A study on factors affecting students participation in speaking lessons and suggested activities for the first year english major students at HPU n0 2

Also, the researcher analyzed some effective activities to help the teachers increase students‟ involvement in teaching English speaking.. In addition, implications and suggestions for f

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

TRAN HUONG LINH

A STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’

PARTICIPATION IN SPEAKING LESSONS AND SUGGESTED

ACTIVITIES

(SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ENGLSH)

HANOI, MAY 2015

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

TRAN HUONG LINH

A STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’

PARTICIPATION IN SPEAKING LESSONS AND SUGGESTED

ACTIVITIES

(SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ENGLSH)

SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN THI PHUONG LAN M.A

HANOI, MAY 2015

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Mrs Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan (M.A.), for her enthusiastic instructions Without her insightful discussion, her critical comment, her dedicated support, and her valuable orientation, this thesis would not have been completed

I also owe a great debt of gratitude to Ms Emma Parenteau for her valuable guidance and advice

My special thanks are also sent to Mr Dang Ngoc Nam (M.A.) from Faculty of Foreign Language of HPU No.2, for his help and advice for this thesis

I cannot fully express my gratitude to all the lecturers of Faculty of Foreign Languages of HPU No.2 for giving me permission to commence this thesis in the first instance and to do the necessary research work

I would also like to send my sincere thanks to English major students from Course 40 at HPU No.2 in the academic year of 2014-2015 taking part in my research

Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my beloved people, my parents, my younger sister and friends for their support and encouragement throughout the time I carried out my study

This study is implemented to investigate the factors on the students‟ side that affect their participation in speaking activities The subjects of the study are the first year English major students of Faculty of Foreign Languages at HPU No.2 The results from survey questionnaires and classroom observations show that learners‟ factors have been regarded as important factors impacting on the participation in speaking sessions Also, the researcher analyzed some effective activities to help the teachers increase students‟ involvement in teaching English speaking In addition, implications and suggestions for further research are made with the hope for better methods to help teachers reduce students‟ negative effects of these factors during the process of learning speaking English

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Title:

A STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION

IN SPEAKING LESSONS AND SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

FOR THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HPU N o 2

(Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Bachelor of

Arts in English)

I certify that all the materials in this study which are not my own work have been identified and acknowledged, and that no material is included for which a degree has been conferred upon me

Date submitted: May, 2015

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

HPU No.2 Hanoi Pedagogical University No.2

LIST OF GRAPHS

Graph 2 Students‟ attitudes towards speaking English 37

Graph 4 Students‟ levels of English proficiency 40

Graph 8 Students‟ perception of speaking activities 56

after the action plan Graph 9 Students‟ on-task behavior before and after the action plan 57

Graph 10 Students‟ interaction in a 10-minute speaking group work 58

before and after the action plan

Graph 11 Students‟ interaction in a 50-minute speaking lesson 59

before and after the action plan

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4 Students‟ interaction in lesson 10 53

Table 5 Students‟ interaction in lesson 11 54

Table 6 Students‟ interaction in lesson 12 55

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Representing different student levels 12

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

ABSTRACT ii

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv

LIST OF GRAPHS v

LIST OF TABLES v

LIST OF FIGURES v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

PART ONE INTRODUCTION I Rationale 1

II Research questions 2

III Research objectives 2

IV Research significance 2

V Research scope 2

VI Research methods 3

VII Research tasks 3

VIII Design of the research work 3

PART TWO DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND I.1 Literature review 4

I.2 Students’ factors affecting their participation in English speaking lessons 6

I.2.1 Students‟ learning style 7

I.2.2 Students‟ attitudes and motivation 9

I.2.2.1 Students‟ attitudes 9

I.2.2.2 Students‟ motivation 9

I.2.3 Students‟ language levels 12

I.2.4 Students‟ personality 14

I.2.5 Students‟ anxiety 16

I.2.6 Gender differences 18

I.3 Activities to encourage students’ involvement in speaking lesson 19

I.3.1 Group work 19

I.3.2 Discussion 20

I.3.3 Role-play 21

I.3.4 Simulations 22

I.3.5 Information Gaps 22

I.3.6 Storytelling 23

I.3.7 Interview 24

I.3.8 Picture Narrating 24

I.3.9 Picture Describing 25

I.4 Summary 25

CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY II.1 Research methods 27

II.1.1 Action research 27

II.1.2.Action research procedure 27

II.1.2.1 Identifying the problem (week 3) 27

II.1.2.2 Collecting initial data (weeks 4 – 5) 28

II.1.2.3 Analyzing data and generating hypotheses (week 6) 28

II.1.2.4 Planning action (week 7) 28

II.1.2.5 Implementing action (weeks 8 – 12) 29

II.1.2.6 Collecting data to monitor change (weeks 8 – 12) 29

II.1.2.7 Analyzing and evaluating students‟ participation after action plan (weeks 13 – 14) 29

II.2 Data collection instruments 29

II.2.1 Survey questionnaires 29

II.2.1.1 Rationale behind the use of survey questionnaires 29

II.2.1.2 Construction of the survey questionnaires 30

II.2.1.2.1 Construction of the Pre-survey questionnaire (Appendix A) 30

II.2.1.2.2 Construction of the Post-survey questionnaire (Appendix B) 30

II.2.2 Classroom observation 31

II.2.2.1 Rationale behind the use of classroom observation 31

II.2.2.2 Observation sheet: On-task behavior (Appendix C) 32

II.3 The participants 33

II.3.1 The teacher 33

II.3.2 The observers 33

II.3.3 The student subjects 33

CHAPTER THREE: THE RESULTS III.1 Results of the Pre-action stage 34

III.1.1 Results of the Pre-survey questionnaire 34

III.1.1.1 Students‟ perception of learning speaking English 34

III.1.1.2 Learners‟ factors that hinder the students‟ participation in speaking lessons 35

III.1.1.2.1 Learning style 35

III.1.1.2.2 Attitudes and motivation 37

III.1.1.2.2.1 Attitudes 37

III.1.1.2.2.2 Motivation 38

III.1.1.2.3 Language level 40

III.1.1.2.4 Personality 42

III.1.1.2.5 Anxiety 43

III.1.1.2.6 Gender differences 45

III.1.1.3 Preferences for speaking activities 47

III.1.2 Students‟ on-task behavior 48

III.1.3 Students‟ interaction self-report 49

III.2 Results of the action stage 50

III.2.1 Students‟ on task behavior 50

III.2.2 Students‟ interaction self-report 52

III.2.3 Results of the Post-survey questionnaire 55

III.3 Action research evaluation 57

III.3.1 Students‟ on-task behavior before and after the action plan 57

III.3.2 Students‟ interaction before and after the action plan 58

III.4 Summary 59

PART THREE CONCLUSION IV.1 Summary of the study 61

IV.2 Recommendations 63

IV.2.1 Recommendations for grouping students 63

IV.2.2 Recommendations for discussion 64

IV.2.3 Recommendations for role-play and simulation 64

IV.2.4 Recommendations for information gaps 65

IV.2.5 Recommendations for storytelling 66

IV.2.6 Recommendations for interview 67

IV.2.7 Recommendations for picture narrating and picture describing 67

IV.3 Limitations and suggestions for further study 68

REFERENCES 70

APPENDIX A: Pre-survey Questionnaire 74

APPENDIX B: Post-survey Questionnaire 78

Appendix C: Observation sheet 79

Appendix D: Students’ interaction self-report 81

Appendix E: Speaking lesson plan – Lesson 5 (Pre-action stage) 82

Appendix E.1: Additional pictures 85

Appendix F: Speaking lesson plan – Lesson 11 (Action stage) 88

Appendix F.1: Additional material of lesson 11 91

Appendix F.2: Worksheet 1 92

Appendix F.3: Worksheet 2 93

PART ONE INTRODUCTION

Chapter One introduced the rationale, the aims, the research questions, the significance, the scope and the design of the study

I Rationale

In the modern world today, there is no doubt that English is regarded as one of the most renowned language for everyone all over the word Among 5,000 to 6,000 living languages it is certainly right to say that English has become a means of international communication in the aspects of business, commerce, education, entertainment and so on

Even though English is neither the official nor the second language of Vietnam, the number of people learning this language in Vietnam has increased swiftly year by year In fact, English has become an obligatory subject in the curriculum from primary education to tertiary education It is undeniable that all foreign learners in general as well as English major students at HPU No.2 in particular want to master this language

in communication The Communities Approach teaching requires developing language learners‟ four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing However, speaking is seen as the center skill and the most demanding of the four skills (Bailey, 1983)

It cannot be denied that many Vietnamese students can write and read English well, but they are unable to speak English correctly and fluently Sadly, most of the students find speaking difficult even uninteresting After a long time observing, it has been found that the first year students are still quite passive in learning speaking English They do not actively participate in speaking activities In reality, students‟ participation can be influenced by various factors coming from teachers‟ side like

teacher‟s teaching methods, teachers‟ characteristics, teachers‟ knowledge (Breach, 2005); students‟ side such as motivation, attitudes, personality, learning styles, age, gender differences (Larsen-Freeman and Long, 1991); and other elements including classroom environment, types and contents of activities, etc (Williams and Burden,

1997)

Nevertheless, students‟ participation in speaking activities has been the centre

of various TEFL research, the number of researchers who examined the factors from

students‟ side and suggested solutions for this problems is still limited This has given

me the desire to conduct a study to identify these factors as well as to find out the effective activities to increase the students‟ participation in speaking lessons for the first year English major students at HPU No.2

II Research questions

To achieve the aims which are mentioned above, the following research questions were raised for exploration:

What are the factors on the learners‟ side affecting their participation in speaking lessons?

What should be done to increase the students‟ participation in speaking lessons?

III Research objectives

This study aims to find out the factors that have negative effects on the year-English-major students‟ involvement in speaking lessons Based on the findings, the researcher will suggest some activities to increase the students‟ participation as well as to enhance the effectiveness of the speaking lessons

first-IV Research significance

The result of the study is expected to be useful input not only for the teachers but also for the students With regard to the teachers, it will help to indicate the factors that directly affect the success of speaking lessons and suggest some effective activities which teachers can apply in order to increase the learners‟ participation as well as the qualification of speaking lessons In term of students, the study will show them the barriers that prevent them from participating actively in speaking lessons and find out the oral activities which they prefer to take part in

V Research scope

Students‟ participation in learning speaking English can be impacted by several closely related factors Among these factors, learners‟ factors appear to be a complex one that needs to be studied

Besides, the subjects of the study are forty first-year English major students at HPU No.2 – K40

VI Research methods

In order to achieve the aims mentioned above, theoretical study, action research have been used Besides, the data was collected by means of: classroom observations and questionnaires

VII Research tasks

The research studies the definition of students‟ participation, the definition and types of students‟ factors After covering the theoretical background, the survey questionnaires and classroom observation will be conducted and then some useful activities will be suggested

VIII Design of the research work

The study consists of three main parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion

Part I: INTRODUCTION outlines the rationale, the questions, the objectives, the scope, the task, the method, the significance and the design of the study

Part II: DEVELOPMENT consists of three chapters

 Chapter One: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND briefly presents

literature review, the background on students‟ factors and some common effective activities in speaking sessions

 Chapter Two: METHODOLOGY presents the methods used in the study

 Chapter Three: RESULTS shows the detailed results and analysis on the

data collected from survey questionnaires and classroom-observation Part III: CONCLUSION provides a review, limitations of the study as well as suggestions for further studies

PART TWO DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

This chapter involves different issues in the theories of factors affecting students‟ participation, including the literature review, theoretical background of learners‟ factors and activities to promote students‟ involvement in speaking lesson

I.1 Literature review

It is undeniable that, speaking is one of the most important skills that students at any levels frequently desire to improve and enhance That is the reason why, nowadays there are a growing of teachers tries their best to find out more creative and effective activities with aim of encouraging students to talk more in speaking lessons

Ur (1996) illustrates four characteristics of a successful speaking activity,

including learners talk a lot, participation is even, motivation is high, and language is

of an acceptable level Among those, learners talk a lot (as much as possible of the

period of time allowed to the activity in fact occupied by learners talk This may seem

obvious, but often most time is taken up with teachers or pauses) and participation is even (classroom discussion is not dominated by a minority of talkative participants: all

get a chance to speak, and contributions are fairly evenly distributed) can be called as

“students‟ participation” Moreover, low or uneven participation was recognized as

one of the most complicated and conspicuous phenomenon

In general, students‟ participation is frequently considered as students‟ involvement in classroom activities, and in this case, oral activities To be more specific, it can be seen in the interaction between students and teachers as well as between students and other students in the class In term of student-teacher interaction, students who are active participants often listen to their teacher, follow his/her direction and subsequently fully complete the required tasks Moreover, they also need

to answer the teacher‟s questions not only honestly but also adequately and voluntarily speak out loud With respect to the student-student interaction, students‟ participation can be monitored when they are asked to work in pairs or work in groups That is their responsibility to complete the task with their partners or fellows, their willingness to speak English in order to share their knowledge and understanding with other students

It is also important to note that, in time of working in groups, students‟ attention and listening to other ideas of other students or even the correction for their friends are also highly appreciated as great participation According to Nunan (1991), learners‟ active participation is “the ability of the learners to be constantly engaged in what is to be learned” Owing to the scope of this study, students‟ participation mainly refers to the time students speak English to one another or to the teachers so as to express their opinions, ideas, and feelings, to make questions, to answer or to give comments on the others Besides, their attention and attitudes during the others‟ talking time are also considered as their involvement

In reality, students‟ involvement in speaking lessons may be influenced by several factors, that have been studied by a wide range of researchers before, such as,

age (d‟Anglejan, 1990), language aptitude (McLaughlin, 1990), attitudes and motivation (McGoarty, 1996), social-psychological factors (Freeman & McElhinny, 1996; Rickford, 1996), personality, cognitive style, hemisphere specialization (Larsen- Freeman and Long, 1991, p 153), learning strategies (Ihsan R Diem, 1997) and even gender (Freeman & McElhinnv, 1996)

There are many variables that enormously influence students‟ acquisition as well as their involvement in speaking sessions Dunn, Dunn and Price (1979) believe

that learners are affected by their: (a) environmental (sound, light, temperature, and the need for either a formal or informal design); (b) emotional (motivation, persistence, responsibility, and the need for either structure or options); (c) sociological (self, pair, peer, team, adult, or varied); and (d) physical (perceptual strengths, need for intake, time of day or night energy levels, and need for mobility) preferences

Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991) identify six factors, namely 1) age; 2) language aptitude; 3) social-psychological factors: motivation and attitudes; 4) personality: self-esteem, extroversion, anxiety, risk taking, sensitivity to rejection, empathy, inhibition and tolerance to ambiguity; 5) cognitive style; and 6) learning strategies

Besides, Brown (1994) refers to three mutually informing categories: the first

he names styles and strategies: which comprise, among others, learning and reasoning

styles, left- and right- brain functioning and the tolerance of ambiguity; secondly, he

cites sociocultural factors which are the process of overcoming of the personal and

transactional barriers presented by two cultures in contact, and the relationship of

culture learning to language learning; the third called personality, including in it

self-esteem, affect, anxiety, extroversion and motivation

Additionally, Ellis (1994) describes general factors that make learners active or

passive in speaking class, such as language learning aptitude and motivation, and specific learner strategies

Moreover, Burns and Joyce (1997) show that the level of participation could be

closely associated to cultural, linguistic, or/and psychological factors Those could be the students‟ passive learning style; their limitations in pronunciation; vocabulary; grammar; background knowledge and cultural norms, teaching methods and ways of managing class, etc

According to Spolsky (1998), there are many factors that directly affect

students‟ engagement, namely attitudes, intelligence, aptitude, learning strategies, personality, material, motivation, memory, training strategies, social context Many

other researchers agree that they can be divided into two groups: internal factors and external factors Weiner (qtd in Williams & Burden, 1997) note that internal factors are those which derive from inside and external ones are from the outside of an individual

On the other hand, Klinger (2002) finds 5 main groups of factors for success in

participating in speaking sessions: the amount of time available for speaking; differences in motivation to learn; individual intellectual and personality differences; the age of the learner at the start of the study speaking English; the choice of lesson materials and teaching techniques

Because of the limited time, this study just concentrates on the factors from the learners‟ side, which directly influence language leaning and the participation of the first year English major students at HPU No.2 in speaking lessons

I.2 Students’ factors affecting their participation in English speaking lessons

It has been proved that learners‟ factors play an important role in foreign language learning as well as in students‟ participation in speaking lessons (Ur, 1996)

Due to the scope of the thesis, the researcher mainly pays more focus on students‟

learning style, attitudes and motivation, language level, personality, anxiety and gender

I.2.1 Students’ learning style

Over the years, several educators have asked questions about how people learn How does a learner receive and process information? How is that information stored within the brain and later retrieved for solving problems and learning new material? How should sequencing and organizing information affect classroom presentation? (Keefe, 1988) Attempts to answer these questions have focused a large number of researches in the areas of learning styles Even, different researchers will have different definitions as well as opinions about this factor, it can be seen that studies of learning styles give attention both to how a student learns and to how a student prefers

to learn

From Reid‟s point of view (1995), the term “learning style” has been used to

describe as an individual‟s natural, habitual, and preferred way of absorbing, processing, and retaining new information and skills

Besides, Kolb (1979) explains that different people naturally prefer a certain single different learning style That is the reason why Willing (1987) (qtd in Harmer, 2007) divides learners into four main categories

 Converges: these are students who are by nature solitary; prefer to avoid

groups, and who are independent and confident in their own abilities Most importantly, they are analytic and can impose their own structures on learning They tend to be cool and pragmatic

 Conformists: these are students who prefer to emphasize learning “about

language” over learning to use it They tend to be independent of those in authority and are perfectly happy to work in non-communicative classrooms, doing what they are told A classroom of conformists is one which prefers to see well-organized teachers

 Concrete learners: though they like conformists, they also enjoy the social

aspects of learning and like to learn from direct experience They are interested

in language use and language as communication rather than language as a system They enjoy games and group works in class

 Communicative learners: these are language use oriented They are comfortable

out of class and show a degree of confidence and a willingness to take risks which their colleagues may lack They are much more interested in social interaction with other speakers of the language than they are with analysis of how the language works They are perfectly happy to operate without the guidance of a teacher

It is worth noting that, students who belong to the third and the last classifications are more likely to be active and positive in speaking class than the others In particular, these students are intended to speak out loud as well as discuss with their fellows during the lesson time and as a result, the level of their participation will reach a peak From a different angle, if learners possess learning style like the two former categories that will consequently result in a reduction in the quantity and quality of learners‟ engagement What is more dangerous, the atmosphere of speaking class as well as the spirit of students may be affected to a greater or less degree

Keefe (1979) determines that learning style diagnosis…gives the most powerful leverage yet available to educators to analyze, motivate, and assist students in school…it is the foundation of a truly modern approach to education Hence, Harmer (2001 & 2007) gives some useful advice that we should do as much as we can to understand the individual differences within a group We should try to find descriptions that chime with our own perceptions, and we should endeavor to teach individuals as well as groups To be more specific, we need to balance the interests of individuals against what is good for the group and to be aware of certain individual traits when putting students into pairs and groups Also, we need different kinds of explanations and practice of language to improve both students‟ participation and their speaking skill In fact, teachers cannot understand clearly each student in the class, however, after a period of time, they at least can classify their learners as the mentioned group above and plan the kinds of activity that will be appropriate for them

In summary, it is evident that the whole area of learners‟ difference is, as showed above, complex and sometimes perplexing Thus, if teachers are unable to cover all the types as well as the differences of the students, they may fail to provide

maximal advantages to each learner in the class That is also the reason why, when teachers offer oral activities, not all students truly desire to involve in

I.2.2 Students’ attitudes and motivation

I.2.2.1 Students’ attitudes

Of all the potential factors that can affect learners‟ success, perhaps none are as important as attitudes and motivation which a student brings with him or her to the learning process (Robertson, 2013) By this reason, these two factors have become the subject of a wide range of science research, namely Gardner & Lambert (1972), Ellis (1994), Long and Larsen-Freeman (1991), Ur (1996), Brown (1994), Harmer (2001 & 2007) and Ortega (2009)

The terms “attitudes and motivation” frequently go together because they have

close relationship Gardner and Lambert (1972) and Lightbown and Spanda (1999), for instance, always use these two term simultaneously Nevertheless, in order to get clear understanding about the difference between them, it will be better to define them separately First of all, the definition of attitudes should be made clear

In the succinct words of Bem (1970), “Attitudes are likes and dislikes” Similarly, Eagly and Chaiken (1993) in a highly influential textbook, define attitudes

as “a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor” In terms of second language acquisition, attitudes in Chandrasegaran‟s research (1981) refer specifically to states of emotion and thought relating to the English language, to the learning of English and to the culture of English-speaking people

Attitudes towards a language can be either positive or negative It can be seen in speaking lessons that a student with negative attitudes may not desire to attend the class and participate in oral activities with other friends While positive attitudes of a student will strengthen the existing motivation in learning or speaking English

I.2.2.2 Students’ motivation

Attitudes are related strongly to motivation, Gardner and Lambert (1959) (qtd

in Spolsky, 1998) suggests that an individual‟s motivation to learn a foreign language

is controlled by his attitudes toward the group in particular and by his orientation to

the task itself In other words, motivation comes from attitudes In order to enhance students‟ motivational intensity, it is necessary to know what motivation is

Gardner (1985) proposes that motivation is described in the following equation:

“Motivation = effort + desire to achieve a goal + attitudes” He points out that there

are several components of effort (effort to succeed, to please the teacher or the parents,

to pass examination) and it is important to identify them as some of them might not link directly to learning a language He also defines attitudes as the base for the middle term of the equation, relating them to behavior

Williams and Burden (1997) suggest that motivation is a „state of cognitive arousal‟ which provokes a „decision to act‟, as a result of which there is „sustained intellectual and/or physical effort‟ so that the person can achieve some „previously set goal‟ Furthermore, they go on to point out that the strength of that motivation will depend on how much value the individual places on the outcome he or she wishes to achieve

Harmer (2001) argues that motivation is an internal drive which encourages language learners to pursue a course of action That is, when a learner perceives an attractive goal that he wishes to achieve, he may do whatever is necessary to realize it

There are different types of motivation The first and popular classification of

motivation is noted by Gardner and Lambert (1972) that involves Integrative and Instrumental Integrative motivation refers to the reasons suggesting that learners learn

the language in order to learn about, to interact with or to get involved to the community Instrumental motivation, on the other hand, refers to the desire to learn the second language for a specific goal or reasons such as to get a degree or a job, or to improve social status However, Lightbown and Spada (2006) believe that the distinction between these two types is not always clear Additionally, in some learning environments, it is difficult to distinguish between these two types of orientation to the target language and its community

Apart from this, in discussions of motivation an accepted distinction of Harmer

(2001) is made between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, that is motivation which comes from outside and from inside Extrinsic motivation is caused by a huge number

of outside factors, for example, the need to pass an exam, the hope of financial reward,

or the possibility of future travel Intrinsic motivation, by contrast, comes from within

the individual Thus, a person might be motivated by the enjoyment of the learning process itself or by a desire to make themselves feel better Both the types of motivation have different roles to play and both can lead to success Nonetheless, most researchers and methodologists have come to the view that intrinsic motivation is especially important for encouraging success (Harmer, 2001)

Increasing and directing students‟ motivation is one of a teacher‟s responsibilities, though he/she has no capability to help all of his/her students However, teachers can make a positive contribution to students‟ motivation to involve

in the lessons if classrooms are places where students enjoy coming to because the content is interesting and relevant to their age and their level of ability, the learning goals are challenging yet manageable and clear, and the atmosphere is supportive Crookes and Schmidt (1991) point to several areas where educational research has reported increased levels of motivation for students in relation to pedagogical practices Included among these are:

 Motivating students into the lesson: At the opening stages of lessons (and

within transitions), it has been observed that remarks teachers make about forthcoming activities can lead to higher levels of interest on the part of the students

 Varying the activities, tasks and materials: Students are reassured by the

existence of classroom routines they can depend on However, lessons that always consist of the same routines, patterns, and formats have been shown to lead to a decrease in attention and in increase in boredom Varying the activities, tasks, and materials can helps to avoid this and increase students‟ interest levels

 Using co-operative rather than competitive goals: Co-operative learning

activities are those in which students must work together in order to complete a task or solve problems These techniques have been found to increase the self-confidence of students, including weaker ones, because every participant in a co-operative task has an important role to play Knowing that their team-mates are counting on them can increase students‟ motivation

Briefly, no one can deny the crucial role of motivation and attitudes in learning foreign language in general and in participating in oral activities in particular Without motivation, participation is not likely to take place Although a course may be made of well-selected items, and these items repeated many times, if learners are not motivated

to engage in, there will be little participation To be more concrete, the more motivated students are, the more actively they will participate in oral activities

I.2.3 Students’ language levels

It is undeniable that a class with different levels of students will challenge teachers to provide adequate activities and care to each student Thereby, teachers‟ behavior in this case is immensely essential, too, especially in terms of both methodology and the kind of language (and the topics) which teachers expose students

to

Initially, teachers need to understand the basic levels of language proficiency, based on this foundation they can plan suitable instructions, explanations and activities for each group so as to benefit all students as well as to encourage them to engage effectively in the speaking sessions

Harmer (2007) describes students in three levels, beginner, intermediate and advanced, and these categories are further qualified by talking about real beginners and false beginners Between beginner and intermediate, we often class students as elementary The intermediate level itself is often sub-divided into lower intermediate and upper intermediate and even mid-intermediate One version of different levels,

therefore, has the progression shown in Figure 1

Figure 1: Representing different student levels

Harmer also claims that some techniques and exercises are suitable for some students but less appropriate for others at higher level, and some assumptions about advanced students‟ abilities are less successful when transposed, without thought, to students at lower levels This is especially true in speaking tasks That is the reason why it is necessary for teachers to classify their students according to levels of language and have different instructions for them

In fact, students acquire language partly as a result of the comprehensible input they receive – especially from the teachers This means, of course, that we will have to adjust the language we use to the level of the students we are teaching For instance, it

is quite feasible to ask advanced students to get into pairs or groups to discuss a topic

of some kind without structuring the activity in any way But when asking elementary students to have a discussion in pairs or groups, we need to be far more rigorous in telling them exactly what they should do, and we will probably help them with some

of the language they might want to use To be more detailed, at beginner and elementary levels, it is regular to use words and phrases that are as clear and simple as possible, avoiding some of the more opaque idioms which the language contains Certainly, we will also take special care at lower levels to moderate the speed we peak

at and to make our instructions fairly clear

Harmer also advises that teachers should choose interesting topics, even though

it will be impossible for us to choose the topics that can make all students get engaged with It is, however, important for us to try and find the topics which students desire to join in Actually, we cannot always choose exciting topics because we have to follow textbooks or course books; however, unpromising topics can be attractive if we know how to explore them Moreover, if we have no right to replace difficult and

monotonous topics, we are also able to create interest in the topic We can do it by

offering students to work in groups or organize well warm-up activities Even, we can ask students who know about the topic to talk to the whole class, or ask them to express their initial impression, opinions about the topics before starting lessons

Equally important is provide necessary information, when we ask students to speak

about some topics, we should ask ourselves what information they need to express their ideas and provide them with such information and language In that way, we can make them topic-oriented and therefore they can come up to our expectations

Apart from, another barrier that prevents students from actively and voluntarily involving in speaking tasks is their pronunciation of the second language In Gilakjani‟s research (2011), it is highlighted by the fact that many of English language learners confront difficulties in learning English pronunciation In reality, precisely speaking, great pronunciation competence in English is able to make others understand easily; whereas, English pronunciation inferior to basic level increases the misunderstanding among conversations wither others Clearly, most students who have difficulties in pronunciation are unwilling to communicate in the target language for fear of being ridiculed

In light of aforementioned facts, it can be concluded that levels of language proficiency take a great influence on learners‟ willingness and motivation to contribute

to speaking activities Correspondingly, teachers should pay more attention to students with aim of helping them break this barrier and speak up during the lesson time

I.2.4 Students’ personality

Human personality in all its shapes and colors brings variety to this world (Zafar & Meenakshi, 2012) This factor has been the core of the study of human psychology for more than 150 years In second language learning acquisition, the study of the relation of personality and language learning has been the subject of scholars like Krashen (1985), Skehan (1989), Gass & Selinker (1994), etc

A large variety of research has been done to develop theories of personality that could aid us in understanding the formation of personality traits

According to Funder (2004) personality refers to an individual‟s characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior, together with the psychological mechanisms-hidden or not-behind those patterns

In Bilsky & Schwart‟s research (1994), personality is briefly defined as unique pattern of traits whereby a trait is the way one individual differs from another

As can be seen, each student has their own and special personality which will induce various difficulties in learning second language Even though, there are a great deal of traits believed to make up human personality, Zafar and Meenakshi (2012)

point out that extroversion and introversion are two key characteristics that intensely influence students‟ participation in the process of learning As stated in “Handbook of

personality psychology” (Hogan et al., 1997) extroversion is characterized by

sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness and excitability People who are high in extroversion tend to seek out social stimulation and opportunities to engage with others These individuals are often described as being full of life, energy and

positivity Introverts, on the other hand, are people who are low in extroversion They

tend to be quiet, reserved and less involved in social situations

There are two major hypotheses regarding the relationship between extroversion/ introversion and second language learning The first, which has been the most widely examined, is that extroverts are the better language learners Cook (2001) claims that extroverts, who are supposed to be sociable, are more likely to join groups more inclined to engage in conversations both inside and outside the classroom As such they will take full advantage of language-use opportunities It has been suggested that extroverted learners will find it easier to make contact with other users of the second language and thereby will obtain more input The second hypothesis is that introverted learners show better academic achievement (Eysenck, 1981) In his theory, extroversion is not positively correlated with learning due to several neuro-chemial phenomena in the human brain Thus, he concludes that an introvert and not an extrovert would be a better language learner

The second language theorists, however, tend to disagree with Eysenck‟s conclusion It is often argued that an extroverted person is well suited to language learning Second language acquisition literature suggests that the more extrovert language learners would increase the amount of input (Krashen, 1985), prefer communicative approaches, and the more they are likely to join the group activities (Cook, 2001)

It is interesting to note that characteristics of learners‟ personality will accordingly affect their thoughts and lives, of course, including the learners‟ activities for acquiring their second language The relationship between extroversion/introversion and learners‟ success in language learning is still under debate, nonetheless, to some extent, extroversion/introversion dimension of learners‟ personality indeed affects the oral performance of their second language Certainly, this influence on second language learners is obvious and remains stable over time Gregersen and Horwitz (2005)

I.2.5 Students’ anxiety

Apart from these aspects mentioned above, another factor that also makes learning process difficult is the existence of anxiety Most language learners experience a feeling of anxiety in the process of language learning Although the degree and severity of this feeling may vary from one individual to another, it cannot

be claimed that it does not exist at all Gregersen and Horwitz (2005) assert that learners who feel anxious in their second language learning may find their study less enjoyable, which will in turn have undesirable impact on their performance

Even though it is a common feeling, it is not always easy to define Normally, psychological definitions of anxiety refer to “the subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with an arousal of the autonomic nervous system” (Spielberger, 1983, p.1) In terms of second language learning, Gregersen and Horwitz figure out that learning anxiety is a mixture of feelings, beliefs and behaviors related to the uniqueness of the process of foreign language learning

Up till now, several kinds of anxiety have been described, nevertheless, two of

the most well-known being state anxiety and trait anxiety The first type of anxiety is

referred to as state (situational) anxiety As the name implies, this type of anxiety arises in a particular situation and hence is not permanent It is nervousness or tension

at a particular moment in response to some outside stimulus (MacIntyre and Gardner, 1989) It occurs because learners are exposed to a particular situation or event that is stressful to them Trait anxiety, on the other hand, is the tendency of a person to be nervous or feel anxious irrespective of the situation he/she is exposed to (Pappamihiel, 2002) Indeed, such anxiety is a part of a person‟s character and hence is permanent and difficult, if not impossible, to get rid of A person who is trait anxious is likely to feel anxious in a variety of situations Once the anxiety becomes a trait one, it will hinder the language learning

As a matter of fact, learning anxiety can be attributed to quite a lot of factors Pappamihiel (2002) believes that in the context of foreign language learning, learners may feel anxious due to problems related to communication apprehension (like difficulty in understanding teachers‟ instructions), negative evaluation (namely fear of correction and fear of making mistakes) and a general feeling of anxiety (such as fear

of failing the class) Worde (2003) investigates the causes of language learning anxiety and finds that speaking activities, inability to comprehend, negative classroom experiences, fear of negative evaluation, native speakers, methodology, pedagogical practices and the teachers themselves are the main causes of learning anxiety

Language teaching professionals unanimously argue that the problems of anxiety among students can have a negative impact on their performance Onwuegbuzie et al (1999) believe that language learning anxiety can influence their learning in general and their fluency of speech in particular Similarly, Lightbown and Spada (1999) contend that anxiety exerts a strong influence on individuals‟ perceived competence, which will in turn negatively affect their willingness to communicate in language classrooms Of course, it has also been argued that not all anxiety is bad and that a certain amount of tension can have a positive effect and even can facilitate the learning process Bailey (1983) has already identified two types of anxiety which are debilitative anxiety (harmful) and facilitative anxiety (helpful) She also find that in learning foreign language while competitiveness sometimes hinders her progress, at other times it motivates her to study harder In Bailey‟s study of competitiveness and anxiety in second language learning, facilitative anxiety is one of the keys to success, closely related to competitiveness

As discussed above, anxiety has a debilitating effect on students‟ performance and that it does not allow them to get involved in communicative activities For this reason, language educators should strive to promote a non-threatening learning environment and “user-friendly” oral exams which students could prepare for well in advance, in order to prevent negative interactions between language anxiety and other personality variables such as learning styles, motivation, and personality types Teachers themselves should try to remove students‟ fear of tests and scores and make them not worried about passing or failing the course Moreover, it is important to establish a friendly environment so that learners can free themselves when talking with their peers and teachers

I.2.6 Gender differences

In addition to the influence on learners‟ engagement in speaking sessions, many studies (Oxford, 1993; Young & Oxford 1997; Homes, 1986, etc) have found that gender can have a notable impact on this process

From the result of observing different classes where the number of male and female learners is equal shows that in these classes students appear to interact more regularly and energetically than those in class where male learners greatly outnumber female learners and vice versa It is open to a question whether gender differences disturb students‟ enthusiasm for discussion in speaking class

Although the study of gender as a variable in language learning is still at an early stage (Bacon & Finneman, 1992; Oxford, 1993; Ehrman & Oxford, 1995), studies of individual language learner differences related to sex (biological) or gender (socially constructed) have shown that females tend to show greater integrative motivation and more positive attitudes to the second language, and use a wider range

of learning strategies, particularly social strategies (Zafar & Meenakshi, 2012) Being

in agreement with this outlook, Zua (2006) in his research declares that boys are superior to girls in tasks concerning spatial ability, but girls generally excel boys in tasks involving verbal skills What is more, girls are significantly more confident concerning their abilities to master the language and express their skills; meanwhile, boys give the impression of being more self-deprecating of their linguistic competence

Newman et al (2008) try to find out the relationship between sex and language

to examine the conversational strategies used by women and men interacting in

different settings and different features of discourses such as talkativeness, topic initiation, feedback, verbal support and patterns of interruption His finding is fairly

different compared to previous research: men talk more and take more frequent turns

at talk; interrupt more often and withheld response to women‟s topics Women, in direct opposition, tend to be more often than men to use speech strategies which support other speakers‟ contribution, initiating topics and providing feedback and opportunities for others to participate

As was previously started, these findings lead us to believe that gender differences might have a great impact on students‟ involvement and it is suggested that both girls and boys have the right to be behaved equally in classroom It means that teachers should pay equivalent attention and provide equal opportunities for male and female students in speaking sessions

I.3 Activities to encourage students’ involvement in speaking lesson

I.3.1 Group work

In this day and age, the phrase “group work” has become more and more known in a wide range of areas like business, education and society As the old saying goes, “more hands make for lighter work”; “two heads are better than one”; “the more the merrier”; these adages speak to the potential groups have to be more productive, creative, and motivated than individuals on their own

well-In general, group work is a way to organize classroom activity, where students are given a group assignment from the teacher and where the participants‟ equality and mutuality depends on how they engage in the group task, i.e., if they work cooperatively or collaboratively Group work is customarily defined as „pupils working together as a group or a team‟ (Blatchford, Kutnick, Baines, & Galton, 2003,

p 155)

The University of Sydney identifies that „group work involves students working collaboratively on set tasks, on or out of the classroom Group work includes any learning and teaching tasks or activities that require students to work in groups and any formal assessment tasks that require students to work in groups‟

With the recent and gradual shift from teacher-centered classroom teaching to learner-centered classroom teaching in TESOL worldwide, group work has become a key feature in language study Indeed, it has several benefits compared to working with the whole class together as pointed out by Harmer (2001 & 2007):

 Group work reinforces a sense of belonging among the group members, something which we as teachers need to foster If everyone is involved in the

same activity, then we are all “in it together” Such experiences give us points

of common reference to talk about and can be used as reasons to bond with each

other It is much easier for students to share an emotion such as happiness or amusement in a whole-class setting

 Group work is suitable for activities where the teacher is acting as a controller

It is especially good for giving explanations and instructions, where smaller groups would mean having to do these things more than once It is an ideal way

of showing material whether in pictures, texts, or on audio or videotape It is also more cost-efficient, both in terms of material production and organism, than other groupings can be

 Group work also allows teachers to „gauze the mod‟ of the class in general

(rather than on an individual basis); it is a good way for us to get a general understanding of student progress

 Group work is the preferred class style in many educational settings where

students and teachers feel secure when the whole class is working in lockstep, and under the direct authority of the researcher

With these major advantages, this technique has been widely used in Vietnam

in both English major and non-English major contexts with a view in order to help students raise their attentiveness in speaking English as well as in oral activities

I.3.2 Discussion

Discussion is one kind of speaking activity in which students are given topic by teachers (or they can choose their own one), then they have a set time to discuss it According to Kayi (2006), this activity actually provides students opportunity to express their thought and ideas related to a person, an object or a problem In reality, students often feel more confident and comfortable when talking about something with their friends in groups In this method, everybody participates in the discussion, and therefore the level of participation will increase It means that all of the students will have time to speak and this is a certainly way of learning Apart from expressing their own opinions, students also listen to other students, after that they will use their background knowledge and language to defend their opinions This activity truly leads students to deeper understanding of the problem under discussion

Kagan (1997) points out that after a content-based lesson, a discussion can be held for various reasons The students may aim to arrive at a conclusion, share ideas

about an event, to find solutions in their discussion groups Before the discussion, it is essential that the purpose of the discussion activity is set by the teacher In this way, the discussion points are relevant to this purpose, so that students do not spend their time chatting with others about irrelevant things Lastly, in discussions, whatever the aim is, students should always be encouraged to ask questions, paraphrase ideas, express support, check for clarification, and so on

In successful role-play, learners assimilate information that is provided about their role and then act out the assigned role in accordance with their interpretation of how their character would behave in the fictional situation (Killen, 2006)

Role-play as a teaching strategy offers several advantages for both teachers and

students Firstly, students‟ interest in the topic is raised Research has shown that

“integrating experiential learning activities in the classroom increase students‟ interest

in the subject material and the understanding of course content” (Poorman, 2002, p 32)

Secondly, there is increased involvement on the part of students in a role-play

lesson Students are not passive recipients of the instructor‟s knowledge Rather, they take an active part Poorman (2002) observes that “true learning cannot take place when students are passive observers of the teaching process” (p 32) One student at Barnard College who was enrolled in a role-playing history class said, “This class tricks you into doing so much work” (Poorman, 2002) As a result, thanks to this activity, the involvement is notably increased

A third advantage to using role-playing as a teaching strategy is that it teaches

empathy and understanding of different perspectives (Poorman, 2002) A typical playing activity would have students taking on role of a character; learning and acting

role-that individual would do in the typical setting He also finds “a significant increase among students in feeling another‟s distress as their own” (p 34)

I.3.4 Simulations

Simulations are very similar to role-play but what makes simulations different

to role-play is that they are more elaborate When it comes to simulations, students speak and react as themselves, but the group role, situation and task is imaginary In role-play, on the other hand, students are given a situation plus problem or task, but they are also allotted individual roles, so they are not acting as themselves, but as though they are someone else (Ur, 1996)

Simulations can be used to provide a fertile learning environment for students The use of simulated activities in teaching speaking is widely becoming recognized as

an essential tool in classroom First, simulations give learners a chance to be involved

in language use It can be seen as, some learners are still shy and are not able to perform well whereas simulation only requires them to work within their teams or groups and make collective decisions (Adams, 1973) It allows everyone to participate and even when mistakes are mad, the teacher does not interfere

Secondly, simulations and language are interrelated because most simulations

involve interaction, either verbal or non-verbal, in spoken or written form However, simulations are especially useful for oral courses, where learners learn to voice their opinions and listen to one another In holding dialogues among themselves, learners inevitably learn to use language communicatively (Taylor and Walford, 1972, p 35) Lastly, although simulation tasks begin with information given to learners, it

also takes a certain amount of the learners‟ ingenuity to generate their ideas to complete the simulation The better the learners are, the faster they may arrive at a solution to the problem presented This provides ample opportunities for creativity on learners‟ part (Ur, 1996)

I.3.5 Information Gaps

In this activity, students are supposed to be working in pairs One student will have the information that other partner does not have and the partners will share their information Information gap activities serve many purposes such as solving a problem

or collecting information Also, each partner plays an important role because the task

cannot be completed if the partners do not provide the information the others need (Kayi, 2006)

According to Jondeya (2011), these activities are effective in speaking

classrooms because (1) everybody has the opportunity to talk extensively in the target

language They are able to share their ideas freely to each other in English that they have not frequently done before By doing this, learners seem to be more interested in the process of learning and the class also becomes more alive with the speaking

practice (2) The activities and tasks based on the information-gap principle make

students participate actively in the process of learning This will, in turn, results in

increasing students‟ motivation to learn English much more enthusiastically; (3)

Students have more effort by asking the vocabularies they do not know in English so

as to maintain their speaking activities with their seat partner of their groups, consequently, besides enhancing students‟ speaking skills, their pronunciation as well

as vocabulary are also improved significantly

I.3.6 Storytelling

Because of students‟ characteristics, many educators have tried to adopt story telling in teaching young children, while some others also adapt it in classes for older learners and adults The National Storytelling Network has adopted a clear and concise definition of storytelling as “the interactive art of using words and actions to reveal the elements and images of a story while encouraging the listener‟s imagination”

Kayi (2006) claims that story-telling can offer students an innate love of stories Stories create magic and a sense of wonder at the world It is a unique way for students

to promote a feeling of well-being and relaxation, that will increase their willingness to communicate thoughts and feelings Moreover, stories also encourage active participation, use of imagination and creativity, cooperation between students and increase verbal proficiency

Furthermore, Kayi also notes that storytelling provides an opportunity for students to expand their vocabulary as they decode the meaning of words, based on the context of the story they listen Listening to stories also improves students‟ understanding of grammar and literary devices as they see them within a story

It is interesting to note that students can briefly summarize a tale or story they heard from somebody beforehand, or they may create their own stories to tell their classmates They also can tell riddles or jokes For instance, at the very beginning of each class session, the teacher may call a few students to tell short riddles or jokes as

an opening In this way, not only will the teacher address students‟ speaking ability, but also get the attention of the class

I.3.7 Interview

According to Goyer, Redding, and Richey in Gamble (1984, p.188) “an interview is a form of oral communication involving two parties at least one who has a preconceived and serious purpose both of whom speak and listen from time to time” The other expert states that the students have to compose some questions requiring real answers pertaining to the students own experience They can ask their questions of one another or to vary the exercise, a student could ask his questions and would respond with answers to your own situation (John, 1975, p.94)

Interview is a good method to get information and measure the subject through pace to pace, group, and situation There are numerous practical suggestions in planning and conducting interview, ranging from the sensible to the self evidence The following procedures are recommended by Cohen and Monion (1985), Bell (1987) and

Sradly (1979) in Nunan (1992) It involving: preparing the interview schedule, piloting, selecting of object, elements of the interview

Thanks to Interview in teaching English especially in teaching speaking made students easier to get the information in a text because students could discuss with their friends in a group It can also make students more active in teaching and learning process It could be seen when they interviewed

I.3.8 Picture Narrating

There is a wide range of teaching aids which teachers can use to make the learning experience more exciting and memorable for learners One of the popular aids that teachers frequently apply in teaching speaking English is using pictures

This activity is based on several sequential pictures Normally, students are asked to tell the story talking place in the sequential pictures by paying attention to the

criteria provided by teachers as a rubric Rubrics can include the vocabulary or structures they need to use while narrating (Kayi, 2006)

In this activity, students are supposed to develop their own creativity and ideas about the story described in the given pictures Indeed, students are able to report exactly what happen in the pictures, or to express their thought, opinions they infer from the fundamental content of the pictures In addition, this practical activity is believed to contribute in students‟ understanding of a more general context which is made up of pictures

I.3.9 Picture Describing

Another way to make use of pictures in a speaking activity is to give students just one picture and having them describing what it is in the picture For this activity students can form groups and each group is given a different picture Students discuss the picture with their groups, and then a spoken person for each group describes the picture to the whole class (Kayi, 2006)

As opposed to picture narrating, in lieu of telling a story through numerous pictures, they are required to use language to describe precisely what the picture comprises The more detailed and vivid their descriptions are the better they are (Brown, 1994)

As already mentioned, a picture is an excellent media in which this can be done pictures arouse play fullness to students because pictures are interesting, inexpensive and widely available It provides of variety of fun and games, furthermore, it also means that the use of pictures may offer parallel opportunities both for teachers-students and students-students‟ interaction Equally, the usage of describing pictures in teaching process is regarded as a good way to motivate and set students‟ curiosity agog

to explore the pictures as well as to speak up their opinions

to overcome In point of fact, due to the size of the class, it appears to be unfeasible for teachers to tackle each factor individually Thereby, the alternative speaking activities will help teachers cover all problems as well as to raise students‟ interest, involvement and encouragement to speak up For activities to work well, instructions should be clear, but also check comprehension and demonstrate the activities if necessary

CHAPTER TWO METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research methods It contains the research questions, action research, the description of data collection instruments and some information about participants of the study

II.1 Research methods

This study was worked out by action research

II.1.1 Action research

Action research is an approach to professional development and learning improvement in which teachers systematically reflect on their work and make changes

in their practice Action research has been defined in a number of various ways However, among these definitions, the concept of McBride and Schostask (2002) seems to be the best and most understandable

According to these authors, action research consists of seven steps: (1) identifying a focus of interest or a problem; (2) collecting data; (3) analyzing data/ generating hypotheses; (4) planning action steps; (5) implementing action steps; (6) collecting data to monitor change; (7) analysis and evaluation

As already mentioned, this study is carried out by action research because it is a way of questioning one‟s own practice and improving it Applying this kind of method, the researcher desire to explore the reasons for the poor participation of students‟ in speaking class then find out the effective activities to encourage students

to interact more in speaking lessons

II.1.2.Action research procedure

Action research was developed and carried out in class K40 – English major in twelve weeks starting from week 3 of term 1 The subjects of this study were forty English major students who participated from the beginning to the end of the study Data were collected from both the pre-action stage and during the action stage

II.1.2.1 Identifying the problem (week 3)

In this study, the problem was perceived as poor participation in speaking class

It raised the question for the researcher that what are the main causes of this

phenomenon? Specifically, What are the factors on the learners’ side affecting their

participation in speaking lesson?

II.1.2.2 Collecting initial data (weeks 4 – 5)

The data in this step was collected by using pre-survey questionnaire for students (Appendix A) and observation with observation sheet (Appendix C) completed by three non-participant observers

In detail, Pre-survey questionnaire (Appendix A) was administered with forty first year English major students with aim of finding out their learning habit, learning style, attitude and motivation, personality, anxiety, level of English proficiency and the effect of gender differences Apart from, two speaking lessons were observed with Observation sheet (Appendix C) to record students‟ participation Moreover, interaction self-reports (Appendix D) were completed by 40 students to reflect their self-evaluation of their interaction in speaking sessions

II.1.2.3 Analyzing data and generating hypotheses (week 6)

After collecting the data in weeks 4 and 5, the researcher started forming the

hypothesis These steps were presented in section III.1 - Results of the pre-action stage

It should be noted that, the first research question What are the factors on the

learners’ side affecting their participation in speaking lesson? has been answered

Due to the initial data, students‟ involvement in speaking lessons is strongly affected

by their learning style, attitudes, motivation, language level, personality, anxiety and gender differences Therefore, the hypothesis was formed, which was using speaking activities effectively will enhance students‟ participation in speaking sessions

II.1.2.4 Planning action (week 7)

It is clear that the most important part of the planning action is a detailed plan

of what the researcher intends to implement or the changes the researcher tends to make Therefore, in this phase, a wide range of speaking activities was prepared for the action stage Also in this stage, the post-survey questionnaire for students and observation sheet for the researchers were organized

II.1.2.5 Implementing action (weeks 8 – 12)

In this stage, the action plan was applied in five speaking lessons, each of which lasted 50 minutes

II.1.2.6 Collecting data to monitor change (weeks 8 – 12)

In addition to the implementing action stage, from week 8 to week 12, five speaking lessons were observed with the observation sheets by three observers Also, Post-survey questionnaire was worked out and five interaction self-reports were completed by 40 students during five lessons

II.1.2.7 Analyzing and evaluating students’ participation after action plan (weeks

13 – 14)

In this phase, the researcher analyzed the data collected in weeks 8 – 12, which reflect students‟ participation and the effectiveness of speaking activities The analysis was done to show how effective the changes were; what the researcher of this thesis has learnt; and what to change More importantly, analyzing the post data helps to find out how the researcher can improve the following classes

Up to this point, the research question What should teacher do to increase

students’ participation in class speaking activities? has been answered

II.2 Data collection instruments

II.2.1 Survey questionnaires

II.2.1.1 Rationale behind the use of survey questionnaires

One of the main instruments that the researcher used to collect data in this study

is survey questionnaires The researcher decided to use this method for some reasons First of all, it is believed that by using questionnaires, a large amount of information can be collected from a large number of people in a short period of time and in a relatively cost effective way Usually, questionnaire is able to be carried out in form of written paper or online form; both are truly easy and convenient for the respondents

Secondly, it is less intrusive than telephone or face-to-face surveys When a respondent receives a questionnaire, he/she will have time to consider the questions