USING DISCUSSION ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE THE EFL STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS AT DONG NAI TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Lê Thị Hạnh USING DISCUSSION ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE THE EFL STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS AT DONG NAI TECHNOLOGY U

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Lê Thị Hạnh

USING DISCUSSION ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE THE EFL STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS AT DONG NAI TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

MA THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

HANOI, 2019

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Lê Thị Hạnh

USING DISCUSSION ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE THE EFL STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS AT DONG NAI TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

Field: English Language Code: 8220201

Supervisor: Bùi Thị Thục Quyên, Ph.D

HANOI, 2019

DECLARATION BY AUTHOR

I, Lê Thị Hạnh, certify that the thesis “Using Discussion Activities to

Improve the EFL Students’ speaking skills at Dong Nai Technology University”

is entirely my own work, in my own words and I am the sole author of this

thesis All sources used in researching it are fully acknowledged and all

quotations properly identified I confirm that this thesis has not been submitted

for any other degrees

The research reported in this thesis was approved by Graduate Academy

of Social Sciences

Author’s Signature

Lê Thị Hạnh

Approved by SUPERVISOR

Bùi Thị Thục Quyên, Ph.D

Date:………

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Although only one name appears as the author of this work, writing a thesis is indeed a collaborative effort I would like to express my sincere thanks

to the many people who made it possible

First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my M.A thesis’s supervisor, Bùi Thị Thục Quyên, Ph.D for all of her encouragement, timely guidance and useful comments

I would like to convey my sincere appreciation and thanks to Mr Đặng Nguyên Giang, Ph.D and the staff of the Department of Foreign Languages, Graduate Academy of Social Sciences for granting me the honor of writing this thesis as well as their assistance and most valuable supports

I also would like to express my colleague and my students to help me with valuable data for the study

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my beloved family and friends who always support me during the progress of conducting and finishing this thesis

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page DECLARATION BY AUTHOR

1.4 Significance of the study

1.5 Scope of the study

1.6 Research methods

1.7 Structure of the study

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Speaking skill

2.1.1 Definition of speaking

2.1.2 The importance of speaking

2.1.2 Problems with speaking activity

2.2 Characteristics of a successful speaking activity

2.4.1 Oral tests

2.4.2 Speaking proficiency testing criteria

2.5 Motivation

2.5.1 Definitions

2.5.2 Types of motivation in language learning

2.5.3 Factors affecting motivation in foreign language learning

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

4.1 Survey questionnaire 1: Student’s motivation in learning English

4.1.3 Students' difficulties in learning speaking English

4.1.4 Students' preferences for types of discussion activities

4.2 Survey questionnaire 2: Student’s attitude toward discussion

activities after implementation the action

4.2.1 Level of interest in learning speaking lessons

4.2.2 Students' attitude in speaking lessons

4.3 Class Observation Findings

4.4 Students' speaking proficiency

4.4.1 Results of Pre-test

4.4.2 Results of Post-test 1

4.4.3 Results of Post-test 2

4.5 Reflection

4.5.1 Reflection after Cycle 1

4.5.1 Reflection after Cycle 1

Appendix 1: Survey questionnaires

Appendix 2: Class observation sheet

Appendix 4: Speaking band descriptors

Appendix 5: Lesson plans

ABSTRACT

The study was written based on the research done by the writer as a teacher

at Dong Nai Technology University The study was carried out by using discussion activities with two aims They are: (1) to investigate the EFL students’ attitudes towards discussion activities in their speaking classes and (2)

to evaluate the effectiveness of discussion activities applied to English speaking skill teaching and learning

The subjects participating in the research were 25 students (Elementary Level) from many Faculties of Dong Nai Technology University To achieve the desired aims of the study, action research was used as the method to carry out the study

Classroom observation and survey questionnaires were used to measure the students' motivation level before and after the implementation Besides, to clearly see the change in students' speaking proficiency after applying discussion activities in speaking lessons, oral tests were also used as a data collection technique

The results of the study show that discussion activities helped increase most

of the students’ motivation in speaking lessons In addition, the findings of the study also reveal that after using discussion activities in speaking lessons, some

of the students could improve their scores in the post-test Although there was not too much change, it was proved that discussion activities played a certain

role in improving the students' speaking proficiency

LISTS OF FIGURES

Figure 3.1 Kemmis and McTaggart's action research spiral 28 Figure 4.1 Students' levels of interest in English speaking lessons 38 and discussion activities

Figure 4.2 Students' difficulties in learning speaking English 40 Figure 4.3 Students' preferences for types of discussion activities 41

LISTS OF TABLES

Table 2.1 Students' oral evaluation criteria 15

Table 2.2.a Oral Proficiency Scoring Categories Grammar 16 Table 2.2.b Oral Proficiency Scoring Categories Vocabulary 17 Table 2.2.c Oral Proficiency Scoring Categories Comprehension 17 Table 2.2.d Oral Proficiency Scoring Categories Fluency 18 Table 2.2.e Oral Proficiency Scoring Categories Pronunciation 18 Table 2.2.f Oral Proficiency Scoring Categories Task 19 Table 3.1 The schedule of the action implementation 32 Table 4.1 Students’ speaking opportunities during speaking lessons 39 Table 4.2 Students' level of interest in learning speaking lessons 42

Table 4.3 Students' feelings in speaking lessons 43 Table 4.5 Overall class motivation scores for all students 45

Table 4.6.b Results of students' speaking performance in the pre-test 49

Table 4.7.b Results of students' speaking performance in the post-test 1 52

Table 4.8.b Results of students' speaking performance in the post-test 1 55

LISTS OF ABBREVIATION USED IN THE THESIS

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

DNTU: Dong Nai Technology University

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

It is clear that speaking is one of the most important skills among other foreign language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) Even when learners are good at vocabulary, grammar or listening they still cannot speak well With the mission “to become an applied university, to train quality human resources in order to meet the needs of socio-economic development and international integration” (from www.dntu.edu.vn), English is one of priority subjects at Dong Nai Technology University

As a teacher at Dong Nai Technology University, I found that speaking is

so hard for non-native English Foreign Language students The teacher also noticed that they did not know how speak English well and they were embarrassed to practice And they are always afraid of making mistakes in speaking English and keep silence during the lessons So, how to stimulate them to be active in the speaking classes is a difficult question to answer To find the answer to this question, it is necessary to investigate what motivates and de-motivates students in English learning in general and in speaking in particular

For the mentioned reasons, I would like to conduct a study on “Using Discussion Activities to Improve the EFL Students’ Speaking Skills At Dong Nai Technology University (DNTU)” The study is to investigate what motivates and de-motivates students in English speaking learning

1.2 Aims of the Study

The aim of the study is to improve the EFL students’ English speaking

skill at Dong Nai Technology University

In order to achieve the aims, the study is expected to achieve the following objectives:

- Investigating the EFL students’ attitudes towards discussion activities in their speaking classes

- Evaluating the effectiveness of discussion activities applied to English speaking skill teaching and learning

1.4 Significance of the Study

In particular, the researcher expects that students will be able to improve their speaking skill by using discussion activities and the teacher will develop her teaching methods in speaking class for other classes In general, the results

of the study is hoped to be useful for other teachers and help other teachers to enrich their teaching method in speaking classes

1.5 Scope of the Study

There is so many discussion activities can be used in speaking classrooms Due to the limitation of time and human resources, this study only attempts to

do research on random samples of 25 students at DNTU in Dong Nai with two types of discussion activities: comparing and ideals from the central theme The students are non-English majored students The study is conducted in the second semester of academic year 2018- 2019 with 2 months The study focuses on examining the effectiveness of using discussion activities in increasing motivation in learning speaking skill and exploring how much discussion activities can increase speaking proficiency of the students

1.6 Research Methods

In order to achieve the aims, action research procedures are used in the study The data will be collected via survey questionnaires, class observations, and oral tests

1.7 Structure of the Study

In addition to the references and appendices, the thesis is composed of five chapters:

Chapter one: Introduction - presents the rationale, the aims, the significance, the scope, and the organization of the study

Chapter two: Literature Review - provides a theoretical basis for the study,

and the review previous researches on using discussion activities to promote students’ motivation in learning speaking

Chapter three Methodology - includes the methods and procedures used in the

study, which consist of survey questionnaires, classroom observation and tests

Chapter four: Findings and Discussions - deal with the findings drawn out

from the analysis of data

Chapter five: Conclusion- draws some the conclusions of major findings,

recommendations, limitations for the study, and suggestions for further studies

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Speaking Skill

2.1.1 Definition of speaking

There are plenty of definitions of the word “speaking” that have been given by many researchers in language learning According to Chaney (1988, p.13), speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the use verbal and non-verbal symbols in a variety of contexts

Scott (1978, p.18) states that “speaking can be typified as an activity involving two or more people in which the participants are both hearers and speakers having to react to what they hear and make their contribution.” The hearers and listeners are required to reflex the information that they have heard and contribute their ideals

In 1976, Byrne (p.8) claimed that speaking is a two-way process between the speaker(s) and the listener(s) involving the productive skill of speaking and the receptive skill of understanding In the two-way process, speaking requires speaker(s) having productive skill to encode the message and listener(s) having receptive skill to decode the message

Brown (1983) also noted that speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information

Speaking skill is defined as “the range of exercise types and activities with

a communication approach is unlimited, provided that such exercises and activities enable learners to attain the communicative objectives of the curriculum, engage learners in communication and require the use of such communicative processes as information sharing, negotiation of meaning, and interaction” (Richard and Rodgers, 1986: 165)

To summarize, different researchers have different definitions of the word

“speaking”, however, they all agree with one very important feature of

speaking Speaking is one of the most important skills of all the four language skills because individuals who learn a language are referred to as the speakers

of that language (Ur, 1996)

2.1.2 The Importance of Speaking

Among the four skills in English (speaking, listening, writing, and reading), speaking skill is one of four skills in English (speaking, listening, writing, and reading) which plays an important part in helping learners learn a language effectively Flohr and Paesler (2006) points out that speaking skill is the most important one in learning a foreign language Flohr and Paesler (2006) also emphasize that "the focus in learning a foreign language is on communication activities and expressive abilities and the goal is to become a fluent speaker."

Pattison (1992) confirms that when people know or learn a language, they mean being able to speak the language More than this, speaking is regarded as the first step to confirm who knows or does not know a language

Ur (1996) shows that people who knows a language are referred to as

“speaker” of that language as if speaking included all other kinds of knowing According to Brown, G and Yule, G (1992) point out that speaking plays

an ever important role in a very transactional intention, that is, to make clear what they want to say

To many language learners “mastering the art of speaking is the single most important aspect of learning a second language or foreign language, and success is measured in terms of ability to carry out a conversation in the language” (Nunan, 1991, p 39) It can be inferred from Nunan’s view point that speaking is a very important skill among the four basic ones Therefore, having dealt with the importance of oral skills in language teaching and learning is essential that language teachers should pay more attention to teaching speaking skills In order to carry out many of the most basic

transactions, it is necessary for learners to speak with confidence

In conclusion, as Efrizal (2012) Pourhosein Gilakjani (2016) claimed that speaking is of great significance for the people interaction where they speak everywhere and every day Speaking is the way of communicating ideas and messages orally For those all above conceptions of importance of speaking, it is necessary for students to learn speaking skill

2.1.3 Problems with speaking activity

There are so many problem that English learners may get such as lack of vocabulary, not good at grammar or not confident to practice,… All factors effect to learners in speaking and their respond And it is not easy to be master for EFL students to speak English Ur (1996) points out some common problems existing in practicing speaking activities:

Inhibition

Learners often have a shy a nervous feeling while speaking, especially in front of class or other people; they worried about making mistake, fearful of losing face, criticism Unlike reading, writing or listening activities, speaking requires some degree of real-time exposure to an audience EFL students are often inhibited about trying to say things in a foreign language in the classroom: worried about mistakes or simply shy of the attention that their speech attracts

Nothing to say

When learners do not have anything to say due to the lack of knowledge and low language proficiency or no motive to express themselves beyond the guilty feeling Even if they are not inhibited, you often hear learners complain that they cannot think of anything to say They have no motive to express themselves beyond the guilty feeling that they should be speaking

Low or uneven participation

When only a few participants dominate discussion at a time in a large

group meanwhile others speak little or not at all In some cases, some students have not any chance, intentionally or unintentionally, to speak for a long time Only one participant can talk at a time if he or she is to be heard In a large group this means that each one will have only very little talking time This problem is compounded by the tendency of some learners to dominate while others speak very little or not at all

Mother tongue use

Learners often share the same mother tongue and abuse it in second language learning class because they feel the native language is easier to use and it is not natural to speak to other in a foreign language In classes where all, or a number of, the learners share the same mother tongue, they may tend

to use it because it is easier In addition, they feel unnatural to speak to one another in a foreign language and they feel less ‘exposed’ if they are speaking their mother tongue If they are talking in small groups it can be quite difficult

to get some classes, particularly the less disciplined or motivated ones, to keep to the target language

In conclusion, speaking is considered as one of the most challenging skills

in learning any foreign languages Therefore preparing activities for speaking class, teachers should pay much attention to above problems, so that the speaking activities will be successful and useful to students

2.2 Characteristics of a Successful Speaking Activity

There are four main characteristics of a successful speaking activity, which are introduced by Ur (1996)

Learners have to talk a lot As much as possible of the period time

allotted to the activity is in fact occupied by learner talk This may seem obvious, but often most time is taken up with the teacher and talk and pauses

In other words in successful speaking tasks, the students talk a lot in the foreign language One common problem in speaking activities is that students

often produce one or two simple utterances in the foreign language and spend the rest of the time chatting in their native language Another common problem is that the teacher talks too much of the time, thus taking away valuable practice time from the students

Participation is even It is the fact that classroom discussion is not

dominated by a minority of talkative participants: all get a chance to speak and contributions are fairly evenly distributed Whether the task takes place among the whole class or in small groups, a successful task should encourage speaking from as many different students as possible The task should be designed in a way so that the outspoken students do not dominate discussions When necessary, the teacher may interfere to guarantee equal opportunities for students of different levels

Motivation is high It means learners are eager to speak because they are

interested in the topic and have something new to say about it, or because they want to contribute to achieving a task objective Research has shown that motivation is one of the most important variables in successful language learning Teachers can do a lot to increase and maintain the motivation of students by the types of tasks that they organize in class Students are eager to speak, when the topic is interesting or there is a clear objective that must be reached Again, great care should be taken to make sure the task is in line with the students' ability to deal with the task If the task is too easy, the students may think it is childish and thus lose interest

Language is of an acceptable level Learners express themselves in

utterances that are relevant, easily comprehensible to each other and of an acceptable level of language accuracy In a successful speaking task, the language is at the right level The task must be designed so that students can complete the task successfully with language that they have If the students lack too much vocabulary, the task will become frustrating and the students

are likely to give up or revert to the native language

In practice, however, few classroom activities succeed in satisfying all the criteria mentioned above Therefore, language teachers should make great efforts to employ a variety of effective techniques to create some of the mentioned-above criteria The two discussion activities applied in this study - comparing and layout problems, can help increase students' participation in speaking tasks, and language used in these activities is of an acceptable level because it is based on what they have learned in the lessons

2.3 Discussion

2.3.1 Definition of Discussion

According to Byrne D (1980) defines discussion as “any exchange of ideas and opinions either on a class basic, with the teacher as mediator, or within the context of the group, with the students talking among themselves” Gulley (1960, p 4) states that discussion occurs when a group with group orientation purposefully interacts orally for enlightenment or policy-determination If the aim is enlightenment, members systematically define, analyze, and exchange information When the end is problem solving, members systematically define, analyze, evaluate possible solutions, and attempt to agree upon a high quality decision to which all or the majority will

be committed

Regarding to the language teaching, Brown (2001) claimed that discussion

is one of the techniques used in language teaching Furthermore, in teaching speaking or teaching oral communication, discussion belongs to one of the activities to promote teaching speaking in the classroom (Kayi, 2006)

In short, discussion is one kind of speaking activities which students have

a chance to express their ideas in front of their partners

2.3.2 Types of Discussion Activities

There are many discussion activities which has been used; however,

focusing on task-centred discussions Ur (1981, p 25) suggests that the activities should be divided into three sections - brainstorming, organizing, and compound

2.3.2.1 Brainstorming Activities

Brainstorming is the techniques whereby members of the group let loose a hail of possible solutions or suggestions, in random order as they occur to them There are some common activities as the following ones:

● Guessing Games

Guessing is one of the simplest and most well-known brainstorming activities that exist, and is very easily transformed into a group discussion game There are always two sides, called here the 'knower(s)' and the 'guesser(s)' The guessing game lends itself to use by classes whose English is comparatively limited, since it is based on the simplest types of utterances: simple questions or statements, brief phrases, single words

● Finding connections

The thinking basis here is the search for common denominators or links between different items Unlike guessing games, these activities are unsuitable for the very earliest stages language learning; they can be used only with students who have a wide enough vocabulary to cope with the very extensive imaginative invention required, and who have a reasonable mastery

of the tense system

● Ideas from a central theme

This in a way is the converse of the process of finding connections Instead of the students being given elements and looking for a common base, the base is given and related elements sought The language needed may be very simple, hence some variations of this exercise are suitable for elementary levels

● Implications and interpretation

It is really a slightly more sophisticated version of Ideas from a central theme

It consists of exploring the implications and interpretations of a more or less ambiguous stimulus, which may take the form of an imaginary situation, a picture, a noise, or a doodle The language may be relatively simple, but it is not limited to specific structures or vocabulary

2.3.2.2 Organizing Activities

● Comparing

These exercises are based on contrast and analogy: that is to say, they require students to discuss and define differences and similarities between various elements in order to carry out a task of classification As regards language input, advanced students need no preparation for these activities whereas elementary ones should be familiar with some certain expressions used in comparing

● Detecting differences

Also based on contrast and analogy, these exercises are, however, slightly different from those just described The material does not consist of a collection of simple discrete items, but of compound, sometimes complicated, stimuli: pictures, descriptions, stories Two, or possibly three, such stimuli are given to the students in such a way that not observe all of them simultaneously: they have to detect differences by remembering what has been said before or by comparing someone else's version with their own

● Putting in order

This task requires students to evaluate connected pieces of evidence and recognize causal, temporal or professional relationships between them The group is given several pictures, sentences or passages and asked to put them into some sort of logical order The picture-sequence exercise is more appropriate for younger or more elementary classes while the

sentence-sequence for older or more advanced ones

● Priorities

A specific application of the concept of ordering is that of defining priorities The language used consists mostly of comparisons, and lower-level classes may benefit from a little practice in comparative and superlative constructions beforehand

● Choosing candidates

This is another exercise which requires assessment and comparison, but here participants are asked to choose only one item for a certain purpose Many different language functions may be needed and the number of different structures needed is correspondingly large

● Layout problems

These are exercises involving some preliminary reading, and are suitable for mature, advanced students The basic procedure is similar to that of choosing candidates

● Combined versions

This activity begins rather like picture differences, but here texts are used instead of pictures, and the identification of differences is only the preliminary The main task before students is to compare the different variations and decide which is right, on the basis of common sense and consistency

2.3.2.3 Compounding Activities

● Composing letters

The task is to compose appropriate responses to letters that are in some way provocative: advising, insulting, appealing, complaining, threatening - anything, in fact, which stimulates a reaction from the recipient Such letters are not hard to prepare, no specific set of language items need preparation, and also the organization of this exercise is very simple

● Debates

There are some limitations and disadvantages of the conventional class debate

as a vehicle for fluency practice: the limited scope of its subjects, and the relative lack of participation However, many students particularly the more adult and intellectual enjoy this kind of discussion because the skills of oratory and dialectics are learner and exercised in a debate better than anywhere else

● Surveys

Most students are familiar with opinion polls or surveys, so they are easily adapted for use in this type of discussion In order for this to be done in the classroom, the sources of information or the population samples to be taken are limited to the actual members of the class

● Planning projects

Some discussion activities are often used in speaking class at DNTU They are guessing games, layout problems, debate or detecting differences The two discussion activities used in this study are comparing and ideals from the central theme The students were supposed to work in small groups and then discuss with the whole class The first activity is comparing which may have some disadvantages including the relative lack of participation Therefore, to increase students' involvement in the activities, the researcher - teacher divided that her class into at least 6 groups This activity is suitable for the students whose low level at English Moreover, holding the character

of the students the researcher chose the activities because the students can

prepare at the class only

2.4 Assessing Speaking Skill

2.4.1 Oral Tests

Sárosdy (2006, p.146) states that "testing speaking ability is an important aspect of language testing, but it is very difficult to test, as it is a complex skill, moreover speaking skills cannot be separated from the listening skills in many tests of oral production This interdependence of the speaking and listening skills makes it difficult to analyze precisely and reliably what is tested at any one time."

How to evaluate students' speaking ability is always a question of any teacher According to Sárosdy’s opinions, in term of oral production speaking

skills can no separate from listening skills

In term of oral testing, Asif (2011) claimed that there are three types of oral tests which are: monologue speaking, dialogue speaking, and multilogue speaking According to the author, a monologue (monolog) is implemented when the speaker speaks his or her thoughts aloud, directly addressing another character or speak to the audience, especially the former The author also states that dialogue speaking is the most common type of oral test which is used to test students' production dialog material In this type of speaking, hearing recitation of memorized dialogues was the most often used And the last types of oral test is multilogue speaking In this type, there should be picture description or discussion on any topic

2.4.2 Speaking Proficiency Testing Criteria

According to Ur (1996, p 135), students' oral speaking ability should be marked based on the two criteria: fluency and accuracy as followings:

Little or no language produced 1 Little or no communication 1

Poor vocabulary, mistakes in

basic grammar, may have very

strong foreign accent

2 Very hesitant and brief utterances, sometimes difficult

to understand

2

Adequate but not rich

vocabulary, makes obvious

grammar mistakes, slight

foreign accent

3 Gets ideas across, but hesitantly and briefly

3

Good range of vocabulary,

occasional grammar slips,

slight foreign accent

4 Effective communication in short turns

4

Wide vocabulary appropriately

used, virtually no grammar

mistakes, native-like or slight

foreign accent

communication, uses long turns

5

Total score out of 10:

Table 2.1 Students' oral evaluation criteria

Furthermore, according to Brown (2004, pp.172-173), there are six components usually used to analyze speech performance, they are grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, pronunciation and task The band score

of oral proficiency scoring categories in speaking skill can be seen on the tables below:

Score Proficiency Description

1

Errors in grammar are frequent, but speaker can be

understood by a native speaker used to dealing with

foreigners attempting to speak his language

2 Can usually handle elementary constructions quite accurately

but does not have thorough or confident control of the

grammar

3

Control of grammar is good, able to speak the language with

sufficient structural accuracy to participate effectively in most formal and informal conversations on practical, social, and professional topics

4

Able to use the language accurately on all levels normally pertinent to professional needs Errors in grammar are quite rare

5 Equivalent to that of an educated native speaker

Table 2.2.a Oral Proficiency Scoring Categories Grammar

Score Proficiency Description

4

Can understand and participate in any conversation

within the range of his experience with a high degree of precision

of vocabulary

5

Speech on all levels is fully accepted by educate native speakers in all its features including breadth of vocabulary and idioms, colloquialisms, and pertinent cultural references

Table 2.2.b Oral Proficiency Scoring Categories Vocabulary

Score Proficiency Description

1

Within the scope of his very limited language experience, can

understand simple questions and statements if delivered with slowed speech, repetition, or paraphrase

2 Can get the gist of most conversations of non-technical subjects (i.e., topics that require no specialized knowledge)

3 Comprehension is quite complete at a normal rate of speech

4 Can understand any conversation within the range of his experience

5 Equivalent to that of an educated native speaker

Table 2.2.c Oral Proficiency Scoring Categories Comprehension

1 No specific fluency description refer to other four language areas

for implied level of fluency)

2

Can handle with confidence but not with facility most social

situations, including introductions and casual conversations about current events, as well as work, family and autobiographical

information

3

Can discuss particular interest of competence with reasonable

ease Rarely has to grope for words

4

Able to use the language fluently on all levels normally pertinent

to professional needs Can participate in any conversation within the range of this experience with a high degree of fluency

5

Has complete fluency in the language such that his speech is

fully accepted by educated native speakers

Table 2.2.d Oral Proficiency Scoring Categories Fluency

Score Proficiency Description

1 Errors in pronunciation are frequent but can be understood by a

native speaker used to dealing with foreigners attempting to speak his language

2 Accent is intelligible though often quite faulty

3 Errors never interfere with understanding and rarely disturb the native speaker Accent may be obviously foreign

4 Errors in pronunciation are quite rare

5 Equivalent to and fully accepted by educated native speakers

Table 2.2.e Oral Proficiency Scoring Categories Pronunciation

Score Proficiency Description

1

Can ask and answer questions on topics very familiar to him Able

to satisfy routine travel needs and minimum courtesy requirements (Should be able to order a simple meal, ask for shelter or lodging, ask and give simple directions, make purchases, and tell time)

5

Speaking proficiency equivalent to that of an educated native speaker

Table 2.2.f Oral Proficiency Scoring Categories Task

According to Kent (2001), some oral evaluation criteria are Fluency of speech, Grammar use, Listening comprehension, Pronunciation and Vocabulary appropriateness and complexity He also states that for each point

of evaluation, students are graded on a Likert-type scale (1: being poor, 2:

below average, 3: average, 4: above average, 5: excellent.)

It is also written in IELTS speaking band descriptors (published version) that students' English speaking proficiency should be evaluated on four criteria such as: fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy and pronunciation

In summary, there are many criteria to assess students' speaking proficiency However, to choose a suitable technique to assess speaking proficiency is part of the problem At Dong Nai Technology University, candidates are tested is based on IELTS speaking band descriptors (public versions) but it has been made suitable for the situation of teaching and learning English speaking there Particularly, it also has four criteria that are fluency and coherence, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation Each criterion will be given mark with 2.5 points Therefore, the maximum score for the test is 10.0 points in accordance with marking scale required by the University (see Appendix 4)

2.5 Motivation

Motivation in foreign language learning plays an important role Recently, motivation has become a familiar term in learning language There are also classifications and important factors affect students’ motivation

extent to which the individual works or strives to learn the language because

of a desire to do so and the satisfaction experienced in the activity

Crookes and Schmidt (1991) defined motivation is in terms of learner's interest in and enthusiasm for the teaching method used in class, their active participation or constancy with the learning task as indicated by levels of concentration and enjoyment Learning process can only make sense if students enjoy activities and work hard

According to Gardner (1985, pp.50-51), motivation involves four aspects:

a goal, effortful behaviour, a desire to attain the goal and favourable attitudes towards the activity, and motivation is a diffuse concept and is often tied to other factors that influence the energy and direction of behavior factor such as interest, need, value, attitude, aspiration, and incentives

In summary, from the definitions of the above researchers, motivation is one of important factors to encourage students in learning a foreign language

2.5.2 Types of Motivation in Language Learning

There are many types of motivation in language learning, however, this research only focus on the main ones The most popular classification of motivation has been made in cognitive terms as whether it is internal or external to the learner In this respect, according to Dornyei (2001a, p 27) intrinsic motivation is to do with "behaviour performed for its own sake in order to experience pleasure and satisfaction" Concerning learning, it can be said that the stimulation for learning comes from the spirit of the students, hence, the teacher or instructor does not need to "manipulate" the students to study It is an inner desire of the students to fulfill a positive learning outcome Intrinsic motivation itself is goal related, therefore, it is independent of any kind of external value

Dornyei (2001a, p 27) also indicates that extrinsic motivation is about

"performing behaviour as a means to an end, that is, to receive some extrinsic

reward or to avoid punishment" This motivation arises from the use of external rewards such as food, praise, free time, money or points toward an activity These incentives are all external, in that they are separate from the

individual and the task

In short, intrinsically motivated people fulfill a task for an internal interest; meanwhile extrinsically motivated people accomplish an activity because of

As the authority in the class, whether a teacher supports autonomous study in the class or not is very important A teacher who offers learners options and choices of learning tasks and allows learners to have the right to make decisions in the learning process will enhance learners' sense of

self-determination and their intrinsic learning motivation

The teaching and learning conditions

The teaching and learning conditions can be divided into two main parts which are physical conditions and classroom atmosphere Physical conditions

in the classroom, including the classroom size, chairs, desks, tables, lights, boards and even bulletin boards, affect learners' motivation either positively

or negatively In addition, it should be noticed that the classroom is not only a psychological but also physical environment Therefore, posters, flowers or funny objects can have a strong influence on the classroom atmosphere

Besides, classroom atmosphere also plays an important part in the process

of learning It is the teacher's task to create a pleasant and supportive classroom atmosphere A number of various components contribute to make

up the ideal classroom climate such as teacher's rapport with students, students' relationship with each other and the norm of tolerance; which helps students feel safe and comfortable to take risks

In short, learners' roles, teachers' duty, and teaching and learning conditions have great influence on students' motivation in learning a foreign language in general and in speaking skill in particular

the study After implementing the action, she claimed that most of her students showed their interest in the role-play activities and their speaking skill had been improved significantly

Honang Adi Ryyanto (2015) did a research on "Improve speaking skill through speaking discussion” There were 3 aims of the research The first is

to describe the procedure of implementation of small group discussion to improve the students’ speaking skill for third grade of Vocational Secondary School Pancasila Salatiga The second is to find out whether there is improvement of students’ speaking skill through small group discussion or not And the last is to find out to what the extent the use of small group discussion improve the students‘ speaking skill The research method that is used in this research is classroom action research The subjects of the research were 14 students in third grade at Vocational Secondary School Pancasila Salatiga The researcher uses two cycles; each cycle consists of planning, action, observation and reflection The result of his research shows that there

is an improvement of students’ speaking skill using small group discussion technique It can be seen from T-Test calculation in cycle 1 is 5.91 and cycle 2

is 6.31 And also the increasing percentage of the oral test from cycle 1 to cycle 2 with the standardized score (the minimum of passing criteria) is 75, at the cycle 1 is 57.14 % students and 78.58 % in the cycle 2 who pass in oral test The increasing of oral test from cycle 1 to cycle 2 is 21.44 % This indicates that by applying small group discussion technique, the students’ speaking skill can be improved

In addition, Phạm Thanh Mai (2007) did research on group discussion and its impacts on speaking ability of the EFL students in Military Science Academy To make the research study more reliable she divided the 16 selected students randomly into four groups, all of whom are at the same language level Besides distributing two questionnaires before and after the

implementation of the study, the researcher carefully recorded group work and individual presentations on a weekly basis for a period of two-month study The results of the study show that group discussion has great impact on speaking ability of the students Most of them found that their speaking ability had been improved after working in group discussion

For those researches mentioned above, it is clear that discussion activities are very important in improving speaking skill Moreover, the teacher is facing with non - majored students’ attitude in participating speaking lessons, therefore, she want to do this research to motivate students in learning speaking English lessons as well as their speaking proficiency

2.7 Chapter Summary

In this chapter, the research reviewed main theory which related to the research In the first part, the author reviewed definitions of speaking skills, the importance of speaking, problems with speaking activity, and characteristics of a successful speaking activity The next part is about definition of discussion, types of discussion activities In addition, how to assessing speaking skill was reviewed in the next part with definition of oral test and speaking proficiency testing criteria The last part, which was mentioned in this chapter, is motivation with definition of motivation and types of motivation in language learning

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents a review of methodology of the study It describes in detail the research design, the setting and subjects, the procedures, and the instruments

3.1 Research Design

In order to conduct the study, classroom action research was used According to Dick (2002), action research is a natural way of acting and researching at the same time It is a form of self-reflective inquiry that can be utilized by teachers in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own practices, their understanding of these practices, and the situations in which these practices are carried out (Carr & Kemmis, 1983) It was effective to use this method because this study dealt with classroom setting Furthermore, action research is proved to have a lot of benefits to education According to Gay & Airasian (2003), when applying this method, teachers can investigate their own practice in new ways, looking deeper in what they and their students actually do and fail to do; teachers can develop a deeper understanding of students, the teacher learning process and their role in the education of both teachers and students; in most cases, solutions for identified problems are arrived cooperatively among teachers; teachers are viewed as equal partners in deciding what works best and what needs improvement in their classroom or classrooms

Therefore, by using this design in implementing the discussion activities

in teaching speaking in the researcher's specific class, the researcher hopes to find out good method to improve students’ motivation and increase the students’ speaking proficiency

According to Kemmis and McTaggart (2000, p 564), the following figure illustrated an action research's cycles which the author used in the study

Figure 3.1 Kemmis and McTaggart's action research spiral

According to these authors, each action research cycle should involve:

- planning a change

- acting and observing the process and consequences of the change

- reflecting on these processes and consequences and then replanning for the next cycle

Particularly, this study underwent the following steps:

● Conducting preliminary investigation

● Planning the action

● Implementing the action

● Observing the action

● Reflecting the action

3.2 Setting and Subjects of the Study

The study was conducted at Foreign Languages Center - DNTU, located

at Nguyen Khuyen Street, Trang Dai Ward, Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai In order

to meet the needs of socio-economic development and international integration, English is a compulsory subject at the university At DNTU, there

are 5 modules (General English 1, General English 2, General English 3, General English 4, General English 5) that students have to pass before learning their English for Specific Purposes.

General English 2 is the course of this study and the book named Idiscover 2 (Elementary Level) from Express Publishing is course book This book has 3 units including 3 topics: Home and away, Come rain or shine, Life

in the past The book focuses on four skills with 45 periods; however the data for the study was collected during 5 speaking lessons By the end of the course students are expected to be able to communicate in English at Elementary level as the detail:

 Applying comparative structures, using prepositions to indicate the place, and verbs of defect in conversation and writing

 Know how to compare places, buy tickets, request / give advice

 Describe the ongoing activity, give suggestions, describe pictures, and apply fluently to the conversations, descriptive articles

 How to describe places and memories in childhood

 Talk about your favorite movies and express your feelings

In order to collect the data for the study, 25 students were randomly chosen to participate in the study Most of the students are fresh-man and just some of them are the second - year students who just finishes Level A1 at English This module lasts 10 weeks with 45 periods, 4 periods each week, 40 minutes each period

The teacher as well as the researcher, she is 30 year- old with 8 - year experience She works for International Relations Department, however she usually teaches at night Besides, the researcher also invited another teacher

of DNTU to take part in examining the students' speaking proficiency through

the oral tests, and take part in overall class observation during the five lessons

of the implementation the action He has at least three-year teaching experience at the university He has good knowledge of English as well as the knowledge the subject matter, and has taken part in examining students' speaking proficiency

3.3 Research Procedures

Preliminary investigation was carried out before the action to measure level of the students' motivation and their speaking proficiency Basing on Kemmis and McTaggart's model (2000, p 564), the researcher implemented the action through the four steps - planning, implementing, observation, and reflection Moreover, due to the limited time, the researcher just could conduct the action through 2 cycles with 5 lessons of English speaking classes

The following is schedule which the researcher followed to implement the action:

Delivering survey questionnaire 1 to students

22/11/2018 Places Students work in group -

Using discussion activity

to compare places (city and countryside)

Observation - invited teacher Used discussion activities:

Comparing, Ideals from the central theme

29/11/2018 Transportation Find out means of

transportation and their convenience

Observation - invited teacher Used discussion activities:

Comparing, Ideals from the central theme

06/12/2019 Shopping

time

Students working in groups to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the place for shopping

Observation - invited teacher Used discussion activities:

Comparing, Ideals from the central theme

27/12/2018 Midterm Test - Speaking test

- Delivering survey questionnaire 2 to students

Examiners: Invited teacher

03/01/2019 Weekend

market

Students find out differences between kinds of market at page

26 -27

Observation - invited teacher Used discussion activities:

Comparing, Ideals from the central theme

17/01/2019 Last vacation Discuss in group about

the things that people

Observation - invited teacher