Using role play to improve the 1st year students english speaking skill at vietnamese university of traditional medicine

1 VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Lê Thị Tuyết Mai USING ROLE - PLAY TO IMPROVE THE FIRST - YEAR STUDENTS’ ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL AT VIETNAMESE

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VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Lê Thị Tuyết Mai

USING ROLE - PLAY TO IMPROVE THE FIRST - YEAR STUDENTS’ ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL AT VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY OF TRADITIONAL MEDICINE

MA THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Lê Thị Tuyết Mai

USING ROLE-PLAY TO IMPROVE THE FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS’ ENGLISH-

SPEAKING SKILL AT VIETNAMESE

UNIVERSITY OF TRADITIONAL MEDICINE

Field: English Language Code: 8220201

Supervisor: Phạm Hiển, Ph.D

HANOI, 2018

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DECLARATION BY AUTHOR

I declare that this “Using role play to improve the 1st year students' English-speaking skill at Vietnamese University of Traditional Medicine” is created by my own findings and I am the sole author of this thesis To the best

of my knowledge, with the exception of the indication of reference, this is carried out without using any other author’s work and is submitted after a carefully checking progress in order to fulfill the requirements of the M.A degree

Author’s signature

Lê Thị Tuyết Mai

Approved by SUPERVISOR

Phạm Hiển, Ph.D

Date: ………

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis is completed with lots of working hours and is contributed

by a large amount of enthusiasm, effort and assistance from many people

First and the foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Phạm Hiển,Ph.D for all of his support If it had not been for his guidance, as long as the advice and comments from him, I would not complete this research paper

Moreover, I would like to send my special thanks to all of teachers at Vietnamese University of Traditional Medicine for all their help and suggestion which are very necessary and useful to me during the progress of completing this

Additionally, I am so grateful for all of the assistance from the students

at Vietnamese University of Traditional Medicine with their answers for all of the interview, I would not have completed this research paper otherwise

Last but not least, I would like to send my special thanks to my beloved family, who are always supportive and enthusiastic to me during the progress

of making this

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ABSTRACT

This is created and completed on the purpose of researching the way of using Role-Play as an effective teaching method, especially in the scope of teaching English at universities According to the theoretical foundation about Role-Play implementation, the aim of this is to enhance the English-speaking competence of students in the first year of the university Furthermore, applying Role-Play method is becoming more and more popular in teaching and guiding English speaking skill to the students, therefore, this focuses on analyzing the necessity as well as the way of using this helpful method in universities, particularly the Vietnamese University of Traditional Medicine Figures, data and information was collected and analyzed mainly through surveys, questionnaires and interview which was conducted by 100 first-year students at Vietnamese University of Traditional Medicine The benefits, positive effects, as well as challenges of applying this teaching method are analyzed in this Furthermore, some suggestions for overcoming these difficulties are also mentioned

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION BY AUTHOR i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aims of the Study 2

1.3 Research Questions 2

1.4 Scope of the Study 2

1.5 Significance of the Study 3

1.6 Research Methods 3

1.7 Organization of the Study 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 An Overview of a Method of Teaching and Learning the Skill of English-Speaking 5

2.1.1 A Language Teaching Method with Surprising Effectiveness: Communicative Language Teaching Approach (CLT) 5

2.1.1.1 Communicative Language Teaching Approach: Definition 5

2.1.1.2 An Overview of CLT Approach’s Aims 6

2.1.2 A Description of an Effective Way of Learning English-Speaking Skill 7

2.2 An Introduction of Role-Play in Teaching the Skill of Speaking 8

2.2.1 Definition of Role-Play 8

2.2.2 Forms of Role-Play 9

2.2.3 The Steps for Role-Play Activity 10

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2.2.4 The Necessity of Role-Play Method in Teaching the Skill of Speaking

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2.2.5 The Teachers’ Role in this Activity 13

2.3 Chapter Summary 14

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 15

3.1 Research Questions 15

3.2 Research Participants: The Researcher and The Subjects 15

3.3 Research Procedure 15

3.4 Instruments of Collecting Data 15

3.4.1 Survey Questionnaires 15

3.4.2 Observations 17

3.4.3 Interview 18

3.5 Assessment 18

3.6 Chapter Summary 18

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 19

4.1 A Brief Analysis of the Survey’s Results 19

4.1.1 Questionnaires 19

4.1.1.1 Questionnaire for Students 19

4.1.1.2 Questionnaire for Teaches 38

4.1.2 Interviewing 46

4.1.2.1 Teachers’ Interviewing 46

4.1.2.2 Student’s Interviewing 48

4.1.3 Observations 49

4.1.3.1 The first Observation 49

4.1.3.2.The second Observation 51

4.2 Discussions 52

4.2.1 Research Question 1: 52

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4.2.2 Research Question 2: 52

4.3.Assessment: 53

4.3.1.Class’s Situation before Applying Method 53

4.3.2.Application Progress 55

4.3.3.Class’s Situation after Applying Method 55

4.4.Chapter Summary 57

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 59

5.1 Recapitulation 59

5.2.Concluding Remarks 59

5.3.Implications 60

5.4 Limitations and Suggestions for Further Studies 60

REFERENCES I APPENDIX: QUESTIONNAIRES III

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LISTS OF TABLES Tables of Students’ Survey Questionnaire Analysis

Table 1: Students’ Level of Involvement in a Particular Lesson 20

Table 2: Students’ Opinion about Role-Play Activities done in Class 21

Table 3: Students’ Level of Impression on the Activities 21

Table 4: Was Students’ Confidence improved after Exercises 22

Table 5.1: Students’ Opinion about Today’s Lesson: LEVEL OF HELPFULNESS 23

Table 5.2: Students’ Opinion about Today’s Lesson: LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY 24

Table 6: The Skill Needs Improving 25

Table 7: Self-evaluation of Students about their Communicative Skill in English 26

Table 8: Whether Developing Speaking Skills during Classes is Essential

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Table 9: Do you find it difficult to communicate in English? 29

Table 10: Factors Prevent Students from talking English fluently 30

Table 11: Have you ever played a role during a language lesson? 31

Table 12: Preference for Playing Roles than other Activities in Class 32

Table 13: Frequency of using Role-Play in English Speaking Classes of Students 33

Table 14: Feelings when Participating in Role-Play Activities 34

Table 15: Difficulties in Applying Role-Play in Speaking Classes 35

Table 16: Factors Influencing Role-Play Classes 36

Table 17: Reasons for the Excitement of Role-Play Classes 37

Tables of students’ survey questionnaire analysis Table 1: Viewpoint of Teachers on Student’s Speaking Competence 38

Table 2: Viewpoint of Teachers about Students’ Attitude to Learning Speaking 39

Table 3: Teachers’ Application of Role-Play Method in Class 40

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Table 4: Benefits of Applying Role-Play 41

Table 5: Level of Difficulties in Applying Role-Play 42

Table 6: Difficulties when Applying Role-Play: Reasons 43

Table 7: Frequency of Using Role-Play in Class 44

Table 8: Viewpoint about Students’ Enhancement 44

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LIST OF FIGURES Figures of students’ survey questionnaire analysis

Figure 1: Students’ Level of Involvement in a Particular Lesson 20

Figure 2: Students’ Opinion about Role-Play Activities done in Class 21

Figure 3: Students’ Level of Impression on the Activities 22

Figure 4: Was Students’ Confidence improved after Exercises 23

Figure 5.1: Students’ Opinion about Today’s Lesson: Level of Helpfulness24 Figure 5.2: Students’ Opinion about Today’s Lesson: Level of Difficulty 25 Figure 6: The Skill Needs Improving 26

Figure 7: Self-evaluation of Students about their Communicative Skill in English 27

Figure 8: Whether Developing Speaking Skills during Classes is Essential28 Figure 9: Do you find it difficult to communicate in English? 29

Figure 10: Factor Prevents Students from talking English fluently 30

Figure 11: Have you ever played a role during a language lesson? 31

Figure 12: Preference for Playing Roles than other Activities in Class 32

Figure 13: Frequency of using Role-Play in English Speaking Classes of Students 33

Figure 14: Feelings when Participating in Role-Play Activities 34

Figure 15: Difficulties in Applying Role-Play in Speaking Classes 35

Figure 16 Factors Influencing a Role-Play Classes 36

Figure 17: Reasons for the Excitement of Role-Play Classes 37

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Figures of students’ survey questionnaire analysis

Figure 1: Viewpoint of Teachers on Student’s Speaking Competence 38

Figure 2: Viewpoint of Teachers about Students’ Attitude to Learning Speaking 39

Figure 3: Teachers’ Application of Role-Play Method in Class 40

Figure 4: Benefits of Applying Role-Play 41

Figure 5: Level of Difficulties in Applying Role-Play 42

Figure 6: Difficulties when Applying Role-Play: Reasons 43

Figure 7: Frequency of Using Role-Play in Class 44

Figure 8: Viewpoint about Students’ Enhancement 45

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

This chapter introduces some very first parts of the ; there are seven parts in this chapter: (1) Rationale; (2) Aims of the study; (3) Research Methods; (4) Scope of the Study; (5) Significance of the Study; (6) Research Methods and (7) Organization of the Study

1.1 Rationale

It is undeniable that improving the ability of using English of students, especially the speaking skills, is the key and responsibility of teaching English in our contemporary society Due to the fact that speaking is one of the most popular and most-used skills when a student access to the program

of learning English, many teachers are finding their own ways, methods and steps with a view to helping their students to enhance their English competence Obviously, when a student can communicate with others by using English fluently and correctly, they can find it easier to use and speak English with their foreign friends, partners or colleagues without any difficulties

However, apparently, the method of conveying knowledge of English

in our country nowadays is still simple Students are approached the content

of the lesson just by the things that their teacher says Additionally, in many high schools in Vietnam, speaking is the skill which is often neglected, since teachers spend almost all time for teaching grammar; therefore, students lack the chances to practice speaking As a result, when they enter a higher education system, such as university, they do not know how to speak English properly and may lose their interest in speaking English

In order to improve this issue, renew the teaching method is of great importance Once students’ confidence on their speaking ability is increased, their communicative skills will be enhanced; they can use and speak English

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comfortably and fluently On the purpose of fulfilling this aim, changing the atmosphere of each speaking lesson is necessary There are a wide range of methods on which English teachers can base in order to carry out the new teaching style, and Role-Play allows access to both teachers and students to this

Base on the analysis and reasons mentioned above, a conclusion could

be reached is that we pursue to a conclusion to carry out the thesis “Using role play to improve the 1st year students' English-speaking skill at Vietnamese University of Traditional Medicine” By doing this , we believe that it can help teachers, especially teachers working with students in the first year of universities a method of enhancing their English-speaking competence

1.2 Aims of the Study

The goal of this thesis is to elevate the speaking skills of first year students at a university Moreover, this can help teachers recognize the benefits of this method in order to apply it in their classes

1.4 Scope of the Study

The scope of the study is about approaching and using Role-Play as a new method of teaching and improving the skill of Speaking on first-year students at Vietnamese University of Traditional Medicine

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1.5 Significance of the Study

It is hoped from the that it can raise the awareness of teachers and students of the importance of Role-Play in English speaking skill so that learners can speak English more appropriately and spontaneously Moreover, the advantages, difficulties, as well as some useful recommendation and solutions of this method mentioned and analyzed in this thesis could help teachers to find out the most suitable way to apply this method to their students

1.6 Research Method

In order to complete this , we have to study some theoretical methodologies; and outstandingly, there are three research methods on which data, figures and information are based and collected: questionnaires, interview and observation

The first step which is used to collect the data is questionnaires There were 100 first-year students at Vietnamese University of Traditional Medicine participated in the questionnaire Besides, there are ten teachers at Vietnamese University of Traditional Medicine took part in an interview also on the purpose of collecting some necessary information which can help we carry out the more effectively by analyzing their valuable opinion and viewpoints After that, with a view to recognizing the way of applying and the effect, as well as difficulties of this method in classes, the author of observed a certain amount of lessons in classes

1.7 Organization of the Study

The thesis consists of five chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction

This part presents a general view of the thesis Motivation, aims, methods scope, significance as well as the structure of the can be found in

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this chapter

Chapter 2: Literature review

In this chapter, a basic theoretical background about knowledge and analytic basis of teaching English-speaking skill and Role-Play method at schools and universities is provided

Chapter 3: Methodology

This chapter presents not only a view of questions used in the questionnaires and the interview but also the research questions, procedure, participants, the way of collecting figures and data and how them are analyzed

Chapter 4: Findings and discussions

As aptly named, this part presents and analyses the results of the questionnaires carried out in 100 first-year students at the class of Y-A1 at Vietnamese University of Traditional Medicine Furthermore, analysis after observing classes and teachers’ interview are also included in this part

Chapter 5: Conclusion

This chapter holds responsible for providing an overview of the whole , including benefits and limitations of the study as well By analyzing this information, some recommendation for further research are also suggested

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 An Overview of a Method of Teaching and Learning the Skill of English-speaking

Due to the fact that learning the skill of speaking is of great importance

to every English learner, numerous of researchers and scholars found some ways and methods to convey the knowledge of learning speaking effectively

to their students, especially students in the countries where English is considered the second language After a long procedure of adaptation and changes, there are several most popular and effective methods of teaching speaking, which are still being applied at schools in many nations, including Communicative Language Teaching approach and Role-Play In the first part

of this chapter, a general view of these two ways of teaching is provided, go along with an analysis of the characteristics of each of them; and, obviously, Role-Play is mainly focused

2.1.1 A Language Teaching Method with Surprising Effectiveness: Communicative Language Teaching approach (CLT)

Communicative language teaching approach is considered one of the most popular methods of teaching and improving student’s English competence This part includes some analysis basing on background knowledge from scholars to find out more about this method

2.1.1.1.Communicative Language Teaching Approach: Definition

On the purpose of conducting a lesson of English, there are two most common methods which are being used widely around the world, especially

in Vietnam: Audio-lingual method and Communicative language teaching approach (CLT)

Regarding to Communicative language teaching approach (CLT), or the communicative approach, “is an approach to language teaching that

Apparently, there is a minor difference between Communicative Language Teaching approach (CLT) and Audio-lingual method While Audio-lingual method of teaching bases mainly on drills and repetition, CLT requires a creativeness and involvement in activities in class actively due to the fact that the simulations relied on real-life situation are varied from lessons to the others This motivation encourages learners to speak enthusiastically and meaningfully

It is written to explain the view of Firth(1957) by an expert in the field

of CLT – Bernsthat "language is interaction; it is interpersonal activity and has a clear relationship with society.” In this light, language study has to look

at the use (function) of language in context, both its linguistic context (what is uttered before and after a given piece of discourse) and its social, or situational, context (who is speaking, what their social roles are, why they have come together to speak)

2.1.1.2 An Overview of CLT Approach’s Aims

Each way of approaching an effective teaching method has its own aims and purposes Regarding to CLT, it is obvious that building and developing learners’ ability of communicating proficiently inside and outside the classroom is the mail goal of CLT approach When teachers and learners get an achievement in fulfilling this goal, the fear of incorrect speaking or

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making grammatical mistakes during conversation of students will no longer exist That is considered a remarkable improvement of the competence of communicating of the students, especially first-year students at universities

2.1.2 A Description of an Effective Way of Learning English-Speaking Skill

Basing on the analysis and viewpoint of Chaney (1998), that speaking

is “the process of sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non- verbal symbol, in a variety of context” and the foregoing viewpoint of Berns about the characteristics of language and its relationship with society; it can be understood that due to the fact that English; when is spoken in countries where people don’t use it as their first language, is somehow difficult This phenomenon is especially true to the learning situation in Vietnam As a result, when they learn English, especially the skill of speaking, they often practice it by a process of imitation and repetition of drills However, an effective speaking lesson is a requirement of great interaction among students The more activities in which communicative purpose students can participate, the more improvable they can get in their speaking skill

On the purpose of achieving the goal of CLT approach, there are some possibilities and progress for learners as a reference to follow The first step is that there must be a recognition from learners that it shouldn’t be a burden or pressure when learning English Instead of feeling uncomfortable, learners had better consider learning English is a hobby and take it easy A class with a learning-friendly environment will, certainly, stimulate the learning interest from students

Additionally, it’s widely known that another important complement of enhancing the skill of speaking English is a range of grammar and vocabulary Undoubtedly, a basic knowledge of words and grammatical

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aspect has a great impact on how a student can produce a proper response will definitely happen when they have enough word ranges to use and they don’t have to concern too much on how correctly grammar is used

Moreover, speaking style is another necessary factor which must be taken notice of when learning speaking, since there is a substantial difference between a person who speak timidly with a lot of fluctuation and interruption and the others with a confident style of speaking A person can speak and convey their expression fluently and confidently requires a great deal of efforts and practice

2.2 An Introduction of Role-Play in Teaching the Skill of Speaking

This part holds responsible for introducing the main method on which the focuses – Role-Play

2.2.1 Definition of Role-Play

“Role-Play” itself is a compound noun which is combined with two independent words: “role”, which is defined as the person whom an actor represents in film or play by, and “play”, which means that is taken on in a safe environment in which students are as an inventive and playful as

possible, which can be found in Role Play: Resources Book for Teacher Series by Gillian Porter Ladousse It is also mentioned by Ladousse(1987)

that role play is a method of acting out particular way of behaving or pretending to be other people who deal with new situations It is used in training courses language learning and psychotherapy

Role-Play is a very common method of teaching speaking, that is the reason why there are many ways to define it Particularly, Horner &Mc.Ginley (1990), described it on her article with the title "Role Play" that Role-Play is any speaking activity when you either put yourself into somebody else's shoes,

or when you stay in your own shoes but put yourself into imaginary situation

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In other words, it can be explained that in a lesson which involve Playactivities, students are not themselves anymore They can imagine to become whoever they like, from ordinary people such as a worker, farmer or an assistant to people with high social status like The President or a celebrity Becoming and understanding the character which is played will be a key to develop the ability of critical thinking, as a result, improve the speaking competence of student

It could be summarized from definitions mentioned above that Play is a teaching technique that taking advantages of the benefits of practicing speaking though counterfeit situation and conversation Participants

Role-in activities Role-involvRole-ing Role-Play method imagRole-ine themselves to be another people for a short duration of time or until they finish the conversation It is considered an encouragement without which students could never have achieved the goal of improving speaking skill because Role-Play activities can help students to think and respond creatively and practice speaking English in a comfortable atmosphere, and, last but not least, build the confidence of speaking to the students

2.2.2 Forms of Role-Play

There are two forms of Role-Play, based on the viewpoint of Mc.Gill(1995), which will be mentioned below The first form is Scripted Role-Play, which have a relation to the involvement of the interpretation in textbook conversation, or, reading text in the speech form; and the other is Unscripted Role-Play Different from the first form, the situation of Unscripted Role-Play, or known by another name – free Role-Play, is independent of the contents of the course book According to Turner (1992), the feature which make Unscripted Role-Play differ from Scripted Role-Play

is the decision of language used and the development of the dialogue

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Because Unscripted Role-Play activities do not use guidance from course book, it is more creative and comfortable for both students and teachers to produce a talk; however, go along with this creativeness is the requirement of

a good preparation from teachers and learners

2.2.3 The Steps for Role-Play Activity

In order to carry out a successful lesson with Role-Play actives, it is necessary to conduct in steps It is suggested in the book Role-Play in Teaching Culture: Six Quick Steps for Classroom Implementation by the author Kodotchigova that there are six steps which can be used to make an effective lesson

o Step 1- Choose an appropriate situation

According to Livingstone (1983), the first step is choosing a situation for a role play, keeping in mind students' needs and interests One of the most popular and suitable way to the teacher is that he or she can choose exactly what the students have just learned to form a speaking topic, as it will be a terrific opportunity for them to practice and apply speaking structures and vocabularies related to the lessons’ contents that they have just been conveyed More interestingly, teacher can let students choose the topic and situation themselves, provided that it fits the cultural features of the country

o Step 2 - Role Play Design

When the situation of the conversation is formed after discussion and reaching a consensus on the topic, it is high time to carry out the second step

is to generalize the ideas about the development of the situation It is also noted by Livingstone (1983) that: “Students' level of language proficiency should be taken into consideration carefully when carrying out any activities.” This opinion is clarified by the viewpoint ofBlake & Mouton (1980) that on low intermediate and more advanced levels, role play with problems or

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conflicts in them work very well because they motivate the characters to talk

o Step 3 - A Preparation in the aspect of Linguistic

It can be explained that the necessary communicative language depends

on the competence level of the students It is also mentioned by Livingstone (1983) that at the beginning level, the language needed is almost completely predictable The higher the level of students the more difficult it is to prefigure accurately what language students will need, but some prediction is possible anyway; and it is an evidence for the fact that teacher, in order to develop the situation, can help students by guiding some lead-in questions Furthermore, according to Byrne (1983), it is recommended to introduce any new vocabulary, structure or pronunciation before any role play activities can

be begun Take a situation in a cinema as an example, when a student, now become a customer, wants to buy a movie ticket Another student will be a staff and help him or her to purchase Teacher can help by asking some questions like: “What are the customer is going to ask in this situation?” or

“How can he ask the staff to buy a ticket”?

o Step 4 - Factual Preparation

According to Van Ments(1999), the main function of this step is to provide students with more detailed information and describe the role of each student clearly For example, when a situation about the working condition is formed, the teacher and students should set up and present information about

it as much as possible, including the name, position and the scale of the company Moreover, the context “working condition” should also be described thoroughly by some illustration like the working hours, salary, the manager’s and colleagues’ behavior, etc This step will help students imagine more easily about the job that they are going to becoming, so that they will act

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more confidently

In order to collect this kind of detailed information, it is necessary for teacher to ask student to prepare the contents of the lesson at home in advance For example, if the topic for the lesson is “working condition”, students can search at home about the working condition in a certain company

o Step 5- Assigning the Roles

This step is also noted by Harasim&Turoff(1995), that some instructors ask for volunteers to act out a role play in front of the class because it can be a model for student to follow Even if nobody wants to be a volunteer, teacher can help by acting out for the first time, because when students access to this method for the first time, they might not have known what to do and need guidance from teacher In case there is not much time left, teacher can ask students to perform their play at home as a preparation and will act in the next lesson It is mentioned by many scholars that doing Role-Play activities with friends could be very effective, such as the opinion of Horner

&Mc.Ginley(1990) that very often, optimum interaction can be reached by letting the students work in one group with their friends

o Step 6 - Follow-up

After finishing the activities using Role-Play, teacher should spend time

on debriefing, which not focus mainly on pointing out and correcting mistakes made by students during the time they take part in activities According to Milroy (1982); Horner &Mc.Ginley (1990), debrief, or follow-up, means asking every students opinion about the role play and welcoming their comments This step is necessary and should be happened due to the fact that after the role play; students, definitely, have a feeling of satisfaction from what they did because they have used their knowledge they learned to produce

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a conversation, what they seldom do before However, if teacher doesn’t encourage them and just point out the mistakes they made, this feeling of satisfaction will disappear if every mistakeisanalyzed and itmightalsomakethestudentslessconfidentandlesswillingto do the other role plays (Livingstone, 1983)

2.2.4 The Necessity of Role-Play Method in Teaching the Skill of Speaking

It is widely known that the significance of role play in language teaching is undeniable, and it is helpful for both teacher and students due to the worthwhile learning experience it brings Thanks to role play activities, students can enhance not only their skills of speaking, listening and comprehending but also the knowledge that they learned previously by using them directly and immediately after the lesson Furthermore, role play is of great importance because it lightens up the atmosphere of the class Instead of sitting and listening, students now have to stand up to act, communicate with others and express their ideas, viewpoints and feelings actively

It is explained by Horner &Mc.Ginley (1990)that the reason for the significance of role play in the communicative approach is the opportunity it gives students to practice communicating in particular situation, attached closely with different social contexts and roles Additionally, students, by taking part in Role-Play activities, will be allowed to think and speak more creatively, therefore, it becomes an ideal activity to develop communication skills

2.2.5 The Teachers’ Role in this Activity

Because of the specific characteristics of Role-Play activities, generally, teachers do not involve and participate actively in the speaking class However, they have a certain role, which is quite important, in class According to the viewpoint of Horner &Mc.Ginley (1990) that "The teacher

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becomes the controller and controls the event in the same way as a traffic controller, helping the flow of traffic and avoiding bottlenecks, but not telling individuals which way to go” Particularly, the features which make it different from a traditional classroom structure, in which teacher-centered teaching method is the main way of conveying knowledge, is that teacher keeps a relatively low participation in speaking activities so that student can interact and communicate with others spontaneously and as much as possible Teacher holds accountable for watching the Role-Play and gives appropriate comments to encourage the students

2.3 Chapter Summary

It can be concluded from foregoing analysis that Role-Play is a popular method of teaching speaking which was researched and taught for a long time, and we need to carry it in six steps to brings the greatest teaching effect

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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

In chapter two, theoretical background and foundation of knowledge is presented in order to introduce the basis on which the researcher bases to carry out the Therefore, in this chapter, we would like to show the way of collecting data for the purpose of analyzing There are four smaller parts included in this chapter: research questions, participants, procedure and ways of collecting data

3.1 Research Questions

The is conducted in order to address these following questions:

Question 1: What are the 1st year students' attitude toward using role play activity?

Question 2: In what way does role play improve 1st year students' speaking skill?

3.2 Research Participants: The Researcher and The Subjects

The researcher of this thesis is Lê Thị Tuyết Mai

The subjects of this are 10 English teachers and 100 first-year students at Vietnamese University of Traditional Medicine

3.3 Research Procedure

On the purpose of conducting this successfully, we carried out the process with three main steps, including writing proposal, collecting data and analyzing them All of these steps take 8 months to complete

3.4 Instruments of Collecting Data

There are 3 methods of collecting data used in the process of finishing this ; including questionnaires for both students and teachers, observations and interviewing

3.4.1 Survey Questionnaires

It is undeniable that using questionnaires is the most popular way to

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collect data because of its convenience By using only one paper-based survey questionnaire, we will be able to collect data from a great deal of participants, which will be both timesaving and labor-saving

The survey questionnaires are allocated in 2 versions, one for teachers, the other is for students; and both of them are in English

The questionnaire designed for teachers consists of eight questions, each one has its own function, including:

- Question 1 and 2 are to know about the viewpoint of teachers on

student’s speaking competence and attitude to learning speaking

- Question 3 finds out teachers’ application of Role-Play method in class

- Question 4 is about the teachers’ opinions about benefits of applying Role-Play

- Question 5 and 6 are about the level of difficulties in applying Role-Play and reasons for this

- Question 7 investigates the frequency of using role play in class

- Question 8 is about viewpoint of teachers about students’ enhancement after participating in Role-Play activities

Besides, there are another 17 questions for students, including:

a Questions from 1 to 5 are to know about students’ viewpoint after

participating a lesson using Role-Play method, particularly:

- Question 1 is about students’ level of involvement in this lesson

- Question 2 asks students’ opinion about Role-Play activities done in class, whether they like them or not

- Question 3 and 4 investigates students’ level of impression on the activities and was students’ confidence improved after exercises

- Question 5 is about the level of helpfulness and difficulties after taking part in this lesson

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b Question 6 to 10 ask about the students’ English competence, in which:

- Question 6 is about the English skill which students need improving

- Question 7 is the self-evaluation of students about their communicative skill in English

- Question 8 is about whether developing speaking skills during classes is essential or not

- Question 9 is to know if student found it hard to communicate in

English

- Question 10 investigates factors prevent students from talking English fluently

c Questions 11 to 17 is about Role-Play method:

- Question 11 is about whether students have played a role during a

language lesson or not

- Question 12 is the preference for playing roles than other activities in class

- Question 13 is about the frequency of using Role-Play in English

speaking classes of students

- Question 14 is about feelings when participating in Role-Play activities

- Question 15 is about difficulties in applying Role-Play in speaking classes

- Question 16 is about factors influencing a role play classes

- Question 17 is about reasons for the excitement of Role-Play classes

3.4.2 Observations

In order to collecting more valuable data and have an exact look on the real effectiveness of the method, observations are necessary Share the consensus with this viewpoint, observation is the most basic research technique

we can employ in our classroom

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3.4.3 Interviewing

Another effective method to collect information is interviewing In the scope of this thesis, the purpose of the interview is to find out not only whether first-year students can improve their English competence or not but also the viewpoint of the teachers about applying this method to improve the speaking skill of first-year students

3.5 Assessment

In order to find out the effectiveness of the method, we chose a class to become an experimental one and applied Role-Play method within two months The result of the assessment will be presented in Chapter 4

3.6 Chapter Summary

In conclusion, this chapter provides some necessary information about the questions, participants, procedure and instruments of collecting data of this Furthermore, some information about the general content of the survey questionnaire are also included in this part

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CHAPTER 4: FINGDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

In this chapter, we would like to present the results of the survey conducted at Vietnamese University of Traditional Medicine with the participation of 100 first-year students about their speaking competence and their opinion about lessons using Role-Play method that they took part in and some discussion after collecting the survey results as well

4.1 A Brief Analysis of the Survey’s Result

After collecting the answer and opinions of students and teachers on the given questionnaire, the progress of analyzing the result was conducted The results are shown in pie charts, with a table including figures, equivalent percentages and alternatives

4.1.1 Questionnaires

There are two forms of survey questionnaires was given to participants; one for students and the other is for teachers; and both of them are written in English

4.1.1.1 Questionnaire for Students

In the survey questionnaire for students, there are 17 questions Questions from 01 to 17 are ones with alternatives, while the last one is in charge of finding out their feelings and opinions The result will be shown right below:

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Table 1: Students’ Level of Involvement in a Particular Lesson

Statements Active Little

participation

No participation

at all

Difficult to determine

It can be seen that a lot of students (42 percent) involved actively in the lesson, but there are quite many students (27 percent) showed little participation, or, even no participation at all (15 percent), to the lesson The last

16 percent of the students believe that it is difficult to determine whether they had participated actively in a particular lesson which Role-Play method was applied or not

No participation at all Difficult to determine

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Table 2: Students’ Opinion about Role-Play Activities done in Class

As it shown clearly in the chart that most of the students (83 percent) agreed with the statement that they like the Role-Play activities done in class It can be concluded from this figure that Role-Play method had a positive effect

on students’ interest in learning the skill of English-Speaking Whereas some

of them, however, do not like the activities (13 percent) and the rest (4 percent)

do not know whether they like them or not Although they feel that they didn’t take much interest in these kinds of activity, but the number of students who had this feelings is not much

Table 3: Students’ Level of Impression on the Activities

I do not know

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Statements Attractive Interesting Somehow

useful

A little bit impressed

No impression

2 percentrespectively

Table 4: Was Students’ Confidence improved after Exercises

A little bit impressed

No impression at all

of the students think that their confidence is not improved very much after taking exercises

Table 5.1: Students’ Opinion about Today’s Lesson: LEVEL OF

HELPFULNESS Statements Very Useful Not helpful at Difficult to

85

4 11

Figure 4: Was Students’ Confidence improved after Exercises

yes no not very much

56 percent, and the percentage of students thought that it was useful was 31 percent Only a small number of students (13 percent) find it hard to determine and find no helpfulness at all from this lesson, and only 3 percent of students thought that it was not helpful at all

Table 5.2: Students’ Opinion about Today’s Lesson: LEVEL OF

DIFFICULTY

Statements Very

difficult Difficult Easy

Very easy

Difficult to determine

56 31

3 10

Figure 5.1: Students’ Opinion about Today’s Lesson: LEVEL OF

HELPFULNESS

Very helpful Useful Not helpful at all Difficult to determine

Table 6: The Skill Needs Improving Statements Grammar Listening Reading Speaking Writing

6

13

67

4 10

Figure 5.2: Students’ Opinion about Today’s Lesson: LEVEL OF

DIFFICULTY

very difficult difficult easy very easy difficult to determine

Table 7: Self-evaluation of Students about their Communicative Skill in

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Figure 6: The Skill Needs Improving

grammar listening reading speaking writing

Table 8: Whether Developing Speaking Skills during Classes is Essential

Statements Strongly

agree Agree Disagree

Strongly disagree No opinion

Figure 7: Self-evaluation of Students about their

Communicative Skill in English

5 4 3 2 1

68 20

no opinion