SKKN obstacles encountered by 10th form students when learning speaking skill

However, in fact of our education in Viet Nam , many teachers and students haven’t paid enough attention to this skill , they only focus on learning grammar and reading with a view to pa

S GIÁO D C VÀ ÀO T O THANH HÓA Ở Ụ Đ Ạ

TRƯỜNG THPT YÊN NH 2ĐỊ

SÁNG KI N KINH NGHI MẾ Ệ

STUDENTS WHEN LEARNING SPEAKING SKILL

Người th c hi n: Tr nh Th Thanhự ệ ị ị

Ch c v : Giáo viênứ ụ

SKKN thu c l nh v c: Ti ng Anhộ ĩ ự ế

THANH HÓA N M 2015Ă

I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Reasons for choosing the study

Nowadays English is one of the most important languages to master People are learning it for diferrent purposes but everyone must admit that whatever aims

we want to obstain , speaking skill is still the most important one However, in fact of our education in Viet Nam , many teachers and students haven’t paid enough attention to this skill , they only focus on learning grammar and reading with a view to passing written English exams ( General National exams) As a result , a great number of students in our country can’t be able to communicate with foreigners after leaving secondary school

At my school, Yen Dinh 2 school , most of sts don’t have enough confidence when speaking , some of them even hardly speak anything during the lesson , which causes bad result in learning speaking skill That’s why I choose the topic

“obstacles encountered by 10 th form students when learning speaking skill” 1.2 Objectives of the study

The main purpose of this research is to find out the factors that prevent sts from improving communication aproach and suggest some solutions to this problem

1.3 Scope of the study

This study is conducted among the 10th form students at Yen Dinh 2 high school during the school year 2014- 2015

1.4 Methodology of the study

Both comparative and contrastive methods are used

First of all, for the theoretical basis, a lot of reference materials on listening skills have been collected, analyzed and synthesized carefully with the due consideration for the students’ learning situations

Secondly, a survey questionnaire has been conducted with the students to collect the data Then, follow-up interviews have been carried out with students to gather the most reliable data for analysis to find the answers to the research questions mentioned above

1.5 Significance of the study

This study may provide insights into the process of learning the speaking skill for the students It may play a crucial role in enhancing the speaking skill to

the students It motivates the students’ desire for learning English, and makes them more confident and active in speaking activities It not only gives some

suggestions to help students overcome the difficulties but also helps teachers to better their lectures

DEVELOPMENT 2.1 Theoretical background of the speaking skill

2.1.1 What is the speaking skill?

Plenty of definitions of speaking have been, so far, proposed by the experts

of second language (L2) pedagogy, each of which takes account of some major aspects of speech and its production Chamney and Burk (1998), for instance, defined speaking as "the process of building and sharing meaning through the use

of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts" (p 13) It is, in effect, the productive process of turning thoughts into meaningful language (Brown, 2007) Meaning construction is, therefore, the main purpose of this interactive phenomenon, which involves first receiving and processing pieces of information and then producing a reactive response to the received information and properly forming that response according to the context in which communication takes place

“Speaking” is also the delivery of language through the mouth To speak ,

we creat sounds using many parts of our hobby, including the lungs , vocal tract , vocal chords, tounge, teeth and lips

2.1.2 The importance and purposes of the speaking skill in the language learning process

Undoutedly, oral communication is a vital component of the English

language curriculum and provides the base for growth in reading, writing, and listening abilities As learning and applying the skills of oral English are so closely related to each other, the classroom should be a place where the use of spoken

language is sensitively supported and where active listening is developed and

valued Talk enables students to make connections between what they know and what they are learning, and listening helps them to acquire knowledge and explore ideas Talk can be immediate and spontaneous, or planned and deliberate (Byrne 1976) Confidence and enthusiasm are critical factors in oral language

development, and because much oral language is immediate, it involves taking risks Student learning is most effective when there is a relationship of mutual trust, when students’ oral language is accepted and a variety of communication styles are

accommodated in the classroom, and when students have frequent opportunities to talk in formal and informal situations (Byrne 1976 & Brown 1992).

Language is a tool for communication We communicate with others, to express our ideas, and to know others’ ideas as well Communication takes place, where there is speech Without speech we cannot communicate with one another The importance of 3/10 speaking skills, hence is enormous for the learners of any language Without speech, a language is reduced to a mere script The use of

language is an activity which takes place within the confines of our community We use language in a variety of situations People at their work places, i.e researchers working either in a medical laboratory or in a language laboratory, are supposed to speak correctly and effectively in-order to communicate well with one another Any gap in commucation results in misunderstandings and problems

Especially, the English language has become an international language

Among nations it serves as a lingua franca It is spoken, learnt and understood even

in those countries where it is not a native’s language English is playing a major role in many sectors including medicine, engineering, education, advanced studies, business, technology, banking, computing, tourism etc All our software

development today, the communication facilities available to us through internet, our access to a variety of websites, are all being carried out in English Most of the research works are conducted and compiled in English Anything written and

recorded in this language is read and listened to, in wider circles As a result,

English is being taught and learned around the world as a second language today

2.1.3 Phases in the speaking learning process

The speaking process includes activities that occur prior to, during, and after the actual speaking event

Therefore, speaking lessons are normally offered in three main phases, namely pre-speaking, while-speaking, and post-speaking phases and classroom activities are accordingly divided into three main categories, i.e., pre-speaking, while/during-speaking, and post-speaking activities (Millrood, 2001)

Pre speaking activites:

Pre-speaking begins before students actually speak Students' experiences, observations, and interactions inside and outside of the classroom have an impact upon what they say and how they say it

Pre-speaking activities involve thought and reflection, and provide opportunities for students to plan and organize for speaking

Pre-speaking activities play as a warm-up and prepare the learners for the main speaking activity It aims to activate language, motivate speakers, and prepare ideas, and helps students bring their background knowledge (schemata) to the specific context of the lesson Students are asked to encourage ideas about the topic

by means of fruitful pre-speaking activities such as brainstorming In pre-speaking

activities, four features need to be determined, i.e., the topic of speaking lesson, the purpose of speaking lesson, the audience to which speakers speak, and the format

of speaking, or whether it is a conversation, discussion, monologue, presentation, formal speech and so forth

While- speaking activities

While- speaking activities compose the body of speaking lessons Students are encouraged to engage in some sorts of interactive exchange of information or communication They may be asked to play a role given to them in as in role-playing activities, to find a solution to a problem posed for them as in problem-solving activities, or to play in an interesting game that teacher introduces, and all these activities aim to provide them with suitable opportunities to express their feelings, describe things, explain them clearly, ask questions and ask for what they need, discuss things in small or larger groups, and so on

Post- speaking activities :

In post-speaking activities a rethinking process is at work The learners are encouraged to reflect on the activities which were just done and on their own performance, bring language they have acquired into more focus, further focus on the ideas they have just come up with, and produce spoken language integrated with the other skills, that is not merely oral production, but a combination of two or more skills simultaneously They aim to promote critical thinking in learners which paves the more language development

Some purposes for post-speaking activities are listed below :

-To reflect upon performance: Students who have opportunities to reflect upon atheir speaking experiences, in light of pre-determined criteria, grow in their abilities to speak effectively

-To set goals for improvement: When students reflect upon their performance, they begin to recognize what they have done well and where they require improvement

2.1 4 Potential problems in learning the English speaking skill

There are a lot of potential problems in learning a language skill For the speaking skill, Learners Zhang (2009) argued that speaking remains the most

difficult skill to master for the majority of English learners, and they are still incompetent in communicating orally in English.According to Ur (1996), there are many factors that cause difficulty in speaking, and they are as follows:

at us if we make mistakes”

2.1.4.2 Nothing to say

In many cases , a lot of students do not say anything for they have no motive

to express themselves

2.1.4.3 Low or uneven participation

Only one participant can talk at a time because of large classes and the tendency of some learners to dominate, while others speak very little or not at all

2.1.4.4 pronunciation

English words can be difficult to pronounce – and when speaking English, ss have to consider not only the pronunciation of the individual words, but also the connection between the words in the sentence There’s also the “rhythm” and

intonation of the sentence to consider – and sometimes their mouth gets confused!

2.1.4.5.Limited vocabulary

Linguistic Difficulties Data collected through observation showed that students struggle to find the appropriate vocabulary item when trying to speak in English, which reflects their insufficient vocabulary repertoire Data collected from the student interview supported this because one of the students reported : “We want to speak, but we don’t know the word” The interviewed students also pointed out that they find it difficult to build sentences when they try to express their ideas One of them said: “We do not know how to say it” Although teachers spend a long time teaching grammar rules, students still cannot form short sentences when they try to speak in English

2.1.4.6.Lack of speaking environment

One of the obstacles that encounter ss’s speaking English is that there is no

or little speaking environment Beside the time of speaking in class ,ss have no chance of practising English outside In addition, the environment is not natural enough for ss to communicate , which may prevent them from speaking

2.2 The setting of the study

The study was conducted at YD2 in Yen Dinh district, Thanh Hoa province Our school has 29 classes at the moment Each class has about 40-50 sts , which seems not to be too crowded to teach language n addition, there are too many desks without empty space left where teachers and students can move to and from if they conduct different interaction activities All of students here learn the Basic English level

2.3.1 The students’ background and their English levels

In general, sts in my school come from farmers’ famalies They don’t have good condition to learn English Beside the lessons in class , they have no chance

of speaking in other places such as in clubs or centres of speaking like sts in cities Moreover, they do not have clear determination on English learning goals.Some sts themselves and even their parents don’t appriciate learning English , they only focus on the importance of maths, physics and chemistry

Although all of sts in my school have been taught English for fours years at lower secondary school but their level is still very low

2.3.2 Sts’ attitude towards the importance of studying the speaking skill.

Most of the 10th grade students at YD2SS highly appreciate the importance of speaking skill However, they find it difficult to master in English , especially in speaking , so a great number of them tend to concentrate on grammar and reading

or writing exercises with the mere purpose is to pass their final written examination only

2.3.3 Problems related to the speaking materials

Some topics in the textbook are not interesting enough to attract ss to the lessons

2.3.4 Problems related to the environment

It can’t be denied that speaking environment plays an integral part in improving ss’s ability of communication SS in my school, however, do not have good atsmosphere to practise this skill The only time for them to master this skill

is in English periods , in which English speaking is not always performed all the

time by both teachers and ss due to the fact that if the teacher speaks English all the time, a majority of ss hardly comprehend anything Beside this time ss seldom speak anything in English That’s why they make little progress in commmunicative approach

2.4 Suggestions for teachers and sts in teaching and learning the speaking skill 2.4.1 For the students

2.4.1.1 Positive attitude

Sts should have a positive attitude and motivation towards learning speaking skills The students need to have a clear goal in learning English and feel confident

as well as comfortable when speaking English

2.4.1.2 Practice speaking frequently outside class

Try to practice speaking outside class Besides speaking in class,ss should have an English speaking club consisting of 3 or 4 ss They can share and talk about anything , they can learn together , and can correct each other without feeling embarrassed

English will become ss’routine by doing that activity(Hetrakul, 1995)

2.4.1.3 Accumulating vocabulary , doing grammar exercise everyday

The students must learn new words , and master in grammar day by day so that they can have enough structures to communicate confidently

2.4.2 For teachers

2.4.2.1 Activating the students’ Vocabulary

The teacher can activate students’ vocabulary by eliciting as many words related to the topic as possible This is an important input of speech

2.4.2.2 Pronunciation

The findings in the study show that incorrect pronunciation hinders at least many students from speaking , so teachers need to help students expose themselves and get familiar with precise pronunciation of native speakers By doing that the students’ pronunciation capacity is much more improved, which will help students find speaking with native speakers effective and efficient As mentioned above, many teachers think that students’ accurate pronunciation is of great help for them

in listening acquisition And of course if they listen well , their reponse in communication is better

2.4.2.3. Improving the learning environment of the speaking skill

It is necessary to force ss only to speak English in class

First of all, teacher must always use English during his lessons Second, even when teaching other skills ( reading, listening, witing , language focus ) teacher should always ask ss to speak as mush as possible

The teacher himself must be able to convince ss to be brave to speak English, does not matter if they make grammar mistakes , encourage them to say whatever they want , teacher should make clear to all ss that making mistakes is a normal thing

in speaking a foreign langagage This way will raise ss’s confidence to speak ,it will be better if teacher doesn’s correct ss’s mistakes but should feedback and give explanation for every error after ss finish their speech

2.4.2.4 Teacher should use various ways of teaching speaking to encourage ss

to talk in class

There are plenty of beneficial classroom activities and practices which can be manipulated according to the needs of learners and the specific purposes Some of these activities are as follows (Kayi, 2006):

Discussion

A topic for the discussion is picked as the first stage of the activity Preferably small groups are then formed either by the teacher or by the learners themselves, but it is recommended that groups should be rearranged in every discussion This way they have the opportunity to get to know different ideas and different people

Role-play

In role-play activities, students are assigned different roles which they may have outside the classroom environment, in real life These are in some way an imitation of real life situations Students are expected to use appropriate language according to the context in which role-play takes place Before the activity starts, the teacher must clearly explain the situation to the learners so they know what specific events are supposed to happen in the activity Then explain the goal of role-play, that is what the product of the activity will be After that, each student is cast in his/her role to brainstorming is required in order to form a background knowledge of the probable vocabulary, grammar, and idioms used in the activity All these things are done taking into consideration the level of learners

Simulation

Stimulation is similar to role-play except that it is more detailed and elaborate Usually real objects and items related to specific context are used in