Appying task based approach in teaching skill to the 10th graders at some high schools in Ha Tinh

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAININGVINH UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES LE THI HUYEN TRANG APPLYING TASK - BASED APPROACH GRADERS AT SOME HIGH SCHOOLS IN HA TINH Field: Theory

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

VINH UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

LE THI HUYEN TRANG

APPLYING TASK - BASED APPROACH

GRADERS AT SOME HIGH SCHOOLS

IN HA TINH

MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION

VINH - 2013

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

VINH UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

LE THI HUYEN TRANG

APPLYING TASK - BASED APPROACH

GRADERS AT SOME HIGH SCHOOLS

IN HA TINH

Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching

Code: 601410 MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Luu Quy Khuong

VINH - 2013

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I here acknowledge that this study is mine The data and findings discussed

in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates, and have not been published elsewhere

Author

Le Thi Huyen Trang

For the completion of the study, I have received valuable contributions from many people

First of all, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor,

Assoc Prof Dr Luu Quy Khuong, whose useful instructions and advice, as well

as detailed critical comments and encouragements help me a great deal from the beginning to the end of the thesis writing process Without his help, the study would have never finished

I would also like to thank all the teachers who have taught me during the course and have given me useful advice and favourable conditions for the completion of the thesis

Additionally, I am grateful to all teachers of English and students at Cu Huy Can High School, Le Huu Trac I High School, Cao Thang High School, who have helped me much to carry out the survey for my thesis

Finally, my thanks go to my family as well as my friends for their support and encouragement

Vinh, 2013

Le Thi Huyen Trang

Task-based approach is a new teaching approach which is supposed to be effective in promoting learners’ communicative competence In a task-based class, learners play the central role and the lessons become more relaxing and meaningful However, empirical studies of its application are rarely found in the field of English language speaking instruction This study investigated the application of task-based language teaching and learning or task-based learning (TBL) to teaching English speaking skills in high school suggested solutions Also, the study displayed an evaluation of the pilot teaching as an evidence of effective s in Ha Tinh province The study tried to find out how TBL can fit into English speaking classes to promote the students’ communicative competence

The methods for empirical investigation in the study included students’ and teachers’ questionnaire survey, teachers’ interview, classroom observation and pilot teaching Both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed to create a realistic and detailed description of the real teaching context and the attitudes, assessments of teachers and students involved It also presented an evaluation of the pilot teaching as an evidence of effective use of task-based approach in teaching speaking skills to the 10th graders at high schools in Ha Tinh

The results of the study showed that most of the teachers and students had positive attitudes and motivation to the uses of TBL in learning and teaching speaking skills, yet the scope was still limited This findings also showed that the language teachers experience some practical difficulties with TBL in their oral classes because this is quite a new approach Finally, some useful implications for its application are proposed based on the research findings in order to help the teachers to implement TBL more effectively in their English speaking classes

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUB COVER PAGE i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 4

LIST OF TABLES 5

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 7

1.1 Rationale 7

1.2 Objectives of the Study 8

1.3 Scope of the Study 8

1.4 Research Questions 8

1.5 The Organization of the Study 9

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 10

2.1 Overview 10

2.2 Previous Studies Related to the Thesis 10

2.3 The Importance of Speaking in Language Teaching 11

2.3.1 Definitions of Speaking 11

2.3.2 Types of Speaking 12

2.3.3 Stages of Teaching Speaking 13

2.3.4 Problems with Speaking and Speaking Activities 14

2.4 Task-based Instructions 16

2.4.1 Definitions of Tasks 16

2.4.2 Types of Tasks 18

2.4.3 Characteristics of Tasks 22

2.4.4 Components of tasks 22

2.4.5 Principles of Tasks 26

2.5 Task-based Language Teaching (TBL) 26

2.5.1 Definitions of TBL 26

2.5.2 Characteristics of TBL 28

2.5.3 Frame of the Task-based Instructions 28

2.5.4 Principles of TBL 30

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 33

3.1 Overview 33

3.2 Research Methods 33

3.3 Context of the Study 33

3.4 Participants 35

3.4.1 The teachers 36

3.4.2 The Learners 37

3.5 Data Collection Instruments 37

3.5.1 Questionnaire 37

3.5.2 Classroom Observation 38

3.5.3 Interview 38

3.5.4 Pilot Teaching 39

3.6 Data Collection 39

3.7 Data Analysis 40

3.8 Research Procedures 40

3.9 Reliability and Validity 41

3.10 Summary 41

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 42

4.1 Overview 42

4.2 Findings 42

4.2.1 The Reality of Teaching Speaking at High Schools in Ha Tinh province 42

4.2.2 The Reality of Applying TBL in Teaching Speaking Skills 54

4.2.3 The Teachers’ Difficulties in Applying TBL to Teaching English Speaking Skills 67

4.2.4 Students and Teachers’ Feedbacks to TBL Used in English Speaking

Classes 72

4.2.5 What Should Be Done to Promote Teaching English Speaking with TBL 74

4.3 Discussions 78

4.3.1 The Reality of the Application of TBL to Teaching English Speaking .78

4.3.2 The Difficulties Emerging with the Implementation of TBL 81

4.3.3 Solutions to Teaching English Language Speaking Skills with TBL 82 4.3.4 Teachers’ Solutions to Their Difficulties in Teaching Speaking Skills .84

4.4 Pilot Teaching 89

4.4.1 Designed Activities and Its Procedures 90

4.4.2 Students’ Feedbacks on the Lesson 94

4.5.3 Teachers’ Evaluation on the Lesson 95

4.4.4 The Researcher’s Reflection 96

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 97

5.1 Conclusion 97

5.2 Implications of the Research 98

5.2.1 Implications for Teaching 98

5.2.2 For Textbook Designers 99

5.3 Limitations of the Research 99

5.4 Further Research 100

REFERENCES 101

APPENDICES 104

APPENDICES

Appendix 1 : Questionnaire for Teachers

Appendix 2a : Questionnaire for Students (English version)

Appendix 2b : Questionnaire for Students (Vietnamese version)

Appendix 3 : Questions for Teachers Interview

Appendix 4 : Observation Sheet

Appendix 5a : Students’ Feedback to Pilot Teaching (English version)

Appendix 5b : Students’ Feedback to Pilot Teaching (Vietnamese version)

Appendix6 : Teachers’ Feedback to Pilot Teaching

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EFL : English as a Foreign LanguageELT : English Language TeachingGTM : Grammar Translation MethodP-P-P : Presentation - Practice - Production

S : StudentSLA : Second Language Acquisition

T : TeacherTBL : Task-based Language Teaching and Learning

(Task-based Learning)

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Figure 2.1: The Willis’ TBL Framework 28

Table 3.1: Teacher informants’ Background Information 36

Table 3.2: Student Informants’ Background Information 37

Figure 4.1: Students’ Attitude towards Learning English 42

Figure 4.2: Students' Opinions on the Four Skills in Learning English 43

Figure 4.3: Teachers’ Attitude towards Teaching Speaking Skill 44

Figure 4.4: Teachers’ Interest in Teaching Speaking Skills 45

Table 4.1: Reasons for Teachers’ Low Interests in Teaching Speaking Skills 45

Table 4.2: Reasons for Teachers’ high Interests in Teaching Speaking Skills 46

Figure 4.5: Students’ Interests in Learning Speaking Lessons 47

Figure 4.6: Students' Response towards Speaking Activities 47

Figure 4.7: Factors Motivating Students in Speaking Classes 48

Figure 4.8: Factors De-motivating Students in Speaking Classes 49

Figure 4.9: Student’s Evaluation of Learning Speaking Skill 50

Figure 4.10: Teachers’ Evaluation of Teaching Speaking Skill 51

Figure 4.11: Students’ Difficulties in Learning Speaking Skills 52

Table 4.3: Difficulties from the Students 52

Table 4.4: Difficulties from the Educational System 53

Table 4.5: Difficulties from the teachers 54

Figure 4.12: Teachers’ Experiences in Applying TBL in Teaching Speaking 54

Table 4.6: Teachers’ Frequency of Applying TBL in Teaching Speaking 55

Figure 4.13: The Importance of Applying TBL in Teaching English Speaking 56

Figure 4.14: The Degree of Application TBL in Teaching Speaking Skill 57

Table 4.7: Reasons for Choosing TBL in Teaching Speaking Skill 57

Table 4.8: Reasons for Avoiding TBL in Teaching Speaking Skill 58

Figure 4.15: Students’ Interests in the Speaking Lessons with the Use of Tasks 59

Figure 4.16: Students Recognizing the Changes in Classroom after Applying TBL 60

Figure 4.17: Students’ Comment on the Given Tasks 61

Table 4.9: Frequency of Teachers’ Application Types of Tasks in Speaking Lessons 62

Table 4.10: The Frequency of Using Interactions Patterns in Teaching Speaking 64

Figure 4.18: Students’ Favorite in Interactions Patterns 65

Figure 4.19: Students’ Participation in Tasks 66

Figure 4.20: Teachers’ difficulties in applying TBL 68

Table 4.11: Teachers’ Typical Difficulties in Shifting from a Traditional Method Classroom to a Task-based Classroom 68

Figure 4.21: Teachers’ Typical Difficulties Teachers Had When Conducting a Task-based Speaking Class 70

Figure 4.22: Difficulties from the Textbook 70

Table 4.12: Problems Students Encountered in a Task-based

English Speaking Lesson 72

Figure 4.23: Benefits of Using TBL in Speaking Classes 73

Figure 4.24: Teachers’ Opinions about the Benefits of TBL 74

Figure 4.25: Students’ Preferences for Effective Task-based Speaking Classes 75

Table 4.13: Factors Making the Application of TBL Effective in English Speaking Classes 76

Table 4.14: Teachers’ Solutions to Multi-level Classes 85

Table 4.15: Teachers’ Solutions to Students’ Low Motivation 86

Figure 4.26: Teachers’ Solutions to Students’ Use of Vietnamese During Group Work or Pair Work 87

Table 4.16: Teachers’ Solutions to Students’ Low English Proficiency 87

Figure 4.27: Teachers’ Solutions to Students’ Passive Learning Style 88

Table 4.17: Teachers’ Solutions to the Lack of Authentic Materials 89

Table 4.18: Teachers’ Comment on the Effectiveness of Activities 95

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION1.1 Rationale

English is an international language, it has important roles in diplomacy, economy, trade, science and technology Moreover, the economic open-door policy pursued by the Vietnamese government has increased a demand for studying English, specially for students English becomes a compulsory subject for all education systems from primary schools to universities With the demand and the necessity of communicating English, four language skills including listening, speaking, reading, writing have been given balanced weight in the national syllabus

of English teaching for high school students

Among these skills, both teachers and learners find it hard to use an effective way in teaching and learning speaking skill Before 2005, the syllabuses and curricula only focused on two skills: a little for reading and the majority is grammar Since 2006-2007, the ministry of education and training has decided to adjust the text books Therefore, every lesson contains five parts: reading, speaking, listening, writing and language focus - the aim is to develop the students’ language skills totally In reality, most teachers, specially in rural area mainly concentrate on grammar and students do not care much about other skills because their examinations require the skills of grammar- no motivation for them

to speak In some schools, the teachers are teaching speaking skills, however they usually follow traditional ways or Present- Practice- Produce Approach As a result, most students graduated from high schools could not communicate in English effectively

Touching this pedagogical context, this study emphasizes on investigation into the application of task- based approach in speaking skills to the 10th students

at Cu Huy Can, Le Huu Trac 1, Cao Thang high schools in Ha Tinh province By applying task based learning, the educators can create a course around communicative tasks to encourage students to their real- world activities For all

above mentioned reasons, the author carries out the study entitled “Applying

Task-based Approach in Teaching Speaking Skills to the 10 th Graders at Some High Schools in Ha Tinh Province” Hopefully, the results could serve as

a useful source of references for teachers and students

1.2 Objectives of the Study

With the presented rationale, the thesis aims:

a) to find out the reality of applying TBL in teaching English speaking at high schools in Ha Tinh province

b) to investigate student’s attitudes towards applying TBL in teaching English speaking skills of teacher at high schools in Ha Tinh province

c) to evaluate the effectiveness of the application TBL in teaching English speaking skills at high schools in Ha Tinh province

d) to suggest some solutions and implications to promote English speaking teaching based on the task-based approach at high schools in Ha Tinh province

1.3 Scope of the Study

The thesis only investigated through ten English teachers and one hundred students in grade 10 at high three high schools in Ha Tinh province in terms of applying task based approach in teaching speaking skills

2 What are the students’ attitudes towards applying the task-based approach

to teaching English speaking skills at high schools in Ha Tinh province?

3 How effective is the task-based approach in teaching English speaking skills at high schools in Ha Tinh province?

4 What are the suggestions to promote English speaking teaching with the task-based approach at high schools in Ha Tinh province?

1.5 The Organization of the Study

The study includes five chapters as follows:

Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter deals with rationale, the aims of the study, the scope of the study, the research questions and the organization of the study

Chapter 2: Literature Review and Theoretical Background

It provides the previous studies related to the thesis and some concepts such

as theoretical basis related to speaking skills, task- based and task-based language teaching and learning for the study

Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodology

This chapter describes participants, instruments for data collection, data collection, data analysis, research procedures and reliability and validity, which gives details of the research method and describes how the hypothesis of the thesis

is interpreted and explained

Chapter 4: Findings and Discussions

This chapter presents the results of the research: the reality of applying TBL

to English speaking skills, the students attitudes toward the application of TBL, the effectiveness of TBL in teaching speaking as well as gives some solutions and suggestions to promote teaching speaking skills in TBL The data collected from the survey are quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed

Chapter 5: Conclusion and Implications

This chapter summarizes the main issues touched upon in the research, the limitations of the research and some suggestions for further studies

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW2.1 Overview

In this chapter, the issues related to teaching speaking skill, tasks, task-based instruction (TBI) or task-based language teaching and learning (TBLT) are dealt with Firstly, a brief summary of previous studies related to the thesis is presented Secondly, the author examines and clarifies some opinions of researchers like Prabhu (1987), Willis(1996), Brown(2001), Skehan(1996), Ur(1981) and some other whose concepts concerned with speaking, TBL, TBLT

2.2 Previous Studies Related to the Thesis

With the aim to help learners more active and more excited in learning foreign language as well as get the reach of language acquisition, many teachers have been trying to make classroom more “student-centered” This is one of the origins of TBL

Task-based learning was first developed by Prabhu (1987)in Bangladore, Southern India According to his research, students learned more effectively when their minds are focus on the tasks rather than on the language they are using (Prabhu, 1987; as citied in Wood 2004) His famous research is “ Bangladore project” which initiated in

1979 and completed in 1984 The project aimed at improving the situational oral approach and emphasized competence and communication

“A framework for task-based learning” by Willis (1996) marked the popularity of applying task-based in teaching foreign language His framework

introduces three stages: the pre-task, the cycle-task and the language focus.

Torky (2006) researched on “the effectiveness of a task-based instruction

program in developing English language speaking skills of secondary stage students” It mentioned the importance of providing EFL for the first year students

with the activities and opportunities to raise awareness of speaking skills

In Viet Nam, there were numberous English MAs involving applying based in teaching English Vo Phuc Anh Vu (2009) studied the application of task-

task-based to teach speaking at upper secondary schools In his research, he provided a list of speaking skills for language teachers which helped them plan and design speaking activities suitable for students as well as evaluated students’ speaking performance.

“Applying Task-based Approach in Teaching English Grammar to the 1 st

year-non English majors at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry - Nghe An Branch”

by Nguyen Nu Ngoc Tram (2011) helped the teachers at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry to interpret and had a thorough understanding of the task-based approach, its theories and characteristics, hence providing an effective application to teaching

grammar at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry pedagogical context.

Phan Thi Mai (2011) explored “Applying Task-based Instructions to Teach

Reading Skill for Second-year Nursing Students” The study investigated the

attitude of teachers and students toward task-based approach in teaching reading as well as suggested extra useful texts for developing reading skills

However, at some high schools in Ha Tinh province, the traditional method

is still used The teacher is the center of classroom This thesis, therefore, would like to make a change in the attitude of students and teachers in teaching and learning English underlying the application of the task-based approach

2.3 The Importance of Speaking in Language Teaching

2.3.1 Definitions of Speaking

It is obvious that speaking is the key to human communication It is usually considered the most important goal in language learning Up to now, there have

been many definitions of speaking Chaney states that speaking is “the process of

building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in

a variety of contexts” (Chaney, 1998: p13).

With the same point of view, Byrne (1976:8) confirms: “speaking is a two-way

process between the speaker(s) and the listener(s) involving the productive skill of speaking and the receptive skill of understanding.” Both the listener and the speaker

engage in the speech The speaker transmits the information and the listener has to

receive or understand that information That we call it is the process of encode massage (speaker) and decode message (listener) The message contains a great deal of information that the listener needs And at the same time, the listener is helped by the speakers’ prosodic features such as stress and intonation which accompany the spoken utterances and form part of its meaning, and also by his facial and body movements.

Brown (1983) also states that “speaking is an interactive process of

constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information.” One more, he confirms the interaction between speaker and listener in

speaking However, its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including the participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical environment, and the purposes for speaking

In short, speaking can be seen as the way people interact and share information It is the ability in using oral language to explore ideas, intentions, thoughts and feelings to other people as a way to make the message clearly delivered and well understood by the hearer It can be confirmed that the major purpose of teaching speaking is to train the learner oral fluency, the ability to express oneself intelligibly, accurately

in the airport, etc In this type of oral language there is no reaction or response from listener It is usually used when the speaker would like to talk with a large number

of listeners about the same issue The speech of speaker may be planned or unplanned The planned speech usually manifests little redundancy and it is therefore more difficult for the listeners to comprehend than the unplanned speech

b Dialogue

A dialogue, conversely, involves two or more speakers to promote the social relationship (transactional) and propositional or factual information (interactional) There are turn takings to change the roles of speakers and listeners in this type In this case the participants may have a good deal of sharing knowledge If the participants are familiar the conversation could contain more assumptions even other meaning hidden lines In constrast, with the unfamiliar interlocutors the speech must be more explicit to

assure the effective comprehension Byrne (1986) also said: “Dialogues seem to be

best suited to the teaching of the spoken language”.

2.3.3 Stages of Teaching Speaking

According to Methodology course 1- Teaching the skills (Ha Noi 2002:

42-43) a speaking lesson should have three stages: pre-speaking, while- speaking, and

post- speaking Obviously, each stage has it own characteristics.

a The Pre-speaking Stage

This stage plays an essential role in the whole process of a speaking lesson According to Regina (1997), pre-speaking stage is a stage for planning and organizing Pre-speaking begins before students actually speak Some activities are:

- Warming up: The teacher can motivate the class by setting up a context for

speaking topic to be presented by using some short activities or games, brainstorming, asking questions to elicit students’ experience or by using some sort

of visual aids or their imagination

- Introducing the topic of speaking lesson: The teacher briefly introduces the

topic of speaking lesson so that the students may get their mind ready for it

- Presenting important new words or new structures relating the topic to

students.

b The While- speaking Stage

Unlike the pre-speaking stage, it is the student’s turn to do most of the talking Teachers can design the activities basing on the tasks in the textbook or adapt some more activities to increase the communicative factor at this stage The

teacher, at this stage, lets students work with each other without interfering or correcting any mistakes in order not to stop students from speaking fluently The tasks and activities also supply opportunity for students to practice the accuracy and fluency Teacher needs to monitor the activities and provide help for the weak students who have difficulty completing the task at this stage

c The Post- speaking Stage

At this last stage is the time for the students’ production What they produce will reflect their speaking skill, interests or views It requires them to use target language to perform what they have learnt work and the whole class may be invited to comment can be recommended to be the most effective at this stage improvement

After students have practiced speaking skill at the while- speaking stage, they

do an extension speaking activity This helps them take the information from other groups or whatever they have produced in the while- speaking stage and do something meaningful with it At this stage, the students can do such activities as role- play activities, picture description, competition games, and drama games and so on The teacher must take on the role of a manager or a guide in order to give feedback, evaluate the students’ product

Basically, the teacher should follow the three stages: pre-speaking, while-

speaking and post- speaking orderly Nevertheless, due to time constraint, purposes

of a speaking lesson, types of students and materials in use, this sequence might not always be mechanically applied on every occasion However, teacher needs to control the lesson tasks, students’ performance and assess how far their students achieve after the lesson

2.3.4 Problems with Speaking and Speaking Activities

2.3.4.1 Problems with Speaking

Speaking skill is considered to be similar to oral communication skill Brown (2000) states that some characteristics of spoken language can make oral performance easy as well as, in some cases, difficult

• Clustering

To make speech fluently, the speaker usually use phrases, not word by word that can prevent learners from making fluent conversation

• Redundancy

Depending on unplanned or planned speech, the speaker could make redundancy of language and have opportunities to explicit the information However, this also causes confusing to the learners when they use target language

pause and hesitate, the way of using fillers such as uh, well, you know, I mean, like,

etc., to make their conversations smoothly The hesitation phenomena can differ the native and nonnative speakers of a language

• Colloquial Language

In learning language students have to be familiar with words, idioms, and phrases of colloquial language which are often in oral communication skill and they have chance to practice these forms

• Rate of delivery

This is a characteristic of fluency, when teaching speaking the teacher should help students know how to accept speed as well as other attributes of fluency

• Stress, rhythm, and intonation

Pronunciation with its characteristics: stress, rhythm, intonation is one of the important part in speaking It contributes to make the message clearly and in the concrete situations the speaker may use different form of these characteristics therefore it sometimes make the hearer have difficulty

• Interaction

How to communicate with somebody is another challenge of spoken language, the success of interaction with the others is the success of spoken language.

2.3.4.2 Problems with Speaking Activities

According to Ur (1996: 121) teachers and students may encounter some problems in the process of teaching and learning with speaking activities

- Inhibition: Unlike other activities (reading, writing, listening), speaking

requires some degree of real-time exposure to an audience Learners are often inhibited about trying to say things in a foreign language in the classroom; worried about making mistakes, fearful of criticism or losing face, or simply shy of the attention that their speech attracts

- Nothing to say: Even no inhibition, learners often complain that they have

nothing to say, or that they have no motivation to express themselves in speaking activities

- Low or uneven participation: When working in a group or with the whole

class some active students have a change to talk a lot, in contrast some speaks very little or not at all

- Mother-tongue use: In speaking class students have intention to use

mother because it is easier Moreover, they feel unnatural to speak to one another

in a foreign language or sometimes they are lack of English knowledge to express their ideas

Basing on this view, the research is therefore written in order to investigate the difficulties and the reality at some high schools in Ha Tinh province and suggest the application of task-based approach in teaching speaking

2.4 Task-based Instructions

2.4.1 Definitions of Tasks

Since the last decade of the 20th century, tasks have been widely used as a vehicle to elicit language production, interaction, negotiation of meaning and processing of input The proposes of the notion of “task” are known as a core unit

of planning and teaching According to Long (1985) task is “a piece of work

undertaken for oneself or for others freely or for some reward” The tasks may be

paint a fence, dress a child, fill out a form, ask for help, borrow a pen, buy clothes,

….In other words, “ task” means the things people do in the daily life at work, at play and in between

Nunan (1989: 10) stated that task “is a piece of classroom work which

involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing, or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form The task should also have a sense of completeness, being able to stand alone as a communicative act in its own right” In this view, we can see that the

authors take a pedagogical perspective He claims that the aim of tasks is get learner’s attention on meaning instead of linguistic structure Tasks are the things familiar with our real world

Skehan (Skehan, 2011: 12-13) wrote that “a task is an activity in which:

- Meaning is primary

- There is some communication problem to solve

- The is some short of relationship to comparable real-word activities

- Task completion has some priority

- The assessment of the task is in term of outcome”

Prabhu (1987: 12-17), one of the first methodologists raising interest and

support for TBL, defined “a task” is “ an activity which required learners to arrive

at an outcome from given information through some process of thought, and which allowed teachers to control and regulate that process” He emphasizes the process

of the learning, and he confirms that when following the tasks the learner will get effective communication

In summary, the definitions of tasks vary in TBL However all them have a common characteristic They all suggested the tasks are concerned with communicative language use In other words, they refer to undertakings in which the learner comprehend, interact, produce in the target language in the contexts and focus on meaning rather than form

My own view of a task is strongly influenced by Nunan (1989), Skehan (2011), and Prabhu (1987) In this thesis the application tasks base on the real world fitted well to students’ need and interest, and socially contextualized.

2.4.2 Types of Tasks

Many researchers attempt to group tasks into categories

a Prabhu’s categories

The first types of tasks was set by Prabhu (1987) in “ Bangladore project”

which was used for the primary age learners of English in Bangladore, Southern India It contains ten task types as follows:

- Diagrams and formations: The learners base on the diagram to do the tasks

such as: naming parts of diagram with numbers and letters as instructed

- Drawing: The learner follow the instruction of the teachers (read, tell or

play a tape) to do the tasks like draw the summer

- Clock faces: Base on the clock, watch to show the time

- Monthly calendar: Use the calendar to set or arrange the time for travelling

or to do any work

- Maps: The teacher lets students construct house, garden, floor with the

maps given

- School timetables: Students may have a chance to talk and share about the

timetables with teacher or their classmates

- Programs and itineraries: Construct itineraries from descriptions of travel

- Train timetables: Selecting trains appropriate to given needs

- Age and year of birth: talk about age or the birthday party

- Money: with the available of money, what they decide to buy

b Willis (1996) proposed six types of tasks built on more or less traditional knowledge hierarchies

- Listing

Listing may seem unimaginative, but in practice, listing tasks tend to generate a lot of talks as learners explain their ideas The processes involved are:

• brainstorming, in which learners draw on their own knowledge and experience either as a class or in pairs/groups

• fact-finding, in which learners find things out by asking each other or other people and referring to books and so on

The outcome would be the completed list, or possibly a draft mind map.You can list people, places, things, actions, reasons, everyday problems, things to do in various circumstances and so on

- Ordering and sorting

These tasks involve four main processes:

• sequencing items, actions or events in logical or chronological order

• ranking items according to personal values or specified criteria

• categorizing items in given groups or grouping them under given headings

• classifying items in different ways, where the categories themselves are not given

The outcome is a set of information ordered and sorted according to specified criteria

- Comparing

Broadly, these tasks involve comparing information of a similar nature but from different sources or versions in order to identify common points and/or differences The processes involved are:

• matching to identify specific points and relate them to each other

• finding similarities and things in common

and complexity of the problem The outcome is the solution to the problem, which can then be evaluated.

Text-books often contain activities based on common problems - pollution, relationships, noisy neighbors and so on

- Sharing personal experiences

• Narrating

• Describing

• Exploring and explaining attitudes, opinions, and reactions

Activities where learners are asked to recount their personal experiences and tell stories are valuable because they give learners a chance to speak for longer and

in a more sustained way… The resulting interaction is closer to casual social conversation in that it is not so directly goal-oriented as in other tasks For that reason, however, these open tasks may be more difficult to get going in the classroom The outcome is largely social

- Creative tasks

These are often called projects and involve pairs or groups of learners in some kind

of freer creative work They also tend to have more stages than other tasks, and can involve combinations of task types: listing, ordering and sorting, comparing and problem-solving Out of class research is sometimes needed Organizational skills and team-work are important in getting the task done The outcome can often be appreciated by a wider audience than the students who produced it

c According to Pica, Kanagy and Fladun (1993) cited in Jack & Thoedore (2001: 234) tasks are classified into five types

- Jigsaw tasks: These involve learners combining different pieces of

information to form a whole, i.e three individuals or groups may have three different parts of a story and have to put the pieces of the story together

- Information- gap tasks: One student or a group of students has one set of

information and another student or group has a complimentary set of information They must negotiate and find out what the other party’s information is in order to complete an activity

- Problem-solving tasks: Students are given a problem and a set of

information They must arrive at a solution to the problem There is generally a single resolution of the outcome

- Decision-making tasks: Students are given a problem for which there are

number of possible outcomes and they must choose one through negotiation and discussion

- Opinion- exchange tasks: Learners engage in discussion and exchange of

ideas They do not need to reach agreement

d Nunan (1989) suggested that there were two types of tasks: real-world tasks and pedagogical tasks

- Real-world tasks

Real-world or target tasks are tasks that reflect real-world use of language and are found to be important in a need analysis and useful for the real world In other words, they are proposed to use language in the reality beyond the classroom

or classroom is the environment to practice real task “The hundred and one things

people do in everyday life, at work, at play and in between”(Long ) A role-play in

which students practice a job interview would be a task of this kind Nunan and

Burton (1989) make clear that real-world tasks are things that learners are expected

to do in the world outside the classroom like filling a form or asking for specific information

According to Nunan (1989), real-world tasks include daily activities such as

filling out a form, making airline preservation, borrowing a library book, taking a reservation hotel, etc TBL views real-world tasks as the source for pedagogical

tasks in the classroom, which is referred to as classroom tasks

- Pedagogical Tasks

The pedagogical tasks are distinguished by specific goals that point beyond the language classroom to the target task They may include both formal and functional techniques The amount of classroom activities that the learners deal with

in classroom contexts is called pedagogical tasks They are not things that students practice or rehearse for performance in real life According to Nunan (1989),

classroom tasks are defined in terms of “what the learner do in the classroom

rather than in the outside world”.

- Collaborative or competitive: whether the students collaborate to carry out

a task or complete with each other on a task

- Single or multiple outcomes: whether there is a single outcome or many different outcomes are possible

- Concrete or abstract language: whether the task involves the use of concrete language or abstract language

- Simple or complex processing: whether the linguistic demands of the task are relatively simple or complex

- Reality- based or not reality-based: whether the task mirrors a real world activity or in a pedagogical activity not found in the real world

In conclusion, task is characterized in the point that task plays the center in the learning process Meaning is primary in communication, so task should involve

a focus on meaning Task is inspired from real-world activities and must be oriented Its completion has priority and the success of task completion is assessed

goal-by the outcome

2.4.4 Components of tasks

Nunan (1989,11) offered a frame for analyzing a task as follow:

2.4.4.1 Goals

Goals are the general interactions behind any given communicative tasks and learning tasks They may be the general outcomes (communicative, effective or cognitive) or may directly describe teacher or learners’ attitude Goals provide a point of contact between the task and the broader curriculum Communicative activities without goals cannot motivate learner’s interest and the activity is not real task Therefore, before designing a lesson the teacher set authentic goals According

to Clark (1987) there are four types of goals:

- Communicative: Establishing and maintaining interpersonal relation and through this to exchange information, ideas, opinions, attitude, feeling and get things done

- Social-cultural: Having some understanding of the everyday life patterns of the contemporary age group in the target language speech community This will cover the life at school, at home, at leisure

- Learning how to learn: To negotiate and plan their work over the certain time span, and learn how to set themselves realistic objectives and how to devise the means to attain them

- Language and cultural awareness: To have some understanding of systematics nature of the language and the ways it works

2.4.4.2 Input

Input refers to the language that is addressed to the foreign language learners

It is the data that form the point of departure for the task The input should be some new information that the learners have not known at a slightly higher level than the student is capable of using, but at a level that he is capable of understanding Hover (1986) suggested a variety of authentic sources:

- Notice board items

- Housing request form

- Star sign

- Hotel entertainment

- Programme

- Tennis court booking sheet

- Extracts from film script

- High school year book

Pattison (1987) (citied in Nunan, 1989: 68) proposed seven activities:

- Questions and answers: These activities are based on the notion of creating an information gap by letting learners make a personal and secret choice from a list of items

- Dialogues and role-plays: These can be wholly scripted or wholly improvised, however, “ If the learners are given some choice of what to say, and if there is a clear aim to be achieved by what they say in their role-plays, they may participate more willingly and learn more thoroughly than when they are told to simply repeat a given dialogue in pairs”

- Matching activities: The task for learner to recognize matching items, or to complete pairs or sets.

- Communication strategies: These activities encourage learners to practice communication strategies such as paraphrasing, using gesture, asking for feedback, etc

- Pictures and picture stories: Many communication activities can be stimulated through the use of pictures

- Puzzles and problems: These require learners to “make guesses, draw on their general knowledge and personal experience, use their imagination and test their powers of logical reasoning

- Discussions and decisions: These require the learner to collect and share information to reach a decision

2.4.4.4 Learner’s Roles

In the traditional education, the learners are passive recipient of the language process However, in TBL the learners have centered-roles They are considered as the negotiators of learning process, they can negotiate with other students or teacher Richards and Rogers (2001: 235-236) provided three main roles of learners:

- Group participant: Students complete many tasks in pairs or small group

- Monitor: Classroom activities should be planned so that students have opportunity to notice how language is used in communication

- Risk-taker and innovator: Many tasks will require learners to create and interpret messages for which they lack of full linguistic resources and prior experience

2.4.4.5 Teacher’s Roles

In contrast to the traditional approach, where the teacher is considered the sole-provider of knowledge and the makers of all class activities The teacher in TBLT has some following roles:

- Selector and sequencer of tasks: Teacher has an effective role in selecting, adjusting and creating tasks and then forming these tasks into an instructional sequence in keeping the learner’s interests, needs and language skill levels

- Preparing learners for tasks: Pre-task is important to learners, teacher can help them with topic instruction, describing task instructions, helping students learn

or recall useful words or phrases to make the task completion easier and provide partial display of task process

- Consciousness-raising: Teacher should use o lot of form focusing techniques including attention-focusing pre-task activities, text exploration, guide exposure to parallel tasks and use of highlighted material

2.4.4.6 Settings

Setting refers to the classroom arrangements specified or implied in the task, and it also requires consideration of whether the task is to be carried out wholly or partly outside the classroom Nunan (1985), distinguished two different aspects of learning situation That is “ mode” and “ environment”

- Mode learning: It refers to whether the learner is operating on an individual

or group basis and if the teacher is directed or self-directed and learner participates the task wholly, groups or pairs

- Environment, which is involved to mode, refers to where the learning actually takes place It may be a conventional classroom in a language center, a community class, an industrial or occupational setting, a self-access learning center and so on.(Nunan, Design task for communicative classroom p 93)

2.4.5 Principles of Tasks

Willis (1996) indicated that tasks were governed by the following principles:

- Task should engage the learner’s focus on negotiating the meaning, rather than the practice of form or prescribed forms or patterns

- Task should promote communication and interaction through having students engage and negotiate the meaning of the task

- There is some kind of purpose or goal set for the task so that learners know what they are expected to achieve by the end of the task

- The task should motivate learners, engage their attention, present suitable degree of linguistic challenge and promote language development

2.5 Task-based Language Teaching (TBL)

2.5.1 Definitions of TBL

TBL is a teaching method in which tasks are the center and the aim of task-based learning is to make language classroom approximate to the target language environment, develop students ability to communicate TBL or Task-based learning or task-based instruction has emerged as a significant component in the development of the language curriculum Its objectives are goal-oriented and learner-centered, as classroom activities in which learners use real-life language to achieve a specific outcome Willis (1996) proposed:

“Task-based learning combines the best insights from communicative language teaching with an organized focus on language form.” She explains

that TBL helps learners developing pedagogical applications of the second language acquisition Moreover, it engages learners in task work by providing

a better context for activation of learning processes than form-focused activities

Nunan (1999, p.24 ) defined task-based language teaching as “ an approach

to the design of language course in which the point of departure is not an ordered list of linguistic items, but a collection of tasks” In other words, in task-based

language teaching, tasks become the center of the course Without emphasizing the establishment of a task-based course, Richards and Rogers (2001) have given a more basic and simple definition of task-based language teaching as “an approach based on the use of tasks as the core unit of planning and instruction in language teaching” (p.223) In this definition, tasks are also the focus but they are mentioned

in the role of a language teaching device

According to Brown (2001), TBL is an approach to teaching a second or

foreign language that “ puts tasks at the center of one’s methodological focus It

views the learning process as a set of communicative tasks that are directly linked

to the curricular goals they serve”.

In this study, the author followed Brown’s view because it synthesizes the key features of task-based language teaching and learning highlighted by the author’s mentioned above In order to get the goal or complete the tasks the learners have to actively engage in the processing of meaning through the materials Students interact to perform a series of tasks

2.5.2 Characteristics of TBL

TBL views the “tasks” learners do as central to the learning process in order toachieve communicative goals Nunan (1991: 279) regards five characteristics of task-based approach to language teaching as follows:

- An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language

- The introduction of authentic texts in the learning situation

- The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also in the learning process itself

- An enhancement of the learners’ own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning

- An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the classroom

2.5.3 Frame of the Task-based Instructions

The most popular framework of task-based instructions is designed by Willis (1996) In this framework, there are three stages in the procedures of task-based language teaching

Figure 2.1: The Willis’ TBL Framework

Language focus

Analysis Practice

Task cycle

Task Planning Report

Pre-task

Introduction to topic and task

- Pre-task: This stage provides the learners with clear information of what

they are going to deal with, help them get familiar with the topic and the task Teacher explores the topic by introducing the topic, giving task instructions, highlighting useful words and phrases, or recalling some language useful for the task While as, students can take note and prepare for the task

- Task cycle: This stage involves three steps: task, planning and report.

• Task: First, students do the task in pair or in small group using what they have

in the first stage while the teachers are supervisors and monitors helping students complete the task The focus is on doing the task successfully and the teacher should not

be concerned with lexical or grammatical accuracy at all at this point

• Planning: Students prepare a short oral or written report to report the

whole class about what they have done and discovered For a spoken report, the students should organize their ideas and make some notes about what they will report to the rest of the class The aim of this stage is that the students get experience with “public” speaking or writing, where some planning is required

to insure that the report displays the appropriate degree of accuracy and formality required for presentation The teacher should monitor and help students with any language they need

• Report: After the reports have been planned or, in case of written reports,

completed in presentation form, they need to be shared with the rest of the class For written reports, they can be hung on the wall(s) of the class and the students can read what the other groups did during the task phase For oral reports, one student from each group can deliver the report to the rest of the class Regardless of whether it is written or oral, the students in other groups should be given a reading or listening task to do during exposure to the other groups’ reports In the suggestion role-play, the students were asked to listen for suggestions that were different from the ones they had come up with Because the point of the report stage is to focus on accuracy, the teacher may make note

of significant errors that occur during the reading of the reports or in the written reports The errors can be taken up after all the reports have been delivered

- Language focus: In the first two stages, meaning is of primary concern

However, in this stage, students have to pay attention on the form This stage involves analysis and practice

• Analysis: Students examine and then discuss specific features of the text or

transcript of the recording Some relevant parts from the text are highlighted for students to analyses They identify and process specific language features of the text

in term of form and use consciously They can enter new words, phrases and patterns in vocabulary books Also, they can ask questions about language features

• Practice: Teacher conducts practice of new words, phrases, and patterns

occurring in the data, either during or after the analysis Students practice new words, phrases and structures to have a consolidation of language form as well as make a note of language which is useful to their learning

The ‘art’ of TBLT is known when to remove the scaffolding:

• Too early and the process will collapse

• Too late, the learners will not develop independence

the receptive tasks than in productive, but later in the cycle, the proportion changes, they focus on productive work.

c Recycling

This principle is based on the assumption that learning is not an nothing” process, but piecemeal and unstable Recycling language not only maximises opportunities for learning but also allows learners to encounter target language items over time and in a range of different environments, both linguistic and experiential For example, they will see how “expressing likes and dislikes”,

“all-or-“yes/no questions” and “do/does” function in a range of content areas, from the world of entertainment to the world of food

d Active Learning

Learners learn best by actively using the language they are learning Therefore, to get the best result students should be had opportunities to use the language they learn in class These may be practising memorized dialogues or complete the table, chart, or so on The key point is that it is the learner, not the teacher, who is doing the work This does not mean that there is no place at all for input, explanation, etc., but that such teacher-focussed work should not dominate class time

e Integration

In the past, most approaches based on a synthetic approach in which the elements are grammatical, lexical and phonological Recently, applied linguists have argued that what is necessary is a pedagogy that makes explicit to learners the systematic relationship between form, function and meaning

f Reproduction to Creation

To attain the target language, learners should be encouraged to move from reproductive to creative language use In reproductive tasks, learners reproduce models provided by the teacher, the textbook, or the tape These tasks are designed

to give learners a mastery of form, meaning and function, and this provides a basis for creative tasks In creative tasks, learners recombine familiar elements in novel

ways This principle can be applied not only with intermediate and advanced students, but also with beginners if the instructional process is carefully sequenced.

g Reflection

Learners should be given opportunities to reflect on what they have learned and how well they are doing Becoming a reflective learner is part of learner training where the focus shifts from language content to learning processes This reflective element has a particular affinity with TBLT Research suggests that learners who are aware of the strategies driving their learning will be better learners For learners who have done most of their learning in ‘traditional’ classes, TBL can

be mystifying, even alienating leading them to task

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

3.1 Overview

The survey was conducted on the 10th graders and teachers of English to find out the reality of applying TBL in English speaking classes as well as how TBL had impacted students It also aimed to learn about the effectiveness of TBL in teaching English speaking compared to other methods and as a result, provided suggestions

to promote teaching English speaking with TBL Therefore, it was undertaken with the quantitative approach and the qualitative approach

3.2 Research Methods

Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were chosen to deal with the

data in this research Babbie (1983: 537) defined quantitative method as “the

numerical representation and manipulation of observation for the purpose of describing and explaining the phenomena that those observations reflect”) In this

study, the researcher used the quantitative approach to collect the data for this study basing on the investigation with 100 students and 10 English teachers The questionnaires, interviews are used in order to get information from the

participants Unlike quantitative method, qualitative method is the “non-numerical

examination and interpretation of observation for the purpose of discovering underlying meanings and patterns of relationships” (Babbie, 1983: 537) The

qualitative method was used to classify and analyse collected datas

3.3 Context of the Study

This research was carried out with students grade 10 at three high schools :

Cu Huy Can, Le Huu Trac 1 and Cao Thang in Ha Tinh province, where English is

a compulsory subject There are about 1200 10th graders at those three schools On average, the age of students at these schools is from 15 to 18 Their English level is low and of mixed- ability Most of them have been learning English for 4 years; some have 7 years at secondary schools where only written English is