Challenges in teaching and learning speaking skill with the new English textbook for grade 10 (Basic Stream) at Xuan Hoa High school, Vinh Phuc province and some solutions

Faculty of Post-graduate studies TRẦN THỊ LAN ANH CHALLENGES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING SPEAKING SKILL WITH THE NEW ENGLISH TEXTBOOK FOR GRADE 10 BASIC STREAM AT XUAN HOA HIGH SCHOOL, VIN

Faculty of Post-graduate studies

TRẦN THỊ LAN ANH

CHALLENGES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING SPEAKING SKILL WITH THE NEW ENGLISH TEXTBOOK FOR GRADE 10 (BASIC STREAM) AT XUAN HOA HIGH SCHOOL, VINH PHUC

PROVINCE AND SOME SOLUTIONS

(Những Khó Khăn Trong Việc Dạy Và Học Kỹ Năng Nói

Theo Sách Giáo KhoaTiếng Anh Lớp 10 Mới Tại Trường THPT Xuân Hòa, Tỉnh Vĩnh PhúcVà Một Số Giải Pháp)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10

Supervisor: Do Ba Quy, MEd

Hanoi, 2010 0

Faculty of Post-graduate studies

TRẦN THỊ LAN ANH

CHALLENGES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING SPEAKING SKILL WITH THE NEW ENGLISH TEXTBOOK FOR GRADE 10 (BASIC STREAM) AT XUAN HOA HIGH SCHOOL, VINH PHUC

PROVINCE AND SOME SOLUTIONS

(Những Khó Khăn Trong Việc Dạy Và Học Kỹ Năng Nói

Theo Sách Giáo Khoa Tiếng Anh Lớp 10 Mới Tại Trường THPT Xuân Hòa, Tỉnh Vĩnh Phúc Và Một Số Giải Pháp)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10

Hanoi, 2010 0

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

Table 1: Teachers’ qualifications

Table 2: Teachers’ opinions to the speaking sections of the new textbook for grade 10 Table 3: Teachers’ difficulties when teaching speaking skill with the new textbook Table 4: Teachers’ solutions to improve the speaking lessons

Table 5: Teachers’ suggested solutions to improve the speaking lesson

Table 6: Students’ opinions towards the speaking tasks of the new textbook

Table 7: Students’ difficulties when learning English speaking skill

Table 8: Students’ solutions to improve their speaking skill

Table 9: Students’ suggested solutions to improve their speaking skill

Chart 1: Students’ background

Chart 2: Students’ time for English at home

Chart 3: Students’ opinions towards speaking skill

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1 CLT: Communicative Language Teaching

2 U.S: United States

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration……….i

Acknowledgements………ii

Abstract……… iii

List of tables and charts ……… iv

List of abbreviations……… v

Table of contents………vi

PART I: INTRODUCTION………

1 Rationale of the study……… 1

2 Aims of the study……… 2

3 Method and procedure of the research……… 2

4 Scope of the study………2

5 Organization of the paper……… 2

PART II: DEVELOPMENT……… 3

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND……….3

1.1 Theoretical background of speaking ……… 3

1.1.1 Definitions of speaking……… 3

1.1.2 The nature of speaking……… 3

1.1.3 Aspects of Speaking……… 5

1.2 Theoretical background of learning and teaching speaking skill……… 7

1.2.1 Definition of teaching and learning……… 7

1.2.2 Communicative Language Teaching Approach ……… 8

1.2.3 Communicative Competence – The desired goal of CLT……… 10

1.2.4 The necessity of teaching and learning ……… 11

speaking skill in a communicative class 1.2.5 Problems in teaching and learning speaking skill ……… 12

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY……… 13

2.1 The teaching and learning situation in Xuan Hoa High School……… 13

2.2 The New English Textbook for Grade 10……… 13

2.2.1 The overall design of the textbook……… 13

2.2.2 The general features of the new textbook ……… 14

2.2.3 Description of the Speaking Section ……… 15

2.3 Description of the study………17

2.3.1 Kind of the research……… 17

2.3.2 Participants……… 17

2.3.3 The research questions……… 18

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS ……… 19

3.1 Data analysis 19

3.1.1 Results of the survey questionnaires……… ………… 19

3.1.1.1 Questionnaire for teachers: ……… 19

3.1.1.2 Questionnaire for students: ……… 23

3.1.2 Results of the interviews………27

3.1.2.1 Teachers’ interview: ……… 27

3.1.2.2 Students’ interview: ……… 29

3.2 Findings ……….30

3.2.1 Subjective difficulties:……… 30

3.2.1.1 Difficulties from teachers ……… 30

Teachers’ insufficient communicative competence………… 30

Teachers’ lack of training……….30

3.2.1.2 Difficulties from Students:……… 31

Learners’ level of English ……….31

Learners’ traditional features………31

Mother tongue use……… 32

Limited exposure to the target language……… 32

3.2.2 Objective difficulties ……….32

3.2.2.1 Large class ……… 32

3.2.2.2 Time pressure:……… 33

3.2.2.3 The constraints brought by the innovations ……… 33

on the curriculum and teaching method 3.2.2.4 The testing system………34

3.2.2.5 Lack of English teachers ………34

3.2.2.6 Lack of teaching and learning facilities………35

3.2.3 Teachers’ and students’ solutions ……… 35

3.2.3.1 Teachers’ solutions……… 35

Careful planning for the speaking section……….35

Testing students’ communicative competence……… 35

Organizing English speaking clubs……… 35

3.2.3.2 Students’ solutions………36

Self – study……….36

Taking extra courses……….36

Practising speaking to friends……… 36

Participating in English speaking clubs………36

CHAPTER 4: PEDAGOGICAL RECOMMENDATIONS:……… 37

4.1 Pedagogical suggestions for subjective problems ……….37

4.1.1 A careful plan of the speaking lesson……… 38

4.1.2 Various ways of testing speaking skill……….38

4.1.3 The teacher’s self-improvement of speaking skill……… 39

4.1.4 The change in students’ speaking habits ……….39

4.2 Pedagogical suggestions for objective problems………40

PART III: CONCLUSION ……….41

1 Conclusions……… 41

2 Limitations………41

3 Recommendations for further study……….….41

REFERENCES……… 43 APPENDICES

Appendix 1……….I Appendix 2………IV Appendix 3……… ……… VII Appendix 4… ……… VIII

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Language education, especially foreign language teaching and learning, is a compulsory part in every country With the development of the market economy and the globalization trend, learning foreign languages has become not only an interest but also a great demand for most people in Vietnam

Since 2006, the Ministry of Education and training prescribed a new series of English textbooks for all grades and school types from grade 6 through to grade 10 According to the authors, the new textbooks are theme-based and skill-based, with the adoption of the two currently popular teaching approaches, i.e the learner-centered approach and the communicative approach A focus is on task-based teaching as the leading methodology Within the task-based framework of the new textbook series, students are expected to engage with each other in meaningful interaction and negotiation of meaning within a specific context The curriculum innovations have brought a total change to the reality of teaching and learning foreign language in Vietnam In fact, most high-school students have at least four years of learning with the new curriculum at secondary school which has been put in to use since 2002,

so they do not find the new textbook unfamiliar Before the approval and institutionalization of the new textbooks, the teachers have been prepared for the new methods of teaching and learning Therefore, they have thorough understanding about the nature of the new textbooks However, both the teachers and learners face a lot of challenges in the process of working with the new English textbooks It seems that they do not fulfill the requirements of the new textbooks at all

Of the four language skills, speaking is becoming the primary skill given to the students Introducing this vital skill, the teachers of Vietnamese schools in general and in Xuan Hoa high school in particular have encountered plenty of difficulties The first-year high school students are also confused when learning this language skill Hence, the author wishes to understand

more about this situation by conducting the study entitled “Challenges in teaching and learning

speaking skill with the new textbook for grade 10 at Xuan Hoa high school, Vinh Phuc province and some solutions” With this study, the writer looks into the problems for both the teachers

and the students and suggests some solutions to those problems

2 Aims of the study

This research mainly aims at clarifying the challenges in teaching and learning speaking skill with the new textbook for grade 10 at Xuan Hoa high school, Vinh Phuc province The author investigates the teachers‟ and learners‟ attitudes towards speaking skill and then put the focus on the current difficulties in the application of the new textbook The causes of their difficulties are also examined so that the solutions to those problems can be given

3 Method and procedure of the research

The data of this paper was collected through the survey questionnaires and interviews First, the author carried out the survey questionnaires to find out the attitudes towards the teaching and learning of speaking skill with the new textbook and the difficulties of the teachers and students in using the new textbook Then the interviews with teachers and students were conducted to clarify aspects which were inadequate and vague in the survey questionnaires

4 Scope of the study

This research mainly covers the problems with the speaking skill that teachers and learners have in the process of using the new textbook for grade 10 These problems were discussed thoroughly in order to discover the causes and to offer the best solutions The subjects of the study are limited to the teachers and students at Xuan Hoa High School – Vinh Phuc province

5 Organization of the paper

The study includes 5 parts:

Part 1- Introduction presents the rationale, aims, method, scope and organization of the study Part II consists of 3 chapters:

Chapter 1- Literature review gives the theoretical background of speaking skill

Chapter 2 - Methodology includes the description of Xuan Hoa high school context, the new

English textbook and the study (the instruments, the participants and the research questions)

Chapter 3- Data analysis and findings describes the data of the questionnaires and interviews,

then gives some findings through the data analysis

Chapter 4 – Pedagogical Recommendations suggests some solutions to the current problems Part III - Conclusion focuses on the conclusions of the thesis, some limitations and

recommendations for further study

PART II: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Speaking is the vital skill of everyday communication Speaking skill and teaching speaking skill have received much attention from linguists all over the world This chapter will clarify the nature of speaking skill and popular ideas about teaching and learning this important skill

1.1 Theoretical background of speaking

1.1.1 Definition of speaking

Speaking is the productive skill in oral mode It is, like the other skills, more complicated than it seems at first and involves more than just pronouncing the words

1.1.2 The nature of speaking

It is obvious that speaking is the key to communication and seems to be the vital skill in comparison with reading, listening and writing Everywhere people speak to each other to exchange attitudes, cultural values, etc Without it communication will become difficult to proceed and our world will become as silent as a grave Therefore, classroom activities aiming

at developing learners‟ ability to express themselves through speech are considered an important component in a language course Thus oral English becomes an essential part of the senior – secondary school curriculum

There have been many scholars discussing the nature of speaking To Brown (1994), Burn and Joyce, (1997), Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information; Its form and meaning are dependent

on the context in which it occurs, including the participants themselves, their collective experience, the physical environment, and the purposes for speaking; It is often spontaneous, open ended and evolving However, speaking is not always unpredictable Language functions

that tend to recur in certain discourse situations (declining an invitation, requesting time) can be identified and charted For example, when a salesman asks, “May I help you?”, the expected discourse sequence include a statement of need , response to the need, offer of appreciation,

acknowledgements of appreciation, and a leave – taking exchange 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)

According to Byrne (1976: 8), speaking is a two - way process between the speakers and the hearers involving the productive skill of speaking and the receptive skill of understanding Both the listener and the speaker have a positive function to perform The speaker has to encode the message to be conveyed in appropriate language, while the listener has to decode the message The message itself in normal speech usually contains a great deal of information that the listener needs

It is perfectly true that speaking is active, or productive, and makes use of aural medium An act of speaking is commonly performed in face - to - face interaction The act of speaking involves not only the production of sounds but also the use of gestures, the movements of the muscles and the face Spoken language consists of short, often fragmentary utterances, in a range of pronunciations There is often a great deal of repetition and overlap between one speaking and another Speakers frequently use non - specific references

Some of the micro-skills involved in speaking The speaker has to:

*Pronounce the distinctive sounds of a language clearly enough so that people can distinguish them This includes making tonal distinctions

*Use stress and rhythmic patterns and intonation patterns of the language clearly enough so that people can understand what is said

*Use the correct forms of words This may mean, for example, changes in the tense, case or gender

*Put words together in correct word order

*Use vocabulary appropriately

*Use the register or language variety that is appropriate to the situation and the relationship to the conversation partner

*Make clear to the listener the main sentence constituents, such as subject, verb, object,

by whatever means the language uses

*Make the main ideas stand out from supporting ideas or information

*Make the discourse hang together so that people can follow what you are saying

1.1.3 Aspects of Speaking

According to Bygate (1987: 3), in order to achieve a communicative goal through

speaking, there are two aspects to be considered – knowledge of the language, and skill

in using this knowledge It is not enough to possess a certain amount of knowledge, but

a speaker of the language should be able to use this knowledge in different situations: “We do

not merely know how to assemble sentences in the abstract: we have to produce them and adopt

to the circumstances This means making decisions rapidly, implementing them smoothly, and adjusting our conversation as unexpected problems appear in our path.” (Bygate, 1987: 3)

Being able to decide what to say on the spot, saying it clearly and being flexible during

a conversation as different situations come out is the ability to use the knowledge „in action‟,

which creates the second aspect of speaking - the skill Bygate views the skill as comprising two components: production skills and interaction skills, both of which can be affected by

two conditions: firstly, processing conditions, taking into consideration the fact that „a

speech takes place under the pressure of time‟; secondly, reciprocity conditions connected

with a mutual relationship between the interlocutors

Production skills:

The processing conditions (time pressure) in certain ways limit or modify the oral production; it means the use of production skills For that reason, speakers are forced to use devices which help them make the oral production possible or easier through „facilitation‟,

or enable them to change words they use in order to avoid or replace the difficult ones by means of „compensation‟ (Bygate, 1987:14)

There are four elementary ways of facilitating that Bygate distinguishes: simplifying structures, ellipsis, formulaic expressions, and using fillers and hesitation devices

On the other hand, when a speaker needs to alter, correct or change what he or she has said, they will need to make use of compensation devices These include tools such

as substitution, rephrasing, reformulating, self-correction, false starts, and repetition and hesitation

Bygate concludes that incorporation of these features, facilitation and compensation, in the teaching-learning process is of a considerate importance, in order to help students‟ oral

production and compensate for the problems they may face: “All these features may in fact help

learners to speak, and hence help them to learn to speak In addition to helping learners to

learn to speak, these features may also help learners to sound normal in their use of the foreign language.” (Bygate 1987: 20-21)

Interaction skills

According to Bygate (1987:22), both speakers and listeners, besides being good at processing spoken words should be „good communicators‟, which means „good at saying what they want to say in a way which the listener finds understandable‟ This means being able to possess interaction skills Communication of meaning then depends on two kinds of skill: routines, and negotiation skills

Routines are the typical patterns in which speakers organize what they have to communicate There are two kinds of routines: information routines, and interaction routines The information routines include frequently recurring types of information structures involved

in, for example, stories, descriptions, comparisons, or instructions Bygate further divides information routines according to their function into evaluative routines (explanations, predictions, justifications, preferences, decisions), and expository routines (narration, descriptions, instructions) The interaction routines, on the other hand, present the characteristic ways, in which interactions are organized dealing with the logical organization and order of the parts of conversation Interaction routines can typically be observed in, for example, telephone conversations, interviews, or conversations at the party

While routines present the typical patterns of conversation, negotiation skills, on the other hand, solve communication problems and enable the speaker and listener to make themselves clearly understood In fact, according to Bygate, negotiation skills get routines through by the management of interaction and negotiation of meaning The first aspect

of negotiation skills „management of interaction‟ refers to „the business of agreeing who is going to speak next, and what he or she is going to talk about‟ These are two aspects of management of interaction: agenda of management and turn-taking On one hand, participants‟ choice of the topic, how it is developed, its length, the beginning or the end is controlled by the agenda of management On the other hand, effective turn-taking requires five abilities: how to signal that one wants to speak, recognizing the right moment to get a turn, how to use appropriate turn structure in order to take one‟s turn properly and not to lose it before finishing what one has to say, recognizing other people‟s signals of their desire to speak,

and, finally, knowing how to let someone else have a turn The second aspect of negotiation skills - „the skill of communicating ideas clearly and signaling understanding or misunderstanding during a conversation‟ - is referred to as negotiation of meaning

According to Bygate (1987:29), there are two factors that ensure understanding during oral communications; they are: the level of explicitness and procedures of negotiation The level of explicitness refers to the choice of expressions with regard to interlocutors‟ knowledge

As regards the procedures of negotiation, i.e how specific speakers are in what they say, this aspect of negotiation of meaning involves the use of paraphrases, metaphors, on the use of vocabulary varying the degree of precisions with which we communicate

To sum up, there are two basic aspects that Bygate distinguishes when considering the skill of speaking These include the knowledge of the language and the skill in using this knowledge The knowledge of producing the language has to be used in different circumstances as they appear during a conversation by means of the skill The ability to use the knowledge requires two kinds of skills, according to Bygate – production skills, and interaction skills Production skills involve two aspects – facilitation and compensation, brought about by processing conditions Both devices help students, besides making the oral production easier or possible, sound more naturally Interaction skills, on the other hand, involve routines and negotiation skills Routines present the typical patterns of conversation including interaction and information routines Negotiation skills serve as a means for enabling the speaker and listener to make themselves clearly understood This is achieved by two aspects: management of interaction and turn-taking

1.2 Theoretical background of learning and teaching speaking skill

1.2.1 Definition of teaching and learning

In contemporary dictionaries, learning is defined as acquiring or getting of knowledge

of a subject or a skill by study, experience or instruction A more specialized definition states that learning is a relatively permanent change in the behavioral tendency and is the result of reinforced practice (Kimble and Garmezy, 1963:133) Language learning is a long and complex

undertaking: “Your whole person is affected as you struggle to reach beyond the confines of

your first language and into a new language, a new culture, a new way of thinking, feeling and acting Total commitment, total involvement, a total physical, intellectual and emotional

response are necessary to successfully send and receive messages in a second language Many variables are involved in the acquisition process.” (Brown, H D 2010: 1)

Similarly, teaching, which is implied in the first definition of learning, may be defined

as “showing or helping someone to learn how to do something, giving instructions, guiding in the study of something, providing with knowledge, causing to know or understand.” Teaching

is also defined as one of the means by which education is achieved (if it is) and education is a common purpose of teaching Teaching is the process of carrying out those activities that experience has shown to be effective in getting students to learn A teacher is defined as a person whose professional activities involve the transmission of knowledge, attitudes and skills that are stimulated in a formal curriculum to students enrolled in an educational programme

Teaching and learning have a close relationship We cannot define teaching apart from learning Teaching is guiding and facilitating learning, enabling the learners to learn, setting the conditions for learning Your understanding of how the learners learn will determine your philosophy of education, your teaching style, your approach, methods and classroom techniques If you look at learning as a process of operant conditioning, through a carefully paced program of reinforcement, you will teach accordingly If you view second language learning as a deductive rather than an inductive process, you will probably choose to present copious rules and paradigms to your students rather than let them “discover” those rules inductively

1.2.2 Communicative Language Teaching Approach

The history of language learning and teaching methods has experienced many changes with many approaches, such as Grammar - Translation Method, Reading Method, Audiolingualism, and Affective - Humanistic Approach and, etc CLT is the latest influence on teaching methodology which has been put forth around the world as a new or innovative approach to teach English as a second or foreign language CLT appeared in the late 1960s due

to the changes in the British language teaching tradition Until then, situational language teaching remained the major approach in British approach to teaching The need for communicative proficiency rather than mere mastery of structures made scholars advocate this view of language teaching

*David Nunan‟s definition of CLT:

CLT views language as a system for the expression of meaning Activities involve oral communication, carrying out meaningful tasks and using language that is meaningful to learners Objectives reflect the need of the learners: they include functional skills as well as linguistic objectives The learners‟ role is as a negotiator and integrator The teachers‟ role is as

a facilitator of the communication process Materials promote communicative language use; they are task – based and authentic (David Nunan, 1989:194)

*Characteristics of CLT:

CLT has six features for most modern approaches and methods, which are learner – centered teaching, cooperative learning, interactive learning, whole – language education, content – centered education and task – based learning Besides, Littlewood (1981:1) states:

“one of the most characteristic features of communicative language teaching is that it pays a

systematic attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language” For other theorists,

communicative language teaching means using procedures where learners work in pairs or groups employing available language resources in problem solving tasks

David Nunan (1991:279) offers five characteristic features of CLT:

-An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language

-The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation

-The provision of opportunities for learners to focus not only on language but also on the learning process itself

-An enhancement of the learners‟ own experience as important contributing elements to classroom learning

-An attempt to link classroom language with language activation outside the classroom

These five features are claimed by practitioners of CLT to show that they are very interested in the needs and desires of their learners as well as the connection between the language as it is taught in their class and as it used outside the classroom Under this broad umbrella definition, any teaching practice that helps students develop their communicative competence in an authentic context is deemed an acceptable and beneficial form of instruction Thus, in the classroom CLT often takes the form of pair and group work requiring negotiation and cooperation between learners, fluency-based activities that encourage learners to develop

their confidence, role-plays in which students practice and develop language functions, as well

as judicious use of grammar and pronunciation focused activities

1.2.3 Communicative Competence – The desired goal of CLT

When teaching a language, the most important goal is to help the pupils to obtain the ability to communicate Therefore, as an effective approach in language teaching, CLT puts communicative competence on the top of its objectives

The concept of communicative competence was introduced in 1964 and since then it has caught much attention from linguists all over the world Communicative language teaching is

an approach that aims to make communicative competence the goal of language teaching That

is to help students use language appropriately in real communication Rivers (1981:15) and those who work with foreign language teaching in U.S tend to define communicative competence as simply linguistic interaction in the target language: “The ability to function in a truly communicative setting; that is in a spontaneous transaction involving one or more other persons” People who work in ESL, on the other hand, tend to use communicative competence

in Hymes‟sense In his view, a person who acquires communicative competence acquires both knowledge and ability for language use with respect to

*Whether (and to what degree) something is formally possible

*Whether (and to what degree) something is feasible in virtue of the means of implementation available

*Whether (and to what degree) something is appropriate (adequate, happy, successful) in relation to a context in which it is used and evaluated)

*Whether (and to what degree) something is in fact done, actually performed and what its doing entails

A more recent but related analysis of communicative competence is found in Canale and Swain (1980), which identified four dimensions of communicative competence: Grammatical competence, Sociolinguistic competence, Discourse competence and Strategic competence

To sum up, communicative competence is the ability to use the language correctly, appropriately in any particular circumstances of communication It is the goal of language teaching and it makes CLT different in scope and status from any other approaches

1.2.4 The necessity of Teaching and Learning Speaking Skill in a Communicative Class

Speaking is fundamental to human communication Just think of all the different conversations we have in one day and compare that with how much written communication we

do in one day Which do we do more of? In our daily lives most of us speak more than we write Therefore, if the goal of the language course is truly to enable the students to communicate in English, then speaking skill should be taught and practised in the language classroom Speaking is a skill which deserves attention in both first and second languages The learners often need to be able to speak with confidence in order to carry out many of their most basic transactions It is the skill by which they are most frequently judged It is the vehicle par excellence of social solidarity, of social ranking, of professional advancement and of business

It is also a medium through which much language is learnt, and which for many is particularly conductive for learning Therefore, the teaching of speaking merits more thought

Many language learners regard speaking ability as the measure of knowing a language These learners define fluency as the ability to converse with others, much more than the ability

to read, write, or comprehend oral language They regard speaking as the most important skill they can acquire, and they assess their progress in terms of their accomplishments in spoken communication The necessity of learning and teaching speaking skill was emphasized by

Nunan (1991): "success is measured in terms of the ability to carry out a conversation in the

(target) language." Therefore, if students do not learn how to speak or do not get any

opportunity to speak in the language classroom they may soon get de-motivated and lose interest in learning On the other hand, if the right activities are taught in the right way, speaking in class can be a lot of fun, raising general learner motivation and making the English language classroom a fun and dynamic place to be

In the communicative model of language teaching, instructors help their students develop this body of knowledge by providing authentic practice that prepares students for real-life communication situations They help their students develop the ability to produce grammatically correct, logically connected sentences that are appropriate to specific contexts, and to do so using acceptable (that is, comprehensible) pronunciation The goal of teaching speaking skills is communicative efficiency Learners should be able to make themselves understood, using their current proficiency to the fullest They should try to avoid confusion in

the message due to faulty pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, and to observe the social and cultural rules that apply in each communication situation

1.2.5 Problems in teaching and learning speaking skill

If the aim of the English course is to enable the students to communicate in English, then speaking skills should be taught and practised in the language classroom However, it is true that when teaching speaking skill, the teachers can encounter many problems The most popular ones can be listed as follows: First, the class size is one of the major concerns Teaching the target language for a class of 40 or 45 students is quite a hard job and not effective The teachers have to deal with many problems of large class, so the results of teaching and learning speaking skill are unsatisfactory Second, students‟ lack of motivation also prevents the success of the speaking activities in class They almost have no interest in learning the foreign language They just take part in the communicative activities because of the teachers‟ presence, the requirements of the exams, etc Another difficulty in teaching and learning speaking skill is mother-tongue use In classes where all learners share the same mother-tongue, they tend to use it because: it is easier, it is unnatural to communicate in a foreign language and they feel less exposed in their mother-tongue If the students work in small groups, it can be quite challenging to get them - especially the less disciplined and motivated ones- to speak the target language Many other problems in the process of teaching and learning speaking skill will be discussed carefully in later part of this study

In conclusion, this chapter has mentioned popular ideas about the nature of speaking, the newly approved teaching approach - CLT, and the necessity of teaching and learning speaking skill in a communicative class These concepts and ideas will serve as the theoretical background for all the analysis and discussions of the data in the following chapter

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

This study was carried out at Xuan Hoa high school in Vinh Phuc province In this

chapter, the context and the participants of the study, the new English textbook for grade 10, the

instruments to collect data and the research questions will be described

2.1 The Teaching and Learning Situation in Xuan Hoa High School

Xuan Hoa high school is in Phuc Yen town, Vinh Phuc province, which is 30 kilometers

far from centre Hanoi The school has good classrooms for students, a big library with many

books and a language LAB with not very good equipment

This school has 26 classes (each has 45 students) and 7 teachers of English aged from

25 to 39 with at least 1 year of teaching Of these teaching staff members, three graduated from

University of Languages and International Studies; the others followed continuing education or

took part in short- term English courses Among 7 teachers, one is taking the post-graduate

course at Vietnam National University and currently isn‟t teaching Most of the lessons are

usually conducted in Vietnamese because the students cannot understand everything in English

and the teachers have got used to teaching in their mother - tongue

There are 9 classes of grade 10 students (with the total number of 405 students) Most

students come from nearby districts and villages of Phuc Yen town and only few come from

ethnic minorities All of them experienced at least 4 years of learning English at lower -

secondary school However, their English command is not good in terms of grammar,

vocabulary and the four skills

2.2 The New English Textbook for Grade 10

2.2.1 The overall design of the textbook

Like the textbooks written for the other grades, the English textbook for grade 10 is

written basing on themes, such as School Talks, People‟s background, Special Education,

Technology, Excursion, etc Each lesson includes 5 parts: Reading, Speaking, Listening,

Writing, Language Focus (with two smaller parts: Pronunciation and Grammar), each of which

is introduced within 1 period The content of each part closely relates to the topic of the lesson

The Reading part is chosen to begin each lesson with a view to developing skimming

and scanning skills The students have to read a text of from 190 to 230 words on average which provides them with new words and knowledge related to the topic There are three steps:

Before you read introduces the topic and the vocabulary of the reading part to students; While you read aims at developing reading skill and usually includes 3 or 4 tasks which help students

to understand the reading content and widen their vocabulary; After you read consolidates

students‟ reading skill through various activities such as summarizing the text or discussing the topic

In Speaking part, students have to work in group, work in pair and work individually to improve their communicative skill This part has three or four tasks: task 1 and 2 usually provides some language input or specific communicative structures such as expressing

preferences, talking about the use of the computer, etc The other tasks then ask students to

make a conversation or a speech from the previous ones and to practise speaking in front of the whole class within some minutes

The Listening part focuses on developing such listening skills as intensive listening,

extensive listening, listening for specific information, listening for gist, etc The Listening part

follows three steps: Before you listen, While you listen, and After you listen

The Writing part usually begins with a given piece of writing such as a letter, a

narrative or a description of people, statistics, etc Students are asked to complete some tasks

related to the available writing so that they can understand the structures and vocabulary used in the writing Then students practise writing with such suggestions as vocabulary or questions

The final part - Language focus - has two smaller parts: The Pronunciation part helps students with English vowels, diphthongs and consonants; the Grammar and vocabulary part

helps students to practise with grammar exercises

Together with the textbooks are the workbooks for students to practise at home and the CDs which record the content of the reading and listening parts

2.2.2 The general features of the new textbook

The new English textbook for grade 10 is designed with a view to:

*developing students‟ communicative skills at basic level: listening, speaking, reading and writing

*providing students with appropriate, systematic and basic knowledge of English

*giving general knowledge about the people, cultures and geography of English speaking countries and help students form positive attitudes towards the language that they are learning

The new English textbook for grade 10 follows the two approaches dominating the

foreign language education and methodology all over the world - the learner - centered

approach and the communicative approach The teaching method chosen for this book is task -

based teaching The reason for this choice is that these two approaches consider students the centre of education and aim at developing their creativity In traditional teaching approaches, teachers are the centre of the teaching and learning process - the teachers speak and the students just listen In the learner - centered approach, the teacher is not only the provider of knowledge but also the organizer, advisor and facilitator; the students not only listen passively to the teacher but also actively take part in the learning activities through pair work and group work The traditional approaches consider such linguistic competence as pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar structures their final aims while the communicative competence with listening, speaking, reading and writing skills is the biggest concern of communicative approach; the linguistic competence is just the means for students to obtain their communicative competence

2.2.3 Description of the Speaking Section

As being mentioned above, Speaking is the second part in each lesson and it has from 3

to 4 tasks In lesson 1 and lesson 2, the speaking tasks are suitable for the students because the

topics are familiar (A Day in the life of, Music, Films and Cinema, School talks, etc) and the grammar as well as structures used for speaking (greetings, asking and answering) are simple

and easy for them to remember In most of the other lessons, students have to remember many

things: a large number of new words, complicated grammar rules (simple past, past perfect,

gerunds and to – infinitive, passive and active voice, present perfect, relative pronouns, etc)

and unfamiliar topics (Undersea Animals, Conservation, Technology and You, Historical

Places, etc) The specific description of the speaking sections in the new textbook comes as

follows:

Unit Topic Speaking

tasks Main Points

1 A Day In The 3 tasks -Asking for and giving information from a timetable

Life Of… -Talking about daily activities

2 School Talks 4 tasks -Making questions and giving responses in small talks

-Talking about the uses of modern technology

6 An Excursion 3 tasks -Expressing agreements and disagreements

-Giving opinions

7 The Mass Media 3 tasks -Asking and answering about the uses of media

-Talking about different types of media

8 The Story Of My

-Talking about plans and their possible results

9 Undersea World 3 tasks

-Talking about causes and consequences -Offering solutions

-Reporting on discussion results

10 Conservation 4 tasks -Talking about the new kinds of zoos

-Reporting on discussion results

11 National Parks 3 tasks

-Making plans -Expressing regrets -Talking about an excursion

12 Music 3 tasks -Asking and answering questions about music

-Talking about favourite kinds of music

13 Films And

-Expressing attitudes -Expressing preferences -Talking about a film

14 The World Cup 3 tasks -Asking and answering about the World Cups

-Talking about the World Cup winners

15 Cities 4 tasks -Comparing two cities

-Stating preferences and giving reasons

16 Historical Places 3 tasks -Asking and answering questions about historical places

-Talking about historical places from given information

(Hoang Van Van, English Textbook for Grade 10, 2008:7))

2.3 Description of the study

2.3.1 Kind of the research

This study was carried out in the form of survey questionnaires and interviews There were two questionnaires: one for the teachers and one for the students The first questionnaire

for the teachers with 9 questions was divided into 3 parts: 1.Teachers‟ background, 2

Teachers‟ training in using the new textbook and their judgement about the training, their own communicative competence and the speaking sections of the new textbook, 3 Teachers‟ difficulties in the process of teaching speaking with the new textbook and their solutions to those problems The teachers were asked to write down their names on the questionnaire so that

the author could choose the appropriate participants for the interview There were 10 questions

in the second questionnaire for the students and they focused on 3 parts: 1 Students‟

background and their learning experience, 2 Students‟ attitudes towards speaking skill and the speaking tasks of the new textbook, 3 Students‟ difficulties in learning to speak and their solutions to improve speaking skill After collecting and analyzing the data of the

questionnaires, the author carried out interviews to clarify the survey results The interview for teachers included 3 questions The number of the subjects varied in each questions They were chosen according to their questionnaire answers With question 1 and 2, there were 5 interviewees; with question 3 there were only 3 participants The interview for the students consisted of 5 questions and its subjects were 20 students

2.3.2 Participants

A total number of 6 teachers and 360 students of grade 10 at Xuan Hoa high school were involved in this project Of the 6 teachers, two were more than 35 years old with more than 10 years of teaching They attended short - term English courses The others, aged from 25

to 33, graduated from Vietnam National University, Hanoi - University of Languages and International Studies, from Hanoi II Pedagogical University and from Phu Tho Pedagogical College Three of the teachers were working full - time and the rest hired by the school for the lack of English teachers were working part - time Three full-time teachers were responsible for

20 classes and three part - time teachers were in charge of 6 classes The full - time ones attended many training courses annually organized by Vinh Phuc Education and Training Department but the part - time ones didn‟t have the chance The author of this paper - the one who was taking the Post - Graduate course - was not the participant 360 students were chosen randomly from 405 grade - 10 - students All of them had at least 4 years of learning English at secondary school with the new textbook set They came from different parts of Phuc Yen town

2.3.3 The research questions

To find out the challenges of teaching and learning speaking skill with the new textbook for grade 10 and the best solutions to the situation, the questions that guided the study mainly focused on the following issues:

Question 1: What are the teachers‟ difficulties when teaching

speaking with the new textbook?

Question 2: What can be done by the teachers to overcome the

difficulties and improve students‟ speaking skill?

Question 3: What do students think about speaking skill?

Question 4: What are students‟ difficulties when learning to speak

with the new textbook for grade 10?

Question 5: What do students think should be done to overcome the

difficulties and improve their speaking competence?

To sum up, this chapter has an overall description of the study: the teaching and learning situation in Xuan Hoa High School, the new English textbook, the speaking sections, the instruments, the participants and the research questions The following chapter will analyse the data collected from the survey questionnaires and interviews with those participants in Xuan Hoa school context

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

After the data of survey questionnaires had been collected and analyzed, the writer carried out the interviews with teachers and students The data of the questionnaires will be presented in the forms of tables and charts Then the findings of the research will be clarified

3.1 Data analysis

3.1.1 Results of the survey questionnaires

3.1.1.1 Questionnaire for teachers:

Part 1: Teachers’ background

Question 1: Teachers‟ qualifications (Table 1)

University/ College Number of Teachers Percentage

Department of Continuing

Phu Tho College (Then Continuing Education Course) 1 16.6

The questionnaire for the teachers showed that two teachers graduated from Vietnam National University, Hanoi - University of Languages and International Studies, one from Department of English - American Language and Culture, and one from Department of Continuing Education Two other teachers attended short - term courses which lasted 6 months 16.6% graduated from Hanoi 2 Pedagogical University One teacher graduated from Phu Tho college, and then finished a continuing education course

Question 2: Teachers‟ experience

One of the two teachers following short-term English courses taught for 16 years and the other taught for 15 years The teacher from Phu Tho College spent 11 years teaching English The one from Hanoi Pedagogical University worked as a teacher of English for only one year One teacher from Vietnam National University, Hanoi - University of Languages and International Studies spent 4 years teaching experience and the other had 2 years

Part 2: Teachers’ training in using the new textbook and their judgement about the training, their own speaking skill and the speaking sections of the new textbook

Question 3: Teachers‟ self - judgement about their speaking skill after graduation

All of the teachers shared the same idea that their speaking skill became worse after their graduation Mother - tongue was used so often that their communicative competence changed for worse

Question 4: Teachers‟ training in using the new textbook

Three full – time teachers said that they were trained in using the new textbook once a year The training was organized by Vinh Phuc Department of Education and Training to help the teachers deliver the content of the new textbook effectively The focus of the training was

on the new method of teaching English - CLT approach However, the part - time teachers did not receive any training in using the new textbook since they finished their course of English What they did was to read materials about the new textbook or to ask their fellow teachers who

usually participated in the training courses

Question 5: Teachers‟ opinions about the training in using the new textbook?

Three full - time teachers thought that the training organized by the Education and Training Department was useful Lecturers from Vietnam National University, Hanoi - University of Languages and International Studies came to provide instructions on how to deal with reading, speaking, listening, writing skills, pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar They added that it was the chance for them to meet their colleagues and exchange their own ideas on the new textbooks The three part - time teachers believed that the training would be of much use if they had an opportunity to get it

Question 6: Teachers‟ opinions to the speaking sections of the new textbook for grade

10 (Table 2) Opinions Number of Teachers Percentage

Too long 5 83.3

The majority of teachers agreed that the speaking sections of the new textbook were difficult for their students and were too long to complete (83.3%) The writer would ask the participants to name the difficult and long speaking sections of the new textbook in the interview A large percentage of the teachers considered the speaking tasks to be interesting (66.6%) None of them assumed that the speaking tasks were easy, too short, boring or suitable for most of the students

Part 3: Teachers’ difficulties when teaching speaking skill with the new textbook – some solutions

Question 7: Teachers‟ difficulties when teaching speaking skill with the new textbook (Table 3)

Large class problems (noise, mixed ability, class management ) 6 100

Teachers‟ lack of training in using the new textbook 3 50

When delivering the speaking tasks of the new textbook, all the teachers complained about the lack of teaching and learning facilities, large class, mother tongue use and no tests on speaking skill Moreover, they reported that the speaking tasks were too difficult while their

English proficiency was low (83.3%) The same number of teachers considered their insufficient communicative competence to be a serious problem A smaller number of teachers said that the topics for speaking were too difficult and were unfamiliar (66.6%) Two other problems which derived from the students were regarded as the obstacles to the speaking lesson: their lack of confidence and learning motivation (66.6%) Half of the teachers expressed their worries about not being trained in using the new textbook As being mentioned, these teachers only worked part-time and they did not receive the annual training organized by the Education and Training Department They were hired for the lack of English teachers The smallest number of teachers indicated that they didn‟t plan the lesson carefully (16.6 %)

Question 8: Teachers‟ solutions to improve the speaking lessons (Table 4)

Solutions Number of teachers Percenta

ge

Prepare the speaking section more carefully (use visual

aids, change the tasks appropriately )

spend more time testing students‟ speaking competence 3 50

83.3% of the teachers tried to overcome the difficulties by preparing the speaking section more carefully Half of the teachers improved the speaking lesson by spending more time testing students‟ speaking competence The way that the teachers tested their students‟ speaking skill would be found out through the results of the interviews for teachers Only 16.6

% solved the problems by organizing speaking clubs for students

Question 9: Teachers‟ suggested solutions to improve the speaking lesson (Table 5)

Teachers‟ opinions Number of

teachers

Percentage

Help students improve their knowledge of the language and

knowledge of the world

Spend more time preparing the speaking lesson more carefully 5 83.3