Using english reading texts as input for speaking tasks at phuc yen college of industry

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES ---  --- ĐỖ THỊ LAN HƯƠNG USING ENGLISH READING TEXTS AS INPUT

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

-   -

ĐỖ THỊ LAN HƯƠNG

USING ENGLISH READING TEXTS AS INPUT FOR

SPEAKING TASKS

AT PHUC YEN COLLEGE OF INDUSTRY

SỬ DỤNG BÀI ĐỌC TIẾNG ANH LÀM NGUỒN NGỮ LIỆU CHO CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG NÓI TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG CÔNG NGHIỆP PHÚC YÊN

MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

Field: English methodology Code: 601410

HANOI, 2012

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

-   -

ĐỖ THỊ LAN HƯƠNG

USING ENGLISH READING TEXTS AS INPUT FOR

SPEAKING TASKS

AT PHUC YEN COLLEGE OF INDUSTRY

SỬ DỤNG BÀI ĐỌC TIẾNG ANH LÀM NGUỒN NGỮ LIỆU CHO CÁC

HOẠT ĐỘNG NÓI TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG CÔNG NGHIỆP PHÚC YÊN

MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

Field: English methodology Code: 601410

Supervisor: MA Pham Minh Hien

HANOI, 2012

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Declaration i

Acknowledgements ii

Abstract iii

Table of contents v

List of tables ix

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale of the study 1

1.2 Focus of the study 2

1.3 Purposes of the study 2

1.4 Research questions 3

1.5 Scope of the study 3

1.6 Methods of the study 4

1.7 Design of the study 4

PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT 6

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

1 Theory of input 6

1.1 Definitions of input 6

1.2 The input hypothesis of Krashen‟s theory 6

1.3 Reading texts as comprehensible input 8

2 Communicative approach 9

2.1 Definition of Communicative Language Teaching 9

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2.2 Communicative activities 10

3 Speaking skills 10

3.1 What is speaking? 10

3.2 Characteristics of speaking 11

3.3 Functions of speaking 12

3.4 The nature of teaching speaking 15

CHAPTER TWO: DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDY 18

2.1 The overview of teaching and learning situations at Phuc Yen College of Industry 18

2.1.1 An overview of Phuc Yen College of Industry 18

2.1.2 Students‟ background 19

2.1.3 Teachers and teaching methods 19

2.1.4 Course books and teaching materials for teaching speaking skills 20

2.2 Methodology of the study 21

2.2.1 Rationale for the use of action research 21

2.2.2 Description of subjects and participants in the study 21

2.2.3 The instruments for carrying out the study 22

2.2.3.1 The research questions 22

2.2.3.2 The methods for the data collection 22

2.2.3.3 The methods for processing and analyzing the data 24

CHAPTER THREE: DATA COLLECTION AND DISCUSSION 26

3.1 Findings from the teacher’s classroom observation 26

3.2 Findings from the questionnaires 27

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3.2.1 Questionnaire No.1 27

3.2.1.1 Students‟ background of learning English 27

3.2.1.2 Students‟ reasons for learning English 28

3.2.1.3 Students‟ attitude towards learning English speaking skills 29

3.2.1.4 Time and materials used for learning speaking at school 30

3.2.1.5 Factors that make students feel difficult in learning speaking 31

3.2.1.6 Students‟ desire from speaking lessons 32

3.2.2 Questionnaire No.2 33

3.2.2.1 Students‟ responses to question 1 33

3.2.2.2 Students‟ responses to question 2 34

3.2.2.3 Students‟ responses to questions 3, 4 35

3.3 Findings from the pre-test and the post-test 35

3.4 Data discussion 38

3.4.1 Students’ difficulties in learning speaking skills 38

3.4.2 The effects of English reading texts used as input for speaking tasks 39

PART THREE: CONCLUSION 40

1 Summary of the findings 40

2 Implications and suggestions for teaching speaking using English reading texts as input for speaking tasks 41

3 Limitations of the study and recommendations for further study 41

4 Conclusion 42

References 44

Appendix 1 I Appendix 2 II Appendix 3 IV

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Appendix 4 VI

v

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 4 Students‟ attitude towards speaking skills 29

Table 7 Students‟ difficulties in learning speaking 31

Table 9 Students‟ responses to question 1 (Questionnaire No.2) 33

Table 10 Students‟ responses to question 2 (Questionnaire No.2) 34

Table 11 Students‟ responses to questions 3, 4 (Questionnaire No.2) 35

to teach the language effectively to enable students to use it successfully in communication is really a big question faced by all English teachers

The ability of students communicate naturally in English is one of the long term goals that language teachers would like to achieve in class According to Bygate (1987), the problem in teaching a foreign language or a second language is

to prepare the students to use the language In mastering English, the students should be able to know and apply four language skills such as listening, reading, speaking, and writing, because they would make someone become perfect in using language Indeed, it is a demanding task for language teachers to provide sufficient inputs for students to be competent speakers of English Speaking is one of the language skills that should be mastered by language learners With speaking, the students can make a good communication to the others For most people, mastering the art of speaking is the most important aspect of learning a second or foreign language A successful language learner is measured by their ability in carrying out conversation in daily life, therefore, speaking is a main part of language The fluent speaking will be a positive impact for all people in studying language Hence, in teaching and learning of language, speaking should be the first purpose in developing language in all levels of education

As a teacher of Phuc Yen College of Industry, through self-observation and

my own five-year teaching experience, the author sees that during speaking lessons, classroom interaction is restricted Usually, students feel insecure about their level

of English and they face problems communicating as well as expressing themselves

in the target language As a result, few students in the class get involved in the

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activities conducted by teachers while others rather remain silent as they are in fear

of making mistakes and do not know what and how to speak in speaking lessons Obviously, one of the biggest challenges to the teacher is to find effective ways to improve their students‟ communicative skills

This paper addresses this issue by using English reading texts as a means to provide comprehensible input in learning speaking skills because reading texts are a valuable source providing information, grammar structure, vocabulary, etc for students in developing their English competence While a considerable amount of research has been conducted to investigate the effectiveness of using reading texts

to develop students‟ reading skills, little has been particularly done on its effectiveness in improving students‟ speaking skills

For these reasons, the author decided to conduct a study on “Using English

reading texts as input for speaking tasks at Phuc Yen College of Industry” This

study primarily examines the students‟ difficulties in their learning speaking skills

It then investigates the effectiveness of English reading texts used as input for speaking tasks The author does hope that this study will be of help for those who want to find effective ways of teaching and learning speaking skills

1.2 Focus of the study

The study focuses on effects of using English reading texts as input for speaking tasks to carry out communicative classroom tasks in the lessons of speaking skills employed by English teachers to enhance the effect of using it as a means to provide comprehensible input in teaching and learning speaking skills

1.3 Purposes of the study

The purpose of the study is to improve English speaking skills for first-year non-English majors at Phuc Yen College of Industry It has three purposes as follows:

- To identify students‟ difficulties in their English speaking skills

Regarding the importance of speaking teaching, purposes of the research,

this study is accomplished to find the answer to the question “How effectively are

English reading texts used as input for speaking tasks exploited to improve year non-English majors’ speaking skills at Phuc Yen College of Industry?”

first-Specifically, the study addressed the following three research questions:

- What are the students‟ difficulties in English speaking?

- Are English reading texts used as input for speaking tasks effective in teaching non-English majors‟ speaking skills?

- If yes, how effective is it?

1.5 Scope of the study

The study concentrates on improving first-year non-English majors at Phuc Yen College of Industry by using English reading texts as input for speaking tasks Within its scope, the research was only aimed at justifying the effectiveness of using English reading texts as input in teaching English speaking skills to first-year non-English majors Only accuracy of speaking skills will be considered in order to evaluate students‟ improvement after using English reading texts

1.6 Methods of the study

This study is conducted as an action research because it is aimed at improving first-year non-English majors‟ speaking skills In order to get data, a combination of different instruments, namely class observation, questionnaire and audio-recording is used The combination of different instruments used in this

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research would help to gain reliable data and help the research have a close investigation into the problem that the students were having The data collected from the observation will be analyzed by qualitative method, and the data collected through the questionnaires and audio-recording will be analyzed by quantitative method

1.7 Design of the study

The study is presented in three parts: Introduction, development and conclusion

Part one INTRODUCTION introduces the rationale, focus, research questions, scope, methods and design of the study

Part two DEVELOPMENT includes three chapters:

Chapter one is the literature reviews This chapter intends to set up the framework of the study It focuses on the nature of language skills and communication Some discussions on definitions of input, the input hypothesis of Krashen‟s theory, reading texts as comprehensible input are presented Some principles in teaching speaking are also mentioned

Chapter two includes two sections The first section presents the local situation at Phuc Yen College of Industry, with a brief description of the speaking learning and teaching conditions, students, teachers and the course books used for teaching speaking to non-English majors The second section describes the research methodology including the description of the subjects, data collection instruments and procedures

Chapter three presents the results collected from the self-observation, questionnaires and audio-recordings in the form of tables and figures This is followed by the discussion and analysis of the data

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Part three CONCLUSION mentions the implications and suggestions for teaching speaking using English reading texts as input for speaking tasks Recommendations for further research are also mentioned in this part

PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW

1 Theory of input

1.1 Definitions of input

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According to Encyclopedia II (2005), input is information processing In information processing, input refers to either information received or the process of receiving it In human-computer interaction, input is the information produced by the user with the purpose of controlling the computer program The user interface determines what kinds of input the program accepts

Input is an indispensable component in second language acquisition (SLA) According to Ellis (1985), input may be provided by interaction with native speakers in a natural setting or by formal instruction Input can be spoken or written, and it is the data that learners use to determine the rules of the second language By defining input, Ellis establishes two important distinctions in the field

of SLA research First, he makes the traditional distinction between incidental and intentional acquisition, frequently referred as acquisition versus learning (Krashen, 1981) or implicit versus explicit learning (Bialyatok, 1978; Ellis, 1990) When input

is provided by interaction in a natural setting, learners are concerned mainly with trying to understand and to produce a message, although they can also acquire second language rules incidentally Second, if learners focus on the language form itself, they acquire the language intentionally By considering input to be both spoken and written data, Ellis considers both comprehension and production processes that may occur in the learner in response to language input

1.2 The input hypothesis of Krashen’s theory

Stephen Krashen is an expert in the field of linguistics, specializing in the theories of language acquisition and development

Krashen‟s theory of second language acquisition consists of five main hypotheses:

- The Acquisition-Learning hypothesis

- The Monitor hypothesis

- The Natural Order hypothesis

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- The Input Hypothesis

- The Affective Filter hypothesis

The input hypothesis is the central part of the overall theory of SLA It claims that language can be acquired only by understanding contents, that is, by receiving “comprehensible input” We have to receive input that is just beyond our competence but not beyond our understanding Comprehensible input means that students should be able to understand the essence of what is being said or presented

to them This does not mean, however, that teachers must use only words students understand In fact, instruction can be incomprehensible even when students know all of the words Students learn a new language best when they receive input that is just a bit more difficult than they can easily understand In other words, students may understand most, but not all, words the teacher is using Making teacher talk comprehensible to students goes beyond the choice of vocabulary and involves presentation of background and context, explanation and rewording of unclear content, and the use of effective techniques such as graphic organizers By using context or visual cues, or by asking for clarification, students enhance their knowledge of English When input is comprehensible, students understand most aspects of what is required for learning, and the learning experience pushes them to greater understanding It is Krashen‟s attempt to explain how the learner acquires a second language In other words, this hypothesis is Krashen‟s explanation of how SLA takes places Thus, the input hypothesis is only concerned with “acquisition” not “learning.” (Krashen, 1988) The “acquired system” or “acquisition” is the product of a subconscious process very similar to the process children undergo when they acquire their first language It requires meaningful interaction in the target language – natural communication – in which speakers are concentrated not

on the form of their utterances, but in the communicative act

Krashen makes the following claims:

c Input becomes comprehensible as a result of simplification and with the help of contextual and extra-linguistic clues

d Speaking is the result of acquisition, not its cause If the learner receives a sufficient amount of comprehensible input, speech will “emerge” on its own Learners‟ production does not contribute directly to acquisition

e If input is understood and there is enough of it, the necessary grammar is provided automatically

The input hypothesis answers the question of how a language acquirer develops competency over time It states that a language acquirer who is at “level i” must receive comprehensible input that is at “level i + 1” “We acquire, on other words, only when we understand language that contains structure that is „a little beyond‟ where we are now.” This understanding is possible due to using the context

of the language we are hearing or reading and our knowledge of the world (Krashen, 1987)

1.3 Reading texts as comprehensible input

Stephen Krashen has emphasized the importance of reading for language acquisition He notes that those who read more in a second language perform higher

on comprehension exams than those who read less (Krashen, 1993) Language learners can acquire language through reading material that contains vocabulary and structure that is only a bit beyond their current level of competence, i.e., “i + 1” Material that is too far below their current ability will not be useful enough in order for them to progress Material that is well beyond their comprehensible will

Krashen (1993b, 1994) especially supports extensive reading for pleasure, or for free vocabulary reading Extensive reading may be defined as the reading of large amounts of material for pleasure and information Such material is usually chosen by the students and is comprehensible to them Reading material which is enjoyable and comprehensible will raise the students‟ overall English competence

2 Communicative approach

2.1 Definition of Communicative Language Teaching

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), or briefly referred to as Communicative approach, can be generally understood as an approach to second language or foreign language teaching, which emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language (WipiPedia)

Williams (1995) summarizes the CLT classroom as one in which there is

an emphasis on the use of authentic language and unpredictable input Negotiation of meaning between students and teachers should be essential in the implementation of tasks with resulting comprehensible input While in traditional second language classroom, learners play passive roles in class, in CLT class, learners are encouraged to contribute as much as he gains, and learn

in an independent way

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2.2 Communicative activities

Communicative activities refer to the techniques which are employed in the communicative method in language teaching The activities involve “doing” things with language

3 Speaking skills

3.1 What is speaking?

It is obvious that speaking is the key to human communication Speaking consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning According to Frorez (1999), speaking is “an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information” Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including the participants, their collective experiences, the physical environment, and the purposes for speaking It is often spontaneous, open-ended and evolving, but it is not completely unpredictable Speaking requires that learners not only know how to produce specific points of language such as grammar, pronunciation, or vocabulary ("linguistic competence"), but also that they understand when, why, and in what ways to produce language ("sociolinguistic competence")

Byrne (1976) states that “speaking is a two-way process between the speaker(s) and the listener(s) involving the productive skill of speaking and the receptive skill of understanding” Both the listener and the speaker have a positive function to perform: the speaker has to encode the message conveyed in an appropriate language while the listener has to decode the message

Chaney (1988) defined that “speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the use verbal and non-verbal symbols in a variety of contexts”

Different researchers have the same idea that speaking the two-way process

3.2 Characteristics of speaking

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Speaking skill is very important for communication According to Kayi (2006), speaking is fundamental to human communication because in our daily life, most of us speak more than we write Frake (1980) as quoted by Gebhard (2000) says that it is through talk that people construct their cultural worlds, display and recreate their social orders, plan and critique their activities, and praise and condemn their fellows

In most of the case, speaking is the interaction between at least two people and in that course of interaction, the listener can give immediate reaction to what is spoken The reaction can be positive or negative attitude toward the content of speaking or can be the revealing of comprehension or incomprehension Focusing

on the complexity of spoken interaction, Luoma (2004) cited some features of spoken discourse:

- Composed of idea units (conjoined short phrase and clauses)

- May be planned (e.g a lecture) or unplanned (e.g a conversation)

- Employ more vague or generic words than written language

- Employ fixed phrases, filters and hesitation makers

- Contain slips and errors reflecting on-line processing

- Involved reciprocity (i.e interactions are jointly constructed)

- Showing variation (e.g between formal and casual speech), reflecting

speaker roles, speaking purposes, and the context

3.3 Functions of speaking

There are numerous attempts to classify the functions of speaking in human interaction Brown and Yule (1983) divide them into interactional functions of speaking and the transactional functions On the basis of that framework, Jack C

Richard has made useful classification with talk as interaction, talk as transaction,

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and talk as performance Each of these speech activities are quite distinct by form

and function and needs different teaching approaches

Talk as interaction normally is what we mean by “conversation” describing

interaction served as a social function The style of talk as interaction can be casual

or formal depending on the situations the speakers are in, and the people to whom they are talking The focus is more on the speakers and how they wish to present themselves to each other than on the message The main features of talk as interaction can be summarized as follows:

- Has a primarily social function

- Reflects role relationship

- Reflects speaker’s identity

- Maybe formal or casual

- Uses conversational conventions

- Reflects degree of politeness

- Employs many generic words

- Uses conversational register

- Is jointly constructed

Some of the skills to perform well interaction are listed as:

- Opening and closing conversations

be an example of talk as interaction

For many students, talk as interaction is not their purpose of learning a

foreign language because mastering the art of talk as interaction is difficult This can be a disadvantage for some learners where the ability to use talk for conversation can be important

Talk as transaction focuses on what is said or done rather than on the

participant themselves Burns distinguishes between two different types of talk as

transaction: one focuses on the information exchanged like asking someone for the time and the other concentrates on obtaining goods or services, such as checking into a hotel Accuracy is not the center of attention in this kind of talk as long as the information is successfully understood

As summarized by Jack C Richard, the main features of talk as transaction are:

- It has a primarily information focus

- The main focus is the message and not the participants

- Participants employ communications strategies to make themselves understood

- There may be frequent questions, repetitions, comprehension checks

- There may be negotiation and digression

- Linguistic accuracy is not always important

Some of the skills involved in using talk as transactions are:

- Explaining a need or intention

- Agreeing and disagreeing

Talk as performance refers to public talk such as giving presentations,

lectures Talk as performance tends to be in the form of monolog rather than dialog and is closer to written language then conversational language

The main features of talk as performance are showed by Jack C Richard as follows:

- There is a focus on both message and audience

- It reflects organization and sequencing

- Form and accuracy is important

- Language is more like written language

- It is often monologic

Some skills needed in talk as performance are:

- Using an appropriate format

- Presenting information in an appropriate sequence

- Maintaining audience engagement

- Using correct pronunciation and grammar

- Creating an effect on the audience

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- Using appropriate vocabulary

- Using appropriate opening and closing

Which speaking activity should be taught to learners is the key factor deciding how classroom activities should be designed and what teaching method should be used

3.4 The nature of teaching speaking

Speaking is so much part of daily life that we take it for granted (Thorndike, 2001) For most people, the ability to speak a language is synonymous with knowing that language since speech is the most basic means of human communication (Lazaration in Celce-Murcia, 2001)

Speaking is very important because it enables us to express our ideas, give response or comments on what we hear or read orally Brown (2001) suggests teachers consider some current issues in teaching oral communication, namely:

1 Conversational discourse: the benchmark of successful language

acquisition is almost always the demonstration of an ability to accomplish pragmatic goals through interactive discourse with other speakers of the language

2 Teaching pronunciation: these phonological details of language are

important

3 Accuracy and fluency: both are important because fluency without

accuracy will make a language not comprehensible

4 Affective factors: one of the learners‟ obstacles learning to speak is

anxiety

5 The interaction effect: for the learner, the matter of what to say is often

eclipsed by convention of how to say things, when to speak and other discourse constraints including the interlocutor effect or difficulty of a speaking task as gauged by the skills of one‟s interlocutor

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Since teaching speaking means teaching students to be able to speak a language, teaching speaking means teaching students to:

- produce the English speech sounds and sound patterns

- use word and sentence stress, intonation patterns and the rhyme of the 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 judgments

- use the language quickly and confidently with few unnatural pauses, which is called as fluency (Nunan, 2003 cited in Kayi 2006)

Brown & Nation (1997) assert that in speaking classes students must be exposed to three key items, namely: (1) form-focus instruction, that is, attention to details of pronunciation grammar vocabulary and so forth; (2) meaning-focused instruction, that is opportunities to produce meaningful spoken messages with real communicative purposes; and (3) opportunities to improve fluency

To gain those targets in teaching speaking, there needs to be mutual cooperation between teachers and students by being active in the speaking practices Krashen (1981) as cited by Wenden (1987) says that students physically needed to

be developed through interactional activities among the teacher-student and student In line with Krashen, Celce-Murcia (2000) says that the most important feature of a classroom speaking activity is to provide an authentic opportunity for the students to get individual meaning across and utilize every area of knowledge they have in second or foreign language In other words, creating circumstance for speaking practice in practice in classroom is very important in the teaching of English to develop students‟ speaking skill

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CHAPTER TWO: DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDY

This chapter addresses the two main issues The first is the overview of English teaching and learning situations at Phuc Yen College of Industry Some points have been taken into consideration such as the conditions in which English is taught, the students‟ background, the teaching staff and the materials they have been using The second part of this chapter is the research methodology which consists of

2.1.1 An overview of Phuc Yen College of Industry

Phuc Yen College of Industry has been in operation for 50 years At the beginning, its duty was to train geodesic students for the whole country, so English

at that time was not in the list of subjects Since 1995, many new branches have been opened such as Economics, Information Technology, Construction and Automobile Accordingly, English has become a major subject that provides students with basic knowledge about grammar and other skills Besides, located in Vinh Phuc province where there are a lot of industrial zones with many foreign companies, the college hopes to train skilled workers for those areas Hence, English is considered an important compulsory subject

Phuc Yen College of Industry has seven offices, three centers and nine faculties English group belongs to Informatics and Foreign Languages Center, which was established in 2000 The center has a mission of teaching English to non-English major students of all other faculties at the college Every year, the college admits nearly 1500000 newly enrolled students for a course of three-year study After graduating, those students, apart from their professionals, need to communicate in English fluently Therefore, the authority in our college has decided that English is the main subject with the purpose of helping the non-English majors

to develop their English communicative skill to meet the demand of their future employment

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result, the students‟ level of English when entering the college is really at the beginning stage even though most of them had at least seven years to learn English

at secondary and high schools and some of them learnt it for three years or less

At secondary schools as well as high schools, the students are familiar with the Grammar-Translation method, the emphasis of which is on the rules of the language, not on the acquisition of language skills, especially speaking skills Moreover, their final exams are in written form with grammar exercises, so the focus of every lesson is always on grammar, not on other skills Hence, they can not speak fluently and most of them do not feel confident in communicating in English

At Phuc Yen College of Industry, the students have to take written and oral exams after the semesters, so they need to learn speaking skills and other skills as well These facts call for teachers to provide students with useful language teaching methods in order to motivate them in speaking lessons

2.1.3 Teachers and teaching methods

English group of the college has got 13 teachers of English language aged from 28 to 39 Four of them took full-time courses in English language in different foreign universities in Viet Nam and the rest joined in-service training courses There are only two teachers who get M.A degree and the others get B.A degree

In terms of language teaching, in the past these teachers used to employ the traditional teaching method – the Grammar Translation one even though they were always aware of the importance of the new trend of current teaching methods: learner-centered approach and communicative approach Now they have been changing their teaching methods by applying new techniques for more attractive lessons such as pair/ group work, role-play, making presentation in front of the class, etc to make the students to feel highly motivated in learning However, the teachers can sometimes do these and the amount of time spent on such activities is not much because of limited course time and big classes Accordingly, the time spent on speaking teaching makes up small part of the whole program

2.1.4 Course books and teaching materials for teaching speaking skills

At Phuc Yen College of Industry, there are two levels: professional secondary level with two-year course time and college level with three-year course time

For college level, the students have two semesters of learning general English and one semester of learning English for specific purposes For general English, the students have forty five periods each semester The main textbook used

is Lifelines, pre-intermediate by Tom Hutchinson, 2002, which is designed in a

communicative way However, the textbook is used for non-English majors at the college, so there is no separated speaking syllabus Therefore, the teachers have to integrate the four skills into each other and design their speaking lessons based on the topics assigned that are relevant to the students‟ level to help them understand the whole lessons

The need for teaching English speaking skills is increasing to meet the demand of the society For such situation of Phuc Yen College of Industry with course time limited, big classes, no separated speaking lessons, the teachers always try their best to look for more relevant and suitable teaching methods and materials

In this research, using English reading texts as input for speaking tasks is highly recommended for the teachers to teach speaking skills The effect of this kind of method will be discussed in the next chapter

2.2 Methodology of the study

2.2.1 Rationale for the use of action research

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As defined by Mills (2003), action research is “any systematic inquiry conducted by teacher researchers to gather information about the ways that their particular school operates, how they teach, and how well their students learn The information is gathered with the goals of gaining insight, developing reflective practice, effecting positive changes in the school environment and on educational practices in general, and improving student outcomes.”

The aim of action research is to improve the current state of affairs within educational context in which the research is carried out (Cohen and Manion, 1985)

The researcher, as a teacher, decided to choose an action research as her methodology because action research is classroom-based research conducted by teachers so as to reflect upon and evolve their teaching This satisfies the main purpose of the thesis, that is to gain understanding of teaching and learning within the researcher‟s classroom and to use that knowledge to increase her teaching efficacy and improve her own students‟ speaking skills

2.2.2 Description of subjects and participants in the study

The researcher I s a teacher at Phuc Yen College of Industry The students participating in the research were 51 first-year non-English majors of class CCK05KT1, academic year 2011-2012 of Economics Faculty at Phuc Yen College

of Industry They consist of 39 girls and 12 boys aged from 18 to 20 They have learned English for seven years or less In order to take part in the English course at college level, they are required by the college to take an exam and must get at least mark 5 Therefore, it can be assumed that the students are quite homogenous in their English level of proficiency

2.2.3 The instruments for carrying out the study

In this part, the instruments for carrying out the research are presented Each stage of the instruments is described in each following section

2.2.3.1 The research questions

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The study addressed the following three research questions:

- What are the students‟ difficulties in English speaking?

- Are English reading texts used as input for speaking tasks effective in teaching non-English majors‟ speaking skills?

- If yes, how effective is it?

2.2.3.2 The methods for the data collection

In order to collect necessary data and information for the study, different methods were used, of which classroom observation with the students were carried out through the whole term, questionnaires were delivered to them at the beginning and the end of the course and the other one, audio-recordings at the beginning as a pre-test and the end of the term as a post-test

Classroom observation

The researcher herself did this to check the students‟ participation in the speaking lessons using English reading texts as input for speaking tasks Observation was conducted through the whole research program of speaking lessons The researcher paid great attention to the students‟ accuracy in speaking This helped her to find adequate amount of data to yield any conclusions about the students‟ speaking problems, as well as how much progress they made during the research

Questionnaires

The two questionnaires were delivered to 51 students of the class CCK05KT1 of the research Short and clear explanations about the aims of these questionnaires were given before handouts were distributed

The first questionnaire was used to collect information about the students‟ opinions about learning speaking before the speaking lessons in which the teacher

- Are English reading texts used as input for speaking tasks effective in teaching non-English majors‟ speaking skills?

- If yes, how effective is it?

The teaching was carried out with 51 first-year non-English majors of the Economics Faculty at Phuc Yen College of Industry The teaching was conducted during the seven lessons in seven weeks to investigate the effect of using English reading texts as input in teaching speaking skills Two weeks before and after the teaching was used for tests The detailed description of one sample lesson using English reading texts as input for speaking tasks is presented in appendix

1 Introduction: Students introduce themselves to the teacher

2 Discussion:

a Students are required to read aloud a passage of about 70-100 words The passage

is taken from the book Lifelines, Elementary by Tom Hutchinson for the first test