04051001810 toanvan using interactive activities to improve speaking skills of second year students in a police training sử dụng hoạt Động tương tác nhằm nâng cao kĩ năng nói cho sinh viên năm thứ hai tại một trường đại học
INTRODUCTION
Rationale for the study
In Vietnam, the achievement of English-speaking proficiency has received greater concern by most English learners thanks to its indispensable role in international communication relationships arisen from the recent trend of global integration Such the impact has brought about the fluency and proficiency of English-speaking skills as one main objective in the curriculum of English language program at most Vietnamese schools It is, however, still challenging for numerous English language learners to fully achieve speaking skills Although speaking is widely agreed to be the most important skill and teachers need to promote their students’ ability of English speaking, it is not easy to do so because there are some problems in teaching and learning speaking skills faced by both students and teachers
In a police-training institution under the management of the Ministry of Public Security, English is a compulsory subject in the curriculum The general English training goal of the school is that the students will be competent in their English language skills in equivalence to the standard of output of B1 level after graduation
Having worked in this institution for more than 10 years, the author realizes that it is relatively challenging for many students to learn English as a second language, especially with their speaking skills Undoubtedly, the students need to do much practice, receive proper guidance and have strategies for learning a second language to achieve fluency and accuracy In fact, many learners of English say that speaking is one of the most challenging skills Even though they may have a quite good background about grammar and lexical resources, they are likely to find difficulties while speaking Consequently, the requirements for appropriate teaching and learning
2 methods to foster English language training, especially speaking skills should be taken into consideration Up to now, however, there have not been any studies on teaching methods and techniques, especially using interactive activities to teach and learn English speaking skills at this school Interactive classroom activities were carefully selected with the purpose of improving speaking skills with a focus on pronunciation, fluency, accuracy, and comprehension which are relevant components of speaking Additionally, it is essential to use interactive activities that support students in the process of acquiring a new language The correct application of interactive activities helps learners have a participative role in the class and gives them the opportunity to develop their cognitive skills The use of interactive activities during the teaching-learning process gives students the chance to interact with each other, enhance self- confidence and improve communication
Based on the aforementioned background, the researcher is keen on making an effort to know whether the application of interactive activities can improve students’ English-speaking ability and conducts the thesis named “Using interactive activities to improve speaking skills of second-year students in a police-training institution from a socio-cultural perspective”
1.2 Aim, objectives and research questions
1.2.1 Aim and objectives of the study
The study aims at examining to what extent the use of interactive activities helps improve English speaking skills of the second-year students in a police training institution
The objectives of this study can be stated as follows:
- To explore the improvement of student’s speaking ability after the intervention of interactive activities;
- To examine the students’ responses to the implementation of interactive activities in speaking lessons
Based on the rationale, the aim and the objectives stated above, the research is conducted to address two following questions:
1 To what extent do the interactive activities improve the second-year students’ speaking skills in the Police training institution?
2 What are the students’ opinions towards the application of the interactive activities in their learning of English-speaking skills?
Due to the limit of the thesis, the study cannot cover all the speaking activities but focus on using interactive activities to develop students’ speaking skills only Due to time constraints, the study will just be conducted on twenty-five second-year students of a class in a police-training institution in Hanoi
The significance of the study covers several parties enlisted as follows:
For the English teachers of this school: This research can be used to improve the process of teaching English speaking skills so that the teaching and learning process can be successful and give a great positive impact on the second-year students’ speaking ability
For other English teachers: This research can be a reference to improve the teaching of English speaking skills
For the students of this institution: Students can improve their speaking ability through interactive activities
For the author: The study will help the author to uncover a critical area in the English teaching and learning process that has not been explored before The study, moreover, may also be an important foundation for further studies
To achieve the aim of the study, both quantitative and qualitative methods are
4 exploited in this action research The data is collected via tests, questionnaire, and interview
The thesis covers the parts as follows:
Chapter 1: Introduction provides readers with overall information about the research including the rationale of the study, the aim and objectives of the study, the research questions, the scope, the significance, the methods as well as the organization of the study
Chapter 2: Literature review deals with the major concepts of speaking ability, interactive activities and Socio-cultural Theory with hope to provide theoretical background for the following chapters Besides, a review of related studies is also presented
Chapter 3: Methodology presents the method used to find out the necessary data for the study, including the background information of the context where the study is conducted Rationale for using action research, instruments used to collect data, and research procedure are presented
Chapter 4: Findings and discussion analyzes and discusses the data collected from the tests, questionnaire, and interview Based on the data analysis and discussion, an evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention can be drawn out
Chapter 5: Conclusion summarizes what is addressed in the study, presents the suggestions for the teachers, points out the limitations and provides some suggestions for further study.
Scope of the study
Due to the limit of the thesis, the study cannot cover all the speaking activities but focus on using interactive activities to develop students’ speaking skills only Due to time constraints, the study will just be conducted on twenty-five second-year students of a class in a police-training institution in Hanoi.
Significance of the study
The significance of the study covers several parties enlisted as follows:
For the English teachers of this school: This research can be used to improve the process of teaching English speaking skills so that the teaching and learning process can be successful and give a great positive impact on the second-year students’ speaking ability
For other English teachers: This research can be a reference to improve the teaching of English speaking skills
For the students of this institution: Students can improve their speaking ability through interactive activities
For the author: The study will help the author to uncover a critical area in the English teaching and learning process that has not been explored before The study, moreover, may also be an important foundation for further studies.
Method of the study
To achieve the aim of the study, both quantitative and qualitative methods are
4 exploited in this action research The data is collected via tests, questionnaire, and interview.
Structure of the study
The thesis covers the parts as follows:
Chapter 1: Introduction provides readers with overall information about the research including the rationale of the study, the aim and objectives of the study, the research questions, the scope, the significance, the methods as well as the organization of the study
Chapter 2: Literature review deals with the major concepts of speaking ability, interactive activities and Socio-cultural Theory with hope to provide theoretical background for the following chapters Besides, a review of related studies is also presented
Chapter 3: Methodology presents the method used to find out the necessary data for the study, including the background information of the context where the study is conducted Rationale for using action research, instruments used to collect data, and research procedure are presented
Chapter 4: Findings and discussion analyzes and discusses the data collected from the tests, questionnaire, and interview Based on the data analysis and discussion, an evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention can be drawn out
Chapter 5: Conclusion summarizes what is addressed in the study, presents the suggestions for the teachers, points out the limitations and provides some suggestions for further study
LITERATURE REVIEW
Speaking skills
Speaking is an important skill in learning a foreign or second language As Brown and Yuke (1983, p 52) stated: “Speaking is the skill that the students will be judged upon most in real life situations” Consequently, teachers need to provide English language learners with the necessary skills so that learners can improve their speaking ability and perform well in real-life situations As a teacher of English in a police-training institution, the researcher is well- aware of the importance of teaching speaking skills and finds it necessary to implement various teaching strategies in her classes to help students develop their speaking ability
This part of the paper discusses speaking skills definition, components of speaking skills as well as types of speaking performances in the classroom What is more, characteristics of successful speaking activity and stages of teaching speaking skills are also presented
Speaking is one of the most fundamental concepts in communicative language teaching So far, there have been different definitions of speaking skills by different researchers and scholars
According to Spratt, Pulverness, and William (2011), speaking is a productive skill, like writing It involves using speech to express meanings to other people When people speak, they use different aspects of speaking depending on the types of speaking they are involved in That is why speaking is a complex activity
Brown (2004) defines speaking as a productive skill that can be directly and empirically observed Speaking is the product of creative construction of linguistic strings, the speaker makes choices of lexicon, structure, and discourse
Thornburry (2007) suggests various dimensions of different speaking events in order to describe different speaking genres There is a distinction between transactional and interpersonal functions Transactional function has its main purpose conveying information and facilitating the exchange of goods and services, whereas the interpersonal function is all about maintaining and sustaining good relations between people
According to Riddell (2003), speaking is one of two things in a lesson Speaking is not reading aloud (pronunciation), either reading the answer to a grammar question (accuracy) Speaking is neither reading the answer to a reading/listening question (comprehension) In each of these cases the aims are not speaking-related It could be a speaking activity designed to give practice of language just learned or reviewed
From many definitions and explanations about speaking, it can be concluded that speaking is actually a way of how people communicate and interact with each other and convey the meaning they want the hearer to get
According to Harris (1974), there are five components of speaking skills concerned with comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, fluency These five components are quite similar to those of the CEFR speaking rubric Specifically, the components of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation are shared in both Harris’s viewpoint and CEFR framework Instead of discourse management, Harris used the name of fluency However, in nature, these two components are quite the same Similarly, the components of interactive communication in the CEFR and comprehension in
Harris’s book share many similarities The author decided to use the speaking components of Harris as they are easier and more clearly to understand and develop the research instruments
According to Kline (2001), “pronunciation is the process for learners to use to generate clearer language when they are speaking” This means that each student is able to communicate effectively when they have excellent pronunciation and intonation even though they have limited vocabulary and grammar Consequently, one can conclude that pronunciation is the way for students to utter words clearly when they are speaking Fraser (2008) mentions that pronunciation integrates all aspects of speech which make for an easily comprehensible flow of speech, including segmental articulation, rhythm, intonation and phrasing, gestures, body language, and eye contact
According to Eleni (2011), grammar plays an essential role in language learning Recognizing a language means that a learner has obtained the ability to produce grammatically satisfactory sentences in the target language together with an ability to use these forms properly as the occasion demands This indicates that learning grammar is a mark for good language learning and a key component of language teaching as well The correct use of the grammar in the language is a description of the ways in which words can change their forms and can be used in order to combine into sentences in that language (Harmer, 2001) As stated by Nelson (2001, p 8), “Grammar is the study of how words combine to form sentences” Furthermore, grammar is a rule that is needed for learners to combine correct sentences in conversation both in written and oral forms
Vocabulary is important for successful second language use because without
8 essential vocabulary, students will not be able to use the structure and grammatical functions they may have learned for understandable communication Vocabulary means the correct use of diction Furthermore, vocabulary helps to express ideas, feelings, and thoughts easily both in oral and written form Vocabulary is a basic component of language learning Learners have to know words, their meanings, how they are spelled and how they are pronounced Vocabulary is the knowledge of the meaning of words (Rora,
Hughes (2002, p.68) describes fluency as “the capability of expressing oneself in an intelligible, reasonable and perfect way without extra hesitation, otherwise, the communication will fail because listeners will lose their interest” To achieve this goal, teachers then should instruct learners to use their personal language liberally to express their own thoughts and then avoid imitations of a model of some kind One can say, fluency is the capacity to respond in a coherent method by linking the words and phrases efficiently and pronouncing the sounds clearly The objective is to help students speak fluently and freely The teacher does not correct the students’ mistakes immediately because too much correction would interrupt the flow of conversation
Comprehension is the capability to perceive and process the main points of discourse in order to formulate representations of the meaning of sentences Comprehension of a second language is more complicated to study Comprehension means that participants fully understand the nature of the research project, even when procedures are complicated and many Lado
(2005) defines speaking ability as the ability to use in normal communication, stress,intonation, grammatical rules and vocabulary
2.1.3 Types of classroom speaking performance
According to Brown (2001), there are six types of classroom speaking performance It is useful in guiding teachers in planning speaking activities Those six types are described as follows:
This category includes the ability to practice pronunciation and focusing on some particular elements of language form That is just imitating a word, phrase or sentence The teacher uses drilling in the teaching learning process so that students get opportunity to listen and orally repeat some words
This is the students’ speaking performance They practice some phonological and grammatical aspects of language It usually places students in doing the tasks in pair or group work, for instance, reading aloud including reading paragraphs, reading dialogues with partners in turn, reading information from charts, etc
Interactive activities
Conventional methods in English language teaching like lectures and book- reports are great educational tools but sometimes they can be boring to learners, especially in speaking classes Consequently, it is pivotal for teachers to reflect and think of how to make their lessons more interesting, engaging and effective There are a lot of different ways and among that, implementing interactive activities is advisable in English classes in general and English-speaking classes in particular
This part of the study presents some theoretical backgrounds concerning the definitions and types of interactive activities, advantages of using interactive activities in the classrooms as well as some interactive learning instructional strategies
The usage of interactive activities supports students’ reaction to lecture material, to complex group exercises in which students apply course material in different situations to find the solutions to new problems (Faust & Pulson,
Douglas and Brown (2000) explain that interactive interaction is an important word for language teachers mainly because it is communication era He defines that interactive activity is the collaborative exchange of feelings, thoughts, or ideas between two or more people, resulting on a reciprocal effect on each other (Brown, 2001) From the interactive activities, then, people interpret, negotiate meaning, and collaborate the meaning to accomplish certain purposes
In teaching and learning interaction, Moore (1997) states that there are three clusters of interaction namely Dialogue, Structure, and Learners Autonomy Dialogue is developed by teachers and learners in the course of the interactions that occur when one gives instruction and the others respond Structure is the elements in the course design, or the ways in which the teaching program is structured so that it can be delivered through the various communications media While, Learners Autonomy, the second dimension of independent learning is a state when learners use teaching materials and teaching program to achieve goals of their own, in their own ways, under their own control (Moore, 1997)
In short, interactive activities are the activities that students do in a classroom as part of the learning process These activities do not involve just listening to an instructor's instructions or explanations This includes everything from listening, writing, reading and speaking practice which help students to reinforce what they have learned
There are many different interactive activities found in literature Among them, these following activities are regarded as the most popular ones:
According to Sinclair (1987), a picture is defined as a visual representation or image that is painted, drawn, or photographed, and rendered on a flat surface
The main advantage of a picture is its obvious visibility to learners Using pictures can bring benefits to teaching, as they promote learners’ interest in acquiring a foreign language Byrne (1980) states that pictures can stimulate students’ discussion and interpretation of the topic Moreover, students’ imaginations can also be inspired (Moore, 1982) For example, it is assumed that visual aids in general, especially pictures and colorful posters, could add attractiveness to the atmosphere of the classroom Furthermore, Wright
(1989) argues that pictures can motivate students to take part in speaking activities On the other hand, Gill (2005) asserts that focusing on the visual learning styles of EFL students is critical to their language acquisition, since these students need the visual stimuli of PowerPoints, whiteboards, and printed materials
It is an activity that develops classroom interaction Participants get together forming groups that focus on a single topic The purpose of this activity is that every student contributes thoughts and ideas which help in the development of the activity, stimulate discussion and collaboration among the students of each group Buzz session is a useful activity to find a solution to tasks or problems in a creative and innovative way (Knapen, 2018)
It is one of the most important class strategies for improving learners’ communication ability Classroom discussion refers to any classroom activity
15 in which the whole class is divided up into pairs or larger groups Hess (2009) described discussion as a public speak about something upon which the group looks for improving its knowledge, understanding or judgment and it will be of a suitable form Furthermore, Murdibjono (2001) indicates that classroom discussion is valuable because students have more time to practice speaking and, as learners practice speaking with colleagues they have already known, they are not hindered by psychological barriers
Brainstorming strategy is one of the most vital strategies in provoking creativity and solving problems in the educational field Jarwan (2005) mentions that the use of the brain to the active problem solving and the brainstorming session aims to develop creative solutions to problems Homan
(2007) affirms that the brainstorming process involves the generation, exchange and individual-level processing of ideas, discussing the results of the individual-level processing within the group, leading to the integration of the ideas (Qoura & El´Hadidy, 2015)
Ladousse (2004) investigated that role-playing is one of the communicative techniques which improves fluency in language students, which promotes interaction in the classroom, and which raises motivation Additionally, it also allows learners to be creative and to put themselves in another person's place for a while as they have to take their roles in this kind of activities Instructors arrange to facilitate the environment in the appropriate social context for foreign language use Throughout taking on a variety of roles, learners will be able to practice the language according to the setting, the degree of politeness required, and the language functions required for different roles (Qoura & El´Hadidy, 2015)
Think-pair-share is a strategy that promotes and facilitates independent thinking, cooperation, and presentation all in one exercise Students must first respond to a provocation on their own, then work in pairs or small groups to discuss and make a choice, which they must then share with the rest of the class Prior to presenting a response, learners discuss it with a partner to increase involvement and to concentrate attention on the prompt
To sum up, the above-mentioned types of interactive activities are simple and effective to implement In the scope of this study, those activities will be exploited to improve students’ speaking ability
Sociocultural theory
The development of various learning theories has had great influence on language teaching As a result, EFL and ESL teachers are motivated to embrace some modifications in language classrooms As a teacher, the researcher finds Vygotsky's (1987) Socio-Cultural Theory motivating and
20 inspiring It is one of the most prominent theories in learning which has had a significant impact on language teaching In Vygotsky’s theory, learning and development are regarded as interactive and such interactions can work as mediation for language acquisition Vygotskian socio-cultural psychology, or the Zone of Proximal Development in particular is generally referred to as the theoretical underpinnings of scaffolding Nevertheless, the term’s interpretation and its implementation vary substantially from study to study
In this section of the study, the researcher presents an overview of Vygotsky’s Socio-cultural Theory and reviews of the literature related to the terms Zone of Proximal Development as well as Scaffoldings
2.3.1 An overview of Socio-cultural Theory
Socio-cultural Theory was created by Lev Vygotsky (1987) as a response to Behaviorism The main idea of the theory is that the ways people interact with others and the culture they live in shape their mental abilities Vygotsky believed that parents, relatives, peers and society all have an important role in forming higher levels of functioning Sociocultural theory, as stated by Cole, John-Steiner, Scribner, and Souberman (1978), is the belief that every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level This means that the skills children learn first are related to interactions with others and they then take that information and use it within themselves Vygotsky was a strong supporter of the idea that what children learned from other people in their own culture helped them develop
He considers human thought processes to be based on social interactions and language The key areas of Socio-cultural Theory are the Zone of proximal development and Scaffolding
The concept of the Zone of proximal development (hereafter ZPD) was originally developed by Vygotsky to argue against the use of academic, knowledge-based tests as a mean to gauge students’ intelligence He also created ZPD to further develop Jean Piaget’s theory of children being lone and autonomous learners Vygotsky spent a lot of time studying the impact of school instruction on children and noted that children grasp language concepts quite naturally, but that math and writing did not come as naturally Essentially, he concluded that because these concepts were taught in school settings with unnecessary assessments, they were of more difficult for learners Piaget believed that there was a clear distinction between development and teaching
He said that development is a spontaneous process that is initiated and completed by the children, stemming from their own efforts Piaget was a proponent of independent thinking and critical of the standard teacher-led instruction that was common practice in schools
Alternatively, Vygotsky saw natural, spontaneous development as important, but not all-important He believed that children would not advance very far if they were left to discover everything on their own It’s crucial for a child’s development that they are able to interact with more knowledgeable others They would not be able to expand on what they know if this wasn’t possible The term more knowledgeable others (MKO) is used to describe someone who has a better understanding or higher ability level than the learner, in reference to the specific task, idea, or concept (Vygotsky, 1978) He noted cultural experiences where children are greatly helped by knowledge and tools handed down from previous generations Vygotsky (1978) noted that good teachers shouldn’t present material that is too difficult and “pull the students along”
Vygotsky argued that, rather than examining what a student knows to determine intelligence, it is better to examine their ability to solve problems independently and ability to solve problems with an adult’s help He proposed a question that if two children perform the same on a test, whether their levels of development are the same or not He concluded that they were not However, Vygotsky’s untimely death interrupted his work on the zone of proximal development, and it remained mostly incomplete
According to Vygotsky (1935, p 86), ZPD “is the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem-solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers”
Since Vygotsky’s original conception, the definition for ZPD has been expanded is the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem-solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers and modified ZPD is an area of learning that occurs when a person is assisted by a teacher or peer with a higher skill set (Penguin dictionary of psychology, 2009) The person learning the skill set cannot complete it without the assistance of the teacher or peer The teacher then helps the student attain the skill he/she is trying to master until the teacher is no longer needed for that task Vygotsky stated that we can’t just look at what students are capable of doing on their own; we have to look at what they are capable of doing in a social setting In many cases, students are able to complete a task within a group before they are able to complete it on their own
He notes that the teacher’s job is to move the child’s mind forward step-by- step At the same time, teachers can’t teach all children equally; they must determine which students are ready for which lessons Vygotsky argued that a
23 major shortcoming of standardized tests is that they only measure what students are capable of on their own, not in a group setting where their minds are being pushed by other students
In the context of second language learning, the ZPD can be useful to many adult users Prompted by this fact as well as the finding that adult peers don’t necessarily need to be more capable to provide assistance in the ZPD, Vygotsky’s definition has been adapted to better suit the adult L2 developmental context
It is important to realize that ZPD is a moving target As a learner gains new skills and abilities, this zone moves progressively forward Teachers and parents can take advantage of this by continually providing educational opportunities that are a slight stretch of a child's existing knowledge and skills
By giving children tasks that they cannot quite do easily on their own and providing the guidance they need to accomplish it, educators can progressively advance the learning process
The most practical aspect of the Zone of proximal development is the realization of the metaphor of the ZPD through the technique of scaffolding Although this practical concept was an inspiration of the outcome of Vygotsky's work, it was Bruner (1983) who technically defined scaffolding as a key factor in the development of child’s language as “…a process of setting up the situation to make the child’s entry easy and successful and then gradually pulling back and handing the role to the child as he becomes skilled enough to manage it (p.60)”
Previous studies related to using interactive activities to improve
Since interactive activities were introduced, more research and theories building on every field have been done because many researchers are interested in exploring these activities Although interactive activities play an important part in improving students speaking skills, the studies on them in teaching English remain limited Some carried out by both foreign researchers and Vietnamese ones were mentioned as follows:
The first previous study is taken from Jackson Steven Padilla’s (2019) with the title “Interactive classroom activities as a motivational strategy to improve speaking skills among students of eighth year “B” of basic education, afternoon session at Escuela de education básica miguel riofrío, in the city of Loja during the 2018 - 2019 school year” The methods employed in the development of this research were: the scientific, the descriptive, the
27 analytical/synthetic and the statistical methods, which were very useful for the respective analysis and the processing of the information obtained The instruments such as tests and questionnaires were applied to twenty students of the Miguel Riofrio School of Basic Education to diagnose student’s knowledge and were very useful to evaluate the student’s attitude during the intervention plan The results showed that the use of interactive activities improved significantly student´s speaking Consequently, they used adequately the grammar structures at the time of speaking, showing fluency, and improving their pronunciation In addition, interactive speaking activities gave students a participatory role in each class
Another study was carried out by Barno’s about the improvement of speaking skills by applying interactive activities as written on his thesis “Improving the grade X PM 1 students’ speaking ability using interactive group work activities at SMKN 1 DEPOK in the academic year 2013/2014” This research is an action research study The subjects of the study were 31 students of Class X PM 1 of SMKN 1 Depok in the 2013/2014 academic year The data were collected by observing the teaching and learning process during the implementation of the action, giving questionnaires to the students and teachers, interviewing the students and the English teacher, giving worksheets to the students, taking pictures of the teaching and learning process, and conducting discussions with the English teacher, collaborators, and the students The instruments used in this research were questionnaires, interview guide, observation sheet, and tests The use of interactive group work activities was aimed at improving the students’ speaking ability The activities were intended to encourage the students to actively employ English so that they became gradually accustomed to speaking in English Based on the observations during teaching and learning activities and interviews, the result of the two cycles showed that interactive group work activities were
28 successful to improve the teaching learning process and the students’ speaking ability Interactive group work activities were really useful in terms of encouraging students to speak in English especially generating students’ ideas by using the legible grammar and expression in speaking with intelligible pronunciation At the end of cycle 2, students became more familiar with the sound of English and became more fluent in employing English The improvement of students’ speaking ability was also measured quantitatively by considering the result of the pre-test and post-test It was found that the mean of the pre-test was 32.96 Meanwhile, in the post-test the mean of the score was 35.25
The third related study is “Improving Students’ Speaking Skills Using Interactive Activities in English Teaching Learning Process (In the Case of the tenth Grade Students of SMAN 1 Ngadirojo Pacitan in Academic Year of 2011/2012)” by Herlita Susanti (2011) To solve the research problem, the researcher conducted a classroom action research with grade X students of SMA Negeri 1 Ngadirojo Pacitan as the subjects, the numbers of the participants were thirty-seven students of class X3 There were three cycles in this classroom action research The data were obtained by making use of the observation checklist and recording The results of the research showed that, interactive activity can improve students’ speaking skills Those activities were describing picture, playing card game, role play and simulation There were also some media used to support those activities They were some picture, cards and visual aid for roleplay Those activities could motivate the students to speak up in English during the teaching learning process From the result of the research, the author suggested that a teacher should implement interactive activities in speaking class A teacher should also modify the activities to make the students avoid being bored, afraid and less motivated to take part in speaking in the class It is also suggested that the teachers used
29 interactive activities as an alternative way for English teaching learning process, especially in speaking skills
In Vietnam, English language teachers have been introduced such activities However, it is not sure of how many teachers, especially teachers at military schools, have ever tried using these activities to develop students’ speaking skills A study on “The use of role-to improve speaking skills for students at grade 6 in a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem district, Ha Noi” by To Thi Hong Van in 2019 is one of the examples In attempt to improve speaking skills for grade 6 students, the researcher decided to take an action research Questionnaire and tests were used to explore students’ attitudes towards role play activities and its effectiveness The results of the study revealed that students’ speaking skills were improved remarkably by using role play Most of the students had positive attitudes towards using role play activities in speaking lessons
Another study was carried out by Phan Thi Huong (2020) with the title
“Evaluating the effectiveness of using Think-Pair-Share strategy in improving the participation and confidence of non-English majors in speaking lessons at Hai Phong university” The research design used a mixed method to collect data from 24 students in the faculty of Tourism at HPU The results of the research showed that Think-Pair-Share strategy brought to considerable improvement to student’s participation and confidence in speaking lessons.
In conclusion, with regard to the literature review, using interactive activities in teaching speaking is quite familiar with teachers in many countries in the world and also in Vietnam Many studies were conducted in this issue to clarify the benefits in using such activities They proved that interactive activities could promote learners to take part in speaking activities more in lessons However, these researchers just used a specific type of interactive
30 activities to teach speaking skills No studies have been carried out to investigate the effectiveness of using a variety of interactive activities in developing students’ speaking skills in a police-training institution Consequently, the author of this study conducted implementation of using different interactive activities with the purpose of enhancing students’ speaking skills in her institution.
Chapter summary
In this chapter, some ideas related to teaching and learning speaking skills have been discussed such as its definitions, its components, and the stages of teaching speaking skills Besides, this chapter also explains the concepts and types of interactive activities, their advantages in English teaching and learning Furthermore, a review of Vygotsky’s Socio-cultural Theory has also been mentioned in this chapter This is an emerging theory in psychology that identifies the important contributions that society makes to individual development A thorough understanding of this theory is important to the researcher as she can use the theory as a guide to students’ development Additionally, related previous studies of both foreign researchers and Vietnamese ones were also mentioned However, in a police-training institution, no research have been conducted to assess the usefulness of employing a range of interactive activities to increase students' speaking abilities Consequently, the researcher to design her study on examining the effects of a variety of interactive activities in her institution with the goal of improving students' speaking abilities
METHODOLOGY
Context of the study
3.1.1 An overview of the police-training institution
The study paper is conducted in a police-training institution at the beginning of the second semester of the session 2020-2021 The Academy has been seen as one of the major educational training institutions and a leading scientific research center in the Police Force of Vietnam targeted at training cadets at graduate and postgraduate level The school has two major groups of cadets who are drilled pursuant to the educational objectives and demands of the school namely the full-time police officer training cadets and in-service police officers The Academy attaches importance to English teaching and learning for Vietnamese police cadets as well as those of public security forces from other countries in joint conventions of international cooperation in education and training
The Academy has made remarkable efforts in developing its available training facilities and standardized learning environment, enabling students to take advantages of the best educational conditions for their learning in general and
32 for English practice in particular Most of the classrooms in the academy are attached with modern equipment and devices, for instances, smart boards, computers, projectors, wireless speakers and air conditioners However, on account of confidentiality and the Police Force’s strict regulations, the use of Internet connection and social networks is restricted inside the academy, except for certain open access areas with Internet provided by the academy such as the campus For this rule, teachers and students are not allowed to use mobile phones and Internet connection inside classrooms, lecture halls or libraries in the academy
3.1.2 English language training in the Institution
In the police-training institution where the research was conducted, English is a compulsory subject in the course curriculum English language teaching and learning receives much concern and investment of the Directorate Board, featured by joint English development programs, commitment of the expected outcome in English for students, promoting English integration in teaching content subjects, fostering English proficiency for lecturers and compilation of English course books for police For instances, English training programs in cooperation between the academy and the Regional English Language Office (RELO) sponsored by Embassy of the U.S has supported teachers and students of the academy in strengthening their English skills in the specific context of police force
Since 2014, the Academy has focused on integration of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) into specialized subjects for students majoring in crime scene investigation, law practice and forensic science (VTC News, 2018) As a required training outcome criterion for graduation, all students in the Academy must fulfill English examinations to gain intermediate proficiency level in English (equivalent to B1 in the CEFR framework) To meet the demand of “dual capacity” in English communicative approach and specialized contents, the academy also compiled the series “English for
Police” in 2016 which comprises of two levels: elementary (A2) and pre- intermediate (B1)
The Department of Foreign Languages were in charge of teaching English for students with the course books’ topics, ranging from national security, the penal code of Vietnam, drug-related crime to human trafficking, extradition, etc The subject English is launched at the first semester of the curriculum for non-English major students, stretching over 3 consecutive semesters and accounting for a sum of 10 credits In the academic year 2020-2021, students of the course D45 attended 4 English periods weekly, lasting for 3 hours per week in total Although challenges for English teaching and learning exist, new path of taking advantage of technology as GC for English classes is feasible to implement at the academy considering to its regulations, available facilities and readiness of non-English major cadets
Twenty-five second-year students of a class participated in the study They have studied English for some years and are required to gain B1 level of English as a condition to receive graduation paper However, many of them are not confident and feel reluctant to engage in English speaking classes Consequently, they find difficulties in improving their English-speaking ability
In order to ensure participants’ privacy, in this study students are addressed according to the order of participation as Student 01, Student 02, and so on The researcher was also a participant who played the role of the teacher appointed to be in charge of the class from the beginning of the semester This does promote a consistent procedure in implementing this research.
Research design
3.2.1.1 Rationale for the use of Action Research
Action research, first coined by Lewin in 1940s, is “a comparative research on the conditions and effects of various forms of social action”, and it offers “a
34 spiral step”, each of which is composed of “a circle of planning, action and fact-finding about the result of the action” In a simpler explanation, it is truly understood as “learning by doing” (O’ Brien, 1993), namely, a group of people encounter a problem; they do something to resolve it; they then see how successful their efforts are and if they are not satisfied with the result, they can try it again In the field of education, action research is acknowledged as an influential tool for school and classroom investigation as it is a form of self-reflective inquiry that can be utilized by teachers to improve the rationality and justice of their own practices, their understanding of these practices and the situations in which these practices are carried out Consequently, action research in the educational setting is a study conducted by teachers in a specific context to improve the quality of teaching and learning
As an English teacher, the author is well-aware of the problems that the students in this school are facing in improving English speaking skills Therefore, on considering a proper methodology for this thesis, the author supposed that an action research is the most appropriate method as a way of promoting students’ speaking ability
Steps in action research vary from different points of views because most researchers assert that “action research is a dynamic, flexible process” and there is “no blueprint exists for how to proceed.” According to Burns (1999), each action research study is different from each other and thus allows for the researcher’s particular choice of appropriate dynamics
Traditionally, Lewin’s model of action research (1946) involves a cyclic sequence including two major phases – diagnosis and therapeutic – with a four-stage procedure: planning, acting, observing and reflecting
Similarly, Kemmis and McTaggart (1988) developed a concept for action research They suggested a four-step spiral model that included planning
(understanding a problem and identifying potential strategies), acting (executing the strategies), observing (noticing outcomes of the strategies), and reflecting (evaluating the outcomes of the strategies)
Figure 3.1.The Model of action research by Kemmis & Taggart (1988, p 85)
The next framework designed by Nunan (1992), formulates the action cycle with seven continuous steps
Steps in the action cycle (by Nunan, 1992)
Step1 Initiation A problem triggers the idea of action research
Baseline data are collected to help understand the nature of the problem
Step 3 Hypotheses A hypothesis is formulated after reviewing the initial data
Step 4 Intervention A number of strategies are devised and applied
Step 5 Evaluation An assessment is carried out to evaluate the intervention Some steps may be repeated
Step 6 Dissemination A report of the research is published Ideas emerged from the research are shared
Step 7 Follow-up Alternative solutions of the problem are continually investigated
Among classifications above, the researcher believed that Nunan’s model
36 would be the most appropriate action cycle for the scheme of the study due to its simplification and clarification
The cycle conducted in this thesis can be demonstrated as followed:
Figure 3.2 The cycle conducted in the thesis
In this research, the data collected are quantitative and qualitative ones Quantitative data are collected by computing students’ scores through speaking test Qualitative data is conducted to know the situation of the students including the background of the problem in speaking skills The instruments used are pre-&post-speaking tests, questionnaire, and semi- structured interview
Purpose: Two tests, namely pre-test and post-test, were administered by the teacher to see the differences in range of the students’ speaking ability scores before and after the implementation of interactive activities
Structure of oral tests: The tests were designed to assess the student’s speaking ability equivalent to B1 level in the CEFR framework The tests were used to assess five components of speaking skills concerned with comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, fluency The detailed assessment criteria rubric is attached in the Appendices (Appendix 2)
Participants: 25 second-year students of a class
Procedure: The pre-test was delivered for the second-year students of a class in a police-training institution in the afternoon when they only self- studied in the classroom The test was taken before the application of interactive activities It took each student about 10 - 15 minutes to complete the test At the end of the intervention plan, a post-test was used in order to identify and determine if the application of interactive classroom activities improved student’s speaking skills Then, the collected data were analyzed easily by using some modern computer software Thanks to this modern software, the researcher could not only save time but also finance in analyzing collected data
Questionnaire is a powerful tool in gathering information about affective aspect of teaching and learning such as beliefs, attitudes, motivation, preferences, etc among a large number of respondents within a relatively short time Hence, this instrument was chosen to be utilized in this study
Purpose: The questionnaire was designed to examine the students’ attitudes and responses towards the employment of interactive activities in speaking lessons
Structure of the questionnaire: The questionnaire (adapted from Hoàng
Thị Xuân Hoa & Nguyễn Thị Thủy Minh, 2006) included five main parts: interest/ enjoyment, perceived competence, effort/ important, pressure/ tension, value/ usefulness The questionnaire consisted of 17 items Each item was rated on a five-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree)
Participants: 25 second-year students of a class
Procedure: The survey questionnaire was delivered for the 25 second-year students of a class in a police-training institution in the afternoon after the intervention It took about 15 minutes for all students to complete the questionnaire and another 15 minutes for the researcher to
38 collect them Then, the collected data were analyzed properly by using some modern computer software
A semi-structured interview is a qualitative method of inquiry that combines a pre-determined set of questions or topics which prompt discussion with the opportunity for the interviewer to explore particular themes or further responses Respondents are not limited to a set of pre-determined answers, yet they are allowed to discuss and raise issues involving the investigation theme Therefore, using semi-structured interviews, it is not only an insight of the research theme to be explored but it also gives the researcher a great deal of flexibility and allows a degree of freedom in getting information from interviewees The ideas above work as the rationale for the choice of the semi-structured interview in this study
Purpose: The interview was conducted at the end of the research with the aim of gaining more insights for evaluating the influence of using interactive activities on developing students’ speaking ability in a police- training institution
Structure of semi-structured interview: This interview included six open-ended questions relating to the influence of using interactive activities on promoting students’ speaking ability
Participants: According to Nielson (1994) cited in Johnstone, Bottsford
Miller and Thompson (2006), sample sizes as small as five or six participants can provide enough information for making inference Hence, the researcher will interview 5-randomly- selected students
Procedure: The researcher made an appointment with the participants in the classroom on a Monday afternoon (the class is off in the afternoons) to answer the interview The interview was implemented one week after the completion of post-treatment questionnaire and was recorded by the recorder
In order to ensure the ethnical issues of a research, pseudonyms are used for participants In case the interviewees might have difficulties understanding the questions in English or do not like speaking English, and in order to increase the validity of the interviews, the interviews with five students were carried out by the researcher in Vietnamese At the beginning of each interview, the students were explained clearly, explicitly and unambiguously about the nature of the study The length of each interview lasted from 10 to
This classroom action research was carried out in three main phases consisting of Pre-Treatment, Treatment and Post-Treatment The detailed steps proposed by Nunan were applied in these phases as well
Data analytical framework
The quantitative analysis includes the two tests and questionnaires The data collected from the tests and questionnaires were statistically analyzed with the help of the software SPSS to produce descriptive statistics Descriptive statistics provide a simple summary or overview of data, thus allowing the researcher to gain a better overall understanding of the data set In the current study, descriptive statistics of the overall student’s speaking improvement and attitudes towards the application of interactive activities were computed The mean values for the whole class were calculated
The qualitative analysis is the interview transcription The interview data were classified, synthesized, and analyzed in order to reveal the influence of using interactive activities on promoting students’ speaking
The researcher used the thematic analysis approach of Braun and Clarke
(2006) to analyze the qualitative data from the interview transcription According to these two researchers, thematic analysis consists of six steps: namely familiarizing oneself with the data, generating initial codes, searching for themes, reviewing themes, defining and naming themes and producing the report Moreover, the researcher took an inductive approach which implies that the themes were discovered using data rather than existing theory The detailed description of each step in the thematic analysis process and inductive approach used in this action research is given below
Step 1 (Familiarizing myself with the data): Following the transcription of interviews, the researcher reviewed and re-read the transcription, took notes, and wrote some overall impressions of the information gathered in this stage Step 2 (Generating initial codes): In this stage, the researcher went line-by- line through each interview transcription, highlighting keywords, phrases, or sentences, and tried to describe their content using codes For differentiation, different colors matching to different codes were employed The act of highlighting anything that was useful, interesting, and important to build new codes or everything that matched the detected codes continued the manual coding process The information was then categorized into groups using codes
Step 3 (Searching for themes): Each topic was discovered by looking for codes that had similar patterns The codes that were either too vague or irrelevant would be eliminated, and certain codes may be deemed themes if they were combined with other codes
Step 4 (Reviewing themes): To review the themes, the author referred back to the interview transcription, which was used to compare the themes During the evaluation phase, it is necessary to determine whether any information was omitted, whether the themes accurately represented the notes, and what improvements should be done to improve the themes The act of dividing, combining, eliminating, or generating new themes may be used, depending on the difficulties that arise
Step 5 (Defining and naming themes): The researcher reworded the description of each topic after identifying the final list of themes by defining what the researcher meant by each of them The researcher came up with a short, descriptive, and understandable term for each subject, for example the students’ activeness in joining speaking activities, the students’ motivation and positive feelings about interactive activities as well as their improvement in speaking skills The emerging and/or existing themes were discovered after defining and identifying them
Step 6 (Producing the report): The author created a report that included a final analysis and summary of the observation notes' results The researcher highlighted the initial research question that the interview transcription gave data to answer, the goals of the theme analysis, and the inductive technique utilized in the report's introduction The report's body contained details on how the data was gathered and an explanation of how to do thematic analysis
In addition, the body of the study provided descriptions of how the identified themes were identified and their meanings, as well as examples to support these descriptions The primary findings from the theme analysis were presented, along with an explanation of how and why this analysis supplied the answer to the research question
Research problems Data collection instruments Data analytical methods
1 Improvement of students’ speaking skills
- Two tests: Two tests including 3 parts, namely pre-test and post- test, were administered to see the differences in range of the students’ speaking ability scores before and after the implementation of interactive activities The tests are designed based on CEFR framework (B1 level)
+ Pre-test: at the beginning of the semester, before the intervention of interactive activities
+ Post-test: after the intervention of interactive activities
2 Opinions of students on the use of interactive activities
+ The questionnaire was designed in order to examine the students’ attitudes and responses towards the employment of interactive activities in speaking lessons
+ The questionnaire consisted of 17 items and was rated on a five- point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree)
+ The interview was conducted at the end of the research with the aim of gaining more insights for evaluating the opinions of students on the use of interactive activities
+ The interview included six open-ended questions