the use of pictures to engage young learners in speaking activities at new oriental english school

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAININGHO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY THE USE OF PICTURES TO ENGAGE YOUNG LEARNERS IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES AT NEW ORIENTAL ENGLISH SCHOOL Major: TEACHING ENGL

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

THE USE OF PICTURES TO ENGAGE YOUNG LEARNERS IN

SPEAKING ACTIVITIES AT NEW ORIENTAL ENGLISH SCHOOL

Major: TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled, “The use of pictures to engage young learners in speaking activities at New Oriental English School” as the statement of requirements for thesis in Master’s Programs at Ho Chi

Minh City Open University, issued by the Higher Degree Committee

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis does notcontain material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis bywhich I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma

No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in themain text of the thesis

This thesis has not been submitted for any degree in any other tertiaryinstitution

Ho Chi Minh City, October 2015

NGUYEN VU ANH DUY

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, Nguyen Vu Anh Duy, being the candidate for the degree

of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to theretention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited inthe Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordancewith the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan, orreproduction of theses

To achieve the first purpose of the study, the author conducted an experimentalresearch at New Oriental English School with the use of pictures in speaking activitiesfor the Experimental group (EG) consisting of sixteen students, and without the use ofpictures in speaking activities for the Control group (CG) consisting of sixteenstudents To measure the development of learners’ speaking skill before and after thetreatment, the researcher used a pre-test and a post-post to compare the mean scores ofthe two groups As a result, although there was no statistically significant differencebetween the two groups before and after the treatment, the mean scores of the post-testshowed that the EG outperformed the CG In addition, observations, questionnaires,and interviews were employed to explore learners’ attitudes towards the use ofpictures in speaking activities The results revealed that learners in the EG showedtheir great interests and motivation, and responded positively towards the application

of pictures in learning speaking

Finally, basing on the findings, the research offered some recommendations forteachers and school administrators and suggestions for further research relating to theuse of pictures in teaching and learning English, especially for teaching and learningEnglish speaking skill

TABLES OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS… .ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii

ABSTRACT… .iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS v

LIST OF FIGURES, CHARTS AND TABLES… .x

ABBREVIATIONS xii

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Statement of the problem 2

1.2 Statements of the purpose 3

1.3 Research questions 3

1.4 Significance of the study 4

1.5 Limitation of the Study 4

1.6 The Organization of the Study 4

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Communicative competence 6

2.1.1 Communicative language teaching 7

2.1.2 The practice of teaching and learning speaking skill in classroom 8

2.1.3 The teaching of spoken language functions in classroom activities 9

2.1.4 Children proficiency of learning spoken language 12

2.1.5 Children’s ability for meaning negotiation and demands for more complex tasks 13

2.1.5.1 Children’s ability for meaning negotiation 13

2.1.5.2 Children’s demands for more complex tasks 13

2.2 The use of visual aids in language teaching 14

2.2.1 Definitions of pictures 15

2.2.2 Types of pictures 16

2.2.3 Activities used with pictures to teach oral skills for children 17

2.3 The importance of motivation in language teaching and learning activities 18

2.3.1 Types of motivation 18

2.3.2 Factors and elements of motivation 19

2.3.3 Maintaining learners’ motivation 20

2.4 Previous studies and articles related to the current research 21

Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY… .24

3.1 Research context 24

3.1.1 Research site 24

3.1.2 Teaching materials 25

3.1.3 The main teaching staff 25

3.1.4 The current teaching and learning English speaking skill at NOES 25

3.2 The population of the research 26

3.2.1 Research samples 26

3.3 Research design 30

3.4 Design of lesson plans for CG and EG 32

3.4.1 A description of the lesson plan for the CG 32

3.4.2 A description of the lesson plan for the EG 34

3.5 Research Instruments 36

3.5.1 The pre-test and post-test design 37

3.5.1.1 The pre-test contents 40

3.5.1.2 The post-test contents 40

3.5.2 Observation 41

3.5.3 Survey Questionnaire 43

3.5.4 Interview 47

3.6 Procedures of data collection 48

3.7 Analytical framework 49

3.7.1 Experimental data analysis 50

3.7.1.1 Mean (X) 50

3.7.1.2 Standard Deviation (S.D.) 50

3.7.1.3 Independent samples T-test 50

3.7.1.4 Pair samples T-test 50

3.7.2 Descriptive data analysis 51

3.7.2.1 Frequencies (f) 51

3.7.2.2 Percentages (%) 51

3.7.3 Content analysis 51

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS OF THE STUDY 53

4.1 Participants’ performance at pre-test and post-test 53

4.1.1 Comparisons of Mean scores and Independent Samples T-test of CG and EG in Pre-test 54

4.1.2 Comparisons of paired samples T-test of CG and EG after treatment 54

4.1.2.1 Paired samples T-test of CG on Pre-test and Post-test 54

4.1.2.2 Paired samples T-test of EG on Pre-test and Post-test 55

4.1.2.3 An Independent Samples T-test of CG and EG on Post-test 56

4.2 Learners’ attitudes toward the use of pictures in speaking activities 57

4.2.1 Analysis of observations for EG 57

4.2.2 Results of the research questionnaires 59

4.2.2.1 Learners’ opinions about the use of pictures in speaking English 59

4.2.2.2 Levels of learners’ interest in speaking activities through pictures 62

4.2.2.3 Learners’ evaluation on the levels of difficulty for each activity with the use of pictures in speaking 65

4.2.2.4.Learners’ recommendations or suggestions 68

4.2.3 Results of the interviews 59

4.2.3.1 Learners' opinions about the use of pictures in speaking 59

4.2.3.2 Learners’ opinions about speaking activities through pictures 70

4.2.3.3 Learners’ perspectives on the helpfulness of pictures in speaking activities 73

4.2.3.4 Learners’ suggestions about the use of pictures in speaking activities 74

Chapter 5: Discussions of the findings 76

5.1 To what extent the use of pictures affects the development of the learners’

speaking skill 76

5.2 Learners’ attitudes toward the use of pictures in speaking activities 77

5.2.1 Learners’ interest and motivation about the use of pictures in English speaking 77

5.2.2 Learners’ opinions about the usefulness of pictures in speaking English 78

5.2.3 Learners’ responses to specific speaking activity through pictures 79

5.2.3.1 Talk as transaction (Information exchanging) 79

5.2.3.2 Talk as performance (Information presenting) 80

5.2.4 Learners’ recommendations or suggestions 82

5.3 Chapter Conclusion 82

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 84

6.1 Conclusion 84

6.1.1 Effectiveness of using pictures to enhance learners’ speaking skill 84

6.1.2 Learners’ attitudes towards the use of pictures in speaking activities 84

6.2 Limitations of the research 84

6.3 Recommendations 86

6.3.1 Recommendations for teachers and the school administrators 86

6.3.2 Recommendations for further research 88

6.4 Contribution of the study 88

REFERENCES 89

APPENDIXES 95

Appendix A: A sample of a lesson plan for the Control Group 95

Appendix B: A sample of the lesson plan for the Experimental Group 97

Appendix C: A description of speaking assessment criteria 89

Appendix D: Pre-test handout 100

Appendix E: Post-test handout 103

Appendix F: The Observation Checklist 106

Appendix G: Pre-survey questionnaire for teachers 107

Appendix I: Questionnaire for students 109

Appendix H: Interview questions for learner participants 112

Appendix J: Sample Transcripts of students’ performance in Speaking Pre-test 114

Appendix J1: Sample Transcripts of CG in Speaking Pre-test 114

Appendix J2: Sample Transcripts of EG in Speaking Pre-test 121

Appendix K: Sample Transcripts of CG and EG in Speaking Post-test 128

Appendix K1: Sample Transcripts of CG in Speaking Post-test 128

Appendix K2: Sample Transcripts of EG in Speaking Post-test 135

Appendix L: Results of CG Pre-test and Post-test 141

Appendix M: Results of EG Pre-test and Post-test 142

Appendix N: Results of Observation Checklists 143

Appendix O: Results of Pre-survey Questionnaire for teachers 144

Appendix P: Results of questionnaire for students 145

Appendix Q: Results of interviews with students 149

LIST OF TABLES, CHARTS AND FIGURES

TABLES

Table 3.1.: Criterion to rank students 24

Table 3.2: The learner population of the research 27

Table 3.3: Summary of five Teen 5 classes 28

Table 3.4: The Homogeneity and Distinctions between the Two Classes 30

Table 3.5: Structure of Experimental Design 31

Table 3.6: Description of lesson plans for the CG 33

Table 3.7: Description of the lesson plan for the EG 35

Table 3.8: Summary of the speaking-test design 37

Table 3.9: The description of the pre-test contents 39

Table 3.10: The description of the post-test contents 41

Table 3.11: Summary of the content of the observation checklist for EG 42

Table 3.12: Summary of class visits for EG 43

Table 3.13: Summary of the content of the questionnaires for EG 44

Table 3.14: Summary of participants in the piloting stage 45

Table 3.15: Items reserved, changed, and deleted in the piloting questionnaire 45

Table 3.16 Procedure and duration of conducting questionnaires for EG 47

Table 3.17: Procedure of conducting interviews for EG 48

Table 3.18: Procedures of data collection 49

Table 4.1: Group Statistics on Pre-test of CG and EG 53

Table 4.2: Results of Independent Samples T-test on Pre-test of CG and EG 53

Table 4.3: Paired Samples Group Statistics of Control Group Pre-test and Post-test 54

Table 4.4: Results of paired samples test of Control Group Pre-test and Post-test 55

Table 4.5: Paired Samples Group Statistics of Experimental Group Pre-test and Post-test 55

Table 4.6: Results of Paired Samples T-Test for Experimental Group Pre-test and Post-test 56

Table 4.7: Group Statistics on the post-test of CG and EG 56

Table 4.8: Results of independent samples T-test on the post-test of CG and EG 57

Table 4.9: Students’ recommendations and suggestions for using pictures in speaking

activities in the questionnaire 68

Table 4.10: Reasons for why students like and dislike the activities 72

Table 4.11: Participants' interest in giving suggestions/ opinions 74

Table 4.12: Learners’ suggestions/ opinions to improve the use of pictures in speaking activities in the interview 75

CHARTS Chart 3.1: Levels selected randomly 28

Chart 3.2: Control and Experimental group selection 29

Chart 3.3: Summary of study process 32

Figures Figure 4.1: The results of learners’ attitudes towards the use of pictures in speaking activities from the observations 58

Figure 4.2: Student’s interest and motivation towards the use of pictures in English speaking activities 60

Figure 4.3: Students’ opinions about the usefulness of pictures in learning English speaking 62

Figure 4.4: Levels of students’ interest about the use of pictures in in information exchanging activities 63

Figure 4.5: Levels of students’ interest about the use of pictures in in information presenting activities 64

Table 4.6: Levels of difficulty in for information exchanging activities with the use of pictures 66

Figure 4.7: Levels of difficulty in information presenting with the use of pictures 67

Figure 4.8: Learners’ interests in learning English speaking through pictures 69

Figure 4.9: Reasons for learners’ interest in English speaking through pictures 70

Figure 4.10: Students’ interest in speaking activities through pictures 71

Figure 4.11: Pictures are helpful in speaking activities 73

Figure 4.12: Students’ expression of the usefulness of pictures in speaking 73

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

I Introduction/ Background of the study

For centuries in the history of foreign language teaching and learning, pictureshave been used to help learners understand various aspects of foreign languages andpromote language-learning motivation among learners (Wright, 1989: 136, 162-163)

In fact,pictures or visual aids might not only lead students to creativity and contributerichly to the development of human intelligence, but also offer means to reach thegreat diversity of human being in classroom environment (Pugliese, 2010: 44-45).Pictures (visual images) can be used at all levels of language learning, from beginners

to advanced (John, 2003: 140) Pictures or images can move people, stir up curiosity,provide inspiration and motivation for writing as well as speaking, and generallyenhance learners’ classroom experience (Keddie, 2009:7) Finally, pictures have beenused to provide learners with real opportunities to communicate whether in pairs or ingroups (Wright, 1989: 162-163)

By so far, a large number of studies have proved for the power of pictures inlanguage teaching and learning One of recent studies by Suli (2013) claimed thatusing picture series in writing instruction could be really effective and helpful tolearners at grade eighth Another research by Pešková (2008) indicated that learningwith pictures, learners had a great opportunity to interact with their peers andexpressed themselves to others It is obvious that pictures can help learners with theirproductive skills such as writing skill in Suli (2013) and speaking skill in Pešková(2008) Pictures can help learners with inductive skills as well as listening skill inRina (2012)

One of the most recent studies by Nguyen (2014) has investigated the use ofpictures in teaching vocabulary The results showed that pictures might increasestudents’ interest in learning English Most of students and teachers expressed positiveattitudes towards the use of visual aids in English vocabulary teaching and learning Inaddition, pictures could stimulate students’ interest and help them with their

understandings of a topic and their realization of similarities and differences amongtopics (Lai, 2000).

The above studies indicated that pictures have helped learners with theirproductive skills and inductive skills, and have helped learners increase their learningmotivation in language classes and their social skills such as working in pairs and ingroups effectively

1.1 Statements of the problems:

Considering the practice of teaching English in Viet Nam, (Barnard & Nguyen

2010, Tomlinson & Bao, 2004) indicated that Vietnamese teachers have a strong belief

in communicative activities to be able to strengthen students’ motivation in languagelearning; however, they can do a little or nothing to communicative language teachingbecause they are under the pressure of language teaching for examinations As a result,

many Vietnamese students have not been successful in communication though theyare so good at linguistic structures with high grades in examinations (Barnard andNguyen, 2010) In addition, Hoang (2010) found that Vietnamese students are notconfident and feel embarrassed or confused in using English for communicativepurposes

In a pre-survey of the researcher on teachers’ attitudes towards the use ofpictures in teaching English for teenagers in 2014, the result showed that manyteachers agreed that pictures were helpful in their teaching, and they mostly usedavailable pictures in the course books to help students mainly understand vocabularyand learn reading skill In addition, the survey indicated that most teachers agreed thattheir students were interested in studying English through pictures No evidenceshowed that students were not interested in the use of pictures However, the use ofpictures in teaching speaking was still ignored by many teachers Finally, theresearcher realized that the effort to engage learners in speaking activities is alwaysone of the most challenging jobs for many teachers at NOES The author of theresearch is not exceptional; his wish is to find out effective ways to help learners withtheir development of English speaking skill Respecting the usefulness of pictures in

language teaching and learning, the current research intends to use pictures to engagelearners in their speaking activities for the following issues.

First, pictures can help learners with their productive skills (Suli, 2013; Keddie,2009; and Pešková, 2008) Secondly, pictures could provide learners with a greatopportunity to interact with their peers and expressed themselves to others (Pešková,

2008 and Wright, 1989) Finally, pictures could help to improve learners’ motivation

in language learning and promote their social skills of working in pairs or groups(Nguyen, 2014; Pugliese, 2010; Keddie, 2009; Pešková, 2008; Lai, 2000; and Wright,1989)

Regarding the importance of communicative language teaching, especially theneed to speak a foreign language effectively, the current research involving in the use

of pictures to engage learners in speaking skill has the following purposes

1.2 Statements of the purpose

The study mainly focused on the application of different types of pictures inteaching English-speaking skill As a result, the primary purpose of the current studywas to explore to what extent pictures can improve learners’ speaking skill Besides,the study aimed at investigating students’ attitudes towards the techniques based onthe use of pictures in teaching English-speaking skill With these purposes, theresearch had the following questions

1.3 Research questions

For the purpose of the research, the current study had the following questions:

1) To what extent does the use of pictures help learners with their speaking skill?

2) What are the learners’ attitudes towards the use of pictures in speaking activities?

1.4 Significance of the study

The study explored the usefulness of pictures in EFL teaching and learning.The success of the study will help teachers understand more about learners’ interestand difficulties in speaking activities with the use of pictures From that, the teacherscan find out appropriate and stimulating activities to help learners improve theirspeaking skill Finally, the study will be valuable for the school administrators to beaware of the effectiveness of pictures as a useful tool that can help students improvespeaking skill Therefore, the school administrators could conduct essential changesfor teaching and learning at the school, and encourage teachers to use pictures inteaching speaking skill for teenagers

1.5 Limitation of the study

The study cannot generalize to all kinds of learners and situations It is better togeneralize to a small size of classroom and for learners aged between 11 and 14 Inaddition, the study is limited to only two classes at NOES Therefore, how the othergroups of ages respond to the use of pictures in speaking activities, and how the use ofpictures can help them improve speaking skill is not investigated in this study Finally,the study focuses on the use of pictures to help learners with their speaking skill only,other skills are not the subject of the study

1.6 The organization of the study/ summary of thesis research

Chapter 1: Introduction: the chapter introduces the background of the study thatleads the current research in using pictures to teach English speaking for learners atNew Oriental English Language School (NOES) In addition, the chapter presents thepurpose and the research questions of the study Finally, the chapter draws out thesignificance and limitations of the study

Chapter 2: Literature Review: the writer tries to review theories relating to theunderstanding of communicative competence and the understanding of oralcommunicative competence in language teaching and learning Stages and ways of

teaching English-speaking skills for learners, the influence of pictures on the teaching

of the skill, and other studies related to the study are included

Chapter 3: Methodology: This chapter presents the context of the research site,the population of the research as well how to select out samples for the research Inaddition, the chapter illustrates the instruments, their purposes, and reasons forcollecting and analyzing the data

Chapter 4: Findings of the Study: this chapter presents the results of theanalysis of the data collected from the research instruments (Pre-test, post-test,observations, questionnaires, and interviews)

Chapter 5: Discussions of the findings: the chapter gives deep discussions onthe findings of the research In addition, the chapter draws out the similarities anddifferences with other studies

Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations: the chapter summariesimportant findings of the research, offers recommendations for teachers, for the schooladministrators, and for further research Limitations and contributions of the study areincluded

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

The chapter reviews theories of communicative competence, theories oflanguage teaching speaking skill in general and then in specific for children Adescription of many useful and interesting activities in teaching speaking skill forchildren, and studies or articles related to the current research are included as well

2.1 Communicative competence

Theoretically, the concept of communicative competence has been defined anddeveloped from different approaches First, Hymes (1972 & 1967) consideredcommunicative competence (CC) as the ability that “enables us to convey andinterpret messages and to negotiate meanings interpersonally within specific contexts”(cited in Brown, 2002: 219) Cummins (1980 & 1979) identified CC by two terms

cognitive or academic language proficiency (CALP) which expresses what learners

often use in classroom exercises and tests that focus on form, and basic interpersonal

communicative skills (BICS), which refer to learners’ communicative capacity of

using language functionally in daily interpersonal exchanges (cited in Brown 2007:

219) In addition, Canale and Swain (1980) categorized CC into linguistic aspects and

functional aspects Linguistic aspects reflect the use of the linguistic system relating to

grammatical competence and discourse competence, whereas, functional aspectsreflect sociolinguistic competence and strategic competence (cited in Brown, 2007:219) Holmes (1990) claimed that sociolinguistic competence involves knowing how

to use language for different functions and how to use language effectively andpolitely to different people (p 374) Strategic competence reflects the ability to uselanguage verbally or nonverbally to deal with communication breakdowns (Canale &Swain, 1980: 25-31)

It is clear that CC is a complex term involving many aspects such as linguisticcompetence (including grammatical competence and discourse competence) andfunctional competence (consisting of sociolinguistic competence and strategiccompetence) Moreover, CC was reflected under the views of language as context,language as interaction, and language as negotiation All these aspects makecommunicative language teaching more sophisticated and difficult

2.1.1 Communicative language teaching

In a consideration of communicative language teaching (CLT), Brown (2007)suggested that (1) classroom goals should focus on all the aspects of CC, not only ongrammatical or linguistic competence (2) Language technique design ought to engagelearners in “the pragmatic, authentic, functional use of language for meaningfulpurposes.” He added that the organization of language forms is not the central focusbut aspects of language that enable learners to accomplish the previous purposesshould be the focus (3) Consideration for fluency and accuracy should be acombination of skills in communicative techniques However, the focus on fluency ismore important than accuracy so that learners may engage in using languagemeaningfully Finally, (4) in the communicative classroom, it is necessary for students

to use the language productively and receptively in unrehearsed contexts (pp 242)

241-Davies and Pearse (2000) revealed the same idea that a focus on language form

is important in foreign language learning, but development on leaners’ realcommunication in English is the main goal of an English language course Therefore,they advised that communication in classroom activities should (1) establish English

as the main classroom language; (2) use topics and activities interestingly andstimulatingly; (3) engage learners in the effort of communicating their ideas withothers more than controlling their language practice and correcting their languagemistakes (pp 71-74) In order to reach the above purposes, Davies and Pearse (2000)suggested that teachers should exploit what is happening and changing in theclassroom context such as weather, learners’ appearance or health etc., and outside theclassroom context such as new events in town, learners’ family, or latest programs on

TV, etc (p.74) In addition, creating useful and amusing role-play or simulations ishelpful for teachers to engage learners in the effort of communicating with theirfriends and exchanging information (Davies and Pearse, 2000: 74)

In brief, CLT focuses on all aspects of language However, the central focusshould be on aspects that enable learners to communicate effectively in real situations.Language accuracy should follow language fluency so that learners could use the

language naturally and have meaningful purposes in information exchanging withothers CLT should be interesting and stimulating so that learners are motivated tocommunicate ideas with others Therefore, the practice of communicative languageteaching and learning should focus on the above issues to help learners withdevelopment of speaking skill.

2.1.2 The practice of teaching and learning speaking skill in classroom

In real contexts, when enrolling in an oral conversation, speakers of a languagedeal with many different things at the same time For example, they have to listen andunderstand what the other people say, express what they want to say, wait for theirturns, deal with unexpected changes of the topics, and think of something to say whenthere appears a long pause in their conversations Davies and Pearse (2000) alsoagreed that speakers usually do not have much time to construct their utterancescarefully (p.74) In fact, conversations are so complicated for many learners becausethey take place in real time and involve various skills While learning to speak aforeign language, making mistakes is not avoidable Therefore, in the practice ofteaching and learning speaking skill in classroom, Davies and Pearse (2000) havesuggested some implications such as: (1) Teachers need to create a relaxedatmosphere in classroom context; therefore, learners are not afraid of speaking in front

of the whole class Pair-work and group-work should be employed in speakingactivities as many as possible so that learners do not have to face with the whole classlistening (2) Teachers should expose learners to naturally pronounced speech as much

as possible and to integrated pronunciation work so that they can learn to pronouncethe language intelligibly and can develop speaking skills (3) Improvement on Englishfluency can be developed without any specific language focus in speaking activities

In addition, it is a crucial thing to avoid any obsession with accuracy during the time

of fluency practice Finally, (4) Teachers need to create chances for learners to use

previously introduced language; and to accustom learners to combining listening and

speaking in real time and in natural interaction Davies and Pearse emphasized that thebest chance for them to do so is to get learner in the general use of English in theclassroom (p 82)

In addition to the practice of teaching and learning speaking skill, Dunkel(1991), Richards (1983), and Ur (1984), recognized that in order to speak fluently andaccurately a foreign language learners have to face with many characteristics ofspoken language (cited, Brown, 1994) Such characteristics might be clustering,redundancy, reduced forms or reductions, performance variables, colloquial language,rate of delivery, stress, rhythm, intonation, and interaction (Brown, 1994: 238-241,256-257).

However, Pinter (2006) argued that those characteristics of spoken languagemake it hard for learners to become a proficient speaker in a foreign language,especially for children because they do not have to master all these kinds of things,even in their mother tongue, when engaging in speaking In consequence, shesuggested that it would be better if teachers could help their learners with some forms

of language functions

2.1.3 The teaching of spoken language functions in classroom activities

In functional communication language teaching, Littlewood (1981) noticed thatteachers usually introduce or construct a situation with several kinds of informationgaps In groups or pairs, learners have to work on that situation, discuss, or exchangethe information to discover the gaps in the situational problem Littlewood (1981)expressed that due to the limitation of the classroom context, these activities could

involve the two main functions of language That is information sharing and

information processing In addition, Richards (2008) classified spoken language

functions as the three-part version (basing on the view of Brown and Yule’s

framework, 1983) That is talk as interaction, talk as transaction, and talk as

different situations, such exchanges may be casual or formal According to Richards

(2008), it is difficult for all learners to master the art of talk as interaction because it

involves many features such as social functions, conversational conventions, degrees

of politeness, etc., and skills such as opening and closing conversations, choosingtopics, turn taking, interrupting, etc Although talk as interaction may not be apriority for all learners, it is ideal for students who need to acquire the ability to talk asinteraction Hatch (1978:434) suggested that learners need to be familiar with a

varieties of topics and need to practice listening comprehension to topic nominations

of native speakers, need to practice introducing new topics into their conversations;

and that learners should be taught and practice elicitation devices such as saying

“excuse me”, “huh” or “pardon me”… (Cited Richards, 2008: 24)

The term talk as transaction refers to “situations” in which the focus is more on

the message rather than on the participants In other words, the speaker tries to makethe message conveyed clearly, accurately and appropriately to others Examples oftalk as transaction could be a discussion of a topic or activities involved problemsolving, making a phone call with others or role-plays such as ordering food in arestaurant or buying something in a shop or store, giving or asking for directions onthe street, etc (Richards, 2008: 25)

According to Richards (2008) talk as transaction appears in various kinds of

materials so it has become easier for teachers to provide learners with chances topractice the skill of talk as transaction in classroom activities Talk as transactionconsists of some features such as communication strategies, frequent questions,repetitions and comprehension checks, negotiation and digression, etc Wheninvolving in talk as transaction, learners may need some skills such as explaining,describing, asking questions, confirming information, agreeing, disagreeing, makingcomparisons, etc (Richards, 2008: 26)

The term talk as performance refers to ‘public talk’ According to Richards

(2008: 27), the talk refers to the transmission of information to audience The focus is

on both the message and the audience Talk as performance has a predictableorganization and sequencing In other words, it requires a recognizable format and

accuracy of the information presented to audience; therefore, it is more like writtenlanguage than conversational language Examples of talk as performances are

classroom presentations, public announcements, and speeches In general, talk as

performance involves learners in some important skills such as using an appropriate

format, presenting information in an appropriate sequence, maintaining audienceengagement, using correct pronunciation and grammar, creating an effect on theaudience, and using appropriate vocabulary as well as using an appropriate openingand closing (Richards, 2008: 28)

The three-part version of spoken language functions has its own purpose in thepractice of language teaching and learning; therefore depending on the purpose andthe need of language learners we may choose when, where and which one is suitablefor our students in the improvement of English language speaking skill Furthermore,different speaking activities require different kinds of level of preparation and support

so when preparing speaking activities for the classroom we should consider thefollowing issues suggested by Richards (2008: 40) such as the focus, the level, theinstructions, and the stages of the activity In addition, we should consider providinglearners with necessary language that can help them complete the activity, andappropriate feedback to help learners improve their presentation and speaking skill

When discussing the principles of language teaching and ideas for children,Pinter (2006) argued that each child is a unique, even in the same context and in thesame age range, they are still significantly different from each other Pinter added,

“Children learn at their own speed, they change quickly and develop new skills andabilities in spurts” (p 2) However, there are helpful principles and ideas for teachers

to compromise their children learners in advance (for principles and ideas, see Pinter,2006:2) Therefore, the more the teachers understand the children’s proficiency in theperformance of speaking skills, the better the lessons they prepare to engage theirlearners’ participation in classroom speaking activities

2.1.4 Children proficiency of learning spoken language

Learning a foreign language is one of the most challenges for all learners,especially learning how to speak fluently and accurately in the target language.According to Pinter (2006) mastering the ability to speak fluently a foreign languagerequires learners a lot of practices Speaking practice in certain kinds of forms couldhave the meanings of “communicating with others in situations where spontaneouscontributions are required.” (p 55) In fact, being fluent and accurate in speaking aforeign language is not easy, it is so lengthy a process that learners have to learn arange of things such as what appropriate to say in certain situations, how to controlconversations, and how to interrupt and offer their own contributions (Pinter, 2006:55; Davies & Pearse, 2000: 82)

Pinter (2006) went on with an argument that children are not required to becompetent communicators even in their mother tongue However, a focus on simplebut purposeful and meaningful pattern drilling and personalized dialogue building is agood idea for teachers to prepare learners with the ability to talk about them and tobegin interaction with their friends in the classroom context In communicativeactivities, Scrivener (2005) claimed that grammar-practice, repetitions, and drills arenot sufficient He added that many learners have a greater knowledge of languageform; however, without experience in using language, they are not confident and may

be nervous about trying to say a thing Therefore, the aim of a communicative activity

in class is to get learners to use the language they are learning to interact in realisticand meaningful ways, usually involving exchanges of information or opinions (known

as information gap)

According to Piaget (1923), children from eleven years old are able to thinkbeyond the immediate context in terms that are more abstract (cited in Pinter, 2006:7) They possess the abilities to carry out logical operations in a systematic way.According to Pinter (2006), older learners (from 12-14 year-old) begin to show their

interest in real life issues and they have a growing awareness of the others and their

viewpoints about the world around us Pinter (2006) agreed that we could use simpledialogues or drills with older learners The dialogues might lead to interviews or role-

plays that require learners some spontaneous and creative use of language We mightalso expose our children to more complex tasks However, it is a wise thing to preparethem with phrases and useful classroom language (such as ways of checking,confirming, and clarifying exchanged information) to help them reach the purpose ofcommunication tasks.

2.1.5 Children’s ability for meaning negotiation and demands for more complex

tasks

2.1.5.1 Children’s ability for meaning negotiation

There are evidences that children are able to negotiate meaning when they donot understand something It is obvious that children’s ability of negotiation growsgradually with their age Research proves that older leaners can successfully repairconversations better than younger children can For younger children, they are notable to reliably take responsibility for clarifying things in conversations (Ellis &Heimbach, 1997; Rhonda, 1998: cited in Pinter, 2006) Therefore, a good advice is toget students ready and capable of dealing with the demands of the meaningnegotiation task by introducing it sensibly and carefully (Pinter, 2006)

2.1.5.2 Children’s demands for more complex tasks

According to Pinter (2006), tasks such as “information gap”, “discussion” orother complex speaking tasks might conceal various difficulties for learners.Therefore, it is necessary to think of these difficulties when choosing a new task typefor learners A suggestion is to provide learners with a plenty of practices in order thatthey might get gradually familiar with a new task type For complex speaking tasks, itshould be stimulating and not too difficult A positive learning environment isnecessary because it helps learners to feel happy and secure to take part in classroomactivities even though they are not sure about their contributions or their lack of ability

to do a thing The need for purposeful activities and communication is crucial forleaners’ motivation in participations of listening and speaking Children also need tounderstand the importance of speaking practice in the process of a languageacquisition They should be encouraged to practice speaking not only at school, in

classroom with their classmates but also at home with their parents and or theirsiblings For error correction, an advice is to be careful and to give them a lot ofencouragement in order that they would get on well with their learning In addition totasks that are more complex, teachers should consider their learners' age, interests, andabilities to have an appropriate selection of new task types.

In recent years, many scholars and researchers have agreed that visual aidsreally facilitate the process of learners’ language learning and teachers’ instructions.Many scholars such as Abebe and Davidson (2012), Vale and Feunteun (1995), andPattison (1987) have proved for the effectiveness of using visual aids in languageteaching

2.2 The use of visual aids in language teaching

Visual aids are widely acknowledged as a rich resource in ELT that canprimarily promote language learning (John Corbett, 2003: 140) The importance ofvisual aids in FLT has been highlighted in many studies and articles, especially inAbebe and Davidson (2012), Vale and Feunteun (1995), and Pattison (1987)

In the exploration of the role of visual materials in teaching English vocabulary

at primary school, Abebe and Davidson (2012) remarked that most of the teachersadmitted the facility of visual materials in helping learners learning vocabulary better

In specific, the study revealed that students were more active to take part in classroomactivities when their teachers used visual materials than when they did not In otherwords, students were eager to learn vocabulary with the help of visual materials Theevidence showed that learning vocabulary through visual materials assisted students tocommunicate effectively with the language because the students had opportunities toexpress their ideas and feelings with the language they have in their exposure throughvisual materials Furthermore, visual materials could engage learners in active andmeaningful interaction with their peers As a result, it was recommended that teachersshould spend time on presenting different visual materials that could motivate andencourage students to carry out effective interaction with the speaker of the language(Abebe & Davidson, 2012)

On the other hand, Pattison (1987) agreed that visual materials (pictures) might

be used to provide useful introductory, supplementary or revision practice with thelanguage of the associated lessons The same pictures might also be used separatelyfrom the lesson for communicative practice at different levels and with differentlanguage items

It is undoubted that visual aids are helpful tools in language teaching Vale and

Feunteun (1995) supported that in the world of visual messages, pupils spend a long

time to learn the written word first, then they move to the beginning of learningreading and writing In addition, Vale and Feunteun found that in public places, athome or on television, a lot of information are displayed in the form of words andpicture clues so that children soon realize that there is a close association betweenvisual information and the spoken word Vale and Feunteun believed that teacherscould use visual aids to support children's understanding when they are listening, and

to provide a topic or visual focus to prompt speaking and writing Moreover, Vale and

Feunteun claimed that in the classroom the immediate and accessible of visual aids isprobably the teacher, the children, the board, classroom displays, pictures, flashcards,real items, and video

By so far, many benefits of visual aids or visual materials have been recognized

in the language teaching Many researchers come to an agreement that visual aids arepowerful tools that should not be ignored Visual aids or visual materials often refer topictures as the sub-term in language teaching Keddie (2009) and Pugliese (2010)believed, “pictures can be used to engage, stir up curiosity, provide inspiration andmotivation for writing and speaking, and generally enhance learners’ classroomexperience”, and “using pictures can often motivate students, help them to work onnon-visual skills” (Keddie, 2009: 7, Pugliese, 2010: 45)

2.2.1 Definitions of pictures

There are several definitions of pictures The basic one is by Hornby (2005) in

which Hornby has defined picture as a painting or drawing or even a photograph that

shows a scene, a person or a thing that has been represented on paper using a pencil, a

pen or paint In different words, Stevick (1986) identified pictures as non-verbal

materials that can be useful in teaching English verbal skills Pictures which are

sometime called drawings or photographs or images are often used in designing manybooks concerning with imagery needs so they are frequently “deceptive with regard tothe images that students derive from the same objective external stimulus” Moreover,pictures are the most obvious type of visual material for pupils; pictures are useful fordesigning language tasks such as describing, interpreting, dictating, and comparing In

addition, picture drawings are commonly used in the textbooks or colored posters or

pictures downloaded from the internet (Ur, 2012)

2.2.2 Types of pictures

The above definitions about pictures seem to be apparent However, it is still agood idea to look at different terms of pictures One of the most interesting and usefulcategories of different picture types is suggested by Gerngross and Puchta (1992,cited in Pešková, 2008:18) They identified pictures as photographs, personalphotographs, drawings, cartoons, visual aids, and artwork First, photographs are

pictures taken form magazines and newspapers that show us portraits, landscapes,

objects or animals Personal photographs are pictures of anything that are taken by the

teacher or students Drawing are pictures of visual material about artwork or maps

Cartoons are a set of pictures that make a story, usually we call it picture stories.

Visual aids are all kinds of visual materials that we make for use in classroom such asflashcards or teachers’ cards, and artwork used in business like advertisements orbook covers

It is obvious that pictures have appeared in a variety of forms in our real life.However, the relationship between the use of pictures and language teaching andlearning is still a consideration The following part concerns some activities relating tothe use of pictures in the field of language teaching and learning, especially theteaching of speaking skill

2.2.3 Activities used with pictures to teach speaking skill for children

There are many speaking activities which are designed based on the use ofpictures Here are some useful common activities offered by several scholars

First, the two common activities suggested by Ur (2012) are describing

pictures and picture differences In describing pictures activities, learners in groups or

in pairs try to speak out as many sentences that describe the picture as possible.According to Ur (2012) this activity is simple, but it is a surprisingly productiveactivity for learners because they make learners feel the success of the activity, or the

sense of achievement and satisfaction In picture differences activities, learners work

in pairs and each of them has a different picture Without looking at the other picture,they have to find out as many differences in the two pictures as possible According to

Ur (2012), this activity requires learners to ask and answer many of purposefulquestions to complete the task

There are some more activities provided by Pattison (1987); for example, findthe picture, memory tests, spot the difference, split picture stories, and strangepictures

Find the picture: the aim of this activity is to ask learners to describe pictures

for identification Learners can work in groups or in pairs and take turns to describethe pictures for the others to recognize or to find out the picture they are talking about

Memory tests: learners are presented a picture or photograph, they then have a

few minutes to look at the picture or photograph carefully After that, the pictures aretaken away; learners in groups or in pairs are asked to answer some questions aboutwhat they have seen in the pictures

Spot the difference: this activity asks learners to work in groups or whole class

to name things different between the two pictures or learners may work in groups tocompare and contrast the two pictures

Split picture stories: the activities ask learners to work in groups or whole class

to put pictures into a story In other words, they are provided with a picture story in a

wrong order; they then have to exchange ideas and discuss various possible versions

of the story

Strange pictures: the aim of the story is to engage students in their imagination

to create a story around the picture Learners can work in groups or pairs and choosetwo or more pictures; they then discuss or exchange ideas to make up a story aroundthe pictures they have chosen

According to Pattison (1987), all of the activities above are good for providinglearners with meaningful and purposeful practice because the activities create aninformation gap in which learners have to interact or exchange ideas or information tocomplete the task

Activities used for speaking practice can be countless However, for childrenlanguage learning it is a wise thing to choose appropriate activities that containelements or factors of motivation (Sophie & Pavlos, 2003) Motivation may have apositive or negative influence on learning a foreign language of learners (Ellis, 1994)

2.3 The importance of motivation in language teaching and learning activities

Learning motivation is crucial because it is essential for language learning andfor learners’ success (Davies & Pearse, 2000, Harmer, 2007) It is true that withoutmotivation, we may not have sufficient effort to finish a thing Therefore, a goodunderstanding of what motivation is and where it comes from will help us to engageour students’ participation in our teaching activities (Harmer, 2007) According toDornyei (2001), all motivation theories in the past have tried to answer the three

questions: 1) why people decide to do something, 2) how hard they are going to

pursue it, and 3) how long they are willing to sustain the activity In different terms,

motivation has been identified into types, elements, and factors (p 7)

2.3.1 Types of motivation

In terms of types, Deci and Ryan (1985) and Deci (1975) have recognized

motivation as intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation Intrinsic motivation refers

to the learners’ interests in doing something to satisfy their curiosity and extrinsic

motivation refers to what learners do to receive some extrinsic reward or to avoid

punishment According to Harmer (2007), most teachers and methodologies revealed

that intrinsic motivation has more impact on language learners than extrinsicmotivation He explained learning motivation might increase when learners feelinterested in the learning process (p 98) In fact, learners’ motivation might beinfluenced by many elements and factors In advance, many scholars have succeeded

in recognizing these elements and factors

2.3.2 Factors and elements of motivation

In terms of elements and factors, Maehr and Archer (1987) and Keller (1983)have identified motivation in three elements First, direction is considered as learners’aim or objective in learning Second, persistence and continuing motivation explainshow long the learner will persist in his or her efforts Third, activity level is regarded

as learners’ ability to focus on the task such as how much time and effort learnershave to pay (cited in Foley, 2012: 203)

According to Foley (2012) these three elements can be a ‘criteria’ of measuringhow much motivation a learner gets In addition, Keller (1983) said that the possiblefactors leading to learner success are interest, relevance, expectancy, and outcome.The term interest refers to what is learnt and how it is learnt should be interesting andappealing to learners Relevance and expectancy implies what is learnt should meetlearners’ need and purposes of learning These elements are important becausewithout them, learners might not have effort or responsibility of what they arelearning Finally, the outcome expresses the results of the learning process Theoutcome might have positive or negative to learners’ effort of doing a thing (Keller,

1983 cited in Foley, 2012: 203-204)

Furthermore, Foley (2012) advised that teachers had to generate the learners’motivation for which Dornyei (2001) suggests the following five criteria First,teachers should match language learning to learners’ attitudes and interests andpromote learners’ expectancy of learning success Second, teachers should considerand design learning activities related to learners’ learning objectives and

communication goals Finally, teacher should create learners’ beliefs of what they can

do in their English learning (Foley, 2012: 205)

Creating learner motivation in language learning is a difficult job; however, it

is more difficult to maintain learners’ motivation The next part would like to presentsome strategies that can be helpful for teachers to maintain learner motivation inlanguage learning

2.3.3 Maintaining learners’ motivation

Dornyei (2001) suggested a number of strategies to maintain learnermotivation Among of them, there are many useful strategies supporting for thecurrent study

First, we should make learning stimulating and enjoyable for learners;therefore, they are more engaged in learning and ready to spend most of their timelearning and pursue the activity In addition, we should present tasks in a motivatingway and set specific learning goals for learners “The ways we present tasks make ahuge difference in how students perceive and approach them” and “goal-setting canhave exceptional importance in stimulating L2 learning motivation,” explains Dornyei(2001) Finally, we have to protect learners’ self-esteem, increase their self-confidence, and create learner autonomy According to Dornyei (2001) the relevancebetween autonomy and motivation is placed on the theory of “self-determination” inwhich students have the freedom to choose and to have choices rather than beingforced or coerced to behave according to someone else’s desire (p 71-102)

In fact, children learn a foreign language through being motivated If teachersmotivated learners, they would learn fast or quicker Children tend to be influenced bytheir feelings of their teachers, by the general atmospheres in the classroom, by themethods used, and by their parents’ opinion (Moon, 2000: 16) In addition, Moon said

that the most important reasons for pupils interested in English are the teacher and the

teaching method so if pupils enjoy their English classes, learning motivation increases

(p 16)

The next part reviews previous studies and articles that relate to the currentresearch in some aspects of language teaching such as how to teach speaking tolearners or the effectiveness of using pictures in language teaching Findings couldprove that using pictures can help learners with development of speaking skill.

2.4 Previous studies and articles related to the current research

Pictures are popular in language teaching Their usefulness and effectivenesshave been proved in many studies Research involves in using pictures to teachEnglish for children are numerous Followings are some studies:

One of recent studies by Suli (2013) investigated the use of pictures to teachgrade eighth students of SMP N33 Purworejo (in Indonesia) Sixty-two studentsinvolved in an experimental research After different treatments, a post-test wasapplied to measure the differences between the Experimental group (with the use ofpicture series in writing) and Control group (without the use of picture series inwriting) The results of the post-test shows that the mean score of the EG (66.88) ishigher than the CG (61.88) Finally, the study concluded that teaching writing byusing pictures series as media could improve students’ writing ability in recount text

Sooner than the above research, Rina (2012) explored the effectiveness ofusing pictures to improve listening comprehension skill of narrative texts with 60grade-eight students of SMP N 31 Semarang Rina carried out an experimentalresearch with 30 students in the CG and 30 other students in an EG The average score

in the post-test of the EG (68.00) was higher than the CG (62.33) The difference wassignificant Therefore, the research concluded that using pictures might help toimprove learners’ listening comprehension skill of narrative texts

In addition, an earlier research by Pešková (2008) aimed at proving the usage

of pictures in teaching about English speaking countries Working with three groups

of learners, mainly the lower secondary pupils (namely grade seventh, grade eighth,and grade ninth of language classes in the primary school at Blažkova Brno) Thestudy found that primary school pupils are the most appropriate with the teaching ofEnglish through pictures The observations in the research revealed that learning with

pictures provided pupils with a great opportunity to interact with their peers andexpressed themselves to others Learners preferred using their mother tongue toEnglish and usually made noise during the activities This is, however, not a matterbecause we can select appropriate activities and pre-teach some necessary language inorder that learners can interact and exchange ideas with each other in the targetlanguage, and we should make it a rule for pupils to use English during the activities.

Importantly in an article titled “Teaching vocabulary with visual aids”, Lai(2000) revealed that students responded and expressed differently due to theirdifferent educational and cultural background Using visual aids (mainly pictures)could help students with their understandings of a topic and their realization ofsimilarities and differences among topics Visual aids strengthened and reinforcedwhat learners have learned In addition, visual aids could stimulate students’ interest,and related what they have learned with their daily life experience Moreover, visualaids could help with learners’ development of literacy abilities and oral abilities.Students had a chance to brainstorm and present their ideas and thoughts Visual aidscould also provide learners with opportunities for their discussion of similarities anddifferences and their creativity of new stories relating to their personal backgroundand experience

Together with previous studies, Nguyen (2014) investigated the effects ofvisual aids (mainly the use of pictures) in teaching and learning English languagevocabulary at Ngo Thoi Nhiem (NTN), a Secondary School in Binh Duong province,Viet Nam With the participation of fifty grade-eight students in two groups (CG andEG) and eighteen teachers at NTN, Nguyen found that although there was nostatistically significant difference between the two groups, most of students andteachers expressed positive attitudes towards the use of visual aids in Englishvocabulary teaching and learning The research also revealed that visual aids increasestudents’ interest in learning English, especially the use of pictures to teachvocabulary for students

The above studies have emphasized the importance and effectiveness of visualaids, especially the use of pictures in language teaching (such as in teaching

vocabulary, listening and writing) Most of the research support for the use of pictures

in the practice of teaching vocabulary and writing According to the researcher’sreading pane, the researcher found out that there was a limitation of studies on the use

of pictures in teaching speaking skill The researcher believed that pictures also havehad its valuable contribution into teaching speaking skill As a result, these reasonsurged the researcher to conduct this study

In conclusion, this chapter has reviewed theories of communicativecompetence, theories of language teaching speaking skill in general and then inspecific for children In addition, the chapter has described many useful andinteresting activities in teaching speaking skill for children, and has summarizedrelated studies or articles that might influence and support for the current research

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research context of the study including the researchsite, teaching material and teaching staff, the population as well as the ways to selectout the samples for the search In addition, the chapter illustrates the research design,the design of lesson plans, research instruments, procedures of data collection, andanalytical framework for the research

3.1 Research context

3.1.1 Research Site

The study was conducted at Quang Trung branch of New Oriental EnglishSchool (NOES), a private English language school established in 2003 This branch islocated at E1- E2 Quang Trung Street, Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City It is wellequipped with lights, fans, air conditioner, an LCD and a computer in each room

Comparing with other branches of NOES, Quang Trung branch is one of themost successful ones It has attracted thousands of students of all ages from children

to adults English courses for teenagers are considered the most remarkable Englishteaching program at this branch The full program for teenagers lasts fifteen courses,divided into four levels from starters, intermediate, upper intermediate to advance.Each course consists of 48 periods (45 minutes for one period) in about eight weeks

Each course includes a mid-term test and a final test, examining students’ fourbasic English language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) Basing on theresults of the mid-term test and final test, learners are ranked on the scales ofexcellent, good, fair, or weak Table 3.1 shows the criterions for ranking students:

Table 3.1.: Criterion to rank students

Average score of the tests Rank of students

3.1.2 Teaching materials

The teaching materials for Teen courses include a series of Star Team (Starter book, and Book 1), and a series of Smart Choice by Kevin Wilson (2007) The two other supplement books used at NOES school are Basic English Grammar by Azar and Hagen (2006) and a series of New Headway Pronunciation, third edition by Soars

J and Soars L (2007)

3.1.3 The main teaching staff

The current research site has 17 English language teachers in total (8 males and

9 females, aged between 24 and 33) All of them have graduated in Bachelor Degree

of English major One teacher has just achieved the Master of English in TESOL, andone is doing a research in TESOL Regarding teaching methodologies, there is nofixed method for teachers They are flexible and active in applying teaching methods

to help learners enjoy and benefit the lessons In addition, many teachers prefer usingavailable picture cards from school in their teaching time, especially for children Forextra use and purposes, some teachers prepare their own picture cards or activities andbring them to their classroom for teaching instructions However, teachers forteenagers prefer using the course books to using pictures in their teaching In fact,these teachers thought that pictures are only suitable for teaching vocabulary forteenagers

3.1.4 The current teaching and learning English speaking skill at NOES

In general, English testing and examinations influence and take most oflearners’ time in language learning process Both at secondary school and at theEnglish language center, learners usually have little time to practice and improve theirspeaking skill because they have to learn a plenty of grammatical structures andpatterns and vocabulary Besides teaching structural language, there are activities toteach English-speaking skill for learners; however, these activities just give leanerssome opportunities to practice conversations orally with their classmates with little or

no interaction for information exchanging between them In addition, most of

exercises and homework focus mainly on reading comprehension, writing, andvocabulary.

In teaching vocabulary, many teachers prefer using available picture cards fromschool in their teaching time, especially for children For extra use and purposes, someteachers prepare their own picture cards or activities and bring them to their classroomfor teaching instructions In teaching speaking, activities are limited in question-response activities, practice of sample dialogues or short conversations

The result of the pre-survey showed that most of the teachers agreed that theyusually use pictures in their teaching; however, they used pictures mainly to teachvocabulary, and sometimes to teach other aspects of English such as speaking andwriting (Pre-survey, 2014)

3.2 The population of the research

There is a large population of students in this research As shown in Table 3.2(p.7), there are 228 students in 15 classes Levels of starters include six classes (oneTeen 4 class and five Teen 5 classes) consisting of 100 students (46 males and 54females) Intermediate levels include four classes (two Teen 6 classes, one Teen 8class and one Teen 10 class) consisting of 57 students (28 males and 29 females).Upper intermediate levels have five classes (four Teen 11 classes and one Teen 11class) consisting of 71 students (29 males and 42 females)

3.2.1 Research samples

It is obvious that the population of students in table 3.2 is too large for thestudy to apply the technique of using pictures on all these classes at the same time Inaddition, it is agreed that when doing an experimental research, we needs at least twogroups that are not significantly different in language competence so that the resultsafter a special treatment can be worthy comparing (Hatch & Farhady, 1982).Therefore, the study allows the researcher to select out two classes, which are notdifferent in English language proficiency

In hence, it is unacceptable to have two groups, which are at different levels ofEnglish proficiency For the internal validity, Hatch and Farhady (1982) said that

subject selection might influence the results of research studies Therefore, it is

acceptable that the researcher picks out one level in the study first, and then selects outtwo groups involved in the research In order to maintain the validity in a research, theresearcher would follow the element of randomization (Hatch & Farhady, 1982) Inaddition, Hatch and Farhady (1982) stated that the element of randomization helps

researcher with truly comparable groups before the experiment begins and after the

special instruction if there is any difference between the groups, the association can bethe treatment

Table 3.2: The learner population of the research (March, 2014)

Levels Classes Course books Number

of classes

Number of students

Gender Male Female

It was great for the researcher to have permission from the principle and theschool manager to conduct the study on levels of Teen Classes Therefore, theresearcher, firstly, decided which levels were involved in the study and then withselected levels (after the first randomization) the researcher carried out the secondrandomization to select out the Control group and the Experimental group.

Writing the names of each level (starters, intermediate, and upper intermediate)into three pieces of paper and putting these pieces in a box, the researcher randomlypicked one out of the box to select the level for the research As shown in chart 3.1below, the levels of starters were selected for the research Figures from table 3.3 (p.27) indicate that there are six classes in the level of starters (one Teen 4 and five Teen

5 classes)

Chart 3.1: Levels selected randomly

For reasons of equivalence, teen 4 consisting of one class is not included in therandomization of the control and experimental groups Only five Teen 5 classes might

be involved in the selection of control and experimental groups Table 3.4 belowrepresents the summary of five Teen 5 classes

Table 3.3: Summary of five Teen 5 classes

in charge

Gender

of the teachers