The application of instructional strategies in teaching speaking English to first-year students in the College of Urban Works Construction = Ứng dụng các chi20150227

The advantages of applying instructional strategies in teaching speaking English ……… 2.3.2.2.. The difficulties of applying instructional strategies in teaching speaking English ………... L

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

ACKOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF FIGURES, CHARTS AND APPENDICES ………

Part A: INTRODUCTION………

1 Rationales for the study……… …

2 Aims of the study……… ………

3 Scope of the study………

4 Methods of the study……… ……

5 Research questions……… …

6 Significance of the study………

7 Design of the study……… …

Part B: DEVELOPMENT……….…………

Chapter 1 Literature review………

1 Current trends in teaching English as a second language………

2 Communicative approach……… ………

3 Instructional strategies……… …………

3.1 History……… ………

3.2 Categories……… ………

3.2.1 Direct Instruction……… ………

3.2.2 Indirect Instruction……… ……

3.2.3 Interactive Instruction……… ………

3.2.4 Experiential learning……… ………

3.2.5 Independent study………… ………

Chapter 2 The study………

1 An overview of the current situation of teaching and learning speaking at CUWC

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1.1 Syllabus and textbook ………

1.2 Learning and teaching condition ……… ………

1.3 Learners………

1.4 Teachers………

2 The study……… ………

2.1 Informants……… ………

2.2 Data collection instruments………

2.2.1 Questionnaires……… ………

2.2.2 Class observation ………

2.2.3 Interview………

2.3 Data analysis and discussion of the findings……… ………

2.3.1 Data analysis………

2.3.2 Discussion of the findings………

2.3.2.1 The advantages of applying instructional strategies in teaching speaking English ………

2.3.2.2 The difficulties of applying instructional strategies in teaching speaking English ………

Chapter 3 Suggested solutions 1 Learning condition improvement ………

2 Discipline maintenance……… …

3 Engaged learning time increasing………

4 Provision for individual differences……… ………

5 Evaluation of learning……… ………

6 Some suggested speaking activities for large classes………

6.1 Topic brainstorming……… ………

6.2 Tell a long story……… ……

6.3 Make presentation on certain topics………

Part C: CONCLUSION ……….………

1 Summary of the study………

2 Limitations of the study………

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3 Suggestions for further research

REFERENCES………

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1 CUWC: College of Urban Works Construction

2 ESL: English as a second language

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

ACKOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF FIGURES, CHARTS AND APPENDICES ………

Part A: INTRODUCTION………

1 Rationales for the study……… …

2 Aims of the study……… ………

3 Scope of the study………

4 Methods of the study……… ……

5 Research questions……… …

6 Significance of the study………

7 Design of the study……… …

Part B: DEVELOPMENT……….…………

Chapter 1 Literature review………

1 Current trends in teaching English as a second language………

2 Communicative approach……… ………

3 Instructional strategies……… …………

3.1 History……… ………

3.2 Categories……… ………

3.2.1 Direct Instruction……… ………

3.2.2 Indirect Instruction……… ……

3.2.3 Interactive Instruction……… ………

3.2.4 Experiential learning……… ………

3.2.5 Independent study………… ………

Chapter 2 The study………

1 An overview of the current situation of teaching and learning speaking at CUWC

I

ii iii

iv

vi vii

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1

1

2

3

3

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5

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1.1 Syllabus and textbook ………

1.2 Learning and teaching condition ……… ………

1.3 Learners………

1.4 Teachers………

2 The study……… ………

2.1 Informants……… ………

2.2 Data collection instruments………

2.2.1 Questionnaires……… ………

2.2.2 Class observation ………

2.2.3 Interview………

2.3 Data analysis and discussion of the findings……… ………

2.3.1 Data analysis………

2.3.2 Discussion of the findings………

2.3.2.1 The advantages of applying instructional strategies in teaching speaking English ………

2.3.2.2 The difficulties of applying instructional strategies in teaching speaking English ………

Chapter 3 Suggested solutions 1 Learning condition improvement ………

2 Discipline maintenance……… …

3 Engaged learning time increasing………

4 Provision for individual differences……… ………

5 Evaluation of learning……… ………

6 Some suggested speaking activities for large classes………

6.1 Topic brainstorming……… ………

6.2 Tell a long story……… ……

6.3 Make presentation on certain topics………

Part C: CONCLUSION ……….………

1 Summary of the study………

2 Limitations of the study………

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3 Suggestions for further research

REFERENCES………

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1 CUWC: College of Urban Works Construction

2 ESL: English as a second language

LIST OF FIGURE, CHARTS AND APPENDICES

Figure 1: Categories of instructional strategies

Chart 1: Reasons for learning English

Chart 2: Reasons for not being interested in speaking English

Chart 3: Strategies used in speaking class

APPENDIX 1 The questionnaire for students ( English version) APPENDIX 2: The questionnaire for students ( Vietnamese version) APPENDIX 3: The questionnaire for teachers

PART A INTRODUCTION

1 Rationales

Teaching English is never an easy job, especially when we have to work with major learners There are a lot of reasons for this fact One of them is that learners have not realised the important role of English in their present study and future job The second is that English is always a really difficult subject with very challenging tasks and requirements Therefore, it is necessary to find out a way to make this subject more interesting Instructional strategies can work in this case

non-With the development of Vietnam economy and society and the need of integration with the modern world, the role of English is clear out Following with this change, there is the need for high – quality teachers with good and creative teaching methods which can stop boring lessons and can attract learners In other words, instructional strategies are the first step to set up teachers’ qualities

Teachers do not teach what they want but what students want and society wants Instructional strategies can help teachers be closer to students’ needs They can base and focus on learners’ knowledge and experiences Teachers can base on students’ real life to set up their cirriculum and teaching plans and activities Therefore, instructional strategies are the brigde to connect teaching and learning with the fact For all the reasons above, instructional strategies are deserved to study and explored Hopefully, they can provide teachers with one more solution in their difficult job

2 Aims and objectives of the study

Within the frame work of a minor thesis, the study is aimed at describing the situation of applying instructional strategies in learning and teaching speaking in the College of Urban Works Construction (CUWC) and suggesting some solutions to the improvement of teaching speaking skill to students

In order to achieve this aim, the study concentrates on:

- Investigating the current situation of the teaching and learning speaking skills

at CUWC

- Identify the advantages and difficulties that the teachers and students face while applying instructional strategies in teaching and learning speaking skills

- Suggesting some solutions to help improve the application of instructional strategies in teaching speaking skill

3 Scope of the study

Because of limited time and experience, the study cannot investigate deeply all problems and solutions while applying strategies in speaking skill in CUWC It only stops at describing some significant problems and suggesting some appropriate ways

to improve the application of these strategies in teaching speaking for students in the college

Owing to the reason mentioned above, the study does not cover all solutions to other skills and levels as well as to exploit textbook of all kinds It only focuses on New-headway elementary textbook and ways to exploit it in teaching speaking skill

4 Methods of the study

The study is designed to use both quantitative and qualitative methods Besides, various resources such as books, magazines, articles, newspapers and some sources on the Internet have been chosen

In order to gain the most successful results, the quantitative data will be collected through two survey questionnaires One survey questionnaire is for 85 non- major first – year students of elementary level at CUWC and the other is for 6 teachers of English in the Department of Basic Science Collected data, then will be processed and analyses to yield conclusions about the study

Together the quantitative method, the qualitative data has been obtained by informal interviews with some students and teachers to gather in-depth information about the real situations of teaching and learning speaking skills at CUWC Besides, the author’s own observations will contribute much to the completion of the study

5 Research questions

The study is aimed at to answer three main questions:

a What are the advantages of instructional strategies in teaching speaking skill?

b What are the difficulties when applying these strategies in teaching skill for non-major students?

c How to apply instructional strategies effectively in teaching speaking skill ?

6 Significance of the study

It is hoped that this study will be a good source reference for both teachers and learners of English It is conducted to provide an insight into the current situation

of teaching English as a second language at CUWC and offer feasible solutions to its improvement Therefore, it is believed that this study will raise the teachers’ awareness of the advantages of techniques and activities in teaching speaking skills so that they can adjust properly in order to develop students’ speaking skill

7 Design of the study

The study is divided into three parts:

The first part “ Introduction” mentions the rationale, the aims, the scope, the methods, the research questions, significance and the design of the study

Next is the second part named “ Development” which consists of three chapters:

- Chapter 1 presents a thorough literature review relevant to the study It demonstrates the theorical background: the history of instructional strategies and all related categories

- Chapter 2 offers the methodologies performed in the thesis It describes the current situation of applying instructional strategies in teaching speaking skill

in CUWC Besides, this chapter also includes the analysis of data collected and the discussion of all findings

- Chapter 3 proposes some solutions to the improvement of instructional strategy application at CUWC

Last but not least, the “Conclusion” gives a brief description of the study and states the limitations as well as recommendations for further research

PART B DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1 LITERATURE REVIEW

1 Current trends in teaching English as a second language

Teaching speaking is considered as a difficult skill to teach Because

Speaking is the skill which can help students to communicate in real situation The efficiency of teaching this skill can be evaluated right after students apply their have learned knowledge in real communication There are some viewpoints towards teaching this skill Many language learners regard speaking ability as the measure of knowing a language These learners define fluency as the ability to converse with others, much more than the ability to read, write, or comprehend oral language They regard speaking as the most important skill they can acquire, and they assess their progress in terms of their accomplishments in spoken communication

As Grace, 1998, he thinks that: In the communicative model of language teaching, instructors help their students develop this body of knowledge by providing authentic practice that prepares students for real-life communication situations They help their students develop the ability to produce grammatically correct, logically connected sentences that are appropriate to specific contexts, and to do so using acceptable (that is, comprehensible) pronunciation

However, some writers does not agree with this point, Eric, 2008 has another idea What teacher can help his students to speak falls into three categories

a improving fluency (speaking smoothly)

b improving pronunciation (saying words properly)

c improving enunciation (Saying words/phrases clearly - this includes word and sentence intonation)

Some would say that vocabulary, grammar, and cultural usage also fall into how we teach speaking, but from my view point, they are critical, they are not only in the domain of speaking Speaking is about using our mouth and vocal cords to make sounds that people understand as language It certainly involves other elements like grammar and vocabulary, but they aren't the core of it I, myself prefer this attitude which opens new ways to teach speaking With new goals, teachers have to find out practical methods to get better results in their job

Also following this idea, Edurne Scott, 2008 mentions certain criteria to teach speaking ESL which include components of a Speaking Exercise, Teaching

Interactional Speaking and Free Discussion He emphasis that the social and cultural

factors need to be taken into teaching and learning speaking Learners speak to communicate successfully not to correctly

Because of the present need, instructional strategies can show their importance in teaching English as second language in general and speaking in particular These strategies can :

- Help students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works

- Develop competence in an area of inquiry requires:

a) a foundation of factual knowledge

b) understanding facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework

c) organizing knowledge for retrieval and application

- Help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining goals and

monitoring their progress in achieving them (How People Learn (NRC, 1999)

Teachers now do not work alone in class any more They help students to do that Learners are the centre of study All the things are based on students: their life, their interest, their own knowledge, etc That can encourage them to work because they

know that they learn about and for themselves ( Saskatchewan Education, 1988 )

2 Communicative approach

Its origins are many, insofar as one teaching methodology tends to influence the next The communicative approach could be said to be the product of educators and linguists who had grown dissatisfied with the audio-lingual and grammar-translation methods of foreign language instruction

They felt that students were not learning enough realistic, whole language They did not know how to communicate using appropriate social language, gestures, or expressions; in brief, they were at a loss to communicate in the culture of the language studied Interest in and development of communicative-style teaching mushroomed in the 1970s; authentic language use and classroom exchanges where students engaged in real communication with one another became quite popular

In the intervening years, the communicative approach has been adapted to the elementary, middle, secondary, and post-secondary levels, and the underlying philosophy has spawned different teaching methods known under a variety of names, including notional-functional, teaching for proficiency, proficiency-based instruction, and communicative language teaching

Communicative language teaching makes use of real-life situations that necessitate communication The teacher sets up a situation that students are likely to encounter

in real life Unlike the audiolingual method of language teaching, which relies on repetition and drills, the communicative approach can leave students in suspense as

to the outcome of a class exercise, which will vary according to their reactions and responses The real-life simulations change from day to day Students' motivation to learn comes from their desire to communicate in meaningful ways about meaningful topics

Margie S Berns, an expert in the field of communicative language teaching, writes

in explaining Firth's view that "language is interaction; it is interpersonal activity and has a clear relationship with society In this light, language study has to look at the use (function) of language in context, both its linguistic context (what is uttered

before and after a given piece of discourse) and its social, or situational, context (who is speaking, what their social roles are, why they have come together to speak) (Berns, 1984, p 5)

3 Instructional strategies

Decision making regarding instructional strategies requires teachers to focus on curriculum, the prior experiences and knowledge of students, learner interests, student learning styles, and the developmental levels of the learner Such decision making relies on ongoing student assessment that is linked to learning objectives and processes

3.1 History

The instructional strategies used in the early twenty-first century began in antiquity

In ancient Greece, Socrates illustrated a questioning strategy intended to facilitate the learner's independent discovery of important truths An instructional strategy similar to direct instruction was reported by Samuel Griswold Goodwich's account

of teaching in a rural Connecticut school during the early eighteenth century

The children were called up one by one to Aunt Delight, who sat on a low chair and required each, as a preliminary, "to make his manners," which consisted of a small, student nod She then placed the spelling book before the pupils and with a penknife pointed, one by one, to the letters of the alphabet saying, "What's that?" (Edward and Richey, p.172)

As education extended beyond society's elite, educators became interested in instructional strategies that would accommodate large numbers of students in efficient ways One example, the Lancaster Method, popular in the early nineteenth century, consisted of gathering as many as a hundred students in one large room, sorting them into groups of similar abilities, and having monitors (teacher aides) guide pupil recitations from scripted lesson plans Nineteenth-century instructional strategies were teacher centered, intended mainly to transmit basic information

clearly In the early part of the twentieth century, however, this emphasis started to shift John Dewey and his disciples of Progressive education left a legacy of student-centered instructional methods aimed at helping students acquire higher-level thinking and problem-solving skills Of particular importance was the project method that provided the intellectual heritage for such contemporary methods as cooperative learning, problem-based instruction and other approaches emphasizing active student learning and group interaction

In the late 1960s Bruce Joyce began describing the various approaches to teaching that had been developed over the years He developed a classification system to analyze each approach according to its theoretical basis, the learner outcomes it was designed to accomplish, and the teacher and student behaviors required to make the

approach work Joyce used the term model rather than teaching strategy to refer to a

particular approach to instruction In his initial work (Joyce and Weil, 1972) more than twenty models were identified Joyce's conceptualization of the field was a significant contribution and has influenced greatly how educators have thought about instructional strategies worldwide

3.2 Categories

Although instructional strategies can be categorized, the distinctions are not always clear-cut For example, a teacher may provide information through the lecture

method (from the direct instruction strategy) while using an interpretive method to

ask students to determine the significance of information that was presented (from

the indirect instruction strategy)

Five categories of instructional strategies and the interrelationship between and among strategies are illustrated in Figure 1

Figure 1: Categories of instructional strategies

3.2.1 Direct Instruction The Direct instruction strategy is highly teacher-directed and is among the most

commonly used This strategy includes methods such as lecture, didactic questioning, explicit teaching, practice and drill, and demonstrations

The direct instruction strategy is effective for providing information or developing step-by-step skills This strategy also works well for introducing other teaching methods, or actively involving students in knowledge construction

Direct instruction is usually deductive That is, the rule or generalization is presented and then illustrated with examples While this strategy may be considered among the easier to plan and to use, it is clear that effective direct instruction is often more complex than it would first appear

Direct instruction methods are widely used by teachers, particularly in the higher grades The predominant use of direct instruction methods needs to be evaluated, and educators need to recognize the limitation of these methods for developing the abilities, processes, and attitudes required for critical thinking, and for interpersonal

or group learning Student understanding of affective and higher level cognitive objectives may require the use of instructional methods associated with other

strategies To ensure that the Saskatchewan Goals of Education are achieved, teachers will need to employ a variety of instructional strategies

3.2.2 Indirect Instruction

Inquiry, induction, problem solving, decision making, and discovery are terms that

are sometimes used interchangeably to describe indirect instruction In contrast to

the direct instruction strategy, indirect instruction is mainly student-centred, although the two strategies can complement each other Examples of indirect instruction methods include reflective discussion, concept formation, concept attainment, cloze procedure, problem solving, and guided inquiry

Indirect instruction seeks a high level of student involvement in observing, investigating, drawing inferences from data, or forming hypotheses It takes advantage of students' interest and curiosity, often encouraging them to generate alternatives or solve problems It is flexible in that it frees students to explore diverse possibilities and reduces the fear associated with the possibility of giving incorrect answers Indirect instruction also fosters creativity and the development of interpersonal skills and abilities Students often achieve a better understanding of the material and ideas under study and develop the ability to draw on these understandings

In indirect instruction, the role of the teacher shifts from lecturer/director to that of facilitator, supporter, and resource person The teacher arranges the learning environment, provides opportunity for student involvement, and, when appropriate, provides feedback to students while they conduct the inquiry (Martin, 1983) Indirect instruction relies heavily on the use of print, non-print, and human resources Learning experiences are greatly enhanced through cooperation between teachers, and between teachers and the teacher-librarians

The indirect instruction strategy can be used by teachers in almost every lesson This strategy is most appropriate when:

 thinking outcomes are desired;

 attitudes, values, or interpersonal outcomes are desired;

 process is as important as product;

 students need to investigate or discover something in order to benefit from later instruction;

 there is more than one appropriate answer;

 the focus is personalized understanding and long term retention of concepts

or generalizations;

 ego involvement and intrinsic motivation are desirable;

 decisions need to be made or problems need to be solved; and,

 life-long learning capability is desired

In order for students to achieve optimum benefits during indirect instruction, it may

be necessary for the teacher to pre-teach the skills and processes necessary to achieve the intended learning outcomes Skills and processes include observing, encoding, recalling, classifying, comparing/contrasting, inferring, interpreting data, predicting, elaborating, summarizing, restructuring, and verifying

Indirect instruction, like other strategies, has disadvantages Indirect instruction is more time consuming than direct instruction, teachers relinquish some control, and outcomes can be unpredictable and less safe Indirect instruction is not the best way

of providing detailed information or encouraging step-by-step skill acquisition It is also inappropriate when content memorization and immediate recall is desired

3.2.3 Interactive Instruction Interactive instruction relies heavily on discussion and sharing among participants

Seaman and Fellenz (1989) suggest that discussion and sharing provide learners with opportunities to "react to the ideas, experience, insights, and knowledge of the teacher or of peer learners and to generate alternative ways of thinking and feeling" (p 119) Students can learn from peers and teachers to develop social skills and abilities, to organize their thoughts, and to develop rational arguments

The interactive instruction strategy allows for a range of groupings and interactive methods These may include total class discussions, small group discussions or projects, or student pairs or triads working on assignments together It is important for the teacher to outline the topic, the amount of discussion time, the composition and size of the groups, and reporting or sharing techniques Interactive instruction requires the refinement of observation, listening, interpersonal, and intervention skills and abilities by both teacher and students

The success of the interactive instruction strategy and its many methods is heavily dependent upon the expertise of the teacher in structuring and developing the dynamics of the group

3.2.4 Experiential Learning Experiential learning is inductive, learner-centred, and activity oriented

Personalized reflection about an experience and the formulation of plans to apply [earnings to other contexts are critical factors in effective experiential learning Experiential learning occurs when learners:

 participate in an activity;

 critically look back on the activity to clarify [earnings and feelings;

 draw useful insights from such analysis; and,

 put [earnings to work in new situations (Pfeiffer & Jones, 1979)

Experiential learning can be viewed as a cycle consisting of five phases, all of which are necessary:

 experiencing (an activity occurs);

 sharing or publishing (reactions and observations are shared);

 analyzing or processing (patterns and dynamics are determined);

 inferring or generalizing (principles are derived); and,

 applying (plans are made to use [earnings in new situations)

The emphasis in experiential learning is on the process of learning and not on the product A teacher can use experiential learning as an instructional strategy both in

and outside the classroom For example, in the classroom students can build and stock an aquarium or engage in a simulation Outside the classroom they can, for example, observe courtroom procedures in a study of the legal system, or conduct a public opinion survey Experiential learning makes use of a variety of resources There are obvious limitations to the kinds of experiences that students may gain first hand Concern for student safety, limitations on financial resources, and lack of available time are some of the reasons this strategy cannot be applied in all situations The benefits to students, however, justify the extra efforts this strategy may require

Experiential learning is an effective instructional strategy if direct or "hands-on" experience is needed before teaching methods that involve iconic learning (for example, looking at pictures) or symbolic learning (for example, listening to the teacher talk) Experiential learning greatly increases understanding and retention in comparison to methods that solely involve listening, reading, or even viewing (McNeil & Wiles, 1990) Students are usually more motivated when they actively participate and teach one another by describing what they are doing

3.2.5 Independent Study For the purposes of this document, independent study refers to the range of

instructional methods which are purposefully provided to foster the development of individual student initiative, self-reliance, and self-improvement While independent study may be initiated by student or teacher, the focus here will be on planned independent study by students under the guidance or supervision of a classroom teacher In addition, independent study can include learning in partnership with another individual or as part of a small group

The importance of independent study is captured in the following statement:

“ Independent learning has implications for responsible decision-making, as individuals are expected to analyze problems, reflect, make decisions and take purposeful actions To take responsibility for their lives in times of rapid social

change, students need to acquire life-long learning capability As most aspects of our daily lives are likely to undergo profound changes, independent learning will enable individuals to respond to the changing demands of work, family and society.” (Saskatchewan Education, 1988, p 53)

A primary educational goal is to help students become self-sufficient and responsible citizens by enhancing individual potential Schools can help students to grow as independent learners However, if the knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and processes associated with independent learning are to be acquired, they must be taught and enough time must be provided for students to practice Use of independent study methods may begin as early as kindergarten and should continue

to be used through all the grades Students should be able to continue to learn after they have left the structured learning environment of the school

Independent study encourages students to take responsibility for planning and pacing their own learning Independent study can be used in conjunction with other methods, or it can be used as the single instructional strategy for an entire unit The factors of student maturity and independence are obviously important to the teacher's planning

Adequate learning resources for independent study are critical The teacher who wishes to help students become more autonomous learners will need to support the development of their abilities to access and handle information It is important to assess the abilities students already possess These abilities often vary widely within any group of students Specific skills and abilities may then be incorporated into assignments tailored to the capabilities of individual students The co-operation of the teacher librarian and the availability of materials from the resource centre and the community provide additional support

Independent study is very flexible It can be used as the major instructional strategy with the whole class, in combination with other strategies, or it can be used with one

or more individuals while another strategy is used with the rest of the class

Chapter 2 THE STUDY

1 An overview of the current situation of teaching and learning speaking at the College of Urban Works Construction

Syllabus and textbook

English is a non-major subject so it is considered as a basic subject and taught in the first year of the three –year training course for college students Students learn English in two terms and they learn 75 periods for each term These 75 periods are divided into two smaller parts The first one includes 60 periods for basic communicative English with the New-headway elementary textbook and the second with 15 periods for English for specific purposes Within the scope of a minor thesis

as mentioned in the first chapter, this study only focuses on the teaching and learning of basic communicative English and related textbooks

Based on students’ result from their high school report, New – Headway at

elementary level is chosen to teach Students are all non-major English learners and they concentrated on natural science subjects to pass the Entrance exam so this textbook seems to be proper with their level New – headway is not really the most up-to-date textbook nowadays but there are some advantages of this material Firstly, it is well-designed with interesting tasks and communicative activities which make it a good assistant for teachers while designing their teaching plans Secondly,

it is ideal for teaching speaking with diversified practice in pairs or in groups Thanks to that, students can interact and communicate more in their lessons Besides, this textbook also supplies with appropriate exercises from easy to difficult ones which can encourage both good and not really good learners

Learning and teaching condition

Surrounding condition is an important factor for improving or preventing learning and teaching results Thanks to leaders’ care in recent years, English classes have

been equipped with modern facilities such as cassette players, computers and projectors Therefore, teachers can apply progressive methods and technology in their lectures and learners thus are more interested in lessons Besides, a new five-storey building brings students a better and more comfortable place to study and encourages them to attend classes

However, there is one dream which has not come true There are always from fifty

to sixty, even more than sixty students in each class This number is not ideal for learning a foreign language, especially for speaking lessons It also prevents the improvement of learning and teaching speaking skills Working with a large number

of students is a problem for teachers They face difficulties when teaching and maintaining the discipline of class at the same time The overcrowded situation, therefore, reduces learners’ attention Teachers speak but learners cannot hear because their friends are talking in class As a result, students are not able to understand all the lecturers’ instruction It is more challenging when teachers have

to carry out speaking activities How could they cover so many groups or pairs? That is the question More seriously, teachers are exhausted after lessons in which they have spoken aloud all the times It causes bad influences on lecturers’ health

Learners

Most students in the College of Urban Works Construction are general and at elementary level They have learned English for at least three years at high school but this subject was not carefully taken into their consideration In their opinion, learning English means learning grammar and structures All are reasons why learners get shocked when facing English oral exams at the college Students are surprised when they have to study to speak out in class firstly and then in the exams Some students can easily adapt to new ways of learning but most of them face challenges They are afraid of showing their voice in front of the class, many are nervous when sitting in the examination

Another reason for students’ difficulty in succeeding in English speaking class is their low awareness towards the importance of this subject Numerous learners do not think English is necessary for their future job and others learn only to pass the speaking test They have not realized that English, an international language, can be the golden key for their career

Teachers

English division includes ten teachers, nine females and only one male Most of them are young, enthusiastic and well-trained in the University for Foreign Languages They never forget to fulfill the duty of teaching Day by day, lecturers are trying their best to find the ways to work effectively However, there are some problems from teachers which can cause some troubles for their speaking teaching

In the first place, teachers’ knowledge is not up to date For many years, they use only one textbook, use the same syllabus and follow the same teaching plans Some

of their knowledge is forgotten, some new one has not heard about In fact, in order

to have a good speaking lesson, teachers need to meet various requirements such as

an effective teaching plan with proper activities, good instruction, active style and last but not least a good pronunciation Certainly, it is difficult for one teacher to cover all these demands

Secondly, working hard and low salary are factors which reduce teaching efficiency Each teacher has to teach more than 250 periods in one term Besides, she also writes an extra material book of English for specific purposes and sometimes takes part in the college activities A teacher can get a small wage which is not enough to afford all expenses Consequently, nowadays most teachers agree to work part time for language centers This situation means that they share their time, strength and teaching enthusiasm between two workplaces

In short, all factors affect teaching However, teachers always try to work seriously and effectively to maximize their teaching efficiency

2 The study

2.1 Informants

The participants in the research include 70 first – year civil engineering students in the College of Urban Works Construction.There are 65 male and 5 female students They are first year students and all are non-major ones The imbalance of gender can cause some obstacles for their learning English Female ones can feel uncomfortable when they are the minority in class, that can prevent them from being confident when learning speaking skills Secondly, when all of them are non-major, it is not easy to encourage them to speak and also not easy to teach them following the cirriculum from the start

Teachers participate in the research There are 7 teachers interviewed and one is the research doer Most of them are enthusiastic and try to apply these strategies in teaching After each class, we always records our teaching and students’ learning to evaluate the efficiency of our application

2.2 Data collection instruments

2.2.1 Questionnaire

The questionnaire is designed and distributed to students and teachers Students can get questionnair at the beggining of the class and they have about 30 minutes to finish it According to the students’ level, the questionnairs are translated into Vietnamses in order to get valid and correct feedback information The questionnaire can be returned at the end of the class by the teacher and research doer

Teachers also get the questionnair in which they are asked about their instruction ways and speaking activities applied in class

2.2.2 Class observation

Two kinds of observation are used for sampling The first is direct observation The research doer observes other classes and record events happening in class Second is the participant observation The researcher is the teacher of her class and makes her own records

2.2.3 Interview

The interview is taken in class directly and indirectly Teachers can ask their learners about the importance of the strategies or they can get the data through indirect interview, for example: teacher and students just chat about topics related to the knowledge and then teacher can have her needed information

2.3 Data analysis and discussion of the findings

Chart 1: Reason for learning English

The pie charts demonstrate clearly that more than half of learners study speaking to pass the exam Up to 15% of them try to practice their speaking skill because of the hobby and 25 % of students have positive aims of learning speaking skill when they

learn to communicate at present and for their future jobs It is undeniable that we cannot get the best results unless we have good objectives which bring us a motivation to work without being bored and tired

Reasons for not being interested in

speaking English

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

subject teacher students learning condition

Chart 2: Reasons for not being interested in speaking English

Based on collected data, it is easy to clear out four main sources of saying No to speaking in class The first reason belongs to subject itself English as a foreign language is never an easy subject, especially when students learn to have the ability

of using English as a communication tool They have to pass the exam, and then express their ideas without difficulties in English Not all major students can do it after four years of training with the best and most professional learning environment Learners and teachers of the CUWC must get this goal in two terms and in the all conditions mentioned in the previous parts In some cases, it seems to

be impossible More than a half of learners think this subject is not easy at all There are many new words to study, new grammatical structures to remember and various topics which are both familiar and strange Students themselves are the second root

of problems They are lack of confidence such as being afraid of making mistakes,

being too shy to present in front of the class Some learners admit that their vocabulary is not enough to express their ideas Learning condition is also blamed for the fact of students’ interest reducing when large classes prevent students from raising their ideas and being listened by their friends and teachers during the lesson time

It is very clear that about 50% students share the thought that teachers and their instructions play certain role in encouraging students to learn speaking better Some students say teachers’ instructions are unclear, too brief or too confusing Sometimes, learners want to have more interesting activities which attract them and motivate them to learn and speak in class Obviously, one of the solutions of current situation is how teachers and their instructions can wake up students’ interests in English speaking One more time it is necessary to mention the role of the application of instructional strategies in speaking lessons

Strategies used in speaking class

direct

interactive

independent

indirect 0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Chart 3: Strategies used in speaking class

The data reveals clearly the application of each strategy in a speaking lesson All teachers use direct and most of them apply interactive instruction There are not any