An investigation into difficulties in english learning speaking skill preparing for (vstep formatted) b1 speaking test the case of non english majors at dong thap university

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY TRẦN DUY HOÀI AN INVESTIGATION INTO CHALLENGES IN ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL: PREPARING FOR VSTEP formatted LEVEL B1 SPEAKING TEST THE C

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

VINH UNIVERSITY

TRẦN DUY HOÀI

AN INVESTIGATION INTO DFFICULTIES IN ENGLISH LEARNING SPEAKING SKILL: PREPARING FOR (VSTEP formatted) LEVEL B1 SPEAKING TEST THE CASE OF NON – ENGLISH MAJORS

AT DONG THAP UNIVERSITY

MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

Đồng Tháp, 2017

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

VINH UNIVERSITY

TRẦN DUY HOÀI

AN INVESTIGATION INTO CHALLENGES IN ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL: PREPARING FOR (VSTEP formatted) LEVEL B1 SPEAKING

TEST THE CASE OF NON – ENGLISH MAJORS

AT DONG THAP UNIVERSITY

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

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY OF STUDY PROJECT REPORT

I certify my authority of the Study Project Report entitled

An investigation into challenges in learning English speaking skill: preparing for (VSTEP formatted) B1 speaking test the case of Non-English majors at Dong Thap university

To total fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts

Trần Duy Hoài

2017

Special words of thank also go to all my lecturers at Dong Thap university and all

my students from three classes whose support me to fulfill the questionnaire Without them this paper not has been possible

Finally, I owe my sincere thanks my parents who always inspired and encouraged

me to complete this study

ABSTRACT

The study is carried out to investigate the difficulties both learning and teaching speaking skill to non – English major of Dong Thap university Specially, the researcher attempts to survey the potential causing the difficulties and clarify the problems of those respectively Furthermore, some recommendations are made with the hope of help English Language lecturers and the student at Dong Thap university enhance the quality their teaching and learning the speaking skill The thesis consists of three parts The first part is an introduction to the thesis The review of related literature, methodology used in the study, the findings and discussion of relevant difficulties in teaching and learning speaking skill caused by the lecturers and the students The last is the conclusion of the study, which discusses the overview that can be drawn from the study, proposes some coping strategies and suggests some techniques for student to diminish these challenges when learning this skill and some interesting activities as well to minimize those difficulties in teaching speaking skill Moreover, the limitations of the thesis are pointed out and further study is put award in the final part It is hoped that the thesis will be useful for the lecturers and also the non – English major student at Dong Thap university

ABBREVIATION

ALM: Audio – Lingual Method

CLT: Communicative Languague Teaching

DM: Direct Method

GT: Grammar – Translation

MOET: Ministry of Education and Training

SLA: Second Language Acquisition

VSTEP: Vietnamese Standardized Test of English Proficiency

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the study……… 1

1.2 Aim of the study ……… 2

1.3 Research questions ……… 3

1.4 Scope of the study ………3

1.5 Method of the study ………3lang 1.6 Organization of the study ………4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Speaking skills ……….6

2.1.1 The role and status of speaking in language learning and teaching …… ……6

2.1.2 Concepts of speaking ………7

2.1.3 Spoken language and communication ……… …8

2.1.4 Characteristic of speaking ……….9

2.1.5 Problems with speaking activities ……… 10

2.2 Speaking in VSTEP………11

2.2.1 Overview speaking test in VSTEP ……… 11

2.2.2 Difference between speaking communication and speaking test of VSTEP 11

2.3 Communicative language teaching (CLT) ………12

2.3.1 Some definitions of CLT ……….12

2.3.2 The importance role of CLT ………13

2.3.3 Characteristics of CLT ……… 14

2.3.4 Comparisons of CLT with other methods ……….17

2.4 Communicative activities ……….19

2.4.1 Definition of communicative activities ………19

2.4.2 Features of communicative activities ……… 20

2.4.3 Role of communicative activities ………22

2.4.4 Type of communicative activities ……….25

2.4.5 Techniques for developing speaking skill ……… 26

No table of contents entries found

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the study

In the international integration and development stage, with the aim of boosting awareness, besides the growing of economy, it is essential to investigate in education, especially foreign language English is the most popular language in the world, it is considered an effective tool for further research as better working opportunities This language is offered as a compulsory subject in the curriculum from primary school to national high school examination Moreover, this is also one

of the requirement that the students must obtain the certification with level A2, B1 (formatted VSTEP) before graduation as out coming demand

In recent years, communicative language teaching (CLT) seems its more predominant role than other approaches and led to the increasingly significant role

of teaching speaking skills However, the teaching and learning speaking skills to students currently in Vietnamese classrooms is still much concern due to characteristics of learners as well as teacher’s proficiency and classroom methodology Furthermore, a part of teachers have been influenced by training of the Grammar Translation method which also impedes them from teaching speaking effectively

With format VSTEP for four skills generally and oral examination, particularly which is considered to mark reforming the approach of teaching and learning speaking skill from traditional approach – grammar translation method, which only focus on ability of using grammar rules On the other hand, the CLT aims to focus on speaking skill as learner-centered activities within communicative context, the teachers of English at the university find it difficult to achieve language learning more relevant, interesting, enjoyable and effective because of the class size and the student’s language level

As a teacher at the informatics and foreign language at Dong Thap university,

I often receive complaint from many students that “they are impossible to speak

English well” In the reality of teaching, many students who have mastered knowledge of grammar for reading and writing, but they are unable to express their idea to the teacher On the other hand, other colleagues also complain: “ the students seem so quiet, passive and lazy during speaking lessons It is difficult to create them participate in speaking activities” Therefore, the idea of doing research useful for teaching and the students has urged to conduct the study

Another reason why I conduct the study that I can know more about the challenges in teaching and learning this skill, thus I can find relevant techniques to improve teaching speaking skill better For the above reasons and factors have inspired to do the study on “An investigation into challenges in learning English speaking skill: preparing for (VTEP formatted) B1 speaking test the case of Non-

English majors at Dong Thap university” with the hope to improve step by step the

student’s learning it and consider that as an essential skill in communication

1.2 Aim of the study

This study aims to suggest appropriate techniques for helping students in graduating the university overcome difficulties in learning oral skills

In order to obtain this aim, the following objectives are established:

- Firstly, the reality situation of teaching and learning are revised, especially speaking skill

- Secondly, the difficulties are found out by the teachers and students while process of teaching and learning speaking skill

- Thirdly, the current approaches, methods and techniques are being used in teaching oral skill that is investigated

- Finally, some solutions are suggested to deal with the problems mentioned above

1.3 Research questions

The study is conducted in an attempt to find out the answer to the following research questions:

(1) What challenges do the students deal with learning English speaking activities?

(2) What difficulties does the lecturer encounter the English speaking activities?

(3) What solutions are the lecturers and the students supported to enhance the quality of English speaking activities?

1.4 Scope of the study

The title of the paper “An investigation into challenges in learning English speaking skill: preparing for (VTEP formatted) B1 speaking test the case of Non-English majors at Dong Thap university” shows the scope of the study The research only focuses on difficulties when learning English speaking with the non major students at Dong Thap university In addition, the survey questionnaires were designed and conducted with participant of 100 students in the non major; the questions were also designed to interview 5 lecturers at the informatics and foreign languages at Dong Thap university

1.5 Method of the study

The research has been completed by using both qualitative and quantitative methods

The qualitative data have been obtained from survey questionnaires that were given to both the students and lecturers at Dong Thap university The questionnaires were designed with variety of response options and clearly to answer In addition, the survey questions is believed to be a useful tool in order to be analyzed data quickly and objectively

1.6 Organization of the study

This research comprises five chapters as follow:

Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter introduces the rationale, aims, research questions, scope method

of the study as well as the organization of the study

Chapter 2: Literature review

Literature review presents a brief of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and comparisons of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) with Audio Lingual Method (ALM)

Chapter 3: Methodology

This part presents the detailed procedure of the research: the methodology, data collection and analysis

Chapter 4: Findings and Discussions

It deals with the findings and discussions

Chapter 5: Conclusion

The part ends with the conclusion, recommendations for further research

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Speaking skills

2.1.1 The role and status of speaking in language learning and teaching

The skill of speaking has been recently considered by many methodologists a significance in language teaching According to Hedge gives the indication that

speaking has obtained, at least from textbook writers: “Learners need to develop at

the same time a knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, functional language and communicative skills Attention to the systems of language is crucial, but the development of fluency and contextual appropriation are equally important goals”

Speaking is the skill by which learners are assessed when the first impression is formed (Hedge:261)

The growth of speaking skill, in term of its importance in language teaching, can be clarified by the position ascribed to this skill in different methods of teaching The most noticeable contrast, would be exposed in comparison of the recent view on speaking with the other views held by advocates grammar – translation or audio – lingual method In these approaches, the skill of speaking was seldom emphasized, for example: the ability to use a language in real – life situations, the ability to communicate Types of activities such as oral drills, model dialogue practice and pattern practice The audio – lingual approach were widely used in teaching speaking

The goal of language is communication and the aim of speaking in a language context is to promote communication efficiency; teachers want students to actually

be able to use the language as correctly as possible and with a purpose Students often value speaking more than the other skills of reading, writing and listening so motivation is not always as big of an issue, but what often happens is students feel more anxiety related to their oral production As speaking is interrelated with the other skills, its development results in the development of the others One of the primary benefits of increased communicative competency is the resulting job,

education and travel opportunities; it is always an asset to be able to communicate with other people

However, Suhomlinski said that if you want teachers’ efforts to bring fun to themselves and to avoid everyday classes from becoming a tedious obligation, you should lead every teacher to the happy road of coordination teaching Due to its freedom, oral classes are popular among students, which is very significant in improving students’ ability to use English in practice Although oral classes are student-centered, teachers are very important during this process It is very hard to achieve the ideal performance without the participation of teachers Both teachers and students can benefit from oral teaching if teachers can play the roles of demonstrators, conductors, directors, and commentators well

As another study on speaking consider that speaking is one of the four language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) It is the means through which learners can communicate with others to achieve certain goals or to express their opinions, intentions, hopes and viewpoints In addition, people who know a language are referred to as ‘speakers’ of that language Furthermore, in almost any setting, speaking is the most frequently used language skill As Rivers (1981) argues, speaking is used twice as much as reading and writing in our communication

Hornby (1995) defines that speaking is the skill that the students will be judged upon most in real-life situations It is an important part of everyday interaction and most often the first impression of a person is based on his/her ability

to speak fluently and comprehensively Brown (1994) labels speaking as the most challenging skill for students because of the set of features that characterize oral discourse:

- Contractions, vowel reductions and elision;

- The use of slang and idioms:

- Stress, rhythm and intonation;

- The need to interact with at least one other speaker

Speaking is an “activity requiring the integration of many subsystems, all these factors combine to make speaking a second or foreign language a formidable task for language learner, yet for many people, speaking is seen as the central skill” (Bailey and Savage 1994: 6-7)

Martin Bygate (1987:5), there are two main ways in which speaking can be seen as a skill

- Motor – perceptive skills are developed in the classroom through activities such as model dialogues, pattern practice and oral drills

- Interaction skills, the learners need to develop skills in the management, such things as when to introduce a topic or change the subject, how to keep the conversation going, when and how to terminate the conversation

Brown (1983) also confirms that “speaking is an interactive process of

constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information” Its form and meaning depends on the context in which occurs,

including the participants, the purposes for speaking

Scott (1978) reveals that “speaking can be typified as an activity involving two

or more people in which the participants are both hearers and speakers having to react to what they hear and make their contribution” He wants to achieve in the

interaction and an ability to interpret what is said to him which he cannot predict

exactly either in terms of form or in terms of meaning Another author,

Chaney(1988:13) defined that “speaking is the process of building and sharing

meaning through the use verbal and non –verbal symbols in a variety of contexts”

According to Brown and Yule’s states (1983), spoken language consists of short fragmentary utterance in a range of pronunciation Speaking, however, is a skill which deserves attention as much as literacy in both first and second languages Furthermore, speaking is known with two key types of conversation called dialogue and monologue

In brief, different researchers have different perceptions of speaking, but they all agree with one very important feature of speaking, that is a two way process between the speaker and listener

2.1.3 Spoken language and communication

Brown and Yule (1983:23) believe that spoken language has two crucial

functions: “The primary function of spoken language is interactional, to establish

and maintain social relations” The purpose is to express their emotion and their

concerns to the person they are talking to Additionally, another function of spoken language is transactional to convey information The deduction is again confirmed

by Broughton (1980)

Thoughts

Sender Language Recipient

Figure 2.1: Spoken language and communication

According Broughton (1980: 25), “all living creatures have some means of

conveying information to others of their own group, communication being ultimately essential for their survival”

2.1.4 Characteristic of speaking

Ur (1996: 120) explains some characteristics of successful speaking activities which include:

- Learners talk a lot: As much as possible of the period of time allocated to

the activity is in fact occupied by learners talk This may be obvious, but often most time is taken up with teacher’s talk or pauses

- Participant is even: Classroom discussion is not dominated by a minority of

talk active participants It means that all students get a chance to speak and contributions are fairly evenly distributed

- Motivation is high: Learners are eager to speak because they are interested in

the topic and have something new to say about it, or they want to contribute to achieve a task objective

- Language is of an acceptable level: Learners express themselves in

utterances that are relevant, easy comprehensible to teach others and of acceptable level of language accuracy Speaking is the ability to use the language in ordinary way by speech It is not only a matter of transferring some messages to other persons, but is also communication, which needs more than one person to communicate with When people speak, they construct ideas in words, express their perception, their feelings and intentions, so that interlocutors grasp meaning of what the speakers mean If the learners do not have speaking skill, do not understand the English words that are said by the speaker, do not acknowledge the language, they cannot grasp meaning of what the speaker mean In that condition, they cannot be said successful in learning English, because they do not have a meaningful interaction of English conversation Due to it, students who want to speak English well need to learn and practice it as much as possible As proverb says ‘practice makes perfect’ Therefore, students must practice to speak English as often as possible so that they are able to speak English fluently and accurately

However, another perception seems to refer that speaking has some following characteristics:

- Firstly, its form and meaning are based on the context in which it occurs, involving the participants themselves, their collective experience and purposes for speaking

- Secondly, for speaking demands that learners how to produce specific points

of language, for instance, grammar, pronunciation or vocabulary, they also understand when, why and in what to produce language

- Thirdly, speech has its own skills, structures and conventions different from written language

- Lastly, Bygate (1987) stated, speaking as an undervalued in many ways He confirms that the speaking skill deserves attention every bit as much as literacy skills Bygate also highly appreciates speaking skill by stating that speaking is the medium through which much language is learnt

In brief, it is undeniable that speaking is a crucial skill in communication By considering what a good speaker does, what speaking tasks can be used in class, and what specific needs learners report, lecturers can help learners improve their speaking and overall oral competency

2.1.5 Problems with speaking activities

In order to make clear about the difficulties of learning and teaching that the students and the lecturers of facing, we should regard to some problems that are commonly observed in the language classroom are related to individual student’s attitude, learning style towards the learning process and learning speaking in

particular These problems can be defined as follows (Ur 1995:121)

- Inhibition: Different listening, reading and writing activities, speaking skill

demands some degree of real time exposure to an audience The learners are often inhibition about trying to say things in a foreign language They have tended to fear

of making mistakes, losing face, criticism and shyness as well

- Nothing to say: Even though the learners are not inhibited, you often hear

they complain that they cannot think of anything to say In other words, the learners have problems with finding motives to speak, formulating opinions or relevant comments

- Low or uneven participation: this problem is often caused by the tendency of

some learners to dominate in the group while others speak very little or not at all

- Mother tongue use: in classes all, or a number of learners share the same

mother tongue for many reasons: first, the learners find it easier; next, they feel more natural to express themselves in their native language; last, if they are talking

in a small group, it can be quite difficult to get some class - particularly the less disciplined or less motivated classes

2.2 Speaking in VSTEP

2.2.1 Overview speaking in VSTEP

To evaluate the English competence for the non – major student in the universities and colleges, the MOET require the outcoming condition for students who must achieve level B1 (VSTEP) before graduating

After fulfilling the course, they are able to follow the conversation by English language when speaking as well as to feedback, solve the situation and enlarge the topic in order to make the conversation

2.2.2 Difference between speaking communication and speaking of VSTEP

Even though both kind of genres aim to develop English speaking for Vietname general, for the non – major student particularly, they also have differences:

- To respond the social and working

demand It means speaking English aims

to their working with foreigners in

various fields like: reception, tour guide,

finance

- To complete speaking course for the demand of conditions with focus on familiar topics in daily life in order to help the students who can us English to speak with others

2.3 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

2.3.1 Some definitions of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

Of all the four skills, speaking seems intuitively the most important Most language learners, she adds, are primarily interested in learning to speak The skill

of speaking has been recently by many methodologists a priority in language teaching Meanwhile, many English teachers claim that the best way to acquire speaking skills is by interacting This aim is fulfilled by means of communicative language teaching and collaborative learning Communicative language teaching (CLT) is based on real-life situations that require communication Following this method in ESL classes, there will be opportunities for the students to communicate with their partners in the target language

Previous studies indicate that the CLT found the changing of traditional teaching language in 1960s Its first emerged in European countries in the 1970s and was successfully implemented into the English curriculum in other countries in the 1980s (Littlewood, 2007; Ozsevik, 2010) Its primary goal is for learners to develop communicative competence (Hymes 1971) The approach is the most influential language teaching methodology in the world (Ying, 2010) CLT marks the beginning of a major innovation within language teaching for its widely accepted principles

As for Richard and Rodgers (1986) indicate that CLT means little more than

an integration of grammatical and functional teaching Distributing the similarity of view with Richard and Rodgers, Little Wood (1981) also affirms that CLT “pays systematic attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language” Moreover, CLT means using procedure where learners work in pairs or groups employing available language resources in problem – solving tasks (Richard and Rodgers, 1986)

Nunan (1984:194), to the author´s knowledge has from the theoretical point

and integrator The teacher’s role is considered as a facilitator of the communication process

To view of the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) emphasizes on learners-centered teaching, “Communicative Language Teach has become a term for methods and curricula that embrace both the goals and the processes of classroom learning, for teaching practice that view competence in terms of social interaction” (Savigon, 1991.p263) This approach provides the learn with the opportunities to experience language through communicative activities that are organized by the teachers Thus, Bren and Candlin (1980) mention “the teacher has two main roles: the first role is to facilitate the communication process between all participants in the classroom, and between these participants and the various activities and texts The second role is to act as an independent participant within the learning-teaching group”(p.99) Furthermore, Canale and Swain (1980) also said that, CLT allows learners to respond to genuine communicative needs in realistic second language situations in order for them to develop strategies to understand language as used by native speaker in reality

In brief, the Communicative Language Teaching, there is an idea of being able to use the language suitable to a given social context It means to teach the students’ communicative competence To do this, students have to know the linguistic forms, meanings, functions and different forms of functions So they will choose the most suitable form, given the social context and the roles of the interlocutors Also, they will be more responsible managers of their own learning as the theatre is less dominant in the classroom On the other hand, through communicative activities such as games, role-play and problem solving tasks, students use the language a great deal

2.3.2 The importance role of CLT

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) emerged as the answer to the problem It has different features from those of the other approaches since "one of the most characteristic features of Communicative Language Teaching is that it

pays basic attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language" (Littlewood, 1992, p 1) To serve the communicative goal of language learning,

"the Communicative Approach is based on the premise that what we do in the classroom should have some real life communicative values" or it "looks at what people do with language and how they respond to what they hear" (Flowerdew & Miller, 2005, p 12) Therefore, all activities used in a CLT classroom are appropriately designed based on these principles Teachers measures language learners' success by looking at their development of communicative competence which is implied in their making use, of any means of communication, verbal or nonverbal, within the limited knowledge of the language they have to To some extent, CLT makes use of presenting and practicing speaking and listening in real life situations to help students complete tasks and build their fluency and confidence

In Vietnam, in the recent years, the lectures have been encouraged to employ CLT in their English classrooms to improve students' speaking skill which the aim

is student – centered during learning language

In my conclusion, CLT play crucial method because of following reasons:

- It gives confidence to the students to learn the second language and use it as and when required

- CLT draws attention to the importance of socio cultural skills

- The learners are given the realistic idea of language and are provided with a sense of what is appropriate and right in a given culture

- The learners learn English language and English culture simultaneously

- It is vital and imperative both for teachers and learners, living as they do in

a globalized world, to adopt and maintain the effective methods of language teaching/learning offered by CLT

2.2.2 Characteristics of CLT

CLT is a very effective method for communication The basically principle

of CLT is to enable learners to understand and use the target language for

communication At the level of language theory, CLT has a rich theoretical base There are some of the characteristics of this communicative view of language follow by Richard and Rodgers (1986: P.71):

- Language is a system for the expression of meaning

- The primary goal of language to allow interaction and communication

- The structure of language reflects its functional and communicative uses

- The primary units of language are not merely its grammatical and

structural features, but categories of functional and communicative meaning as exemplified in discourse

One major alteration is that language learning has become student-centered Lessons are planned in such a way that all the students can engage in interactive activities Group work and pair work are employed to promote communication and obtain the meaning across Situations are simulated but interaction and task complete within real-time are genuine

According to David Nunan's (1991) five features of this approach:

- An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target

language

- The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation

- The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language

but also on the learning management process

- An enhancement of the learner's own personal experiences as important

contributing elements to classroom learning

- An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activities

outside the classroom

As Larsen-Freeman (2000:129) points that with CLT, “almost everything is done with a communicative intent” It is through communicative activities such as problem – solving, role – play, game tasks which are often carried out in groups to help the students develop their communicative competence in an authentic context

is seemed an acceptable and beneficial form of instruction

Another view is described that because of the needs for learners to practice communication, the CLT places importance in a wide array of activities in the classroom where the learners are given exposure to use the language in a meaningful, authentic setting It provides the learners ‘a repertoire of communicative activities and opportunities’ for learners to practice language skills

in the classroom (Littlewood, 2007)

The most principal features of CLT approach is learner –centered The students are seen as being able to play more active than traditional approaches In other words, the students are as communicators who actively interact together in the classroom activities It aims to encourage the students to participate in the lesson The discussion on the characteristics of CLT is summarized in Fig 2.2

Co

Fig 2.2: Characteristics of CLT

In short, the characteristics of CLT refer to a diverse set of principles for the teachers to apply appropriate methods as well as activities to develop communicative competence and language learning in teaching procedure

Communicative Language Teaching

(CLT) Learner -centered

Emphasis on meaning and use of target language

Communicative

activities in authentic,

meaningful settings

2.3.4 Comparisons of communicative language teaching (CLT) with other methods

a Audio-lingual method (ALM)

The Audio-lingual method were widely used in teaching speaking The approach is based on behaviorist theory, which processes certain traits of living things, could be train through a system of reinforcement – correct use of a trait would receive positive feedback while incorrect uses of that trait would receive negative feedback Thus, the learners learn this method by imitating

There is no explicit grammar instruction everything is simply memorized in the form The teacher would then continue by presenting new words for the students

to sample in the same structure The result was that, although learners knew the patterns and memorized the rules, they were not able to use their knowledge in practice They were not capable of exploiting the rules and patterns in real interaction

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is an approach to the teaching of second and foreign languages that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language It is also referred to as “communicative approach to the teaching of foreign languages” or simply the “Communicative Approach” The CLT was the product of educators and linguists who had grown dissatisfied with earlier Grammar Translation (GT) and Audio Lingual Methods (ALM), where students were not learning enough realistic, socially necessary language Through this dissatisfaction the communicative language teaching CLT emerged

Nevertheless, between the communicative language teaching and the audio – lingual also have various differences that are presented by their features:

Communicative Language Teaching Audio Lingual Method

- Meaning is paramount

- Contextualization is a basic foundation

- Structure and form are more important than meaning

- Language items are not necessarily

- Effective communication is required

- Language learning is learning to

communicate

- The target linguistic system will be

learned very easily through the process

of communication

- Communicative competence is the

desired goal

- The teacher helps the learner by giving

motivation to work with the language

contextualized

- Mastery or “overlearnings” is required

- Language learning is learning structures, sounds or words

- The target linguistic system will be learned through the overt teaching

- Linguistic competence is the desired goal

- The teacher controls and prevents the learners from doing anything that conflict with the theory

b Grammar-Translation Method

The Grammar-Translation Method matched educational beliefs affecting schooling in the nineteenth century The basic purpose is to improve student’s ability of reading literature written in the target language

Communicative Language Teaching Grammatical – Translation Method

- Do not refer to two fixed sets of

instructional frameworks whose

principles have been formally and

permanently codified by their founders

or proponents

- Teacher does not spend most of the

lesson at the front of the classroom He

sets the students communicative tasks

designed to practice the target As a

facilitator, not a dictator of learning

- Be a term used by specialized authors

in their reviews of the history of Applied Linguistics (e.g Brown, 1994) to describe the oldest documented form of L2 teaching in man’s history

- The teacher is the authority in the classroom The students are passive They do as the teacher says and they can learn what he the teacher knows

c Direct Method

The Direct Method (DM) has antecedent in association’s psychology and in the language sciences of the nineteenth century It intends intends that students learn how to communicate in the target language The teacher never translates target language words or phrases into the students’ native language Both The teacher and the students are more like partners in the teaching/learning process In the Direct Method, grammar is taught inductively Students practice vocabulary by using new words in complete sentences

2.4 Communicative Activities

2.4.1 Definition of communicative activities

Communicative activities are key role in communicative language teaching that promote language learning These activities encourage learners to improve their language in a personalized way and helps them to interact in English in real life situations rather than merely learning English grammar rules and word lists Communicative activities can help turn the English classroom into an active, safe, and enjoyable place where literacy- and beginning-level learners can learn what they need and want to learn

According to Moss & Ross-Feldman (2003), the communicative activities include any activities that encourage and require a learner to speak with and listen

to other learners, as well as with people in the program and community Communicative activities have real purposes: to find information, break down barriers, discussion, and learn about the culture Even when a lesson is focused on developing reading or writing skills, communicative activities should be integrated into the lesson Furthermore, research on second language acquisition (SLA) suggests that more learning takes place when students are engaged in relevant tasks within a dynamic learning environment rather than in traditional teacher-led classes Moreover, they can learn and acquire the language subconsciously, most

importantly, students can learn to use their ideas, pass on their ideas and receive them, in this way to enlarge their vocabulary, broaden their knowledge, and be more interested to read more and read better

Communicative activities are fluency-based activities (Tait, S., 2001) While such activities may involve students to practice a particular grammatical form, they are likely to do more than this The key element is that the activity is based on a realistic situation This could be anything from an encounter in a department store,

to a group of friends discussing holiday plans, etc Within this kind of context, students should be required to negotiate for meaning This is likely to require multiple turn taking

By the communicative activities motivate the learner’s to engage in relevant tasks within a dynamic learning environment instead of traditional teacher-centered classes

2.4.2 Features of communicative activities

Savignon (2001) claims that “the problem at present is that some of the activities being introduced as communicative activities are not communicative at all but structure drills in disguise” Thus, many teachers may think that the activities they design and use in class are communicative, but actually they are not Therefore the features that make a real communicative activity should be focused on Based

on related views about communicative activities, Sun & Cheng (2000) summarizes three common features as follows:

- Communicative activities are task-based Task-based English teaching concentrates on communicative tasks that learners need to engage in outside the classroom

- Communicative activities are learner-centered The emphasis of teaching activity is on students’ initiation and interaction Students are expected to participate in the activities as real people and take responsibility for their learning

- Communicative activities emphasize the use of authentic language input and the teacher’s native or near native language competence in order to produce communication in the classroom

We can represent the distinguishing features between the two types of activities in the following way:

Communicative activities Non – communicative activities

- Form not content

- One language item

- Teacher intervention

- Materials control

Another way divides the communicative activities into two types:

Functional Communicative activities Social interaction activities

Functional Communicative activities

include such tasks as comparing sets of

pictures, noting similarities and

differences, working out continuously

following directions and so on In these

activities learners must work towards a

definite solution for a problem

Social interaction activities comprise exchange of words, converse with others, improvisations and debates Here, teachers prepare learners about the varied social contexts in which they will need to perform outside the classroom using different social interaction activities

There is no clear dividing line in reality between these different categories and subcategories; they represent differences of emphasis and orientation rather than distinct divisions

E.g cued dialogues can be undertaken both as pre-communicative activity and

as communicative activity Similarly it would be arbitrary if we try to specify how much attention must be paid to communicative function before an activity can be called quasi- communicative, or how significant social meaning must become before it falls into the social interaction sub category This distinction depends on the varying orientation of individual learner

2.4.3 Role of communicative activities in language teaching

Role of learners

- The learner is a negotiator (between himself, the learning process, and the object of learning) The implication is that the learner should contribute as much as

he gains, and learn in an interdependent way

- Students are expected to interact primarily with each other rather than with the teacher

- Student give and receive information

For the teacher’s role

- CLT procedures require

teachers to acquire less teacher – centered classroom management skills

- CLT teacher organizes

communicative activities

teacher plan instruction

and activities that respond

to student needs

Communicative activities play a crucial role in language teaching and learning Their effectiveness is claimed by researches

+ Firstly, the learners motivate to participate their activities or topics involve

an authentic communication It means they will find themselves in various real-life situations where the target language must be used than concentrate grammatical purpose As reported by Richard & Rogers (2001) also confirmed “communicate activities enable learners to attain communicative objectives of the curriculum and engage them in communication”

+ Secondly, implementing communicative activities is one of the effective ways to arousethe language subconsciously, the learners can use their ideas, pass on their idea and offer opportunities to boost up the practical skills of listening speaking, reading and writing It is believed that the interesting method helps the learners develop cognitive ability such as analyzing, evaluating They can enlarge their vocabulary, broaden their knowledge

+ Thirdly, according to Krashen (1982) indicated that language is best taught when it is being used to transmit messages, not when it is taught explicitly

So using communicative activities provides the learners with opportunities to convey messages in authentic language Through these activities stimulate the learners to contribute actively in group work or pair work They feel freedom to choose and discuss with partners or classmates In addition, when working in a group, each member must be responsible for the task of group and enhance their cooperation as well as participation in the learning process

In Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), it is suggested that language should be taught through the use of target language and practice communication, especially through communicative activities They focus on not only the

grammatical structure of the language, but also the language use in real-life situations

The complexity of learning to communicate in a second language is recorded

in the scheme by Rivers and Temperley (see Figure 2)

Fig 2.3: Processes involved in learning to communication (Rivers and Temperley)

In brief, the communicative activities offer the learners’ chances restrict some weakness and effectively promote communication competence

2.4.4 Types of communicative activities

There are some types of communicative activities were suggested by different researchers that following below:

Littlewood (1981) distinguishes between social interaction activities and

functional communicative activities as main activity kinds in CLT

Social interaction activities include conversation and discussion, stimulations, dialogues and role plays, debates These activities suggest a variety of social situations and relationship Successful standard is measured not only in term of the

functional effectiveness of the language, but also in term of social appropriateness

of the forms that are used

(Littlewood, 1981)

For functional communicative activities involve such task as learners comparing set of pictures and noting similarities and differences working out a likely categorization of events in a set of pictures; following directions; exploring missing features in a map The purpose of those activities is that:

Learners should use the language they know in order to get meaning across as effectively as possible Success is measured primarily according to whether they cope with the communicative demands of the immediate situation

Brainstorming

- Brainstorming is a combination of informal approach and a relaxed to problem – solving Through technique, the learner come up with their ideas either individual or group freely and easily The most important characteristic about brainstorming is that the learners are not criticized for their ideas, so they try to open up possibilities and share new ideas

Interview

- The learners are able to implement interviews on selected topics with various people Conducting interviews with people gives the learners a

chance to practice their speaking ability After the interviews, each student can present his or her study to the class Moreover, students can interview each other and "introduce" his or her partner to the class

Group work

- Group work is a cooperative activity whose aim is to boost up

communication in the teaching language The participants can increase their comprehensive of information which to be better communication with the rest of the group to improve communicative abilities in teaching language

Information gap

- Information gap activities are described by Thornbury (2005) who claims that in these kinds of tasks there is a knowledge gap among learners and it can be bridged by using the language So, in order to obtain the information, the interactants have to communicate Littlewood (1994) labels these activities as functional communication activities He emphasizes sharing the information among learners and its processing

- It serves many purposes such as solving a problem or collecting

information These activities are effective because everyone has the chance

to talk extensively in the target language

Conversation

The power of using conversation grid activities is that learners are involved

in authentic,independent, and cooperative conversation without direct teacher involvement These grids can be used with any topic as teaching or assessment activities Learners usually enjoy them greatly Learners practice and increase knowledge of language structures (such as what, when, where, and why questions and their typical answers), vocabulary (as related to a particular topic such as “on the job”), and cultural aspects related to a topic They ask questions, listen to answers, and record information on the grid

Language Experience Approach

The language experience approach to instruction builds learners’ literacy skills as their personal experiences are transcribed and become reading material for them In this type of activity, spoken language and written language are linked A language experience story can be effective for class community building It also provides reading material for beginning level learners whose English oral skills exceed their literacy skills Follow-up activities can include using the class generated text to teach explicit literacy skills through activities that require learners

to select words from the story for vocabulary, spelling, or sound-symbol correspondence activities

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research questions

The study is aimed to find out speaking difficulties by lecturers and non –English major students in Dong Thap university Also, it explores the solutions to cope with the problem In brief, its purpose is to answer the following questions:

(1) What challenges do the students deal with learning English speaking activities?

(2) What difficulties does the teacher organize the English speaking activities?

(3) What solutions are the lecturers and the students supported to enhance the quality of English speaking activities?

The English course level B1 (VSTEP) provides the students with general knowledge of grammar, vocabulary as well as build up four basic English skills amongst more concentrate on the speaking skill The topics are designed from Elementary to Pre – Intermediate by lecturers

The English course for level B1 includes 120 periods (about 5 months), 1.5 periods/week At the end of the course which involve four skills, the students are required to accomplish:

- General knowledge of English grammar

- The capability to communicate with common topics in English in reality situations

- The students are able to comprehensive for reading skill as well as writing skill

- They also follow some techniques to complete English tests

For level B1 (VSTEP) the non – major students who are confident enough to speak English with being accustomed the basical topics like study, daily routine or working In addition, they can give their views about the social and cultural topics

to make them be an interesting conversation

- For part 1 of the test – the social interaction: the students are able to present their opinions about themselves, the stories and give their feeling after that Their presentation may be short sentences and limit the lexical meaning and structures

- For part 2 – solution & discussion: it is a short time to make them give solutions for the situation which is given by the examiner They persuade the examiner the strength and weakness by supporting sentences and example to make clear their view

- For part 3 – topic development: they can discuss to introduce their opinion about the topic to test the flexible student to develop and enlarge the topics with the limited time

3.2.2 The teachers of English in Informatics – Foreign Languages Centre at Dong Thap university

There are forty lecturers currently teaching in the Informatics and Foreign Languages Centre at Dong Thap university Two third of them are working in the Foreign Languages Department and Informatics – Foreign Language Centre, who was trained English Language Teaching courses have experienced teaching many years One third of them as teachers who also obtain both qualifications and experience to teach the course

3.2.3 The students at Dong Thap