The use of role play to improve speaking skill for students at grade 6 in a secondary school in nam tu liem dist , hanoi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES **************** TÔ THỊ HỒNG VÂN THE USE OF ROLE PLAY TO IMPROVE

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

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

TÔ THỊ HỒNG VÂN

THE USE OF ROLE PLAY TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILL FOR STUDENTS AT GRADE 6 IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL

IN NAM TU LIEM DIST., HANOI

(Việc sử dụng hoạt động đóng vai nhằm cải thiện kỹ năng nói cho học sinh khối lớp 6 tại một trường THCS ở Quận Nam Từ Liêm, Hà Nội)

M.A MINOR THESIS

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

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

TÔ THỊ HỒNG VÂN

THE USE OF ROLE PLAY TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILL FOR STUDENTS AT GRADE 6 IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL

IN NAM TU LIEM DIST., HANOI

(Việc sử dụng hoạt động đóng vai nhằm cải thiện kỹ năng nói cho học sinh khối lớp 6 tại một trường THCS ở Quận Nam Từ Liêm, Hà Nội)

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT

I certify my authority of the minor thesis entitled “The use of role play to improve speaking skill for students at grade 6 in a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem Dist., Hanoi” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts

Signature

To Thi Hong Van

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research thesis would not have been completed without the support of my supervisor, my lecturers, my colleagues, my students and my family members First of all, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Prof Nguyen Hoa whose expert guidance, vast knowledge of educational research and teaching experience greatly supported me during the time I carried out the thesis

I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all my lecturers

at the Department of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi Their sincere support and considerations have enabled me to finish the course

I would like to thank all the teachers and grade 6 students at a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem Dist., for their support and cooperation in helping me complete this thesis

Last but not least, my gratitude is extended to all members of my family for their love and encouragement during the time I carried out this study

ABSTRACT

In recent years, enhancing students’ oral communication is one of the fundamental goals of foreign language teaching Among different approaches to teaching and learning speaking, role play technique has received worldwide acceptance from researchers and educators for its many benefits to the learners In the reality, the teachers and grade 6 students in a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem Dist., have met many problems in teaching and learning English speaking In an attempt to improve speaking skill for grade 6 students, the researcher decided to carry out an action research with 40 students at class 6C, a secondary school in Nam

Tu Liem Dist., in 12 weeks Questionnaire and tests (pre-test and post-test) were used to explore student’s attitudes towards role play activities and its effectiveness The results of the study revealed that students’ speaking skill had been improved remarkably by using role play Most of the students had positive attitudes toward using role play activities in speaking lessons The students enjoyed doing role play activities in front of the class They became more confident and actively involved in speaking lessons The findings of the study showed that role play is an effective teaching technique which should be widely applied in teaching and learning English not only for grade 6 students but for students with different levels

Key words: role play, grade 6 students, improve speaking skill

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS vii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale of the research 1

1.2 Aims of the research 2

1.3 Research questions 2

1.4 Scope of the research 3

1.5 Method of the research 3

1.6 Significance of the research 3

1.7 Thesis organization 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1 Overview of speaking skills 4

2.1.1 Definition of speaking 4

2.1.2 Parts of speaking 5

2.1.3 Teaching speaking 6

2.1.4 A successful speaking lesson in a classroom 7

2.1.5 Strategies to improve speaking skills 8

2.1.6 Assessment of speaking 8

2.2 Role play 9

2.2.1 Definition of role play 9

2.2.2 The importance of using role play 10

2.2.3 Classification of role play 10

2.2.4 The significance of role play in teaching speaking 11

2.3 Related studies in Asia and Vietnam 12

2.4 Summary 13

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 14

3.1 Setting of the study 14

3.2 Research design 14

3.3 Action research procedure 15

3.4 Action research procedures of the current study 16

3.4.1 Stage 1: Identifying the problem and planning 16

3.4.2 Stage 2: Action – implementing the plan 18

3.4.3 Stage 3: Observing the action 19

3.4.4 Stage 4: Reflecting the action 19

3.5 Participants 20

3.6 Data collection method 20

3.6.1 Observation 20

3.6.2 Questionnaire and semi-structured interview 20

3.6.3 Pre-test and post-test 22

3.7 Data analysis 22

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 23

4.1 Preliminary investigation 23

4.2 Pre-test results 26

4.3 Findings of the study 29

4.3.1 Findings on the students’ speaking performance 29

4.3.2 Findings on the students’ self-confidence 30

4.3.3 Data analysis and findings from the students’ questionnaire 30

4.4 The tests 33

4.5 Discussion 35

4.6 Summary 35

CHAPTER 5 : CONCLUSIONS 36

5.1 Conclusion 36

5.2 Pedagogical implications 37

5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further studies 38

REFERENCES 39 APPENDICES I

APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS I PHỤ LỤC 1: PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT CHO HỌC SINH III APPENDIX 2: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS V PHỤ LỤC 2: PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT CHO HỌC SINH VII APPENDIX 3: THE QUESTIONS OF PRE-TEST IX APPENDIX 4: THE QUESTIONS OF POST-TEST X APPENDIX 5: THE FRAME OF HARRIS’S ORAL ENGLISH RATING SCALE XI

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

Table 1: Students’ attitudes towards speaking skill and role of learning

speaking skill 23

Chart 1: Students’ self-assessment towards their speaking competence level 24 Table 2: Students’ attitudes toward speaking materials 24

Table 3: Students’ difficulties in learning English speaking 25

Table 4: Teachers’ techniques to encourage students to speak and improve their English speaking skill 25

Table 5: Pre-test result 26

Table 6: Results of students’ speaking performance in pre-test 27

Table 7: Results of students’ speaking performance in cycle 29

Table 8: Results from survey questionnaire for students 31

Table 9: Results of tests 34

Chart 2: The improvement in the students’ speaking skill after using role play activities 34

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the research

When the world has been developing day by day, there is an urge requirement arising which is the necessary to have a worldwide accepted language to communicate At that time, English has become a global language because it is spoken by lots of people in many countries In non-native English-speaking countries, students have to spend more time to learn English as a compulsory subject at school for student It is because people who speak English fluently can access the world knowledge conveniently This trend also applies in Vietnam

Studying English requires learners to foster four skills, which are: listening, reading, writing, and speaking

Generally, each skill holds equal role for learners but speaking seems the most important (Penny Ur, 1996) However, Heriansyah (2012) states that speaking foreign language fluently is the most difficult thing to complete because it requires more than proficiency in grammatical and semantic rules

The author’s school as well as many other secondary schools in Vietnam has used the English curriculum regulated by the Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training The author has been teaching English for grade 6 In particular, the textbook of this grade has 12 units whose topics are completely different from each other and suitable for the level of students Each unit has 5 sections, which are: (i) reading, (ii) speaking, (iii) listening, (iv) writing and (v) language focus Time to teach and learn each section is 45 minutes; 3 periods per week for all language skills Thus, students don’t have much time to practise speaking With students at grade 6 in a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem Dist., speaking skill is very difficult for them Through the author’s observation, speaking ability of students is impacted

by several reasons The first problem is that students feel afraid if they make mistakes Thus, many students are not self-assured to say something and join the classroom activity The second problem that students have to face with is that they

do not have a sufficient range of vocabulary As a result, they have difficulty in

expressing their opinions when the teacher asks them to say what they think in English The third obstacle for students in learning speaking skill is that they do not have sufficient time to practice English because they only practice English at school and besides school time, they rarely use English in life

Furthermore, there is another factor that limits students in studying speaking skill, that is the method or the technique the teachers utilize The teacher often focuses on grammar so as to satisfy the exams’ requests The writer supposes that this factor contributes the most to the poor speaking skills of the students so it is essential to discover an alternative technique that attracts students The author is responsible for teaching grade 6 so taking class 6 as the research subject is highly practical In particular, the writer decides to use role play technique as the pilot project to improve students’ speaking skills Penny Ur stated that, “The use of role play has added a tremendous number of possibilities for communication practice” Role play is beneficial in teaching speaking skill for several reasons Firstly, students have chances to communicate with each other in other social circumstances Secondly, students are encouraged to perform as others for a short time so it helps to increase creativity when they do role play Finally, students can work in pairs and support each other so lesson becomes more attractive Hence, those are the reasons why the writer chooses role play technique

1.2 Aims of the research

The research has 2 following aims: (i) improving speaking skills of students at grade 6 at a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem Dist., through using role play strategy and (ii) investigating the students’ attitudes toward applying role play strategy in teaching and learning English

1.3 Research questions

The research should answer 2 following questions completely:

1 To what extent does role play improve the speaking skill of students at grade 6 at

a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem Dist., Hanoi?

2 What are the students’ attitudes toward applying role play in teaching and learning English ?

1.4 Scope of the research

The research concentrates on investigating how utilizing role play activities improves speaking skill of students at grade 6 at a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem Dist., Hanoi Due to time constraints and the length of the study, it has the participation of 40 grade 6 students from a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem Dist The study is conducted in 12 weeks with one cycle

1.5 Method of the research

Action research is utilized as the main method of the research

1.6 Significance of the research

This research is expected to benefit not only teachers and students at a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem, Hanoi but also teachers and students in other schools For teachers, they will be the direct beneficiary of the data and analysis from the study For students, the study supports them to solve their limits in speaking and improve their speaking skill

1.7 Thesis organization

This thesis has five chapters:

Chapter 1, Introduction, presents the rationale of the research, the aims and

objectives of the research, research questions, method of the research, and the significance of the research

Chapter 2, Literature Review, deals with some theoretical background that

is relevant to the aim of the research

Chapter 3, Research Methodology, presents the research design, setting and

subjects of the research, research procedures

Chapter 4, Findings and Discussion, provides with the findings of the study and

some explanations, and comments on these findings

Chapter 5, Conclusion, provides a summary of the thesis, shows restrictions and

proposes pedagogical implications and recommendations for further study

References and Appendices are shown on the final pages of the research

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter explores some theoretical background to the study Firstly, it gives an overview of speaking skills including definition of speaking skills, classification of speaking skills, assessment of speaking skills and activities to promote speaking skills is presented Also, this chapter presents definition of role play, classification of role play and procedures in applying role play, and significance of role play in teaching speaking skills The chapter has given the related studies in Asia and Vietnam

2.1 Overview of speaking skills

2.1.1 Definition of speaking

Researchers have proposed different definitions of speaking However, the common of all those definitions is that speaking implies speech It is widely accepted that speech plays an important role in human communication

In Oxford Dictionary of Current English (2009,p.414), speaking is defined as

“the action of conveying information or expressing one’s thoughts and feelings in speech”

Rhodry Jones (1989,p.14) states that “ speaking is a form of communication,

so it is important that what you say is conveyed in the most effective way How you say something can be as important as what you say in getting meaning across” It means that the speakers should think about things to say and how to say before they actually say something so that listeners can understand the message

According to Chaney and Burke (1998,p.13), speaking is “the process of buiding and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of context”

In case of language teaching, speaking is reviewed as one of the four essential language skills that learners should acquire In this viewpoint, Nunan (2003,p48) states that “ speaking is the productive oral skill It consists of producing systematic verbal utterance to convey meaning” Bygate (1987,p.3) supposes that, “Speaking is

a skill which deserves attention every bit as much as literary skills, in both first and

second language It is the skill which the students are frequently judged It is also the vehicle par excellent of social solidarity, of social ranking, of professional advancement and of business” He shows the significance of speaking skill, so learners should pay much attention to this skill

To sum up, there are different ways to define speaking It can be defined as an action, a process and a skill Most of the researchers emphasize the significance of speaking skill in language teaching

2.1.2 Parts of speaking

It is essential to combine different abilities such as (i) pronunciation, (ii) grammar, (iii) vocabulary, (iv) fluency, and (v) comprehension to develop speaking skills Each part of speaking abilities is required to grow at different level and analyzed as follows:

Harmer (2007) supposes the final purpose of the foreign language learners is

to join the words and create meaningful physical sound so that others can understand what they say Generally, students often have difficulty in differentiating the sounds in foreign language that do not have in their mother language

b Grammar

Grammar and vocabulary are the indispensable parts in learning language According to Cambridge English dictionary, “grammar is the use of rules about how words change their form and combine with other words to make sentences” Particularly

in speaking, if the students do not know grammar, they cannot even make a sentence that haves meaning, and then in turn, the listeners cannot understand what they think

Therefore, grammar is very important in learning English in general and speaking English in particular

c Vocabulary

According to Cambridge English dictionary, “vocabulary is all the words that exists in a particular language or subject” In term of classification, vocabulary can be single words, set phrases, variable phrases, phrasal verbs, and idioms It is coherent that conversation is mainly impossible without a sufficient range of vocabulary Therefore, vocabulary is important in speaking English

d Fluency

According to British Council (2016)1, “fluency in a language means speaking easily, reasonably quickly and without having to stop and pause a lot” It is easier for listeners to follow what students say when they speak fluently

e Comprehension

Comprehension is the ability to understand the subject or the knowledge appropriately in a context of conversation Comprehension is important because the purpose of learning foreign language is to communicate If comprehension is failed or speakers cannot understand each other, learning foreign language is a waste of time

2.1.3 Teaching speaking

Kayi (2006,p.1-2) states that language teachers guide students to (i) pronounce English sounds and sound patterns; (ii) apply words stress and sentence stress, have intonation patterns and rhythm of the foreign language; (iii) choose suitable words and phrase for the context ; (iv) organize their opinions in a comprehensive way, through the process of teaching speaking

2.1.3.1 Difficulties in teaching speaking skill

Ur (1996,p.121) states four problems in teaching speaking skills that teachers often come across They are:

1

British Countil 2016, Fluency, viewed 24 July 2019, <

https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/exams/speaking-exams/fluency>

 Hesitancy

The biggest difference between speaking skill and 3 other skills is the interaction between speakers Sometimes, because students are afraid of having mistakes, or embarrassed of the awareness that their speech creates so they hesitate

to talk

 Nothing to say

Sometimes, learners cannot think of anything to say

 Low or uneven participation

When learners work in group, some dominate the activity, while others do not say even a word

 First language use

In class, students seem to communicate by their first language because they are more familiar with the first than the second one Moreover, it is simple to talk out loud the first language because they do not have to think of what to say

2.1.3.2 Difficulties in learning speaking skills

Based on a survey of EFL teachers, the main limitations in the EFL classroom are to be short of motivation, students’ reluctance to speak, and the use of the first language It can be understood that in speaking class, it is quite challenging to make students talk The unwillingness to speak may be created by some factors: cultural factors, linguistic factors, psychological factors, or even lack of confidence of students

When students feel not confident to speak, teachers should help them build their self-confidence In sum, English teachers need to realize any issues that students might face with in class

2.1.4 A successful speaking lesson in a classroom

Ur (1996) supposes that to get an effective speaking session, the class needs to have 4 following factors:

 Students should be talkative;

 Adherence is even;

 Teachers raise high motivation for students;

 The foreign language level of students should be up to a standard

In summary, there are some elements of a successful speaking lesson However, it is quite difficult to apply all those elements in a real class Anyway, the teacher should bear in mind those factors to create the most suitable curriculum and learning environment for students

2.1.5 Strategies to improve speaking skills

Teachers can promote speaking in the class through a wide range of strategies Kayi (2006) states that teachers can organize some activities such as discussion, role play and picture description to improve speaking skills

Picture description

Four to five students work in a group and the teacher provides each group a unique picture Students talk about the picture within a group and then main ideas are noted After that a spoke person represents the group to deliver a presentation to the class The main advantage of this activity is that it helps to increase the creative power of the students

2.1.6 Assessment of speaking

As mentioned above, speaking is complex because it combines different abilities such as pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension

to develop speaking skills Each part of speaking abilities is required to grow at different level It is essential to have a benchmark to assess the speaking One of the most common benchmarks used worldwide is oral English rating scale conducted

by Harris (See Appendix 5)

2.2 Role play

2.2.1 Definition of role play

There are numerous definitions of role play from different researchers Listed below are some of the definitions of role play

According to Gower et-al (2005,p.105), “A role play is when students take the part of a particular person: a customer, a manager, a shop assistant, for example

As this person, they take part in a situation, acting out a conversation It is unscripted, although general ideas about what they are going to say might be prepared beforehand These might well come out of a text or a previous context” According to Paul Procter (2001, p.116), role is defined as the position or target someone has in a circumstance, corporation, society, or relation Paul Procter (2001, p.121) states that role play is an action simulating as someone else, especially in studying

Jo Budden (n.d.) supposes that any speaking activities when you pretend to be someone else, or when you pretend yourself in an imaginary circumstance

Ur (1996) states that, “Role play is giving students a suitable topic provides interest and subject – matter for discussion, dividing them into groups improve the amount and quality of the verbal interaction”

In summary, role play is a method in which the students pretend to be someone else or to be themselves in imaginative circumstances in real life Role play is beneficial for both teachers and students Through that technique, teachers can improve their teaching, make class more interesting, and inspire students On the other hand, students can practice and improve their speaking

as well as their reflexes or behavioral skills

2.2.2 The importance of using role play

Role play is an important technique that is used worldwide in teaching speaking P Nation and I Thomas (1988) suppose that teachers should organize role play activities for following reasons:

i.Role play stimulates students to approach other language tasks and language diversification

ii.Role play encourages students to discover new culture For example: students can learn how to make a payment when they go to supermarket

iii.Role play makes students more proactive because students involve more in the activities of speaking class

Within the thesis, role play was utilized because of some following reasons:

a Teachers can guide students how to communicate in some specific situations

b Students have more opportunities to practice speaking

c Shy students can become more proactive because when they act as someone else, it provides a mask for them and then they feel more confident to talk out loud

d Role play is exciting

2.2.3 Classification of role play

Donn Byrne (1986) states that there are two main forms of role play, which are: scripted and unscripted role play The main difference between those two types

of role play is the level of students’ dependence on the content of the textbook Scripted role play requires manipulating the conversation in the textbook or reading that out loud Unscripted role play does not require students to memorize the content from the textbook Students themselves have all the right to develop the conversation However, in order to do inscripted role play well, both teachers and students need to take time to prepare for the topic

Littlewood (1994) has different classification for role play activities based on the level of detail information given to students Therefore, Littlewood (1994) divides role play into 4 different types as follows:

 Role play based on given dialogues: Students receive cues on different cards to join this activity Each student need to listen to each other before giving a suitable answer The cues help them to forecast and to think about the key points to answer The teacher can also guide students some appropriate forms later However, the students must rely heavily on the cues in the cards so this type of activity limits the creativity of the students

 Role play based on cues and information: This type is more flexible than the previous one One person takes the cues to ask and the other takes information

to make a respond The teacher’s control decreases and the learners’ creativity increases These activities are emphasized on practicing how to communicate rather than on assessing the outcome This activity encourages the creativity of students, however, teachers can manage the conversation and guide students to communicate appropriately

 Role play based on situation and goals: In this type, teachers decrease their control gradually and students have more right to lead the conversation The first thing students need to master speaking is that students need to understand the situation and the target And then they need to lead the conversation to the target which is given already

 Role play based on debate and discussion: In this type of role play, students need to give a solution for an issue by debating or discussing Firstly, students must understand the topic clearly Secondly, students proceed the discussion or the debate

in a small group Every student in the group must give their opinion and give clues

to protect their point of view Finally, the solution is come out as the result of conflicts after the discussion or debate However, in order to do that type of role play effectively, students need to have a deep understanding about the topic They also need to have a wide range of vocabulary As long as, those elements are met, role play is successful

2.2.4 The significance of role play in teaching speaking

There is no doubt that role play plays an important role in language teaching Firstly, students can interact with their partners more Secondly, students can

improve other skills such as: communication skills, organizing kills, time management skills, presentation skills and so on Larsen- Freeman, D (1986, p.34) agrees that role play creates the environment for students to act in different roles by using foreign language Furthermore, when students pretend to be others or to be themselves in different situations, they have chances to practice how to give opinion about something, how to deal with some real life situations by using foreign language Therefore, role play tends to be the useful strategy in which students could use their English creatively

2.3 Related studies in Asia and Vietnam

In Asia countries like Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia, English speaking skill has caught much attention than before With the purpose of improving English speaking skills for students, most of teachers and researchers seemed to agree on the usefulness of utilizing role play in speaking teaching for students Bokja Cho (2007) examined the usefulness of two types of role play He aimed at improving oral skills for English learners at Department of Tourism Management at a private university

in Gyeonggi, Korea Krish Pramela (2001) also shared her experiences on teaching distance learner with role play at National University of Malaysia (Bangi, Malaysia) In another research in Indonesia, Arham R et al (2016) also found out that role play helps to encourage nursing students to speak English in the class Therefore, it can be concluded that role play is an useful method to improve students’ speaking skill

Similarly, in Vietnam in recent years, there are many researches in the area of teaching speaking, particularly in using role play In 2003, Bui Thi Minh Hong carried out a research on “Teaching speaking skill at a Vietnamese university and

recommendation for using CMC” She pointed out the students’ problems with

speaking and gave recommendation for using computer mediated communication to improve students’ speaking skill Tran Thi Thuy (2013) also used role play technique to improve speaking skills for post clerk students at a secondary school in Thai Nguyen Her study dealt with accuracy, fluency and motivation in speaking

skill In 2004, in the thesis "Improving speaking English skill of the grade 10 students at Thoai Ngoc Hau high school by using dialogs and role-play”, Mach Buu Hien (2004) examines the use of conversation and role-play The research also points out the process to conduct role-play activities, and some advantages to apply this activity in teaching speaking In 2012, Le Dinh Mai Thao conducted a research

on “Applying role-play in increasing student’ interest in learning speaking to grade

11 students at Lai Vung 2 high school” The aim of the research is to evaluate the

level of students’ interest in learning speaking English and role-play activity as

well This research also points out the restrictions for teachers to apply role-play in teaching speaking and suggests some suggestions to help teachers overcome those difficulties

Hence, it can be concluded that at the research time, most of the researches in Vietnam focus mainly on the subjects as students at colleges, universities, high schools but there is few research about this topic applying students in secondary school However, all of those researches can give the author the general theoretical framework to conduct the thesis Therefore, in this thesis, the author chooses different subject: students at grade 6 in a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem Dist., Hanoi

2.4 Summary

In summary, the literature review on role play provides proves of the positive impact of role play on students’ speaking skills Therefore, the use of role play is very necessary to help students improve their speaking skill in general

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter is conducted to present the research design, setting of study, action research procedures as well as data analysis method

3.1 Setting of the study

The research was performed at a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem District, Ha Noi At this school, students only learned and employed English in foreign language lesson as all other subjects were conducted in Vietnamese

The teaching materials used in this study are mainly developed from a textbook named “Tieng Anh 6” (new textbook) This textbook is designed to develop a more communicative approach, learner - centered learning, an emphasis

on oral skills and language for real-life communication The textbook aims at enabling students to establish their communicative skills in English with lessons covering four main skills including listening, speaking, reading and writing The textbook is theme-based in which language and the skills are structured on a certain topic The theme provides a context in which language is used so as to help students

to familiar with the appropriate language structures in different circumstances

The textbook “Tieng Anh 6” is designed at the suitable level with secondary students In this textbook, the objectives are clear for teachers and students to follow It provides the overview of the topics, structures/ grammar, functions, as well as skills It consists of 12 units, each unit has one topic In each unit, there are 5 sections of the language input which focus on reading skill, speaking skill, listening skill and writing skill, as well as language focus The section for speaking is taught after reading lesson The objectives of speaking lesson are to develop learners’ speaking skills on certain topic

3.2 Research design

The research design of this thesis was classroom action research Author used action research as the purpose of this thesis is examining the classroom setting as well as performing the teaching technique in a particular class to identify solutions for problems arising in teaching and learning English speaking

3.3 Action research procedure

There are different action research procedures proposed by previous researchers For example, Mac Isaac (1995) suggested the four steps AR procedure which is described in the figure 3.1 below:

Figure 3.1: Process of action research

Four steps of this model can be described in more detail as follow:

Step 1: Planning – The main purpose of this step is to identify a problem/ issue as well as develop action plan to enhance research context in particular areas

Step 2: Action – After a period of time, the plan is put into action

Step 3: Observation – Observing action effects and collecting data

Step 4: Reflection – Evaluating action effects and developing basis for further research cycles

Susan (1983), on the other hand suggested another five step model to be applied for each research cycle (as shown in Figure 3.2) The first step is to identify

problem and collect data to support a more detailed diagnosis The second step is to construct and implement a single action plan after considering several other possible solutions Next step is conducted by analysing collected data, which is followed by fourth step of interpreting findings and demonstrate how the action can be successfully implemented The final step is to re-assess the problem and begin another cycle of the process This procedure is re-done until the problem is completely solved

3.4 Action research procedures of the current study

The following part is to describe the procedure of current action research project

3.4.1 Stage 1: Identifying the problem and planning

3.4.1.1 Identifying the problem

Based on the previous teaching experience, observation, in class discussion of researcher and academic results of learners, low speaking skill is identify as main problem in English learning Thus, this skill was selected as main subject in this study

To examine the current situation of both teaching and learning English speaking, also as the grade 6 students’ main problems in learning speaking, the author conducted a preliminary study Based on the results from student’s survey, the author discovered that the learners faced many difficulties during the process of learning speaking such as: limited vocabulary, low self-confidence, inappropriate materials,

Moreover, teaching methods were not very effective with the students To make the situation better, the author decided to perform the action research method

of which role play activities were used

3.4.1.2 Planning the action

In this stage, the author made a preparation for the action which consists of choosing the appropriate teaching materials, preparing lesson plans, making role play activities evaluation form

*Choosing the appropriate teaching materials

The teaching materials used in this study are mainly developed from a textbook named “Tieng Anh 6” (new textbook) This textbook is designed to develop a more communicative approach, learner-centered learning, an emphasis on oral skills and language for real-life communication The textbook aims at enabling learners to establish their communicative skills in the English including four skills which are listening, speaking, reading and writing The textbook is theme-based in which language and these skills are structured on a certain topic The theme provides a context in which language is used so as to help learners to employ the appropriate language structures in different situations

The textbook “Tieng Anh 6” is designed at the suitable level with secondary students In this textbook, the objectives are clear for teachers and students to follow It provides the overview of the functions, topics, structures

or grammar and skills The textbook contains 12 units; each of them has one topic In each unit, the language input is divided into 5 sections: reading, speaking, listening, writing, and language focus The section for speaking is taught after reading lesson The objectives of speaking lesson are to develop learners’ speaking skills on certain topic

1 My new school - Talking about and describing a school

- Talking about and describing school activities

2 My home Talking about and describing houses, room and

furniture

3 My friends -Talking about appearance and personality

- Talking about plans

4 My neighborhood - Talking about and describing a neighbor hood

- Asking for and giving directions

5 Natural wonders of the

world

- Talking about and describing things in nature

- Giving travel advice

6 Our Tet holiday

- Talking about Tet activities and traditions

- Giving advice: what people should and shouldn’t

do at Tet

7 Television Talking about a favorite TV programme

8 Sports and games Talking about the activities/sport(s)/ game(s) they

do in their free time

9 Cities of the world Talking about interesting places in the world

10 Our house in the future Talking about houses in the future(type, location,

surroundings, appliances)

11 Our greener world Talking about activities to protect environment

12 Robots Talking about types of robots and their

abilities

* Preparing the lesson plans

Based on the current syllabus, the author prepared suitable lesson plans

* Making role play activities evaluation form

The form used for students’ speaking skills evaluation through role play activities was an analytical rubric The criteria were chosen to be evaluated based

on the frame proposed by Harris’s oral English rating scales which consist of 5 elements: Pronunciation, Grammar, Fluency, Vocabulary and Comprehension Each

of these element was scored on a 5-point scale, ranging from 1 (poor), 2 (average),

3 (good), 4 (very good) and 5 (excellent) The reason to choose Harris’s frame was

to help the author see the characteristics of learner’ speaking capacity and it can be easy to calculate the score The maximum score students got was 25 Moreover, there was a space for the author to give some comments and feedback so students will be able to improve their achievement in the next classes

3.4.2 Stage 2: Action – implementing the plan

The implementation lasted 12 weeks and was adjusted with schedule at school During the implementing of the action, author played both roles as the practitioner who performed teaching activity as well as the observer who observing the learners’ speaking performance

In the first six weeks, the teacher conducted role play activities through scripted dialogue, the situations were based on units including My new school, My home, My friends, My neighbourhood and Natural wonders of the world The pre-test was delivered to the students at the beginning week and get marked Each week, students studied and acted role play in one topic In each lesson, materials are introduced to students by example of dialogue and vocabularies relating to the topic The students had to learn and remember vocabulary Some vocabularies are written

in the board and demonstrated how to pronounce After that, students are divided

into different groups of two with the dialogue script In each group, students practiced with the partner and tried to memorize the dialogue Several groups will

be chosen to perform in front of the class The author moved around the classroom, monitored the activity to see students’ strengths and weaknesses, how each student communicated, how fluent he/she was, and noted down errors in pronunciation, grammar and other problems

The teacher observed, took notes and provide children with feedback after finishing their performance General conclusion was given at the end of class

In the next 6 weeks (week 7 to week 12), the writer made some modifications The role play through cued and information is conducted so that learners can be more alive and creative in speaking The topic was abundant: Television, Sports and games, Cities of the world,

In week 12, the post test is conducted in pairs and in role play form Students were asked to perform the dialogue in front of class based on information from the given role card

3.4.3 Stage 3: Observing the action

At this stage, the author used observation sheet to observe the whole aspects

of the action including learners’ participation in class activities and during speaking performance of learners in front of the class when performing their conversations The author not only observed the students’ ability to master language elements including pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension but she also gave attention to the following elements: active participation of students in the process of learning; ability to perform conversations in front of the class; ability to give feedback to other peers

3.4.4 Stage 4: Reflecting the action

After collecting the data, author analysed the data relating to the process of teaching and learning English After that, , author reflected herself by examining the observation result in order to identify whether the speaking learning process using role play technique is good to imply in the process of teaching as well as learning or not Then, conclusion and recommendations for further research are drawn from the findings of the AR evaluation

3.5 Participants

40 grade 6 students in class 6C were selected as participants Class 6C was chosen due to the author’s in class observation showing that they were not enjoyed and confident enough to participate in the process of practicing English speaking skill Also, these students were identified as having problems with their confidence Therefore, they were unable to cope with the class material The students were at the age of 11, 24 girls and 16 boys These students had learnt English for 3 years (from grade 3 to grade 5)

3.6 Data collection method

In this research, the researcher used both qualitative data as well as quantitative data While the qualitative data is collected from observation, the quantitative data is drawn from questionnaire, the pre-test and the post-test

3.6.1 Observation

Observation is performed to identify problems arising from teaching and learning activities, especially those relating to speaking skills In order to evaluate students’ improvement in speaking skill during Classroom Action Research, observation table proposed by Matthews (1994) will be used This table is demonstrated as follow:

3.6.2 Questionnaire and semi-structured interview

Questionnaire was useful instrument used to collect information for analyzing process On the other hand, asking question is one of the most common ways of collecting information Questionnaires, as defined by Brown (2006), are “any written instruments that present respondents with a series of questions or statements

to which are to react with either by writing out their answer or selecting them among existing answers” According to Richards and Lockhart (1994, p.10),

“surveys and questionnaires are useful ways of gathering information about affective dimensions of teaching and learning, such as beliefs, attitude, motivation and preferences, and enable teachers to collect a large amount of information relatively quickly” Also, questionnaires assist the researcher to save time as well as obtain fast and focused results from a large number of respondents

Another popular benefit of questionnaire method is that data collecting by this instrument is relatively convenient to be summarized and analyzed as the questions are the identical for all respondent Furthermore, this method may allow informants

to provide answer in their own time, at their own pace, thus giving them less pressure for an immediate response and motivate them to work on it

Two questionnaires for students were used in this research The first one was used before implementing role play activities to identify the real condition of the classroom problems in English teaching and learning speaking In specific, questions 1,2,4,5 (see Appendix 1) were about the learners’ attitudes towards English subject, the speaking skill, the materials and the students’ speaking competence as well Question 3 was designed to investigate students’ participation

in learning to speak English Question 6 asked about the difficulties the students faced during learning process The last question in students’ survey mentioned the teachers’ techniques during the teaching time and students’ responses

The second questionnaire was constructed to find out the students’ attitudes towards using role play activities in improving their speaking skill The questions were designed in different forms including open-ended and close-ended With 7 questions for students, the questionnaire was carrried out and completed successfully with meaningful results

Besides questionnaire, the author used semi-structured interview to investigate the students’ attitudes The questions nearly the same with the ones in the second questionnaire The author chose some special cases to conduct the interview 6

students were chosen for interviewing (1 student at excellent level, 1 student at very good level, 1 student at good level, 1 student at average level, 2 student at poor level)

The main purpose of this research is to examining the effects of roleplay activities on students’ speaking skill Moreover, through this study, author would also like to investigate the students’ attitudes towards this activity

3.6.3 Pre-test and post-test

In this research, author use pre-test as well as post-test instrument to collect information, as “it can provide about general ability level of the students about specific problems that the students may be having with the language, and about their achievement in previous programs” (J D Brown, 1995, p.48) Also, the data collecting from the test was used as a source to identify the students’ improvement after implementing the action plan

To know students’ current ability of English speaking, the author performed the oral test to student Scores of this oral test were divided into five different criteria, including pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension This classification is based on scale rating scores proposed by Harris (1969) Then, the mean score is generated by dividing the sum of all criteria into five While the pre-test is performed before conducting the technique role play, the post-test is conducted after using role play technique The test is held on every second action of each cycle

The pre-test and post-test had the identical form They consisted of different situations with different topics (My new school, My friends, My neighbourhood, Television, ) The students (in pair) took 1 role card and acted out as role play

3.7 Data analysis

With observation, the author will use interpretive process to analyze the data For questionnaire, pre-test and post-test, statistical process is used to analyze the data