Luận văn developing learner autonomy in learning speaking skill for the first year english major students at the university of commerce

The expeciation is lo help leamers generate a sense of autonomy in language leaming, clevate the students’ speaking, skill as well as render effective speaking lessons.. Aims of the stud

MAJOR STUDENTS AT THE UNLVERSITY OF

COMMERCE: AN ACTION RESEARCII

(Phát huy tính tự chú dỗi vời kỹ năng nỏi cho sinh viên chuyên ngữ năm

thứ nhất tại trường Đại học Thương mại: Nghiên cứu áp dụng)

MLA MINOR THESIS

Field : English Methodology

Hanoi, 2010

MAJOR STUDENTS AT THE UNLVERSITY OF

COMMERCE: AN ACTION RESEARCII

(Phát huy tính tự chủ đổi với kỹ năng nói cho sinh viên chuyên ngành

tiếng Anh năm thứ nhất tại trường Đại học Thương mại:

Nghiên cứu án dung)

‘MLA MINOR THESIS

2 Aims of the study

4 Seope of the study,

5 Strueture of the study

1.2.1 The nature of speaking and charactetisties of an effective speaking lesson 13

2.1, English department at VUC wcssssscsscssessnrvtetenessensnee 17

2.3.L The opportunities of the context - - - - 19

3.1, Research question jcssssevissssnteniseeiseeessnvtentanssiensnet 20

3.2, Subjects of the stuđy, con nnnhnereririirrnirrrurirraeooe, 2Ô

3.3.1, Description of data collectiori instTunieTIfs scnenneerrieerreriie

3.3.3, Detailed description of module 2

4.1, Students’ performance and attitudes towards the project ce Z7

4.3, Students’ attitudes towards learning process ccssoucesuesnaenatnesnsnenniens BB

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1: Characteristics of ndependent learning

‘Table 2: Students’ attitudes and performance during the project

Table 3: The benefits of the projeels to the siuđents

Table 4: Sudanfs” self-evaluation of thair speaking skill

Figure 1; The Leamer Independence Continuum sees

Figure 2: Students’ opinions on the continuity of a similar project

Figure 3: Level of students’ involvement during the project

Figure 4: Students’ changes in their perception of learner autonomy 0

PART A: INFRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

ver the last three decades, learner autonomy in language learning has been a “buzz-word” in the field of sceund language education, In fact, few teachers will disagree with the importance

of helping, language leamers become mote self-directed It is so robust that there are numerous books and articles (Holec, 1981; Dickinson 1987; Riley 1988, Little, 1991; Little,

1999; Littlewood, 1999; Tudor, 1996, ete.) and the proliferation of researches on the theme

(Kavaliauskicne, 2003, Ali, 2000; Coombe, 2001; Banstt & Dabom, 2001, Malcolm, 2001;

Luchini & Rosello, 2007, ete.)

Despite the concerted effort made to implant learner autonomy, it is still at a Jow level in the university setting in Vietnam ‘The students in University of Commerce are of no exception

ven the students who major in English exhibit low responsibility in their English - learning

process The students are lukewarm and lack of determination and self-discipline to learn

independently Observations in the classrooms reveal the lack of the cooperative learning The

general atmosphere in the class scoms to be very formal Students only raise their voices once

they are called upon When asked to work in pairs and groups in speaking lessons, they start

to write down their own ideas as a long presentation or some key points and revise their own work individually, and ready to cormnnicate only when they are perfectly sure of their part

and their ideas Futhermore, they are generally reluctant to question the teacher or give their

opinions

‘An open discussion in Vietnamese with the students explicates that their low autonomy has resulted ftom psychological, social and personal grounds Their misleading beliefs minute confidence, restricted knowledge as well as the previous leaming expetience arc agreed upon

as the primary causes of their passive leaming style ‘The beliefs and attitudes leamers hold

have 2 profound influsnce on their learning behaviors IL is, therefore, essential lo assist students in moving towards greater autonomy, especially in learning speaking Teachers should validate the importance of autonomy to the students as an ancient proverb going “Give

atnan a fish, feed hit for a day Teach a ran to fish, feed him for a lifetime.”

This situation compels the conduction of this research to aid students in their second language Ieaming and life-long Icamning This is genuinely no casy task since autonomy docs not flourish automatically Due to the highly complex nature of language and language learning,

augmenting autonomy in language leamers often proves to be a doubly difficult objective Although few researches have been done m Vietnam to boost student’s active engagement in speaking, a large number of studies in other countries have reported favorable results in

developing their students’ autonomy Experimental praclice has beow exploilzd lo empower teachers by bringing a research perspective into their classrooms, where ordinary classroom activities are modified for their investigative potential Most of them use awareness-raising

acti vili cs, portfolio, solˆasscssmeni, homework and assignment in their sludics Inaugurated fiom these practices, the present paper is an attempt to search the current researches then devise a pertinent project of actions for the students in English Department, University of Commerce (VUC), who have mediocrs level of leaming autonomy The expeciation is lo help leamers generate a sense of autonomy in language leaming, clevate the students’ speaking, skill as well as render effective speaking lessons

2 Aims of the study

‘This research aims at

- identifying the cent VUC English major freshmen’s autonomy in speaking skill

- working out the appropriate scheme of actions to improve the situation

= finding out the offeetivencss of the selected activities in the action plan

- reflectng the results of the study

From the outcomes, some implications will be suggested for handling and applying classroom activities to promote the students’ autonomy in learning speaking,

In particular, it is conducted to ascertain the answer to the following question:

Can raising students’ awareness of the importance of learner autonomy and application of

selected activities help improve autonony in learning speaking skill for first year Fnglish-

major students al the University of Commerce ?

3 Methods of study

As mentioned above, this is an action research to solve the problem of low level of learner autonomy at English Department, VUC To reach the goal, a project is launched into the classroom environment It is divided into two modules, the former consists of selected

awareness-raising activities, leamer contract sigmmg, and essential speaking-strategies

training activities to raise students’ awareness of the problem as well as equip them with

practice of such skills in doing their home assignments and in-class activities to habituate their speaking practice and active engagement Besides, public appearance is deferred to the final stage, when students have become more experienced Specifically, students practice

working in pairs before having publie speaking to amplify their solferelimes progr

voly After the action, questionnaires, mterviews and classroom observations are condueted to get the feedback ‘Ihe data aims at getting the students evaluation on the activities and more remarkably, to examine whether they become mare autonomous

4 Scope af the stuily

Leamer autonomy is undoubled to be the vast issue in the second language learning Th cucompasses different aspects and arcas, Therefore, this study touches upon only one researchable aspect of autonomy, i.e,, developing autonomy in speaking skill In the literature, there is a range of actions to ensure students self-directed leaming; however, several pertinent activitics are adopted in considcration of the context of University of Commerce and the small scale of this research for the sake of limited time and students” low level Furthermore, the subjects of this study are the first year students who major in English as these freshmen oflen exhibit the least autonomy in leaming and implore a good start for their students” life

5 Structure of the study

This paper is organized into three main parts as follows:

Part A: Introduction

‘This part presents the rationale, the aim, scope, method and design of the study

Part B: Development

This part is divided into differem chapters Chapter 1 serves as the theoretical background for

the study, presenting the concepts and relevant theories Chapter 2 gives an overview of teaching and leaning situation al English Department, VUC Chapter 3 deals with the aetnal

procedures of the study methodology, subjects and data collection procedures Chapter 4

presents the finding and analysis of the data collected

Part C Conclusion

This last part of the study recaps the main content of the study and deals with some

suggestions for improving student’s autonomy in studying speaking skill In addition, it also

poses several directions for future research

PART B DEVELOPMENT

CITIAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chaplsr serves as the thearetical background for the study The definitions and roles of autonomy and speaking skill were given to clarify the subject matters investigated and the significance of the matters, Moreover, the characteristics of autonomy, roles of teachers and ways lo develop learner aulonomy reecive mors dotails and attention as Lo find oul an efficient Jeamer autonomy enhancing process

1.1, Learner autonomy

1.1.1 Definition of autonomy

Nowadays, the Iamguage teaching has become more and more cormmumication-oriented, pushing the traditional classroom teaching to a situation of big challenge The learner- centered ones are replacing the traditional classrooms where teachers play the role of knowledge transmission, This leamer-centercd approach in EFL has brought out the notion of leaner autonomy in learning EFL

Among the scholars in this field, Holeo, one of the earliest advocates of autonomy in language teaching Ilolec began by defining leamer autonomy as the “ability to take charge of one’s own Izuming” (1981, p 3} He endorses that this abilily “is not inborn bul must be

exquired cither by “natural” means or by formal camming, i.c in a systematic, deliberate way”, and stresses the idea of man as “producer of his society” but not “product of his society” (Holee

1981, pl) Tis definition remains the basis for many tesearchers Nevertheless, there is no consensus as to what the term “autonomy” really is For Little (1999), autonomy is “a capacity for a certain range of highly explicit behavior that embraces both the process and the content of leaming” (p 11) Littlewood (1999, p 73) regards aulonomy in educational terms

as “involving students’ capacity to use their learning independently of teachers.” Scharle and

Szabo (2000, p 4) holds that autonomy means “the freedom and ability to manage one’s own

affairs, which entails the right to make decisions as well.”

Although definitions of learner autonomy have varied, they all agree that students should take responsibility for their own Icaming Taking responsibility involves leamers in taking ownership (partial or total) of processes wluch have traditionally belonged to the teacher, such

as deciding on learning objectives, selecting learning methods and assessing progress

words, the concspl ofaulonomy certainly incorporates aspects of leamners! national or regional cultures, Thus, we should mateh aspects of autonomy with the characteristics and needs of our leamers in relation to our specific contexts

Although autonomy has been interpreted differently, it is essential to point out what autonomy

is wol, Liltle (1991, p.3) indicates five misconceptions about autonomy: 1) autonomy is synonymous with self-instruction, 2) autonomous leamers make the teacher redundant, 3) autonomy is a new methodology, 4) autonomy is a single easily described behavior, and 5) autonomy is a steady state achieved by certain learners What needs to he highlighted is that autonomy is a universal human capacity that cannot be nurtured overnight Teachers should

create an autonomous learing environment in relation to a specific context to cultivate a kind

of learner who can continue their life-long teaming independently

Constructivists assert that different men construe the universe in different way and their

perception of the world can only achieved by means of snecessive own discoveries and

investigations (Kelly, 1963) Consequently, to learn a second language successfully, students

must “lake proactive roles to build up and construct the knowledge” (Candy, 1991, p.270)

rather than being taught by others

Tn addition, autonomy is clascly related with and doomed to he borne out of learnor-centcrod approach, The learner-centered theory posits that learners nmust be the focus and the initiators

as well as the responsible actor assurmg the success of learning a language but not the

teachers It embraces improving the studenf's awareness of himself or herself as a learner, the

process of language learning and use, the nature of the target language and language use strategies (Dickinson, 1987, Holec, 1981, Wenden & Rubin, 1987), Hence, this novel approach underpins the individualization of instruction, the focus on the process of learning,

otf

nol on the product ï

In reality, there is an overriding need to take more responsibilities in studying a foreign language The current syllabus and program cvince the reduction in classroom time and the current Vietnamese context cannot offer many opportunities to use a language outside class It

is misleading lo assume thal reducing the mmber of class meelings means reducing students’ workload, Instead, the shift to credit program in university curricula necessitates more students’ control and responsibility over their own leaning ‘hey must continue leaming on

ltcir own aflcr leaving the language course, This sel study 2

and skulls (Deci, 1995)

dently helps enrich the input

The situation current reinforces the need to cultivate and foster learner autonomy, Evidently, there are a great number of researches in the field which have proved the values of leamer aulonomy development, showing the intertwined relationstap between aulonomy and motivation, When learners are proactively committed to their learning, the provlem of motivation is testified to be solved In Deci’s words, “autonomy is nourished by, but in tum nourishes our intrinsic motivation, our proactive interest in the world around us” (1995, p 2)

This relationstap works in both directions wilh differcnt phases in a Icamer’s

learning, progress Although we cannot assume that the relationship between autonomy and motivation

is always one in which autonomy leads to motivation, we can conclude undoubtedly that

developing autonomy helps sludents get belier resulis (Devi, 1995)

Leamer auionomy can be regarded as an offspring of learner-cenlered approach, which is an innovative and effective one in the literature of second language learning The benefits of cultivating autonomy in leamers have been disclosed by a variety of researchers and Practitioners Learner aulonamy can load to inereasc in motivation and cooperation as well

` responsibilities in their studying process, which means more effective learning Furthermore,

the concept of autonomy is not restricted in school aspect Once students acquire autonomy in

Iearning in the school curriculum, they skip casily inlo autonomy for other aclivitics outside class In other words, autonomous Icamers evolve life-long Icaming and hereby they are capable of authoring the world in which they live

sa

1.1.3 Characteristics of learner autonomy

As regards characicristics of camer aulonomy, scholars all contre am the hypothesis thal leamer autonomy entails reflective involvement in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating learning Lowever, different scholars may contribute additional attributes of Icamer autonomy to these core features,

Scharte and Szabo (2000) proclaim that an autonomous student must have built four blacks, ie., 1) motivation and self-confidence, 2) monitoring and evaluation, 3) learning strategies, and 4) cooperation and group cohesion, While motivation and self-confidence refer to the

In the same line, Deci (1993) has defended thee “pedagogical principles” of autonomy The concept of “leamer involvement” in his work equates with motivation and self-confidence proposed by Seharls and Szbo (2000); and his definition of “camer reflection” associates with leamers’ monitoring and self-evaluation He further adds “appropriate langue use” implying that autonomy in language learning and autonomy in language use are two side of the samic coin (communicative dimension) Consequently, in formal language leaming, the scope of leamer autonomy is always constrained by what the leamer can do in the target language In other words, language learning depends principally on language use Kor instance,

we can learn Lo speak only by speaking,

The above-mentioned altributes of lamer aulonomy are, however, too broad and need to be fiuther broken down into specific possible features for the sake of researching Table 1 below shows the characteristics of dependent learners and independent leamers compiled from a number of sources (Omaggio, 1978, cited in Wenden, 1998, pp 11-12, Tlolec, 1981; Dickinson, 1987; Little, 1991; Broady & Kenning, 1996; Bamott, 1993)

as grades or rewards are offered progress in leaming

3 donot reflect on how well they are learning | 3 often reflect on the leaming process and and stick to the ñxcd hypothe

4, cannot make decisions about their learmng | 4 can make well-informed leaming decisions

hypotheses thal do nol apply

5 do not know their own strengths and|5 are aware of thsir strengths and

6 do not know their leaming styles and | 6 have insights into their leaming styles

different strategies for learning and stralagies

+3 make mistakes or not knowing is shameful | 7 learn fram mistakes or qmeslion- r

8, rely heavily on teachers and think teachers | making

is wholly responsible for their leaning 8 are self-reliant for own leaning

9 use and practi

9 study, translate and memorize knowled skills, analyze a little

10, do not connect classroom learning with the | 10, connect classroom learning with the real

Table 1: Characteristi

s of independent learning

It is noteworthy that Icarner autonomy is vicwed as “a continuum” rather than the separation

of only two concepts of dependent and independent learning (Candy, 1991) Independence (utonomy) ranges across a continuum (Figure 1) with one end as dependent learners who have little opporlmity lo mellow independent learning skills; and at the other end as Isarners who are self-directed, self-motivated and capable of leaming without a teacher, Whilst most leamers would be somewhere in between the two extremes, good learners are bound to move along ths continuum toward to the right-hand-sids end

1.1.4 Teacher's roles In learner autonomy

Autonomous leaming is not leaving students to fend for themselves or sitting students in front

of computers and hoping they will learn, TL must he the characleristic expected lo murtnrs in students with the aids fiom teachers Teachers take responsibility for managing and consulting,

during the process

First and foremost, teachers become less of a knowledge tansmitter and more of a facilitator Relinguishing teacher's control is parallel with providing sufficient guidance to smooth Jeamers’ way into autonomous lcaming, and into developing purposcfulness and creativity in doing so (Dickinson, 1995) Teachers supervise students in their own learning-preference discovery and create opporlumities for their experience

Autonomous leaming magnitude necessarily entails difficulties in many aspects, and different sludents may have problems in differen ways To thal end, Leachers arc alsa (he cotmselors helping students wath individual obstacles Both fieilitators and counselors provide psychology-social and technical supports, the difference between the two is that while the former mainly works with groups, the latter in one-to-one situations (Voller, 1997) According to Riley (1988), counseling involves a great deal of work such as eliciting information about aims, needs and wishes, helping with planning, suggesting materials and sources, laking parl in interaction, offering alternatives, listening and responding, interpreting

information, giving feedback on self-assessment, and being positive and supportive, etc

Facilitating and counseling leamers is not just a matter of pointing them in the right direction

- it is also to do with motivation, behaviors, and practical and emotional support ‘l'eachers, therefore, should motivate students in acquiring learning independence as well as language skills Beside stimulating factors, autonomy requires @ conscious awarcness of the Icaming

process, strategies and styles Leamer strategies are a key to and “prerequisite” for learner

autonomy (Weden, 1998), Learners can lake care of their own learning only when he has become more mature and made use of the pertinent strategies Thus, teachers have to expedite leamers to know what leaming strategy is and how imperative it is in enhancing autonomous

Iesming,

To recap, the teacher’s function should became less dominant, but not less important Instead

of absolving themselves of all responsibility teaches, they play more roles than before as

facilitators, counselors, motivators, awareness raisers as well as resources in this development,

This implies the “reappraisal of teachers and learners’ roles” (Lynch 2001, p 394) Autonomy inevitably involves a change in power relationships and in beth teachers” attitudes

However, this change cannot occur effortlessly It is a process and it should be characterized

as “a continuum” (Voller, 1997, p 100) In accordance with this viewpoint, Sharle and Szabo

(2000) illustrate a continuum of teacher attitudes ranging fom traditional lo learner autonomy attitude and suggest that teachers should move toward the right hand side of the continuum (teacher autonomy attitude) ‘They further denote that this transition should be gradual rather than abrupt and dramatic to allow lime for the involved parties lo adapt themselves to the new practices It is worth noticing that however difficult and time-consuming the transformation will be, it is the first priority for the teachers to modify themselves Brst if they expect to

change Iheir students? altitudes

1.1.5 Ways to develop autonomy

As learner antanomy is sa pivotal in second language acquisition, schotars, ressarchors and

teachers have long been soarching for methods to magnify this charactor in learners IL is suggested that this transition must be taken through raising awareness, changing attitudes, and transferring roles (Scharle & Szabo, 2000)

The starting stage in cultivating autonomy in leamers is raising awareness of pedagogical goals, conlenIs and siralsgies (Nunan, 1997) This phase functions as an impetus Io initiate

leaming the second language and “opaning the learner’s eyes to new ways of thinking about

their learning” (Scharle & Szaho, 2000, p 15) It is grounded in the belief that even when tvachers provide alt the necessary circumstances and inpul, learning camo! happen if learner

is not willing to contribute Thus, teachers must mitially present new perspective and new

experience to learners and encourage them to think consciously in their inner leaming processes This is a lightly-teacher-controlled stage on the consumption thal, Izamer are not

yet responsible in their learning,

However, only raising students’ awareness cannot guarantee students’ self-directed learning, nce they take on new viewpoints in leaming purposes, processes and the nature of language

Iarning, they shonld accustom thosg altitndes and strategies introduced in the first phase This can be done by a series of activities in which students “consciously practice leaming strategies” which requizing more leamer initiative and higher level of responsibility (Scharle

& Szabo, 2000, p 50) Additionally, group work and pair work are encouraged to heighten

cooperation, which reduces the dominance of learner-teacher interaction, encourages students

to rely on each other and on themselves, and spreads responsibility for the achievement of a task more evenly among students, ‘l'o achieve the openness (allowing more room for learner

imilalivencss), negotiation activiti

are oflen the best ophons However, il Lakes lime Lo

change someone’s belief and habit, especially when it is the deeply-rooted one Accordingly, repeatability in doing these activities are momentous to shape and consolidate new beliefs and

habits

The last, and simultaneously effortsintensive phase is transferring roles as the result of a considerable change in classroom management Transfering roles is decisive in that “For one, leamers can only assume responsibility for their leaming if they have some control over the Joarning process, For the other, inereasing indgpendonce may svoke and reinforee responsibility and autonomous attitudes” (Scharle & Szabo, 2006, p 80), Teachers handle over roles that are traditionally held by themselves Llowever, these loosely structured activities do not entail teacher’s freedom of charge It is crucial for the teacher to establish a good relationship providing @ harmonious supportive cnvironment, facilitating the process of reorientation and personal discovery (Kelly, 1996, cited in Lee, 1998), Furthermore, peer support in this environment is weightier pushing teamers in acquiring “a capacity and willingness to act independently and in cooperation with others, as a socially responsible

person.” (Dam, 1995, p 1, cited in Lee, 1998)

Sharle and Szabo (2000) hold that this three-phase proves should be seen as a smooth process where one stage develops into the next ‘'he activities they provide in their book should be considered as suggestive om

contexts” (Hole, 1981) and accordance with students’ level of autonomy at different stages,

ince “aulonamy has lo be adapled to different cultural

Ditférent classroom cultures may entall different teachers’ responsibilities and students’ roles, which means the borderline between the suggested activities in changing awareness and lransforting aililudcs are vague In othar words, lo cultivate Lsarner autonomy, loarners should first have the right attitude towards leaming and knowledge of strategies in second language leaming Secondly, they must involve in the leaming process themselves a3 “language

Ioarning depends vilally on language use” (Deci, 1995) Practitioners, researchers have suggested a number of activities for eames’ involvement They have reported on the effectiveness of using motivating activities (Barrett & Daborn, 2001, Kavaliauskiene, 2003,

Lnchini & Roselto, 2007), porlfotios, assignments, projects and homework (Coombe, 2001,

Ali, 2000; Malcolm, 2001, Nakayarua, 300; Kavaliauskiene, 2003), self evaluation and peer assessment, diary and journal keeping on strengthening their responsibility and nourish this

activities

In short, there are three phases in culminating learner autonomy, namely raising awareness, clanging altitudes and transferring roles The activitics in cach part should be adapled in line with students’ lovel of sclf-dircction and cducational milicu, Duzing the transition, motivation

is crucial as learning is usually most efficient and rapid when the leamer is motivated and allenfive, A range of current perspectives has now pul molivation on a different footing, integrating psychological considerations with social conditions The question is how to make students like what is required ‘he answer lies in the students” investment in studying, Even

cl

when stufents like the subject, leaning will not happen if they do not inves! cnough time, money and energy “Required motivation” is now said to be “more important to acknowledge the diversity of motivations and reorient them in a more holistic and richer framework of SLA” (Zuengler & Miller, 2006) Bony Norton Peirce (1995) used the term ‘investment’ to

emphasis on the commitment to target language study students?

Whereas other researchers often focus on one of these three steps to promote students’ leaming responsibility (only raising students’ awareness of the matter, or asking students to keep portfolio and assignment, or letting them to selfassess, the researcher decided to take the firs and the second slage, bearing in mnind the tow level of autonomy and little speaking lesson experience of her students as well as the time constraint of the study, As there is not enough time and the students are not mature enough to each the other end of the autonomy continuum, the final stage is Ie? to maybe the next terms

Consequently, the author of this research decided to adop! selective activities in the first two stages suggested by Scharle and Szabo (2000) and her tailored assignment setting, for the students to make ensure that they invest adequate time, effort and money in their learning Also, sindouts

signing a leaner contract is uscd to ascertain their cormmitment to what they are required to do Like other researchers investigating the realm of leamer autonomy, the researcher also uses assignments to boost learner responsibility, but in other forms to suit her own leaching Hou, As they have never lean speaking before, they must be well-cqnipped by having chanecs to practiec funetional language and speaking techniques Thus, the intervention starts first with raising matter awareness and subject awareness then and regular

ignmnent Lo implant the independent learning style in the shutenis

1.2 Speaking skill

1.2.1, The nature of speaking and characteristics of an effective speaking lesson

Speaking skill has been placed more weight in comparison with other skills as il is the first step to identify language ability Knowing a language means being able to speak the language

(Pattison, 1987) It is the vehicle to establish and maintain social relationships as well as

achieve professional advancement, In particular, spzaking has lwo principal fimelions: transactional function and interactional function While the foomer is primarily concemed with the transfer of information, the latter involves the maintenance of social relationships

Moreover, only by speaking a language can we ever hope to leam it In order to acquire the skills, communicative activities must be applied in class lo aid students lø oblzi nơi only accuracy but also fluency in their speech

Pertaining to characlcristics of an effective spoaking lesson, Pormy Ur (1996) has a

comprehensive look at the issue In her viewpoint, there are four characteristics to determine

whether the speaking lesson is fruitful or not as follows:

= Leamers kecp talking in most of the timne allowed for the activity in which the lcamers

are the centre of the activity and the interference by the teacher is little

* Participation is evenly distributed among leamers

All group members are motivated iv the activities thanks to an interesting topic or

them desire to achieve the task objective

‘Language use is appropriate, easy to understand and quite accurate

‘The focal point in assessing a speaking lesson is students’ active participation It cannot be a speaking lesson if the students do not speak the target language, let alone managing effective lesson Deci (1995) is correct in claiming that autonomy must include language usc Using language or speaking the language is the prerequisite to attain the objective Students’ involvement is significant bul mmst be equal amongst the participants While working in pairs

or groups, one student dominating the situation and speaking most of the time may give tise to the breakdown of the communication and it cannot be an efficacious lesson Hence, all of the

sludents should be motivated to contribule to the aetivitics

Furthermore, Ur (1998) does have a good balance between accuracy and fluency This set of characters reveals that fluency and meaning should be a focal point of the spcaking lesson, however, accuracy should not be disregarded Accuracy is the means to ensure the act of

getting the message right, Without approptiate correction and adequate attention to accuracy, students may run the tisk of fossilizing the mistakes, which hinders the process of reaching an

advanced level in the target skill

Grounded in the literate, the hereinafter characteristics of an efficient speaking lesson are drawn oul, serving as the criteria for the assessments of my experimental speaking lessons

4% Active und equal participation

Autonomy in speaking skill

The principle issues relating learner autonomy and speaking, skill have so far been touched upon It is vital to investigate how autonomy is revealed and manifested in speaking skill ‘To pul it another way, this parl deals with the charactetistics of leaner autonomy in speaking and the practice to foster their autonomy in this skill

Thombury (2006, pp 87-92) puts forward five characteristics of an autonomous speaker:

+ Spocd: working fast, spontancously and coping with unpredictability

+ Economy: ignoring inessentials and knowing how to carry out tasks with minimal means

* Accuracy: being quick at detecting and rejecting crrors

¢ Anticipation: thinking and planning ahead

% Reliability: being versalile, i.e performing a range of different spaaking tasks range of different topic, and being reliable even adverse conditions

This autonomy is partly duc to the increased automaticity of his language production, whal lhe experienced as “tecling fluem”, As we have seen, the ability to automatize the more mechanical elements of a task so as fo fice attention for higher-level activities, The autonomy

in speaking inereascs in proportion to the automaticity of his language production This is the ability to automatize the more mechanical elentents to situational and functional elements ofa task Besides, learners need to be able to “marshal their newly acquired skills and deploy them imassisted and under what aro called real operating conditions” (Thornbury, 2006, p 89)

Along similar ling, Rubin and Thompson (1994, p 75) gives several techniques which autonomous students often use in speaking skal:

*® Rehearsal; rehearsing the situation in their heads to make sure they can do it or rehearsing with another students

* Aulomalic use: imagining what they would say in the forcign language in different situations (when they arc ina store or restaurant, cte.)

“> Paraphrasing: trying to say something in another way

% Topic changing: switching lo the topic they know to mainiain interaction in the largel language

In socie-cullural perspective, aulonomy is defined as the capacily to selfregulate performance

as a result of gaining control over skills that were formerly other-regulated, In classroom one, this is learners need to be given opportunities to talk freely about subjects of their own choice Like autonomy development in other skills, autonomy development in speaking includes three previously mentioned phases, Specifically, it commences with awareness-raising activities in

which learners learn fealures of spoken language This is followed by appropriale aclivilies to aid them to gain control of these featwes, before reaping full autonomy as independent speakers in a range of different spoken genres

These activities can be selected tom the repertoire of leamer autonomy raising techniques mentioned in the preceding sections with preference for activities requiring more speaking practices For instanec, it is beneficial to utilize homework assignments, tape diaries (eamers keep a taped diary by recording themselves regulatly at home on audiotape and submitting this to the teacher for feedback), audio and video conferencing (these are virtual meetings, in which two or more people commuticals via a live audio or video Tink over the IlemeL), human-computer interaction (Students use computer program called “chatterbot” to practice speaking with the computer instead of a person) and oral portfolios (leamers reflect on their oul-of-class spoaking experi

learning the language skill Besides, teachers’ roles are crcial in this proc

awa s Taisers, facilitators, counselors, motivators and resources Rooted in this literature, it is

pertinent to camy out the action research as a project which encompasses two different

modules The first one deals with raising student’s awareness of autonomy and nature of

second language acquisition ‘This is succeeded by assignment to form the habit of leaming

autonomously for the stud:

CHAPTER 2 AN OVERVIEW OF TEACHING AND LEARNING SITUATION AT

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, UNIVERSITY OF COMMERCE (VUC)

This part describes the teaching context at Vietnam University of Commerce (VUC) with the analysis of the opportunities and constraints it brings about, Although Lnglish is taught to both Enzlis!

major ones who are the target population of this study,

pajor and nion-English-major sludents, iy discussion is focused on English

2.1 English department at VUC

With the imereasing demand of English-competent workforce, English Department was

established at VUC in 2007 The objective of this institution is to provide students with a

command of English to use il fruitfully in their Future workplace, particularly in enterprises

The English major students aged 18-20 come from various regions in Vietnam They must

take examinations in English, literature and math to get entrance ta VUC ‘The model of

Rnglish exanination is mulliple-choice questions (MCQ) with the focus on grammar and reading proficiency Fach year, over 200 students enroll in the department

There are thirly- five teachers aged 25-57 al the English Department of VUC Young tcachers

take large percentage (80%) and the number is always on the rise The majority of young teachers possess a bachelor degree in English language teaching and the rest are taking an MA

or MBA courses A small percentage of the senior leachers (aged 40-57) were trained in in-

service program In general, the teaching staiT is always eager for knowledge, energetic and

willing to apply better ways to fortify their teaching quality

2.2, The teaching syllabus for speaking skill

‘The English major students enjoy a whole language approach and integrated activities ‘The program consisls of 141 credits for all the Business English subjects in the six semesters (macro skills, micro skalls and others related to business) Of the total 141 credits, 72 are allotted to the development of 4 language skills and 36 credits for other English courses

comprises six sections: Reading and listening, speaking, writing and a case study The four skills are taught integratedly throughout the syllabus

With reference to assessment, 10% of the total mark goes for participation and attendance,

30% for mid-term tests and presentation and 60% for final test ‘he target for the first-year

English studenis is the Pre-inlenmediate level, which is “the ability to usc Enghsh to communicate cfitetively in social situations and a command of fundamental business

terminology” (quoted fiom VUC’s speaking syllabus for 1* year English majors -2007)

In the first year, the students study four subjects Linglish 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4, each of which is allotted th

credits (45.15.15) TL mcans students will have 42 periods for class

cclings, l5

tr group prcscnlations, and 15 for self-study (50 minutes a period) The syllabus for the first

year students is theme-based as briefed below:

1 Living abroad Making small talk

2 Dealing with customers | Telcphoning-handling complaints

3 Operations Presentations signposts and stepping stones

4 Success stories ‘Appraisals

6 ‘The organization Interrupting im meetings

7 The stock markets Negotiators making offers, agreeing deadlines

$ Going global Presentations handling questions

in the Icarning process.

2.3 The opportunities and constraints of the context

2.3.1 The opportunities of the context

The context offers several opportunities for the teaching and leamng at the English Department, VUC Firstly, students come from different areas around Viemam; they bring with thom a diversification of background knowledge as well as identities and characters Secondly, most of the teachers in the department are young and active; they are enthusiastic and realy lo change for the beller Towever, diverse limitations exist leading to the unfavorable learning and teaching results,

2.3.2 The constraints of the context

Constraints come trom all people of concem in the program Firstly, although almost students are both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated, their investment appears not to suffice for the subject, Their fast satisfaction of their success in winning a position at a university and the deeply-rooted dependent attitudes deprive them of time and efforts for English learning,

To put it another way, good result carmot be expected with law commitment to the target

since the students used to strive for the discretc-oricnted entrance

language study Secondly,

examination with reading and grammar competency only, their communicative competence

are mainly at lew level Although they can do MCQ grammar tests well, most of them are

incapable of writing conect and comprehensible sentsne

sonlontos, i6 tha abilily to nogatiale

meaning is not satisfactory To make it worse, the opportunities for them to negotiate with the

native speakers are meager Besides, the cultural aspect counteracts the application of new

enough to negotiate participatory interaction

In summary, young and enthusiastic cohort of teachers and students’ backpround diversification have brought advantages for the teaching and leaming context Ilowever, unfavorable language environment and non-autonomons leaming methods have triggered difficulties for the teachers in improving the students’ English proficiency.

In order to meet the objective of the study, the following research question is generated:

Can raising students’ awareness of the importance of learner autonomy and application of

selected activities help improve autonony in learning speaking skill for first year Fnglish-

major shades at ihe University of Commerce ?

3.2 Subjects of the study

The subjects are 28 students aged 18-20, with 26 female and lwo males in my own class Their negative attitudes towards state-of-the-art approaches and the unsatisthctory study

results compel several actions to renovate the situation In reality, they appear to have

experionce undue stress when expoclad Lo purticipalc actively and become dependent in the leaming process This stress is often caused by their extensive teaching culture at primary and secondary schools where students raising their voices without any permission from teachers are considered to be discourleous, Furthermore, they are prone to the environments in which

the teacher gives thom cach dircetion with comesponding available materials to accomplish each step This may account for the fact that students misunderstand ot even lose respect for a teacher wha expects them to work collaboratively with other students and study independently rather than takes on the tiaditional role of teacher as the main souree of knowledge ‘Thus, giving empowerment to students must be parallel with changing their allituiles towards this process, The newcomers making the transition fram secondary school lo

university need help in organizing themselves as autonomous students, These freshmen should be properly primed for directing their own learning process, setting as a good foothold for the next coming school years and in the long run for their life-long study

3.3 Research design

Action research involves the researcher in questioning their own practice to find ways to improve thal practice (M&Niff, 2002) Tt furnishes the rescarcher and participants with the opportunity to scrutinize existing practices, and modify them in the search for refinement of

21

those practices Action research has the potential to bring benefits for all stakeholders involved in the process It not only provides the teacher with a means to better their teaching practice but also trains learners to become more efficient in their learning It can be argued

thal praciitioners alrcady relleel upon their practice, but the difference in using action ro

is that it is systematic, and any intervention is informed by theory (O’Brien, 1998)

The study aims at ameliorating the teaching situation and Icamer autonomy in speaking skill, which requires voluminous practice to take place ‘I'hus, action research is deemed a priority

to salisfy the study intent,

Starting with the problem of low level of students’ autonomy (hy observation of the class and discussion with other collcagues), the researcher has been trying to find the solution to the problem, She first investigated the reasons for the problems and delved into researches in the light of learner autonomy The lessons leamt from the literatwe helped her to make an informed choice She decided to apply the students’ raising awareness and changing attitude activities suggested by Scharle and Szabo (2000) and a series of activities designed by herself, which are all called the projecl in this research During the intervention, she herself made six observations of the class from the first lesson onwards (for every two lessons), After the intervention, questionnaires and interviews are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the project as a proof of the change in the students” level of autonomy

To reach the stated goal, the action plan in the form of an autonomy-raising project is excouted during the course, The project comprises two modules (12 wecks, second semester 2009-2016) The former, which consists of selected awareness-raising activities and essential

speaking-strategies training activities, is to raise students’ awareness of the problem as well as

equip them wilh necessary skills to acquire more confidence in speaking skill, The latter toughens such awareness and strategies in learners by involving them in the speaking, practice

‘This stage is of great importance since only raising student's awareness cannot ensure the

getting the students evaluation on the activities, their speaking competence improvement and more importantly, to investigate whether they become more autonomous in speaking or not

The procedure of the projects as follows:

1 1 - Introduce the course sehsdule andl- Subject matter

¢ sludents complele a questionnaire

on ‘What sort of Learner awareness

language leamer are you?” (Activity 3)

awareness Leaming process awareness and awareness-raising

Discuss and practice strategies, and -

solutions in peaking English (Acivity 5)

- Introduce the leamer autonomy-fostering | -

+ Tlave students sign a contract of ˆ

- Kind common mistakes in using English

‘Awareness-raising

confidence raising Leaming process awareness

Unlike other action research which often acquires the results by pre-questionnaires and post- questionnaires, this study used only one questionnaire al the end of the interventions, in which students reflect their attitude changes The reason lies in the fact that the changes can have both positive and negative, consequently the total of calculation, whether equal or net, will

The questionnaire comprises four multiple-choice-item parts and a session for free comment Part 1 is designed to find out the students’ attitudes and performance towards the project by Their commitment to doing the project shows the level of the students’ autonomy

Part 2 is used to find out whether the project improves the students’ speaking proficiency It was created by the researcher based on the criteria of speaking aulonomy pomted out by Thombury (2006) and Rub and Thompson (1994) in the literature review part {part 2.2.3) The data can not only show the level of students’ proficiency but also oparate as an indication

of their improvement of their autonomy in learning speaking skill

Parl 3 is an adaptation of Broady (1996) and Chu, Leo, Sukai, and Takagi (2008) ILis used to

discover the students’ changes of attitudes towards learning in general

Part 4 is used to reconfirm the conclusions drawn from part I, II, III Itis also used to find out

if there are any inconsistencics in answering the questions in the 4 parts

In brief, all of these parts serve to prove whether they became autonomous after all of the intervention Besides, to increase the reliability of the data, this questionnaire was translated into Vietnamese (see Appendix 5)

24

The interview:

The interview questions (see Appendix 7) were also conducted to get insight into each issue, identifying more details and reasons for the issues stated in the questionnaires For this reason, semi-structured interviews seem to be an appropriate tool for exploring the issues Five out of the 28 students were randomly chosen for the interviews to get their opinion of the project used l'o make it reliable, one of the colleague who has got a MA in

TESOL and is interested im the rị

rch in high hopes of bettering the situation was asked

to carry out the interview

‘The observation

The researcher herself made six observations to check the sludent’s participation in the speaking lessons and their level of autonomy m speaking Thus observation sheet (see Appendix 8, an increment to the other data instruments, is an adoption of Nunan’s observation shoot (1995) with an aitn Lo get more information aboul the students’ invelvemsnt in the

activities It is used for observing the class as a whole, not individual student

3.3.2, Detailed description of module 1

Since most students have been used to teacher-centered methods throughout their leaming lives, and the idea of being able to cater for themselves and take active roles in classroom

management is often 4 novel one ‘Time must be given for raising awareness of their leaming

Proves as well as students’ cimpowerment al universily The activities uscd in the first two meetings are as follows

+ Activity 1: Autonomy discussion

© Activity 2: Nature of speaking skill

« Activity 3: Comparing preferences in leaming (adopted from Scharle & Szabo (2000,

pp 16-18))

© Activity 4: Spot the crrars (adapted from Scharle & Szabo (2000), pp 53-54)

® Activity 5: Strategics in speaking

(For further information on these activities, sec Appendix 1)

The first three activities are mainly in form of a raising-awareness discussion in which

students discuss factors conceming leamer autonomy, nature of speaking skill, and their

lsaming preferences explicitly in both nglish and Vietnamese ‘he fourth activity aims at gelting students to feel more confident once they find oul thal ofter people, especially

25

foreigners, even make language mistakes Activity 5 requires students to come up with

solutions for their problems in learning speaking skill Atterwards, they are equipped with a repertoire of common functional expressions (see Appendix 9) and have chances to practice

1, allendmce and participation accounts for 10%, midterm tests and presentations 30%, and final test 60%, It 1s argued that motivation entails commitment to the project Accordingly, keeping track of what is being done is a must

To achieve this goal, cach student rust sign and hand in a contracl (seo Appendix 3) afler the application of awareness raising activities The contract, which is adapted fiom one described

in Lee (1998), stipulates the completion of the homework assigned

3.3.3 Detailed description of module 2

Module 2 embraces onesson-basis information-sharing and reporting tasks to encourage reflection of the use of coping strategies ‘I'hese activities help them to enrich the essential vocabulary, widen their knowledge and especially ersate more chances to practice speaking skill In an effort to keep students from putting off all work to the last moment, it is beneficial

to stipulate that some product must be handed in and report in class

Description of the homework assignment: Students work in pairs, finding an article or any Fieve of news of their choivs, ranging from 200-500 words The article must satisfy the ctiteria of having at least five new words, The students look up the new words in the dictionary, uncover the appropriate meanings of all the new words as used in the article, and vile them dova below the article TL is compulsory to give their phonamic transcriplion to ensure they ean pronounce the words acourately After the new work section is a summary of the article (3-6 sentences with the main points underlined in the article) It is encouraging to give as much traces of working with the materiat as possible The students give more uses of the new words or phrases, find out the collocations, practice paraphrasing some sentences, present the phonemic transcription of any words they are uncertain about, etc Kinally, the pair discusses and practices reporting the article to each other in their own words,

student tells the news, and the other must take notes ‘hey are encouraged to ask questions

and usc any appropriate techniques to tmaintai the conversation and comprehend the information given to take notes These notes must be hand postenor This note taking is to certify that they try to perceive the information from their partners, acquire equal participation, and sel room for the use of compensalory techniques Furthermora, the use of these techniques is fostered by applying no-Vietnamese rule

For class meetings numbers 3-5, students take fifteen minutes for their information sharing in pairs In the next four meetings, they spend about ten minutes for pair work activity, the next five minotes is reserved for some pair presentations in front of the class In the consecutive thice mectings, they usc ton minutes for pair work activity and the next five mimates for individual report in front of the class One or two students make presentations in front of the class, reporting the news that they have just received In doing so, students wilt feel more scoured, and gradually become accustomed to public prescntations, Holding the rehcarsal, they will be more willing to speak up

The final product is a record of all assignments and notes attained during the project Besides, the assessment is also based on students’ active participation in class, especially while doing the aotivitics

To summarize, the second moduls reflects students great efforts im using all the waterials and the speaking techniques to communicate with their partners in the target language The gradual individual presentation merging helps them to gain fearlessness in speaking Hereby,

a

they can implant not only

đ leaning altiludes bnt also take appropriate psychology

in the leaning process Concurrently, their speaking skill is upgraded

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

The data for the students’ activities and altitudes lowards the project was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively by identifying and categorizing the references they made in

the questionnaires, the interviews a3 well as the practitioner's observations ‘Ihe attitudes are

perccived nol only in relation lo the actions the students reported to have undertaken but also the intention to perform in the futwe, The objective was to describe students’ profile as

autonomous learners ‘I‘hus, it 1s subcategorized into three sections as follows:

4.1 Students’ performance and attitudes towards the project

Table 1 reveals the commitment thal the students exhibited and their attitudes towards the project The items were intentionally disorganized regarding the content to increase the validity of the outcome (checking the consistency of responses to the items of the same issue) For cach item, the Girst line identifies the number of students who possess the idea (whether disagree or agree), the second line signifies the cquivalent percentage with the total of 28 students

16 1used Vierlamese whenever [ couldn't find the word | 6 (21%) 22 (79%)

1.9 When we finished the task before the other pairs, we | 24 (86%) 4 (14%)

didn’t do anything else

L101 kept a record of my assignment for revision 6 (2194) 22 (79%)

Table 2: Students’ attitudes and performance during the project (Note: 1 Strongly disagree 2 Disagree 3 Agree 4 Strongly agree

“T think this projcel helps me know which ficld T have loarnl, af least having a number of words and expressions for my talk So, it docs aid in rellecling my language learning partly, functioning as a kind of plan for my study” (response to the questionnaire)

“I don’t want to speak under the same title in every week, which is boring Furthermare,

if the topic is limiled within the textbook, T am afraid T can’ manage speaking in a varicly of siluation in the falure job Trnean, T really like the way Ihe projec! {rec us from limited topics in the course book” (response to the questionnaire)

“It’s curious What I mean is, I’m interested in noticing how the structures or words are used in the context, and then try to use them orally I’m happy that many of my passive words and slruclures become aclive” (response lo the interview, question 1)

TI

c remarks disclose a strong motivation in doing the project and in leaning speaking skill They appear to have an alert attitude towards the language or linguistic curiosity, noticing the features of the input and attempting to internalize them In addition, they attribute the gradual smergence of speaking in front of larger audience to their increase

of scl&confidence These scrvc as a base for deepening their learner responsibility as well as fueling the learning process

In addition, the statistics in Table 1 evince a genuine commitment to the project Approximately 80% of the students endeavored to choose a topic which was not merely

inleresting hut also challenging lo them (questionnaires items 1.5, 1.7, 1.8, inlery

question 2) A large proportion of students (79%) have a purpose in mind when ehoosing

a topic In the interview, they stated that they strived to find the topic which was motivating and four out of five interviewees articulated to figurc out the topics for different week During the task, they were actively engaged in the activities, considerably

29

employing the target language to communicate with their partner, although six students admitted using Vietnamese when speaking (questionnaire items 1.2, 1.6), which fell into the cases when paraphrasing could not do any help or the terms relating to a technical concept which was hard ta be explained in English One of the interviewees slaled, “We tried to express everything in English, though, there are cases we can’t do so Especially,

when we talk about fruit or a kind of disease” (interview question 2) l'urthermore, 79%

of the students declared that they kept a record of the assignment for reviewing, and consequently adjusting their future study, maybe to plan for topie choice next semesters This fact entails their awareness in self planning and reviewing whether willfully or uncensciousty

As rogards cooperation, the students scumed to work well in pairs, A large umber of the students (25) found their partners cooperative and interested enough to keep the conversation going (questionnaire items 1.3, 1 4) This number is relatively in harmony with the number of students who are interested in the project activities (25 students) (questionnaire item 1.1) To put it another way, the slight difference in wording between items 1.3 and 1.4 did not reveal any change in students’ responses This consistency does not only boost the validity of the data but also make it possible to conclude that the students do enjoy working with each other along with the assistance of the teacher

Session TV of the questionnaire serves to find out the explicit beneBls of the project te the students, The results are summarized as follows (see appendix 6 for raw data)

2 make and complete a plan to improve my English 7% 93%

4.4 acquire a number of achve words, phrases and 0% 100%

expressions on different fields

30

competence and helped them learn how to gain autonomy in learning the target language

All of them agreed on the linguistic enriching benefits of the project

However, there was a relative disparity concerning the continuity of the project in the

future as seen in Chart 1 A large proportion of students surveyed reported that they

would undertake similar self-directed activities in their future language learning, which may signal a movement toward autonomy, Fifty percent of the students enjoyed having

the project in the future even if it is not assessed thanks to the fact that they benefited

from the experience Fourteen percent of them express strong commitment to the project,

signaling a high level of autonomy development

According to the statistics, 36% of the students would not like to take the similar project

if it were not assessed by the teacher This is explainable in the context of Vietnam where qualifications and certificates are the first priority in most recruitment procedures Hence,

the study result seems to be a source of motivation to the students Several of them clarified the reason for the discontinuity of a similar project is that they wanted to learn

in their own way They would like to choose their own activities Apparently, this does

not mean they do not move toward more autonomy in learning; on the other hand, these students conveyed much more autonomy than the other groups

Figure 2: Students’ opinions on the continuity of a similar project

‘The result implies that even the tiny group of unmotivated students who thought that project

‘was a waste of time or preferred teacher dominated instruction can become motivated in a

given situation It is the spur of high scores to be earned (or deducted) that stimulates