A survey on the role of native speaker on learning english speaking for young learners at a foreign language centre in ha noi

***************** DƯƠNG THỊ MINH HẰNG A SURVEY ON THE ROLE OF NATIVE SPEAKERS ON LEARNING ENGLISH SPEAKING FOR YOUNG LEARNERS AT A FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTRE IN HA NOI KHẢO SÁT VỀ VAI TR

*****************

DƯƠNG THỊ MINH HẰNG

A SURVEY ON THE ROLE OF NATIVE SPEAKERS ON LEARNING ENGLISH SPEAKING FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

AT A FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTRE IN HA NOI

(KHẢO SÁT VỀ VAI TRÒ CỦA NGƯỜI BẢN ĐỊA TRONG VIỆC HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH CHO TRẺ EM TẠI MỘT TRUNG TÂM NGOẠI NGỮ TẠI HÀ NỘI)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01

Hanoi – 2019

*****************

DƯƠNG THỊ MINH HẰNG

A SURVEY ON THE ROLE OF NATIVE SPEAKERS ON LEARNING ENGLISH SPEAKING FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

AT A FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTRE IN HA NOI

(KHẢO SÁT VỀ VAI TRÒ CỦA NGƯỜI BẢN ĐỊA TRONG VIỆC HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH CHO TRẺ EM TẠI MỘT TRUNG TÂM NGOẠI NGỮ TẠI HÀ NỘI)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01

Supervisor : Dr Mai Thị Loan

Hanoi – 2019

University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi is my own work Documented references have been fully provided I have not submitted this thesis for assessment in any other training

institutions

Hanoi, 2019

Duong Thi Minh Hang

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my special and sincere thanks to my supervisor,

Ms Mai Thi Loan, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported

me through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher

I also want to express my profound gratitude to all the doctors, lecturers and staff members of the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies, University of Foreign Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their valuable lectures and useful advice that is of a great help for

me to fulfill the thesis

I would also like to send my deep sense of thanks to all the native and non-native English teachers and 50 students at the Clever School English Centre for their cooperation and the valuable information they provided in my research field Without their passionate participation and input, the validation survey could not have been successfully conducted

My sincere thanks also go to many writers whose ideas are useful hints for the development of this thesis

Last but not least, I must express my very profound gratitude to my family members and to my friends for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of researching and writing this thesis This accomplishment would not have been possible without them

ABSTRACT

This research aims at exploring the roles of native speakers for young learners on learning English speaking at the Clever School English Center The primary purpose of the study is an attempt to examine the impact of native speakers for young learners in speaking lessons and find out effectively teaching methods of native speakers in speaking lessons In order to achieve the aim of the study, the author used the survey questionnaire and class observation as instruments to collect the data The results of the data analysis indicate that native speakers play a very important role because they take part

in the roles of excellent organizers, good motivators, gentle participants and feedback providers in speaking lessons The students also participated in the speaking lessons eagerly and excitedly but the interaction in English among them was still limited In addition, the findings of the research suggested native speakers some teaching methods to teach young learners to speak English better as well as some equipment improvements supporting native speakers in teaching

NESTs Native English speaking teachers

NNESTs Non-native English speaking teachers

TESOL Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages TEYLT Teaching English to Young Learners and Teenagers TOEIC Test of English for International Communication TOEFL Test Of English as a Foreign Language

TPR Total Physical Response

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

ABSTRACT v

ABBREVIATIONS vi

LIST OF FIGURES ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Review of previous studies 5

2.1.1 Previous studies overseas 5

2.1.2 Previous studies in Viet Nam 7

2.1.3 Summary 8

2.2 Review of theoretical background 8

2.2.1 Speaking 8

2.2.2 Native speakers 14

2.2.3 Young learners 17

2.3 Summary 22

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 23

3.1 Restatement of research questions 23

3.2 The setting of the study 23

3.3 Participants 25

3.4 Data collection instruments 26

3.4.1 Questionnaire 26

3.4.2 Class observation of the author 26

3.5 Data collection procedures 27

2.6 Analysis of data 27

3.7 Summary 28

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDING 29

4.1 Data analysis 29

4.1.1 Questionnaire for the students 29

4.1.2 Class observation sheet 33

4.2 Some major findings and discussions 36

4.2.1 The current situation of English speaking lessons with native speakers of young learners 36

4.2.2 The role of native speakers for young learners at the center to speak English 39

4.3 Possible solutions to improve the roles of native speakers in English speaking learning of young learners 41

4.3.1 Reinforcing the teaching method quality of native English teachers 41

4.3.2 Investing more equipment and facilities for a more convenient classroom 41

4.3.3 Motivating the younger learners‘ speaking awareness 41

4.4 Summary 42

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 43

1 Recapitulation 43

2 Concluding remarks 43

2.1 What is the current situation of English speaking lessons of native speakers for young learners at the center? 43

2.2 What are the roles of native speakers for young learners at the center to speak English? 44

2.3 What should be done to improve the role of English native speakers in teaching English speaking skills for young learners at the Center? 45

3 Limitations and suggestion for the further studies 46

REFERENCES 47 APPENDIX I APPENDIX 1: I APPENDIX 2: IV

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3.1: The reality of English speaking teaching lessons 29 Figure 3.2: The roles of native teachers in speaking lessons 30 Finger 3.3: The favorite activities in speaking lessons by native speakers 32 Finger 3.4: The favorite topics during speaking lesson by native speakers 33

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

English is more and more important and Hoang (2018) confirmed that the ability to communicate in English has become a passport to a better job not only in the tourism and hospitality industries but in many other enterprises also so English is taught in schools, in universities and in evening foreign language centers across the country in Viet Nam and there are now more teachers and students of English than of any other subjects Although speaking skill is regarded one of the most difficult aspects of language learning, many language learners find it difficult to express themselves in spoken language And one of the best ways to improve English speaking skill

is learning English as early as possible With that trend, more and more parents seek and choose a suitable English center for their children to study English when they are at the age of kindergarten level and one of the most attractive factors attracting these parents is native teacher Native teachers are considered to be one of the most crucial elements affecting the success of students learning English speaking

According to Hoang (2018), ― Various English centres, public and private, have been established and a large number of foreign and joint venture language schools, language centers of universities, professional associations, government agencies, socio-economic organizations and private enterprises which teach English and use it as the medium of communication have been set up throughout Vietnam‖ Beside the presence of some famous centers such as the British Council, the American Apollo, the Cambridge International Examinations, and the American TOEFL and TOEIC, several private English-medium schools have been established chiefly in big cities in

Vietnam, attracting a considerable number of children from the rich families Thanks to the efforts made by them, English in Vietnam has been developed faster and the quality of English teaching and learning has been increasingly improved However, the real quality as well as the role of native speakers at these medium centers haven‘t been fully studied

Clever School English Centre is a small English center in Thanh Tri,

Ha Noi After more than 10-years of establishment and development, this center has been chosen and trusted by hundreds of parents and children due to the professional and experienced English teachers However, the real quality

of native teachers at the center in helping students learning English speaking has not met their requirements A lot of young learners here get troubles in speaking English and for the above reasons, the author decided to choose the topic ―A survey of the role of native speaker on learning English speaking for young learners at a foreign language center in Hanoi‖ in the hope of helping students improve learning English speaking

2 Aims and objectives of the study

The study aims at investigating the role of native-speakers on learning English speaking for young learners at the Clever School English Centre This overall aim was specified into the following objectives:

- Investigating the current situation of English speaking lessons of young learners with native speakers at the center

- Finding out the role of native speakers for young learners to speak English of at the Centre

- Proposing some solutions to improve the role of native speakers for young learners to learn English speaking at the center

3 Research questions

In order to achieve the above aims, the following research questions are suggested:

- What is the current situation of English speaking lessons of young learners with native speakers at the center?

- What are the roles of native speakers to young learners at the center to speak English?

- What should be done to improve the role of English native speakers in teaching English speaking skills for young learners at the Center?

4 Scope of the study

The study was conducted at the Clever English Center It attempted to investigate the issues and problems that arise from fifty young learners in speaking class with five native speakers as well as finding out how the native speakers affected on learning English speaking of young learners at the Center From above findings, the recommendations for improving the role of English native speakers in teaching English speaking skills for young learners

at the Center were employed

5 Method of the study

Both qualitative and quantitative methods were chosen for this study in order to achieve the tasks mentioned above A survey questionnaire was designed for 50 young learners; this is considered as the main instrument to find out the current status of English speaking teaching lessons of native speakers for young learners at the center Besides, qualitative method was conducted with classroom observations which aimed to assess the roles of native speakers in teaching performance on speaking skill This was a necessary step for the researcher to double – check what was happening in speaking lessons After all, the data was collected, sorted, and analyzed quantitatively data to obtain realized results

To end with, from the collected data, the recommendations for improving the role of English native speakers in teaching English speaking skills for young learners at the Center were drawn out

6 Significance of the study

It is supposed that the study will contribute more understanding on the roles of native speakers both theoretically and practically The first point is that the study will investigate the current situation of English speaking lessons

of native speakers for young learners as well as the effects of them at the medium English center From that, the findings of the study will be shared among English teaching centers and some positives solutions helping young learners to speak English well will be applied Especially, the findings will be

used as a data base for further study

7 Structure of the research

The study is organized three parts as follows:

Chapter 1, INTRODUCTION, presents rationale, objectives, research questions, scope, methods, significance, and design of the study

Chapter 2, LITERATURE REVIEW, presents a review of literature and theoretical background and related studies

Chapter 3, METHODOLOGY, introduces the research context and methodology of the study including the context, the subject, the data collection instruments, data collection procedure, and data analysis

Chapter 4, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION, gives a detailed presentation

of data and detailed description of data analysis This focuses on presenting, analyzing and discussing the results obtained from the study based on the survey questionnaire and class observation Besides, the chapter also presents some discussion and interpretations of the findings of the study, and then gives possible suggestions for native speakers, young learners and managing board of the center

Chapter 5, CONCLUSION, offers a summary of the key findings, implications, limitations, and future directions for further study

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this section, previously conducted researches in the detail fields of the role of native speakers for English learners as well as will be presented and discussed This must be done in order to place the thesis in the context relevant to the research which will be conducted Furthermore, it will provide the readers with some basic knowledge of the background and present state of this field of research

2.1 Review of previous studies

The topic of NESTs and NNSTs has been received interests and attentions of many researchers and studies This part briefly reviews some studies relating my thesis in both Viet Nam and Overseas

2.1.1 Previous studies overseas

In this part, the researcher shows that the studies conducted in some countries where English is taught as a foreign language They are the studies

by Dr Ismet SAHIN (2005), Yuko Goto Butler (2007), Rahmila Murtiana

(2011), Omar Al-Nawrasy (2013)

Dr Ismet SAHIN (2005) investigated the effect of native speaker teachers of English on the attitudes and success of EFL learners in Turkish setting The results based the analyzed questionnaires confirmed that the learners who were exposed to native speaker teachers of English had more positive attitudes towards target language community and were more successful in English lessons compared to those who were not exposed to any native speaker teachers of English However, the study did not make clear the EFL learners were young or old

Yuko Goto Butler (2007) aimed to identify perceptional factors that

native speakers were the ideal language teacher This study focused on

Japanese elementary school teachers who had been asked to introduce English activities in their classes Based on a detailed questionnaire, the study found their self-assessed English proficiency levels, their attitudes towards nonstandard forms of English, and their sense of pride in their own language and cultural heritage However, it is unclear to what extent the present study‘s findings can be applied to other teaching contexts

Rahmila Murtiana (2011) aimed to investigate the students‘ perceptions

of native speaker teachers (NST) and non-native speaker teachers (NNST) To collect the data, the researcher developed a set of questionnaire and from the data analysis, it revealed that the students had positive attitude toward both native speaker and non-native speaker teachers However, the students also encountered some problems during the learning process with both native and non-native teachers Thereby, the writer attempted to put forward several ideas related to teacher education and professional development, expecting that non-native teachers would be able to make the most of their potentials The study only focused on the perceptions of students of NSTs and NNSTs at

a university in Indonesia for learning English language in general

Omar Al-Nawrasy (2013) investigated the effect of the native English language teachers in comparison with nonnative English language teachers on the tenth grade students‘ achievement in speaking skills The instrument of the study was a speaking test implemented at the end of term one of the academic year 2008/2009 The findings revealed that there was no significant difference among students‘ overall speaking achievement test scores and the author confirmed that a trained, proficient and kind teacher who enjoyed his/her job would be effective and popular with students, regardless where they were from However, the study only focused on the students in the public schools where exposure to English was limited to few hours per week, and where chances to speak communicatively were also limited

As we know, different research method and different research context result in different findings And we can recognize that there are many factors affecting English speaking skill and native teacher is one of the most important factors helping the learners learn to speak English well However, the roles of native speakers for young learners in learning speaking English at private centers have not been fully mentioned yet

2.1.2 Previous studies in Viet Nam

The students‘ perception of NESTs and NNESTs is not a new area with researchers in the world as well as in Viet Nam Some domestic studies have been selected and discussed here:

Walkinshaw and Duong (2012) had a paper examining a common belief that learners of English as a foreign language prefer to learn English from native-speaker teachers rather than non-native speakers of English In addition, it investigated the relative value ascribed by Vietnamese EFL students to native and non-native speakers compared with other professional, personal, pedagogical, cultural and linguistic qualities that are the hallmark of

a competent language teacher However the limitation of the study was that the data were collected from tertiary institutions only

Le Pham Hoai Huong ( 2013) discussed the game activities that were used in primary English classes in a center in a city in Vietnam Video recording the classes and interviewing the teachers showed that various play activities, for example, bingo, miming, hangman, and TPR (Total Physical Response) activities were employed in these classes The paper reported the findings of a small scale study which could not be generalized Under those circumstances, the suggestions were also offered regarding kinds of game activities to be employed and how to use them to target certain skills and language areas in primary English classes Different from that, the roles of teachers in the center were not made clear NESTs and NNESTs

Tuan, N H., & Mai, T N (2015) investigated the problems that the

students at a public High School experienced in speaking lessons and the factors affecting their speaking performance The research instruments used in this study were questionnaires and class observation As the results, the study indicated that the students faced many problems in learning speaking English

at a high school and one of the most important factors is because of NNESTs

On the contrary, the recommendations of the research did not include the suggestions that native teachers should be hired to teach English at school to improve the students‘ attitude and motivation as well their pronunciation

To put in a nutshell, the author mentioned the above domestic studies aiming that NESTs are better than NNESTs at teaching speaking skill and game activities in primary English classes are needed

2.1.3 Summary

In the light of the studies above, we may conclude that native speaker teachers have an effect on students‘ attitudes and motivation If their effect is positive, they can contribute to their students‘ achievement, in a way Some gaps, notwithstanding, have not been filled up to meet our curiosity on native speaker teachers on teaching speaking skill In this thesis, the author will hopefully fill out the crucial role of native teachers for younger learners at English private center on teaching speaking skill

2.2 Review of theoretical background

2.2.1 Speaking

1.2.1.1 Definition of speaking

There are a lot of definitions of the word ―speaking‖ that have been suggested by the researchers in language learning In Webster New World Dictionary, speaking is to say words orally, to communicate as by talking, to make a request, and to make a speech (Nunan, 1995) According to Chaney

(1998), speaking is the process of making and sharing meaning by using verbal and non-verbal symbols in different contexts Brown (1994) and Burns and Joyce (1997) defined speaking as an interactive process of making meaning that includes producing, receiving, and processing information Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including the participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical environment, and the purposes for speaking It is often spontaneous, open-ended, and evolving However, speech is not always unpredictable Language functions (or patterns) that tend to recur in certain discourse situations (e.g., declining an invitation or requesting time off from work), can be identified and charted (Burns & Joyce, 1997) Speaking requires that learners not only know how to produce specific points of language such as grammar,

pronunciation, or vocabulary (linguistic competence), but also that they understand when, why, and in what ways to produce language (sociolinguistic competence) Finally, if students want to be able to speak fluently in

English, they need to be able pronounce phonemes correctly, use appropriate stress and intonation patterns and speak in connected speech (Harmer, J 2007)

To put it simply, the author think that speaking as an interactive process

of making meaning that includes producing, receiving, and processing information suitably in a defining context For an effectively English speaking lesson, students need to speak fluently and correctly in English It must be remembered that the interaction between teacher and students and students with students is the key point to decide how effective the English speaking lesson is

1.2.1.2 Classroom speaking activities

According to Turk, Christopher (1985), speaking process includes three

main steps in speaking class as followings:

Pre speaking

Pre speaking begins before students actually speak It also provides opportunities for students to plan and organize for speaking Some purposes fro pre- speaking are that students generate and explore ideas for speaking topics through activities Moreover, pre speaking focus learners‘ attention to speaking The stage is to do with raising metacognitive awareness of students about speaking It has two main purposes: to encourage learners to a speaking development and prepare learners to approach a specific speaking task in a lesson by the teacher In addition, the teacher prepares students for the actual speaking activity and asks them to do some language awareness activities such as vocabulary/grammar related to asking and giving directions

While speaking

The purpose of real communication is to accomplish a task, such as conveying a telephone message, obtaining information, or expressing an opinion Authentic communication involves an information gap; each participant has information that the other does not have In addition, to achieve their purpose, participants may have to clarify their meaning or ask for confirmation of their own understanding To create classroom speaking activities that will develop communicative competence, instructors need to incorporate a purpose and an information gap and allow for multiple forms

of expression Instructors need to combine structured output activities, which allow for error correction and increased accuracy, with communicative output activities that give students opportunities to practice language use more freely

Post-speaking

Following speaking experiences, both formal and informal, it is important to have students reflect upon their performance because students

who have opportunities to reflect upon their speaking experience grow in their abilities to speak effectively Additionally, post-speaking activities serve to set goals for improvement When students reflect upon their performance, they begin to recognize what they have done well and where they require improvement ln discussing or developing criteria for assessing a variety of speaking experiences, both teachers and peers may be invited to comment Peers may comment through a structure similar to a writing conference and may give oral feedback, written feedback, or a combination of the two Conferences may be guided by specific questions determined by the teacher

or may take the form of conversation between peers

And during these above steps, a number of widely-used categories of speaking activity should be implemented in the classroom by teacher and students ( Hammer, 2007) These activities include acting from a script, communication games, discussion, Prepared talks, questionnaires, simulation and role-play

*Acting from a scrip: The teacher can ask the students to act out scenes from plays and/or their course books, sometimes filming the results Students will often act out dialogues they have written themselves

* Communication games: There are many communication games, all of which aim to get students talking as quickly and fluently as possible Two particular categories are worth mentioning here: information-gap games and television and radio games

*Discussion: this ranges from highly formal, whole-group staged events to informal small-group interactions which include Buzz groups, Instant comment, Formal debates, Unplanned discussion and Reaching a consensus Each of discussion has their own benefit

*Prepared talks: One popular kind of activity is the prepared talk, where a student (or students) makes a presentation on a topic of their own choice Such talks are not designed for informal spontaneous conversation; because they are prepared, they are more 'writing-like' than this However, if possible, students should speak from notes rather than from a script

*Questionnaires: Questionnaires are useful because, by being planned, they ensure that both questioner and respondent have something

pre-to say pre-to each other Depending upon how tightly design they are, they may well encourage the natural use of certain repetitive language patterns – and thus can be situated in the middle of our communication continuum Students can design questionnaires on any topic that is appropriate As they do so, the teacher can act as a resource, helping them in the design process The results obtained to questionnaires can then form the basis for written work, discussions or prepared talks

*Simulation and role-play: This activity can be used to encourage general oral fluency or to train students for specific situations, especially where they are studying English for specific purposes (ESP).When students are doing simulations and role-plays, they need to know exactly what the situation is, and they need to be given enough information about the background for them to function properly Of course, we will allow them to

be as creative as possible, but if they have almost no information, they may find this very difficult to do

Among the above activities mentioned by Hammer (2007), communication games, discussion, prepared talks, questionnaires, simulation and role-play are regularly used in the English speaking classrooms but how

often the teachers organize them and how effectively they use them we will explore in the case of this study

Generally speaking, the author supposes that three steps such as speaking, while-speaking and post-speaking must be followed but whether they are effective or not totally depends on the classroom speaking activities between teacher and students

pre-1.2.1.3 Factors that cause speaking difficulties to EFL learners

According to Ur (1996), there are many factors that cause difficulty in speaking, and they are inhibition, lack of topical knowledge, low participation, and mother-tongue use

Inhibition is the first problem that students encounter in class When they want to say something in the classroom they are sometimes inhibited They are worried about making mistakes and fearful of criticism

The second problem is that learners complain that they cannot remember anything to say and they do not have any motivation to express themselves

The third problem in the speaking class is that the participation is very low In a class with a large number of students, each student will have very little time for talking because just one student talks at a time and the other students try to hear him/her In the speaking class, some learners dominate the whole class while others talk very little or never speak

The last problem related to the speaking ability is that when some learners share the same mother-tongue, they try to use it in the speaking class because it is very easy for them

With the general view, Hammer (2007) showed three main important

factors causing students‘ difficulty They are students' personalities, What the teacher does, Creating successful classrooms and Behavior norms

Students' personalities are closely bound up with their levels of

esteem - how they feel about themselves and what level of comfort and confidence they are experiencing Self- esteem is influenced by a large number of factors such as students' experiences in their families, learning expectations and approval which a student's self-esteem may result partly from the way the teacher behaves

self-What the teacher does: A lot student will depend on how teachers,

behave in class If they do not - or if they see the teacher as unprepared and uncertain about what to do in their lessons - they are far more likely to lose interest and if they lose interest, their incentive to maintain their level of concentration is lessened, and if that happens, they are more likely to become disconnected with what is going on

Creating successful classrooms: Problem behavior rarely occurs in

successful language classrooms When students are engaged, have a reasonable level of self-esteem and are experiencing success, there is no incentive for them to behave badly, disrupt lessons or create barriers between themselves and their teacher or their peers Teachers need, then, to examine how they can try to ensure that the classroom is a success-oriented environment

In summary, the factors causing speaking difficulties to EFL learners come from student personality, teacher activities, learning environment

2.2.2 Native speakers

1.2.2.1 Definition

There are many different definitions of a native speaker by researchers The following definitions are presented to help the readers make clear who are native speakers

Bloomfield (1933) states that ―the first language a human being learns

to speak in their native language, they are a native speaker of this language‖

Moreover, McArthur (1992) takes up Bloomfield‘s early definition of a native speaker and says that it is ―a person who has spoken a certain language since early childhood‖

Cook (1999) adds that native speakers are even capable of producing new sentences that they have not heard before All these features can be seen with regard to pronunciation

According to Cambridge University Press (2009), a native speaker is someone who has spoken a particular language since he or she was a baby, rather than having learned it as a child or an adult

To sum up, a native speaker is a person who speaks the first language

as their mother tongue and does not change in any other languages when growing up Moreover, defining the native speaker becomes clear by referring

to the language identity and the use of language indicates who the speaker is

1.2.2.2 Roles of native speakers in teaching English speaking

From the point of view of Cook, V (1999), native speakers play the role of a pronunciation model and a language source in teaching language

According to Brown (2001), teacher can play many roles in the course of teaching such as a controller, a director, a manager, a facilitator, and a source

According to Harmer (2007) a teacher is like ―a gardener because he/she plants the seeds and watches them grow‖ Students are the field and the seed is seen as the knowledge planted by educators As a gardener takes very good care of the roses, flowers, waters them when necessary, the teacher also plays different roles in the lives of the students not only by planting knowledge in them but also acting as a model in the classroom and outside it with their personal lives In English language teaching classes,

teachers are expected to teach effectively, to guide students and to keep order in the classroom In order to achieve this quality, teachers should be encouraged to use their energy, knowledge along with motivation Thus, teachers should play various roles such as an organizer, a feedback provider, a prompter and participant

From above mentioned points of view, the author will only focus on some main roles of teachers which present native speakers‘ role in class clearly

The first role is that native teachers are the reliable source for students

to learn English vocabulary, grammar, and phonology Native English speakers do not have foreign accents Hence, talking with them can help young learners acquire the correct pronunciation of words More importantly, students also get to exercise their listening skills by engaging in a conversation with them Especially, talking with native speakers exposes students to the common terms they use in their country—i.e idioms, slangs, etc It expands their vocabulary and gives them a free lesson on how to use colloquialisms without sounding awkward

The second role is a participant that is when teachers participate in discussions not as teachers but as peers of second language learners With participation in students‘ activities, native teachers create naturally English speaking opportunities with students And when giving any task to the students, the teachers can actually do the task themselves so that they can anticipate the difficulties that the students might encounter and better equip them with the strategies for that task However, in such circumstances they have to be careful that they do not participate too much, thus dominating the speaking and drawing all the attention to them

According to Harmer ( 2007) the next role is a ―feedback provider‖ that teachers give feedback after the oral activity It is undeniably true that when native speakers realize students‘ wrong pronunciation or grammar, they will

provide more reliable and quicker correction than non- native teachers However, native teachers should be very careful when they give feedback since over-correction might hinder students‘ motivation to talk On the other hand, helpful and gentle correction may drive students to carry out the oral tasks with self-confidence which will in turn improve their speaking ability in particular situations

A crucial role of the teacher's job is organizing speaking activities and make sure that the students understand exactly what they are supposed to do This involves giving clear instructions and, where appropriate, demonstrating the activity with a student or students so that no one is in any doubt about what they should be doing The native speakers are well-known with game activities in lessons for kids and that is normally one

of attractions in learning with native speakers

In summary, the roles which are mentioned above are necessary for teachers in English class and in this thesis, the author will focus more on the roles from the view of Hammer (2007) relating to native speakers

2.2.3 Young learners

1.2.3.1 Definition

There are many definitions of young learners They are the students who are studying at Elementary School in the age of 9-10 In other words, young learners are learners of primary school As Cameron‘s (2001) point of view, young learners are defined as ―learner aged between five and twelve years old, so the young learner‘s age is in elementary school‖ Young learners are also the students who learn English at Elementary School within 5 years, and they are at from grade four to grade 6 It can be said that young learners are learners who are 7-15 years old They are studying English as their second language at Senior High School There are many factors, such as culture, environment, gender, friends and parent‘s expectations that have the impact

on the maturity of young learners Therefore, the native teachers need to

understand those differences and give suitable kinds of pronunciation activities for the young students

Basically, the opinions on the age of young learners may be different but the author suggests that young learners should be at the age of the levels

of kindergarten, elementary and the secondary grade

1.2.3.2 Characteristics of young learners\

Regarding learning foreign language, the characteristics of young learners are mentioned by many famous linguistics such as Sadler (1974); Cameron (2001), Brown (2001), Scott (1990) and Mustafa (2003), Pinter (2006) and Hammer (2007) In this study, the author firstly focused the main characteristics mentioned by Hammer (2007) and teachers should know to teach them effectively These characteristics include as followings:

- They respond to meaning even if they do not understand individual words: In other words, learning will come from the real experience from the children‘s life

- They often learn indirectly rather than directly - that is they take in information from all sides, learning from everything around them rather than only focusing on the precise topic they are being taught

- Their understanding comes not just from explanation, but also from what they see, hear and, crucially, have a chance to touch and interact with

- They find abstract concepts such as grammar rules difficult to grasp Therefore, teacher should avoid teaching abstract concepts and focus on concrete items that children understand and relate to In addition to, teacher can use media in delivering the materials in order that the students are able to understand easily

- They generally display an enthusiasm for learning and a curiosity about the world around them

- They have a need for individual attention and approval from the teacher

- They are keen to talk about themselves and respond well to learning that uses themselves and their own lives as main topics in the classroom This means that children have a tendency to relate what they are learning to what they are doing by themselves They love learning something having relation

to their daily life For this purpose teacher should be able to choose learning material related to their ‗world‘

In general, young learners have their own characteristics according to three levels which were mentioned above so teachers should consider them to prepare the speaking teaching lessons effectively and attractively

1.2.3.3 Essential principles of how to facilitate young learners learn English

as a foreign language

How to facilitate children learning English as a foreign language is another aspect that young learners‘ teachers should notice Hammer (2007) gave various and detail principles which were found in many famous experts‘ view such as Cameron 2001, Moon (2000) Mustafa (2003) and Shin (2007) and so on And their essential principles were proposed by as follows:

Use English more frequent to provide exposure to the language Young

learners need to be exposed to a variety of uses English around them, both spoken and written (Moon, 2000) To help students acquire English, the teachers should speak English from the beginning of each English lesson ( Slatery and Wills, 2001) Using English more frequent than young learners‘ native language does not only provide an element of indirect learning in that the children are not concentrating on learning what they are listening to but also the brain is processing it The other advantage is the English language used in the classroom confirms the idea that it is something they actually use

for real and not just something they do exercise and games in And another advantage is that it increases the amount of exposure the young learners get to the language

Use activity-based teaching-learning techniques (e.g TPR, games, objects) Learning language will be effective if teachers are able to choose

appropriate teaching- learning techniques to be implemented in their classroom There are various activities-based teaching-learning techniques that teachers can apply in teaching English such as TPR, games, object, and the like These techniques can help young learners to be active, enthusiastic, and motivated because those are fun enjoyable for them Total Physical Response (TPR) is effective method of introducing children to a foreign language It is based on the idea that the natural response to understanding a command is a physical response (Mustafa, 2008) Regarding this Philips (2004) explains that TPR is a useful and adaptable teaching technique especially for primary students Philip Using this method, young learners can listen to their teacher telling them what to do and they do it In addition, this method can also give some enjoyment and fun for young learners

Another technique that teachers can apply in English classroom for young learners is games Games are so useful and so important It is not just because they are fun but partly because the fun element creates a desire to communicate and partly because games can create unpredictability Games are also effective opportunity for indirect learning (Halliwel, 1992)

Use various techniques for short periods of time It is important for

teachers to vary the types of learning activities since young learners lose interest more quickly (Cameron, 2001) Variety is the key and with the very young, lots of short, simple, activities are best suited to their attention span Keep the learning aims very simple and build in plenty of child-friendly

practice tasks to allow them to practice your target language again and again Providing them activities with lots of brightly colored visuals is one way to take their attention and to keep them engaged in activities Young learners usually only concentrate for short periods of time thus make sure that teachers stop or change activity when they are bored or restless This might be after only a few minutes

Focus on functional English for vocabulary development, and for immediate fulfillment of communicative needs of the learners With the

purpose of building students‘ vocabularies teachers should focus on language

function like, ‘what a beautiful day’, ‘May I borrow your pen?’, ‘Do you know what I mean?’ ‘What’s your hobby?’ etc Teachers should be able to

choose teaching strategy that help young learners figure out the meaning on their own In other words teachers should teach vocabularies in contextual meaning Besides, it is quite useful to teach vocabularies to young learners by repeating the words so that it will make them familiar with the vocabulary item

Reiterate often to ensure the acquisition of English In order to make

the students acquire the language in optimum way, the teacher should repeat the pronunciation of the words often He or she can reiterate the words in their context; so that students are able to recognize the context where the words more appropriately used It must be remembered that since teachers are probably the only model the young learners may be exposed to, teachers should improve their pronunciation if they have problem with it In addition, young learners need opportunities to use and repeat the new language that they are studying in order to have more the acquisition of the language

Provide useful, acquisition-promoting routines Young learners

function well within a structured environment and enjoy repetition of certain routines and activities Having basic routines in the classroom can help to

manage young learners (Shin, 2007) Young learners need to repeat language items many times to get them to ‗stick‘ so don't be afraid to repeat games or

do several different activities with the same language topic or set of words Young learners often love to repeat the same song or story as it gives them a sense of confidence and familiarity Routines also help children relax and not worry about being able to follow the sequences of events and activities in the classroom

Provide print-rich environment in English In order to create English

environment teachers should design condition that enables young learners to become accustomed to English words or sentences Teachers can put some prints such as the rules in the classroom, list of vocabularies, or pictures such

as the picture of part of body, picture of animals and the like in the classroom

By this way children will be familiar and have descriptions about those words

or pictures This can also make them memorize the words because they always see or read the words and pictures when they are in the classroom In addition, the words or pictures designed with colorful or interesting art will

attract students‘ interest and motivate them in learning

2.3 Summary

All the theoretical background of the research presented in this chapter aims to give a general view to the readers about definition of speaking, native speakers, young learners and review of previous studies from overseas and Vietnam In addition, the author also presents the details of these aspects such

as classroom speaking activities, factors that cause speaking difficulties, roles

of EFL/ESL teachers in teaching English speaking, characteristics of young learners, essential principles of how to facilitate young learners learn English

On the whole, the theoretical background is informative and clear for the author to continue with the research The next chapter will present the research methodology

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the research methodology of the present study will be introduced The study setting, the data collection and analysis procedures of the study will be described

3.1 Restatement of research questions

The current study aims at investigating the role of native speakers on learning English speaking for young learners at Clever School English Centre Therefore, the author attempts to find the answers for the following questions:

- What is the current situation of English speaking lessons of young learners with native speakers at the center?

- What are the roles of native speakers to young learners at the center to speak English?

- What should be done to improve the role of English native speakers in teaching English speaking skills for young learners at the Center?

3.2 The setting of the study

The center has got 24 teachers who are young, from the age of 25 to 38 with 1- 10 year teaching experience Among them, 7 full-time and 8 part-time non-native English teachers are hired there Moreover, most of them graduated from the famous universities in Vietnam such as Foreign Trade University, Vietnam National University, Hanoi - University of Language and International Studies, Hanoi National University of Education and etc They are well – trained and qualified, however, some of them are too young and still lack teaching experience These non-native English teachers are in charge

of 20 classes on teaching listening, reading, writing and language focus with 2 periods per week for each class Every year, they often attend training courses organized by the center to learn new English methods or how to raise the