Using simulations to improve english speaking skills for second year students majoring in hotel management at a college in hanoi

Speaking English fluently is one of the most difficult and challenging skills for most of students. The majority of students have difficulties in communicating because of a lack of practice environment, lack of vocabulary, structures and practical knowledge. Therefore, in order to improve speaking skills for students, it is a duty to increase real life practice situations so that students have more chances to practice. One of the methods used to increase speaking skills during speaking lessons is through using simulation situations. By using simulations, students’ language skills will be associated with future career situations. This study aims to understand the effectiveness of applying simulation situations in teaching speaking skills to ESP students. The study also explores the difficulties facing students when participating in simulations. Based on the students opinions as well as the results of the tests, the author gives some suggestions on how to apply appropriate simulated situations in teaching English speaking skills. The research results indicated that the application of simulation skills created many positive aspects in developing speaking skills for students: students had improvement in pronunciation, vocabulary, and positive attitude towards learning speaking skills as well as knowledge about the future career. Besides, the research also showed some difficulties that students encountered in applying simulations. In

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

PHẠM THỊ THU

USING SIMULATIONS TO IMPROVE ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS FOR SECOND YEAR STUDENTS MAJORING IN HOTEL

MANAGEMENT AT A COLLEGE IN HANOI

(Sử dụng tình huống mô phỏng để nâng cao kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh cho sinh viên năm thứ hai chuyên ngành Quản trị Khách sạn tại một trường

Cao đẳng ở Hà Nội)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

Hanoi, 2020

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

PHẠM THỊ THU

USING SIMULATIONS TO IMPROVE ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS FOR SECOND YEAR STUDENTS MAJORING IN HOTEL

MANAGEMENT AT A COLLEGE IN HANOI

(Sử dụng tình huống mô phỏng để nâng cao kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh cho sinh viên năm thứ hai chuyên ngành Quản trị Khách sạn tại một trường

Cao đẳng ở Hà Nội)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

Supervisor: Dr Trần Thị Thu Hiền

Hanoi, 2020

DECLARATION

The work provided in this thesis, unless otherwise referenced, is the researcher‟s own work, and has not been submitted elsewhere for any other degree or qualification

My sincere thanks also go to all my lecturers and in Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their interesting lectures which have inspired me to conduct this research

Besides, I would like to thank my colleagues and my students at Hanoi Tourism College who have participated in this research and helped me during

my study

Last but not least, I would like to send my special thanks to my parents, my husband and my children who encourage and share the hardship with me Their great encouragement and love have helped me to overcome the difficulties in the study

ABSTRACT

This research aimed at using simulation technique to improve speaking skills

in English for specific purposes for students majoring in Hotel Management

It was an action research study with both qualitative and quantitative data collected from second-year students majoring in Hotel Management at a college in Hanoi The qualitative data were collected by delivering questionnaires, interviewing the students Meanwhile, the quantitative data were collected through assessing the students‟ speaking performance by comparing the results of the pre-test and the post-test The procedure of this action research consisted of initiation, preliminary investigation, hypothesis, intervention, evaluation, and dissemination

The research has shown that using simulation technique could successfully improve the students‟ speaking competence in general and in some important aspects related to speaking skills including fluency, vocabulary and pronunciation Besides, difficulties faced by students in using simulations are also recognized

LISTS OF CHARTS, FIGURES AND TABLES

Chart 4.1 Overall mean score of the pre-test and the post-test 36

Chart 4.2 Scores of students‟ pre-test and post-test 37

Figure 2.1 The structure of a simulation (Sturtridge, 1977) 18

Figure 3.1: Detailed action research mode (Susman 1983) 24

Figure 3.2: Cyclical AR model based on Kemmis and Mc Taggart (1988) 26 Table 2.1 Simulations vs Role plays (Bambrough, 1994) 17

Table 4.1 The pre-test results 34

Table 4.2 The pre-test vs the post-test results 36

Table 4.3 Pronunciation improvement 38

Table 4.4 Fluency improvement 38

Table 4.5 Vocabulary improvement 39

Table 4.6 Students‟ improvement of each speaking indicator 39

Table 4.7 Confidence improvement 40

Table 4.8 Students‟ attitude towards simulations 41

Table 4.9 Preparation for the future job 42

Table 4.10 Difficulties in performing in simulations 43

Table 4.11 Difficulties in cooperating with a partner 44

TABLES OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv

LISTS OF CHARTS, FIGURES AND TABLES v

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale for the study 1

2 Aim and objectives of the study 2

3 Research questions 2

4 Scope of the study 2

5 Methods of the study 3

6 Significance of the study 3

7 Structural organization of the thesis 4

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Speaking skills 5

2.1.1 Definition of speaking skills 5

2.1.2 Characteristics of speaking skills 6

2.1.3 Characteristics of a successful speaking activity 8

2.1.4 Teaching speaking 9

2.1.5 Speaking Assessment 10

2.2 Simulations 10

2.2.1 Definition of simulations in language teaching and learning 10

2.2.2 Characteristics of simulations 11

2.2.3 Benefits of simulations 12

2.2.4 Limitations of simulations 14

2.2.5 Simulations in teaching speaking skills 16

2.3 Previous studies 19

2.4 Summary 20

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 21

3.1 Restatement of research questions 21

3.2 Research setting 21

3.3 Participants 22

3.4 Research method 23

3.4.1 An overview of action research 23

3.4.2 Action research cycle 24

3.4.3 Rationale for the use of an action research 27

3.5 Research procedure 27

3.5.1 Step 1: Initiation (Week 1) 28

3.5.2 Step 2: Preliminary investigation (Week 2) 28

3.5.3 Step 3: Hypotheses (Week 3) 28

3.5.4 Step 4: Intervention (Week 4 -14) 29

3.5.5 Step 5: Evaluation (Week 15) 29

3.5.6 Step 6: Dissemination 30

3.6 Data collection instruments 30

3.6.1 Pre-test and post-test (Appendix 1&2) 30

3.6.2 Questionnaire (Appendix 4) 31

3.6.3 Interview 32

3.7 Data analysis 32

3.8 Summary 33

CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 34

4.1 Students‟ improvement in speaking skills 34

4.1.1 Students‟ general improvement 34

4.1.2 Students‟ improvement in some aspects of speaking skills 37 4.2 Students‟ perceptions of the benefits of simulations to their learning of

speaking 40

4.2.1 Students‟ confidence improvement 40

4.2.2 Perception improvement 41

4.2.3 Students‟ perceived benefits of simulations to their future jobs 42

4.3 Students‟ perceived challenges in performing in simulations 43

4.3.1 Difficulties in performing some situations 43

4.3.2 Lack of practical experience 43

4.3.3 Affective factors 44

4.4 Discussion 44

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 46

5.1 Recapitulation 46

5.2 Implications 46

5.2.1 Setting the time effectively for each simulation 46

5.2.2 Delivering clear and careful explanations about a simulation 47

5.2.3 Employing simulated situations suitable for students‟ interest 47

5.3 Limitations of the research 47

5.4 Recommendations and suggestions for future research 47

REFERENCES 49 APPENDICES I APPENDIX 1: PRE-TEST I APPENDIX 2: POST-TEST II APPENDIX 3: THE SPEAKING TEST RATING SCALE III APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONNAIRE V APPENDIX 5: INTERVIEW VII APPENDIX 6: LESSON PLAN SAMPLE VIII

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

Language cannot be separated from human activities People share their thoughts, feelings, experiences, and many things with others by using language Language becomes the main instrument of communication because people use language to conduct communication in their every social interaction English is one of languages that becomes international language

It means that English is used by many people around the world to communicate or deliver something, includes in teaching and learning process

In Vietnam, English becomes one of important subjects in national examination for high school level and a compulsory subject at universities or colleges Therefore, mastering English is very important However, most of students remain unable to use English meaningfully, especially they remain insufficient in their ability to speak English

Thus, English teachers play an important role in the success of teaching and learning activity They must have a good method to make teaching and learning process in speaking skills more enjoyable and meaningful The teachers must be able to make the students participate actively in speaking English teachers should use appropriate approach, design, and procedures Applying good teaching methods can make teaching and learning process more efficient

With purpose to increase the effectiveness of teaching speaking skills to students at a college in Hanoi, the researcher applied simulation technique in teaching English speaking skills It is hoped to help students improve their ability to speak English in real-world situations and have a better overview of the job they will take in the future

2 Aim and objectives of the study

The research aims to investigate the use of simulation technique to improve speaking skills among the second-year students in the Hotel Management Department at a college in Hanoi The objectives of the study are summarized as follows:

1 To investigate the effectiveness of applying simulations in teaching English speaking skills

2 To find out the students‟ perception of the benefits of simulations to their development of speaking skills

3 To find out challenges facing students in doing simulations in speaking lessons

4 Scope of the study

The focuses of the study are to investigate the effectiveness of using simulation technique in teaching English speaking, the students‟ perceived benefits of simulations and the challenges facing students in the performance

in simulations in speaking lessons The researcher carried out an action research study on the topic of using simulations to improve English speaking skills for second-year students majoring in Hotel Management at a college in Hanoi for a fifteen-week period

The research was conducted on second-year students in the Hotel

Management Department at a college in Hanoi Regarding its scope, the study only aims at justifying the effectiveness, the students‟ perceived benefits of simulations and the challenges of using simulations in speaking classes Other aspects of English skills would not be investigated

5 Methods of the study

This study was carried under both qualitative and quantitative approach, with the use of several data collection instruments, namely questionnaires, tests and interviews The data are then analyzed to figure out the findings of the research

The combination of different instruments in this research would help to gain reliable data and help the researcher have a close investigation into the problems that the students may find challenging or interesting

6 Significance of the study

There are some advantages that can be taken from this research The following presents some possible ways:

6.1 Practical significance

For the teachers, the result of this research is expected to provide an alternative technique to teach speaking skills for students in ESP classes It is also expected to motivate the teachers to be more creative and the students will be more enthusiastic in learning English speaking lessons It can also be used as a reference for those who want to conduct a research in English teaching and learning by using simulations

For the researcher, the result of this research can develop her experience related to her knowledge in doing research and teaching English, especially teaching speaking skills

For the students, the result of this research is expected to give them new experience in English learning, especially in learning speaking skills so they can

be more motivated to develop their communication skills in their future job

6.2 Theoretical significance

Theoretically, the result of this study is expected to give understanding about the theory related to the implementation of simulation technique in teaching speaking skills, especially in the field of ESP

7 Structural organization of the thesis

This thesis is divided into five chapters: Chapter I: Introduction, Chapter II: Literature Review, Chapter III: Methodology, Chapter IV: Findings and Discussion and Chapter V: Conclusion

Chapter I: Introduction

This part provides an overview of the study such as rationale for the study,

aim and objectives of the study, research questions, methods of the study and

significance of the study

Chapter II: Literature Review

This chapter presents general background knowledge related to teaching speaking, simulations and using simulations in teaching speaking skills in ESP environment Previous studies related to the topic have also been reviewed to back up the research

Chapter III: Methodology

This chapter describes participants and instruments of the study, research methods as well as procedures employed to carry out the research

Chapter IV: Findings and Discussion

This chapter presents the data collected in details and then analyses major patterns found in the data collected according to the research questions

Chapter V: Conclusion

This part summarizes the main issues discussed in the paper, several pedagogical recommendations concerning the research topic, limitations of the research, as well as some recommendations and suggestions for further studies

Following this chapter are the References and Appendices

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter is concerned with the theoretical background of the study which includes an overview of teaching and learning speaking skills, characteristics

of speaking skills, teaching speaking, speaking assessment, simulations, characteristics of simulations, its benefits and limitations

2.1 Speaking skills

2.1.1 Definition of speaking skills

There are numerous definitions of the word „speaking‟ that have been suggested by the researchers in language learning According to Chaney (1988), speaking is „the process of building and sharing meaning using verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts Bygate (1987) defined speaking as the production of auditory signals to produce different responses

in listeners It is regarded as combining sounds systematically to form meaningful sentences Sharing the same viewpoint, Nunan (2003) considers

„speaking is the productive oral skill It consists of producing systematic verbal utterance to convey meaning‟

Brown (1994) and Burns and Joyce (1997) on the other hand defines speaking as

an interactive process of making meaning that includes producing, receiving, and processing information Similarly, Harmer (2001) states „effective speaking involves a good deal of listening, an understanding of how the other parties are feeling, and knowledge of how linguistically to take turns

Speaking is one of the four abilities in the language activities It is important

to convey in the communication According to Cameron (2001), speaking is the active use of language to express meaning so that other people can make sense of them It means that speaking consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning which make other people know what we are talking about clearly Therefore, it is often spontaneous, open-ended, and

evolving, but it is not completely unpredictable

From the explanation above, it can be concluded that speaking is a process to convey and share ideas and feelings orally This paper follows the idea that speaking involved such aspects as accuracy, appropriateness, fluency and vocabulary building since all of those elements need to be mastered by the students in the English learning progress

2.1.2 Characteristics of speaking skills

According to Mazouzi (2013) fluency and accuracy are crucial elements of communicative approach So, learners „activities should be designed based on

an equivalence between fluency and accuracy achievement Classroom practice can help learners improve their communicative competence

The first characteristics of speaking skills is fluency Developing learners

„fluency is the main aims of teachers in teaching speaking skills According to Hughes (2002) fluency is the learners „ability to speak in understandable way

in order not to break down communication because listeners may lose their interest Sharing the same viewpoint, Hedge (2000) states that fluency is the learners „ability to respond coherently by connecting the words and phrases, pronouncing the sounds clearly, and using stress and intonation

The second characteristic of speaking performance is accuracy Learners seek more to be fluent and they forget about being accurate Therefore, accuracy should be emphasized in teaching process According to Mazouzi (2013) learners should pay enough attention to the exactness and the completeness of language form when speaking such as focusing on grammatical structures, vocabulary, and pronunciation Without structuring accurate speech, speakers will not be understood, and their interlocutors will lose interest if they perform incorrect utterances each time Achieving accuracy in terms of grammar refers to the range and the appropriate use of the learners

„grammatical structure that involves the length and the complexity of the utterances in addition to the ability to use the subordinating clauses (Thornbury, 2005) Gaining accuracy in terms of vocabulary means to select appropriate words in suitable contexts Students often have difficulties when they use similar words or expressions which do not carry the same meaning in all contexts

Thornbury (2005) stated that pronunciation is the lowest level of knowledge learners typically pay attention to it Learners, who want to develop speaking skills should practice pronunciation overall Learners should also know the stress, intonation, and pitch All these issues give them extra information about how to speak English fluently and effectively

According to Syakur (2007), there are at least five components of speaking skills concerned with comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and fluency In particular,

- Comprehension, for oral communication, certainly requires a subject to respond, to speech as well as to initiate it Comprehension is the ability

of understanding the speakers‟ intention and general meaning It means that comprehensibility focuses on the students‟ understanding of the conversation It is also included the understanding of what the speakers wants to deliver

- Grammar is necessary for students to arrange a correct sentence in conversation

- Vocabulary is concerned with choice of words which is sufficient to convey the meaning “Vocabulary, as one of the knowledge areas in language, plays a great role for learners in acquiring a language” (Cameron, 2001) It means vocabulary is the first thing that learners must know before making a sentence The learners need to memorize

and know the meaning of that words So, the more vocabulary learners have, the more easily the learners communicate

- Pronunciation is the student‟s ability to produce clearer language when they speak It deals with the phonological process Pronunciation becomes important because it gives meaning to what is being said Wrong pronunciation may cause misunderstanding or people involved

in a conversation are offended (Thornbury, 2005)

- Fluency can be defined as the ability to speak fluently and accurately Fluency is the ease and speed of the flow of the speech (Haris, 1987) Fluency refers to the smoothness of flow which sounds, syllables, words, and phrases are joined together when speaking

2.1.3 Characteristics of a successful speaking activity

The goal of teaching speaking is communicative efficiency Learners should

be able to make themselves understood, using their current proficiency to the fullest They should also observe the social and cultural rules that apply in each communication situations According to Ur (1999, p.12), there are some characteristics of a successful speaking activity:

1 Learners talk a lot As much as possible of the period of time allotted to the activity is in fact occupied by learner talk This may seem obvious, but often most time is taken up with teacher talk or pauses

2 Participation is even Classroom discussion is not dominated by a minority

of talkative participants: all get a chance to speak, and contributions are fairly evenly distributed

3 Motivation is high Learners are eager to speak because they are interested

in topic and have something new to say about it, or just because they want to contribute to achieving a task objective

4 Language is of an acceptable level Learners express themselves in

utterance that is relevant, easily comprehensive to each other, and of an acceptable level of language accuracy

From his idea, it can be seen that the most prominent features of a successful speaking activity are the maximization of learners‟ speaking time, equal chance for every student to speak, the learners‟ willingness to speak and the mutual understanding between the interlocutors Teachers must keep these features in mind when designing speaking tasks for students

2.1.4 Teaching speaking

Spratt, Pulverness and William (2005) state that teaching speaking means developing learners „speaking skills by focusing regularly on particular aspects of speaking (fluency, pronunciation, grammatical accuracy, and body language) Brown (2001) states that teaching means showing or helping someone to do something, giving instructions, guiding in the study of something, providing with the knowledge, causing to know or to understand According to Nunan(2003), teaching speaking is to teach language learners to:

- Produce the English speech sounds and sounds patterns

- Use words and sentence tress, intonation patterns and the rhythm of the second language

- Select appropriate words and sentences according to the proper social setting, audience, situation, and subject matter

- Organize their thoughts in a meaningful and logical sequence

- Use language as a means of expressing values and judgements

- Use the language quickly and confidently with few unnatural pauses, which is called fluency

In short, whenever the terms speaking skills and teaching speaking skills are mentioned in this thesis, they refer to all above-listed aspects Teaching speaking skills involves teaching these features as well

2.1.5 Speaking Assessment

Assessment plays an important role in the process of teaching and learning Assessment provides information for the teachers about the strengths and the weaknesses of their teaching as the students' achievement also represents teachers' teaching quality Meanwhile, assessment provides information related to their achievement It can also motivate them to prepare their best performance in accomplishing assignments or tasks

In this study, the learners‟ speaking performances were assessed using a scoring rubric proposed by Harris (1974) (Appendix 3) The aspects of speaking which scored were pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension

2.2 Simulations

2.2.1 Definition of simulations in language teaching and learning

The use of simulations in language teaching which is gaining increasing popularity especially with the advent of “communicative methodology” is an extremely valuable method Simulation is a way of “declassrooming the classroom” by bringing real world communication to classroom (Salies, 2002a) Thus the students are given an environment similar to a real life context to use the language meaningfully

SAGSET (Society for Advancement of Games and Simulations in Education

and Training) defines simulations as “teaching and learning methods in which

participants are directly involved in making decisions and learning from the outcomes of these Their active, student centered nature means that they are memorable and highly motivating They enable the exploration of the

complex nature of the real world and interdisciplinary, interacting subjects as

well as the more basic needs of understanding, doing and skills practice.”

Simulations can be defined as a “structured set of circumstances that mirror

real life and participants act as instructed” (Javid, 2013) In other words, simulations can be defined as the act of initiating the behavior of some situation or some process by means of something suitably analogous

In the case of this study, the view of simulations is that they provide a way of creating a rich communicative environment (a representation of reality) where students actively become a part of some real-world systems and function according to predetermined roles as members of a group

2.2.2 Characteristics of simulations

In his book “Simulation in Language Teaching” (1982), Jones defines simulations as a “reality of function in a simulated and structured environment”

This definition shows three essential elements in simulations:

- A reality of function – participants are assigned roles and are told they must fully accept them both mentally and behaviorally as if they were those people

- A simulated environment – a realistic setting constructed to enhance acceptance by utilizing a variety of realia

role A structure based on explicit “fact”– the whole action is built around a set

of problems or tasks, thus following the task-based model of teaching

Participants must step inside the function mentally and behaviorally to fulfill their duties and responsibilities in the situation (Jones, 1982) The most important part of simulations is having participants accept the reality of function (role and duties) fully, not thinking as students but taking the role; otherwise the simulation simply will not work Acceptance of the reality of function means that a participant who has the function of doctor must examine the patient, communicating effectively to do the job The role of students in simulations, therefore, is (i) taking the functional roles such as reporter, survivor, or customer as a participant, (ii) stepping into the event,

and (iii) shaping the event, carrying out their duties and responsibilities (cited

on Lyu, 2006, p.13)

In simulations, a provided environment must be simulated In order to fulfill the essential condition of being a simulated environment, there must be no contact between the participants and the world outside of the classroom (Jones, 1982, p.5) In other words, when an office in a company is the setting for a simulation, we do not provide a real office or a building, yet we create a simulated environment representing the office that is outside of the classroom

by arranging some desks with other props like a computer, office materials, and so on Likewise, if we need a door, we can provide a simulated environment by putting two chairs together One thing that we need to keep in mind is that only the environment is simulated, but the behavior of a participant is real (cited on Lyu, 2006, p.13)

It is important that the essential “facts” of the simulation environment are provided, not invented by the participants, to preserve reality of function (Jones, 1982) Without structure, it is not a simulation because there is no reality of function

2.2.3 Benefits of simulations

Simulations are widely used in the classrooms because they are an ideal technique for language teaching and learning, providing a life-like environment which promotes learners to use the language creatively and communicatively In terms of advantages, scholars have believed that simulations:

2.2.3.1 Provide a real communicative activity

Simulations are perfect activities that offer ample opportunities for learners to communicate in the target language As Jones (1982) mentions, simulations provide the participants with the mutual need to communicate and the need is

inherent in the activity In other words, participants naturally communicate in order to fulfill the role or solve the problem in simulations Participants in simulations continually interact exchanging thoughts and negotiating meanings as they take roles and try to fulfill the duty Jones (1982) depicts a good simulation as a nuclear power breeder reactor As a nuclear power breeder reactor produces its own fuel, communication in a good simulation leads to more communication, ideas generate ideas, talk leads to thought, and thought leads to more talk (Jones, 1982)

2.2.3.2 Motivate students

Motivation is inherent in a simulation (Jones, 1982) It is self-generated since motive arises out of function, the duties, the responsibilities, and the circumstances in which the participants find themselves (Jones, 1982)

As Jones (1982) states, motivation from function and duty is an essential ingredient in a simulation Therefore, no effort to motivate learners will be necessary as long as learners accept the reality of their functions Motivation may also come from the emotional satisfaction or the pleasure of power to make decisions and the enjoyment of interactive excitement (cited on Lyu, 2006)

2.2.3.3 Develop students' communicative competence

Simulation enhances students‟ communicative competence Simulation has a magic ingredient (Jones, 1982), one that provokes talk, since communication, function and duties are always real to the learner, even if the simulation is set more than one thousand years into the future The methodology offers the opportunity to enhance communicative language ability, together with cultural literacy of the language

2.2.3.4 Improve integration of skills

Another one of benefits of simulations as a teaching strategy in language classroom is the integration of the four skills in addition to the enhanced

use of vocabulary (Hyland, 2009) Extensive reading is required of students during their preparation for the simulation Students become immersed in both written and auditory texts in English Students also develop their ability to listen and comprehend aurally and answer and negotiate convincingly during discussions (Salies, 2002a) When students orally discuss the simulated topics, their vocabulary gets exercised Being exposed to various simulated topics and the roles the simulations involve students learn new terms and role specific jargon

2.2.3.5 Encourage active participation

Simulations are one of few classroom activities that involve a high level of student participation (Hyland, 2009) The high level of participation gets learners engaged in the task and provides opportunities for student-student interaction

2.2.3.6 Prepare students for real life and unpredictability

Since learners have experienced various realistic situations through simulations, they will feel more comfortable and more prepared in unrehearsed situations Therefore, through the realistic experiences in simulations, learners can gain confidence when communicating with others in

a real situation It is not the “I‟ve read it, so now I know it” type of confidence: It is the “I‟ve done it, so I can do it” confidence (Jones, 1982 (as cited on Lyu, 2006)

2.2.4 Limitations of simulations

Although simulations seem effective in teaching speaking skills, drawbacks in simulations are inevitable

2.2.4.1 Difficulties in monitoring activities

There is no teacher inside simulation activities Participants are responsible for solving assigned problems and making decisions (Lyu, 2006) With so

much activity both physical and verbal going on, it is sometimes difficult for the teacher to monitor a student's performance There is the fear among teachers that the students are having too much fun and that no learning is taking place

2.2.4.2 Selection of suitable simulations

Some criteria will have to be set before the selection of the appropriate simulations Factors to be considered include the language level of the learners, costs of purchasing or making simulations sets, its relevance to the students and so on

2.2.4.3 Embarrassment

In some situations, especially among adult learners, simulation activities cause a lot of embarrassment, awkwardness, and very little spontaneous language use The choice of appropriate roles for different students is thus very important

2.2.4.4 Encouragement of incorrect forms

The teacher‟s role in simulations is to be a good controller Jones (1982) likens teachers‟ role to a traffic controller: “a person who controls the flow of traffic, tries to avoid bottlenecks, but does not tell individual motorists the direction of their journeys.” Thus, the teacher is not encouraged to correct mistakes immediately so as not to discourage students, this provides opportunities for learners to produce and practice ungrammatical and inappropriate forms

2.2.4.5 Difficulties in timing lessons

The teacher must spend a lot of time in preparation work especially for simulations The teacher is not able to predict the amount of class time that will be taken to carry out the activity since the ability of each class varies

2.2.5 Simulations in teaching speaking skills

2.2.5.1 Simulations vs Role plays

The distinction between role-play and simulation is very often of small attention and even omitted These speaking activities may often overlap in practice and different authors give different definitions, but regardless of role-play and simulation similarities, there is a difference

According to Dakowska (2005), the contrast between these two speaking activities is a matter of degree In simulations, students are usually invited to participate in an exercise which resembles a real-life event Unlike role-plays,

in which role cards tell the learner what to say and what view to adopt, in simulations learners have the freedom to respond as they think (Dummett, 1994) He clearly states that in a simulation the players are not restricted to what to say Next, Dummett also suggests that students do not take any roles, but they imagine themselves in different, existing in actual life situations In almost the same way, Harmer (2007) sees simulations as “a chance to rehearse real-life encounters For example, we can move the classroom furniture so that we represent a station office with a ticket window” This situation requires playing a role of a passenger and a travel clerk, so one learner likewise in a role-playing, must take on a role of somebody else

As presented above, in role-plays students are cast roles of different characters, whereas in simulations participants do not take any roles and play themselves in real-life situations The situation being simulated has existed, exists, or could be exist in the real world but the simulation modifies it to fit the parameters of classroom teaching

As Bambrough (1994, p.14) points out simulations are differentiated from other role activities See Table 2.1

Table 2.1 Simulations vs Role plays (Bambrough, 1994)

Props are provided

(The environment is provided.)

Props are not necessarily provided (Participants have to create and imagine key aspects of the environment.)

Key “facts” are provided for

“functional part”

(E.g.: There are representations for

sex, age, job, broken watch, etc.)

Participants invent key facts or have

to act according to a specific script

or description provided

E.g.: You are angry because…

Participants take on the role Participants play/act a role

Imagination may be involved, but

invention is prohibited

Participants are encouraged to create/invent whatever is necessary

to play the role

Create real communication in a

controlled realistic situation

Do dialogues in a fixed context or improvisational speech in an imaginary one

Comparing the differences between simulation and role play reveals the advantages of applying simulations in teaching ESP students A simulation

becomes reality and students can get actively involved in what they are

performing without focusing too much on the environmental details

2.2.5.2 Simulation model in ESP

A simulation task generally is divided into three phrases: firstly, a stage for giving the participants necessary information; secondly, the problem-solving discussions, and thirdly, follow-up work Sturtridge (1977) illustrates this in his diagram of structure of simulation as follows:

PHASE I

PHASE II

PHASE III

Figure 2.1 The structure of a simulation (Sturtridge, 1977)

In Phase One, the task is presented to the participants, who must understand the nature of the task, their own roles, particularly if roles-cards are given out, and any constraints or roles that might be imposed To start the task, they need background information, for example technical data; and though sometimes it is desirable for some participants to have private access to

Informational input

The task The roles Background

Technical data

Group or pair work

The confrontation or discussion

of the task or problem

Linguistic input Drills Exercises Discussion Strategies

Feedback Assessment of learner performance

Discussion of errors Intermediate remedial work

Further work arising from the discussion

eg, report writing

Linguistic input

specific information, it is essential that everyone participating has a minimum

of common knowledge about the situation

In Phase Two, it is not accuracy but fluency that is the objective, and the teacher

is by turns monitor, manager and linguistic informant, and as such he finds he has to tolerate mistakes and curb his own desire to instruct and correct

Phase Three, the feedback stage, is in some ways the most valuable stage of the simulation, but it can also be the most difficult for the teacher to handle constructively It is suggested that the participants listen to the recorded tapes

or even repeat the same simulation after they have worked on the errors that were made

Three phrases of simulation are applied in teaching speaking skills in this research

2.3 Previous studies

The simulation technique is not a new technique, but it fits with the current approach in communicative language teaching It can improve students‟ achievement in the class There are some similar studies that had been conducted before The results of the research are described as follows

The research carried out by Lyu (2006) focuses on the use of simulations in classrooms concerning learning/teaching how to communicate in the target speech community Lyu found that simulations can offer efficient and effective learning in the classrooms while providing naturalistic environments, which maximize the opportunities of creating real communication in EFL classrooms Learners in simulations are motivated due

to the characteristic of simulations, which is an important fact in learning how

to communicate in the target language successfully Hence it is a limitation as only theory is mentioned in the paper, which, to some extent, reduces the liability and validity of the outcome

In Vietnam, there is a minority of papers relating to action research on the topic of applying simulations to develop speaking skills for students Firstly,

“The use of simulation to develop speaking skills for 3rd

-year fast track students at Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, ULIS, VNU as perceived by teachers and students” an action research project, written by Khuc Kim Lan (2010) with the same goal as Lyu However, the participants were the third-year students at advanced level The instruments were observation, questionnaire, and interview with the record device This research also produced reliable outcomes with the responses and suggestions from both teachers and students, and also the interview‟s details are in great validity and clearly presented in this paper

A survey research conducted by Dang Thi Thanh (2011) also aimed to use simulation tasks to improve ESP vocabulary for the second - year students of Automotive Engineering Department at Sao Do University The researcher found that simulation tasks is one of the techniques that can satisfy students

„need and requirement in enhancing ESP vocabulary Moreover, the only instrument that she applied in her research was the questionnaire, which could not show a reliable result

It is the fact that there have not been many studies on applying simulation techniques to improve speaking skills for students, especially students majoring in Hotel Management The study is expected to make a significant contribution to improving speaking skills for students by using simulations technique

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY

This chapter provides a detailed picture of the methodology of this study by describing and explaining the research setting, the data collection instruments, the procedure of data collection as well as data analysis

3.1 Restatement of research questions

As previously mentioned in the Introduction part, this study aims to deal with these three research questions:

1 How have the students‟ English speaking skills been improved after using simulations?

2 What do the students perceive of the benefits of simulations to their development of speaking skills?

3 What are the challenges facing students in doing simulations tasks as perceived by themselves?

3.2 Research setting

The College where the research has been conducted is an official college belonging to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and under the national education system It was founded in 1972 The college trains students

at various levels such as professional intermediate level, vocational intermediate level and formal college level During 48 years of establishment and development, the college has trained human resources for tourism, restaurants and hotels with high quality, skilled international and national standards

At the college, students at all levels have to learn English as a compulsory subject English is a non-major subject; it is a basic subject and taught in the first two years of the three-year-training course For the formal college students, they study General English in two semesters and English for

Specific Purpose in the last two semesters The number of students in each class is varied depending on their major At the end of each term, together with the written test, the formal college students have to take an oral test to evaluate their speaking skills The overall assessment of the students at the college over the years has shown that their English proficiency is not very good, especially their speaking skills

With the aim of increasing the students‟ speaking skills in the field of Hotel Management, the college is using the textbook “Be my guest” in two semesters (ESP 1 and ESP 2) The textbook covers six different themes, namely:

1 Reception work

2 Restaurant and bar

3 Answering the phone and taking messages

4 Dealing with guests‟ problems

5 Explaining how things work

6 Giving directions inside and outside the hotel

3.3 Participants

The participants of this study were 22 students in the Hotel Management Department at the college Those are the second-year students, who are currently studying English for Specific Purposes (ESP) at the college and are being trained to be a receptionist Most of them were female students that come from different parts of the country Their age ranges from 19 to 22 The students are generally at elementary level They have learned English for at least 6 years at the high school, but this subject was not carefully taken into consideration so their English competence, especially speaking skills are very low In their opinion, learning English means learning grammar and structures

3.4 Research method

The research was conducted as an action research project It was carried out

by the researcher in order to explore the effectiveness and students‟ perceived challenges of using simulations in the speaking classes

3.4.1 An overview of action research

Action research can be defined in various ways Bassey (1998, p.93) describes

“action research as an enquiry which is carried out in order to understand, to evaluate and then to change, in order to improve educational practice”

Hopkins (2002, p.41) maintains that “action research combines a substantive act with a research procedure; it is action disciplined by enquiry, a personal attempt

at understanding while engaged in a process of improvement and reform”

Van Lier (1996, p.32) considers action research as “a small-scale intervention

in the functioning of the real world and a close examination of the effects of such intervention”

In language teaching, action research usually involves practitioners (teachers, school principals) planning strategies in responses to problems related to the classroom management, teaching materials and language skills

In action research, a teacher becomes an „investigator‟ or „explorer‟ of his or her personal teaching context, while at the same time being one of the participants in it (Burns)

Burns (1999, p.30) makes some characteristics of action research taken from some experts‟ definition as follows:

1 Action research is contextual, small-scale and localized It identifies and investigates problems within a specific situation

2 It is evaluating and reflective as it aims to bring about change and improvement in practice

3 It is participatory as it provides for collaborative investigation by teams of colleagues, practitioners and researchers

4 Changes in practice are based on the collection of information or data which provides the impetus for changes Based on several definitions stated

by some experts, it can be concluded that action research is any systematic inquiry undertaken by participators in a social situation (including education) which is directed towards greater understanding and improvement of practices where those practices are carried out

Although it exists different definitions about AR, there is still a consensus that

AR is an intervention to the problematic situations in the classroom in order

to improve the situations It involves both teachers and students

3.4.2 Action research cycle

There are a lot of different models of action research

Susman (1983) identifies five steps to be implemented in an action research as follows:

Figure 3.1: Detailed action research mode (Susman 1983)

Whereas Nunan (1992) defines the framework of a research as consisting of seven steps as follows:

Step 1: Initiation - Identify the idea of action research

Step 2: Preliminary investigation - Collect data through a variety of means to help understand the nature of the problem

Step 3: Hypotheses - A hypothesis is formulated after reviewing the initial data Step 4: Intervention – Strategies to be devised and innovations to be implemented

Step 5: Evaluation – Collect data and analyze it to evaluate the intervention Step 6: Dissemination – Report the results

Step 7: Follow-up: Continuous investigation of alternatives solutions for the problem

Different from Nunan, Kemmis and Mc Taggart (1988) introduces a simple model of action research which involves four broad phrases in a cycle of research: planning, action, observation and reflection

Figure 3.2: Cyclical AR model based on Kemmis and Mc Taggart (1988)

The model developed by Kemmis and McTaggart (1988) who state that action research occurs through a dynamic and complementary process which consists of four fundamental steps in a spiraling process They are as follow:

a Planning: Developing a plan of critically informed action to improve what

is already happening

b Action: Having planned the action, implementing the activity

c Observation: observing the effects of the critically informed action in the context in which it occurs