Enhance speaking skills through communicative activities to students in grade 9th at hung binh secondary school

Rationale of the study The learning of English speaking skill is a preference for a lot of English as aForeign/Second Language learners.. However, inpractice, some challenges prevent te

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

The learning of English speaking skill is a preference for a lot of English as aForeign/Second Language learners Language learners sometimes evaluate theirsuccess in language learning based on how well they have improved in their spokenlanguage ability This is also the purpose of those who are learning English as aforeign language The widespread popularity of English has led to a surprisingincrease in English learners nowadays, especially those in Asian countries in generaland Vietnam in particular Vietnamese students studying English as a preparation fortheir future work often require communication in English In secondary schools,learning English becomes more important for students as it is a compulsory subject forthe final secondary school exam This also causes a common problem: Translationmethod - Grammar is mainly used Teachers often teach grammar rather than skills.Teaching grammar just to meet the needs of students at that time After finishingsecondary school, students cannot use the English they have been learning for a longtime for communication purposes They can not speak English even in a dailyconversation, so how can they use English in the workplace communicationenvironment? The fact that English teachers in secondary schools need to pay moreattention to students Listening and Speaking skills It is better for students if theteacher applies Teaching Language in the classroom To achieve the goal of learningEnglish - to be able to communicate with both native speakers and native speakers -communication activities in English classes are essential In particular, teachers caneasily apply a number of communication activities in speaking lessons that are alwaysrelated to an important feature - learners talk a lot (Brown, 2001) However, inpractice, some challenges prevent teachers from organizing communication activities

in speaking classes; A popular teaching time is limited

The issues as mentioned above lead to the essential problem of the thesis:

Enhance speaking skills through communicative activities to students in grade 9 th at Hung Binh secondary school Research is conducted for a specific group of students at

a specific high school in an effort to realize speech classes and provide solutions forteachers to help students learn English better

2 Aims of the study

The purpose of this study is to find out the types of communication activities

that help students improve their speaking skills Detail:

+ Learn about the situation of teaching and learning English speaking skills in grade 9

of Hung Binh Secondary School

+ Identify factors affecting teaching and learning English speaking skills in grade 9 ofHung Binh Secondary School

+ Suggest types of communication activities to improve English speaking skills forstudents

3 Scope of the study

This is the first research topic of communication activities for students in grade 9 ofHung Binh Secondary School

4 Methodology

The study used quantitative methods in data analysis through surveyquestionnaires

5 Design of the study

The study consists of three parts

Part A is an introduction that presents the arguments, literature review, purpose andscope of the study as well as the methodology for the research

Part B is the main part consisting of three chapters

Chapter one is about the theoretical background for research This chapter aims toestablish an investigative framework It is primarily concerned with including thetheory of communication activities in teaching and learning English speaking skills.The second chapter is about presenting an overview of the results and discussing theresults of the survey questions about communication activities among 9th gradestudents at Hung Binh Secondary School

Chapter three deals with data analysis, discussion of conclusions, andrecommendations

The final section concludes with a summary of the study and provides possibleconclusions and recommendations for further research

PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Theoretical background 1.1 An overview of Communicative language teaching

1.1.1 Definition of Communicative language teaching

It has been noticed that the goal of the most of the methods is to make the

students able to communicate in the target language But in the 1970s, the educators tried to find out whether they were going to meet the goal of the students in a right way or not It had been observed that students were able to write and read the

sentences in target language correctly But when it came to communicate in the target language, they failed to do so It made clear to the observer that to make the students able to communicate in the target language, it required more than mastering only the linguistic structures It had been accepted by the educators that to be able to

communicate in the target language, communicative competence is required with linguistic competence There had been a shift from the linguistic structure centered approach to communicative approach in the late 1970s and 80s Communicative

language teaching is an approach to teach foreign or second language which

emphasizes on communicative competence It also emphasizes on interaction as a means to teach language Communicative Language Teaching replaced the Situation Language Teaching which had been used to teach English as a second or foreign language It had been considered as the major British approach The focus of SLT approach was on to teach the basic structures of language But in the 1960s, the

educators realized that language taught on the basis of situational learning would have been of no use Because to teach the meaning, carried out from the utterances was more required as it expressed the intentions of the speaker or writer In the mid of 1970s, the scope of Communicative Language Teaching has extended Both American and British proponents now see it as an approach that aim to make communicative competence the goal of language teaching and develop procedure for the teaching of four language skill that acknowledge the interdependence of language and

communication (Richards & Rodgers 1986:66) At the level of language theory,

Communicative Language Teaching has a rich, if somewhat eclectic, theoretical base (Richards & Rodgers 1986:71)

1.1.2 Characteristics of Communicative language teaching

• It aims to make learners to attain communicative competence so the learners can uselanguage accurately and appropriately

• The major focus while using Communicative language teaching approach is on thelearners The teacher is just the facilitator The teacher is a person who manages theenvironment and helps the learners to become autonomous

The syllabus emphasizes the functional use of language The syllabus is relying on theauthentic materials The tasks which are assigned to the learners have purposes andmeanings

• Communicative activities enable the learners to attain communicative objectives ofthe curriculum, engage learners in communication, and require the use of suchcommunicative processes as information sharing, negotiation of meaning, and

interaction (Richards & Rodgers 1986:76)

1.2 Communicative activities

1.2.1 Definition of communicative activities

Communicative activities refers to the classroom activities that provide agenuine information gap and make it possible for language learners to communicatewith target language in Communicative Language Teaching Approaches (Liao, 2000)

In other words, communicative activities are activities that give students both a desire

to communicate and a purpose which involve them in a varied use of language Theyhave real purposes: to find information, to break down barriers, to talk about oneself,and to learn about the culture Even when a lesson is focused on developing reading orwriting skills, communicative activities should be integrated into the lesson

Communicative activities are fluency-based activities (Tait, S., 2001) While suchactivities may involve students to practice a particular grammatical form, they arelikely to do more than this The key element is that the activity is based on a realisticsituation This could be anything from an encounter in a department store, to a group

of friends discussing holiday plans, etc Within this kind of context, students should berequired to negotiate for meaning This is likely to require multiple turn taking

1.2.2 Charateristics of communicative activities

 The success of a communicative activity can be determined by the extent to which learners are dependent on the teacher Tasks should be devised in a manner that learners gain autonomy and independence while learning

 The role of the teachers is to give clear and to the point instructions and provide the appropriate environment for learners to interact and exchange information

 Communicative activities are motivating Learners should be at ease and have fun while doing the communicative tasks

 Communicative tasks are realistic Real communication situations should be thefocus instead of isolated structures with no real-life reference

 While in teacher-led classrooms learners were expected to be quiet and listen to the teacher and then, when asked, to respond to the teacher in unison with the onecorrect answer, communicative tasks require learners to take initiatives and

provide their responses ( instead of a response) to contribute to the success of learning

 Communicative activities are meaningful: they are carried out to fulfil specific purposes such as booking a plane, hotel ticket, inviting somebody to a party, answering an invitation letter, shopping…

 Performance in communicative tests reflects an underlying competence that is linguistic, sociolinguistic, pragmatic, strategic…Communicative activities should consider this multi-dimensional nature of language

1.2.3 Types of communicative activities

There have been many different types of communication over time Inprehistoric times we started with non verbal communication with cave drawings thateventually evolved into speech Later, symbols were developed and a form of writingbegan People would communicate with each other or groups of people in many waysthroughout time

In the modern world, the importance of communication has come a long way Fromwriting by hand, to using a typewriter, then emails and now texts

Our voice communication has gone from speaking in person, to the telephone, radio,cell phone and now there's Skype

For our purposes, we will focus on the different types of communication that canimprove businesses and your personal life

These include verbal and non verbal communication as well as formal and informalcommunication

Verbal Communication

Verbal communication is the most common way of interacting with different people.This is where you speak directly to one or more persons whether it's in a business,family or personal setting

It is widely used in all aspects of life including entertainment on the TV, radio,Youtube and so on

The advantages are you can slow down or repeat yourself to get a point across, putemphasis where it's needed and influence those that are listening

The disadvantages are that it can be easily forgotten or misinterpreted

Non Verbal Communication

Non verbal communication is used just as much Sometimes you don't even realizeyou're sending a message without saying anything It includes your facial expressions,hand gestures, posture, touching and type of clothing you wear

When you speak, the intention of what you're saying can be changed by the tone ofvoice you use or how fast or slow you talk

Formal communication is when you follow rules and conduct yourself in aprofessional manner including the wearing of appropriate attire

This includes giving a speech to an audience, speaking in meetings or sending outletters

Informal communication is more casual You generally use this type with friends and

family members

Texting, chatting with friends, using hand gestures are generally considered informalways to communicate

Effective Types of Communication

For effective communication, you need to listen more, rather than speak more.Communication is a two way street

If you did all the talking and the others never responded, you wouldn't really knowwhat to say after awhile Without feedback, you won't know how to improve or knowwhat things to say

That's why listening is so important It's essential to find out what your audiencewants or needs to hear You need to listen to what people are saying and what theyaren't saying

Pay attention to their facial expressions and body posture Do these people state theiropinions? Are they listening to you or are they constantly interrupting?

It's also important to know as much as possible about your topic of conversation.Research it thoroughly

Think of any questions that my come up and by all means, explain why you have anopinion on the subject

Essentials of Business Communication

When you're in a business setting, it's important to get your message out and in a clearway Before you do this, you need to do your homework

Set up a plan If you don't have a plan, there could be a conflict or people couldmisunderstand your message

A business needs to promote their product or service through different types ofchannels These may include advertising on TV, radio, Internet, print, or word ofmouth

With the cell phone and texting; computers and email, technology has takencommunication in business to a whole new level

With all the technological advances, the different types of communication in the worldtoday play important roles in developing our businesses and personal lives

1.2.4 Roles of communicative activities in language teaching and learning

Every speaking lesson should be based on communicative activities which fulfiltwo important language learning needs They encourage students to acquire languageknowledge and prepare them for real-life language uses Achieving the outcome

requires the participants to interact, which means not only speak with a person but alsolisten to what he or she is saying and react to it.

Communicative activities have a strong effect on student’s motivation in the lessons.They help students have more chance to talk to lots of classmates without a fear ofmaking mistakes In a communicative activity, instead of having students stand infront of class and talk to others, the teacher sets up the activity that they can talk tosome other students but not the whole class and the teacher That makes a better effect

on helping students avoid their fear of making mistakes Then they seem to be moreconfident to speak and eager to speak a lot

In Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), it is suggested that language should betaught through the use of target language and practice communication, especiallythrough communicative activities They focus on not only the grammatical structure ofthe language but also the language use in real-life situations

1.3 An overview of speaking in language teaching and learning

1.3.1 The nature of speaking in oral communication

Brown and Yule (1983) begin their discussion on the nature of spoken language

by distinguishing between spoken and written language They point out that for most

of its history; language teaching has been concerned with the teaching of writtenlanguage This language is characterized by well-formed sentences which areintegrated into a highly structured paragraph Spoken language, on the other hand,consists of short, often fragmentary utterances, in a range of pronunciations There areoften many repetitions and overlap between one speaker and another Brown and Yulepoint that the loosely organized syntax, the use of nonspecific words, phrases and theuse of fillers such as well, oh, huh make spoken language feel less conceptually densethan other types of language such as expository prose Brown and Yule also draw auseful distinction between two basic language functions These are the transactionalfunction, which is primarily concerned with the transfer of information, and theinteractional function, in which the primary purpose of speech is the maintenance of asocial relationship The interactional nature of spoken language is examined by Bygate(1987) He distinguishes between motorperceptive skills, which are concerned withcorrectly using the sounds and structures of the language, and the purpose of the

communication Motor-perceptive skills are developed in the language classroomthrough activities such as model dialogues, pattern practice, and oral drills and so on.Until recently, it was assumed that the mastery of motorperceptive skills was all thatone needed in order to communicate successfully Another basic distinction isconsidered the development of speaking skills between monologue and dialogue Theability to give an uninterrupted oral presentation is quite distinct from interpersonalpurposes (David Nunan, 1989: 26-27) A teacher can apply two approaches to theteaching of speaking skill- a bottom-up approach and a top-down approach Thebottom-up approach suggests that a teacher can start with the smallest units oflanguage, that is individual sounds, and move through the mastery of words andsentences to discourse The top-down view, on the other hand, suggests that a teachercan start with larger chunks of language, which are embedded in meaningful contexts,and use our knowledge of these contexts to comprehend and use correctly the smallerelements of language (David Nunan, 1989: 32) Communication is said to be the mostimportant skill for human survival because one needs it to maintain contact with theworld It is true that one communicates all the time, knowingly or unknowingly Ofcourse, Oral Communication is a two-way process between the speaker and thereceiver, involving the productive skill of speaking and the receptive skill ofunderstanding (listening) Apart from the speaker and the receiver, there are manyelements involved in the process of communication And all of them are equallyimportant in communication i A source ii Stimuli received from that source iii Areceiver iv Sensory receptors v The receivers‟ interpretation of and responses to thesensations vi Noise vii Feedback viii Situation or context Communication, generally,

is described as a process But it is a process of processes because it involves manyprocesses for example receiving sensation, interpretation of the received sensation andresponding to interpretations Another important aspect of communication is thenonverbal behaviour During communication, the gestures, facial expression, and bodymovements naturally influence both the speaker and the receiver And nonverbalbehaviour does send meaning with the verbal message Spoken language production(similar to the processing of written language) involves three main phases of languageprocessing (Levelt, 1989; Poulesse, 1997; Scovel, 1998) The first is aconceptualization of the message content, whether at the content, of a short message

or the content of a longer turn or sequence of turns The second phase involves

selecting a proper linguistic formula for the message The third phase involves thearticulation of the message Normally the third phase works smoothly and can often bedifficult to distinguish Dr Areena Ali 125 However, there are times when each phasecan cause problems During the conceptualization phase, a speaker can give someone

an appropriate message or convey an inappropriate intention At the formulationphase, the speaker can choose the wrong word or expression to send an appropriateintention At the articulation phase, a speaker can mispronounce words The fact thatspeakers routinely self-correct these different types of error implies that monitoringand self-correction must be further aspects of the production process Finally speakinginvolves adjusting one's speech to the interlocutor This occurs in the patterns andtypes of turns that speakers use, as well as in their phases (Michael Byram, 2004:564)

In second language speech, these processes can function differently from firstlanguage speech; they are commonly slower and more prone to errors in all phases ofthe process, therefore requiring more frequent selfcorrection Speakers are alsocommonly unsure of what message to convey or how to convey it, resulting in the use

of communication strategies (Kasper & Kallerman, 1997) to improvise what to sayand how to say it Finally, it is communication for second language speakers to havedifficulty coping with the demands of managing social interaction Here, too, in asecond language, speakers find themselves having to improvise ways ofcommunicating and of responding to their interlocutors (Michael Byram, 2004:564)Bygate (1987:5) points out that speaking involves two different types of basic skills,lower level motorperceptive skills, such as how to produce phonemes or use irregularverb forms, and the decisions and strategies used in communication such as what tosay, how to say it (considering the conditioning factors of the context as is dealt with

in pragmatics) and what to do if problems arise to negotiate to mean (Jane Arnold)

1.3.2 The role of speaking in language teaching and learning

• It has the distinct advantage of being quick and prompt It provides the opportunity

to both the transmitter and receiver of the message to respond directly • Oralcommunication promotes close contact and thus promotes the mutual exchange ofthoughts, information, understanding, and support • Oral communication throughdirect contact undeniably inculcates a sense of self-importance in the subordinates,which successively acts as an inspiring element • It also helps in bringing a

responsive and encouraging morale among employees of an organization • Oralcommunication further allows the superior to make a rapid evaluation of subordinatesaction as well as reaction to any message transmitted This obviously assists thesuperior to diminish and prevent differences and revamp plans and policies according

to the need of time and conditions • It is faster, direct and can have more impact onthe receiver One can seek clarification almost instantly by recognizing the tone of thespeaker The ability to speak effectively to others in formal and informal settings iscommonly regarded as something inborn („the gift of the gab‟), rather than somethingthat can be learned Some abilities are to the extent inborn, but most of them can beacquired and improved with effort (Baden Eunson, 2005: 305) One cannot learnEnglish without practicing Speaking helps in expressing ideas, thoughts, messageseasily and freely Majority of people wants to learn English only for speaking purpose

Of all the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), speaking seemsintuitively the most important: people who know a language are referred to as

„speakers‟ of that language (Penny, 1991:120) Speaking is active, productive andmakes use of the aural medium Communication through speaking is commonlyperformed face-to-face interaction and occurs as part of a dialogue or the other form ofverbal exchange Speaking is a part of the reciprocal exchange in which both receptionand production play a part Therefore, the skill of speaking involves both receptive andproductive participation The act of speaking involves not only the production ofsounds but also the use of gesture, the movements of the muscles of the face, andindeed the whole body All these non-vocal accompaniments of speaking as acommunicative activity are transmitted through the visual medium

1.3.3 Characteristics of a successful speaking lesson

1.3.3.1 High learner’s talking time

As much as possible period of time allotted to the activity occupied by studentstalk This is obvious, but often most time is taken up with teacher talks or pauses Itmeans the students must be active to speak with their friends as mush as possible It isvery clear that the students are busy, but they seldom spent their time to talk with theirteacher

1.3.3.2 High motivation

Classroom discussion is not dominated by a monitory of talkative participants:all get a chance to speak, and contributions are fairly evenly distributed It means that

the classroom discussion is not dominated by one participant only, but all ofparticipants get a same chance to speak.

1.3.3.3 Even participation

Students are eager to speak: because they are interested in the topic and havesomething new to say about it, or because they want to contribute to achieve anobjective task It means that the students have high motivation to speak English Byhaving a high motivation, the students will be interested in learning English, especially

in speaking They often try to deliver their own idea confidently.

1.3.3.4 An acceptable level of language

Students express themselves in utterances that are relevant, easilycomprehensible to each other, and of an acceptable level of language accuracy Itmeans that they use the components of speaking which are relevant with theacceptable level of language such as, pronunciation, grammar, fluency, andcomprehensible So, the students often try to speaking English correctly in real

communication.

Chapter 2: Research methods 2.1 The context of the study

Over the past few decades, the teaching of English has changed dramatically inthe context of foreign language communication Training learners so they can useEnglish for communication purposes has become the goal of teaching foreignlanguages To use English effectively, learners need to develop communication skills.That is why they need to help develop four skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading andWriting However, in those 4 skills, English learners seem to have the most difficultyspeaking English Students tend to follow the traditional approach, focusing on writingand grammar skills The weakness of the traditional method is to go against the linkbetween Listening, Speaking and Reading and Writing English: being able to write thecorrect sentence structure when spoken correctly will be able to write sentencestructure, conversely, if it is written in English but not sure then The above-mentionedlearning method has led to a limited learning process, most students still have a lot ofdifficulties in expressing English

From the author's observation, academic success depends on many different factors,but the most important is probably the motivation of learning, learning attitudes andlearning strategies Because of this, I urge the author to learn and apply socialactivities during speaking time so that students feel comfortable and enthusiastic whenparticipating in class

2.2 Research questions

The study made great efforts to seek the answers to the two following questions:1) What is the actual teaching and learning of English in spoken classes of 9th grade students at Hung Binh Secondary School?

(2) What are the benefits and challenges of applying communication activities in speaking lessons?

2.3 Research subjects

There were 162 9th grade students at Hung Binh Secondary Schoolparticipating in the study Among them, 154 students did the questions and 8 otherstudents participated in the interviews.

2.4 Data collection tool

During the study, three research methods were used: observations,questionnaires, and interviews

Observe

Methods of observation include systematically tracking people and recording theiractions by sound, images or text providing researchers with rich and authentic data.Observation is the most basic research technique we can use in the classroom (Miller,2004) It can be used to cross-mark data from future questionnaires For these reasons,classroom observations are the first method to be implemented in this study Theresearcher attended a phase of an English class to get an overview of teaching andlearning English at Hung Binh Secondary School The English speaking phase is theprevious stage with the purpose of finding out some information related tocommunication activities That is: whether or not the communication activities areapplied in English speaking lessons, if they are applied correctly and effectively, andhow students participate in the lessons The main communication activities used werealso explored by observation To prevent students from preparing themselves, theexact goals of classroom observations are not disclosed to them

Table of questions

A questionnaire is a research tool that includes a series of questions and othersuggestions for the purpose of collecting information from findings The questionnairehas advantages over some types of surveys because they are cheap and do not requiremuch effort from the respondents They are thought to save researchers a lot of timebecause "They self-regulate and can be given to large groups at the same time"(Seliger & Elana, 1989) Information can be easily obtained without the presence of aresearcher Moreover, these thoughts students can feel free and comfortable to answerthe questions For these reasons, questionnaires were used in the study

Interview

Interviewing is considered a method for qualitative graduate studies that is a techniqueused to understand other people's experiences In this study, interviews are used to getideas and information from students about the speaking lesson they have learned Inthe interview, most questions were yes / no questions with explanations

Interview questions have the same content as the questionnaire They are used to