Engaging beginner students in speaking practice at the vocational and continuing education center of nong cong

Factors mentioned above have called forth my ambition to carry out the study of “engaging beginner students in speaking practice at The Vocational and Continuing Education Center of Nong

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• INTRODUCTION

• Reason of study

English has become a vital and mandatory communication language in Vietnam since the opening of its doors to the world in 1986 Many English-speaking foreigners from across Asia, Australia, American and Europe started coming to invest in Vietnam This has motivated the people of Vietnam to learn English to facilitate efficient and effective communication among their counterparts The importance of English was immediately acknowledged by the Vietnamese government and as a result the English programs were made compulsory beginning with the secondary schools and subsequently the high schools and finally universities

Today, of the four English basic skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), it is thought that speaking skill seems to play the most important role: knowing-language-people are considered “speaker” of that language as

if speaking included all four kinds of knowing Classroom activities that help to help develop learners’ ability in expressing themselves would play

an important part in a language course

The goal of teaching speaking, surely, is to improve the oral production of the students Along with international trend, students should improve and promote their communication skill so that they can express themselves and learn to follow the social and cultural rules appropriating in each communicative circumstances In order to do that, language-teaching activities in the classroom should aim at maximizing individual language use Teachers’ role is not only to create a warm and friendly classroom but also to provide students with effective and plentiful activities Only by such way can those activities encourage students to speak and attract them to speaking lessons

Factors mentioned above have called forth my ambition to carry out the study of “engaging beginner students in speaking practice at The Vocational and Continuing Education Center of Nong cong”

• Purpose of the study.

To study students attitudes towards speaking skill then suggest some effective activities to engage beginner students in speaking practice at Vocational and Continuing Education Center of Nong cong

• Scale of the structure

Actually, attracting students’ interest and involvements need to be done in teaching all four basic skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) However, it is impractical to overspread such a large Thus, the study limits itself to:

• To find out the students’ attitudes towards speaking skill of beginner students at Vocational and Continuing Education Center of Nong cong

• To suggest speaking activities to engage beginner students in speaking practice at Vocational and Continuing Education Center of Nong cong

• Methods of the study

The study was done from the beginning of September of 2017 to the ending

of March of 2018

First, a survey is conducted for 100 beginner students in the Vocational and Continuing Education Center of Nong cong with a point of view to find out their difficulties they encounter as well as their attitudes towards the speaking skill (Questions - APPENDIX A)

Second, references books about speaking and methodology are reviewed to get background knowledge of what speaking is, successful and interesting

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techniques in teaching speaking.

Third, some effective activities are suggested in order to engage beginner students in speaking practice

Fourth, the text book is New Headway Elementary –Students’ Book ( the third edition) – Liz and Soars that will be enclosed with this study

Last, one more survey is conducted for 100 beginner students in the Vocational and Continuing Education Center of Nong cong to examine their attitudes towards the speaking skill after being provided some suggested activities (Question the same with APPENDIX A)

II CONTENT

2.1 A general view of speaking skill.

Speaking skill is the art of communications and one of four productive skills that must mastered in learning foreign languages Good speaking skill is the act of generating words that can be understood by listeners A good speaker

is clear and informative

Speaking is the skill that students will be judged most real life situations It

is an important part of everyday interaction and most often the first impression of a person based on his or her ability to speak fluently and comprehensively However, speaking is in many ways and undervalued skill This, perhaps, is because we can almost all speak, and so have the low opinion of it Speaking is often thought of as a popular form of expressions Speaking, on the contrary, is a skill which deserves attention a bit as much

as literacy skill Our learners often need to speak with confidence in order to carry out many of their basic transactions Harris (1777:81) says: “Speaking

is a complex skill requiring the simultaneous of different abilities developed

at the different rates”

John (1982) believes that speaking ability as regarded the measure of knowing a language The learners define speaking as the most important skill they can acquire They assess their progress in term of their accomplishment in spoken communication

Besides, Martin Bygate observes: speaking is the skill by which learners are most frequency judged and through which they make or lose friends It is the medium through which much of language is learnt and which for many is particularly conductive for learning” Bygate emphasizes the importance of speaking, not only for perfoming basic translations, but also for establishing and maintaining social relationships

In general, speaking is an interactive process of construct meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information (Brown, 1994; Burns & Joyce, 1997) Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including the participant themselves, their collective experiences, the environments and the purpose for speaking

2.2 Teaching and learning condition at the Vocational and Continuing Education Center of Nong cong in speaking practice.

2.2.1 The teaching and learning condition.

The teaching and learning condition in the Vocational and Continuing Education Center of Nong cong is fairly good with system of the new blackboard, the equipment is modern: the furniture is right in size However, there are not many illustrations English pictures for studying, not projector, not language lab that is why in English periods the class atmosphere is not funny In this school, there is also a library where teachers and students can borrow books, magazines and newspapers Nevertheless, teaching aids to study English in this center are inadequate In class time, teachers often use visual aids but they are not rich That’s why their lectures don’t attract students’ attention and it appears quite boring to the students

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Further, there are from 38 to 45 students in each class so it is a little bit difficult for teachers to keep discipline in class

This study was conducted in order to explore the students’ attitudes towards

to English-speaking skill as well as to give one suggested activities to engage the beginner students in speaking lesson at the Vocational and Continuing Education Center of Nong cong

2.2.2 Students’ attitudes towards difficulties when speaking in class.

A survey is conducted for 100 beginner students in the Vocational and Continuing Education Center of Nongcong The questionnaire used in this study was students’ opinions about students’ difficulties when speaking in class (7 questions) in class In this study, the planning stage involved the selection of the participants, which were 100 beginner students at the Vocational and Continuing Education Center of Nong cong and limited to the academic year 2017-2018, the preparation of letter of consent and the distribution of the letter of consent to the selected groups of students All students agreed to participate in the survey by signing the letter of consent (see APENDIX A)

Table1 Questions-result 1: Students’ difficulties-Pre-applying techniques

(done on 11th of September, 2017) (What difficulties do you have when speaking in class?) percentages

1 I don’t have enough words to express what I want to say 81 %

2 I am shy when I stand in front of class 65%

3 I am afraid of making mistakes when speaking 53%

4 The lessons are too difficult for me 70%

5 My friends don’t cooperate with me 60%

6 I don’t understand what people say to me 80%

According to the data presented in Table 1 towards students’ difficulties when speaking in class (N=100), almost students ( 81%) participants agree that they did not have enough words to express what they wanted to say Similarly, 80% of them had a difficulty of not understanding what people said to them More than two-third of the students (70%) stated that the lessons were too difficult for them while 60% of them got the feel of not being cooperated with by their friends Regarding of making mistakes when speaking, more than half of them (53%) said that they are afraid of making mistakes in communicate activities Their difficulties to speaking activities was further supported by a high percentages (65%) being shy when they stood in front of class However, only nearly one third of them (30%) did nod prefer speaking, most of them (70%) like speaking despite of those difficulties

2.3 Some suggested activities to engaging beginner students in a

speaking lesson at the Vocational and Continuing Education Center of Nong cong.

2 3.1 Making sentences

Objectives: This activity can adapt information to make easy for student to

speak English

Procedures: Teacher give information about a person then talk Each

student has to make sentence for each word

Example given: Unit 3–The world of work

Practice-Talking about people

Teacher asks Ss to work in pairs to read information about Fernando then talk about him as a mode Teacher asks Ss to talk about a relative as followed

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Fernando Diaz

Place of work in a tourist office

Languages Spanish, English, and a little

German

Free time walking his dog, playing football

Fernando Diaz is a tourist guide He comes from Peru He live in Lima town He works in a tourist office He can speak Spanish, English and a little German He isn’t married He likes walking with his dog and playing football in his free time.

2.3.2 Face to face activities.

Objectives: Face to face activity not only motivates students to think a lot in

a logical way, use imagination as quickly as possible to pick out the ideas but also can check the students’ memory of new words

Procedure: Teacher giveS the topic word then students will have to find as

much as possible things related to the given words

Example given: Unit 5 –Where do you live?

What’s in the living room?

Teacher asks students to work in pairs Before beginning the lesson, teacher writes the phrase “living room” on the blackboard and asks Ss to find as much as possible things related to it Two Ss stand to face, the Ss who can say more words will be winner

An armchair

A television pictures

A sofa

A DVD player

A fridge

A lamp

A table

2.3.3 Hot seat activities.

Objective: Students have chance to apply the grammar into speaking skill

so that students will be able to improve both speaking and grammar

Procedure:

- Teacher writes two names of tense on two chairs

- Teachers say one time marker of any tenses Students have to sit down the chair, to have the tenses in accordance with that time marker

- Then, students have to make one sentence with the time marker teacher said

Past Simple

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Present perfect

- Teacher calls two students Teacher says “yesterday”, the student runs and sits down the chair with the name “past simple”, then he/she has to make a sentence with the word “yesterday” Similarly, teacher says “since”, the student runs and sits down the chair with the name “present perfect”, then he/ she has to make and say a sentence with the word “since” and so on The student who sits faster and makes the right sentence is the winner

2.3.4 Pictures description.

Objective: Improving student’s ability of observation and expression what

they have observed in the pictures as well as students’ knowledge of describing languages 8

Procedure: Teacher shows some pictures on the board or divides class into

small groups and distributes each of them a picture then asks students to describe what is in the picture After all groups have finished their discussions, teacher calls some students to speak in front of the class

Example given: Unit 4-Take it easy

Vocabulary and speaking- Leisure activities

Teacher shows pictures on textbook page 30-31 then asks Ss to observe

pictures carefully then asks Ss to match the words given with photos from a

to p

Reminds Ss to use the structure of Present Progressive Tense : S + be V-ing

2.3.5 Discussing.

Objective: Learners become much more involved in the speaking activity

when they are posing and answering questions themselves rather than merely responding to teachers’ questions It will give students including weaker one more opportunities to speak without guessing the answers

Procedures: Teachers writes down some questions related to the content of

the lesson then gives students 3 to 5 minutes to think about their answers and speak them out

Example given: Unit 11: Looking good! - Starter

Purpose of this speaking lesson is to help students to speak about clothing Teacher asks Ss to work in pairs Teacher gives Ss some questions then asks

Ss to ask and answering front of the class:

• What are you wearing?

• What is your favorite clothes?

• What is traditional costume in Vietnam?

• What do you often wear when you go to school?

• What do you often wear when you stay at home?

Teacher lets Ss work individually in 3 to 5 minutes After that, call some pairs to present their ideas

2.3.6 Teaching through song.

What makes music such a great teaching tool is its universal appeal, connecting all cultures and languages This makes it one of the best and most motivating resources in the classroom, regardless of the age or background of the learner

Objectives: Creating a relaxed learning atmosphere for students Music and

lyrics of songs help provide students energy that had none before or changed students’ mood Students also know song related to topic they are going to discuss

Procedure: Teacher prepares a song related to the lesson and handout of

lyrics of it Before starting new lesson, teachers play the song for students

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may be one or more than one time Let students listen to it and then ask students some questions about name, singer, and content of song

Example given: Unit 11: Looking good! – Listening and speaking

By the end of this part, Ss will be able to update themselves with information about the song on an Irish band called West life Teacher asks

Ss to look at the song in textbook at page 86-87.Teacher plays the song for students (see lyrics in APPENDIX B) After listening to it, teacher checks students’ understanding about this song, for example: the names of song, musician, singer, composer, the content

2.3.7 Comparing pictures.

Objectives: Students will also learn how to observe and find the differences

among pictures or things with fastest speed So they can practice the ability

of comparing and describing the pictures

Procedures: Teacher gives students some pairs of similar pictures Let

students observe in few minutes then each of group finds most of differences, it will win and receive a gift

Example given: Unit 10: Bigger and better!

Teacher shows two pictures: picture1: city life, picture 2: country life then asks Ss to work in groups of four to compare life in the city with life in the country and a volunteer of each group will present their comparison

Note: Using comparative adjectives given to make sentences

Adjective Opposite

Expensive Cheap

Dangerous Safe

Unfriendly Friendly

Exciting Boring

Example: 1 The city is noisier than the country

2 The country is safer than the city

2.3.8 Explaining the words.

Objective: This activity aims at reviewing the new words and improving the

speaking reaction of students

Procedures: Teachers divide class into small groups of two students One students will explain so that the other students can guess what the word is In

two minutes, the group which the most words will be the winner

Example give: Review for oral test.

Teacher prepares some cards which ten words in each card Asks Ss to work

in pairs to read information in cards then make dialogues in front of the class

B

1 a uniform 6 Thailand

2 a notebook 7 student

3 a house 8 September

4 a bedroom 9 Lunar New year

5 apricot blossom 10 poor

A

1 Aodai 6 Lao

2 Pen 7 teacher

3 a classroom8 January

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4 a living room 9 Christmas

5 peach blossom 10.rich

Example: Vietnam

Student A explains: “ It’s proper noun It’ a country in Southeast Asia We live in this country” If student B answers “Vietnam”, they got 1 point

2.3.9 Role play: 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 an imaginary situation

Objective: Students can speak English more naturally and fluently because

they have to perform their own play and develop imagination and creativeness Role-play increases the self-confidence of hesitant students because in role-play activity, they will have a different role and they don’t have to speak for themselves

Procedures: Teacher asks students to work in pair or group to make a

role-play about situation in front of the class

Example given: Unit 9 : Food you like!- Practice - Role-play

The speaking part of this unit requires students to take turns to be shopper and seller

Teacher gives shopping list, set mode then asks students to work in pairs to make dialogues

Thing to buy Bread Eggs Milk Butter Apples Biscuits Potatoes Carrots Strawberries Tomatoes Apple juices Cakes Cheddar

cheese tea

A:Can I help you?

B: Yes, please I’d like some bread

A: Here you are Anything else?

B: Yes Can I have 6 eggs?

A: Yes, of course

B: How much is that?

A: That’s 1.60 pound

B: Thank you Goodbye

A: Bye

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- Teacher gives feedback.

2.3.10.Speaking in topic.

Objectives:

This activity is the kind of speaking with students’ preparation in advance so students will feel more confidents when they speak in front of class

Procedure: Teacher gives topic for students in the previous lesson and ask them to prepare speaking about this topic For the next lesson, each student

has 1 minute to present about their topic

Example given: Unit 5: Where do you live– Listening and speaking

Asks Ss to see the chart

Candy and

Old or modern? Quite old Very old Modern modern

Live(s) with? Only them Her family A lone A lone Extra information Do bed and

breakfast for tourist in summer

House one room Marry nextyear Have a catA lot of

friend come to visit

Teacher gives students the topic: “Talking about where you live”, asks students to play-act as Candy and Bert, Alise, Kwan, Manola to tell about their accommodation

Example: Candy and Bert

Bert: We live in a house It is a quite old house in New England There are three bedrooms in our house Only Candy and I live here now We do bed and breakfast for tourists in summer

-Asks students to take turn to play-act

2.3.11 Telling story.

Objectives: Students can improve their logical thinking in order to develop

their speaking skill

Procedures: Teachers shows some pictures that are put in order of story and

give each group one of story pictures and divides class into some group of 4

or 5 people They will look at the pictures and tell a story based on these pictures Each student will tell one sentence about that picture and the other tell the next order of that story

Two o’clock woke up Heard a noisewent slowly downstairs

a light on the living room two men speaking very quietlyTwo burglars

phoned the police

the police arrived a TV was turning on police turned off TV

Suggested answer: It was about two o’clock in the morning Suddenly I

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wake up I heard a noise I went slowly downstairs There is a light on in the living-room I could hear two men speaking very quietly ‘Burglars’ I thought ‘Two burglars! I phoned the police immediately The police arrived quickly There was nothing except a TV was turning on The police turned off TV for me

2.3.12 Debate.

Objectives: Students can learn the way to express their opinions of for or

against something Specially, it is the way to encourage students’ critical thinking with logical evidences to convince the listeners

Procedure: Teacher gives a situation and divides class into groups of four

then let each draw lots to choose which group is for or against

Example given: Unit 9: Food you like! - Starter

Teacher shows the situation ‘People say that fast food is now universally in most countries and is coming increasingly popular Do you agree with it? Why or why not?’

Each group discusses to find evidences to protect their opinions After students finish their debates, teacher gives comment and summarizes the main ideas

Example: Group 1 says: I don’t agree with it ………

Group 2 says: I agree with it ………

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