Luận văn an action research project on improving students’ speaking skills through drama based english language teaching at a secondary school in dong anh district ha noi

ASTRACT This th Toports the result of ar action research on improving sludsnls’ speaking skill through drama based language teaching at a secondary school in Dong Anh district with the

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSIFY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST —- GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYEN THI VIET TA

AN ACTION RESEARCH PROTECT ON IMPROVING

STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL THROUGH DRAMA-BASED ENGLISH

LANGUAGE TEACHING AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL

IN DONG ANH DISTRICT, HA NOT

(Nghiên cứu hành động vẻ cải thiện kỹ năng Nói cho học sinh qua việc giảng đạy

"Tiếng Anh dựa trên kịch tại một trường THƠS ở Đồng Anh, Hà Nội)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS (Type D

Wield : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01

Hanoi - 2019

AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON IMPROVING

STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL THROUGH DRAMA-BASED EKNGISH

LANGUAGE TEACHING AT A SECONDARY SCIEOOL

IN DONG ANH DISTRICT, HA NOF

(Nghiên cửu hành động vẻ cái thiện kỹ năng Nói cho học sinh qua việc giảng dạy

Tiếng Anh dựa trên kịch tại một trường THCS ở Déng Anh, Hà Nội)

MLA MLNOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Mcthodology Code : 8140231.01

Supervisor : Prof Dr Nguyin Hia

Hanai - 2019

DECLARATION

Thereby declare thal this thesis is my own work and clTor and that it bas noi heen

submitted to any other university or institution wholly or partially

Hanoi, April 2019

Nguyễn Thị Việt Hà

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, T would like to express my deep gralitude to my supervisor Dr Nguyễn Hòa who gave me a lot of valuable guidance, encouragements, criticisms and correction throughout my thesis writing

Tam indebted to 34 sixth grade students al DA sevondary school, who provieled me with lots of useful information by answering my questionnaires

“My sincere thanks go to my family, my friends for their encouragement and support

thal help me to complete my work

ASTRACT This th

Toports the result of ar action research on improving sludsnls’ speaking skill through drama based language teaching at a secondary school in Dong Anh district with the help of 3-1 grade 6th students as research participants The research addressed two issues (1) the impact of drama lechniques on studenis’ speaking skill; (2) the impact of drama techniques on their motivation in English lessons ‘the instruments used for data collection and analysis of the study include three tests and

two queslionmaires for the studerds, an interview with ten sludents Lo know about

difficulties and gaps of learning Linglish speaking lessons with drama activities Research findings showed that drama technique was beneficial to help students improve their speaking ability and motivate them in learning English speaking skill Based on the findings, some implications would be given for both the teacher and

the students This study is expected to be a useful suggestion to both teachers and

students in leaching and learning English speaking skill

Key words: Drama Techniques, drama activities, speaking

1.1 Rationale for the study

1.3 Research questions

1⁄7, Strucbure o£ the the8l8 chọn nhung nai 3 CHAPTER2: LITERATURE REVIEW

lan 2.1.1 Definition of spealkiDE cà run ngang grerreenrei 5

2.1.3, The Components of Speaking Skill

2.1.4, Characteristics of Successful Speaking Activities ccsjcssssnuetesenes nee 8 2.1.5, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) 9

2.2.3, The benefits of using drama aotivities in LETL, class senseenseoo.T2

2.2.5 Common lypes of drama activilies - - 17

2.3 Previous Studies

3.1 Research questions and context of the study 25

3.1.1 Rescarch questions restated

3.4.2 Cycle 2

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

41 Findings and discussions for the research question 1 “Whal impact do drama

4.1.1 Data collected from the pre-test and post —test in the first cycle (Appendix 6) 35 4.1.2 Data colleeted trom the post testin oyele 2 (Appendix 6) 36

4.1.3, Data collected from questionnaire with students about their speaking skill

4.1.4 Data collected from interview with students about their speaking skill self-

4.2 Findings and discussions for the research question 2 “What impact do drama

42.1 Data collecled ÍYom questionnaire with students about their attitudes towards

the usc of Drama Activitics in their English Speaking lessons Al

4.2.2 Data collected from interview with students about their attitudes towards the use of Drama Activities in their Linglish Speaking lessons.(see Appendix 9) 46

5.4.2, Recommendation for students ¬—

APPENDICES LẠ HH HH Hạ HH HH HH Hư I

APPENDIX 1B: I.ESSON PLAN FOR TOPIC 1: MY NEW SCHOOT TI

APPENDIX 4 POST- TEST 2FOR STUDENT8 XE

APPENDIX 6 STUDENTS’ SCORE IN PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST IN

APPENDIX 6: STUDENTS' SCORE IN POST-TEST IN CYCLE 1&2 XVII APPENDIX 6, STUDENTS’ SCORH IN PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST XVUL

APPENDIX 8: POST - SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS IN XXV

ví

Table 4.4: Stusleuts’ opinion of the applying Drama activities 42

‘Yable 4.5: Students’ opinion of the continuing working with Drama activities and

Table 4 6: Students’ suggestions fur the teacher im the class 45

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Action research cycles ( Kemmis & Mc Taggart, 1988) 7

Figure 22.Action tescarch cycles (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988, cied by Bưn

Chart 4 3: You can speak English better through this style leaming 38

Chart 4.4: Pronunciation, lexical resource and grammatical range have improved by

Chart 4.5: Students’ opinion of learning English through Drama aclivilies 41

Chart 4.6: Students’ opinion of the applying Drama activities TH enrey 43

vil

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale for the study

Speaking may be the most important and interesting component of any

language It represents the most natural and common form of communication among humans We can easily say that people speak more than they write, so speaking is also probably the main goal for anyone studying a foreign language Despite so, it can be often obstructed by a series of factors, such as shyness, lack of self-confidence, [ear of other people’s judgment, laziness, and so forth, Sometimes

it is not simple to overcome such difficulties people may have with oral communication in a foreign language and this can often lead to stress, discouragement ard lack of inleresl in earring

Tlaving been teaching Inglish for several years at a secondary school, Ihave found that most of my students make not so much progress in their leaming English, especially speaking Students scemed lo use their first language most of the time, making little or no effort at all when practicing their speaking skills Also, they felt erubarrassed and contained from speaking in front of their males, showing amoyance, bother and no collaboration, especially, students in grade 6 because they

do not have enough lessons to practice speaking Inglish in the class

How lo improve speaking skills for studenls becomes my biggest conver Talways try 1o find out the best ways to encourage my students to lean English better and be confident to speak Lnglish in and outside the classroom

Thave read many books and articles about advantages of using drama activities in teaching English 1 have found many researches in our country and in the world about using drama techniques on improving students’ Speaking English skill I inyseli look part in a Teaching English through drama course offered by Professor

Dr Gary B Carkin at the Post Graduate Office of the University of Languages and Intemational Studies, Vietnam National University last year This 11 day course

was usclull for me The course Jed participants -throngh the various approaches and

techniques involved in drama education, illuminating how the four skills can be taught through drama based activities, especially speaking skills

T thought, T could try to do a re ch on using drama based language teaching to improve the sixth-grade-students’ speaking skills at a secondary school | want to investigate the ways that Drama activities enhance students’ speaking skill and

amotivalion in [he FFL secondary classroom

1.2

s of the study The research aims to:

-discover how the use of drama techniques in teaching English helps improve

students’ Linglish speaking skill

- find out the sixth-grade students’ attitudes towards the use of drama techniques in their English speaking lesson

1.3 Research questions

The study will be guided by two research questions below:

1 What impact do drama techniques have on students’ speaking skills?

2 What impact do drama techniques have on students’ motivation?

1.4 Methads of the sludy

- Reason for use action research

T will adopt the action research lo conducl the study for the reason that “action

research is a form of investigation designed for use by teachers to attempt to solve

problems and improve professional practices in their own classrooms It involves syslomalic observations and dala collection which can be then used by the

praclitioner- researcher in reflection, decision-making and the development of more effective classroom strategies (Parsons and Brown, 7002)

- Action research design

‘This study will be carried out with two reflective cycles adopted from Kemmis and

McTaggart (1990) that includes following process: plan, action, observe and reflect

-Instruments

The tools for data will be combined three instruments: tests (a pre-test, a post- test),

a questionnaire and an interview for students

The pre- test and post- test will be designed to measure and compare students’

language skill (especially speaking skill) before and aller the intervention of drama

technique

The questionnaire and interview will be used to find out the 6" -grade — students’

attitudes towards the use of Drama Activities in their English Speaking lessons The

questions will be grouped into four blocks, cach reflecting a different aspect to be

valued: the intrinsic motivation, the extrinsic motivation, a students’ self- evaluation

about their language skills and the methodology employed within the classroom

1.5 Significance of the study

As a practitioner, | am expected to be able to answer the research problems of the

study Mostly important, the researcher intends to discover sometting to learn by

conducting action research (AR) In addition, I am also expected to be a creative and innovative Linglish teacher in organizing classroom activities in speaking class

so that the students can achieve the communicative competence

Talso hope that this study can be useful for the further sludies The result, of this

study can be applied by the other researchers in the same topic as their reference for

the sake of better improvement of a classroom practice

1.6 Scope of the study

The research only focuses on using drama techniques on improving the sixth- grade

students’ speaking skills at a secondary school in the first term of the school-year of

2018-2019

1.7 Structure of the thesis

Chapter 1: Introduction presents the rationale, aims, methodology, significance and

scope of the study

Chapter 2: Literature review - It includes four parts The first one focuses on the theoretical descriptions about speaking skill, the importance of speaking skill, characteristics of Successful Speaking Activities and communicative language

{eaching Definition of drama activities, the theorelical framework, benefils of using

drama activities, common drama activilies im EFT classroom are given in the second

one The last one is about Previous Studies in the world and in Viemam

Chapter 3: Mcthodology - in this chaptor, the introduction of rescarch method including research questions, data collection instruments, data collection procedure and dala analysis are presented

Chapter 4; Mindings and discussions helps to classify the effectiveness of Drama activities on improving students’ speaking skill and motivation at EFL secondary classroom In addition, nol only geod poimis bul also weak points and solutions are clearly shown

Chapter 5: Conclusion, which is the last chapter, followed by references is the summary of the whole study The limilation of the stully and suggestion for Curther studies are also recommended.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter aims al providing veaders dhe theorelical «lescriplions aboul speaking

skill the importance of speaking skill, characteristics of Successful Speaking

Activities and communicative language teaching In addition, background information about Drama technique and preceding studies will be displayed specifically

Lyme (1986) stated that, “oral communication (or speaking) is a two way process

‘between speaker and listener and involves the productive skill of speaking and the receptive skill of understanding” Based on the previous four definitions, it can be synthesized that speaking is the process of sharing with another person, or with other persons, one’s knowledge, interests, attitudes, opinions or ideas Delivery of ideas, opinions, or feolings is some important aspects of the process of speaking

which a speaker’s idea become real lo him and his liste

In 1999, the definition of speaking was defined by Numan as:

E18

“Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves

producing, receiving and processing information its form and meaning are

depending on context in which occurs, including the participants themselves, their

experiences, the physical environment, and the purposes for speaking It is often

spontaneous, open-ended, and evolving Tlawever, speech is not always unpredictable Speaking requires that learners not only know how to produce specific points of language such as grammar, prominciation, or vocabularyf

“Tinguistic competence”), bul also thai they undersiand when, why, and in what

ways to produce language (“‘sociolinguistic competence ”)” (Nunan, 1999)

Jrom these definitions of speaking, | adopted the definition of speaking from Nunan for iy research T wish, drama activities helped my students not only how to produce specific points of English such as grammar, pronunciation, ur vocabulary, but also that they understand when, why and how to use English in real

COMMUN UTECALION,

2.1.2 The Importance of Speaking Skills

Language skill separates into two kinds that are receptive and productive Receptive consists of listening and reading skills, Productive consists of speaking amd wring skills All of the skills are important in communication, including Unglish communication That is how the four skills are taught in English as a Foreign Language (RFT.) One of the most important skills in EFT is gpesking skilL

Speaking has acquired great importance since it is referred as an interactive process

of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information (Brown, 1994; Burns & Joyce, 1997) English has become primordial worldwide for it has become a lingua franca ‘Iherefore, it is the main source for communicating in many fields

Richards (1990) states that the mastery of speaking skill in Unglish is seen as a priority for many EFL leamers across the world Moreover, he adds that leamers consequently often evaluate their success in language learning as well as the effectiveness of their English course based on how well they feel they have improved in their spoken language skiil

Speaking is the action of conveying information or expressing one's thoughts and feclings in spoken language From the definition, il concludes that speaking is expression m sending messages from a speaker towards listeners

Speaking is one of four language skills in English which demanding the speakers ta

be productive to produce oral words and phrase inio a sentence which finally can

inake people to communicate Speech plays a great role in our daily lives ‘Through

specch we can express our feclings, ideas and points of view to others In classrooms especially where second or foreign languages are taught the main thing for most of lhe students are to speak (luently with the targel language

Speaking skill is an interactive process of constricting meaning that involves producing and processing information The sgeskmg skill involves a

communicative ability to use language lo chal and transmit messages in different

and appropriate situations ‘That is to say speaking is an important skill which deserves more attention in both first and second language because it reflects people’s thoughts snd personalities

Teaching speaking ix a very important parl of second language learning The ability

to communicate in a second language clearly and efficiently contributes to the success of the learner in school and success later in every phase of life

In short, speaking is one of the important skills in Hnglish as a Foreign Language

(FFL) By the imporlance of speaking, the goal of Fuglish teaching is lo make

students able to communicate well

2.1.3 The Components of Speaking Skill

According to Syakur (1987), there are at least five components of speaking skill concemed wilh comprehension, grammar, vovabulary, pronunciation, and [lueney

- Comprehension For oral communicalion, il cerlainly requires a subject to respond,

to speech as well as to initiate it

- Grammar, It is needed for students to arrange a correct sentence in conversation, It

is in Hine with explanation suggested by Heaton (1991) thal students’ ability to

Tranipulate sirclure and to distinguish appropriale grammualical form in appropmate

ones The utility of grammar is also to learn the correct way to gain expertise in a language in oral and written form

- Vocabulary One carmol commumicative effectively or express ther ideas beth oral

and written fonn if they do nol have sufficient vocabulary Without grammar very

little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed (Willid, 1990)

So, based on this explanation, the researcher concluded that without mastering vocabulary sufficiently is English leamers will not be able to speak English or write

to understand

-Fluency Fluency can be defined as the ability to speak fluently and accurately

Signs of Nuoncy include « reasonably fast speed of speaking and only a small numbers of pauses Fluency refers to the ease and speed of the flow of the speech (Harris, 1974) Fluency is the smoothness or flow with which sounds, syllables, words, and phrases are joincd together when someone speaks When a person makes a dialogue with another person, the other person can give respond well wilhoul dilTiculty

For example, A asks B: “How are you today?” B answers: “I am fine, thank you.”

It is answered well and quickly

2.1.4, Characteristics of Successful Speaking Activities

Sometimes spoken language is easy to perform, but in some cases, it is difficult (Pollard, 2008) In order that students can carry out the successful speaking, they have to fulfill some characteristics of successfull speaking activity below

According to Ur (1996), students should have chances te talk a lot using the target language What is difficult to achieve, although still possible, is the desire to have the lime devoled to such an activity Glled with learner talking Gime to the maximurn What a teacher can do to promote speaking is to divide students into groups.

Working in groups increases the amount of practice leamors can get, as well as the amount of their speaking When students sit in a small circle, their inhibitions are lowered and (hus they are encouraged lo speak

Another feature of a successful speaking activity, pointed by Brown (2001) is even participation All students should get a chance to speak; moreover, contributions ought to be fairly evenly distributed Therefore, teachers’ task is lo strive towards engaging the less active Joarners and make sure thal all sludents are involved in an equal way

Dobson (1989) suggests thal in order to make sure that covery Ioamner bas a possibility to practice the target language, the teacher can appoint a group representative responsible for equal participation among peers

Motivation also plays an important role in a successful lesson devoted to speaking Without showing a genuine concentration on performing a task, the class faces no efficiency ‘There are two main kinds of motivation: intrinsic motivation and

amotivation — intrinsic motivation, on the contrary, stauds in total contrast to

extrinsic one since it comes from within the person (Harmer, 2001)

The last bul not least important principle, mentioned by Ur (1996), is the acceptable

level of the language used An educator can achieve it by selecting aclivities whose language level is similar to students" linguistic level Such oral tasks empower students and give leamers the possibility to clearly express their ideas and opinions through fluent speech

21.5 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

Sctiyadi (2006) defines communicative language teaching (CLT) as an approach that is

xegarded to make the communicative competence the goal of language teaching

CLT also develops procedures for the teaching of the four language skills that acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication (Setiyadi, 2006) Accordingly, the language leamers are supposed to be able to use language in

conumunication (Hfrizal, 2012, Richards, 2005; Setiyadi, 2006; Wardhaugh, 1997)

The language teaching itself is contextualized by presenting language items in

situational settings

In other words, whatever the contextualization the teacher provides will facilitate

the language leamers to leam the communicative fimetion of the language

Ta order lo achieve the commumicalive competence, CIT ¡is olen strangly

associated with a number of particular classroom activities that do not make the

language leamers fall asleep during leaming language (Efrizal, 2012; Setiyadi 2006)

such as problem-solving and paw work

CLT basically sets as its goals the teaching of communicative competence (Richards, 2003) The communicative competence includes aspects of language

thal, require language learners lo know bow to use language for a range of different

purposes and functions, how to vary our use of language according to the setting

and the participants, how to produce and to understand different types of texts, and

how to maintain communication despite having limitations in one’s language

‘The Unglish text book for grade 6 follows this approach It was written and designed with a purpase to developing students’ communicative skills at basic level: speaking, listening, reading and writing as well as supporting students with appropriate, systematic and basic knowledge of English I used drama technique and

found that it was an effective way to help students to improve their communicative

competence

2.2 Drama technique

2.2.1 Definition of “drama activities”

Susan Holden (1981) defines drama as any activity which asks the paiticipant to

portray himself in an imaginary situation; or to portray another person in an

10

imaginary situation Drama is thus concemed with the world of ‘let's pretend’ It provides an opportunity for a person to express himself through verbal expressions

and gestures using his imagination and memory

According to Shand (2008), “educational drama and Second Language Instruction educational drama refers to using creative drama techniques to teach other subjects

Those techtriques include, bul are not limited to parlomime, slorylelling, slory

dramatization, role-playing, improvisation, theatre games, process drama, and play production.”

To quote Gavin Bolton (Dougill 7 1987), “drama is a utique tool, vilal [or language development” as it simulates reality and develops self expression You need not go into a full-fledged production and public performance You could begin with

incorporating onc-ofT and stand-alone drama aclivitics stretching as less as five

minutes in your class where students perform for each other Drama activities or techniques are equally successful in making leamers experience language in

operalion and provide motivation to use language embedded in a context and a

situation The simple "acting- out” requiring the learners to adopt a new position

involves ther creatively

In this study, drama refers more to informal drama (creative dramatics) as it is used

in the language classroom and not on stage ‘The participants in the drama activities

are (hus Icamers and nol actors:

Before starting to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of using in a language classroom, I will briefly discuss the methodology which represents the theoretical

foundation of drama techniques

2.2.2 Theoretical framework

With respect to the methodological principles, drama techniques are based on the

Communicative Approach

Larsen-l'reeman (1990) remarks, the principal goal of such approach is not focused

on the linguistic accuracy, but rather on making the students communicate in the tangel language flucnily The language produced in the classroom is employed

11

within a social context and it is appropriate to the specific participants, setting and

topic As a consequence, the communication has a purpose and is meaningful, as it

is “sociolinguistically appropnate” (Larsen-Freeman, 1990) Sludents are involved

in pair and group activities, where they have the opportunity to dedicate more time

to speaking interaction with their peers and negotiate meaning in order to be

understood The groups are constantly exchanged so thal the pupils have the chance

to know each other better and increase their confidence The teacher does not direct the activities, but he or she acts as a facilitator of the learning process, since the

student is the true protagomst and the lessem is leamer- centred Also, according Lo

this approach, students are given the opportunity to express their feelings and opinions Finally, grammar mistakes are tolerated, since communication and

[luency are given a main role The lcacher oan correct students’ crrors allerwards,

trying not to interrupt the normal flow of a conversation

After having outlined the theoretical framework of dramatic techniques, I analyze

the benefits of using drama aclivilies in a language classroom context

223 The benefits of using drama activifies in EFL class

Smith (1984) noted, although drama has existed as a potential language Leaching

tool for hundreds of years, 1t bas only been in the last thuty years or so that its

applicability as a language leaming technique to improve oral skills has come to the

forefront Below, T am going to show some of the mosl remarkable benefits of drama activities in EFL classes

4.2.3.1 Motivation

Among the numerous benefits of using drama activities in a classroom, a lot of scholars believe they are entertaining, fun and useful to motivate students learning,

(Dougill, 1987; Livingstone, 1985; Maley and Duff, 1982; Philips, 2003)

Maley and Dull (1982) focus on the comection belween drama and student motivalion

and they say that “ if drama is motivating- and we believe it isthe reason may be that it draws on the entire human resources of the class and that each technique, in its own way, yield a different, unique, resull every Gime it is practiced”

Gaudart (1990) asserts that drama techniques help teachers to organize the class well and to engage all the students more actively in the Unglish leaming process

Using drama aclivities in the classroom will nol only change the almosphere of the

learning process, but it will bring more enthusiasm among the learners

Drama can help students to overcome the psychological barrier from speaking in a

foreign language because il is a kind of stress-free, fim leaching thai encourages

pupils to participate without embarrassment” (Hamilton & Mcleod, 1993)

Drama motivates students to speak Students with low proficiency and low

confidence can be benefited from drama, just like “good” students Hamilton &

McLeod also state that drama provides students with a broad range of opportunities

in learning English and drama motivates them to leam speaking and give them more

confiderice to speak Fnghsh (Hamilton & Mele, 1993)

Guida (1995) shows that drama can also bring motivation to less confident students

to speak up before the class “even some students who do not have confidence to

speak up in public are willing to join in die drama activities They have a lot of fun

and become creative and often able to speak naturally”

Tn addition, the teaching language through drama can make the sliders are pleasant and enjoyable when they learn, They need to move physically while they are

speaking, because that is also what they normally do in a normal conversation

They feel more inlerested and stimulated if they are given a friendly environment

where they can “take risks in the language” occasionally, because it is also a way of experimenting their language knowledge and discovering their gaps (Maley and

Duff, 1982)

Research of Greenfader (2013) supports that a drama can help the leamers

understand the lesson easily than the traditional instruction

“Ry using drama techniques ta teach English, the monotony of a

conversational Linglish class can be broken and the syllabus can be

transformed into one which prepares learners to face their immediate world better as compeieni users of the English language because they gel un

13,

opportunity to use the language in operation.” (Chauhan, 2004)

2.2.3.2 Communication

Drama Ischniques and activilics to develop communication skills through (ueney,

promuneiation, cooperative leaning, confidence building and intercultural

awareness may be added also to the above mentioned elements

Using drama activities in the classroom is a good vehicle for learners to develop

their own performance skills Through these techniques, teachers provide leamers with appropriate knowledge, understanding and skills to make progress in their

learning process, and take the teaching of the targel language more efficient

Learners are provided with opportunities that help them focus not only on language,

‘but also on the learning process itself,

Drama is anthenhe, it can be used in reat conversation, where siadents can express

their emotions and ideas while listening to the feelings and ideas of their classmates

(Aldavero, 2008)

Tn addition, drama can give (he opporlunily to vommursicate with other people in the

classroom because it helps the language skills of learners such as speaking and

istenmng skills When the slodens lalk to each other during the show, the learner

can exchange and share their knowledge together The leamers can gam new

information through using drama

Furthermore, drama aolivities provide a varicly of differant functions of language, sinec

they reproduce real situations, so students are introduced into an authentic

communication context In fact, drama in the educational field” consists in fostering the

social, intellectual and linguistic development” of the student (Dougill, 1987)

Moreover, drama activities allow the students to show his or her own feelings,

personality and creativity, ( Maley and Gufl, 1982} to be used in the language class Maley (2005) told that the drama can give learners a new experience of using the language for communication

Drama has a significant function especially in specifically improving acquiredfanproved speaking skills among (he basic language skills, Drama helps

14

students’ speaking more emotional and flucnt Dramatizing also allows students to express their emotions, thoughts and feelings, which can vary depending on the

The possibility of employing language in context is another benefit of using drama

aclivilies in EFT classroom In fact, im the classroom sLudents are ofien exposed to

small bits of language, such as individual words, sounds, rather than whole phrases

or situations (Phillips, 2003) When speaking, they are not always “asked ta

combine the different structures they arc learning” (Phillips, 2003, p.8), so drama

leads students to make an effort, by employing a huge variety of language structures

and functions, in order to have a successful communication

Desiatoya (2009) corifirms thal studerils cart learn a foreign language through drama by

constantly interpreting meaning from a context, using their previous knowledge in a

creative way, inleracling with each other and working with imagination ark] fantasy

Drama activities help to remforee language previously leamed It helps leam new

vocabulary and expressions in their real environment When using drama in the

alassroom they will help learners extend, relain and reinforce vocabulary and the

structures of sentences The latter can be achieved through the use of role-plays and communication games Drama activities encourage students’ imagination and make the process of leaming more meaningful and realistic (Sam, 1990)

Drama can motivate leamers to guess the meaning of unlaiown words in their action

in a context, It can help the learners gain the confidence and pride of using the

language spontaneously,

As a result of the study of Miccoli (2003) shows that the students can learn

vocabulary, pronunciation and the language accent of the language The learners

trust therasclycs more (hari before.

Furthermore, according to Wasanasomsithi (2009) explains that drama is usctul of

speaking development and the drama techniques help the leamers oan conduct and

clarify their Thoughts

From the test of Araki-Metcalfe (2012) illustrates that the students will gain a new

kmowledge from the inquiry-based learning and find a new way of communicating

wilh other Jcarners The learners can develop a consciousness of their own

imowledge through using drama ‘hey are active in leaming a new process

In summary, from many researches, I believe that using drama activities in teaching

thas many useful [or the EFT students Next, T want to analyze the Leacher- student

relationship and their respective role in the success of using drama activities in KI'L

classroom

2.2.4, Teacher and student rale

According to Maley and Duff (1982), the teacher and students should follow some

basic rules such as:

¥ students should suspend their judgment during the whole activity:

¥ the teacher has to be as clear as possible and give precise instructions, so that students know which group they belong to, who their partners are and whal they are

expected to do,

¥ materials, such as photocopies, pictures, objects, etc have to be provided;

v the teacher should walk round the classroom and keep a close control,

¥ the teacher has to decide how much he or she is going to intervene during the

activity

Fleming (2006) claims that drama is definitely learner-centered, since it would not

work without students’ active cooperation Moreover, it creates “a need to learn the language, either through use of creative tension, or by putting more responsibility

on the leamer, as opposed to the leacher” (Ulas, 2008)

‘The teacher has to be clear and sure that the students understand what they have to

do, then he or she has to step back and let them he the real protagonists of the aolivily, “controlling bul not dirceting” (Maley and Dul, 1982)

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The tcacher should not intervene if something goes ‘wrong’ or if there are silent anoments, since these arc natural and necessary to make students reflect In addition, thore is no right or wrong ways of doing such activities, sinee they depend on the

studeris’ own personalily and experiences Whal the teacher should do is to encourage

students to speak, to think critically, Lo listen Lo each olher’s ideas and ta leam how ta

distinguish whal is relevanl, because thal is exactly what bappeus and whal they de ina

somal everyday conversation Moreover, the teacher has to keep in mind that his or

er students are not professional actors and actresses, but they are just practicing, and

3)

As far as studenis' mistakes are concerned, the teacher should discuss about them

using their English in an enjoyable way (Phillips,

later, without interrupting the activity in course ‘This is fundamental to let students feel free to participate, “react and interact spontaneously” (Maley and Duff, 2005) without any sort of fear for making mistakes Correcting errors while students are speaking could have an inhibiting effect and “may interfere with the process of creativity” (Dougill, 1987) Therefore, leachers need Lo aet varefully, uying not to interrupt students in mrúd-llow or vriticize those who need to be encouraged or supported

Suitable dramatic activities used in the classroom also play an important role in

successful lessons There are plenty of possible dramatic activities can be engaged

according to the classroom inclinations T am going to use the following common drama activities in my study

2.25 Common types af drama activities

2.2.5.1, Role play

As Livingstone (1985) claims, role play is “a classroom activity which gives the student the opportunity to practice the language, the aspects of role behavior, and the actual roles he may need outside the classroom” (p 6)

According to Blatner (2009), role plays help students to become more interested and

involved, especially by applying knowledge to action, by solving problems,

-valuating alternatives and looking for original solutions Pupils manage to develop a wide range of abilities, such as initiative, self-confidence, group work and

oommurigation in general

Role plays prepare students not only for conununicating in a foreign language, but also in another cultural and social context (Kodotchigova, 2002)

A role play should be selected carefully, by keeping in mind a series of

characteristics Kodotchigova (2002) describes six steps to follow in order to accomplish a successful role play in a classroom First of all, the teacher has to set

up 4 situation, keeping in mind the sludents’ needs, interests, age and previous

experience (Livingstone, 1985), For instance, a role play chosen for teenagers will not be the same one as for business people or adults in general After choosing the

cmoxi, the role play is developed Tn order Lo achieve thal, teachers have 1o

consider students’ level, so the role play will be designed depending on their

competence in the foreign language (Livingstone, 1985) The next step consists in a

linguistic preparalion, by predicting the Tanguage necded for the performance

(Kedotechigova, 2002) Afterwards, students are given precise role descriptions and

information such as their names, age, characteristics, and so forth In the fifth siep

such roles are assigned and the role play is represented, Finally, the follow-up

activity is dedicated to debriefing, in which students can express their opinion about

taking a role himself or herself It should be a minor role, which does not affect the

pace of the aclion

Role-play activity allows students work individually, in pairs, in groups, whole class and collective role The teacher gives them the situations they need to play in

role For example “Tell a foreign visitor about your school im role of the President

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of the School”, “Introduce tourists about a temple, pagoda, beautiful views in role

of a tourist guide ‘Ihe students can use both storytelling androle play activities to

do the duty they choose

2.2.5.2 Hot Seating

Tlot sitting is an activity in which the student or teacher answers questions in role

about the background, behavior and motivation of a character Hot seating may be

used for exploring the motivations of any real or fictitious character The method can easily be used across the curriculum, ranging from history and geography through lo personal and social development, This stralegy helps to develop questioning skills within the rest of the group [lot Seating can also be used to help

actors develop confidence in their character roles during rehearsals The traditional approach is for the person playing the charavter to sit on a chair im front of the

group Pupils are then invited ta ask questions These can begin with simple facts,

such as name, age and occupation and move on to more personal areas If a student

is being hol-scated it is helpful wf the teacher takes on the role of lacihtator to guide

the questioning in consteuctive directions ‘fo help students begin teacher can try

hol-seating students in pairs (¢.g a pair of sireet urchins) or in groups {¢ g snvironmental protesters, refugees), To add a touch of fim teacher can cnlist the

help of a teaching assistant or a confident child to play the role of a chat show host

who mtroduces the character Lo the class and help lhe questions Tf a character isn’

fully revealmg the truth to the group, thought tracking can be used to find out what the character may really be thinking Ilot seating can be used in the middle of an improvisation by freezing the improvisation and interviewing individual characters

1t can be helpful in rehearsals for actors who have become too attached to the script,

enabling them to forget their concerns about learning lines and to explore the

background and mnotivalions of a character tstead, Role on the wall is effective for

developing characters and can be used alongside hot seating, In the following examples either the teacher or the students can be hot seated depending on their level of knowledge about the characters The more experience of the ischnique the

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students gain, the better they will become (David Farmer, 2011)

Jor example, teacher may give them characters to hot seat include famous people,

Tistoneal char

3, famous characlers on TV, films, cartoons, comedies, well-

imown singers, footballers, ordinary people like a doctor, teacher, chimney sweep, soldier or funny characters such as animals, objects around them,

imagination and creativity Storytelling helps to improve pupils’ speaking and

listening skills and increase molivation (or reading: and writlen work Storytelling

encourages pupils to see vents from different perspectives Storytelling can be used

as a drama activity or combined with other drama strategies A good place to start is

dy Lelling stories lo students and encowages them Lo share sturies wilh one another

Look and watch videos of storytelling and encourage the students to identify

techmoques they could use in their own slories Imporlant storytelling techniques include the use of voice (words and sound effects), facial expression and bodily

gesture, mine, pace, repetition, rhythm, elaboration, exaggeration and- most of all-

ongagement with the audience

Below the researcher will show several storytelling activities in the HFL classroom Tor example, “One word at a Time” Students tell a story by taking it in tums to speak one word at a time Speaking one word at a time enables students to quickly improvise a collective story, develop their storytelling and listening skills and learn

to value one another’s ideas It can also be used as a novel way of narrating alongside a performance The tule is simple — students add just one word to the story when it is their tum ‘This works best if students are sitting in a circle but also can be done at desk in the classroom, Another example “Narration (by the students) Storytelling used by the students to structure their performance Students ear usc

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narration to introduce themselves, their family, their friends, their holiday, a performance, link the scenes together, give information or comment on action and the characters Guided lour is also an interesting activity olf storytelling strategy

‘Teacher can ask student to write a story, draw pictures and maps of the imagined joumey such as a famous city in the world, a busy city in Vietnam, a visit to another planet, a natural wonder, a historical placa Then students play in roles of tourist guides, historical researchers, reporters, tourists to act out their performance and presentation in front of the class or make a video clip

2.2.5.4 Mame

Mime is “the art of conveying ideas without words” (McCaslin: 2005; Dougill

1987) defines the mime as “a non- verbal representation of an idea or story through

gesture, bodily movement and expressinm”

According to David Farmer (2011), mine is the use of physical movement to

imaginatively explore activites in role or to communicate stories and characters It

is an integral part of dramatic activily Mine enables students 10 develop precision

and clarity in their movement which in tun helps their communication and performance

It is important that mune is used to enable students to develop their ideas rather than

just reproduce narrated action Mimed action naturally occurs when students play

and is natural part of improvisation and sLorylclling There are no hard and fast rules

about mine In performance it is traditionally considered to be silent but mine can

feature sound effects, narration, music and (sometimes) even speech Slow —motion

mine is valuable for highlighting crucial moments of the drama or for showing an act of aggression Below, | show some examples mine is the EFL classroom

Y Give students a photo or a painting history, ask student to look carefully at

them, and then make a tableau and bring iL alive through mined movement,

~ Divide class in four or six groups, then gives each group a card with an illustration and/or description of an invention or something related They devise a mined representation of it [or the other group guess As an exlonsion they could also devise a

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fictional invention and others have to guess which invention actually existed

¥ Read part off the story the ask students to mine what they think happens next

Y Develop group mines showing the siluntions such as al the cale’, at the zoo, al

the park, in the classroom, in the party

2.3 Previous Studies

Thore were many previous studies to research the use of drama in EFT classrooms

Pioneers in the field of KSL/KKL include Via (1975), Maley & Duff (2005) and

Smith (1984), who all published bocks based on their experiences as language

teachers who have used drama in their classroom,

Recently, drama also has been promoted to be used in LIL classes by following

researchers such as Wheeler (2001), Wagner (2002), Sun (2003), Littlewood

(2002), Maley & Dulf (2005), Harmer (2001), Carkin G (2007) Ulas (2008),

Dervishaj (2009), Desiatova (2009) and Gomez (2010) Alll of these researchers use

drama technique in their language classroom and in their scientific products, they

admit the benefits that drama beings to students and they also guide the readers the

way to apply drama in teaching and learning Hnglish

T could find many master thesis to sLudy aboul using drama (echnique to develop students’ speaking skill

One of them named “Drama techniques to enhance speaking skills and motivation

in the FFL secondary classroom” by Tngles from hy Ingles from Universitas

Complutensis Matnitensis, Madrid, Spain (2015) In her study, the data analysis displayed an enhancement of students’ communicative skills, in particular speaking

and vocabulary Drama techniques revealed to be in fact powerful instruments to

develop a contextual and an authentic use of language, as well as critical thinking and creativity She found that drama techniques make the leaming process an enjoyable and useful experience, by overcoming the academicism of the conventional lesson structure and bringing the outside realife right into the

classroom.

The other onc named “An action rescarch on using stories and drama in teaching Faglish to primary sludents al Quan Tru primary school” by Va Thi Thanh Tâm from Quan Tru Primary School (2012) This thesis had described a research in which the author tried to tackle the problems of students’ low speaking and listening competences by working with 80 thind-gradors using stories and drama This sludly was carried out wilh the purposes of answering twa tain «questions:

1 What are the attitudes of Quan Tru third-grade students and teachers towards the

‘use of stories and drama in English lessons?

2 11ow can the use of stories and drama in teaching Linglish enhance Quan ‘ru

third-grade siudonis" Frighsh speaking and listorsinyg skills?

In order ta explore the attitudes of Quan Tra third-grade students and teachers

towards the use of stories and drama in English lessons and how the use of them can enhance Quan Tru third-grade students’ English speaking and listening skills, the

resvarcher used various methods for data collection The tools for dala gathering

include two questionnaires, one for teachers and one for students, class observation and teacher journals The author found some limitations of this study First of ail, this study was small scale, which focuses on only two language skills speaking and listening, of 80 third- graders Besides, there were still some problems that this

study could not solve absolutely for during the try — out stage: some of the students

could not co-operate with other peers in their presentation or could not be adapted

by any groups

The results of the research showed that most primary students had a positive attitude towards stories and drama and their English learning can be improved through these

tools

‘These previous studies were useful for me to carry out my research ‘They helped me

to belicve that my students could make good progress in English speaking when working with drama T decided lo try oul some drama activities such as role play,

hot- seating, mime and storytelling on improving my sixth- grade- students’ English

speaking skill in this study

2.4, Summary

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In conclusion, this chapter provides readers an overview of the theoretical descriptions used in this sludy including definition of speaking skill, its importanee, the factors of Successful Speaking Activities and communicative language teaching Then theories of Drama technique and its benefits in English language teaching are displayed specifically Not only the definitions but also common drama activities

are given clearly Firully, T broaden the content of this parl by showing preceding studies with their findings Their findings are useful for me to do my research This session reflects the actual picture of implementation and effectiveness of drama technique through time

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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

Tn this chapter, the researcher synthe

s five main parls The [inst part is aboul lhe

research questions [he second one is the participants Meanwhile, the research instruments to collect data used in this study are presented in the third part The next

section discusses aboul the procedure of the research The fifth scetion prescnils the

snethod of data analysis

3.1 Research questions and context of the study

41.1 Research questions restated

‘The study was guided by two research questions below:

1 What impact do drama techniques have on students’ speaking skills?

2 What impact de drama techniques have on students’ motivation?

3.1.2 Context of the study

The study was carried out in a private secondary school It had five hundred

students consisted of 12 classes [rom grade 6 lo grade 9

English is a compulsory subject at the school ‘The English course lasts thirsty five

weeks with two terms The students had len English lessons a week among of which there were four optional lessons for listening and speaking skills

Vour series of Pearson “ ‘ling Anh 6”, “ Tiếng Anh 7”, Liếng Anh 8”, “ Tiếng Anh

9” writlen by the group of authors Hoang Vin Van, Nguyén Thị Chỉ, Lê Kim

Dung, Phan Chỉ Nghữa, Vũ Mai Trang, Lương Quỳnh Trang, Nguyễn Quốc Tuần

and David Kaye were used as the textbook at school from grade 6 to 9

“Tiéng Anh 6” textbook consisted of twelve units for two terms It was designed

under theme-based approach with sixteen topics corresponding with twelve units ach unit is about a topic ‘The topics in the first term are about new school, home,

friends, neighborhood, natural wonders of the world and Tet holiday ‘The themes

in the second term are about television, sporls and games, cilies in the world, houses

in the future, green world and rohols Bach unit includes five parts: Reading,

Speaking, Listening, Writing and Language Vocus Hach unit is leamed in seven

lessons arranging as follows; Getting started, A close look 1, A close look 2, Communication, Skills 1 (Reading and Speaking), Skills 2 (Listening and Writing), Looking back and Project The English written and speaking tests were carried out three times in each semester to assess the students’ English skill In addition, they lad an open-air lesson in cach semester to practice speaking English in real

BH uatiOns

3.1.3 Participants

The participants of the study were 34 sixth -grade students They were included 15 males and 19 females All of them were 12 years old I'he participants were selected purposively and due to three reasons

Firsily, in this semester, 1 was respousible for teaching them English In other words, I had time to work with them, experience and observe their process of learning Unglish directly in a full term

Secondly, they were the youngest students of my secondary school They have just finished their primary schol The have studied 5 series of Macmillan education

English textbook written by the group of authors Hoang Van Van, Phan Hà, Đễ Thị

Ngoc Ilién, Dao Ngoc Lộc, Trương Thị Ngọc Minh, Nguyễn Quốc Tuần and Ken

Wilson for primary students and obviously, they were looking for somcthing new wilh English lessons in upper English level leaning Thus, iL was good for them to

continue learning at higher education level

Thirdly, I thought the drama activities were useful for them ta apply in their open- air lesson and gave them more experiences in real situations

Also, { wanted to apply using drama in English lesson right to grade 6” students

because if my research findings were in an expected way, it would be applied to

prade 7, lH and 9" students

‘The study was conducted in the first term of the school year of 2018-2019 from 5" September to 15" December with 15 lessons (Appendix 1)

3.2 Design of the study

T cared out the study wih 15 lessons divided im Lwo reflective cycles adopted from

Kemmis and Molaggart (1990) that consists of following process: plan, action,

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observe and reflect The diagram of the research cycles is represented as this

At the beginning of first term of the academic year 2018-2019, I observed sixth-

grade English lessons with 34 students to identify the difficulties or issues which

need changing

Next, I made an evaluation of the students’ speaking abilities (34 students) The

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criteria for evaluating cach student’s speaking abilitics in English lessons included message content, vocabulary and grammar range, fluency and coherence, attitude and comprehensibilily

‘Then, 1 conducted a student pre-trying-out questionnaire survey to find out the

causes of students low English speaking skills as well as their attitudes towards the

use of Drama aclivilies in leaching English

After that, 1 made plan lessons to try aut the use of Drama activities such as role play, mime, hot-seating and storytelling m English teaching to motivate sixth-grade students to learn English and to improve their English speaking skills T gave

students the silualions they needed Lo play i role For example:

“Tell a foreign visitor about your school in role of the President of the School”

“ Play a role as a reporter of your school TV channel to tell about activities at your school.”

“Play a role as a tourist guide to Lell about your harneltawn”

“Play a role as a historian to tell about a historical place in your hometown”

“ Play a role as a reporter to introduce about a natural wonder in the world”

“Introduce tourists about a temple, pagoda, beautiful views in role of a tourist guide, a historian or a reporter ot al

T continued to carry oul a post-trying-oul questionnaire survey to get, information,

from the 34 students on the extent to which the use of drama activities has helped improve their English speaking, skills the 10 questions in the questionnaire were

designed in Vicinamiese to ensure students understandmyg and truthful answers then

T translated into Eng!

I carried out the questionnaire with 34 students about their attitudes towards the use

of these situations activities in English speaking lessons

T analyzed dala [rom pre- test, post-test, student, questionnaires quantitatively for

descriptive stalistics and qualitatively for Lendency towards the two themes

represented in the two research questions

After collecting the results from pre- test, post-test, student questionnaires I

interviewed 5 students to check the results again

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Finally, I made writing up to complete the research

Step 2: Act

Tl was the time for me to mroduce an overview of the course Drama lechmique im

the EFL secondary classroom and to cary out some intended strategies Students

were introduced to the drama activities which would be used in imagination situations (followed ihe lopies in their (ext book such as role play, storylelling They

were also shown the rules of some funny drama activities named mine, hot seating They were explained clearly and easily to understand the duties they had to

accomplish They were shown the clips, pictures; photos .related lo the topics

they learned in the text book for grade 6 such as my new school, my home, my

neighborhood, the natural wonders in the world and our Tet holiday I divided 34 students into pairs, stuall groups of three or four lo discuss and tole play as a

director of the school, a tourist, a guide, a historian, a reporter or a foreigner to tell about the topic they were learning in the lesson During this period, all students

were Coreed 10 cooperale, share ideas and create commun product

At the end of each cycle, it was indispensable for me to recite what had happened in

the Drama activities EYL classroom in term of perfect effectiveness and some

exisling disadvantages This step had the purpose of evalualing the process’ results,

then drawing out suggestions or solutions for the next cycle

3.3 Instruments

This siudy was followed the desenplive research method which Irusled

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characteristics of both quantitative and qualitative method

So as to tightly fit the objective of this study, data collection was combined three

instruments: tests (pre-test and post-test), a questionnaire and an interview

protocol for students

3.3.1 Pre- test and post- test (Appendix 2, 3, 4)

I carried out the pre- test and post- test to evaluate students’ speaking skill before

and after the intervention of drama technique

Both pre-test and post-test were designed to have the same form, length and level of difficulty They both consisted of three parts: introduction, topics/situations and

discussion

Part 1: Introduction

- Students introduce something about themselves (name, age, family, hobbies )

- The teacher will ask students one or two more questions about them

Part 2: Topics/ Situations

-Students talk about the topic they pick up using the suggestions

Part 3: Discussion

-Teacher asks students two further questions about their topic

‘They were marked out of 10 according to the following criteria; Message content, vocabulary and grammar range, fluency and coherence, attitude and comprehensibility (Appendix 5)

The grade was calculated according to the following table:

used as the pre- test for the second cycle

In the second cycle, the post- test was carried out in the 16" week

3.3.2 Questionnaire (Appendix 8)

The questionnaire contained 9 ‘close-ended’ items scored on a four-point Likert

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Soalc and one “open-ended” in Vietnamese More specifically, with the

quclivalion (intrinsic and extrinsic molivaliou), a students’ scll- cvalualion aboul

their language skills and their dilficully when working with drama activilics in English speaking lessons The 9 ‘close-cnded’ questions gave me sludents’ altitudes

towards the use of Drama Activities in their English Speaking lessons included their motivation and self- evaluation The “open-ended” question showed me the students’ difficulties and the problems they wanted me to help them when working

with drama activities

All students were explained and gave very clear introduction as well as the purpose

of the questionnaire To make sure the students understood the questionnaire, five students first were piloted, and then the survey was done with all of them They answered questionnaire by themselves in the classroom after English lesson All of the answers got from students’ questionnaire were summed up and calculated by giving certain ways for each item and working out the total student

However, these answers were partly personal and subjective and that is the reason

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