The effects of classroom interactional tasks on medical students’ english fluent speaking

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY PHAN THI LAN ANH THE EFFECTS OF CLASSROOM INTERACTIONAL TASKS ON MEDICAL STUDENTS’ ENGLISH FLUENT SPEAKING Major: Teaching English

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

VINH UNIVERSITY

PHAN THI LAN ANH

THE EFFECTS OF CLASSROOM

INTERACTIONAL TASKS ON MEDICAL STUDENTS’ ENGLISH FLUENT SPEAKING

MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

Long An, 2018

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

VINH UNIVERSITY

PHAN THI LAN ANH

THE EFFECTS OF CLASSROOM

INTERACTIONAL TASKS ON MEDICAL STUDENTS’ ENGLISH FLUENT SPEAKING

Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Code: 8.14.01.11

MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

SUPERVISOR:

Nguyen Gia Viet, Ph.D

Long An, 2018

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DECLARATION

I declare that the thesis titled “The Effects of Classroom Interactional Tasks

on Medical Students’ English Fluent speaking” is submitted to the Thesis Assessment Council, Vinh University in fulfilment of the degree MA in TESOL

This paper is the result of my personal investigation; it has not been presented and submitted wholly or in part for any other degree

PHAN THI LAN ANH

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis could not have been accomplished without the contribution of many people and for whom thanks cannot be enough to express my deep gratitude

First of all, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor, Ph.D Nguyen Gia Viet for his encouragement, support, advice and guidance

I would like to express my open-hearted gratitude and respect to all Master’s Thesis examiners of Vinh University, who have kindly accepted to examine this study

I would like also to express my warm thanks to all my colleagues and students of Tien Giang Medical College for the nice times of the collaboration

Finally, I would like to extend my deep appreciation to all the staff members

of the libraries of Vinh University and Tien Giang Medical College Without their help, this study would have been impossible

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ABSTRACT

Classroom interaction is an essential ingredient in second or foreign language classes The classroom interactional tasks (CITs) become more and more popular in supporting students to develop their potential in language use Nowadays many researchers claim that through CITs, students’ language knowledge can be constructed and communication skills can be developed In this context, learners are supposed to be given opportunities to use the language naturally other than only memorizing dialogues and pattern practices The experimental study was conducted to measure the impacts of CITs on the improvement of speaking skill among the first year students of Tien Giang Medical College, as well as to investigate their attitudes towards using CITs in English speaking classes A pre-test, post-test and an attitude questionnaire was employed The data obtained from the tests were analyzed quantitatively by using T-test and the data from the questionnaire were analyzed by Likert-scale system The results revealed that CITs can be a best pedagogical strategy not only to enhance the students’ fluent speaking skill, but also to develop their confident communication in specific situations

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi

LIST OF TABLES vii

LIST OF FIGURES viii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Statement of the Problem 3

1.3 Aims of the Study 4

1.4 Research Questions 4

1.5 Research Hypothesis 4

1.6 Significance of the Study 5

1.7 Structure of the study 5

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 7

2.1 Classroom interactional tasks (CITs) 7

2.1.1 Definitions of classroom interaction 7

2.1.2 The nature of classroom interaction 10

2.1.3 Types of classroom interaction 13

2.1.4 Some classroom interactional activities and tasks for practising speaking skill 17

2.2 Speaking skill 21

2.2.1 Definitions 21

2.2.2 The importance of Speaking skill 22

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2.2.3 Types of Speaking 24

2.2.4 Criteria to assess oral language production 25

2.2.5 Speaking difficulties in FL learning 29

2.3 Previous studies on effects of classroom interactional tasks 31

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 37

3.1 Methods of the Study 37

3.2 Research Sample 37

3.3 Research Instruments 38

3.4 Research Procedures 39

3.5 Data Analysis 42

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 43

4.1 Findings 43

4.1 1 The Description of the Results of Pre-test and Post-test 43

4.1.2 Results from the Questionnaire Data 50

4.2 Discussions 55

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 60

5.1 Summary of the Findings 60

5.2 Implications 60

5.3 Recommendations 61

5.4 Limitations of the Study 63

5.5 Further Research 63

REFERENCES 64

APPENDICES 69

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CITs Classroom Interactional Tasks

CLT Communicative Language Teaching

EFL English as a Foreign Language

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1: Overall average mean score and standard deviation of the EC and

CC in the pre-test 43

Table 4.2: Independent sample t-test of the EC and CC in the speaking performance test prior to experiment 44

Table 4.3: Overall average mean score and standard deviation of the EC and CC in the post-test 44

Table 4.4: Independent t-test of the EC and CC in the post-test 45

Table 4.6: Paired sample t-test of the CC in the post-test and pre-test 46

Table 4.7: Overall average mean score and standard deviation of the EC in the post-test and pre-test 47

Table 4.8: Paired sample t-test of the EC in the post-test and pre-test 47

Table 4.9: Overall average mean score and standard deviation of the EC on the fluency criterion of the post-test and pre-test 48

Table 4.10: Paired sample t-test of the EC on the fluency of the post-test and pre-test 48

Table 4.11: Overall average mean score and standard deviation of the EC on the interactive communication criterion of the post-test and pre-test 49

Table 4.12: Paired sample t-test of the EC on the interactive communication criterion of the post-test and pre-test 49

Table 4.13: The EC students’ gender 50

Table 4.14: Students’ general thinking 51

Table 4.15: Students’ intention 52

Table 4.16: Students’ experience 53

Table 4.17: The total score and mean score of the students’ responses towards CITs in speaking classes 54

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Interaction between teacher and students 14Figure 2.2: Interaction between students 15

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter discusses the rationale, the statement of the problem, the aims of the study, the research questions, the research hypothesis, the significance of the study, and the structure of the study

1.1 Rationale

Language is the primary tool of communication among human beings

It is the means through which we share our ideas and thoughts with others Some people think that a universal language could bring countries together culturally and economically as well as increase good feelings among them (Kispert, 2004) With the emergence of globalization and integration trends, English has become the most widely spoken language of all nations It is estimated that around 1.5 billion people are speaking English globally, and about one billion people are trying to learn it This is the reason why English

is so much more beneficial than any other languages In Vietnam in recent years, English has played a crucial role along with the cooperation with the international community such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Students who are proficient in English are definitely more advantageous to look for a good job in multinational companies than those who do not pay great attention to improve this language The main goal of learning a foreign language (FL), especially English, is to be able to use the language in communication effectively It is very important for students to experience real communicative situations in the classroom, such as expressing their own views or opinions, reporting and making an oral presentation Classroom interactional tasks (CITs) then is

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essential and helpful as an educational strategy to enhance the process of language teaching and learning It is widely believed that language knowledge can be constructed and communication skills can be improved through CITs

Many Vietnamese students wish to study English as a preparation for their future jobs that usually require communication in English However, the inadequacy is that, in high schools, learning English is only important for students since it is one of three compulsory subjects in the national graduation examination This also causes a common problem that most teachers usually focus on grammar rather than speaking skills to meet students’ demand of coping with exams Consequently, after high school finals, students are not able to use English they have learnt for a long time for the purpose of communication They cannot speak English even in a daily conversation, hence how can they use English in a communicative environment in their jobs? The inaccurate pronunciation, the fear of making mistakes and the ability to reflect with English poorly lead to absence of confidence and hesitation to speak English, and this will become a bad habit, making students think negatively that they cannot communicate well in English

Also, the majority of students enrolled at Tien Giang Medical College come from distant districts and communes in the province, with great difference in English proficiency In recent years, some of them tend to look for a job in Asian countries, such as Japan or Singapore, and European countries, such as Germany In addition to learning English as a required course of study, students must spend time improving Japanese or German to

be able to communicate well when working abroad This causes the fact that they are unable to invest as much as they can to develop their English skills, which they may not use much in Japan or Germany Moreover, medical students must engage in regularly scheduled night shifts and see patients in hospital settings, therefore they do not have much exposure to English and do

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not have much time to practise orally outside the classroom Thus, it is absolutely essential for English teachers at Tien Giang Medical College to be flexible and open to adapting their program to different students’ abilities for learning L2 while at the same time meeting their curriculum requirements English is so important and useful for medical students’ future job, but the reality is that many teachers at Tien Giang Medical College may have to face

a lot of problems and challenges in class Firstly, students seldom ask questions, express ideas, make comments, give explanations in English Secondly, students often make responses with nods and shakes of the head when asked questions or assigned to group work Thirdly, students are not highly competent in sharing their own views because of their timidity and fear of making mistakes Fourthly, another difficulty is that students prefer to use their native language during their English speaking practice as this makes them easier, more natural and more comfortable to present and explain when they do not have enough knowledge or information about the topic To limit students’ hesitation, we wish to increase their time of talking in the class Correspondently, this study attempts to examine the impacts of CITs on fluent speaking, to increase teachers’ focus on giving students more opportunities to interact in the classroom, and enhance students’ awareness of the importance

of CITs on their English fluent speaking

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Nowadays, lot of Vietnamese learners face difficulties during their learning of English within the classroom environment, speaking in a fluent and accurate way is their main concern Obviously, we have noticed that students who interact and speak in the classroom get better scores in most cases than those who always keep silent Therefore, the problem we are confronted within this research is the existing relationship between CITs and

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speaking skill development The precise question is: Are the students able to develop their speaking skill through interacting inside the classroom, or do CITs lead to a better achievement in speaking?

1.3 Aims of the Study

The aim of the present research is to examine whether CITs contributes

to students’ fluent speaking Moreover, it aims to investigate students’ attitudes when participating in interactional tasks in speaking classes

1.4 Research Questions

This research adopts an experiment to investigate the impact of CITs on medical students’ English fluent speaking Specifically, the study will address the following research questions and test the accompanying hypothesis

If the students are given the opportunities to interact in the classroom, then they may improve their fluent speaking

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1.6 Significance of the Study

The research expected that communicative activities would help the students at Tien Giang Medical College perform well in classrooms, where they would speak more fluently and confidently It was found that once the students got out of the class, they were not provided with enough opportunities to develop their speaking skill The researcher also expected that the results of the study would benefit English teachers finding out an effective way to solve medical students’ poor speaking ability in English classes

1.7 Structure of the study

To achieve its objectives, this study is structured in five chapters as follows:

Chapter One gives a brief introduction to the study by establishing the

aims of the study, explaining its significance, providing its hypotheses and stating the research questions

Chapter Two presents some of the theories related to the nature, the

types of classroom interaction and popular CITs for practising speaking skill

in FL classes Moreover, it also introduces an overview on speaking skill, its importance and types, criteria to assess oral language production, and speaking difficulties in FL learning

Chapter Three outlines the research design and describes the

population and the sample of the study It then presents the methods, procedures and steps that the researcher followed in building the instrument and analysing the main data of this study

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Chapter Four compares the pre-test and post-test scores of the EC and

the CC and quantitative in an attempt to see whether CITs would contribute

to students’ fluent speaking improvement

Chapter Five is a short summary of the study which includes general

conclusions, implications and recommendations for further research

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CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

In this chapter the researcher presents the theoretical review related to the classroom interactional tasks (CITs) and speaking skill We also introduce the previous studies on effects of CITs

2.1 Classroom interactional tasks (CITs)

2.1.1 Definitions of classroom interaction

Classroom interaction has been considered the key to teaching language for communication According to Ellis (1994), the classroom interaction provides learners with opportunities to encounter input or to practice the target language It also creates within the learners “a state of receptivity”, defined as “an active openness, a willingness to encounter the language and the culture it represents” It is the collaborative exchange of thoughts, emotions or ideas between two or more people, leading to a mutual effect on each other as Rivers stresses:

“… Through interaction, students can increase their language store as they listen to or read authentic linguistic material, or even output of their fellow students in discussions, skits, joint problem-solving tasks, or dialogue journals In interaction, students can use all they possess of the language - all they have learned or casually absorbed - in real life exchanges …” (Rivers, 1987, p 4-5)

Classroom interaction becomes more important especially in L2 and FL classrooms For non-native English learners, it is very significant for them to experience actual communicative situations in which they will learn how to convey their own views and opinions freely to promote their fluent speaking

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and accuracy Kumpulainen & Wray (2002) argued that classroom interaction needs in the process of L2 learning the presence of two or more learners who cooperatively fulfilling communication as well as, who share some signs and semiotic rules Interaction then is a learning process in general and language skills development in particular

In recent developments in education many researchers have investigated classroom communication that involves interaction (Nunan, 1992

& Slavin, 2003) focus on the role of learners in the learning process, they shifted from more traditional classes where the teacher is the predominant factor that plays the principle roles in the process of teaching and learning to more learner-centred instruction, where the learning process responsibility is given to the learners Most researchers observe that keeping silent in the classroom without being active may affect the acquiring process of the foreign language, learners may lack the ability to communicate, whereas classroom interaction gives them multiple chances and opportunities to use and practice the language in real situations Classroom interaction then is critical to teaching and learning, class talk offers a promising tool for helping instructors create a more interactive classroom

Classroom interaction comprises two types: non-verbal interaction and verbal interaction Non-verbal interaction is directly relevant to behavioural responses in class It means students interact through their behaviours such as head nodding, hand raising, body gestures, and eye contact Verbal interaction, on the contrary, is composed of written interaction and oral interaction Written interaction is the style of interaction in which students write out their ideas, thoughts It means they interact with others through written words, documents and so forth By contrast, oral interaction implies that students interact with others by speaking in class, answering and asking

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questions, making comments, and taking part in discussions These two types

of interaction are defined by Robinson:

“Interaction is the process referring to “face-to-face” action It

can be either verbal channelled through written or spoken

words, or non-verbal, channelled through tough, proximity,

eye-contact, facial expressions, gesturing, etc.” (Robinson,

1994, p 7)

Most researchers observe that keeping silent or being inactive or less active in the classroom may affect the acquiring process of the FL, learners may lack the ability to communicate, whereas classroom interaction gives them multiple chances and opportunities to use and practice the language in real situations As Ellis (1994) wrote, the L2 researchers are provided with three standpoints of study: the effects of formal instruction, the comparative method studies and the classroom interaction studies and the last one that attracts the researchers’ extended concern, this is due to simple reason that interaction is very crucial for second language acquisition (SLA) and FL learning, it is a useful tool for engaging students in active learning where they can obtain comprehensible input and produce much amount of output that is essential for the incorporation of language knowledge

Classroom interaction involves far more than students’ ability to speak and express themselves Classroom interaction encompasses any kind of classroom participation, such as teacher-student, student-student, group discussions and any other type of course designs that can result in insightful comments and interesting connections being made by students, and can foster

a high level of energy and enthusiasm in the classroom learning environment Walsh (2013) described interaction as a kind of communication that requires collective competence by all parties With classroom interaction, teachers allow learners to interact and express themselves (Walsh, 2013) The

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teacher’s role, therefore, is to enhance classroom interaction and guide students to become more reciprocal in their interaction (Nunan, 1991) Classroom interaction is desirable, especially in EFL settings, for a variety of reasons Language teachers should engage their students with language and develop their language proficiency through classroom interaction (Van Lier, 1988) Moreover, interaction develops students’ ability to engage socially outside of the classroom Interaction can also help teachers to measure their students’ progress and development Successful classroom interaction, however, requires considerable effort and management of numerous disparate classroom elements Poorly managed participation may lead to instructor frustration and student confusion

2.1.2 The nature of classroom interaction

CITs that stimulate negotiation for meaning may turn out to be those among several useful language-learning activities, for they may be the easiest ways to facilitate a learner’s focus on form CITs often include learner classroom participation, group work, teacher talk, role-play, etc The communicative language teaching theory reveals that communication and interaction are the purpose of language learning (Richards & Rodgers, 1986)

The interactive process generally involves two or more speakers communicate with each other, sharing may be the same knowledge and the same culture and even when they do not belong to the same community, they come together and interact in a given situation about a given topic For the production of comprehensible output, Swain (1985) claimed that learners need to practice different resources of the language that they have obtained so far Getting feedback from both the teacher and other learners in the class assist learners to test their knowledge development of the language they use mainly the language system It was claimed that pushing learners to produce

Similarly, Brown (2001, p 165) defined interaction as being a

“collaborative exchanges of thoughts, feelings or ideas between two or more people, resulting in a reciprocal effort on each other” Therefore, interaction usually occurs from different sides, it means it is something that people do collaboratively, when expressing their ideas and opinions to the interlocutor

in a way that makes the hearer understands the message, and be able to negotiate the meaning in manner that is comprehensible to the other speaker who becomes a hearer, and this will lead spontaneously to the development of the conversation

The communicative language teaching approach sustains that interaction in the classroom environment has a great role since it is a crucial part in learning and teaching the L2 or the FL From this perspective, many researchers established several principles which are needed in any interaction, and can be simply developed through it Some of these important principles can be summarized as follows:

2.1.2.1 Motivation

Lot of attempts have been made in the field of SLC to explain and define the term “motivation”, also to explore its relationship with the learners’ English language achievement since this concept considered as one of the main problems in education The term “motivation”, generally seen as the needs, desires, and reasons characterized by students’ curiosity, interest, and actions since learners are the most concerned with this term, to achieve certain goals and to fulfil better results and outcomes, this is what is meant by

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Guay et al., (2010, cited in Emily:4) by giving their definition to the term by saying: motivation refers to “the reasons underlying behaviour” It means that motivation is behaviour Besides, various approaches to motivation focus on the cognitive behaviours such as monitoring and strategy use, which can be termed as intrinsic motivation in which the learners themselves determined and internally motivated, regulated by enjoyment and satisfaction In addition

to non-cognitive aspects which are regulated by external, identified, and integrated styles given by the teacher in the classroom The teacher then should be well trained he must monitor the learning process and give accurate and stimulating content in order to encourage the students and make them more interested and have the desire to be involved to participate and take part and responsibility of their language development; for example, he may expose them to more speaking competence activities

To conclude, in classroom environment the teacher has to pay attention

to motivate his students to participate and interact with him and with their peers, because the teacher is suggested to be the biggest source of the external motivation in the classroom role of the teacher in this case may have either a positive or a negative effect on the learners’ motivation and oral production

2.1.2.2 Self-confidence

The term self-confidence is speakers’ belief in their abilities and capacities, in other words is when a person believes that he is able to do his best and take risks Students in classroom can reach beyond their abilities through self-confidence by being not afraid to make mistakes when using the English language to express, control and inform Self-confidence is not something that students learn, but it comes from inside their positive thinking and daily practice of using language and speaking with others

Many researchers in L2 and FL learning have made a correlation between self esteem or self-confidence of students and their successful oral

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production that is when students have high perception and self-confidence of themselves in classroom they will show their willingness to talk and explore their oral abilities to be more improved Then, teachers should pay attention and try to minimize students’ anxiety and build student’s self-confidence to communicate more in English in a proficient manner

2.1.3 Types of classroom interaction

Classroom interaction encompasses the actions of both teachers and students inside the classroom Classroom interaction is organized in different ways according to teachers’ objectives and students’ needs Its organization depends on the participants who communicate together (Walsh, 2013), for example: (i) Teacher-Learner, (ii) Teacher-Learners, (iii) Learner-Learner, (iv) Learner-Learners, e) Learners-Learners

Van Lier (2014) mentioned that each type of classroom interaction presents different opportunities for interaction according to the participants’ ability to interact and negotiate meaning The above structures of interaction can be classified into two main types: (i) Teacher-Learner Interaction, and (ii) Learner-Learner Interaction

2.1.3.1 Teacher-Learner interaction

According to Harmer (1998), the way in which the teacher interacts with his students is considered as an important skills used by the teacher in the learning and teaching processes For him, language is a skill that is shared between the teacher and the students since the teacher rely on the learner’s amount of understanding of the input that is suitable for them in the classroom situation The teacher focuses on the type of the input he should provide his students with because the meaningful and understandable input leads the students to respond to their teacher and interact with him Also, Harmer argued that unlike newer teachers who concentrate only on their students

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comprehension in the classroom, experienced teachers concentrate also on the way they themselves speak to their students using physical movements as: gestures, expressions, mime and so on which have become a part of language techniques used by the teacher during the teaching process, especially with the students who have lower levels (p 3-4)

Scrivener (2005, p 85) made the following diagram to show clearly how the interaction happens between the teacher and the students

Teacher interacts with student

Student interacts with teacher

St Student

T Teacher

During teacher-learner interaction, the students seek to demonstrate their speaking and listening skills in front of their teachers that is why latter should consider his way of interacting which is very crucial in learning and teaching According to Harmer (2009) teachers should concentrate on three things when they talk with their students Firstly, they must pay attention to the kind of the language the students are able to understand, i.e teachers

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should provide an output that is comprehensible for the level of all the students Secondly, the teachers must think about what they will say to their students, hence the teacher speech is as a resource for learners Finally, teachers also have to identify the ways in which they will speak such as the voice, tone and intonation

Successful interaction is the basis of positive human relationships among people, teachers here can take a variety of roles besides being an instructor, but also as a consultant or co-communicator Classroom organization can be one-to-one or group-work arrangement to encourage peer interaction; furthermore, can be more effective if various teacher and student talk is applied in the classroom, students may be encouraged to start conversation more, instead of just responding to the teacher

2.1.3.2 Learner-Learner interaction

Many theories of learning maintain that knowledge is actively constructed and skills improved through interactions between learners as it is shown in the diagram in figure 2 done by Scrivener (2005, p 86)

Naegle Paula (2002, p.128) claimed that “talking students with their peers about the content is a powerful way for them to reinforce what they have learned” Therefore, teachers should encourage interaction among students to make them active participants in the learning process, and to provide them with much opportunities to practice and deal with the foreign language, learners here can use the language freely and at the same time they adjust their weaknesses and to have a clear idea about their levels and on what they need to concentrate on, moreover, try to improve and correct these errors

to reinforce their abilities in using the language

Woolfolk (2004) emphasizes the importance of learners’ interaction with their peers, in order to receive feedback to be challenged and to observe how others work out problems, collaboration itself is seen as a uniquely powerful learning method and to promote interaction among students, teachers should encourage cooperation rather than competition, because students learn from each other

In brief, classroom interaction involves face-to face learners who collaborate in the classroom to practice and use the language in real situations, this depends mainly on the fact that L2 and FL learning is highly

an interactive process this interaction have a substantial effect on language

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learning and skills development At the same time it allows learners to negotiate meaning to understand what others say and to make themselves understood in the process of communication; moreover, it provides students with more chances to maximize their talk through different activities that enable them to know how to communicate fluently and accurately

2.1.4 Some classroom interactional activities and tasks for practising speaking skill

In Le & Tran's (2013) article, the researchers suggest teachers could use team work, group work, pair work to manage large classes and improve classroom interaction In language classrooms, if the teachers can create the close classroom atmosphere, for example they use a three-part sequential IRE exchange that was mentioned in classroom interaction part, their students are

at ease and they will be more self-confident to respond to the teacher’s questions because when they see the teacher as their peer, not one in front of the classroom giving direction, they will feel more relaxed, and natural interaction will take place

2.1.4.1 Interview

In non-English major large classes, teachers’ questions give students the opportunity to produce comfortably language without having to risk initiating language themselves Students become afraid when they have to initiate conversation or topics for discussion However, when the students are interviewed by the teacher or their partner in the classroom, they find it easier and more confident to reply a lot of different questions

According to Chaudron, (1987) there are two major factors that have been considered in an interactive classroom is ‘wait time’, or “…the amount

of time the teacher pauses after a question and before pursuing the answer

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with further questions or nomination of another student”, and different questioning strategy

2.1.4.2 Pair work/Group work

Pair work is a good way to change the traditional teachers’ talk that dominates the class Appropriate pair activity design is part of teachers’ interactive language Pair work enables teachers to get students engaged in interactive communication within a short period of time, which will increase students’ interests and willingness to participate Students in pairs can take turns asking questions and giving opinions

Group work has been characterized as an interactional technique or dynamics for language classroom A group work is classroom situation where learners are working within smaller unites or groups through interacting with each other in groups, learners can have the opportunity to oral exchanges, because these groups involves learners engaging in short, informal discussions and the teacher might aim from this method to get students involved in oral interaction, asking and answering questions For example, when the teacher asks his learners to predict the content of reading a text of five paragraphs then, they are divided into small groups, and each group chooses a paragraph of the text and scans it for detailed comprehension and formulates questions to test the comprehension of the other groups A considerable amount of research has been conducted in recent years into learner interaction, particularly interaction which takes place through group work Nunan (1991) suggests that learning to speak in a foreign language will

be facilitated when learners are actively engaged in attempting to communicate in groups According to Harmer (2009) “… Group work is more dynamic than pair work: there are more people to react with and against

in a group and, therefore, there is a greater possibility of discussion.”

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Oral interaction in groups is based on team purpose to find a collaborative solution to problems Moreover, in group work, learners focus

on meaningful negotiation and information exchanges, learners are supposed

to talk, practice, and use new features of the target language, as well as group work involves communicative tasks that are essential to develop learners’ oral proficiency, because it demands learners’ participation in orally purposeful activity, for this reason learners should be familiar with the topic of the discussion, and here it comes the role of the teacher which is get the students talk and stimulate their interest and imagination So group work allows students to work at certain piece together, and the teacher is not considered as the only source of information, but students learn from each other as well This creates opportunities for students’ knowledge to be shared and developed of course with the teacher permanent support Therefore it helps them to build up their independence and confidence

2.1.4.3 Role-play

Role-play is the most familiar type of drama activities used in the classroom Generally speaking, according to Richards and Rodgers (2001), role-play refers to a game that the teachers and the students play in carrying out learning task as well as the social and interpersonal relationship between the respondents On the other hand Najizade (1996) defines role-play as an activity for bringing real language situations which can help the learners to acquire the language

Revel (1979, p 60) sees role-play as an “individuals’ spontaneous behaviour reacting to others in hypothetical situation.” This means that role-play invites students to speak through a fictions identity in an imagined situation Also in terms of social interaction and cultural awareness role-play has effective effects since they bring the outside world into the classroom, as Porter (1987, p 6) states: “The overall aim of role-play is to train students to

So role-play can often be fun and entertaining way of getting the class

to practice the L2 or FL, and help them learn to be creative, and imaginative

It is a direct interactive method, is considered as an authentic technique for language use in interactive context, its main goal is to train students for different interactive skills which are assumed to be developed through oral use of language, besides it promotes spontaneous oral exchanges between participants

2.1.4.4 Discussions

Discussions can be seen as an exchange of ideas and opinions, and classroom discussions enable students to invent, create, imagine, and take risks, they take place only in a climate in which learners feel safe to offer their ideas, or within a context of a group with students talking among themselves It is a technique for developing oral production through the exchange of ideas, opinions, and viewpoints This mainly student-directed and teacher guided discussion, for instance, the teacher asks his learners to read a short story in order to discuss it in a given session, and while this discussion, learners may increase their level of comprehension, and improve listening as well, which is an important part of developing the oral

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production Thornbury (2005, p 73) agrees that discussion is the best activity for developing the learners communication skill, moreover, he says that the majority of FL teachers prefer the natural discussion where students start to discuss either their personal topics or those that have a relation with the lecture

“A problem solving group is a group of people who work

together to solve a problem by collecting information about

the problem, reviewing that information, and making a

decision based on their findings.”

Problem solving is the technique which help learners to develop their cognitive awareness of interaction with others and benefit from them to solve problems

2.2 Speaking skill

2.2.1 Definitions

Speaking is one of the main skills required to start communication in any language, it is one of the productive skills of the oral mode that non native speakers need to develop It is not a simple skill, but requires some experience and practice Speaking involves not only pronouncing words but also the ability of producing and receiving information As Luoma (2004, p.1) expresses “speaking in a foreign language is very difficult, and competence in speaking takes a long time to develop.” That is, being a competent speaker, means knowing knowledge of the language system including sounds,

2.2.2 The importance of Speaking skill

In the communicative approach, speaking was given more importance since oral communication involves speech where learners are expected to interact verbally with other people Ur (2000, p 12) also declares that:

“of all the four skills, speaking seems intuitively the most

important: people who know a language are referred to as

‘speakers’ of the language, as if speaking included all other

kinds of knowing.”

EFL teachers should train students to develop their oral communication According to Brown (2007), oral communication can be maintained by having three components The first one is fluency which is the ability to speak spontaneously and eloquently with no pausing and with absence of disturbing hesitation markers It also refers to some aspects like responding coherently within the turns of the conversation, using linking words and phrases, keeping in mind a comprehensible pronunciation and

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adequate intonation without too much hesitation (Richards, 2006) The second component is accuracy It refers to the mastery of phonology elements, grammar and discourse It also refers to the linguistic competence that deals with the correction of the utterances to get a correct communication According Thornbury (2005), speaking English accurately means using the language without or with few errors on not only grammar but vocabulary and pronunciation as well The third component is pronunciation It is “the production and perception of the significant sounds of a particular language in order to achieve meaning in context of language use This comprises the production and perception of segmental sounds of stressed and unstressed syllables and of the speech melody or intonation” (Carter & Nunan, 2004, p 56) Without a good pronunciation, listeners cannot understand what another person says and this will make the communication process more difficult Therefore, pronunciation has a central role in both academic and social fields

in the way that students can be able to participate and integrate successfully in their community In conclusion, fluency, accuracy, and pronunciation are three important and complementary components in the development of students’ speaking skill

The importance of speaking is more revealed with the integration of the other language skills For instance, speaking can help students to develop their vocabulary and grammar and then improve their writing skill With speaking, learners can express their personal feeling, opinions or ideas; tell stories; inform or explain; request; converse and discuss, i.e through speaking, we can display the different functions of language Speaking is very important outside the classroom as well Many companies and organizations look for people who speak English very well for the purpose of communicating with other people So, speakers of foreign languages have more opportunities to get jobs in such companies Baker and Westrup (2003,

2.2.3.1 Imitative Speaking

Imitative speaking is the ability to parrot back or repeat the other’s speech as a word, phrase or a sentence This kind of repetition may include different properties of language as grammar and lexis in order to convey a meaning or even to interact in a conversation, by paying attention to pronunciation as an attempt to help learners to be more comprehensible (Brown, 2004, p 141)

2.2.3.2 Intensive Speaking

Intensive speaking is defined as the production of short stretches of a discourse through which they demonstrate competence in a narrow band of grammatical relationships such as intonation, stress and rhythm; here the speaker must be aware of the semantic properties in order to be able to respond This type of speaking also includes some assessment tasks like reading aloud, sentences and dialogue completion, and so on (Brown, 2004, p 141)

2.2.3.3 Responsive Speaking

This type of speaking involves brief interactions like short conversations, small talk and simple requests in order to preserve authenticity with only one or two following up questions or retorts as Brown (2004, p 142) showed in the following short conversation:

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A Marry: Excuse me, do you have the time?

B Doug: Yeah Six- fifteen

2.2.3.4 Interactive Speaking

Interactive speaking differs from responsive speaking in terms of length and complexity of interaction, this type involves two forms of languages; transactional language and interpersonal language The former is aimed at exchanging specific information whereas the latter has the purpose of maintaining social relationships In this form of language (interpersonal), oral production can become more complex with the use of colloquial language, ellipsis, slang and so on Interactive speaking includes some assessment tasks such as interviews, role play and discussion activities (Brown, 2004, p 142)

2.2.3.5 Extensive Speaking

The final type of speaking that was stated by Brown (2004, p 142) is the extensive one For him, extensive speaking or monologue includes speeches, oral presentation and story-telling, but the language style that is used in this type of speaking is more deliberative and formal for extensive tasks, because we cannot rule out some informal monologues like a casually delivered speech and so on

2.2.4 Criteria to assess oral language production

Speaking is a fundamental skill that language learners need to master, it

is defined as a complex process of sending and receiving messages via verbal expressions According to Oxford Dictionary of current English (2000), speaking is the action of conveying information or expressing one’s thoughts and feelings in spoken language, in fact speaking is the most commonly used form of communication Also, it includes non verbal forms such as: gestures and facial expressions According to Brown (2001), speaking is the primary tool for communicating; it involves producing, receiving, and processing

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information, so it is an interactive process its meaning and form depends on the context where it occurs including participants, their sharing knowledge and the purpose of speaking Hedge (2000, p 261) considers speaking as “a skill by which they (people) are judged while first impressions are being formed” This means that speaking is regarded as the most important proficiency that learners of foreign language require in order to be able to reflect upon their thoughts and experiences when they are using the language

Recently in teaching language, many approaches have been giving attention and more focus on classroom activities that emphasize the improvement of students’ oral production In the communicative approach, the main criteria of speech which are complements of each other are fluency and accuracy Hedge (2000, p 61) makes the emphasis on certain elements in saying that “the communicative approach somehow excuses teachers and learners from a consideration of how to develop high levels of accuracy in the use of grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary” From this claim, learners should know how the language system works in a correct and appropriate way through the combination of fluency, accuracy, grammar and vocabulary because they are very important to accomplish appropriate speaking output Therefore, the oral proficiency is multi-component concept, it involves several aspects which have been mentioned above William et al., (2008, cited in Fred Genesee, 2006, p 14) claim that:

“Developing proficiency in oral English involves acquiring

vocabulary, gaining control over grammar, and developing an

understanding of the subtle semantics of English At the same time, acquiring proficiency in English involves learning how

to use the language to interact successfully with other speakers

of the language.”

2.2.4.1 Fluency

Hughes (2002) defines fluency as the ability to express oneself in an intelligible, reasonable and accurate way without too much hesitation otherwise the communication will break down because listeners will lose their interest To achieve this goal, the teachers then should train learners to use their personal language freely to express their own ideas and then avoid imitations of model of some kind Ellis (2003, p 342) provides that “fluency

is the extent to which the language produced in performing a task manifests pausing, hesitation, or reformulation”

Many of L2 speakers think of fluency as the ability to speak fast, that is why they start speaking rapidly without pauses Thornbury (2005) argues that speed is an important factor in fluency and pausing too, because speakers need to take breath Native speakers also need to pause from time to time in order to let the interlocutors catch what they said However, a frequent pausing is an indication that the speaker has problems of speaking In such cases, Thornbury suggests what is called ‘tricks’ or production strategies, i.e the ability to fill the pauses The most common pause fillers are “uh” and

“um”, vagueness expressions such as “short of” and “I mean” Another device for filling the pauses is the repetition of one word when there is a pause

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a number of things in their production of the spoken language, mainly, the grammatical structure, vocabulary and pronunciation The term accuracy relates to correct use of linguistic structures (grammatical accuracy), appropriate use of register (sociolinguistic accuracy), precision of vocabulary (semantic accuracy), and proper use of cohesive devices (rhetorical accuracy) (Omaggio, 1986, as cited in Stein, 1999) The interaction strategy training discussed in this part highlighted the importance of speaking in teaching and learning the foreign language The researcher believes that teachers can help the learners to improve their speaking skill by knowing how to go about planning a second/foreign language lessons during the course of study

Skehan shows the way in which accuracy is achieved by the organization of complex target language features that is complexity is the extent to which produce elaborated language, and that fluency is a result of a descend development of the inter-language system by means of accuracy

2.2.4.3 Grammar

According to Hughes (2002), the grammatical accuracy refers to the range of the appropriate use of the learners’ grammatical structure that involves the length and the complexity of the utterances The grammar of speech has its own constructional principles it is organized differently from writing Spoken English has its own discourse markers too, for example: frequent non-casual units (eg: mmm, uh, yeah) a variety of tags not found in written style such as question tags

2.2.4.4 Vocabulary

In order to achieve accuracy in terms of vocabulary it depends on the appropriate selection of words while speaking The problem that most of foreign language learners face when they speak, is mainly the lack of the right vocabulary they need to use to express what they want to say, also in the case

of using synonyms which do not carry the same meaning of words in all

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communicative situations, because of the verbal nature of most classroom activities especially those of interaction, knowledge of words and ability to use the language are essential to succeed in these activities, this makes learners involved in such activities by exploring different words, and at the same time they learn about new words from their interaction with other peers,

so this will make learners appear more fluent and accurate and well performed According to Harmer (2001), the knowledge of the word classes also allows speakers to perform well formed utterances

2.2.4.5 Pronunciation

Pronunciation is the most important and the difficult problem that non-native English learners face when learning and using the English language Incorrect pronunciation can lead to negative impression, misunderstanding and ineffective communication Redmond & Vrchota (2007, p 104) argue that “it is imperative that you can use the correct words

in the correct instance and with the correct pronunciation, pronunciation means to say words in ways that are generally accepted or understood” So, if the pronunciation is not correct, the speaker will not be understood and accuracy is not achieved In fact there are different aspects under this concept

of pronunciation which are very important for the pronunciation of the words uttered by the speakers in order to convey their messages in an effective manner, and the interlocutor can understand what is really meant by what has been said

2.2.5 Speaking difficulties in FL learning

The use of English as a second language (ESL) or foreign language (EFL) in oral communication is, without a doubt, one of the most common but highly complex activities necessary to be considered when teaching the English language especially because we live at a time where the ability to

(i) Inhibition Students are constantly worried about making mistakes, fearful of criticism, or simply shy

(ii) Nothing to say Students have no motive to express themselves (iii) Low or uneven participation Only one participant can talk at a time because of large classes and the tendency of some learners to dominate, while others speak very little or not at all

(iv) Mother-tongue use Learners who share the same mother tongue tend to use it because it is easier, more natural and because learners feel safer

if they are speaking their mother tongue, particularly with unusual topics

In addition, Rabab’ah (2005) pointed out that there are many factors that cause difficulties in speaking English among EFL learners Some of these factors are related to the learners themselves, the teaching strategies, the curriculum, and the environment For example, many learners lack the necessary vocabulary to get their meaning across, and consequently, they cannot keep the interaction going

Furthermore, all the other subjects are in Vietnamese, and English is seen as an academic subject only, which means exposure to the English language is insufficient The lack of a target language environment can be considered another problem, which of course results in a lack of involvement

in real life situations Not allowing learners to participate in discourse can be another reason for speaking difficulties