Improving English speaking skills through extra-curricular activities – a pilot case with 10th graders at Trieu Son High School No 2= Nâng cao kỹ năng nói Tiếng

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* LÊ ĐÌNH THẮNG IMPROVING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKI

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*********************

LÊ ĐÌNH THẮNG

IMPROVING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS THROUGH

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES – A PILOT CASE WITH 10 TH

GRADERS AT TRIỆU SƠN HIGH SCHOOL No 2

NÂNG CAO KỸ NĂNG NÓI TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH THÔNG QUA HOẠT ĐỘNG NGOẠI KHÓA – TRƯỜNG HỢP THÍ ĐIỂM VỚI HỌC

SINH LỚP 10 Ở TRƯỜNG THPT TRIỆU SƠN 2

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

Hanoi, 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*********************

LÊ ĐÌNH THẮNG

IMPROVING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS THROUGH

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES – A PILOT CASE WITH 10 TH

GRADERS AT TRIỆU SƠN HIGH SCHOOL No 2

NÂNG CAO KỸ NĂNG NÓI TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH THÔNG QUA HOẠT ĐỘNG NGOẠI KHÓA – TRƯỜNG HỢP THÍ ĐIỂM VỚI HỌC

SINH LỚP 10 Ở TRƯỜNG THPT TRIỆU SƠN 2

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

SUPERVISOR: ASSOC PROF DR LÂM QUANG ĐÔNG

DECLARATION

I, Lê Đình Thắng, hereby certify that the thesis entitled “Improving English

graders at Triệu Sơn High School No2” is the result of my own research in

the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, and that the thesis in whole or

in part has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or

tertiary institution

August, 2014

Lê Đình Thắng

I would like to convey my special thanks to all my teachers of the Faculty

of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS), Vietnam National University, Hanoi whose fundamental knowledge about language teaching and learning is of great importance to my achievements in the graduate program

I am grateful to all the leaders, staff and librarians at the Faculty of Graduate Studies, ULIS, who provided me with dedicated support and helped

Post-me find necessary materials for this thesis

My thanks also go to my colleagues and the 10th graders at Triệu Sơn High School No 2 for their cooperation and support for my data collection Last but not least, I would like to thank my family, who supported me throughout all the ups and downs of my life Without their love and thoughtful understanding, I would not have been able to complete this thesis successfully

at Triệu Sơn High School No2 in the second semester of the school year

2013 -2014 The reseacher invited 90 students to participate in the research Three extracurricular activities were organized for the 10th graders including English speaking clubs, English singing contests, English rhetoric, Drama, retelling stories in English The activities were individual, small group or pair work To find the results, the researcher got the information from the students‟evaluation forms, extracurricular activities observations, interviews and discussion

The experiment with 10th graders re-asserts that extracurricular activities are very useful for the students and the teachers of English in teaching and learning English, especialy speaking skills Students‟ speaking skills have improved remarkably through their participation in extracurricular activities

Besides that, taking part in extracurricular activities has also helped students to develop other skills such as: teamwork skills, skill of presenting in front of large audience, etc More importantly, students are more interested in speaking lessons in class This suggests that extracurricular activities like these can be well integrated into the English teaching program at our own school and the like, which definitely will benefit both teachers and students alike

ABBREVIATIONS

TEFL: Teaching English as a Foreign Language

CLT: Communicative Language Teaching EFL: English as a Foreign Language

M.A: Master of Arts

ECAs: Extracurricular activities

ECA: Extracurricular activity

MC: Master of Ceremony

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

ABBREVIATIONS iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS v

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Research questions 2

4 Structure of the thesis 2

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1.1 What are extracurricular activites? 4

1.2 The importance of extracurricular activities 5

1.3 Types of extracurricular activites 6

1.3.2 Group work 7

1.3.3 Mass work 9

1.4 Prior studies related to extracurricular activities 10

1.5 Summary 12

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 13

2.1 Research setting 13

2.1.1 An overview of Triệu Sơn High School No2 13

2.1.2 The teachers of English in Triệu Sơn High School No2 13

2.1.3 The students in Triệu Sơn High School No2 13

2.1.4 The situation of English teaching and learning English in Triệu Sơn High School No2 14

2.2 Research methods 15

2.2.1 Description of the participants 15

2.2.2 Procedures 16

2.2.3 Instruments 22

2.3 Summary 24

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 25

3.1 Findings from the students 25

3.1.1 From the evaluation forms 25

3.1.2 From interviews 26

3.2 Findings from the teachers 27

3.2.1 From their observation 27

3.2.2 From the discussion 28

3.3 Discussion 29

3.3.1 The organization of extracurricular activities to intensify students‟ participation in speaking activities in class 29

3.3.2 The effectiveness of extracurricular activities experimented at school 30

3.3.3 The students‟ response on the organization of extracurricular activities 31

3.4 Summary 31

PART C: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 33

1 Conclusion 33

2 Recommendations on how to organize extracurricular activities 33

2.1 For the students 34

2.2 For the teachers 34

2.3 For the administrators 35

3 Limitations of the study 37

4 Suggestions for further study 37

REFERENCES 38 APPENDICES I APPENDIX 1 I APPENDIX 2 III APPENDIX 3 IV APPENDIX 4 V

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

In learning English at high schools, English speaking skill is one of the four skills that students must be taught as separately and equally as the others However, due to some different objective and subjective reasons, teaching and learning of this skill is often integrated with other skills such as listening skill, or is even neglected Therefore, students do not often enjoy speaking period as well as find it difficult to participate in speaking activities

Furthermore, there are a lot of elements of speaking affecting the ability to speak fluently such as language features (connected speech, expressive device, lexis and grammar, negotiation language) and the ability to process information and language “on the spot” such as language processing, interacting with others… However, in a period of 45minutes, it seems to be impossible for both teachers and students to control them Therefore, if teaching and learning speaking skill takes place within 45 minutes every week and only in classroom settings, its effect is limited

In terms of my experiences of teaching English and teaching speaking skill at Triệu Sơn High School No2, I found that most of my students are unwilling to participate in oral activities Most of them only passively sit and take notes, rarely contribute to the lesson and even do not ask for the teacher‟s help when they have any problems Reasons for this are varied, including large classes, psychological or cultural differences, teaching methods, teacher‟s knowledge, student‟s lack of idea or language devices, such as grammatical structures or vocabulary, etc Whatever reasons they may be, it is the first target of the teachers to help their learners speak up in class, and thereby, improve their speaking skills

Another reason why the study was carried out is that I am the head of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union at the school During the school year I organize many extracurricular activities for students, so I believe that using extracurricular activities for English practice is a good way to enhance students‟ English skills, primarily speaking skills

The above reasons have inspired me to conduct an action research on

“Improving English speaking skills through extracurricular activities – a pilot case with 10 th graders at Triệu Sơn High School No2” with the hope to

make a little contribution to the quality of teaching and learning speaking skills for 10th graders at this school

2 Aims of the study

The action research was conducted in order to see how extracurricular activities could help improve the speaking skills of 10th graders at Triệu Sơn High School No2 before school-wide application

3 Research questions

This action research simply addressed two questions:

1 What extracurricular activities concerning English can be suitable to and organized for the 10th graders at Triệu Sơn High School No2?

2 How could such extracurricular activities help them improve their English speaking skills?

Answers to these questions yield essential inputs for the necessary revision of the activities and plans for school-wide regular application of extracurricular activities in the years to come

4 Structure of the thesis

Apart from declaration, acknowledgement, abstract, table of contents and appendices, this thesis is structured in three main parts namely: Introduction, Development, and Conclusion

Part one, INTRODUCTION, presents the rationale, the aims of the study, research questions, structure of the thesis

Part two, DEVELOPMENT, consists of three following chapters:

Chapter 1 Theoretical Background, begins with the literature on

extracurricular activities, its importance, its different types and priors studies related on extracurricular activities

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

situation in Triệu Sơn High School No2 The second section provides the research methods that involve information about the participants, procedures and instruments

Chapter 3 presents major findings and discussion, and analyses the collected

data to answer the research questions

Part three, CONCLUSION, addresses the key issues in the study, summarizes some shortcomings revealed during the process of this study and the recommendations for more effective application of extracurricular activities in improving students‟ speaking skills

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 What are extracurricular activites?

Extracurricular activities are activities performed by students that fall outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school or university education Extracurricular activities exist at all levels of education Such activities are generally voluntary as opposed to mandatory, non-paying, tend to be social or philanthropic as opposed to scholastic, and involve others of the same age

Extracurricular activities are the activities that we undertake which are

not a part of our school or work obligations (Holloway, J.H 1999

Extracurricular Activities: The Path to Academic Success for Educational Leadership, Princeton)

Extracurricular activities are part of informal education, which consists

of learning activities that are voluntary and self-directed, life-long, and motivated mainly by intrinsic interests, curiosity, exploration, manipulation, fantasy, task completion, and social interaction Informal learning occurs in

an out-of-school setting and can be linear or non-linear and often is self-paced and visual or object-oriented It provides an experiential base and motivation for further activity and learning

Out of school hours learning look to extend and enrich the curriculum,

to tie such learning more closely to schooling objectives They aim at complimenting the work carried out during the normal school day

Extracurricular activities are an integral part of life Every child is able

to find one or more activities to broaden their education beyond the classroom They enhance the learning and development of students While the taught curriculum offers a broad range of experience and learning opportunities we firmly feel that learning will be enhanced by offering the

students the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities after school A great emphasis is placed on ensuring that students take up hobbies and interests outside the taught curriculum This enables students to develop as fully as possible whilst giving them the chance to sample a wide variety of different experiences

1.2 The importance of extracurricular activities

Do extracurricular activities contribute to students' success at school?

In a 1999 column Extracurricular Activities: The Path to Academic Success for Educational Leadership, John H Holloway, a consultant for the teaching and learning division of the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey examined some of the research into the potential benefits of extracurricular activities Much of the research into extracurricular activities suggests that they have positive effects on students who participate, said Holloway Those effects can be particularly important for students who belong to ethnic minorities, students with disabilities, and students at risk of dropping out of school Holloway told Education World that research indicates "participation in school activities, especially athletics, leads to higher self-esteem and an enhanced status among peers Some have argued that a positive self-esteem is a deterrent to antisocial behavior." Steve Duncan

of Montana State University sees value in extracurricular activities too

"Recent research confirms that involvement in extracurricular activities is more than just child's play," Duncan wrote in Family Matters: What is the Role of "Extracurricular" Activities? "School extracurricular activities and involvement in community clubs and organizations are important in fostering the strengths of youth, strengths that help young people steer away from undesirable behavior."

Such involvement in extracurricular activities helps young people discover and share talents, develop character and competence and often provide the added benefit of close relationships with caring, principled adults outside the home

There are specific benefits that may result through participation in

extracurricular activities Youth who are involved in organizations are more likely to show leadership abilities and are more likely to become leaders, compared to non-participants One study showed that participants in

extracurricular activities were more willing to work on a difficult task to

completion without adult supervision, and more likely to voice their opinions whether others agreed with them or not One survey showed that membership

in extracurricular activities made a difference compared to nonmembers, in terms of life skills Involvement in such activities had a positive influence on

self-esteem and community service (Andrei, L The importance of

www.armyacademy.ro/biblioteca/anuare/2004/a27.pdf )

The key points that will be made in this claim of fact are that students involved in extracurricular activities receive better grades than those who are not involved in extracurricular activities In addition, activities improve the overall student Therefore, they help students to receive better grades by teaching them character building lessons, teaching them lifelong skills, saving some at risk students who would possibly drop out of school, and helping students develop social skills

1.3 Types of extracurricular activites

There are 3 types of extracurricular work with foreign languages: individual work, group work and mass work These 3 types of work are closely

connected with one another (Andrei, L The importance of extra-curricular

activities Retrieved May 4 th , 2014 from

- The organization of a literary program

- The organization of reading competitions

- The organization of a foreign language corner

Foreign language corners often contain an exhibition of the best papers, with a collection of picture postcards and photographs showing views of the countries whose language the pupils are studying The cards may be put in frames holding about 10 cards The frames may be made with removable backs, so that the views can be changed each week or fortnight The foreign language corner may include a bookcase containing reference books used by all the classes from time to time Prints or portraits dealing with a period of literature or history which is being studied can be exhibited in frames

If the school conditions permit it, a special room would, of course, serve the purpose much better than a foreign language corner This room would contain reference material for teachers and pupils: syllabuses, textbooks, dictionaries, literary and pedagogical works and in this way it would become a workplace for teachers and pupils, at the same time reflecting the results that have been achieved

The teacher and the youth organizations should try to attract the participants in group works into mass activities and thus transform the temporary activities into permanent circles Foreign language circles are the main form of extracurricular activities We distinguish between specialized and combined circles

The specialized circles concentrate their activity upon a definite task Thus there might be:

- Circles for improving pronunciation This circle has a definite training character The pupils train themselves in correct pronunciation and intonation Mechanical aids are indispensable for this kind of work Such aids may be a phonograph with a set of records of English lessons, of intonation patterns, reading of poetry and pupil‟s pronunciation

- Reading circles where the pupils are trained in expressive reading, extensive reading and the use of dictionaries, for junior forms we recommend filmstrips accompanied by texts, for senior forms the reading of literary fragments

- Conversation circles serve the requirements of modern language teaching, that is, the development of the pupils‟ speaking ability The work in this circle may consist of conversation on everyday topics, the description of pictures, the recounting of a film or discussion of a filmstrip which has been previously presented Film strips are very efficient means of increasing the

pupils‟ ability I speaking As they can be shown in half-light, the pupils can take down notes while the teacher is describing the events taking place, and thus the discussions that follow are facilitated

- The circle of literary translations contributes the pupils‟ aesthetic education and to the development of their creative abilities

- The circle of preparing audio-video material offers many possibilities for varied activities Thus junior form may collect pictures form magazines or postcards which they provide with English captions Senior forms may prepare grammatical diagrams, drawings for a given theme or topic, recordings of broadcast material

- The pastime circle is recommended for junior forms Its activity is most varied: riddles, puzzles, tongue-twisters, in- and outdoor games, songs, English correspondence with pupils of other countries

- Circles of a combined type may include any of the above mentioned activities The activity of the circles is carried out according to a plan The plan is drafted by the pupils themselves The teacher should by no means impose either the type of the circle or the content of the work We should but give suggestions and advice as to the choice of the topics, suitable bibliography

1.3.3 Mass work

The mass forms of extracurricular activities in the field of foreign languages is the result of synthesis of work carried out in different circles and temporary groups To mass activities belong school festivities and competitions

- School festivities require long and careful preparation and include a great number of pupils Such festivities may be devoted to the anniversary of

a great writer or an important event

- Competitions may be organized for various purposes such as compete for the best translations from English, for the best interpretation of a poem or literary prose fragment, for expressive reading, for the best audio-visual material Such competitions are first carried out within a class, next within all the classes of the same level, then within the school As a last stage the best pupils of several schools may participate in competitions presided over by a jury, prizes being awarded to the winners

In Vietnam context, the more common types of extracurricular activities may include English speaking club, English singing contest, drama

club, English speech contest, or contest of retelling stories in English

1.4 Prior studies related to extracurricular activities

In 2012, Reva, A carried out a study on “The Role of Extracurricular

Activities in Foreign Language Learning in University Settings” (Retrieved

http://ecommons.usask.ca/bitstream/handle/10388/ETD-2012-06-507/REVA-THESIS.pdf?sequence=3)

Based on the results of the study the following suggestions are

offered for language instructors and students on how to organize related extracurricular activities:

language-1 Voluntary basis Making extracurricular activities mandatory and not giving students a chance to choose activities will likely lower students‟ motivation towards language learning

2 Involving a larger number of students in different activities Providing students with a wide range of ECAs and more information about them will help to attract more students towards ECA In turn, an

increase in students‟ involvement will have a positive effect on their language learning motivation

3 Choosing age appropriate activities and materials While this study only surveyed university-based ECAs, further studies should clarify the preferences for learners in different environments and from different age groups (e.g., elementary school, high school, etc)

4 Providing students with opportunities to express themselves and choose materials and activities according to their own preferences

5 Organizing activities appropriate for students‟ language proficiency level Activities should be challenging, but should also bring students a feeling of success and enjoyment

6 Connecting the materials used in class to extracurricular activity content might be beneficial

7 Promoting students‟ initiative and self-sufficiency throughout extracurricular work Since there are usually no faculty members responsible for organizing extracurricular activities, it might be appropriate

to select a student or a group of students who major in a foreign language to manage this work This can give the designated student monitors an opportunity to practice some elements of language teaching before they graduate and thus stimulate them towards choosing the profession of a language teacher For the rest of the ECA participants, student monitors would provide a role model and thus contribute to their language learning motivation

In May, 2012 Wilcox, M.L made a study on “The impact of extracurricular activities on academic performance for rural secondary students in Indiana” (Retrieved May 4 th , 2014 from scholars.indstate.edu/bitstream/ /Michael%20Wilcox.pdf)

In this research, extracurricular activities were found to have a significant impact on academic performance

The purpose of this research was two-fold in nature First, this study sought to identify whether extracurricular participation for students in a rural, Grades 7-12 building created significant differences when examining academic performance, attendance, gender, lunch status, and student discipline compared to their non-participant peers Secondly, this study examined the impact extracurricular participation, attendance, gender, lunch status, and discipline has on academic performance for rural students These three factors were then compared to determine the overall rank-order of impact on academic performance

This research focuses on the belief that extracurricular activities in school play a vital role in academic achievement Educational leaders are experiencing tight budgets and are faced with tough decisions The research shows that extracurricular activities are predictors of academic achievement and cannot be quickly dismissed as an easy budget cut Participation in just one extracurricular activity made a significant impact on academic achievement

1.5 Summary

To sum up, this chapter conceptualizes extracurricular activities, the importance of extracurricular activities, and types of extracurricular activities are discussed Besides, a review of some previous research about ECAs are also presented

The following chapters will present the setting of study, the investigation and data analysis under the light of the above-discussed theoretical bases

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1 Research setting

2.1.1 An overview of Triệu Sơn High School No2

Triệu Sơn High School No2 is located in the West of Thanh Hoa Founded in 1968, Triệu Sơn High School No2 is one of the oldest as well as the biggest schools in the area At present, there are 26 classes with over 1000 students placed into three different grades: grade 10, 11 and 12 The teaching staff composes of more than 70 teachers of 12 compulsory subjects, of whom two-thirds are young, creative and well trained whereas the others are experienced and enthusiastic In recent years Triệu Sơn High School No2 is one of the schools which has high percentages of high school graduate and gifted students

2.1.2 The teachers of English in Triệu Sơn High School No2

There are six teachers of English currently working at Triệu Sơn High School No2, four of them have participated in this research for discussion Their ages range from late twenties to forty years old, three of them are female The years of teaching English are also different, minimum level of eight years and maximum nearly fifteen years Most of them have University Bachelor‟s Degree, one Master Degree, and the others have taken the in-service training courses Without doubt, all the teachers at Triệu Sơn High School No2 are experienced and enthusiastic in teaching They are willing to help their students overcome their difficulties in learning English generally and in speaking particularly

2.1.3 The students in Triệu Sơn High School No2

The majority of students in the study at Triệu Sơn High School No2 are aged from 15 to 18 Most of them come from rural areas and they have learnt English since lower secondary schools Among them, there are a large

number of students who are really interested in learning English and want to develop their ability in using English In contrast, the other part of students is low in motivation They tend to regard English as less important than other

subjects and they study English only in order to pass the examinations

2.1.4 The situation of English teaching and learning English in Triệu Sơn High School No2

2.1.4.1 The syllabus of teaching and learning English

At Triệu Sơn High School No2, English is one of the compulsory subjects in the curriculum The syllabus and the textbooks for English including “Tiếng Anh 10”, “Tiếng Anh 11”, “Tiếng Anh 12” are prescribed

by the Ministry of Education and Training

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

The textbook which is currently used for teaching and learning English for grade 10th at Triệu Sơn High School No2 is “Tieng Anh 10” which was designed following communicative approach The textbook consists of 16 units with 5 parts in each unit arranging as follows: reading, speaking, listening, writing and language focus in which a variety of exercises and tasks was compiled for practice Also, there exists a consolidate unit after every 3 units The objective of these units is to examine how well the students have achieved in the previous units

2.1.4.2 The teaching and learning English speaking skills

It has been accepted that students‟ communicative ability is the proper aim for language teaching This makes teaching and learning speaking skills seem to be an important part in any English course Like many other high schools in Vietnam, teaching and learning speaking skills at Triệu Sơn High

School are affected by some constraints such as large class sizes, students‟ unfamiliarity with CLT, students‟ low English proficiency, students‟ low participation in class time Normally, in a class at Triệu Sơn High School, a number of students who have a good knowledge of English are eager and active during the class while a majority of those with low English proficiency are very passive Besides, lack of training in teaching methods, especially CLT makes it difficult for the teachers to access to new approach, which makes the teaching and learning speaking skills more challenging

2.2 Research methods

2.2.1 Description of the participants

There are two reasons why this research aimed at 10th form students at Triệu Sơn High School No2 Firstly, the 10th form students are the newcomers

to the new kind of textbooks for high schools in which speaking is stressed equally to other three skills However, their speaking abilities are limited and they are sometimes too shy to speak They have difficulty in expressing their ideas Secondly, the students are at pre-intermediate level for which the organization of extracurricular activities is of great help for them to overcome speaking abilites limitations The students here were restricted to two 10thform classes (among seven 10th form classes at Triệu Sơn High School No2) These two classes, which were chosen randomly, account for 90 students They are aged from 15 to 16 and all of them have had at least four years of learning English at lower-secondary schools They are not the same at English speaking competence Some of them are really good and active while a lot of them are quite passive and unmotivated in learning English

There are four out of six teachers of English at Triệu Sơn High Shool No2 participating in this study These four teachers include two males and two females Their ages range from 34 to 38 with at least nine years of

teaching English One of them has finished an M.A course at Vietnam National University, Hanoi The reason for this choice of participants is that they are all in charge of 10th form classes at Triệu Sơn High School No2

2.2.2 Procedures

The study strictly followed the steps First, possible extracurricular activities were designed based on the students‟ level of English and the requirements of their English program in Grade 10, particularly the expected outcomes of their speaking ability when they finish Grade 10 Then, the designed activities were piloted with the selected groups of students Following are the activities piloted

To overcome the problem, the researcher with collegues in English group organized three extracurricular activities for students in the school year

in order to improve their speaking skills The researcher planned three extracurricular activities as follows

The first extracurricular activity

Theme: Let’s explore English/ Explore English

2.1 Content of the competition

There are 5 parts

Part 1: Greeting

- Three teams take part in the first part respectively

- The maximum point is 10 given by the judge ( not decimal points)

+ 5 scores max for fluency

+ 5 scores max for impressiveness

Part 2: Start

- Each team takes turn to answer 10 questions

- Time allowed: 15 seconds per question

- 10 scores for each correct answer

- If time is up with no answer, no score is gained and subtracted

Part 3: Overcome the Obstacle

- There is a crossword that consists of 6 rolls

- The obstacle that contains 6 letters is hidden behind a vertical line This is a missing piece of a saying

- 120 scores will be given for the correct answer before the first roll is opened

- 30 scores added for an excellent expression for the saying

- 20 scores respectively deducted after 1 roll

- The team has the wrong answer for the obstacle will have to stop its turn in this part

- 30 scores for each correct answer (for the team selecting the roll), other teams will have right to answer (in circle) and can gain 10 up to 20 scores

Part 4: Speed up

- Three teams answer 6 questions at the same time Each question has 3 smaller parts ranging in 6 fields and skills, including phonetics, Vocabulary, Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing

- Time allowed: 90 seconds per question

+ 45 scores for the correct answer at the first 30 seconds

+ 30 scores for the correct answer at the next 30 seconds

+ 15 scores for the correct answer at the last 30 seconds