Using role play activities to improve speaking skills in ESP for post clerk at PTIT highland secondary school, thai nguyen

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -------- TRẦN THỊ THỦY USING ROLE-PLAY ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES



TRẦN THỊ THỦY

USING ROLE-PLAY ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILLS IN ESP FOR POST CLERK AT PT & IT HIGHLAND SECONDARY SCHOOL, THAI NGUYEN

Sử dụng hoạt động đóng vai nhằm cải thiện kỹ năng nói trong môn tiếng Anh chuyên ngành cho giao dịch viên bưu điện tại trường trung học Bưu Chính Viễn Thông và Công Nghệ Thông Tin Miền Núi, Thái Nguyên

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: Engl sh Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10

HA NOI, 2013

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES



TRẦN THỊ THỦY

USING ROLE-PLAY ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILLS IN ESP FOR POST CLERK AT PT & IT HIGHLAND SECONDARY SCHOOL, THAI NGUYEN

Sử dụng hoạt động đóng vai nhằm cải thiện kỹ năng nói trong môn tiếng Anh chuyên ngành cho giao dịch viên bưu điện tại trường trung học Bưu Chính Viễn Thông và Công Nghệ Thông Tin Miền Núi, Thái Nguyên

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: Engl sh Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10

Supervisor: As oc ProF Dr Vo Dai Quang

HA NOI, 2013

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STATEMENT OF THESIS ORIGINALITY

I, Tran Thi Thuy, K20D, declare that this thesis is

the result of my own research and that the substance

of the thesis has not, wholly or in part, been submitted for a degree to any other university or institution

Signature Tran Thi Thuy

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ACKNOWLEDEMENTS

The largest debt of all is to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Vo Dai Quang, who has given me much invaluable advice and encouragement since the very beginning

I am indebted to all the lecturers of the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, Universities of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their valuable teaching and assistance during my study at the College

My sincere thanks also go to my friends, colleagues, and students at Post Telecommunication and Information Technology Highland Secondary school, Thai Nguyen 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 continuous encouragement during the time I carried out this study

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ABSTRACT

“The specific English for post clerk” is the compulsory subject which has been taught in Post Telecommunication and Information Technology Highland Secondary school in Thai Nguyen (PT & IT highland secondary school) for a long time; however, the result it obtains is not as good as we have expected After completing the course for a post clerk (24- month course), most of the students in my school are not able to use English in their career There are numerous reasons for this reality, in which teaching method is one of the considerable causes As a teacher of the school, the writer has carried out this study in order to do something or “act” something to change or to improve the students’ learning result This paper aims at improving accuracy and fluency in speaking skills via role-playing activity The writer hopes that role-playing will bring for teachers and students in the school new atmosphere in teaching and learning the specific English which is formally thought as difficult subject and hard to overcome Moreover, the writer is eager to see the changes in students’

attitude toward the subject; from their thinking that they have to learn the subject, into that they want to take experience with the subject

It is hoped that this thesis will make some useful contributions to the teaching and learning of English at PT & IT highland secondary school

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1: The Holistic Rating Scale

Table 2: Students’ mark of two oral tests before role-playing

Table 3: Students’ mark in term of accuracy and fluency in Pre-test Table 4: Students’ mark in term of accuracy and fluency in Post-test Figure 1:

Percentage of students in different ranges of mark before role-playing Figure 2:

Percentage of students in different ranges of accuracy mark in Pre-test Figure 3:

Percentage of students in different ranges of fluency mark in Pre-test Figure 4:

Percentage of students in different ranges of accuracy mark in Post-test Figure 5:

Percentage of students in different ranges of fluency mark in Post-test

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PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale to the study

2 Aims of the research

3 Objective of the research

4 Scope of the research

5 Signification of the research

6 Structural organization of the thesis

1.1.1 Related research 1

1.1.2 Related research 2

1.1.3 Related research 3

1.2 Review if theoretical background

1.2.1 Statement of analytical framework chosen

1.2.2 Review of theoretical preliminaries employable as tools for

conducting the thesis

1.2.2.1 Role Play

1.2.2.1.1 Definitions of Role play

1.2.2.1.2 Types of Role Play

1.2.2.1.3 Significance of Role Play in teaching speaking

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1.2.2.2.1 Definitions of Speaking

1.2.2.2.3 Criteria to evaluate Speaking skills

1.2.2.3 Motivation in Second Language Teaching

2.2.1 Major methods vs Supporting methods

2.2.2 Data collection instruments and procedure

2.2.2.1 Data collection instruments

3.1.1 The students‟ accuracy and fluency before Role-playing

3.1.2 The students‟ accuracy and fluency after Role-playing

3.1.3 Discussion

3.2 Findings related to research question 2

3.2.1 The students‟ motivation before Role-playing

3.2.2 The students‟ motivation after Role-playing

Appendix B: Questionnaire for students

Appendix C: Tables of criteria to evaluate speaking skills

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II III

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PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale to the study

English plays a more and more important role in connecting our world together Having a look at the development of English in any country, we can partly guess its prosperity as well as its cooperation with other countries In Vietnam, with its process

of developing and joining, teaching and learning English are always seriously taken care to develop Especially, in recent years, renewing teaching methodology into communicative approach is the concern in teaching foreign languages Communicative

Language Teaching (CLT), according to Richards (2006, p6), is a set of principles

about the goals of language teaching, how learners learn a language, the kinds of classroom activities that best facilitate learning, and the role of teachers and learners

in the classroom In other words, CLT is a new method of teaching that is

learners-centered education; CLT is basically about promoting learning (Richards & Rodgers,

in Guang Wei, Hu) With the presence of CLT, teaching and learning English in Vietnam has been changing in different aspects A lot of teaching facilities have been equipped; syllabus and textbooks have been changed several times with the purpose of improving students’ ability to perceive the language Some progress has been reached, and some problems have also been appeared

As Li (1998) comments, CLT has extended in scope and has been used by different educators in different ways However, we must accept that whatever way to apply, problems still exist for us to deal with Teaching English in Viet Nam with CLT method also has to cope with unsuitable things; such as the irrationality between the way students are taught and the way they are tested While students learn to produce the target language in four skills (Listening, speaking, reading and writing), they are mainly evaluated through grammar-focus tests That’s the reason why most of students are not motivated to use the language with communicative purpose

In my school, at PT and IT highland secondary school, the teachers often face with their students’ low level of participation in English lessons, especially in ESP subject through which students are taught how to use English in their future jobs Most

of students are unmotivated when learning the subject; they take the ESP course as

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they are required to do so This may partly result from the very low competence in English of the students in mountainous areas (This reason will be discussed more clearly in the later part of the thesis)

In “ESP for post clerk”- a compulsory subject for the student in the Business Management Faculty- with its typical characteristics, students are mainly trained the speaking skill to communicate with foreigners However, the final scores of students after taking this course have been very low during the recent years Most of students fail to use English effectively for their job after finishing school

What is the best way to teach the future PC to speak English? Belchumber once said that: “producing language is a skill, and when we learn a skill, we practice in improvised settings” In teaching speaking, each method has its own advantage; however, it’s clear that creating communicative atmosphere is a vital role to gain

success in speaking skills

It is now common knowledge that using Role-play activities helps brings about good outcome in teaching speaking skills Role-play technique may bring about good settings for students to practice their skills But so far, at PT and IT highland secondary school, this teaching technique has not been paid attention to For this reason, I have made up my mind to go further into this area of research

2 Aims of the research

The thesis is an attempt to:

(i) Make teachers and students fully aware of the advantages and the strengths of

role-play activities in the improvement of speaking skills

(ii) Help improve the teaching of speaking skills at PT and IT highland secondary

school via the solutions offered

3 Objectives of the research

(i) To identify the students’ degrees of progress related to speech accuracy and fluency

via role-play activities

(ii) To clarify the changes in the students’ motivation via role-play activities

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(iii) To establish the major types of difficulties encountered by learners and teachers in

using role-play activities, and then propose possible solutions to the problems identified

4 Scope of the research

The research is confined to two communicative situations at Post office; they are

Accepting Mails and Parcels and Retail service

The research only deals with accuracy, fluency and motivation in speaking skills The research is done on a small group of students in PT & IT highland secondary school

The research is carried out on the materials obtainable by the writer The materials collected are published books and articles from internet sources

5 Significance of the research

(i) Theoretical significance:

The study supplies the English teachers at PT and IT highland secondary school with deeper understanding of Role Play activities in term of its advantages in teaching speaking skill, especially in ESP for post clerk

(ii) Practical significance:

The research provides the language teachers at the school with suggestions to improve the learners’ communicative skill and increase their participation in the speaking lesson

6 Structural organization of the thesis

This thesis consists of three main parts:

- Part A, Introduction, presents the rationale, the aims, the objectives, the scope, and

the significance of the research

- Part B, Development This part is subdivided into three chapters:

+ Chapter 1, Literature Review, deals with some previous studies related to the

research area of the thesis and some theoretical background that is relevant to the purpose of the study

+ Chapter 2, Methodology, presents the research orientations, including research

questions, hypothesis, research setting, research types, research approaches, and some principles for intended data collection and data analysis Furthermore, major methods

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are presented in the chapter; and the subjects of the study, the instruments used to collect data, the procedures of data collection, and a detailed description of data analysis techniques are given in this chapter

+ Chapter 3, Findings and discussions, provides with the findings of the study and

some explanations, interpretations and comments on these findings

- Part C, Conclusion, gives a summary of the main points presented in the thesis, and

concluding remarks on the three objectives of the thesis Limitations of the current research and suggestions for future one are also given in this part

- The appendices are the last part of the thesis, following the References

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Review of previous studies related to the research area of the thesis

1.1.1 Related research 1:

“Role-Playing in the Second Language Classroom”- An article

The article was written by Mark Sasse, and published in Teacher’s Edition, Issue 1 October 1999 Working as a teacher in several universities in Vietnam for a long time, the writer understands deeply about the students and the culture of our country Therefore, his studies are very practical and beneficial for both teachers and students in teaching and learning English in Vietnam

In the article, the writer has demonstrates that “Role-playing is an effective,

fun, and creative way to provide a needed outlet for real communication” Three good reasons for using Role-play activities were given out as evidence for his hypothesis: Role-play gives students opportunities to produce communication freely; Role-play creates relationships between students in classroom and these relationships can give students necessary structure and guidance needed to produce real-life communication; and role-play “unlock” creative doors and provides an outlet for expression without asking for embarrassing personal revelations Mark also reports that role-playing can

be used as an alternative method of assessment, and gives out examples of using playing as testing method Additionally, the research determines the uses of role-playing in teaching English for large classes and helping student to internalize difficult concepts within the classroom The article was concluded by emphasizing one more time the use of role-play activities in teaching second language as they accomplish the goals and criteria of a communicative classroom, and they can range from controlled

role-to completely free, depending upon their purpose

As presented, the advantages of Role-play and the use of it to motivate students toward real-world communication are focused to discuss in this article However, the effect of Role-play activities on teaching language skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening) has not been mentioned in this writing Obviously, using Role-play activities can make a push toward the students’ perspective skill (listening) and a producing skill (speaking) This thesis is particularly an attempt to study Role-playing

in developing speaking skills

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1.1.2 Related research 2:

“Role Playing: One Alternative Teaching Method To Improve Students‟

Communicative Skill”- An article

Written by Dra Wienny Ardriyati, in M.Pd Dinamika Bahasa& Budaya Vol.3,

No 2, July 2009 (218-228), the article is an suggestion that role playing is something which can be included in language teaching to help make classes the dynamic, energetic, harmonious, speaking-focused experiences The research was carried out in Indonesia, where English curriculum emphases on the fourth skills, namely, listening, reading, speaking, and writing, but speaking skill does not get much attention The English teachers here do not create the English speaking atmosphere, and they do not give chances to the students to express their feeling by communicating to each other From this reality, role-play is considered one alternative of effective teaching method

to improve speaking skill

Rebecca (2009) explained that in most role-playing exercises, each student takes the role of a person affected by an issue and studies the impacts of the issues on human life and/ or the effects of human activities on the world around us from the perfective of that person This is one of the crucial reasons Dra Wienny chose role-play as an effective way to help Indonesian students practice their ability in their communication

The article is also a careful study about the way and also certain steps to apply role-play successfully and effectively According to the writer, some principles must

be followed when using role-play activities in teaching English:

1 Define objectives: the details of what you need to do depend entirely on why you

want to include role-playing exercises in class (topics, time, and expectation)

2 Choose context and role: Choosing a problem related to the chosen topics and a

setting for the characters; teachers should define the goals for each character

3 Introduce the Exercise: Engage the students in the scenario by describing the

setting and the problem The teacher provides the students with the information he has already prepared about the character the goals and background information

Moreover, according to the writer, using role-play activities in teaching foreign language only gains success when it is thoroughly prepared through the following steps: Preparation (for-think about the students’ need for help and support), Role of the teacher (facilitator, spectator, participant), Bring situation into life (create a real life,

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introduce the language, error correction) The purpose of all those steps is to help student to “get into” the role confidently and actively; and the final aim is at the students’ fluency and accuracy in their oral presentation An interesting idea given out

in the conclusion of this article is that fluency and accuracy are always wanted to gain

in students’ oral presentation; however, accuracy does not mean using structures and

vocabularies correctly, but saying the right things in the right place, at the right time

Language teaching can be an interesting challenge when teachers make the effort to explore a variety of approaches As the writer stated, role-play is just one of many methods available for exploitation to improve the students speaking skills and to create English speaking atmosphere class Nevertheless, we must agree that the effect

of each method vary in different contexts, for different levels of students’ proficiency

So, how effective is role-playing in teaching speaking? This has not been counted or measured yet in the study It has left this issue for further consideration The thesis will study the students’ progress in practicing speaking with the presence of role playing technique The scores they gain before and after applying role playing will be compared to see the differences

1.1.3 Related research 3:

“Using Role Play in developing speaking skill for senior students of faculty of tourism

at university of social sciences and humanities, Vietnam National University” – An

M.A minor thesis

To continue studying role play activities in speaking skills, Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa conducted her M.A minor thesis in 2010 (University of Languages and International Studies) The purpose of the study is to find out the importance of role-play in developing speaking activities used by the teachers at University of Social Sciences and Humanities, and to examine the use of it as a speaking activity in helping develop students’ speaking skills The writer wants to emphasize that she doesn’t see role-play as the only one technique appropriate for developing students’ speaking skills, but they are practically possible for the context of the students whose future jobs are tourist guides Having been measured by pre-test and post-test, role-play activities were proved to be effective in developing students’ communicative skill in terms of accuracy, fluency, pronunciation, response, etc…

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In a certain aspect, the thesis is a continued development in proving the use of role-playing toward speaking skills The study mainly focused on promoting the students’ communicative ability rather than encouraging them to speak (I mean their motivation) It leaves issues for further researches The use of role-play in term of improving the students’ motivation will be further dealt with in this minor thesis

Furthermore, with regard to tourism aspect, situations studied in Thanh Hoa’s

thesis are very variable and flexible with different contents and contexts; and the students here were required to be very quick and creative practice speaking in each situation they encounter In the smaller scope of this thesis, speaking in ESP for post clerk has distinguished characteristics from communicative activities in tourism It will deal with communicative situations happening in a Post office where a foreign customer wants to use one of the services provided here Actually, role play is studied here to promote speaking with the knowledge of job (a post clerk)

1.2 Review of theoretical background

1.2.1 Statement of analytical framework chosen

This part will explore some theoretical background related to the study Firstly, some theories related to Role-Play are reviewed, including the definitions of Role-Play, types of Role-Play, and significance of Role-Play in teaching speaking skills Secondly, theories about speaking skills are also discussed in terms of its definitions and criteria evaluation The part is ended with the review of motivation

1.2.2 Review of theoretical preliminaries employable as tools for conducting the thesis

1.2.2.1 Role Play

1.2.2.1.1 Definitions of Role play

Since English was taught and learned based on CLT approach, various techniques have been applied in order to reach the communicative ability of learners The activities such as role-play, simulation, drama and so on, are bought into language classes by teachers They provide learners with chances to practice the language they learn, to convey meanings that are functionally effective and appropriate to the social situations Of all these activities, role-play seems to be the most appropriate to develop communicative ability while their linguistic competence and cultural knowledge are limited

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In order to understand role-play, it’s a good way to look at it from different

sources From the point in Wikipedia, role playing refers to the changing of one's

behavior to assume a role , either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role While Oxford English Dictionary defines role-playing as "the

changing of one's behaviour to fulfill a social role".The term is used more loosely in

four senses that a role play is:

 To refer to the playing of roles generally such as in a theater, or

educational setting;

 To refer to a wide range of games including computer role playing

games, and more;

 To refer to taking a role of an existing character or person and acting it

out with a partner taking someone else‟s role, often involving different genres of practice;

 To refer specifically to role playing games

In defining role-play as a teaching strategy, Joyce and Weil (2000) stated this strategy fits within the social family of models These strategies emphasize the social

nature of learning, and see cooperative behavior as stimulating students both socially and intellectually Accordingly, all definitions above agree that role-play activity is the changing of social role in order to meet a certain social requirement

In a wiser view, role-play is understood in compare and contrast with

“simulation” It’s claimed that it is not easy to distinguish between role -play and simulation because they both mirror the reality The main difference is that simulations are more structured and contain more diverse elements

According to Oxford (1995) and Crookal (1990), there is a little consensus on the terms used in the role playing and simulation literature A few of the terms often used interchangeably are simulation, games, role-play, simulation-game, role-play simulation, and role playing game There seem to be some agreement; however, simulation is a broader concept than role playing Simulations are complex, lengthy, and relatively inflexible events Role-play, on the other hand, can be a quite simple and brief technique to organize It is also highly flexible, leaving much more scope for the exercise of individual variation, initiative and imagination Role-play in included in simulation as well

In defining role-play, Byrne (1976) gave comments that role-play is a part of drama activity In details, he describes that there are three items to cover the drama activities They are mime (mimicry-memorization), role-play and simulation He distinguished these terms as follows:

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Mime: the participants perform actions without using words (although as we shall

see, this activity leads naturally on to talk)

Role play: the participants interact either as themselves or others in imaginary

situations

Simulation: this involves role-play as defined above However, for this activity the

participants normally discuss a problem of some kind with some setting that has been defined for them

Ten years later, 1986, Byrne in his study titled “Teaching oral English” defined role-play by the phrase “Let’s pretend”, added by “Role-play is a way of taking the students out of the classroom for a while and showing them how English can be used

in certain situations” (p.117) In role-play activities, students are not themselves any more, they are put in either realistic or imaginative situations to act

Similarly, Harmer considers role-play activities are those where students are asked to imagine that they are in different situations and act accordingly We may tell them to role play being guests at a party, participants in a public meeting about a road-building project, or post clerks on the duty to serve customers

With humorous looking, another definition is stated by Joanna Budden (2004)

in her article titled “Role play” She said that: Role-play is any speaking activity

when you either put yourself into somebody else's shoes, or when you stay in your own shoes but put yourself into an imaginary situation! By this definition, it is easy to

understand and to imagine about role-play activities Students can also take on the opinions of someone else “For and again debates can be used and the class can be split into those who are expressing views in favor and those who are against the opinion

So, role-play is defined differently by different linguists Among all the understandings of role-play, I am really impressed and satisfied with a very short but interesting and comprehensible definition by Doff (1988) He stated that “Role-play is

a way of bringing situations from real life” He pointed out the two characteristics of role-play: imagination of a role and/ or a situation and improvisation They may pretend to be a different person, doing something different The situation is fixed, but they make up the exact words to say as they go along

In short, it is clearly that each scholar has his own opinion of Role-play; however, they all agree that role-play is a technique which involves fantasy or imaginative to be someone else or to be ourselves in a specific situation for a while, improvising dialogue and creating a real world in scenario It aims at the students to encourage thinking and creativity, lets them develop and practice new language and behavioral skills in a relatively non-threatening setting, and can create the motivation and involvement necessary for learning to occur

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1.2.2.1.2 Types of Role Play

Similar to different ways of defining role-play, it is also classified differently by linguists Role-play can be divided into two or four types depending on the various points of view The thesis will discuss the types of role-play according to two authors: Littlewood (1981) and Donn Byrne (1986)

Littlewood divided role-play into four types according to the nature of control exercised by the teacher The activities are part of a continuum ranging from pre-communicative activities The former is defined as activities that “… aim to equip the learner with some of the skills required for communication, without actually requiring him to perform communicative acts” (p.8) The later consists of activities in which

“…the learner uses the linguistic repertoire he has learnt in order to communicate specific meanings for specific purposes” (p.17) Four types of role-play are parts of this continuum: Role-play controlled through cued dialogues, role-play controlled through cues and information, Role-play controlled through situation and goals and Role-play in the form of debate and discussion

a Role-play controlled through cued dialogues

In role-plays controlled through cued dialogues, each learner receives cues on separate cards, “two sets of cues must interlock closely” (Littlewood-1981), so that cues can only generate utterances that match cues that follow Even though learners’ creativity is quite limited, this kind of role-play still presents a certain amount of uncertainty and spontaneity inherent to real communication Learners have to listen to their partner before providing an appropriate response

b Role-play controlled through cued and information

This kind of framework is obviously best suited to those situations where there

is a natural initiator, whose cues can control the interaction These are mostly situations where one person needs to gather information or obtain a service For example, in a travel agency, where one learner needs to find a train time and fares, and the other has timetable and brochures Another example is in a bank, where the manager has to obtain personal information about client who wants to borrow money Because of the information-gathering element, this type of role-play may often be very similar to some of the functional communication activities However, there is greater emphasis on the social context in which the information is obtained

c Role-play controlled through situation and goals

All the activities in the previous sections provide a framework of specific cues for the learners These enable the teacher to control the interaction and to ensure that learners express a particular range of meaning (in addition to any variations they may introduce) This cue also provides the learner with a supportive framework which relieves them of some of the responsibilities for creating the interaction themselves

of situation and the goals that learners have to achieve through communication

In this role-play, learners are initially aware only of the overall situation and their own goals in it They must negotiate the interaction itself as it unfolds, each partner responding spontaneously to the other’s communicative acts and strategies

d Role-play in the form of debate and discussion

The last role-play in Littlewood’s continuum “… is debate or discussion about a real or simulated issue” (p 57) The prerequisites for the activity are having adequate knowledge about the topic, and having opposite opinions or interests Learners can either get to a decision or just put the issue to a vote at the end The interaction is a result of the conflict of opinions The skill that learners need to practice is similar to those in the problem-solving activities The activity is also similar in nature to the discussion sessions Here, the simulated roles ensure that there will be sufficient conflict of opinion to sustain the interaction phase because students are usually interested in comparing their decisions with those of other groups It also gives students an opportunity to talk about problems they had and it rounds off the activity Beware; however, of making this stage unduly long-to listen to fifteen groups of students reporting back in turn would clearly be tedious

According to Donn Byrne (1986), in case of role-play activities, Role-play can

be grouped into two forms: scripted and unscripted role-play In details, those types of role-play activities are described as follows:

a Scripted Role-Play

This type involves interpreting either the textbook dialogue or reading text in the form of speech The main function of the text after all is to convey the meaning of language items in a memorable way

For more details, Doff (1988) gave an example of scripted role-play dialogue and explained how the process is:

Angela: Good morning, I want to send a letter to Singapore

Clerk: Yes, do you want to send it by air mail or ordinary mail?

Angela: I think I‟ll send it by air mail I want it to get there quickly How much does it cost?

Clerk: To Singapore? That will be 30 pence, please

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Angela: Here you are

Clerk: Here‟s your stamp, and here‟s 20 pence change

Angela: Thank you Where is the post box?

Clerk: You want the air mail box It‟s over there, by the door

(Adapted from living English book 2:A.G Abdalla et al)

The procedures given by Doff (1988) are as follows: First, the teacher guides the role play by writing the prompts such as “where? / air mail/ how much? / post box? / thanks” The teacher can talk as she writes to show what the prompts mean Secondly, if necessary, she can go through the prompts one by one and get students to give sentences or question for each one Thirdly, the teacher may call two students to the front to play the role They should improvise the conversation using the prompts to help them and point out that the conversation should be similar to the one in the text book, but not exactly the same; the conversation can be shorter than the presentation dialogue It should just cover the main points indicated by the prompts Finally, the teacher calls out a few other pairs of students in turn, and ask them to have other conversation based on the prompts

Role-play activities studied in this thesis belong to the scripted type; however, there are some differences in the procedures applied in PT and IT highland secondary school from the ones given by Doff (1988) They will be discussed in details in the following parts of the thesis

b Unscripted Role-Play

In contrast to scripted role-play, the situations of unscripted role-play do not depend on textbooks It is known as a free role-play or improvisation The students themselves have to decide what language to use and how the conversation should develop In order to do this activity, good preparation from teacher and students is really necessary

The example and procedures of unscripted role play which is adapted from Doff’s book (1988) are as follow:

One student has lost a bag

He/she is at the police station

The other student is the police officer, and asks for details

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Procedures in conducting this role-play may come as follow: Firstly, the teacher could prepare the whole class by discussing what the speakers might say (e.g the police officer would ask the student how he or she lost the bag) and writing prompt and any key vocabulary on the board to guide the role-play Secondly, the teacher could divide the class into pairs, let them discuss together what they may say and let them all try out the role-play privately, before calling on one or two pairs to act out in

1.2.2.1.3 Significance of Role Play in teaching speaking

Role-play activities have been studied by many great linguists, from different perspectives for a long time Therefore, various advantages have been gained through role-play method, and pointed out in the previous researches

According to Ladousse (1987), using role-play activities is signification in teaching speaking skills for the following reasons:

 Through role-play we can train students in speaking skills in any situation

 Role-play is very useful dress rehearsal for real lives It enables them not just to acquire set phrases, but also to lean how interaction might take place

in a variety situation

 Role-play may help many shy students by providing them with mask

 Role-play is fun The students can enjoy their immigration trip

 Role-play gives the students a chance to explore and play with the possibilities offered by the new language, and provide situations where this new language can be related to the students’ own experiences

In addition, he pointed out that most learners will agree that enjoyment leads to better learning In the same point of view, Jeremy Harmer advocates the use of Role Play for the following reasons:

 It’s fun and motivating

 Quieter students get the chance to express themselves in a more forthright way

 The world of the classroom is broadened to include the outside world

 It offers a wider range of language opportunities

Larsen-Freeman (1986) also agrees when he explains that role play, whether structured or less structured, are important in developing skills because they give learners an opportunity to practice communicating in different social contexts and in different social roles

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With a deeper view on advantages of role-play as a teaching strategy, Lori Levis (2002) showed several uses of role-play for both teacher and student First, student interest in the topic is raised Research has shown that “integrating experiential learning activities in the classroom increases interest in the subject mater and understanding of the course content” Secondly, there is increased involvement on the part of the students in a role-playing lesson Students are not passive recipients of the instructor’s knowledge Rather, they take an active part A third advantage to using role-playing as a teaching strategy is that it teaches empathy and understanding of different perspectives A typical role-playing activity would have students taking on a role of a character, learning and acting as that individual would do in the typical setting

In short, role-play activities are very significant in teaching a foreign language, especially in speaking skills Role-play is a technique which can develop students’ fluency in the target language, promotes students to interact with others in the classroom, increases motivation and makes the teaching-learning process more enjoyable

1.2.2.2 Speaking

1.2.2.2.1 Definitions of Speaking

In order to understand definitions of speaking thoroughly, it’s better to overlook the term above “speaking skills”: that’s ORAL COMMUNICATION, which was given by Mead, Nancy A and Rubin, Donald L.(1985) They said that: Most people define oral communication narrowly, focusing on speaking and listening skills separately Traditionally, when people describe speaking skills, they do so in a context

of public speaking Recently, however, definitions of speaking have been expanded One trend has been to focus on communication activities that reflect a variety of settings: one-to-many, small group, one-to-one, and mass media Another approach has been to focus on using communication to achieve specific purposes: to inform, to persuade, and to solve problems A third trend has been to focus on basic competencies needed for everyday life for example, giving directions, asking for information, or providing basic information in an emergency situation The latter approach has been taken in the Speech Communication Association's guidelines for elementary and secondary students Many of these broader views stress that oral communication is an interactive process in which an individual alternately takes the

According to Chaney, speaking is “the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts”

While another expert, Theodore Huebner said: “Language is essentially speech, and speech is basically communication by sounds” And according to him, speaking is

a skill used by someone in daily life communication whether at school or outside The skill is acquired by much repetition; it primarily neuromuscular and not an intellectual process It consists of competence in sending and receiving messages

In term of language teaching, Kathleen M Bailey (2005) stated that: Speaking

is the productive, oral skill Speaking is such s fundamental human behavior that we don‟t stop to analyze it unless there is something noticeable about it

From the above definition, it can be inferred that speaking is expressing ideas, opinions, or feelings to others by using words or sounds of articulation in order to inform, to persuade, and to entertain that can be learnt by using some teaching- learning methodologies

1.2.2.2.3 Criteria to evaluate Speaking skills

It is clear that the method used for assessing oral communication skills depends

on the purpose of the assessment A method that is appropriate for giving feedback to students who are learning a new skill is not appropriate for evaluating students at the end of a course However, any assessment method should adhere to the measurement principles of reliability, validity, and fairness The instrument must be accurate and consistent, it must represent the abilities we wish to measure, and it must operate in the same way with a wide range of students

According to Mead, Nancy A - Rubin, Donald L (1985), there are two methods

used for assessing speaking skills: the observational approach and the structured

approach In the observational approach, the student's behavior is observed and

assessed unobtrusively In the structured approach, the student is asked to perform one

or more specific oral communication tasks His or her performance on the task is then evaluated The task can be administered in a one-on-one setting with the test

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administrator and one student or in a group or class setting In either setting, students should feel that they are communicating meaningful content to a real audience Tasks should focus on topics that all students can easily talk about, or, if they do not include such a focus, students should be given an opportunity to collect information on the topic

Both observational and structured approaches use a variety of rating systems A holistic rating captures a general impression of the student's performance A primary trait score assesses the student's ability to achieve a specific communication purpose for example, to persuade the listener to adopt a certain point of view Rating systems may describe varying degrees of competence along a scale or may indicate the presence or absence of a characteristic

Band Knight (1991) designed a workshop for teacher development in assessing speaking skills, in which the writer divided the assessing criteria into eight aspects: Grammar (range/ accuracy), Vocabulary (range/ accuracy), Pronunciation (individual sounds/ stress and rhythm/ intonation/ linking/ elision/ assimilation), Fluency (speed of talking/ hesitation while speaking/ hesitation before speaking), Conservational Skill (topic development/ initiative/ cohesion/ conversation maintenance), Sociolinguistic skill(distinguishing register and style/ use of cultural references), Non-Verbal (eye-contact and body posture/ gesture, facial expression), and Content (coherence of arguments/ relevance)

Based on this assessing criterion, teachers then weigh the students’ ability in the relevant contexts However, the number under the “Weighting” column does not represent maximum marks for that criterion, but its value relative to the other criteria For example, each criterion might be given a mark out of ten, and each score would be multiplied by its weighting number before being totaled up So, using this kind of scale

to evaluate students’ competence is rather flexible, but too complicated to apply with limited contexts of communication in ESP for PC in my school

Carroll (1980) builds an assessing criterion namely The Holistic Rating Scale

In this type of scale the rater will award a single mark for the performance, based on a predetermined scale (as shown in Figure…….) The greatest advantage of the Holistic scale is its simplicity and speed In addition, it is relatively easy to train raters to within

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a band of the observed performance (this is the typical level of agreement set in standardization procedures)

Band

9 Expert speaker Speaks with authority on a variety of topics Can initiate, expand and develop a theme

8 Very good non-native speaker Maintains effectively his own part of a discussion Initiate, maintains and elaborates as necessary

7

Good speaker Presents case clearly and can develop the dialogue coherently and constructively Rather less flexible and fluent than band 8 performer but can respond to main changes of tone or topic Some hesitation and repetition due to a measure of language restriction but interacts effectively

6

Competent speaker is able to maintain theme of dialogue, to follow topic switches and to use and appredate main attitude markers Stumbles and hesitates at times but is reasonably fluent otherwise Some errors and inappropriate language but these will not impede exchange of view Shows some independence in discussion with ability to initiate

5

Modest speaker Although gist of dialogue is relevant and can be basically understood, there are noticeable deficiency in mastery of language patterns and style Needs to ask for repetition or clarification and similarity be asked for them Lacks flexibility and initiative The interviewer often has to speak rather deliberately Copes but not with great style or interest

4

Marginal speaker Can maintain dialogue but in a rather passive manner, rarely taking the initiative, or guiding the discussion Has difficulty in following English at normal speed; lacks fluency and probably accuracy in speaking The dialogue is therefore neither easy nor flowing Nevertheless gives the impression that he is tough with the gist if the dialogue even if not wholly master of it Marked L2 accent

3

Extremely limited speaker Dialogue is a drawn out affair punctuated with hesitation and misunderstandings Only catches part of normal speech and unable to produce continuous and accurate discourse Basic merit is just hanging on to discussion gist, without marking major contribution to it

2 Intermittent speaker No working facility; occasional, sporadic communication

1 Non-speaker Not able to understand and/or speak

Table 1: The Holistic Rating Scale

However, the disadvantages of this scale include the danger of “trial by first impression” meaning that since the examiner is asked to give one score only he or she may (and often does) simply rely on their first impression (or previous knowledge) of the candidate So the score awarded may not actually reflect the observe performance The other danger with this type of scale is that it represents at best a crude measure of the ability we are attempting to examine

Let’s have a look at a simpler and clearer scare of speaking skills: IELTS Assessment Criteria-Speaking (See Appendices) The band ranges from 0 to 9, and the four columns of assessment aspects in details are presented correlatively with the band They are: Fluency and coherence / Lexical resource/ Grammatical range and accuracy/ Pronunciation

In each level of the band, criteria in columns are described clearly with two or three smaller descriptions In addition, the language used here is easy to understand and to follow

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Within the limitation of evaluating the accuracy and fluency in speaking skills

of the students in PT and IT highland secondary school, IELTS Assessment Speaking (University of Cambridge) is a very useful, beneficial and reasonable measurement The whole evaluating tests in this study are therefore measured by this assessment scale

Criteria-1.2.2.3 Motivation in Second Language Teaching

Motivation is not only a vital but also a highly complex factor determining success or failure in L2 learning Therefore, the concept of motivation in L2 learning has been studied by a number of authors Gardner (1985) sees the importance role of

effort plus desire to achieve the learning goal: Motivation in the present context refers

to the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning plus favorable attitudes towards learning the language (p 10)

Similarly, Ellis (1997) emphasizes the role of attitudes and effective states:

Motivation involves the attitudes and effective states that influence the degree of effort that learners make to learn an L2 (p.75)

Meanwhile, Gardner and Lambert (1972), two dominant researchers of the social psychological approach, propose that the broad concept of the “integrative

motive” consists of three main components: attitude,integrativeness and motivation

There are some other new approaches the researchers of which wish to make close the gap between theories of motivation in educational psychology and in the L2 field The researchers of the period added some new elements to the concept of L2 motivation In his framework of motivation, Dornyei (1994) classifies three levels:

language level, learner level and learning situational level, and in each level there are

some different element Moreover, Marion William and Bob Burden (1997), propose a

detailed framework of L2 motivation with the Internal and External motivational

influence They analyze nine internal factors as follow: intrinsic interest of activity, perceived value of activity, sense of agency, mastery, self-concept, attitudes, affective states such as confidence, anxiety and fear, developmental age and gender The external factors consist of human factors such as parents, teachers, peers, feedback, rewards of punishments, the learning environment and the broader context (adapted from Dornyei, 2001)