Topical speaking on video clips as a supplementary practice to improve 10th graders’ english speaking ability

Keeping all this in mind, the author conducted this quasi-experimental research at Nam Đàn 1 High School to investigate how topical speaking on video clips influences the students’ speak

VINH UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE

_

VÕ THỊ DOAN

TOPICAL SPEAKING ON VIDEO CLIPS AS

GRADERS’ ENGLISH SPEAKING ABILITY

MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

NGHE AN - 2019

VINH UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE

_

VÕ THỊ DOAN

TOPICAL SPEAKING ON VIDEO CLIPS AS

GRADERS’ ENGLISH SPEAKING ABILITY

MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Language (TESOL)

Code: 8.14.01.11

Supervisor

Prof., Dr NGÔ HỮU HOÀNG

NGHE AN - 2019

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this master thesis entitled

“Topical speaking on video clips as a supplementary practice to improve 10 th

graders’ English speaking ability” and that I have not used any sources other than

those listed in the bibliography and identified as references I further declare that I

have not submitted this thesis to any other institution so as to obtain a degree

Author’s signature

Võ Thị Doan

ABSTRACT

In recent years, a great tendency towards the use of technology and its integration into the curriculum has gained a great importance Particularly, the use of video as a supplementary material in foreign language teaching classrooms has grown rapidly because of the increasing emphasis on communicative techniques, and

it is obvious that the use of video is a great help for foreign language teachers in stimulating and facilitating the target language learning Keeping all this in mind, the author conducted this quasi-experimental research at Nam Đàn 1 High School to investigate how topical speaking on video clips influences the students’ speaking ability in term of speaking speed and speaking accuracy in word stress and pronunciation During 20 weeks of the treatment , the control and treatment group followed the usual English program of high school while the treatment group did the video recording as a supplementary practice A general English test, the pre-speaking test, and the post-speaking test were designed to measure the students’ English proficiency and their improvement in speaking speed and speaking accuracy The results of this study indicated that the use of topical speaking on video clips is really beneficial to the students’ speaking improvement The treatment group showed a great enhancement not only in their speaking speed but also in speaking accuracy in pronunciation and word stress Basing on the findings of the research, the author also proposed some implications for teaching and learning English speaking skill and some suggestions for further study

Secondly, my special thanks also go to all lecturers and the staff of the Department of Post Graduate Studies at Vinh University for their useful materials, instructions and enthusiasm which are of great values to the thesis

Next, I am appreciative of all my colleagues and my students at Nam Dan 1 High School where I have gathered information for my study Without their help, this study could not have been successful

Last but not least, my sincere thanks are to my dearest family and my friends who always stand by me with their warm support and encouragements

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Participants’ demographic information 30 Table 4.1 The scores of the control and treatment group in the General English Test38 Table 4.2 Average total scores and standard deviations of the General Test 40 Table 4.3: Means and standard deviations of ten videos in the treatment group 41 Table 4.4: The mean and standard deviations of the first and the last topic 41 Table 4.5: Speaking speed increase made by participants (S) in the treatment group 42 Table 4.6: Summary of the increase on speaking speed of the participants in the treatment group 42 Table 4.7: Number of the students for different change patterns 46 Table 4.8: Means and SD of word stress errors in ten recordings for the experimental group 46 Table: 4.9: Word stress error decrease by each student in the treatment group 47 Table 4.10: Means and Standard Deviations of pronunciation errors 49 Table 4.11: Reduction in pronunciation errors made by each participant in the treatment group 49 Table 4.12: Pre-test’s means and standard deviations for control and treatment group51 Table 4.13: Mean scores and standard deviations of speaking speed in the post test 53 Table 4.14: Mean scores and standard deviations of speaking speed of the pre-speaking test and post-speaking test 55 Table 4.15: Means and the standard deviations of word stress errors of the pre-test and post-test 57 Table 4.16: Means and the standard deviations of pronunciation errors 59

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 4.1 The results of the control and treatment group in General Test 39

Figure 4.2: Increase level of the students in the treatment group through 10 video recordings 43

Figure 4.3: Progress line chart of student S30/ increase 44

Figure 4.4: Progress chart of student S10/decrease 44

Figure 4.5: Progress chart of student S32/ gradual increase 45

Figure 4.6: Progress chart of the student S18/ fluctuated 45

Figure 4.7: Decrease level in word stress errors 48

Figure 4.8: Decrease level in pronunciation errors 50

Figure 4.9: A comparison of speaking speed in the pre-test 52

Figure 4.10: A comparison of the speaking speed of the two groups 53

Figure 4.11: A comparison of speaking speed between control and treatment group 54 Figure 4.12: Comparison of the improvement in speaking speed of the two groups in the post-test 55

Figure 4 13: Reduction in word stress errors of the control and treatment group 56

Figure 4.14: Reduction in pronunciation errors of the control and treatment group 58

TABLE OF CONTENT

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP……….……….… i

ABSTRACT ii

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS iii

LIST OF TABLES iv

LIST OF FIGURES v

TABLE OF CONTENT vi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 The aim of the research 3

1.3 Research questions 3

1.4 The scope of the study 3

1.5 Significance of the study 3

1.6 The organization of the thesis 4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Previous studies in relation 5

2.2 Speaking skill 8

2.2.1 Definition of speaking 8

2.2.2 The role of speaking skill in language learning 10

2.2.3 Different aspects of teaching speaking 11

2.3 Indicators of speaking ability 12

2.4 Accuracy and fluency 13

2.5 Teaching speaking to EFL learners 15

2.5.1 EFL learners’ difficulties in learning speaking 15

2.5.2 Causes for the students’ difficulties in learning speaking 17

2.5.3 Activities to improve oral skill 18

2.5.4 Balance between accuracy and fluency 22

2.6 Video recording 23

2.6.1 Characteristics of Videos 23

2.6.2 Video – recording 24

2.6.3 Benefits of Video- recordings 24

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 28

3.1 Research questions restated 28

3.2 Research Method 28

3.2.1 Quasi – experiment definition 28

3.2.2 Reasons to choose quasi – experiment 29

3.3 Participants 30

3.4 Material sources 31

3.5 Procedures 34

3.6 Data analysis 36

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 38

4.1 Results 38

4.1.1 The general test result 38

4.1.2 Results of ten recording videos 40

4.1.3 Pre-test and post-test results 51

4.2 Discussion 59

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 63

5.1 Conclusion and recommendation 63

5.2 Limitations of the study 64

REFERENCES 66

APPENDIX A 71

APPENDIX B 83

APPENDIX C 86

APPENDIX D 87

APPENDIX E 88

APPENDIX F 88

APPENDIX G 89

of hesitation, wrong pronunciation and wrong word stress

Nowadays, with the social development, the demand of using English as a communicative tool has been increasing Teachers and students realize that learning English is not only leaning about grammar and vocabulary It is very important to improve speaking skill Accurate and fluent speaking ability is a must that will help the learners produce effective communication with people around the world and get a good job in the future

It can not be denied that in recent years, both teachers and students at high school have paid a lot of attention to oral skill However, time for practicing spoken English in classes is limited In text book 10, there are sixteen units and each unit has a speaking lesson Each lesson lasts for forty five minutes Therefore, students have very little time to practise speaking on the topics they have learnt and teachers have a few chances to give feedback and correction to every student in classes It is clearly seen that many students expect every single one of their errors to be corrected by teachers Some students even attribute their lack of improvement to not being given feedback Individualized feedback in classes from teachers may be beneficial for students, but it is unlikely to be

feasible for teachers to listen and respond to students individually all the time, especially with large numbers of students and in limited class time

As a teacher of English at Nam Đàn 1 high school, the author would like

to find ways to solve the above problems and provide students with as many opportunities to practise speaking on the topics they have just learnt in classes and to improve their speaking accuracy and fluency

After teaching class 10 A1, and 10A2 for two months, the author found out that many students in these classes have their own smart phones and the rest have their computers at home Why doesn’t the teacher make full use of the technology tools to help students enhance their oral skill? This question has led the author to the thought of using video- recording as a supplementary practice

at home for students to better their speaking accuracy and fluency

According to Felix (2003), using technology tools in combination with attending traditional face-to-face classes has been found to promote second language learning effectively as they can offer the students the flexibility to work independently and at their own pace He supposed that video-recording which is an useful way to improve speaking ability and asking students to record their speaking tasks gives students opportunities to practise speaking outside classroom and do additional research on the speaking topics Katchen (1991) also emphasizes that with student-producing videos, learners can evaluate their own performances and video projects facilitate language learning and learners become active participants However, so far, there has not been much research directly exploring the effects of video-recording on speaking proficiency Therefore, in this study, the author decided to carry out the research with the

title “Topical speaking on video clips as a supplementary practice to improve

10 th graders’ English speaking ability” Hopefully, this study will be a big

contribution to ideal strategy approaches in teaching and learning English to improve speaking ability for high school students

1.2 The aim of the research

This research is carried out with the aim to explore the effects of the supplementary practice of topical speaking on video clips on the improvement

of students’ speaking fluency and accuracy

1.3 Research questions

The study aims to answer the following research questions:

1 Does the use of topical speaking on videos as a supplementary practice have good effects on improving high school students’ speaking fluency in terms

of proper speaking speed?

2 How does video- recording affect high school students’ speaking accuracy

in pronunciation and word stress?

1.4 The scope of the study

Due to the limitation of time and knowledge, this study only focus on the investigation into the effects of topical speaking on video clips as a supplementary practice on the students’ speaking speed and speaking accuracy

in pronunciation and word stress

The topics the author offers to the students to practice during 20 weeks are limited to the topics which they have just learnt in classes in text book “Tieng Anh 10”

1.5 Significance of the study

Supplementary topical speaking practice on video clips is very important for students as it helps to maximize their speaking time in target language The findings of this thesis is believed to be useful for the teachers in general and the teachers at Nam Đàn 1 High School in particular Thanks to the thesis’s findings, the teachers are aware of the benefits of supplementary practice and technology application in English teaching and learning Hopefully, this study would give some realistic pedagogical implications for teachers in helping their students improve speaking fluency and accuracy

1.6 The organization of the thesis

There are five chapters in this study

CHAPTER 1 is the introduction in which statement of the problem, the aims, the scope, the significance of the study and the organization of the thesis are mentioned

CHAPTER 2 is the literature review in which the theoretical backgrounds relating to speaking ability, assessing speaking ability, teaching speaking to EFL learners and video-recording will be also discussed

CHAPTER 3 mentions the methodology used in the research The characteristics of the participants, materials and procedure are also stated in chapter 3

CHAPTER 4 is the presentation and analysis of the collected data The author also discusses the results and summarizes the findings

CHAPTER 5 presents some recommendation drawn out by the author from the research and some suggestions for further study

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Previous studies in relation

In recent years, language teachers have utilized video materials in a large variety of ways to address the learning needs of their students Therefore, some researchers have conducted their studies on implementing video cameras as a teaching and learning tool

Foreman (1999), Katchen (1991), Lynch & Maclean (2003), Murphy & Woo (1998) are some of the researchers who have proper studies on the effect

of using video cameras on learners’ progress These studies mainly discussed the use of video cameras for the purpose of revealing the efficacy of them on learners’ speaking abilities For instance, Katchen (1991) proposed the use of video cameras as a teaching tool in English learning classroom so that learners may have the chance of comparing their last performance with the previous ones

so that they may learn to criticize their own performance Katchen (1991, p.4) particularly focused on the use of videos as “teaching tools” Not only learners but also the prospective teachers make use of the recordings Among the teacher trainees, recording sessions are commonly used in terms of evaluating their performance (Tuğa, 2013) Some students also liked performing for themselves and it enhanced the enthusiasm towards the language Through the use of student-produced videos as a third eye in the EFL classroom, fostering oral skills may become easier Relating to this topic, Glenn (1996, p.3) carried out a research finding out the fact that there are many benefits of using video-recording such as “practicing feedback, analyzing-structural content issue, and improving speaking style” Glenn concluded that use of videotaping greatly improved the quality of student presentations in researcher’s classes, improved the classroom atmosphere and helped create positive educational outcomes

In addition, there are many other studies referring to the benefits of using student-produced videos It was suggested that having students produce their

own video materials promoted active learning (Schultz, et al, 2013) Schultz et

al, (2013, p 4) also claimed that Schultz’s research revealed that asking students

to create their own videos facilitated the authenticity Video-production projects created “authentic experiences” (Schultz, et al, 2013)

The authenticity of the materials has been always the chief discussion among the language teachers Lide and Lide (1986) proposed a theoretical model in which learners played an active role in public places in the target language for creating “authentic camera-produced materials” It was strongly emphasized the need of authenticity of video materials in language classroom A video recording project at Martin Luther King, Jr High School was applied by Berney & Schlau (1989) This project was designed to use student-produced videotape recordings to help students to learn to speak, read and write English The findings of the study indicated that the project facilitated language learning stimulating student creativity, confidence and motivation Additionally, Garza (1996, p.18) claimed that the instructors ought to generate their own video materials in second language instruction In his research, video material was seen as “a facilitator of communicative performance in a foreign language”

Besides, there were as well some studies revealing the fact that some certain negative effects of video-recording might occur in language classrooms (Biegel, 1998; Kinzer, 1985) It is argued that there may be some drawbacks of using video-recording as a learning tool Some students do not prefer to be the focus of attention and reject the project while extrovert ones happily take up the activity or task because of the fact that they would enjoy the hands-on assignments or projects

Kinzer (1985, p.13) mentioned the findings of some researches showing the negative effects of video playback in his study He stated, “Being the focus

of attention of both the camera and the class during the performance and the focus of evaluative attention during playback probably increases a feeling of

conspicuousness.” Moreover, the level of stress may increase towards video playback On the other hand, Biegel (1998) suggested some ways to get over those negative sides of video productions such as using cameras more often in the classroom settings and using role-play activities to reduce the fear of being the center of attention The most useful suggestion was giving the role of director or cinematographer to the extremely shy students who are strongly objected to the idea of being recorded

In Vietnam, there are some of the studies on using technology to improve speaking skills for EFL learners Nguyen Thi To Hang (2017) mentioned the effect of using self-voice recording on speaking improvement of students She showed that the supplementary practice that the first-year university students take every week in her course was very useful to help them improve their speaking accuracy and fluency Huynh Mai (2017) mentioned in her study that teachers of English could apply information technology to enhance students’ autonomy in learning English at Long An teachers’ training college Nguyễn Tiến Dũng (2017) also showed the good effects of using information technology in teaching English listening skills at Huong Son high school He concluded that the students were very motivated in learning listening when the teacher applied technology in teaching They could both watch and listen to interesting videos so they were more concentrated on the listening tasks

It seems like we are experiencing the glory of the 21st century with the practical uses of smart phones in our pockets on a daily basis Today language learners are already being accustomed to the smart boards in their classes and virtual lessons are becoming part of their regular education As language teachers, it is inevitable that any chance to implement technology in the classroom will be used It can be estimated that the value of student-produced video projects as a teaching and learning tool will rise in the future

In summary, it is clearly seen from the above review that some of the researchers have focused on the studies exploring the benefits of using student-produced videos and using technology to enhance speaking skills However, no one has done a research on topical speaking on video clips as a supplementary practice to enhance grade 10 students’ speaking ability

2.2 Speaking skill

2.2.1 Definition of speaking

So far, there have been numerous definitions of speaking that have been suggested by some experts in language learning As Burn and Joys (1997) defined “speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, the participants, and the purposes of speaking”

According to Keith and Marrow (1981), “Speaking is an activity to produce utterance to oral communication” It means that speaking activity involves two and more participants that are hearers and speakers They react to what they hear and make their contribution a high speed Thus, every participant has intention or a set of intention that he/she wants

Thornbury (2005) say that speaking is a speed production that has become

a vital part of our daily life Meanwhile, UnderWood (1996) defines that speaking is a process of creativity and an active interaction between speaker and hearer that involves emotion and thought It means that when somebody communicate with others through a language, certainly, they would like to convey something very necessary and important

According to Lakhpin (2014), active speaking is the release of inner motives, suggestions, and perceptions with an effective use of gestures, mime, signs, pantomimes and voice conveying a chosen message live to a listener or audience This communication does not always have to be live or face to face,

but it can be through other kinds of media Active speaking is the action of conveying information or expression one's feelings in speech (Oxford English Dictionary) Active speaking is the process of directing conversation on a specific agenda by asking a question and through the use of suggestive reasoning (Terry Marsh, 2009 in Lakhpin, 2014) Some ways that can demonstrate active speaking, i.e respond quickly, the tone of voice, speak clearly and concisely, provide progress reports, summarize the resolution, and end a positive note

In this research, speaking is defined operationally as the secondary stages showing students' capacity to express themselves orally, coherently, fluently and properly in a given meaningful context to serve both transactional and interactional purposed using correct pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary and adopting the pragmatic and discourse rules of the spoke language In other words they are required to show mastery of the following sub competencies/ skills:

Linguistic competence: This includes the following skills:

- Using intelligible pronunciation

- Following grammatical rules accurately

- Using relevant, adequate and appropriate range of vocabulary

Discourse competence: This includes the following skills:

- Structuring discourse coherently and cohesively

- Managing conversation and interacting effectively to keep the conversation going

Pragmatic competence: This includes the following skill:

- Expressing a range of functions effectively and appropriately according

to the context and register

Fluency: This means speaking fluently demonstrating a reasonable rate of

speech

2.2.2 The role of speaking skill in language learning

In learning a foreign language, all of the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) are interconnected Proficiency in each skill is necessary to become a well-rounded communicator, but the ability to speak skillfully provides the speaker with several distinct advantages Ur (1996) claims that speaking seems to be the most important of the four skills

Language is a tool for communication In most contexts, we use language

to interact with others, to express our ideas, and to know others’ ideas as well Without speech, it will be very difficult for communication to take place Thus, the essence of speaking skills is tremendous for the EFL learners of any language The implementation of language is an activity which takes place within the restrict of our community We use language in a variety of situations People at their work places, i.e researchers working either in a medical laboratory or in a language laboratory, are supposed to speak correctly and effectively in-order to communicate well with one another Any gap in commutation results in misunderstandings and problems

Some researchers have summed up the importance of speaking as follows:

* Speaking is the communication tool to transform ideas, express emotions, explain about discoveries, research results and discussions and responding to others

* Speaking skills are important to achieve the career success Speaking enhances one's personal life by giving opportunities for travel, promotion, scholarships, or to attend conferences, international meetings, represent organizations in international events

* Speaking to the public gives speakers the power to influence people and shape their decisions

* Speaking is a cross-cultural communication system whose function is to regulate consensus with respect to the recognition of cross-cultural identities and

the coordination of a nation's political, economic, and social functions with other nations

* Speakers of a foreign language develop a range of skills, strategies and behaviors which assist them to manage the challengeable situations Speaking opportunities facilitate a stronger sense of membership, respect and self-worth, learning management, agency and personalizing learning

Nowadays, being aware of the importance of speaking skills and in the light of the communicative language teaching method, most teachers of English and EFL learners pay much attention to developing the oral skill so that learners can use this international language to communicate with people all around the world and promote their job opportunities In English teaching, students are made to be aware that the most important thing in learning a language is the ability to use English in communication It is the fact that today most of the learners often evacuate their success in language learning on how much they feel they have advanced in their oral skills

2.2.3 Different aspects of teaching speaking

According to Nunan (2003), speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a great many of contexts Nunan (2003) defines “teaching speaking” is to teach ESL students to:

- Produce the English speech sounds and sound patterns

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

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

- Organize their thoughts in a meaningful and logical sequence

- Use the language as a means of expressing value and judgments

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

It is the fact that for many years teaching speaking has been undervalued and neglected and most of the teachers of English have continued to teach speaking that as a repetition of drills or memorization of dialogues Nevertheless, nowadays the world requires that the goal of teaching speaking should be enhancing students’ communication skills, so that students are able to

“express themselves and learn how to follow the social and cultural rules appropriate in each communicative circumstance” (Kayi, 2006)

2.3 Indicators of speaking ability

According to Brown (2004: 141-142), one student is assessed as having speaking competence if she/he is able to:

1) Imitate a word or phrase or possibly a sentence (imitative)

2) Produce short stretches of oral language design to demonstrate competence in a narrow band of grammatical, phrasal, lexical, or phonological relationship Such as prosodic elements-intonation, stress, rhythm, juncture, intensive ability (intensive)

3) Respond a very short conversation, standard greetings and small talk, simple requests and comments, and the like (responsive)

4) Take the two forms of either transactional language which has the purpose of exchanging specific information, or interpersonal exchanges which have the purpose of maintaining social relationships (interactive)

5) Maintain social relationships with the transmission of facts and information (interpersonal)

6) Develop (monologue) oral production including speeches, oral presentations, and story-telling, during which the opportunity for oral interaction from listener is either highly limited or ruled out together (extensive)

Meanwhile, Ur (1999:120) claims that the characteristics of a successful speaking activity are as follows:

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

2) Participation is even Classroom discussion is not determined by a minority of talkative participants; all get chance to speak, and contributions are fairly evenly distributed

3) Motivation is high, learners are eager to speak; because they are interested in the topic and have something new to say about it or because they want to contribute to achieving a task objective

4) Language is of an acceptable level Learners express themselves in utterances that are relevant, easily comprehensible to each other, and of an acceptable level of language accuracy

2.4 Accuracy and fluency

As far as accuracy and fluency are concerned, different linguists have given different definitions Ellis (2009) defines that fluency means the capacity

to use language in real time and context, to emphasize meanings, possibly drawing on more lexicalized systems, and accuracy is the ability to avoid errors

in performance, possibly reflecting higher levels of control in the language as well as a conservative orientation, that is, avoidance of challenging structures that might provoke errors According to Nation (1991), fluency is the ability to get across communicative intent without too much hesitation and too many pauses to cause barriers or a breakdown in communication Some of the other scholars define accuracy as the use of correct forms where utterances do not contain errors affecting the phonological, syntactic, and semantic or discourse features of a language (Lan, 1994)

In generally, accuracy refers to the ability to produce grammatically correct sentences while fluency refers to the ability to speak or write a language

or perform an action smoothly, accurately and easily, which includes the ability

to produce written and/or spoken language with ease, the ability to speak with an intelligible but not necessarily perfect command of intonation, vocabulary, and grammar, the ability to communicate ideas effectively, and the ability to produce continuous speech without causing comprehension difficulties or a breakdown

of communication In other words, accuracy emphasizes precision or exactness and is often emphasized in formal instruction, language acquisition, grammar competence and grammar-translation method, while fluency describes a level of proficiency in communication and is frequently stressed in procedural skill, expression proficiency, lexical phrases, social interaction, necessary topics and discourse Accuracy is the basis of fluency while fluency is a further improvement of a person's linguistic competence and a better revelation of his/her communicative competence They two are so closely related that they are inseparable

With the hope to get the students speak fluently the target language, some

of the schools have implemented language immersion programs, in which all or part of subjects in school is taught in the target language However, a weak point

in terms of accuracy has been recognized It is reported that immersion students become quite fluent but their spoken language is often far from accurate (Swain and Lapkin 1995, Hammerly 1987, 1991) However, in most foreign language proficiency tests such as ACTFL or SST, accuracy and fluency are important criteria

In order to decide the fluency level of a learner’s English, the following five factors were analyzed The factors were decided based on the criteria for fluency in some standardized tests such as ACTFL (Breiner-Sanders et al 2000) and SST, and recommendations from a previous research (Nakano et al 2001)

(1) The total number of words spoken in a fixed time

(2) The number of silent pauses for thinking

(3) The number of repetition of words, phrases or clauses

(4) The number of repair or reformulation for correction

(5) Mean length of utterance (MLU)

In the limitation of this research, the author only assesses the students’ fluency basing on the first criterion that is counting the total number of words spoken in a fixed time

Although the criteria for defining accuracy in most standardized tests include factors such as grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, sociolinguistic competence or pragmatic competence, pronunciation and word stress were the main factors in deciding the level of accuracy of the students’ speech in this research Considering the fact that pronunciation and word stress are very important factors that lead to a good speech Wrong pronunciation and wrong word stress may cause misunderstanding between speakers and listeners

2.5 Teaching speaking to EFL learners

2.5.1 EFL learners’ difficulties in learning speaking

So far, there have been many research investigating the difficulties that EFL learners encounter when they learning English speaking Rababa’h (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 Inadequate strategic competence and communication competence can be another reason as well for not being able to keep the interaction going Some learners also lack the motivation to speak English They do not see a real need to learn or speak English Actually ―motivation is the crucial force which determines whether a

learner embarks in a task at all, how much energy he devotes to it, and how long

he preservers (Littlewood, 1984, p.53) The development of communicative skills can only take place if learners have the motivation and opportunity to express their own identity and relate with the people around them (Littlewood, 1981) Teaching strategies also contribute to this problem as they are inadequate, and they do not put emphasis on speaking, which results in a meager development of this skill Besides, vocabulary items are taught in isolation, and listening materials are not used by the majority of schoolteachers because of the large number of teachers compared with the number of cassettes available Teacher-training programs were found to be not very successful in changing the teachers’ methodology (Rababa’ah,2005)

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 ―Children need both to participate in discourse and to build up knowledge and skills for participation in order to learn discourse skills (Cameron, 2001, p.36)

Moreover, language is best learned when the learners’ attention is focused

on understanding, saying and doing something with language, and not when their attention is focused explicitly on linguistic features (Kachen, 1984, p.27) It

is worthy to mention that researchers recognize that learners can improve their speaking ability by developing learning strategies that enable them to become independent learners (Nakatani,2010) Littlewood (1984) argued that some teachers use L1 for class management Nevertheless, this can be another factor that contributes to the problem of speaking difficulties This is because using L1 means sacrificing valuable opportunities for well-motivated foreign use In

addition, it tends to devalue the foreign language as a vehicle for communication Learners see it as allocated to communicatively nonessential domains such as drills or dialogue practice, while the mother tongue remains the appropriate medium for discussing matters of immediate importance Another main reason for other teachers to use L1 is vocabulary and grammar Although their attitudes are of disagreement with L1, this is not reflected in their practice (Al-Busaidi, 1998)

2.5.2 Causes for the students’ difficulties in learning speaking

There are some essential factors that contribute to the existence of above difficulties

First of all, most of the teachers of English emphasize the importance of teaching speaking as it is an important skill of the English language However, they do not spend enough time doing that, explaining this by not having enough time to do so In a lesson, they have many steps and four or five objectives, and

we have to finish The supervisors want them to finish all the steps in the lesson This indicates that teachers are worried about just finishing the steps, which means going through them, no matter if learning has taken place or not

Secondly, many teachers focus on teaching grammar points and vocabulary items rather than teaching speaking Even when there is an opportunity to involve students in speaking, teachers just miss it and move on doing other tasks like reading and writing and grammar exercises It seems that teachers are unaware that studying vocabulary items and grammar rules by students is not enough for improving students’ speaking skill Actually, teachers are not aware enough that focusing on teaching the form does not necessarily result in using it, and that’s why students need to be engaged in communication

in order to improve their speaking skill

Thirdly, curriculum should be taken into consideration Analyzing grade

10 English textbooks (Tieng Anh 10) in terms of the frequency of speaking

activities and the type of those activities/tasks revealed that there are very few tasks included particularly to teach speaking Those tasks are in the form of asking and answering questions, and mainly, they require students to drill a certain structure which obviously indicates that the form is more emphasized than the meaning Tasks that encourage students to use the English language communicatively are not available Moreover, time for a speaking lesson is only forty five minute so it is not enough for students to practise speaking on the topic they have learnt With a large class size and limited time, during the speaking lesson, teachers have few chances to give feedback to every student It

is a fact from observation that some shy students have no chance to speak English and they always sit silently during the lesson

Because the classroom time and textbook tasks do not provide students with enough opportunities to use English, supplementary practice can be a good way to overcome this problem Using video- recording as a supplementary speaking task gives students opportunities to speak English on the topic they have learnt and get feedback from their classmates and their teacher What’s more, the students are motivated to talk because they can prepare the talk themselves and they can talk freely about what they are really interested in relating to the topic They are also able to practise speaking many times until they feel satisfied with their products on videos and send them to the class page The benefits of using video recordings as a supplementary practice on improving students’ speaking ability will be mentioned and discussed further more in the following parts of this thesis

2.5.3 Activities to improve oral skill

Teaching oral skill methodology has undergone a variety of important changes since the late 1950s from traditional teacher-centered method (Audio- Lingual Method) to more learner-centered ones (Communicative Language Learning Approach) According to Larsen (2000), there are two different

teaching approaches in teaching speaking skill They are accuracy-oriented approach and fluency-oriented one The accuracy-oriented approach accepts that errors in grammar can not be neglected since they can cause fossilization To avoid fossilization, instant error-corrections should be provided As Willerman (2011) mentioned, this approach emphasizes on repetition of newly introduced forms and grammar structures in oral presentation On the other hand, fluency-oriented approach stresses that grammatical and pronunciation errors are not significant, especially in the early phases This approach believes that error correction can discourage learners to develop their speaking skill This approach comes from the Natural Approach and considers errors as tolerable because they are signs of natural development in language learning

However, Brown (2001) claims that now it is clearly seen that both fluency and accuracy are very important goals in language learning An activity that help improve accuracy is usually use in the teaching of new target item A fluency-oriented activity has purpose of improving students’ spontaneous communication skills in implementing what they have just learnt

a Accuracy – oriented activities

Accuracy-oriented activities are usually used to help students achieve accurate perception and production of a target item (a sound, a word, or a sentence structure) Teachers get students to pay attention to a particular target item and their output is often predictable Teacher assesses their performance basing on how few mistakes in language use are made In these activities, students’ errors are corrected directly and immediately According to Brumfit (1984), accuracy-oriented tasks do not stimulate real life situations Brown (2001) states that accuracy tasks are designed for students to focus on learning new bits of language such as grammar structures, vocabulary, functional exponents, etc Therefore, texts are often consist of separate items, sentences or

words Texts might be utilized in any skill regardless of how they are used in real situations In fact, the target items are practiced out of situations

Following are some examples for accuracy-oriented activities Most of them are controlled practice that are restricted in nature where the focus is on developing accuracy rather than fluency They usually include:

 Repetition

 Scaffolding

 Specific Target Language Focus

The specific target language focus can be from any of the three main system types i.e vocabulary, grammar, and functions (also, spelling and pronunciation)

b Fluency– oriented activities

Fluency-oriented activities aim to help learners practise the target language in speaking, listening, reading and/or writing activities to promote fluency in implementing the language in spontaneous communication In this kind of activities, teachers have students focus on communicating information and expressing their ideas It is clear that their out put is not always predictable Teachers assesses students’ performance basing on how well their opinions and ideas are expressed and understood Teacher will not correct their errors if they

do not interfere with communication Most fluency-oriented tasks stimulate life situations

real-A good fluency activity should be related to a topic of interest to the students, it is clear that the more interesting the topic, the more engaged and intrinsically motivated students become

However, there are differing points of view regarding whether a fluency activity must be open and content-focused, or not Cambridge University Press (2012), for one, advises that in contrast to accuracy-building activities, fluency-building ones should be open

Focusing on production and speed during these fluency activities, rather than on mistakes, is key As Harmer (2007, p.132) notes, prompting and correction needs to be done “sympathetically and sensitively” Moreover, as Lynch (1997, p.324) suggests, it is better if prompting and correction are held back “as late as possible” so as not to interfere with the students’ opportunity to learn from negotiating with meaning

Karunakaran (2013) states that a good fluency activity should be related to

a topic of interest to the students It is clear that the more interesting the topic, the more engaged and intrinsically motivated students become However, there are differing points of view regarding whether a fluency activity must be open and content-focused, or not Cambridge University Press (2012), for one, advises that in contrast to accuracy-building activities, fluency-building ones should be open

Bumfit (1984) also suggests that fluency – oriented activities should focus

on production and speed rather than on mistakes As Harmer (2007, p.132) notes, prompting and correction needs to be done “sympathetically and sensitively” Moreover, as Lynch (1997, p.324) suggests, it is better if prompting and correction are held back “as late as possible” so as not to interfere with the students’ opportunity to learn from negotiating with meaning It is important that the activity have an achievable goal If the activity is too difficult, it will only frustrate the student, causing a loss of motivation and confidence and increased pausing

To sum up, it was suggested that an ideal fluency activity should:

• be a topic of interest to the students

• draw on past knowledge

• feature repetition and/or the recycling of previously-learned language

• encourage speed

• be challenging without being too difficult

2.5.4 Balance between accuracy and fluency

Language as the chief means of communication is not spoken in a vacuum Knowing a language is not merely knowing the grammatical rules but also knowing when to say what and to whom, that is knowledge of how the system is put to use in the performing of social actions of different kinds Accuracy and fluency are the two factors which determine the success of English language students in the future It is a general problem faced by language teachers today, whether to focus on accuracy or fluency Accuracy refers to the ability of the learner to produce grammatically correct sentences The learners should not only know correct grammatical rules of the language but also able to speak and write accurately Fluency refers to a level of proficiency

in communication It is the ability to produce written and spoken sentences with ease, efficiency, without pauses or a breakdown of communication Generally language teachers have to deal with heterogeneous students having different language background and language skills, different world views, age levels, experiences and point of view Some students are accurate in speaking and writing but hesitate to speak in public On the other hand few students are fluent but not accurate Every student wants to be accurate as well as fluent in speaking and writing But there are many variables and kinds of learner and differences in classroom that makes teaching sometimes very challenging and interesting It is

a general problem with language teachers that they prefer focusing on grammar activity than on speaking activity They believe that to learn a second language, grammar is the most important thing to learn first

However, we have to make a balance between accuracy and fluency In reality accuracy and fluency are closely related, which leads to the notion that accuracy as well as fluency is necessary for successful communication Language teachers should be able to explore along with our students not only grammar of forms but also grammar of functions A grammar of forms makes us

familiar with the grammatical structures and rules designed to show how the systems and subsystems of a language work But a grammar of function puts together the grammatical structures of a language and how these can be used by

a variety of people in a variety of situations for interpersonal and organizational communication But language cannot be learnt in isolation but within a social and cultural setting So whether teaching grammar of forms or functions every activity should be contextual Main thing is that teachers should provide students with natural atmosphere or they should immerse students in the atmosphere so that they should speak naturally or not feel that they are doing something different

In this thesis, topical speaking on video clips are one kind of supplemental practise that the teacher has used to develop both accuracy and fluency for students Through this activity, the students can get feedback from their peers and the teacher- researcher on both speaking speed and the grammar and pronunciation accuracy

2.6 Video recording

2.6.1 Characteristics of Videos

Meyer (2002) in Muniandy & Veloo (2011:173) defines that video is a kind of multimedia material consisting of verbal and non-verbal presentations displaying simultaneous images, narration and on screen text Furthermore, McKinnon (2011) in Muniandy and Veloo (2011:175) claims that video clips can portray settings, action, emotions, and gestures which can provide the important visual stimulus for language practice and learning It means that videos can be used in teaching and learning English because videos can provide great visual stimuli through their combination of illustrations, sounds, graphics, and texts Richards and Renandya (2002:364) also add that a video is an extremely dense medium one which incorporates a wide variety of visual elements and a great range of audio experiences in addition to spoken language

Richards and Renandya (2002:380) also state that a video potential in language learning is only achieved when it is used as an integral part of course When the teachers decide to use video as supplementary materials, they must believe that it is closely related with the goals of the course In this research, one way to do this is to give the students the topics to talk and record them on videos The topics the teacher assign must be relevant to what they have learnt

in English classes

2.6.2 Video – recording

The video-recording means that learners use technology tools such as smart phones, computers, recorder, ect to record their speaking It involves the following steps First, at the end of one unit in the text book, students are given a topic relating to what they have learnt in this unit (the names of these topics are mentioned in appendix A) Then the students have to prepare for their talk at home and record it on video Next, when they feel contented with their product, they send it to the class page on Facebook With the purpose of increasing the likelihood of classmates watching and interacting with each other (Bloch, 2007), the teacher-researcher chose to set up a private Facebook group as a platform to which the learners could upload their video recordings The reason of choosing a private Facebook group as a video-hosting platform was that the learners were already familiar with Facebook and used it frequently in their daily lives Besides, a significant advantage of Facebook as a video-hosting platform is that

it is compatible with various types of videos, which means that all videos can be played on any computer with Internet connection Finally, the teacher- researcher will give the students feedback to help them better their talk on the next topic

2.6.3 Benefits of Video- recordings

Video recording tools have been introduced and put in use in a large variety of way in language instruction with a view to providing students with

opportunities to produce oral output According to Pop, Tomuletiu, & David (2001), video recordings “allow language students to practice and enhance their speaking skills outside the classroom while receiving feedback on their performance” Many studies and research propose that output is vital for second language learning Swan and Lapkin (1995) focused on the essence of output, saying that it will accelerate observation and fluency as well One of the ways Swan and Lapkin suggest to improve output from EFL learners is by recording

in order that the learners are able to listen to, assess, and edit their own recorded videos

Using video-recordings is supposed to have a great effectiveness on the students’ progress in learning oral skill That is self-assessment, improving fluency, elaborating ideas, learning new vocabulary items, and boosting self-confidence

First of all, video recordings give students opportunities to assess themselves Self - assessment acquires the students to reflect their own work and judge how well they have performed in relation to the assessment criteria According to Bound (1995), it provides students with opportunities to be capable of identify what constitutes a good piece of work Self- assessment is a great alternative to traditional forms of assessment from the teacher in the classroom Hedge (2000) claimed that self-assessment assist learners to develop the characteristics of a “good language learner, which involve the ability to assess their own performance and ability to be self- critical”

Secondly, the video assignments enhance the learners’ fluency and grant them an opportunity to practice the language outside of the classroom Besides, the digital video recordings helped students to realize the prevalent use of pause fillers, and hesitation markers in their own speeches and how those disfluency markers in their speeches irritated them as listeners Many students feel dissatisfied with the pause fillers “um, umm, err” and their hesitation in their

speech and make an effort to shoot the video many times until it live up to their expectation As a result, their speaking fluency increases day by day

Thirdly, video recordings provide students with opportunities to elaborate their ideas Most of learners will meet the difficulty at the initial stages of the video recordings since they are unable to convey all of their ideas in a precise and brief way within the allotted amount of time In addition, learners will be able to watch their own videos over and over again and they can realize that they have not developed the topics satisfactorily in their speeches Thus, they have to try their best to elaborate the content of their speeches with supporting ideas and examples in such a manner that their ideas will be clearly transmitted

to the audience at the end of the video

Next, learning new vocabulary items is a another gain of the digital video recordings It is the fact that sometimes learners get stuck in their speeches due

to lack of some topic-related vocabulary items at their disposal, and they have to shoot the videos one more time after they looked up the unknown words Furthermore, they can easily recall the words that they use during their video recordings after two or three weeks, which indicates that digital video recordings create a learning opportunity for them and help them to access new vocabulary items easily

Last but not least, watching themselves speaking English and comparing their performance in the first and last video assignments helps students regain self-confidence and increase their motivation to speak English The reason is that, with video recordings, they are offered a chance to observe the leap of improvement in their speeches, which, in turn, give them a sense of accomplishment Furthermore, as they can share their videos with their friends, though initially seemingly daunting, give them an opportunity to be involved in

a real tasks that require the use of English Thus, they have a chance to watch others’ performance and learn from one another For instance, one of the

learners involved in this research expressed how she started to feel less embarrassed while speaking English in front of her peers thanks to the digital video recordings She said that she used to feel so embarrassed about the way she spoke English and her mistakes, and thought that everybody was just better than her in speaking English That’s why in the first video assignment, she waited for everybody’s post before she uploaded hers However, when she watched her friends’ videos on Facebook, she saw that everybody did some mistakes So, she felt less embarrassed about her mistakes

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research questions restated

The thesis aims to answer the following research questions:

1 Does the use of supplementary practice: topical speaking on videos have good effects on improving high school students’ speaking fluency in terms

of proper speaking speed?

2 How does video- recording affect high school students’ speaking accuracy

in pronunciation and word stress?

3.2 Research Method

In an attempt to reach the aim and to answer the two research questions mentioned in the chapter 1, a quasi-experimental study was mainly implemented

in this thesis

3.2.1 Quasi – experiment definition

The prefix “quasi” means “resembling” A quasi- experimental is an empirical interventional study used to estimate the causal impact of an intervention on target population without random assignment Quasi-experimental research shares similarities with the traditional experimental design or randomized controlled trial, but it specifically lacks the element of random assignment to treatment or control Instead, quasi-experimental designs typically allow the researcher to control the assignment to the treatment condition, but using some criterion other than random assignment In some cases, the researcher may have control over assignment to treatment Quasi-experiments are subject to concerns regarding internal validity, because the treatment and control groups may not be comparable at baseline With random assignment, study participants have the same chance of being assigned to the intervention group or the comparison group As a result, differences between groups on both observed and unobserved characteristics would be due to chance, rather than to a systematic factor related to treatment Randomization itself does

not guarantee that groups will be equivalent at baseline Any change in characteristics post-intervention is likely attributable to the intervention With quasi-experimental studies, it may not be possible to convincingly demonstrate a causal link between the treatment condition and observed outcomes This is particularly true if there are confounding variables that cannot be controlled or accounted for

Quasi-experiments are most likely to be conducted in field settings in which random assignment is difficult or impossible They are often conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment, perhaps a type of psychotherapy or an educational intervention

3.2.2 Reasons to choose quasi – experiment

There are some reasons explaining why the author chooses to implement the quasi-experiment method First, it is effective in dealing with such cause-effect relationships and it has been widely used not only in quantitative approach but in qualitative study Moreover, the results of the quasi-experiment are often demonstrated in numerical expression such as scores of tests, and teacher-student interactions, etc (McDonough, 1997) so they are very reliable

Secondly, a quasi-experiment is not really time-consuming According to McDonough (1997), in this type of study, data-gathering itself need not involve

a long and protracted period of time In fact, the relationship between data analysis and the research hypothesis is decided in advance The interpretation of the results which depend on features of a quasi-experiment is also decided in advance Therefore, valuable information can be yielded

Finally, the quasi-experiment method should be used to conduct this research because beside the data analysis, the close interactions with students when doing the quasi-experimental research can help the researcher have a thorough understanding of the effect of video recordings on the students' speaking performance in the study

A quasi-experiment may be reliable with acceptable results in the sense that both internal and external validity of the findings can be assured In this study, to assure the internal validity of the study, the marking criteria which are mainly based on IELT's have been adapted to my context Likewise, to assure the internal reliability of the study, 2 experienced teachers who have been trained in Australia were asked to mark the students' pre-test and post-test

In short, it was likely that almost all the aspects that doubt the reliability and validity of the research had been taken into consideration Therefore, as far

as theory and practice are concerned, this method seems to be ideal for the author’s study

Accumulated English learning experience 8 years

English oral proficiency level A2 and B1 (CEFR)

At Nam Đàn 1 high school, there are 12 classes of grade 10 Class 10A1 and 10A2 are chosen for the study because these are the two classes that the researcher is teaching and the students almost have the same English level They all take English as their major subject at high school

Class 10A2 is chosen as the treatment group and class 10A1 is the control group who do not implement the video- recording as the speaking supplementary tasks For the school year of 38 weeks, they have 114 periods to study English, 3 periods per week, following grade 10th English textbook designed by the Ministry of Education and Training

Students in these two classes do not have much chance to communicate with others in English That is the reason why they are not confident when speaking or expressing their ideas in English They are usually afraid of making mistakes due to their deficient knowledge of pronunciation and their lack of vocabulary Moreover, their aim of learning English is to pass their entrance examination or to get the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) after secondary school, so they are not aware of improving their speaking skill Moreover, there are mixed levels in each class so some shy students rarely have opportunities to speak English during the lessons Besides, students do not have good background knowledge, so they are not able to express or present their ideas in English With the limitation of lesson time and large class size, many students in these two classes are not given feedback from teacher during the class time despite the fact that feedback is extremely important for them to improve their oral skill

3.4 Material sources

With the purpose of assuring the level of students in the two groups (10A1: controlled group, 10A2: treatment group), before investigating the results of 10 video recordings, the researcher lets students sit the general placement test (see appendix B) This test is designed according to the 6-level Language Proficiency Framework for Vietnam which is based on the Common European Frame Work of Reference for Languages This placement test includes four skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing with the total score

100