Some techniques to help 10th form students diminish reticence in learning english speaking skill” ( new english textbook)

However, as we can see, for a long time, the language teaching and learning havebeen based on the out-of-date methods in which students only passively sit, takenotes but rarely contribut

I INTRODUCTION

1 Reasons for choosing the topic:

It is undeniable that English is an international language and together with itsincreasing importance, the need of learning English is becoming more urgent thanever

In learning English at high schools in Vietnam, speaking skill has becomecompulsory since the old English textbook was put into use in 2006, and it isespecially attached the great importance in NEW English textbook ( published in2012)

However, as we can see, for a long time, the language teaching and learning havebeen based on the out-of-date methods in which students only passively sit, takenotes but rarely contribute to the lessons They do not ask their teacher questions,even when they have problems Therefore, when approaching new teachingmethods such as Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and Project- basedapproach, students feel passive in classroom This results in numerous problemsinflicting students in learning the speaking skill, one of which is the reticence inoral activities

There have been a variety of studies on this situation and various solutionshave been given However, students’ reticence is still common occurrence inlanguage classrooms in Vietnam Based on my twelve-year teachingexperience at Hoang Hoa 4 high school, I know that the students rarely speakEnglish, even in English speaking classes, though they have been learning Englishsince they were at the primary school

It is important to involve students in classroom learning activities and minimizetheir reticence because involvement in classroom interaction will help studentsexplore and learn English much better

For such reasons I choose “ Some techniques to help 10th- form students diminish

reticence in learning English speaking skill” ( New English textbook) as a theme

for my experiential initiative

2 Aims of the study: The study is carried out to:

(1 ) Find out some factors causing 10th- form students to be reticent in Englishspeaking activities

(2 ) Give some suggestions to stimulate students to speak English.

3 Scope of the study:

The subjects chosen for this study are 10th- form students at Hoang Hoa 4high school, Thanh Hoa province where I have been teaching Moreover,

because of the limited time and within an experiential initiative, only speaking skillwas chosen on the ground that speaking seems to be the most challenging languageskill to English learners in Vietnam in general

4 Methods of the study:

To achieve the objectives of the study, several methods are used, but I usemainly quantitative and qualitative methods

The data serving the research analysis and discussions are collected by means of asurvey questionnaire for students and observation

5 New things of the study:

The study is based on what I did research in the school year 2013-2014, but in

this research, the scope of the study is the students who are learning New English

Textbook

II DEVELOPMENT

1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND:

1.1 Definition of reticence:

Reticence is generally viewed as an abstract concept and has been defined

by many researchers McCroskey (1977) portraits it as “an individual’s level offear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication withanother person or persons ” Reticent people often speak less and for shorterdurations; their language tends to be less comprehensible, less immediate, andless intense (Evans, 1996)

A student’s reticence in class not only reveals that he/she is unwilling to talk

in certain circumstances; it could also indicate any of the following symptoms: (1) the student’s apathy toward the topic at hand or to the learning process itself; (2) the student who is not comprehending is overwhelmed, or is bored;

(3) the student is isolated from the learning community;

(4) the student has not learned the value or strategies of engagement or he/she doesnot appreciate or believe in that value

It can be seen that different researchers approach reticence’s definitions in differentways However, they all share the same point of view that reticence is quitepervasive in English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreignlanguage (EFL) classrooms and can negatively affect the learning of thetarget language.

1.2 Possible causes of language learning reticence:

In the past few decades, an increasing number of studies in ESL/EFL have beenconducted to explore the reasons for students’ reticence in classrooms Generallyspeaking, reticence in class discussions might result from:

(1) low self esteem – students who think of themselves as unworthy or unable tocommunicate successfully, so they tend to remain silent out of shame

(2) fear of being ridiculed when they inappropriately or inaccurately respond

(3) fear of success – this occurs when a student interacts successfully; theyattributes their success to luck or accident and then is apprehensive for othersexpecting him/herself to continue excellent performance, which means to interactwith similar or superior success in the future

(4) cultural differences – various cultures forbid or strongly discourage individualsfrom speaking up in classroom settings; sometimes for the reason of deferencetowards teachers; elder students’ behaviour could also contribute to thisphenomenon

(5) communication apprehension – a clinical fear of communicating with or

in the presence of others

1.3 Effects of reticence in class:

The effects of reticence are particularly evident in ESL/ EFL classes and it,

to some degree, is a strong indicator of academic performance Reticencenegatively affects everything from the teachers’ expectations of studentperformance, actual classroom performance, and perceptions of others whilecommunicating

Reticent learners suffer from mental blocks during spontaneous speakingactivities, lack confidence, are less able to self-edit and identify language errorsand are more likely to employ strategies such as skipping class Reticent studentsalso forget previously learned material, volunteer answers less frequently and have

a greater tendency to remain passive in classroom activities than their less reticentcounterparts

The effects of reticence could also extend outside the second languageclassroom A high level of reticence might also correspond with communicationapprehension, causing individuals to be quieter and less willing to communicate inother public occasions As a result, people who exhibit this kind ofcommunication reticence are more likely to be perceived as less trustworthy, lesscompetent, less socially and physically attractive, tenser, less composed andless dominant

Therefore, working on reticence problem in and out of class is of greatsignificance not only in academic development, but also in mental development ofthe students

2 FACTUAL BACKGROUND:

2.1 Research setting:

The study was conducted at Hoang Hoa 4 high school, a rural school of Thanh Hoaprovince The school was established in 1989 and it has recorded a lot ofachievements in training provincial gifted students for some recent years

The school has 32 classes with over 70 teachers of different subjects Eachclass consists of about 40 students Most of the students come from the villages inthe district where English learning and teaching does not get much attention Theonly sources from which students can get knowledge are the textbooks and theirteachers Like students in many other schools in Vietnam, students in my schoolare complained a great deal for their inability to use English for communicationafter leaving school

The total number of English teachers at Hoang Hoa 4 high school is 7 All ofthem are female aged from 30 to 42 They were trained from training courses inEnglish language teaching at different universities in Vietnam All of them arefriendly, active, knowledgeable and full of inspiration for teaching

The main English textbooks used in teaching English at this school are TiengAnh 10, Tieng Anh 11, and Tieng Anh 12 ( Basic stream) Besides, in the schoolyear 2017-2018, there is one 11th- grade class ( 11A10) and two 10th- grade classes(10A4 and 10A10) applying NEW ENGLISH TEXTBOOK

( published in 2012) The teaching method applied by the teachers at this school isvarious and integrated, but mainly Grammar Translation Method (GTM) becauseboth teachers and students are more concerned about the students’ performance inthe national examination for 12th students and the examination for gifted students.Therefore, from my personal observation as a classroom teacher, students areunwilling to speak English in the speaking lessons.

The teaching of English in general and the teaching of English speaking in particular at my school has encountered many difficulties As a consequence, it isvery necessary for the staff at Hoang Hoa 4 high school to find out effective ways

to minimize the difficulties in teaching English and from then, to improve thequality of English speaking lessons

2.2 Major findings: Factors making 10 th - form students at Hoang Hoa 4 high school reticent in English speaking lessons.

The study showed that the level of students’ participation in speaking activitieswas very low A lot of students tended to be reticent in the speaking lessons Withregard to what contributed to students’ reticence in classroom, many factors wereidentified They were students’ factors, teacher’s factors and objective factors

Firstly, a range of student- related factors brought reticence into play.

Among these factors, the most prominent one was low English proficiency.

Although all of the students had learnt English for at least 7 years, their Englishlanguage proficiency such as vocabulary, grammar, even pronunciation was poor.Gradually, they would not feel interested in speaking and became reticent

Another important factor was the fear of being laughed at when making mistakes.

Probably because of the fear of leaving a bad impression on the teacher andpeers, many students worried about making mistakes and thus, were unwilling

to speak

Addition to it was “personality” Some students were so shy and introverted

that they became nervous when speaking to a group of people even in themother tongue, let alone the foreign language

Another factor was “ Students’ speaking skill is influenced by their tongue” During my reality of teaching, I realize that students are greatly affected

mother-by their mother-tongue while speaking When being required to talk about a given

topic, it is common that students first think about the ideas in Vietnamese, then try

to translate them into English This has been proved ineffective in developingstudents’ speaking ability It is much better that students are guided to think inEnglish in order to make their speaking more natural

Secondly, the findings referred to teacher’s factors According to the

questionnaire for students, the most important factor relating to teachers was

teachers’ ways of mistake correction In speaking lessons at Hoang Hoa 4 high

school, students were often interfered immediately when they made mistakesduring their performances This was a great influence on their continuousspeaking

Too much teacher’s talking time was the factor 52% of the students chose The

teachers occupied almost all the class time, so students didn’t have much time tospeak Therefore, chances given to them to express their own ideas were limited Instead of taking part in oral activities actively, they only kept silent, took notesand spoke only when they were asked to

One more factor was teacher’s uneven allocation of turns 42% complained their

teacher favored the better students when soliciting responses That was the reasonwhy some lower proficient students in class had few chances to speak out

Another reason was some teacher’s preference for using Vietnamese in English

lessons

Last but not least, it was Teachers’ assistance does not meet students’ needs:

Some students sometimes don’t know how totalk about a given topic due to theirteacher’s unclear instructions or vague explanations, for example Besides, theinappropriate method of their teachers discourages them Consequently, theteachers works as a controller while the students become passive

Thirdly, objective factors like large and multilevel classes, time constraint

and text book also resulted in the students’ silence in speaking lessons

While speaking topics in the textbook were interesting, the difficulty of speaking tasks was one of the factors that caused to the students’ silence in oral activities Another factor is full- sized classes With the average number of students was 40 to

49 in each class with different ability, it was not easy for teachers to control their

lack of time was a factor, though it only took up a small percentage The teacher is always under pressure to cover the allocated syllabus in the time allowed Due to

time limit, learners had little chance to practice in class The teachers seldom askedstudents to do pair work or group work, and classroom interaction was usually inthe form of short questions and answers

3 IMPLEMENTATION AND SOLUTIONS:

From the major findings of the study, in order to minimize the students’reticence in English speaking lessons, some suggestions have been made with thehope to improve the current situation of teaching and learning the speaking skill

3.1 Increasing students’ English proficiency:

As can be viewed from the survey questionnaire for students, low Englishproficiency was the greatest contributor to the students’ reticence in oral Englishlessons Thus, it is very essential for teachers to find solutions to enhance students’English competence

If students lack words or structures to express themselves, what teachersshould do is providing structures and related words when introducing topicsthrough listening or reading as pre-speaking activities Teachers should provideexamples which are great helping enrich their vocabulary, memorizing phoneticsounds and stress as well as grammatical structures Besides, teachers should payattention to students when they are speaking so as to guess their ideas to supportthem in case they cannot find exact words to express themselves What is more,teachers need to explain that words represent thoughts so students should notattempt to use unusual syntax, or “big words” but try to find direct and meaningfulways of making them understood

For example, when teaching Activity 3 - Speaking- Unit 4: For a better

community- Tiếng Anh 10 tập 2.

The aim of this task is that students will be able to talk about the three most important things to do in your local area.

I provide students with useful phrases:

- The most important thing to do is……… now that……

- The second priority is……… on the ground that…….

- We consider ……… to be the priority because……

If students have difficulties in finding ideas for the topics, teachers can makeuse of and introduce various ideas for discussion to make these topics interestingand familiar enough to students This problem can also be solved by choosing thetopics which are more interesting and appropriate to the students’ age, level, andrelating to the real life to create enjoyable class atmosphere that make reluctantstudents interested in speaking

For example, when teaching Activity 4- Speaking- Unit 9: Preserving the

environment- Tiếng Anh 10 tập 2.

The aim of this task is that students will be able to talk about the environmental impacts of human activities.

Procedure:

- Give suggestions and ask students to complete the table:

Human activity Type of

fertilizers and pesticide

sprays, harmful

rubbish and chemicals

thrown in the rivers

soil pollution

contaminated vegetation and the decrease of soil fertility leading to the negative utilization of land

loud and annoying

sounds from factory

- Ask students to complete the conversation:

Sample:

Student A: Our earth is having the severe soil pollution The soil is very harmful now

Student B: Yes, It is the result of human activities People use fertilizer and spray pesticides, threw harmful rubbish and chemicals in the river.

Student A: These cause the vegetation contaminated and the the decrease of soil fertility This leads the negative unilization of land

- Call two or three pairs to present and then give feedback.

3.2 Creating a friendly classroom atmosphere and rapport with students :

The relationship that the teacher build with their students influences theinteraction that takes place in the classroom Research has shown that students aremore willing to speak in class when the teachers make the class environment one

of interest and engagement, which will then lessen learner reticence Besides, asrecommended by the student interviewees, teachers have to develop positivepersonality traits such as patience, a sense of humor, or considerateness

to make students more comfortable with their language learning process

During the teaching process, I always try to remember the students’ name and

then use their names Instead of pointing at students and asking: “ What is your opinion about ?”, I often say: “ Hoa, Could you tell me something about this matter?” I assume that when students are called by their names, they will feel

happier because their teacher shows his/ her concern to them

Walking around the classroom and assisting the learners when necessaryduring the lessons is an useful way I apply to bring the friendly Furthermore, Ialso give students immediate praise, compliment and encouragement than

criticism For example, after the student’s presentation, I often use encouraging words such as : "Good ideas", "Excellent" , "Perfect", "Well done” Furthermore, smiling

expectantly, nodding as students talk and maintaining eye contact with studentsalso stimulate them to take part in oral activities effectively

Additionally, I also talk to students when meeting them outside the classroom.This would create a trust between teachers and students which can lead toenhanced rapport and confidence to speak English in class If the students areconfident in themselves, they will be on their way to speaking successfully, withbetter fluency and accuracy

In short, establishing close and good relationship with the students, especiallywith the reluctant students, is one of the best ways to reduce reticence and

encourage them to communicate I am very excited when one of my students told

about me that : “My teacher is so wonderful For us, she is like a close friend who

is always willing to give help and valuable knowledge”

3.3 Innovating seating arrangement in the classroom:

One of the important factors which create active participation of the students in the speaking lessons is arranging desks and chairs suitably so that students may feel more comfortable and motivated for oral activities

In the traditional arrangement, desks are placed in rows facing one direction

By this way,children are all asked to put their focus on a single point in the front

of the room (and to the teacher) And they are discouraged from communicatingwith other students, whose backs are visible in front of them and whose faces arebehind them

Due to the drawbacks of the traditional seating arrangement, when teachingspeaking, I often apply some new ways of arranging desks and chairs as follows:

a U- shaped or circle seating arrangement:

In a U-shaped configuration, desks all are placed around the walls of theroom, pointing to a central spot in the classroom with an opening in the front of the room, like a horseshoe

Having the tables in a circle will create an environment rich in discussions No one

is sitting behind the circle or on the sides of the room When a student talks, he cansee his entire audience; when he listens, he can see who's speaking

I believe a U-shaped configuration has a good impact on student learning It willencourage discussion and in turn, students learn from each other By doing so, myclassroom becomes an environment that engage students in critical thinking,discussions and reflection

U- shaped seating arrangement is often used when I organize oral activities like Games, Quiz, Ask and Answer.

b Cluster- group seating arrangement:

For small-group and pairwork activities, I can create clusters of desks invarious areas

If the tables are arranged as so, I can walk around, engage more students, and

hopefully create an environment where students can talk and share ideas freely and comfortably

Cluster- group seating arrangement is often used when I organize oral activities like Discussion, Picture description or Interview

All things considered, gaining and keeping students’ participation in oralactivities is an ongoing challenge for teachers Workable seating arrangement canhelp make this task easier It also allows the teacher to more readily monitorstudents’ activities This can have a significant impact on student learning

3.4 Having suitable ways of correcting students’ mistakes:

Language teachers can encourage their students to speak by helpingthem establish positive attitudes towards speaking errors (Hsu, 2001) Teacherscan explain to students that making mistakes while speaking the language isacceptable not only because everyone makes mistakes, but also because that

is an inevitable part of language learning Mistake correction is necessary buthow and when to correct is more important

Teachers should select the right time to correct students’ errors, preferably atthe end of their speech as suggested by the student respondents in this study, notstop them when they are speaking

Teachers should also avoid overcorrection (correct every single errorproduced by students) The problem with correcting everything is that majormistakes and minor mistakes all get lumped together It is not helpful to thelearning process The best way is to offer students correct linguistic feedbackthrough modeling (e.g by repeating what the student has just said but with thecorrect grammar)

For example, when doing Activity 2 (Speaking- Unit 7: Cultural diversity- Tiếng Anh 10 Tập 2 )

Student A: I think the more interesting thing about the UK is that the bride should wear something old.

Student B : Do you? I think It is unlucky to walk under a letter is more interesting

I can correct student A’s mistake by asking “ A, The more intersting or the most interesting?”

Or teachers can take notes, then write common errors on the board at theend of the activities and ask who can correct them To do so, it helps avoid

embarrassing the student who made the error Another effective way is to introducepeer correction so that students might feel less threatened This helps promote safeatmosphere for students and enables them to assist each other in correcting errors.

3.5 Using communicative games:

Games are activities that can help teachers to create contexts in whichlanguage is useful and meaningful Games help students reduce stress, which aretruly beneficial to teachers in motivating students Games can be played at theopening stages of lessons or at the production phrase or whenever students feeltired after long time of learning, they will draw more attention to the lesson withlower stress

There is a variety of language games to use in the classroom, such aswordsearch, crossword, hangman, etc Based on the aims of each lesson, I choose

an appropriate type of game to help my students learn speaking skill the mosteffectively

Example 1: Using game “Speech chain” when teaching Activity 2 Speaking

-Unit 3: Music- Tiếng Anh 10 tập 1.

The aim of the task is that: each group of students will be able to share some information about the TV show they like to other groups.

Organization: in rows Time: 15 minutes

We plan to produce a TV show called: “ Cooking like your mum”

+ Student 2 must repeat the sentence that student 1 told him, and say something new about this topic

ex: (Student 3):

We plan to produce a TV show called: “ Cooking like your mum” It’s a reality TV show for mums and son or daughter who love cooking It’s on on Sunday evenings from 7.45 to 8.45

ex: (Student 4):

We plan to produce a TV show called: “ Cooking like your mum” It’s a reality TV show for mums and son or daughter who love cooking.

It’s on on Sunday evenings from 7.45 to 8.45 Winning the show the

winner will get a 4-day trip to Danang for 2 people.

- Teacher should count the number of sentences students can remember and continue until a student makes a mistake or forgets the previous sentence When a student makes a mistake or forgets, a new speech chain starts again with another student This can be made more motivating by setting a limit and then rewarding all the class if they reach that goal.

Example 2: Using game “Role-play” when teaching Activity 3- Speaking-

Unit 10: Ecotourism- Tiếng Anh 10 Tập 2.

The aim of the task is that: students will be able to ask and answer questions about one ecotourism destination in Vietnam.

Organization: whole class Time: 10 minutes

+When was it found/ built?

+What interesting things can we find there?

+ What is the fee for visiting?

+ Are people there hospitable?

+ What will visitors do there?

After applying games to the speaking lessons, most of my students said thatthey liked the relaxed atmosphere, the competitiveness, and the motivation thatgames brought to the classroom And they seem to learn more quickly and retainthe learned materials better in a stress-free and comfortable environment

3.6 Using visual aids:

In the communicative approach, visual aids are very important both inteaching and organizing the classroom because they make students draw attention

to the lesson, arouse their interest in it and create the good learning atmosphereduring the lesson In addition, through visual aids, learners can enjoy themselves,release stress and have an open mind to learn and perceive the words Englishspeaking lessons will become more lively, natural and stimulating

Visual aids can be the teacher themselves, the blackboard, real objects orPictures, diagrams, charts, tables,

Example 1: When teaching Activity 1- Speaking- Unit 1: Family life – Tiếng Anh

10 tập 1.

I download pictures about kinds of household chores on the Internet at home At the beginning of the lesson, I show these pictures for students to guess what type of chores they are Through these pictures, students can talk about which chores they like doing and which they dislike

a, b, _ c, _