrating on

comprchensible and meaningful input and output; and demanding leamers’ participation

with a large mmmber.” (Cited in Liu, 2010)

When referring to some advantages of using role-play in teaching language, Jarvix,

L & Odell, K & Troiano, M (2002) give oul some such as: First, role-play incrcase

Jcamers’ interest in the subject mattcr and understanding of course content, Second, it raisc

Jeamers’ involvement in lessons, they are not passive recipients of the instructors’ knowledge, bul they take an active parl; Third, il lelps learners lave empathy and

‘understanding of different viewpoints, take on role of a character together with learning

and acting as that individual would do in the typical setting ‘'o support this, Mc Gregor (1993) adds thal role-playing has also heen seen Ip be effective in reducing racial

prejudice

“The researcher completely agrees with the above researchers that role-play has a lat

of benefits in teaching a language, especially in speaking English It allows learners to

draw their personal cxpericnec of situations and encourage them in their speaking

activities Role-plays encourage them to be interested in speaking activities as well as take

an active part in these ones Therefore, their anxiety in speaking English is not a serious

problem any morc,

1.3.3.2 Information — (ap

An information gap activity is the one where learners are missing the information

they need to complete a task and need to talk to each other to find it Neu & Reeser (1997,

cited in Rapion, nd.) stale that one person has ccrtam information that must be shared will others in order to solve a problem, gather information or make decisions in an information

gap activity These types of activities are extremely effective in the FL classroom

Asoorling to Lec, J F and VanPatten (2003), information-gap is onc type of activity to promote negotiation, The gap refers to information that one persan possesses but others do not Gaps therefore, create the absotute need to communicate as well as the need to cooperate (p 65) Morcover, Richards (2006:18} supports more idcas that “more authentic communication is likely to occur in the classroom if students go beyond practice of Janguage forms for their own sake and use their linguistic and communicative resources in order fo obtain information.”

Brown and Yule (cited in Rong, R & Lanying, X 2008) state that we are usually motivated to tell people things we assume they do not know, information gap activities, then, can provide students with a reasonable purpose to communicate im the forcign language As a result, this type is really useful for various things such as providing opportunities for extended speaking practice, representing real communication, and motivating Icamers, This advantage, therefore, urges me to plan this study with the aim of reducing the Icarners” anxicty in spcaking English,

1.3.3.3 Discussion

Discussion is the process of discussing, talking in which the pros and cons or various aspacts of a subject are considered Like pair and group work, discussions in the classroom can help enhance learners’ interaction and negotiation in their speaking skills, As Qui-ling (2008) statas that group discussion is onc of the aclivitiss to encourage feamners to use Their knowledge to practice it in a friendly environment as well as motivate them to speak a foreign language to improve their communicative skill (‘he author adds more that using

this technique, discussion, helps learners “gain the initial sense of fanguage usc in real-life

situations and acquire the knowledge of expressing and exchanging ideas with pears.”

‘When referring to some advantages of using discussion in teaching speaking, Harmer (1991) states thal one of the teasons thal discussions fail is that learners are reluctant lo

give an opinion in front of the whole class, or they can not think of anything to say and are

nol confident of their lnguage usc Therefore,

uilhor gives oul one suggestion, Ubat is,

‘buzz group’ with the aims of solving the problem In this buzz group, learners can discuss quickly in small groups before being asked to express their ideas to the rest of the class

However, he confinns thal using discussions is good for providing activities which force learners to reach a decision or a consensus, often as a result of choosing between specific alternatives (pp 272-273) Johnson and Rodger (1975: 78) share the same ideas with Harmer (1991) about the advantages of discussions, they add more that learners should be arranged so that each can sez all other members of his group and can be heard without shouting and disturbing the other groups

Tn conclusion, the benefits of discussions outweigh its drawhacks The most important benefits for teachers is that discussion can help learners to enhance their communicative ability, sharpen their social skills and foster their cooperation and team spirit in learning speaking skill Consequently, the author of the study totally agrees that discussion is a good technique for teachers to usc in teaching spcaking English, especially

in reducing the learners’ anxiety in speaking English

1.3.4 Using Communicative Activities to Reduce Learners’ Anxicty in Speaking

English The anxiety in learning language, specifically spanking English, has a great number

of negative infinences on leamers It prevents their speaking ability and leads them to fear

or panic whenever they arc asked Lo speak English, As sccond language educators, our goal

is to have our leamers speak with confidence in the target language, so we must make an effort to provide our learners with @ greater variety of opportunities to speak in the target Janguagc Therefore, some reecnt approaches to forcign language teaching such as

Commumicative Language Teaching (CLI) are directed at reducing learners’ anxiety

According Taveen (2007: 2), the author confirms that “these approaches lay emphasis on pair or group work and learning Urough communication in the targol language as a way Lo reduce language anxiety.,.Consideration of leamer anxiety in the modem language classroom is deemed highly essential in order to help teamers develop their communication skills in the target language.”

Burden (2004: 17) states that “anxiety is often a manifestation of feelings of incompetence the teacher can alleviate anxiety and foster a less confrontational

atmosphere by encouraging pair work, group activities for mutual support and

reassurance.” According the mulher, by using these aclivities for icaching limguage, teachers can reduce negativity, raise learners’ selt-belief and assist them to reduce their

anxiety Generally, commmnicative activities are considered as an effective means to

reduce learners? anxiety in speaking English To share the same ideas, the authors such as Osboe, 8, Fujmura, T and Hisschel, R (2007) conducted a study on students" confidence and anxiety in L2 speaking activities and received the results that students’ proficiency level in the 1.2 may also conclate with comfort speaking to other 1.2 learners and they appear to enjoy greater confidence in pairs and small groups than in whole-class situations Additionally, small group discussions and topics that are familiar to students can enhance the tevel of comfort, Therefore, communicative activities play a grenl role in making a good environment to encourage their leamers’ speaking ability as well as reduce their anxiety,

In summary, communicative activities are of the important role in enforcing learners” speaking skill as well as reducing their amxicty in speaking English The rescarcher of this

study totally agrees with some characteristics of communicative activities given out by

Richards (2006: 23) aneh as developing learners’ communicative compelence; creating the need for communication, interaction, and negotiation of meaning through the use of activities such as information shating or role play, making use of content that connects to learners’ Hives amd interests; allowing them to personalize leaning by applying what they

‘have Tearnadl to their awn fives Thoạc are the toasons why this study focuses on applying some of the above conummicative activities with the aim of reducing Jeamers’ anxiety in speaking Unglish in the classroom

1.35 Summary

Tn conclusion, the rescarcher hus reviewed the gonoral overview of CLT, learners’ anxiety in speaking English, especially the solution of reducing it through using

commmnicative activities Leamers’ anxiety in speaking English is caused by some such as

communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation Consequently, anxicty has negative cffects in language Icaming such as fears, ncrvousness, inscowity and Jack of self-confidence Therefore, reducing leamer’s anxiety in speaking English in the classroom is very necessary to develop their spsaking abitity One of the techniques for this aim is using communicative activitics such as role play, discussion and information

gap All of these activities bring about some benefits of reducing learners’ anxiety in

ist

speaking English They help learners reduce negativity, increase their scl(-boiicfF, and ass

‘them in learning English, Moreover, they enforce their cooperation and interaction among Jeamers as well as help them feel confident in their speaking skill in the following part, Chapter Two will display the inethodology of the study

Chapter I: METHODOLOGY

‘This chapter discusses the procedures used in carrying out investigations, including the methods used to colleel and analyze the data in the study Tt concludes of four scetions The first section describes various research methods and the rationale for each The second one presents the research design including the action research procedures and the details

about the subjects of the study The third one is some Teasons of using four avlivities in the

study, Last is the one which summarizes the main ideas presented in the whole chapter

2,1, Research methods

In this section, three categones are addressed They arz some information about

action research with the rationale for action research, questionnaire survey, and

observational method

2.1.1, Ratianale for Action Research

‘An action research (AR) is nol only about research, bul about action too In other word, it means “learning by doing”, which helps identify a problem, find the ways to solve

it, as well as bring abont social changes or practical actions (O’Brien, 1998) Therefore, the

AR should be dane by all teachers af any lime All of these lead the researcher to choose the AR as the most usefiil method to carry out this study

Action research is becoming increasingly significant in language education It is the

process of systematic collection and analysis of data in order to make changes and

improvement or solve problems (Wallace, 1998, p.I) Kemmis and MacTaggart (1988, cited in Nunan, D 1992: 17) state that AR is planned by ‘practitioners’-classroom

teachers- rather than outside researchers Moreover, they go on saying that AR is

“collaborative”, and it is aimed at changing things Its distinctive feature is that it sccms

“likely to lead to improvement, and for evaluating the results of strategies tried out in

practice Action research is a group activity” Similarly, Ferrance (2000: 6) shows that an

AR is a reflective process allowing for inquiry and discussion, as well as a collaborative

activity among colleagues “searching for solutions to everyday, real problems experienced

jn schools, or looking for ways Lo improve instruction and increase sludent achievement.”

Nurwn (1992: 18) also accopls thal collaboration is highly desivable, bul he argues

that it is not the leading characteristics of AR According to the author, any teacher

interested in exploring processes of teaching and learning in their own context can carry

out an AR He also disputes that AR is not necessarily concemed with change Lie adds

that a “descriptive G oom, groups of leamcrs, or cven a single

study of a particular cl:

learner’ if initiated by a question, supported by data and interpretation, and carried out by a

‘practitioner investigating aspects of his or her own context and situation’ is considered as areally AR

Moreover, AR can help a researcher fill the gap from the theory to practice

(MacNifé, Lomax &Whihead, 1996: 13 and Zuber-Skemit, 1992: 16, cited in Songsiri,

2007 47) According (0 Warrican (2006), the author stalos that AR is widely used im language teaching but also as an approach for external innovators who seed to effect educational change (cited in Songsiri, 2007) ‘Therefore, this study is an action research

project of reducing Isarncrs’ anxicty in speaking English though some conmnunicative

Questionmaires, as ane of the most common forms of data callection lools, can casily

‘be assessed in terms of reliability which refers to the ability of questionnaire to produce the same results in different implementations, leading to a consistency and dependability of the sosults, Richards and Lockhart (1994: 10) confirm that questionnaires are a uscful way of

“gathering information about effective dimensions of teaching and leaming, such as beliefs, alliludes, motivation, and preferences, and enable a teacher ta collect a tage

amount of information relatively quickly.”

Questionnaire surveys play a very important part in my study because they help me

investigate learners’ actual learning situations in speaking lessons l'rom this, { am able to

To sum up, the rescarcher chooscs lo use quostionnairs surveys hecauss they require

Jess time and less expense, Furthermore, they help me collect considerable data and different ideas in a relatively short time ‘hanks to these positive features, { still continue using this wethod 10 enhance the success of the studly after having implemented the action

lcarners’ surveys may caplure Icarners? altitudes loward what teachers do bul arc unlikely

to provide a complete and accurate picture of teachers’ actual behavior

Richards (1994:12) suggcsts observation is a way of gathering information about teaching, rather than a way of evaluating teaching, although generally observation is associated with evaluation, He goes on saying that “the observation of classroom teachers

is sctious business; it should not be approached casually” (p.22) According to him, there are two kinds of observations in the classroom: observations by teachers of a cooperating laacher-class, and peer observation, in which one Leacher observes a colleague's class

In this study, the researcher uses the first kind of observations given out by Richards (1994) for several reasons, First, I waul to collect infoumation not only about my lamers’ real ability but also their reaction to a particular speaking activity given out by myself Second, my AR is conducted in an evening class at @ foreign language center while

teachers are very busy for their own work, so it is very difficult for me to ask any teachers

Tn orler to de my own observations, T designed and printed an observation chacklist (see appendix 1) with the aim of collecting the data and information with ease Furthermore, learners’ speaking can be affected by many non-inguistic factors such as facial expressions, body language and the change of their voice tones, speaking speeds, Jouder or softer ability according to the situation and the importance of the message they want 10 convey (Harmer, 1998) Therefore, I decide to measure the leamers’ speaking competence by calculating the number of utterances they prosuce, the mimber of times they use their mother tonguc and assess their attitude towards the conmmunicative activitics 2.2 Research Design

This section focuses on some pracedurss of AR used in this sludly as well as gives out some details of subjects of the study

2.2.1 Action Research Procedure

Referring to the procedures of an action research, the author of this study follows the steps based on the figure below by Somekh in MeBride & Schostak, J (1989) She gives out an claborale listing with distinguished stops in a research process,

> G)collseti OnE ‘date &

Figure 1: Detailed Action Research Procedures

(adapted from Somekh, B in McBride & Schostak, J 1959}

tà 8

From the figure above, this study will be planned in tum with the following seven steps

+ Step 1: Identifying or defining a problem, that is, selecting an aspect in the laaching process to examine in more details In this step, T talked (o students and discussed with my colleagues at the center As a result, I found that one of the major leamers’ biggest problems might be thsir anxiety in speaking English Therefere, I decided to take action to help them to reduoe it

+ Step 2: Collecting data The first survey aimed at searching for the current siluation of teaching and leaning speaking Tinglish as well ax which commumicative activities used in speaking lessons To collect the pre-action research data, I planned class observations and the pre-questionnaire

| Step 3; Analyzing the data and generating hypothesis Atter collecting the data and analyzing it I found that there are few communicative activities in their speaking lessons, which make them not confident ar even difficult for them to speak in class Therefore, I decided to study whether applying communicative activities for speaking English has good effects on reducing their anxiety or not

+ Step 4: Planning action: developing an action plan to help bring about desired changes, In the action plam, T intend lo carry oul three communicative activities (role-pay, discussion, and information gap) in two-hour sessions of a speaking class (see appendix 3

‘for the whole action plan)

+ Step 5: Taking the action; The action plan lasts neatly three months with the

participation of the researcher and the twrenty learners at Ha Noi Foreign Language Center

+ Step 6: Collecting post- action research data to check if the desired change has made, using the observation checklist (see appendix 4) and the second questionnaire survey (see appendix 2)

+ Step 7: Tn this step, T amalyve the data collectsd and evaluate the results of findings

In this scale of the study, the author is going to present the steps mentioned above a bit differently

- he first step is described in the Introduction,

- ‘The second and the third are discussed under the title “the pre-action research survey”.