Teaching speaking to english majored student at the university of technical education ho chi minh city m a

LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Student subjects’ profiles Table 3.2: Teacher subjects’ profiles Table 4.1: Modes of instruction Table 4.2: Teacher’s preparation Table 4.3: Speaking activities

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE

TEACHING SPEAKING TO ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNICAL

EDUCATION HO CHI MINH CITY

Submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature

In partial fulfilment of the Master’s degree in TESOL

By HOÀNG TRỌNG MAI SƯƠNG

Supervised by TRẦN THỊ MINH PHƯỢNG, PH.D

HO CHI MINH CITY, JUNE 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE

TEACHING SPEAKING TO ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNICAL

EDUCATION HO CHI MINH CITY

Submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature

In partial fulfilment of the Master’s degree in TESOL

By HOÀNG TRỌNG MAI SƯƠNG

Supervised by TRẦN THỊ MINH PHƯỢNG, PH.D

HO CHI MINH CITY, JUNE 2014

APPROVAL SHEET

This thesis entitled “Teaching speaking to English-majored students at the University of Technical Education Ho Chi Minh City” is submitted to Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature as partial fulfilment of the Master’s degree in TESOL

Members of the committee:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr Tran Thi Minh Phuong, my supervisor, for her devotion, guidance and consultancy during the time the thesis was written What I appreciate most was her truthful encouragement and understanding, without which I could not have enough strengths and determination to complete this thesis

I would also like to thank the administration, my beloved colleagues and students

at the University of Technical Education Ho Chi Minh City’s Faculty of Foreign Languages for their constant support and encouragement, thanks to which I could overcome the difficulties during the process of the study

My sincerest thanks also go to my family and special friends who have been always beside me to assist and encourage me during my ups and downs in writing the thesis

Finally, my special appreciation is extended to the administration of the Faculty of Linguistics and Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities Ho Chi Minh City, for facilitating my studying throughout the past five years

Hoang Trong Mai Suong

RETENTION OF USE

I hereby state that I, HOÀNG TRỌNG MAI SƯƠNG, being a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL, accept the requirements of the university relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the University Library

I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the University Library should be assessable for the purpose of the study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan and reproduction of theses

Ho Chi Minh City, June, 2014

Hoàng Trọng Mai Sương

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page i

Approval sheet .ii

Acknowledgement iii

Statement of originality iv

Retention of use v

Table of contents vi

List of abbreviation ix

List of tables x

List of figures xi

Abstract xii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Purpose of the study 4

1.3 Research questions 5

1.4 Significance of the study 5

1.5 Scope, limitations and delimitations of the study 7

1.6 An overview of the study 8

1.7 Summary 9

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 10

2.1 The integrated-skill approach in language teaching 10

2.1.1 What is integrated-skill approach? 10

2.1.2 Why integration? 13

2.1.3 How to integrate skills in a language classroom? 16

2.1.3.1 Teachers’ preparation 16

2.1.3.2 Forms and models of integrated-skill instruction 17

2.1.4 Disadvantages of integrated-skill approach 23

2.2 Teaching speaking skill 24

2.2.1 Definition of speaking 24

2.2.2 Teaching speaking skill 25

2.2.2.1 Principles for teaching speaking skill 25

2.2.2.2 Speaking sequence 27

2.2.2.3 Speaking tasks and activities 28

2.2.3 Students’ potential problems in speaking English 30

2.3 An overview of teaching listening skill 32

2.3.1 Definition of listening 32

2.3.2 Different kinds of listening 33

2.3.3 Listening sequence 33

2.3.4 Students’ potential problems in listening comprehension 35

2.4 Integrating listening and speaking skills 39

2.4.1 The relationship between listening and speaking skills 40

2.4.2 The effects of listening on speaking skill 42

2.4.3 How to integrate listening and speaking skills 44

2.4.4 Summary 46

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 47

3.1 Research questions 47

3.2 Research design 48

3.2.1 Subjects of the study 49

3.2.1.1 Teacher subjects 49

3.2.1.2 Student subjects 50

3.2.2 Instruments 51

3.2.2.1 Questionnaires 51

3.2.2.2 Class observation 54

3.2.3 Data collection and analysis procedures 55

3.3 Summary 56

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 57

4.1 Results from the questionnaires 57

4.1.1 The current ways of teaching speaking 57

4.1.2 Teachers and students’ problems and difficulties 71

4.1.3 Benefits of the integration of listening and speaking 76

4.1.4 Suggestions and recommendations 81

4.2 Class observations 83

4.2.1 Description of observed lessons 83

4.2.2 Discussion of the results of class observations 83

4.3 Summary 87

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 88

5.1 Conclusion of the findings 88

5.2 Suggestions and recommendations 91

5.3 Summary 104

References 105

Appendices 115

Appendix 1: Questionnaire for teachers 115

Appendix 2: Questionnaire for students 125

Appendix 3: Description of observed lessons 134

Appendix 4: Suggested classroom games and activities 145

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EFL: English as foreign language

ELT: English language teaching

ESL: English as second language

FFL: Faculty of Foreign Languages

HCMC: Ho Chi Minh City

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Student subjects’ profiles

Table 3.2: Teacher subjects’ profiles

Table 4.1: Modes of instruction

Table 4.2: Teacher’s preparation

Table 4.3: Speaking activities in class – Teachers’ perspective

Table 4.4: Speaking activities in class – Students’ perspective

Table 4.5: Kinds of homework assigned by teachers

Table 4.6: Activities students do outside the classroom

Table 4.7: Integration of listening into speaking sequences - Teacher’s perspective Table 4.8: Listening activities in speaking sequences – Teachers’ perspective Table 4.9: Listening activities in speaking sequences – Students’ perspective Table 4.10: Integration of speaking to listening sequences – Teachers’ perspective Table 4.11: Speaking activities in listening sequences – Teachers’ perspective Table 4.12: Speaking activities in listening sequences – Students’ perspective Table 4.13: Other activities in listening-speaking lessons

Table 4.14: Teachers’ difficulties in teaching

Table 4.15: Students’ difficulties in learning

Table 4.16: Students’ problems – Teachers’ perspective

Table 4.17: Students’ problems – Students’ perspective

Table 4.18: Benefits of skill integration – Teachers’ perspective

Table 4.19: Benefits of skill integration – Students’ perspective

Table 4.20: Students’ improvement of oral skills

Table 4.21: Improves aspects of students’ oral skills – Teachers’ perspective Table 4.22: Improve aspects of students’ oral skills – Students’ perspective

Table 4.23: Teachers’ suggestions

Table 4.24: Students’ suggestions

Table 4.25: Observed teachers’ profiles

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: A basic model for teaching productive skills

Figure 2.2: The circle of input and output

Figure 4.1: Homework - Students' perspective

Figure 4.2: Integration of listening into speaking sequences - Students' perspective Figure 4.3: Integration of speaking into listening sequences - Students' perceptive

ABSTRACT

For many decades, speaking has been taught and examined as a separate skill in the classroom However, under the umbrella of communicative language teaching, speaking is increasingly integrated with other skills, as skill integration is a current trend in teaching English Despite that, there have been quite a few documented researches that examine speaking in the integration with other skills in the classroom This study, therefore, aimed to investigate the current circumstances of teaching speaking skill to English freshmen at UTE, where speaking has been combined with listening in the same course It also examined the effects of the integration of listening and speaking skills in teaching and learning, as well as in the improvement of students’ oral skills from the perspectives of the involved teachers and students Based on the findings, some suggestions and recommendations are also provided To achieve these purposes, two questionnaires were distributed to six teachers and 64 English freshmen at UTE Observations in four class meetings also help obtain the objectives

Results from the questionnaire and observations show that English teachers at UTE are employing theme-based and task-based to integrate listening and speaking skills, especially in listening sequences Besides, another skill (i.e reading) and some language components (i.e vocabulary and pronunciation) are also integrated in the listening-speaking lessons Teaching and learning this way, teachers and students seem not to often have many problems and obstacles Additionally, the involved teachers and students believe that skill integration do have positive effects on teaching and learning, and on students’ oral performance

A number of practical suggestions are provided in order to overcome the problems and improve the teaching speaking skill at UTE

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

In the era of globalization, the ability to communicate effectively has become a decisive factor to be successful Either in local or global contexts, communication plays an extremely essential role in creating the stable relationship among individuals and organizations, which helps bring great success to such many fields

of life as politics, economy and education As a result, teaching and learning English – a means of global communication – has increasingly focused on how to improve learners’ communication skills Speaking, therefore, is usually given priority in English language teaching and learning context, as it is “intuitively” considered the most important of all the four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) to communicate (Ur, 2012, p 117) In fact, the success of language learning is often measured on the basis of learner’s spoken language proficiency (Richards, 2008, p 19) In other words, it is believed that successful English learners are those who can speak English fluently and naturally

However, speaking is hardly an easy task, particularly speaking a foreign language

“It involves both a command of certain skills and several different types of knowledge” (Thornbury, 2005, p.1) As Thornbury describes, these include communication strategies and knowledge about socio-cultural aspects, genres, speech acts, registers, discourse, grammar, vocabulary and phonology In order to speak English fluently, students need not only to pronounce the words correctly in context using appropriate stress and intonation patterns, but also to choose the proper language and conversational strategies to converse in different situations (Harmer, 2007b)

Teaching speaking, therefore, is also a great challenge Thousands of researchers have conducted studies on how to teach speaking effectively and improve students’ oral fluency A number of methods and approaches have been experimented in

these studies to test their effects on students’ speaking achievement Communicative language teaching (CLT), for instance, proves to have a positive impact on students’ listening and speaking skills (Al-Twairish, 2009, p 101) In a communicative learning environment, students are highly motivated and their problems in speaking English are minimized (Efrizal, 2012, p 133) In the form of task-based learning, CLT also shows its effectiveness in the improvement of learner’s speaking skills and attitudes towards English (Kasap, 2005; Murad, 2009)

Under the CLT umbrella, a great number of techniques and tools of different kinds have also been tested, ranging from role play (Nawaz, 2005, Chotirat & Sinwongsuwat, 2011; Oradee 2012; Islam & Islam, 2013) and group work activities (Hamzah & Lu, 2010) to information gap (Jondeya, 2011; Watamni & Gholami, 2012; Asrobi, Seken & Suarnjaya, 2013) as well as classroom interaction and participation (Tsou, 2005; Khadijia, 2010) Audio visual materials (Adesomon, 2011), digital storytelling via websites (Somdee & Suppasetserree, n.d.), concept mapping (Ghonsooly & Hosienpour, 2009) and DVD films (Katchen, 2003) have also been investigated

Similarly, many of the above approaches, techniques and tools have been put into application in Vietnam by a number of researchers, such as Duong My Tham (2011), Tran Quoc Viet (2007), and Nguyen Thi Mai Huong (2010) Some other authors are interested in the use of oral presentations (Nguyen Thi Tam, 2012), drama techniques (Do Thi Hang, 2009) or e-learning (Le Phuong Anh, 2010) to develop students’ speaking ability To some extent, these approaches, techniques and tools have a positive effect on students’ speaking achievement and can be applied widely in schools and universities of more or less the same context

Besides, a number of researchers have carried out investigations into the circumstances of teaching speaking, including Adhiraki (2010), Aleksandrzak (2011), Nguyen Thi Thanh Tam (2005), Nguyen Thi Bao Tran (2010) Hoang Le Hanh (2011), Phan Thi Phuoc (2011), and Krong Ai Huong Lan (2011)

Many of these studies, if not most, focus on teaching speaking as a separate skill, for the course is so-labelled or teachers find it easy to focus on one skill at a time Nevertheless, in reality people often employ different language skills spontaneously and interactively (Hinkel, 2006, p 113) For a conversation to happen, for instance, both speaking and listening are needed In some other contexts, people may have to read or listen and take notes at the same time To reflect the reality as much as possible, language teaching and learning has to address an array of skills simultaneously For example, teaching reading can be woven into teaching writing and vocabulary, and teaching speaking can be combined with listening, pronunciation or cross-cultural pragmatics (Hinkel, 2001; Lazaraton, 2001; McCarthy & O’Keeffe, 2004, as cited in Hinkel, 2006) In fact,

in her review of “Current perspectives on teaching the four skills,” Hinkel (2006) states that one of the four current trends of English language teaching is the

“integrated and contextualized teaching of multiple language skills” (p 109) 1

In the day of globalization, the focus of language learning has been increasingly placed on meaningful communication and the development of leaners’ communicative competence As a result, integrated and dynamic multi-skill instructional models have been sought in order to achieve the pragmatic objectives

of language learning Accordingly, teaching speaking has to be examined in integration with other skills Language teachers have to move themselves to the integration of skills by teaching multi-skills in the same course or employing the integrated-skill instruction into teaching one-skill-labelled courses However, there are still little few researchers examining teaching speaking in integration with other skills Du & Lin (1998), for instance, investigated the application of integrated skills approach to English Listening and Speaking Curriculum in National Tainan Second Senior High School Zhang (2009) suggested some activities to integrate speaking activities into reading lessons, while Liao (2009) recommended some other integrated-skill pair- and group-work activities to improve students’ speaking ability More recently, Tavil (2010) proved that

1

The other three current perspectives on English language teaching include (a) the decline of methods, (b) a growing emphasis on both bottom-up and top-down skills and (c) the creation of new knowledge about English

teaching listening and speaking skills in integration improved students’ oral communicative competence at Gazi University, Turkey

In Vietnam, after a long tradition of having a clear separation of the four skills, courses are weaving together As observed, the most common way of combining skills is that listening and speaking skills are taught in the same course, while teaching writing lends itself to reading instruction At the University of Technical Education Ho Chi Minh City (henceforth UTE), it has been nearly two years since listening courses and speaking courses for English majored students were woven together The text book chosen was North Star - Listening and Speaking series – Third edition The time devoted for the new integrated listening-speaking course is also reduced (from 45 periods for each course of listening or speaking, to 45 periods for an integrated listening-speaking course) This is a challenge for teachers at the Faculty of Foreign Languages (henceforth FFL), UTE Through my observations, teachers who are in charge of the new integrated listening-speaking course have difficulties in keeping up with the course schedule and still have confusion about integrating skills As a result, it is doubted whether teaching speaking with the integrated-skill approach can be effective or not

For this reason, the researcher decided to conduct a study entitled “Teaching speaking to English-majored students at the University of Technical Education Ho Chi Minh City.” In this study, she would like to investigate the reality of teaching integrated listening-speaking courses to UTE’s first-year English majors, through which some difficulties and obstacles can be identified Based on the difficulties and obstacles, the researcher can suggest some solutions to tackle the problems and have a better teaching and learning listening and speaking skills

1.2 Purpose of the study

This study aims at surveying the reality of teaching speaking in integration with listening skill to first-year English majors at UTE and providing some suggestions

to improve the quality of teaching the skills to the subjects The study has four purposes Firstly, it aims at investigating the current ways teachers at UTE teach speaking skill to English freshmen in integrated listening-speaking courses Secondly, it is to identify the problems and difficulties facing teachers and first-year students at UTE’s FFL in teaching and learning oral skills in the course Thirdly, it explores the effectiveness of the integration of listening and speaking skills in teaching and learning from the perspectives of UTE’s FFL’s teachers and first-year students Finally, it aims to find some practical suggestions on how to overcome the difficulties and improve the effectiveness of teaching listening-speaking courses at UTE

- What are the suggestions to overcome the problems and difficulties, and improve the effectiveness of teaching listening-speaking courses at UTE?

1.4 Significance of the study

This is a case study to investigate the reality of teaching speaking skill in the integrated listening-speaking courses to English freshmen at UTE It should benefit UTE’s FLL’s lecturers and students with the following Firstly, the outcome of the study may give interested teachers an insight into the approach of

integrating listening and speaking skills in English language teaching (ELT) Understanding its advantages, teachers may change their consistent attitudes towards integrating skills in classroom and find a way to apply the approach in their teaching The result of the study also provides the teachers with a reflection

on their teaching and their teaching effectiveness, which is helpful for their professional development

Secondly, the findings of this study may make a small contribution to the ELT literature in the way that, hopefully, it will identify some common problems and difficulties that hinder ELT teachers in applying the integrated-skill approach in teaching speaking skill at university level Accordingly, suggestions can be made for teachers to improve the effectiveness of their teaching the skill in an integrated listening-speaking course Furthermore, it can serve as the foundation for further research in the field at UTE

Thirdly, the suggestions drawn from the results of this study would help teachers and English majors at UTE overcome (or at least reduce) the difficulties and problems in teaching and learning listening and speaking skills

Next, the practical techniques/activities and teaching procedure recommended in the study would be valuable references for teachers who are in charge of listening-speaking courses They could use them in their teaching, or at least they could know the principles and models to employ integrated skills approach

Finally, the findings of the study would help the university authority take into consideration the importance to provide teachers with training in integrating skills

A critical reflection on the current situation of teaching listening and speaking skills would also be useful for syllabus writers and curriculum planners, i.e it helps to point out what revision should be made to improve the course learning outcomes

1.5 Scope, limitations and delimitations of the study

As the title does not give a clear overview on the focus of the study, the scope of the study should be clearly stated Firstly, although the title states that the emphasis of the study is teaching speaking skill, the researcher actually examined the teaching speaking skill not in isolation, but in integration with listening skill in

a listening-speaking course The reason is that the two skills are now woven together in the same course at UTE, which means speaking is no longer taught as a separate skill in a so-labelled course Furthermore, examining speaking in integration with other skills is consistent with the latest trend in language teaching

Secondly, the scope of the study is limited to FFL freshmen only Most English freshmen, many of whom come from rural areas, have never attended a listening or speaking lesson at high school before If yes, the two skills are taught separately in isolated lessons So the approach of integrating the two skills is still fresh to them Consequently, their perspective to the approach and the difficulties they face in learning can be reflected more accurately On the contrary, FFL sophomores may get familiar with the studying at university level after one year at college They may have less problems concerning the learning listening and speaking skills Junior and senior English majors at UTE are neither the subject of the study They are still using the old curriculum, in which the four skills are taught in isolation in four different courses In addition, from the viewpoint of a curriculum planner, revision and innovation should be made starting from the lowest level then going

up to the highest one Therefore, English freshmen subject is a reasonable choice

Finally, this is a case study at UTE’s FFL The reality of teaching speaking skill reflected in the study, therefore, may not the common situation in other institutions The suggestions may not be applicable in a different context

Within the scope of the study, there are some limitations and delimitations The first limitation of the study is that the reliability of the responses in the

questionnaire might be affected by some factors Respondents may answer the questions superficially because it is quite a long question list Other respondents may not be willing to answer the questions, or they may think they will be in trouble giving truthful answers That the questionnaire is in English may also be a problem to some weaker students who may misinterpret the questions The second restriction lies on the information taken from the observations The performance of teachers and students in the observed lessons may be different from what they usually perform, due to the inconvenience of being filmed and watched Finally, the researcher should have examined critically the syllabus and the text books used

in the course and interviewed the subjects to have a more throughout view and analysis on the reality of teaching speaking skill at UTE However, because of the time constraint, the researcher could not include the mentioned instruments in the study In addition, the results of the study are based on the perspectives of teachers and students at UTE, not on an empirical experiment Therefore, the research can only give preliminary descriptive information about teaching listening-speaking courses, based on which further experimental research can be conducted to confirm the findings

1.6 An overview of the study

The study is presented in five chapters The first chapter introduces the background of the study and the context for the study to be conducted, followed by

a section presenting the purposes of the study, the research questions to be investigated and the significance the study should provide if successfully carried out Also in chapter one, the scope of the study is described, including its limitations and delimitations Chapter two begins with literature review to introduce the concept of integrated skills approach, its advantages and disadvantages in ELT and instructional modes facilitating skill integration The chapter then continues with some notions in teaching listening and speaking, and ends with the grounds based on which listening and speaking skills are integrated Chapter three describes the research methodology and research design employed,

together with the procedure of data collection and analysis Chapter four presents the results of the study and the discussion on the findings The final chapter offers some practical suggestions and recommendations made based on the findings

1.7 Summary

In this chapter, the researcher has introduced the basis of the current study, including the background of the study, its primary purposes and questions to be answered The significance, the scope, limitations and delimitations of the study have also been presented In the next chapter, the researcher will discuss some literature related to the field of the present work

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the researcher would like to review some literature relevant to the field of the current research It serves as the theoretical framework for the researcher to conduct the study at UTE The literature then includes discussion on (a) the integrated-skill approach in ELT, (b) teaching speaking skill and (c) and overview of teaching listening skill and (d) the integration of listening and speaking skills in ESL/EFL classroom

2.1 The integrated-skill approach in language teaching

This section of the report is devoted to describe what the integrated-skill approach

is and the foundation for it to emerge To answer the question “Why integration?” some advantages of skill integration in language teaching are also discussed, followed by a description of how to integrate the four skills in a language classroom In comparison with segregated-skill approach, some disadvantages of skill integration are also provided, as the potential problems in integrating skills

2.1.1 What is integrated-skill approach?

As stated by Brown (2001, p 232), there is a recent trend toward skill integration, although the four skills have been treated as separate segments of a curriculum for

a long time Integrated language teaching, in fact, emerged very early and is usually associated with outgrowths of Communicative Language Teaching (Hinkel,

2010, p 110)

In the late-1960s, communicative proficiency became the priority of language teaching As a result, the Communicative Approach emerged and gradually became the alternative method of language teaching, replacing Audio-lingual

method and the Situational Language Teaching, whose focus had been on grammar

competence In the early 1970s, many researchers and methodologists noted that

the teaching of language skills cannot be conducted through isolated and discrete structural elements, as in reality language skills are rarely used in isolation (Corder, 1971; Kaplan, 1970; Stern, 1992, as cited in Hinkel, 2010) Consequently, since the mid-1970s, Communicative Language Teaching has expanded its scope: it is considered as an approach (rather than a method) aiming “to (a) improve students’ communicative competence and (b) develop procedures for the teaching of the four language skills that acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication” (Richards & Rodgers, 1986, p 66) The integration of the four macro-skills and their components, therefore, has become “the central innovative characteristic of the communicative approach in the second or foreign language teaching” (Hinkel, 2010, p 117)

But what exactly does the integration of listening, speaking, reading and writing activities in the English classroom mean? A number of researchers and methodologists have given answers to this question

One of the earliest definitions of skill integration was provided by Read (1985) She says that “the integration of skills in the language classroom can be defined quite simply as a series of activities or tasks which use any combination of the four skills – listening, speaking, reading, writing – in a continuous and related sequence” (Read, 1985, p.72) She adds that the activities in the sequence may be related through the topic or the language, or both This shows an important feature of the sequence: the interlocking nature of the activities, i.e each task develops from the preceding ones and prepares for those that come after it This way, the skills are not practiced in isolation, but in “a closely interwoven series of tasks which mutually reinforce and build on each other” (Read, 1985, p.73)

Another researcher, Dolan (1985), argues that the integration of skills is not only the desegregation of the parts of language (i.e listening, speaking, reading and writing skills) but also the interplay of these aspects of language in the language classroom In other words, the integration of skills in language classroom occurs

(and proves its effectiveness) only when the incorporation of listening, speaking, reading and writing activities can foster the natural interaction among them Without this interaction, the presentation of the four skills in the same lesson is just a juxtaposition

More recently, Brown (2001) takes a reading course as an example to explains what an integrated-skill curriculum is According to him, an integrated-skill curriculum is designed not to teach the many aspects of one skill (e.g reading), but

to take more of a whole language approach whereby the skill is treated as one of two or more interrelated skills A course that deals with reading skills, then, will also deal with related listening, speaking, and writing skills

In the same year, Oxford (2001) gives her definition of integrated-skill approach in

an article discussing “integrating skills in the ESL/EFL classroom.” She regards integrated-skill as an approach to teaching in which skills - including the four primary skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing; and knowledge of vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation, syntax, meaning and usage - are interwoven during instruction To put it another way, integrated-skill approach refers to the application of combining the skills of language in a lesson or a curriculum, and these skills, in one way or another, have to touch, support or interact with each other (Oxford, 2001, p 1)

Finally, Richards & Schmidt (2010) defines integrated approach as “the teaching

of the language skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking, in conjunction with each other, as when a lesson involves activities that relate listening and speaking to reading and writing” (p.288)

No matter how different these definitions are, they all share the same feature First, there needs to be the presence of two or several skills (through activities or tasks)

in the lesson, and second, the skills (or the tasks or activities) must relate or interact with each other Words like “related, interlocking, interwoven, interplay,

interaction, interrelated” in these definitions are all used to refer to this shared feature The interplay between the skills or activities, therefore, can be regarded as the necessary and sufficient condition for real integration to happen and achieve its primary purpose, i.e to foster communication in the most realistic way

2.1.2 Why integration?

The above definitions have clearly indicated what is meant by the integrated approach of combining listening, speaking, reading and writing activities within the English language classroom Now the two main grounds for skill integration will be discussed

On the one hand, skill integration reflects the use and learning of language skills in

reality According to Arthur (as cited in Dolan, 1985), just as the child deals with

many areas of language at once in the natural language learning situation, students should also be given opportunities to learn several aspects of the target language at the same time In addition, Brown (2001) implies that the teaching of productive skills and receptive skills should be combined in classroom, as “production and reception are quite simply two sides if the same coin” (p 234) In fact, when

people interact with each other in real life, they are involved in both sending and

receiving messages (Brown, 2001, p 234) On top of that, Hinkel (2006) argues that people usually employ language skills in tandem with each other in reality

Lecturers, for example, frequently rely on notes they have written previously (often by reading the notes), and people listening to the lectures often write notes

of their own For skill use is often multi-layered in this way, Harmer (2007b) concludes that teaching each skill in isolation would make no sense at all (p 265)

In summary, isolating the individual language components in teaching is “contrary

to the integrated way that people use language skills in normal communication” (Oxford, 2001, p 1)

On the other hand, the integrated-skill approach brings considerable benefits to

teaching and learning the target language First, according to Read (1985), the

integration of skills allows for continuity in the teaching/learning programme, since tasks and activities are not performed in isolation but are closely related and dependent on each other This, as Deneme & Ada (2010) adds, contributes to coherent teaching and to better communication

Second, skill integration helps ensure that there is input before output (Read, 1985)

From Read’s (1985) point of view, in an integrated skills approach, learners can be provided with a suitable input, which will form a basis for the learner’s own output

in a subsequent task The output will be in turn become the new input (Sánchez, 2000) This way, language teachers and learners can take advantage of the complementary relationship between Listening/Speaking and Reading/Writing, and therefore the teaching/learning of each individual skill is also enhanced (Read, 1985)

Third, the integration of skills enables students’ all-round development of

communicative competence in English (Jing, 2006; Read, 1985; Oxford, 2001).2Within a realistic and communicative environment where English becomes a real means of interaction and sharing among people, students are exposed to authentic language and interact naturally with each other, not just practicing it (Byrne, 1986,

p 130) This promotes the learning of real content and allows mutually supportive growth in all the main skills as well as subsidiary skills Particularly, students have opportunities to recognise and redeploy the language they are learning in different contexts and modes That is, they can employ appropriate language form and mode for a particular context with a particular participant (Read, 1985)

2

Communicative competence was defined by Canale and Swain (1980) and Canale (1983a) (as cited in Lludra, 2000) as composed of four elements: grammatical competence (the ability to use grammar, syntax, and vocabulary), sociolinguistic competence (e.g the ability to say the right thing in appropriate situations), strategic competence (the ability to recognize and repair communication breakdowns, maintain a

conversation, etc.), discourse competence (the ability to put relevant words, phrases, sentences to construct

Fourth, skill integration helps students understand the nature of the language and the use of language skills in communication In other words, it can raise students’ awareness of how different skills relate to particular communicative needs and how they lead naturally into each other as in real life (Read, 1985) In the same way, students can rapidly gain a true picture of the richness and complexity of the English language as employed for communication (Oxford, 2001)

Fifth, according to Byrne (1986), Murphy (as cited in Deneme & Ada, 2010),

Oxford (2001), Read (1985), Sánchez (2000) and Wang (as cited in Jing, 2006), the integrated approach also brings variety into the classroom and therefore can highly motivate students of all ages and backgrounds When integrating skills, the range of activities is wider while the classroom dynamics are more diverse This in turn can create plenty of opportunities for students to participate in class and facilitates understanding of language areas and vocabulary fields to be dealt with

in an oral or written passage at later stages Thanks to this variety, teacher can satisfy students’ different learning styles (Jing, 2006), and make sure they are treated adequately

Sixth, the integration of skills in a lesson also allows for the recycling and revision

of language which has been taught Students can be exposed to the language which they have already known but now it is presented in a variety of new and different ways (Read, 1985)

Seventh, integrated approach can build confidence in students who is weaker in

one particular skill A student who is weak at listening skill, for example, may feel less stressed during listening activities because they can use their ability to read or

to write in the next activity within the sequence of lesson

Eighth, skill integration can create the meaningful and purposeful teaching and

learning in the classroom (Deneme & Ada, 2010; Sánchez, 2000) That is to say, students can see what they are learning or practicing is the preparation which will

lead them to some other tasks to achieve an outcome For this reason, students’ interest in language learning can be developed

Ninth and finally, as for teachers, skill integration can allow them to track students’ progress in multiple skills at the same time (Oxford, 2001)

To sum up, skills should be integrated in an ESL/EFL classroom for two main reasons On the one hand, the approach reflects how language skills are actually used in the reality and thus promotes natural learning environment On the other hand, it benefits language teachers and learners significantly in terms of classroom dynamics, students’ motivation and language development

2.1.3 How to integrate skills in a language classroom?

Having discussed the advantages of integrated-skill approach, the question to be answered now is how to integrate the four skills (and ideally other sub-skills) in a language classroom There have been a little few theories on what exactly the model for skill integration is However, some methodologists and researchers do give a number of guidelines and suggestions on combining skills in classroom Even some instructional modes which facilitate skills integration have also been presented

- Choose instructional materials, textbooks, and technologies that promote the integration of listening, reading, speaking, and writing, as well as the associated skills of syntax, vocabulary, and so on

- Even if a given course is labelled according to just one skill, remember that

it is possible to integrate the other language skills through appropriate tasks

- Teach language learning strategies and emphasize that a given strategy can often enhance performance in multiple skills (Oxford, 2001, p 2)

She concludes in her article that “with careful refection and planning, any teacher can integrate the language skills and strengthen the tapestry of language teaching and learning When the tapestry is woven well, learners can use English effectively for communication” (Oxford, 2001, p.2)

2.1.3.2 Forms and models of integrated-skill instruction

So how can we maintain an integrated skills approach in our teaching? Brown (2001) introduces five instructional modes which are commonly in use They all pull the direct attention of the student away from the separateness of the skills of languages and toward the meaningful purposes for which we use language They are: (a) content-based instruction, (b) theme-based instruction, (c) task-based instruction, (d) experiential learning and (e) the episode hypothesis Oxford (2001) and her followers, however, only recommend two modes of instruction (among others): content-based and task-based instruction Task-based and content-based instruction are also the most adopted integrated models, as stated by Hinkel (2006) Four years later, Hinkel (2010) again emphasizes the popularity of task-based instruction when saying that “task-based teaching is probably the most widely adopted model of integrated language teaching today, and it is often considered to

be the closest classroom simulation of real-life interaction” (p 117) Overall there are five instructional models have been introduced We will have a look at these five models

- Immersion programs for elementary school children

- Sheltered English programs (mostly found at elementary- and school levels)

secondary Writing across the curriculum (where writing skills in secondary schools and universities are taught within subject-matter areas like biology, history, art, etc.)

- English for Specific purposes (ESP) (e.g for engineering, agriculture, or medicine) (p 234)

Regarding the levels of proficiency at which content-based instruction can take place, nevertheless, Oxford (2001) and Brown (2001) take different point of views

On the one hand, Oxford’s (2001) belief is that content-based instruction is valuable at all levels of proficiency, but the nature of the content might differ by proficiency level That is, for beginners, basic social and interpersonal communication skills are often involved; but past the beginning level, the content can be increasingly academic and complex Brown (2001), on the other hand, pinpoints that content-based instruction is usually connected with academic or occupational instruction over an extended period of time at intermediate-to-advanced proficiency levels He argues that survival skills such as talking about renting an apartment, shopping or getting a driver’s licence are obviously useful

and meaningful for beginners, “but would be more appropriately called task-based rather than content-based” (Brown, 2001, p 235)

In short, content-based instruction allows for the complete integration of language skills In a lesson around a particular sub-topic of the subject-matter area, it is likely that at least three of the four skills are involved (Brown, 2001)

Theme-based instruction

The second model allowing for the integration of skills is theme-based instruction Both Oxford (2001) and Brown (2001) agree that theme-based (or topic-based, Brown, 2001) allows a course to be structured around themes or topics The themes, Oxford adds, must be of students’ interest and allow for a wide variety of language skills to be practiced, “always in the service of communicating about the theme” (p 2) Saying this, Oxford (2001) regards theme-based as a model of content-based instruction, even she considers it as the most common and widespread form of content-based teaching today Brown (2001), however, makes

a distinction between theme-based and content-based teaching Theme-based, according to him, is the “weak” version of content-based instruction How “strong”

or “weak” a version of content-based teaching is lies on the roles played by the subject-matter content and the language learning in the course In the strong version (i.e content-based), the subject-matter is the primary goal of the course, while language plays a secondary and subordinate role The four examples of content-based instruction given earlier in this section are all good illustrations of the strong version Nevertheless, the weak version, i.e theme-based or topic-based teaching, places an equal value on both content and language learning Because of this difference in the purpose, theme-based and content-based instruction are treated as two separate instructional models by Brown (2001) and his followers But of course, as theme-based is the weak version of content-based teaching, it shares the same underlying principles as content-based instruction Brown (2001)

lists the principles as follows: automaticity, meaningful meaning, intrinsic motivation and communication competence

Experiential learning

Experiential learning is the third mode of instruction that Brown (2001) introduces

As he describes, it “includes activities that engage both left- and right-brain processing that contextualize language, that integrate skills, and that point toward authentic, real world purposes” (p 238) In experiential learning, students are given concrete experiences through which they can discover language principles

by trial and error, by processing feedback, by building hypotheses about language, and by revising these assumptions in order to become fluent (Erying, 1991, as cited in Brown, 2001) To do this, teaching is not simply telling students about how language works, but providing students with chances to use language in concrete experiences

There are two principles underlying experiential learning, he continues First, learners learn best by doing and active experimentation Second, inductive learning

by discovery activates strategies that enable students to take charge of their own learning process By engaging in physical actions, students’ language skills are employed and reinforced Examples of learner-centered experiential include: hands

on projects (such as nature projects), computer activities (especially in small groups), research projects, cross-cultural experiences (camps, dinner groups, etc.), field trips and other “on site” visits (such as to a grocery store), role-plays and stimulations

The episode hypothesis

To explain the fourth model, the episode hypothesis, Brown (2001) introduces Oller’s (1983b) idea that when texts are episodically structured, they will be easier

to reproduce, understand, and recall Saying this, he means that if students receive interconnected sentences in an interest-provoking episode, the presentation of

language will enhanced A text, then, should create some suspense for students and motivate them to continue to explore the text

So how does the episode hypothesis contribute or relate to integrated-skill teaching? Brown (2001) provides us with some possible ways

- Stories or episodes challenge the teacher and the textbook writer to present interesting, natural language, whether the languages viewed as written discourse oral discourse

- Episodes can be presented in either written or spoken forms, thus requiring reading or writing skills of students

- Episodes can provide the stimulus for spoken or written questions that students respond to by speaking or writing

- Students can be encouraged to write their own episodes, or to complete an episode whose resolution or climax is not presented

- Those written episodes might then be dramatized in the classroom by the students (pp 241-242)

But what is a task? According to Skehan (1998a, p 95, as cited in Brown, 2001), a task is an activity in which “meaning is primary; there is some communication problem to solve; there is some sort of relationship to comparable real-world activities; task completion has some priority, and the assessment of the task is in terms of outcome” (p 242)

Oxford, on the other hand, agrees with Nunan (2004) that a (pedagogical) task…

….is a piece of language classroom work that involved learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or integrating with the target language while their attention is focused on mobilizing their grammatical knowledge in other to express meaning, and in which the intention is to cover meaning rather than manipulate form The task should also have a sense of completeness, being able to stand alone as a communicative act in its own right with a beginning, a middle and an end (Nunan, 2004, p 4)

To have more discussion on task-based instruction, one should distinguish target tasks from pedagogical tasks (Brown, 2001) From Nunan (2004)’s point of view, target tasks are what students must accomplish beyond the classroom They are much more specific and explicitly related to classroom instruction (Brown, 2001) One example of a target task is giving personal information in a job interview In contrast, pedagogical tasks form the nucleus of the classroom activity As Brown states, they include a series of techniques designed to teach students to perform the target tasks They are distinguished by their specific goals that point beyond the language classroom to the target task So, to accomplish the target task of giving personal information in a job interview, the pedagogical task might involve listening to a job interview or role playing a simulated interview

Accordingly, Brown adds that a task-based curriculum specifies what a learner needs to do with the English language in terms of target tasks and organizes a series of pedagogical tasks intended to reach those goals He also suggests that the teacher and curriculum planner should carefully consider the dimensions of communicative tasks, including goal, input from the teacher, techniques, the role

of the teacher, the role of the learner, and evaluation

According to Brown, in task-based instruction, the priority is not the bits and pieces of language but the functional purposes for which language must be used Input for tasks, therefore, can come from various authentic sources, including

speeches, conversations, narratives, public announcements, cartoon strips, interviews, oral descriptions, media extracts, games and puzzles, photos, letters, poems, directions, invitations, textbooks, diaries, songs, telephone directions, menus, and labels

2.1.4 Disadvantages of integrated-skill approach

Although the integrated approach benefits teachers and students in a language classroom, Hinkel (2010) notes a number of disadvantages of the teaching of integrated language skills On the one hand, a single skill course can provide more focused teaching and more intensive learning This is approved by teachers and learners who are consistent with skill separation, especially by those who live in regions and cultures where segregated-skill instruction is highly valued (Richards

& Rodgers, 2001, as cited in Hinkel, 2010) In such setting, skill integration may not be considered appropriate

On the other hand, greater demands are placed on both teachers and learners in teaching and learning a complex integrated-skill course (Hinkel, 2010) To teach the course successfully, teachers need to be well-trained in teaching all the skills involved and to some extent, proficient in the involved skills Simultaneously, they also have to devote more time and effort to preparing materials and designing activities appropriate for integrated instruction For those who are in charge of large classes, integrated-skill teaching may not be a practical approach

Another disadvantage of integrated-skill approach is that the teaching can be very complicated if learners have unevenly developed proficiency across the four skills, which is usually a fact (Hinkel, 2010) In such context, the instructional materials and practice have to account for a considerable variance in learner’s abilities Additionally, as integrated curricula concentrate primarily purposeful communication and meaning making, the teaching of grammar and vocabulary, and the accuracy in learner language production may be less focused than they

should (Richards, 2005, as cited in Hinkel, 2010) Similarly, another concern is that the quality of learning product may be overlooked when the focus is placed more on the learning process (e.g Swan, 2005, Widdowson, 1990, 2003, as cited

in Hinkel, 2010)

In summary, in this section, we have looked at the trend of integrating skills in language classroom In the second section, we will discuss some aspects of teaching speaking skill

2.2 Teaching speaking skill

In this section, a discussion about some aspects of in speaking skill is presented, including a definition of speaking, an overview of teaching speaking skill and some problems students may encounter in speaking English

2.2.1 Definition of speaking

According to Chaney (1998), speaking is "the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts" (p 13) To Bygate (1987), speaking is considered as skill, to do which one has to possess motor-perceptive and interaction skills While the former involves perceiving, recalling, and articulating in the correct order sounds and structures of the language; the latter involves making decisions about communication From Brown’s (1994, as cited in Asriobi, Seken & Suarnajaya, 2013) point of view, speaking is a skill in producing oral language which occurs when two or more people interact with each other aiming at maintaining social relationship between them In language teaching, speaking is the productive aural/oral skill which consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning (Nunan, 2003) It can be concluded that speaking is the process of producing sounds of articulation in order to express meaning, i.e ideas, feelings or opinions

2.2.2 Teaching speaking skill

As discussed earlier in chapter 1, speaking is considered the most difficult skill to

a large number of students Teaching speaking, therefore, is still a challenging task According to Nunan (2003), teaching speaking is to teach language learners to do the following

- Produce the English speech sounds and sound patterns

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

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

- Organize their thoughts in a meaningful and logical sequence

- Use language as means of expressing values and judgments

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

is called fluency

This part of the study is going to give an overview of teaching speaking in terms of teaching principles, lesson sequence, and speaking tasks/activities

2.2.2.1 Principles for teaching speaking

A set of principles for teaching speaking is proposed by Nunan (2003) The five principles are as follows

First, be aware of the differences between second language and foreign language learning contexts Learning speaking skills is very challenging for students in foreign language contexts, where the target language is not the language for communication in the society The reason is that they have very few opportunities

to use the target language outside the classroom In comparison, second language learners (e.g refugees, international students and immigrants) who live in an

environment of the target language can achieve notable speaking skills or at least progress to a certain proficiency level

Second, give students practice with both fluency and accuracy “Accuracy is the extent to which students’ speech matches what people actually say when they use the target language Fluency is the extent to which speakers use the language quickly and confidently, with few hesitations or unnatural pauses, false starts, word searches, etc.” (Nunan, 2003, p 55) Teacher must provide students with fluency-building practice as well as help them with accuracy enhancement

Third, provide opportunities for students to talk by using group work and pair work, and limiting teacher talk Language teachers should be aware of how much they are talking in class so that they can spare more time for student talking Pair work and group work activities can be used to create the amount of time for learners to speak the target language during the lesson When teachers do not take part in the conversation, students usually have more diverse speaking roles

Fourth, plan speaking tasks that involve negotiation of meaning By negotiation of meaning, Nunan means the process of trying to understand and making yourself understood when communicating in the target language It also involves checking

to see if you’ve understood what someone has said, clarifying your understanding, and confirming that someone has understood your meaning

Finally, design classroom activities that involve guidance and practice in both transactional and interactional speaking The function of speaking outside the classroom can be transactional or interactional In the case of the former, people communicate for social purposes, whereas in the case of the latter, people communicate to get something done, including the exchange of goods and/or services “Speaking activities inside the classroom need to embody with both interactional and transactional purposes, since language learners will have to speak

the target language in both transactional and interactional settings” (Nunan, 2003,

p 56)

2.2.2.2 Speaking sequences

Just as for listening, Harmer (2007a) does not provide a model sequence for a

speaking lesson in his book How to teach English Three example speaking

sequences are presented in the book to examine the possibilities of planning a

speaking lesson However, in another book The practice of English language

dealing with productive skill (2007b)

Harmer’s basic methodological model for teaching productive skills

According to (Harmer, 2007b, p 275), how teachers organize productive skill tasks and how they respond to the students’ work are very important However, a basic methodological model for teaching productive skills can be set down as follows

- Lead-in stage: the teacher engages students with the topic They may share what they know about the topic or brainstorm the kind of language that can appear in the situation

- Set-the-task stage: the teacher instructs students exactly what they are going

to do The teacher may demonstrate the activity in some way, or may get students to repeat the task instructions Also, the teacher needs to make sure that students have given all the information they need to complete the tasks

- Monitor-the-task stage: Once the students have started, the teacher monitor the task, maybe by going around the class, listening to students working and helping them where they are having difficulties

- Task-feedback stage: After the students finish the task, the teacher responds

to the content of the task

- Task-related follow-up stage: After giving feedback, the teacher can organize a task-related activity