Implementing task based teaching to increase students motivation in speaking lessons an action research with grade 10 students at ngo quyen upper secondary school

The initial stage revealed that the demanding nature o f speaking tasks, the lack o f pre- and post- stages, the unappropriate time allocated for each task and the lim ited range o f the

M IN IS T R Y OF E D U C A T IO N A N D T R A IN IN G

HANOI UNIVERSITY

N G U Y E N T H I T U Y E T M A I

IMPLEMENTING TASK-BASED TEACHING TO INCREASE STUDENTS

M OTIVATION IN SPEAKING LESONS: AN ACTION RESEARCH W ITH GRADE 10 STUDENTS AT NGO QUYEN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL

SU B M ITTED IN P A R T IA L F U L F I L L M E N T O F R E Q U IR E M E N T S OF

T H E D E G R E E O F M A S T E R IN T E S O L

SUPERVISOR: N G U Y E N T H I N H U H O A ， M A

Ha N oi-O ctober，2008

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that the m inor thesis entitled ’’Implementing Task-Based Teaching to increase students9 motivation: An action research with grade 10 students at Ngo Quyen Upper Secondary School ỉn Hoa Binh Province” and submitted in partial fu lfillm e n t o f the requirements fo r the degree o f Master o f Arts in TESO L is the result o f m y work, except where otherwise acknowledged, and that this m inor thesis or any part o f the same has not been submitted fo r a higher degree to any other university or institution.

The research reported in this thesis was approved by Hanoi University.

Signed:

Dated:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I TABLE OF CONTENTS II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS V ABSTRACT VI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ѴИ LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS ѴШ

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 P roblem statem en t 1

1.2 A ims of the s t u d y 2

1.3 S ignificance of the s t u d y 2

1.4 O utline of the t h e s is 2

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1 M otivation in L a ng u a g e L e a r n in g 4

2.1.1 D efinition 4

2.1.2 Strategies fo r motivating students in speaking lessons 5

2.1.2.1 Creating a comfortable atmosphere 5

2.1.2.2 Building students9 confidence 5

2.1.2.3 Making students more responsible for their learning 6

2.1.2.4 Making the materials relevant to the students 6

2.1.2.5 Promoting cooperative learning 7

2.1.3 Teacher and learner role in speaking lessons 7

2.1.3.1 Teacher’s role as a fa cilita tor 7

2.1.3.2 Students’ role as communicators 9

2.2 I m plem enting T a sk -B a sed T eaching 10

2.2.1 What is Task-Based Teaching? 10

2.2.2 D efinition o f task 11

2.2.3 Types o f task 12

2.2.4 Characteristics and advantages ofTBT 13

2.2.4.1 Characteristics o f T B T 13

2.2.5.1 Pre- speaking stage 16

2.2.5.2 W hile-speaking stage 18

2.2.5.3 Post-speaking stage 19

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 22

3.1 R esearch m e t h o d 22

3.1.1 Overview o f action research 22

3.1.2 Action research procedure 24

3.2 D escription of the d a ta collection in st r u m e n t s 26

3.2.1 Classroom observation 2Ե 3.2.1.1 Reasons fo r choosing classroom observation 26

3.2.1.2 Description o f Observation sheets 1 and 2 27

3.2.2 Questionnaire 28

3.2.2.1 Reasons for choosing questionnaire 28

3.2.2.2 Description o f the questionnaire 28

3.2.3 Document analysis (Speaking tasks analysis) 30

3.2.3.1 Reasons fo r choosing document analysis 30

3.2.3.1 Description o f document analysis creteria . 30

3.3 T he pro cedures of d a ta collection 31

3.4 P a r t ic ip a n t s 31

3.4.1 The students 31

3.4.2 The researcher-observer; the researcher-teacher 32

3.4.3 The teacher-observer 32

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 33

4.1 T he initial d a t a 33

4.1.1 Data collectedfrom observation sheets 33

4.1.1.1 Data collected from Observation sheet 1 33

4.1.1.2 Data collected from Observation sheet 2 35

4.1.2 Data collectedfrom questionnaire 35

4.1.3 T extbook E n g lis h 10 in tro d u c tio n a n d speaking tasks a n a lysis 40

4.2 T he action p l a n 44

4.2.1 Providing non-task p re p a ra tio n activities in the pre-speaking stage 44

2.2.5 The implementation ofT B T in speaking lessons 15

4.2.2 G ivin g assistance when students are w orking in p a irs o r in group w ork 45

4.2.3 Setting a time lim it 46

4.2.4 Supplem enting o r substituting some speaking tasks 46

4.2.5 A rousing students ’ interests fro m presentation .4 7 4.3 T he post d a t a 48

4.3.1 Data collectedfrom Observation sheet 1 48

4.3.2 Data collectedfrom Observation sheet 2 49

4.3.3 Data collected from Questionnaire 50

4.4 ACTION r e s e a r c h e v a l u a t i o n 54

4.4.1 Comparisons 54

4.4.2 Summary 55

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 57

5.1 S um m ary of m ain f in d in g s 57

5.2 L imitation a n d suggestions for further r e s e a r c h 59

REFERENCES 61

APPENDIX 1: OBSERVATION SHEET 1: ON-TASK BEHAVIOR 66

APPENDIX 2: OBSERVATION SHEET 2: OVERALL CLASS MOTIVATION 68 APPENDIX ЗА: STUDENT’S QUESTIONNAIRE 69

APPENDIX 3B: PHIẾU ĐIỂU TRA HOC SINH 71

APPENDIX 4: THE DATA COLLECTED IN THE FIRST PHASE 73

APPENDIX 5: THE DATA COLLECTED IN THE SECOND PHASE 74

APPENDIX 6A: UNIT 11， TEXTBOOK - 75

APPENDIX 6B: THE LESSON PLAN 76

APPENDIX 7A: UNIT 12， TEXTBOOK 81

APPENDIX 7B: THE LESSON PLAN 82

APPENDIX 8A: UNIT 13， TEXTBOOK 87

APPENDIX 8B: THE LESSON PLAN 88

ACKNOW LEDGEM ENTS

Firstly, I would like to acknowledge with gratitude the support, guidance and invaluable critical feedback, which I have received from my supervisor, Ms Nguyen Thi Nhu Hoa,

in completing the study

M y special thanks are sent to Mrs Nguyen Thai Ha, M.Ed from the department o f Post Graduate Studies o f Hanoi University for her valuable guidance and advice

I also wish to acknowledge the support and encouragement o f Dr Vu Van Dai and other staff members o f the Post Graduate Department, Hanoi University

I would also acknowledge my great gratitude to all my lecturers at Hanoi University during my M A course, and to the organizers for this Master course

M y sincere thanks are due to my colleagues and all my students in class 10B o f Ngo Quyen Upper Secondary School (NUSS), who offered excellent assistance in the data collection; to my college’ s management board for their support and encouragement while the work was in progress

Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my beloved people，my fam ily, my father, my mother, and especially my husband for their love, care and tolerance that encouraged me a lot in completing this study

In an attempt to increase students9 motivation in speaking lessons for Grade 10 at Ngo Quyen Upper Secondary School (NUSS), the research aimed to seek the answers for the

lessons? (2) How does task-based teaching increase students9 motivation in speaking lessons? To find the answer to these questions, an action research was carried out The subjects o f the study, 35 students o f Grade 10B at NUSS in Hoa Binh Province were observed in speaking lessons and invited to complete survey questionnaires The speaking tasks in the course book were also analyzed The initial stage revealed that the demanding nature o f speaking tasks, the lack o f pre- and post- stages, the unappropriate time allocated for each task and the lim ited range o f the speaking activities were the causes o f students’ low motivation in speaking lessons Based on these findings, the hypothesis o f

stages of TBT are precisely implemented, and the supplementation or substitution of inappropriate speaking activities could be an effective tool to motivate students” An action plan which applied the knowledge gained from the literature review specified by lesson plans was implemented The post stage found a positive answer to the hypothesis The evaluation of the action research showed that students’ motivation significantly increased when the action plan was in progress

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

or groups, allocating time, and supplementation or substitution speaking activités, (pre-intervention)

Students9 opinions on the presentation, using peer-assessment，and the teacher’ s feedback (pre-intervention)

Students’ opinions on the speaking topic and speaking activities that they have finished (pre-intervention)

Task analysis worksheet

Students’ opinions on the teacher’ s organization o f pre-speaking activies (after-intervention)

Students9 opinions on the teacher’s help towards students’ work in pairs

or groups，allocating time，and supplementation or substitution speaking activités, (after-intervention)

Students9 opinions on the presentation, using peer-assessment, and the teacher’ s feedback (after-intervention)

Students’ opinions on the speaking topic and speaking activities that they have finished (after-intervention)

Students times on-task/off-task behaviour phase 1

Overall class motivation phase 1

Students times on-task/off-task behaviour phase 2

Overall class motivation phase 2

Students times on-task/off-task behaviour phase 1 and phase 2

Overall class motivation phase 1 and phase 2

o f the term, 3 periods per week Each teaching unit consists o f four 45-minute periods, four o f which focus on the skills: Reading, Speaking, Listening, W riting, and one o f which is Language focus The aims o f the speaking lessons are to develop students’ skill about issues relating to the topic o f learning unit A speaking lesson generally covers three or four tasks The first one or two tasks provide language input and develop

talking about the uses o f computer The other tasks require students, after practicing specific language functions, to summarize the content and create a small text to practice speaking skill

clear instruction The task-based teaching proves some advantages Firstly, it creates real situation for students to use language Secondly, it has ready- made activities，which are convenient for the teacher, especially those who are not experienced enough to adapt the book to suit their students’ needs

However, it is challenging to implement task-based teaching successfully in class W illis (1996) suggests the use o f tasks as the main focus in language classroom, claiming that tasks create a supportive methodological framework As a rule, when faced with various problems, language teachers are in search o f finding something that could create a difference in their classroom The problems are generally caused by students’ lack o f

In NUSS, students’ motivation in speaking lessons is not high Teachers often complain that many students display negative attitudes to speaking English, and that most o f them are observed to be passive during speaking lessons They keep talking in Vietnamese, jawning, looking outside the class and some even fall asleep In fact, the students9 low level o f motivation has been a great concern for all English teachers in the school.

This is the reason why the researcher has decided to conduct the action research in order

to find out the causes of, and solustions to the lack o f students’ motivation and some solution to increase the students’ motivation in speaking lessons for grade 10 at NUSS in Hoa Binh province By doing the action research, the researcher hopes to explore the usefblness o f TBT for speaking lessons

1.2 Aims of the study

The study aims at finding out ways to increase students’ motivation in speaking lessons for grade 10 at NUSS in Hoa Binh province In order to achieve this aim, answers to the follow ing questions are sought:

1 What are the causes o f the students’ low motivation in speaking lessons?

2 What should be done to increase students’ motivation in speaking lessons?

1.3 Significance of the study

It is hoped that the study w ill identify the causes o f students’ low motivation in speaking lessons, and appropriate suggestions based on these findings could be made to solve the problem

The result o f this study may be useful for high school English teachers at NUSS in particular and in Hoa Binh in general to improve their speaking lessons，which in turn, may result in the improvement o f their students’ speaking ability

1.4 Outline of the thesis

The thesis consists o f five chapters, organized as follows:

Chapter I - Introduction - provides background to the study, states the the aim

m otivation to the lesson.

o f the study scope, the significance, and outlines the organization o f the thesis.

Chapter II - Literature Review - presents a review o f related literature that provides the theoretical background o f motivation including motivation definition, strategies for motivating students in speaking lessons, and teacher and students role This review also provides the detail at theoretical foundation o f TBT approach; characteristics and advantages o f TBT, and stages in implementing TBT in speaking lessons

Chapter III - Methodology - describes the research method, the rationale for the method and data collection instruments, and procedures o f collecting the data Detailed information about the participants o f the study and the research procedures is also provided

Chapter IV - Results - analyzes the initial data collected to form the hypothesis o f the study An action plan is worked out and implemented The data to monitor change is collected and analyzed to make an evaluation o f effectiveness o f the action plan

Chapter V - Conclusion - summarizes the action research, which are hoped to be o f some help to increase students’ motivation in speaking lessons for Grade 10 at Ngo Quyen Upper Secondary School Limitations o f the study and suggestions for further possible research are also given in this chapter

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter presents a review o f related literature that provides the theoretical background o f the study It includes 3 main sections: section 2.1 discusses the motivation

in language learning, section 2.2 examines roles o f teacher and students Section 2.3, the last section discusses the theoretical foundation o f task-based teaching

2.1 Motivation in Language Learning

2.1.1 D e fin itio n

There are different definitions o f motivation in language learning Littlewood (1998) defined motivation as communicative needs for a second language, attitudes towards the second language community and intergrative and instrumental orientation Sharing the same definition, Lightbrown and spada (1999: 96) claimed that motivation in the second language learning is a complex phenomenon I f learners need to speak the second language in a wide range o f social institutions or to ftifill professional ambitions, they w ill perceive the communicative value o f the second language and w ill therefore be motivated

to acquire proficiency in it Likewise, i f learners have favorable attitudes towards the speakers o f the language，they w ill desire more contact with them According to Gardner (1982)，motivation is perceived to be composed o f three elements These include effort, desire and effect E ffort refers to the time spent studying the language and the drive o f the learners Desire indicates how much the learners want to become proficient in the language，and effect illustrates the learners’ emotional reactions w ith regard to language study

For this study, motivation is defined in the terms put towards by Crookes and Schmidt (1991) as interest in and enthusiasm for the materials used in class; persistence with the learning task, as indicated by levels o f attention or action for an extended duration; and levels o f concentration and enjoyment This definition is selected for this study because it covers all the major aspects o f motivation in classroom, and it helps to break motivation

an abstract term into quantifiable iterms，which facilitates the research process

In order to motivate students in English lessons, especially in speaking lessons, teachers need to acquire more techniques and strategies than now According to explanation o f the motivational strategies by Domyei (2001)，motivational strategies refer to those motivational influences that are consciously exerted to achieve some systematic and enduring positive effect Domyei,s Motivational Teaching Practice Model is process- oriented, consisting o f four motivational units: creating the basic motivational conditions, generating in itia l motivation, maintaining and protecting motivation, and encouraging positive retrospective self-evaluation Each o f these aspects includes several components,

the Language Classroom by Donyei, (2001)

2.1.2.1 Creating a comfortable atmosphere

In order to get learners more involved in class, a favourable classroom atmosphere is considered indispensable As Domyei (2001) argues, students often feel embarrassed in language classes because teachers force them to speak well in front o f the other classmates w ith their lim ited vocabulary To help change this situation and facilitate

(1999) asserts, when foreign language learners make errors, they are demonsữating part

o f the natural process o f language learning E xplicit error correction tends to make students feel they are criticized Therefore, he argues that teachers should correct errors in

o f pointing out the mistake, a teacher can say the correct sentence, “ You went to school

Moreover, Domyei (2001) goes on to argue that in a safe and supportive classroom students feel comfortable taking risks because they know that they w ill not be embarrassed or criticized i f they make a mistake

2.1.2.2 Building students9 confidence

One crucial way to build students’ confidence is to moderate students’ anxiety in the classroom As Oxford (1990) argues, a certain amount o f anxiety sometimes helps learners to reach their peak performance levels, but too much anxiety blocks language learning According to him, harmful anxiety presents itself in many forms: worry, self-

2.1.2 Strategies fo r m otivating students in speaking lessons

double, frustration, helplessness and fear Scarcella and Oxford (1992) suggest that the use o f pair work, group work, or cooperative learning activities (student-centered learning) helps in not putting too much pressure on individual students in front o f the whole class.

2.1.2.3 Making students more responsible for their learning

One way to help students become more independent and responsible is applying student- centered activities, such as those in TBT, in which students are assigned specific roles in a meaningful and purposefiil context Another way to help students be more responsible is

to develop students’ self-awareness by allowing them to do self-assessment o f tasks during class activities As Brown and Hudson in Brown (2001) assert, a lot o f advantages

to using self-assessment, such as increased speed, greater student involvement, increased independent learning, and higher motivation, have been identified in many research studies These techniques would be crucial ways for teachers to employ in the classroom for their effectiveness in making students responsible for their learning

2.1.2.4 Making the materials relevant to the students

Another salient approach for motivating learners is making the teaching materials relevant

to the students; in other words, it is important to individualize and personalize learning Teachers should take note o f the students9 lives，and take their interests into account when designing and selecting teaching materials

Richards and Rodgers (1986) said that practitioners o f communicative language teaching view materials as a way o f influencing the quality o f classroom interaction and language use They added that materials thus have the primary role o f promoting communicative language use and the role o f instructional materials might be specified in the following terms

1 Materials w ill focus on the communicative abilities o f interpretation, explanation，and negotiation

2 Materials w ill focus on understandable, relevant, and interesting exchanges o f information, rather than on the presentation o f grammatical form

3 Materials w ill involve different kinds o f texts and different media, which the learners can use to develop their competence through a variety o f different activities and tasks

(Richards & Rodgers, 1986: 25)

2.1.2.5 Promoting cooperative learning

Cooperative learning, especially pair work, improves communication, lower students’ anxiety level, raises their self-esteem, and improves classroom climate (Leinenweber, 1992) Learning English through cooperative group work allows students to learn from one another，and the teacher in a supportive environment They become more proficient in language as a result o f group work because they have more comprehensible input peer interactions, have better listening skills as a result o f responding to what has been said, have longer conversational turns than in whole-class teaching situation, and focus on meaning rather than on accuracy (Kessler, 1992)

One way to bring cooperative learning into the classroom is applying TBT，in which pair work or group work are often used Another way to do this is to use peer-assessment, which has many advantages, such as students’ involvement，responsible learning，and higher motivation For example, students can do this after an oral presentation Then, they can get their classmate’ s immediate feedback

In conclusion，motivating students in classroom is a really important task for every teacher Therefore, roles o f teacher and students are important factors in the class The next part o f the study w ill have a close look at teacher and learner role in speakinglessons.

2.1.3 Teacher and learner role in speaking lessons

2.1.3.1 Teacher’ s role as a facilitator

According to Larsen-Freeman (2000)，the teacher is a facilitator o f students’ learning to communicate This is different from the traditional role o f a teacher as an authority or master As such the teacher has many roles to fu lfill

Manager The teacher is a manager and organizer o f classroom activities Larsen- Freeman (2000) states that in this role, one o f the major responsibilities is to establish situation likely to promote communication and to try organize the classroom as setting for communication and communicate activities (Richards & Rodgers, 1986) Language is not spoken in a vacuum and communication takes place in a real situation，so classroom activities should not be performed abstractly but realistically in an appropriate situation Any classroom exchanges，in which students do not have to think about the situation

where the language is used, belong to mechanical exercises In order to set up situation,

we may use words, visual aids, facial expressions, gestures, actions, etc In such classes students exchange messages, solve problem and bridge the inform ation gap, thus language is learned as it is actually used in real life situation.

Adviser During the conduct o f tasks, some students may have learning difficulties and need help; others may have problems and confusions to be settled, so the teacher is expected to exemplify an effective communicator seeking to maximize the meshing o f speaker intention and learner interpretation，through the use o f paraphrase, confirmation and feedback (Richards & Rodgers, 1986) The teacher may walk around the classroom to

a particular group/ pair/ individual to solve problems S till，other students may not be communicating effectively and making errors during conversation, so the teacher should also act as a monitor, taking note o f students’ linguistic or cultural mistakes, but usually

w ill not intervene to correct a mistake when they are expressing themselves creatively so

as not to interrupt their chain o f thoughts or make them influent The teacher may correct mistakes in other ways For example, after the activities, he/ she points out the severe mistakes without referring to student names for their self-correction discussion

Co-communỉcator The teacher might be a “co-communicator，acting as an independent

the two-way communication in class There are three ways o f the teacher’ s communication w ith students: teacher-individual student; teacher-group; teacher-whole class However, in these roles，the teacher should not become a main communicator in order not to occupy students’ communicating time The teacher is only to demonstrate how to do tasks, to help weaker students or to substitute an absent student as another form

o f tasks, Student-Student interaction, is preferable.

Motivator Beside the above three, there are other roles o f teachers such as “ motivator” and “ evaluator” To ensure students to become active communicators, the teacher should motivate them because only strongly motivated students are active Students w ill be more motivated i f they have interest in and needs o f study

Evaluator To examine how good students’ performance in class is, and what degree o f linguistic and communicative competences they have gained, the teacher should act as an evaluator so as to improve his/her teaching i f the evaluation does not reach the desired

goal The teacher can informally evaluate students’ performance on the role as an advisor,

m onitor or co-communicator.

2.1.3.2 Students9 role as communicators

actively engaged in negotiating meaning, in trying to make themselves understood even when their knowledge o f the target knowledge is incomplete They learn to communicative by communicating Therefore, the teacher should device a variety o f tasks for students to perform in order to learn to communicate Meanwhile, the teacher must introduce the information gap ֊ the essence o f communication In real life ，we usually talk

in order to tell people things they do not know, or to find out things from other people; we have a reason to communicate, a “ communicative need” In classroom activities, the teacher can create a similar need to communicative by introducing an information gap, have some students have information that others do not have, thus there is a reason to talk and ask questions

Breen and Candlin (1980: 110) describe the role o f learners as negotiator - between the self, the learning process, and the object o f learning - emerges from and interacts w ith the role of joint negotiator within the group and within the classroom procedures and activities which the group undertakes The implication for learner is that he should contribute as much as he gains, and thereby learn in an interdependent way

Larsen-Freeman (2000) also points out, since the teacher’ s role is less dominant than in a teacher-centered method, students are seen as more responsible managers o f their own learning This means that i f students want to study more independently, they must cultivate correct attitudes and approaches to learning In other words, students should be helped to know not only why to learn but also how to learn Therefore the teacher should

learning purposes

2.2 Im p le m e n tin g T ask-Based T eaching

2.2.1 W hat is Task-Based Teaching?

TBT is based on Haliday and Hasarfs Systemic-functional linguistic theory (1976) They state that communication is the negotiation o f meaning in an interaction between the speaker and the listener The aim therefore is to help students to develop the necessary language skills in order to negotiate meaning in various interactions In practice, learners are progressing towards a clear goal by undertaking different kinds o f language activities

or real-word tasks in classroom settings David Nunan (1989) says task-based teaching and learning is teaching and learning a language by using the language to accomplish open - ended tasks Learners are given a problem or objective to accomplish but are left

w ith some freedom in approaching this problem or objective TBT is the futher development o f the theory o f communicative language teaching The aim o f communicative language teaching is to foster the learners’ communicative competence

TBT is an approach seeking to provide learners with a natural context for language use

As learners work to complete a task, they have abundant opportunity to interact Such interaction is thought to facilitate language acquisition as learners have to work to understand each other and to express their own meaning (Larsen-Freeman 2000: 144) As Candlin and Murphy (1987) note, the central purpose we are concerned with is language learning, and tasks present this in the form o f a problem solving negotiation between the knowledge that the learner holds and the new language

approach means looking at the purposes for which people are learning a language and what specific kinds o f language performance are necessary for them to fu lfill these purposes The teacher and the learners negotiate course objectives as the course progresses, and they assess accomplishment o f the course objectives according to criteria that the learners have helped to set Teachers who follow an analytic approach present whole chunks o f the target language at one time, without imposing any structural or lexical control on the language In a synthetic approach, on the other hand, the targetlanguage is separated into discrete linguistic units (e.g.，structures or functions) that are

independent o f each other, and that are taught individually and step by step The assumption is that learners w ill synthesize these pieces o f the language when they need to use them in order to communicate (Long & Crookes, 1992).

learning and is an integrated-skill instructional framework They assert further that research shows that TBT motivates students when the task is relevant and interesting to them In addition, as W illis (1996) points out, an important feature o f TBT is that learner are free to choose whatever language forms they wish to convey what they mean, in order

to fu lfill, as well as they can, the task goals In other words, students can be responsible for learning by providing them choices

TBT takes 'tasks’ as its key units for designing and implementing foreign language teaching, while the communicative task is a bench o f tasks whose aim is to cultivate the learners’ ability to communicative w ith others TBT can make teaching language learning

in classroom closer to natural route and may reach a higher rate o f language acquisition because it provides learners w ith a clear communicative goal, the interaction needed to reach the goal，and comprehensive input can occur, and then language acquisition is facilitated

2.2.2 D e fin itio n o f task

Task，in fact, has been defined in different ways Long (1985: 89) defines task as a piece

o f work undertaken for oneself or for others, freely or for some reward In other words, by

“ task” it is meant hundreds o f things people do in everyday life, at work, at play，and in between Nunan (1989: 10) defines task as a piece o f classroom work which involves

while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form W illis (1996: 53) gives the meaning o f task as a goal-oriented activity in which learners use language to achieve a real outcome Skehan (1998: 95) lists characteristicc o f task as 1) meaning is primary; 2) there is some sort o f relationship to comparable real-world activities; 3) task completion has some priority; 4) the assessment o f tasks is in terms o f outcome Tasks provide a purpose for the use and learning items for their own sake Wiewed from a broader perspective, tasks are simply a context for learners to experience language in a range o f ways, for teachers and learners to evaluate process and product, and for the

teachers to select from , expoit and develop As Swales (1990: 72) puts it:

A task-driven methodology thus keeps an appropriate on rhetorical action and communicative effectiveness, however much the means to those communicative ends may involve, in various ways and to variable extents, the analysis and discussion o f texts and situation, and the teaching and practice o f form.

The variety o f definitions surrounding the concept 'task’ reveals a significant number o f different points o f view It also appears that one o f the reasons for the differences is that scholars do not approach the topic from the point o f view o f the nature o f the task itself in real life

2.2.3 Types o f task

The classification w ill help to generate a variety o f tasks on whatever topic is selected Simple tasks may consist o f one type only, such as listing; more complex tasks may incorporate two or more types, such as listing then comparing lists Six types o f task, which w ill be outlined，are also classified as “ closed” and “ open” tasks “ Closed” tasks are ones that are highly structured and have very specific goals, for example, “ work in pairs to find seven differences between two pictures” ，in which case the information is restricted Learning only one possible outcome Most comparing tasks are like this

“ Open” tasks are ones that are more loosely structured with a less specific goal, and they are considered more creative

W illis (1996) focuses more practical design suggestions for tasks According to her, a variety o f topics and range o f task types w ill broaden students’ language experience, expand their vocabulary and prevent boredom She divides tasks into six types, which can

be adjusted for use with almost any topic The task types are 1) listing, 2) ordering and sorting 3) comparing 4) problem solving 5) sharing personal experiences, and 6) creative tasks A ll types o f task can integrate the skills，so as to include not only speaking but also reading, and the skills usually lead into a writing stage She categorizes tasks into six types in her book as follows:

1 Listing: In practice, listing tasks tend to strike up a lot o f talks as learners explain their ideas The steps involved are brainstorming and fact-finding Learners find things out by asking each other or other people and referring to books, etc The outcome would be the

com pleted list, or possibly a draft mind map.

2 O rd e rin g a n d s o rtin g : These tasks elicit four main processes, w hich are sequencing

items, actions and events in a logical way; categorizing; and classifying items in different ways To fu lfill the ordering and sorting tasks, the students should have reasoning ab ility and common sense.

3 Comparing: The processes involve the follow ing: matching to identify specific points and relate them to each other; finding sim ilarities and things in common; finding differences.

4 Problem solving: These tasks make demands upon students’ intellectual and reasoning powers, and, though challenging, they are engaging and often satisfying to solve The process includes analyzing real and hypothetical situations, reasoning and decision making

5 Sharing personal experience: These tasks encourage learners to think more free ly

about themselves and share their experiences with others The resulting interaction is closer to casual social conversation in that is not as directly goal-oriented as in other tasks The process includes narrating, describing，exploring and expanding attitudes, opinions, and reactions

6 C re a tiv e ta sks: These are often called proje ct pairs o r group o f learners in some kin d

o f freer creative work They also tend to have more stages than other tasks，and can involve combinations o f task types such as listing, ordering and sorting, comparing and problem solving Out-of-class research is sometimes needed Organization skills and team-work are important in getting the task done The outcome can be appreciated by a Avider audience

2.2.4 C haracteristics and advantages o f TBT

2.2.4.1 Characteristics of TBT

Richards and Renandya (2002) state that Communicative Language Teaching emphasizes the need to make communication the primary focus in the language classroom which iincludes teaching materials as w ell as classroom activities where communication is the centre o f attention Task-based teaching stresses the use o f tasks that facilitate meaningful com m unication and interaction in the classroom The ppp approach, which refers to

Presentation, Practice and Production is commonly used in communicative language classrooms Although the ppp approach has a communicative focus, error correction is an important part o f this method Early models o f Communicative Language Teaching often used functional units o f organization and practiced to swap grammatical features Today, emphasis is on the unit o f task rather than on the unit o f function or practice.

Richards (1999) mentions the current interest o f TBT approach In this approach the pupils engage in meaningful interaction as well as completion o f tasks He argues that by promoting the task-based work in language teaching, the students w ill not only develop communication skills, they w ill also develop an acceptable standard o f performance through task-based work Christopher and Lam (1997) argue that the approach where students are guided through the task leaves them with a sense o f security In addition, it may also avoid communication breakdown

Nunan (2004) mentions that in a TBT classroom the natural process o f acquisition is to be

Fram ew ork f o r Task-based Learning，Jane W illis (1996) compares T B T w ith the ppp

approach However, W illis argues that a TBT lesson is a reversed version o f the ppp approach This means that the students in a TBT lesson start w ith the task and when the

task is completed the teacher makes necessary corrections and adjustments to the

students’ presentation

Nunan (2004) mentions that task types o f engaging learning occur when students are participating in pair or group work Further more, learners are encouraged to use what ever language knowledge they boast in order to complete a task In addition, Nunan states that in the task-based learning approach, the learning should be focused towards the students rather than the teacher I f students get the opportunity to complete a task with their own language knowledge, the motivation for learning the target language may increase When the students see that they can make themselves understood, they are more likely to speak more and from that other aspects o f language learning i.e lexical and grammatical features, w ill come more naturally

In conclusion, a task-based approach to language teaching is characterized by Nunan (1991: 279) as follows:

a An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language.

b The introduction o f authentic texts (teaching materials) into the learning situation.

c The provision o f opportunities for learners to focus not only on language, but also on the learning process itself.

d An enhancement o f the learners own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning

e An attempt to link classroom language learning w ith language activation outside the classroom

2.2Л.2 Advantages of TBT

The main advantages o f TBT are that language is used for a genuine purpose meaning that real communication should take place，and that at the stage where the learners are preparing their report for the whole class During the task the learners are allowed to use whatever language they want, freeing them to focus entirely on the meaning o f their message This makes it closer to real-life communicative situation, which is a way o f bringing the real world into classroom (Kahn, 1987) TBT provides clear objectives in terms o f what participants w ill gain from the task That is，each task has a clearly defined

addition，TBT provides cooperative support Classroom work is to be carried out on a cooperative basis involving a lot o f supportive, non-threatening environment for participants to invest personally in the learning effort

2.2.5 The implementation o f TBT in speaking lessons

A task-based lesson involves consideration o f the stages or components o f a lesson that has a task as its principal component Various models have been proposed (e.g Estaire & Zanon, 1994; Lee, 2000; Parbhu, 1987; Skehan, 1996; W illis, 1996) However, they all have in common three principal stages The first stage is Wpre-task” and concerns the various activities that teacher and students can undertake before they start the task, such

as whether students are given time to plan the performance o f the task The second stage

is “ while-task” (also “ task cycle” (W illis, 1996)，“during task” (Skehan, 1996) centers on the task itself and affords various instructional options, including whether students are

focus’，(Rooney, 2000) and involves procedures for following-up on the task performance.What should be done in each o f the above stage is described in details by W illis (1996) She describes thoroughly what the teacher should do in each stage: (1) Pre-task: the teacher introduces the task, (2) Task-cycle: task- students carry out the task; planning- each group prepares how to report their completion o f the task to the class; reporting- students report their completion o f the task (3) Language focus: analysis - students analyse and assess the completions o f tasks by other groups; practice - students practice the language difficulties under the direction o f the teacher.

2.2.5.1 Pre- speaking stage

The purpose o f the pre-speaking stage is to prepare students to perform the task in ways that w ill promote acquisition Lee (2000) describes the importance o f framing the task to

be performed and suggests that one way o f doing this is to provide an advance organizer

o f what the students w ill be required to do the nature o f the outcome they w ill arrive at Domyei (2001) emphasizes the importance o f presenting a task in a way that motivates learners Like Lee, he sees value in explaining the purpose and u tility o f the task, and also suggests that task preparation should involve strategies for wetting students' appetites

to perform the task (e.g by asking them to guess what the task w ill involve) and for helping to perform the task Skehan (1996: 25) refers to two broad alternatives available

to the teacher during the pre-task phase is an emphasis on the general cognitive demands

o f the task, and/or an emphasis on linguistic factors These alternatives can be tackled procedurally in one o f three ways: (1) supporting learners in performing a task similar to the task they w ill perform in the task-cycle o f the lesson, (2) asking students to observe a model o f how to perform the task, (3) engaging learners in non-task activities designed to prepare them to perform the task

Performing a similar task:The use o f a 'pre-task9 was a key feature o f Communicational Teaching Project (Prahu, 1987) It was carried out as a whole-class activity w ith the teacher and involved the students in completing a task o f the same kind as and with sim ilar content to the main task individually Prabhu explains that the pre-task was conducted through interaction o f the question and answer type The teacher was expected outcome, to lead the class step by step into smaller steps i f the students encountered

d ifficu lty and to offer one o f more parallels to a step in the reasoning process to ensure that ability students could understand what required The teacher, as an expert, uses the

pre-task to scaffold students’ performance o f the task with the expectancy that this other regulation facilitates the self-regulation students w ill need to perform the main task on their own.

P ro v id in g a m o d e l: A n alternative is to ask the students to observe a model o f how the task can be performed without requiring them to undertake a trial performance o f the task Both Skehan (1996) and W illis (1996) suggest that simply observing others perform a task can help reduce the cognitive load on the learners However, the model can also be accompanied by activities designed to raise learners' consciousness about specific features

o f the task performance

Non-task preparation activities: There are a variety o f non-task preparation activities that teacher can choose from These can center on reducing the cognitive or the linguistic demands placed on the learners’ content schemata or providing them w ith background information serves as a means o f defining the topic area o f a task W illis (1996) provides

a list o f activities for achieving this (e.g brainstorming and mind-maps) Newton (2001) suggests three ways in which teachers can target unfamiliar vocabulary in the pre-task phase; predicting (i.e asking learners to brainstorm a list o f words related to the task topic), cooperative dictionary search (i.e allocating different learners words to look up in their dictionary), and words and definitions (i.e learners match a list o f words to their definitions)

There w ill be a great a mount o f preparation for the teacher to do beforehand and the teacher has to highlight usefiil words and phrases, and help students better understand task instruction and make adequate preparation for the task The instructions that are given at the beginning are crucial: i f the students do not understand exactly what they have to do, there w ill be time-wasting, confusion, lack o f effective practice, possible loss

o f control (Ur, 1999: 234) A t this pre-speaking stage, priority should be given to encourage the students to combine topic-related words and phrases they know already A teacher-led brainstorming activity is o f great important; all students should be engaged in the activities because the aim o f this stage is to create the students’ interest in the topic This stage is important in that it is a warm-up stage When the teacher attends to introduce some speaking topics, the teacher should activate the students’ prior experience before they speak and create their interest by giving them predictive task and interesting activities

To sum up, pre-speaking stage guarantees a condition for the students to display their

communicative ability o f the language In these three ways, the teachers can create conditions that w ill make tasks work for acquisition As Skehan (1998) points out, they serve to introduce new language that the students can use while performing the task, to mobilize existing linguistic resources, to ease processing load and to push learners to interpret tasks in more demanding ways

2.2.S.2 While-spealdng stage

The methodological options available to the teacher in the while-speaking stage are o f two basic kinds First, the performance option is setting a time lim it Second, the process options involve the teacher and students in online decision making about how to perform the task as it is being complete

Setting a time lim it: The performance option concerns whether to require the students to perform the task under time pressure Teacher can elect to allow students to complete the task in their own time or can set a time lim it Lee (2000) strongly recommends that teachers set strict time limits This option is important because it can influence the nature

o f the language that students， produce Yuan and Ellis (2002) found that giving students unlimited time to perform a narrative task resulted in language that was both more complex and more accurate in comparison to a control group that was asked to perform the same task under the time pressure The students used the time at their disposal to monitor and reformulate their utterances Interestingly, the opportunity to plan on-line produced a different effect from the opportunity to engage in strategic planning, which led

to greater fluency and complexity o f language I f teachers want to emphasize accuracy in

a task performance, they need to ensure that the students can complete the task in their own time However，if they want to encourage fluency they need to set a time limit

The teacher should act as a time keeper Timing is very important in task-based classroom Task can take from one minute to ten or more, depending on the type o f the task and its complexity Too long a time w ill make the students bored with the activity

So the teacher can set a time lim it that is too short rather than too long because it is easier

to extent it than to stop the students before the time lim it is up

Helping students to w ork ỉn pairs or groups: In task-based teaching approach, most emphasis is laid on students doing the task, often in pairs or group work, guided by the

teacher The teacher is involved in setting out tasks, ensuring that the students can understand the teacher’s instruction Although students complete the task independently, the teacher still has overall control and the power to stop everything if necessary According to W illis (1996)，the teacher’s role as monitor should be emphasized at the while­speaking stage.

The task stage is a good opportunity for all learners to communicate, working in pairs or small groups to achieve the goals of the task The teacher’ s role as monitor should be emphasized at this stage Some o f things a teacher should be doing while the students are working away include making sure all students understand and are participating in the activity, giving assistance when needed, suggesting better way o f doing the task Bear in mind what a sensible teacher should do is just like this: to make sure that all pairs or groups are doing the right task; to encourage all students to take part, no matter how poor their language is; to forgive about errors o f form, errors don’t matter at this stage; to interrupt and help out only if there is a major communication breakdown; appoint the talkative student to be the group chairperson，whose work is to make sure everyone gets the equal opportunity to speak in the group

Supplementing or substituting some speaking tasks: According to Ur (1999: 188) if the tasks are too short and do not provide for very much learner activity，they can be extended by, for example, adding further similar items, or by making items open-ended instead o f closed-ended so that each can trigger a number o f learner responses; or by simply supplementing with further activities o f teacher’s own The teacher may need to supplement also in order to provide more heterogeneous or interesting tasks for the class;

or in order to provide material that is more relevant to their individual or group needs

Repeat performance: Several studies (Bygate, 1996 & 2001; Lynch & Maclean, 2000) indicate that when the students repeat a task their production improves in a number ways

(e.g complexity increases, propositions are expressed more clearly, and they become more fluent) A repeat performance can be carried out under the same conditions as the first performance (i.e in small group or individually) One interesting possibility examined by Skehan and Foster (1997) is that o f requiring students to carry out the second performance publicly Candlin (1987) states that performing a task in front o f the class increases the communicative stress placed on the students and thus can be predicted

to lead to a reduction in fluency and complexity

Reflecting on the task: W illis (1996: 58) recommends asking students to present a report

on how they did the task and on what they decided or discovered She considers this 4he natural conclusion of the task cycle， The teacher’ s role is to act as a chairperson and to encourage the students Encouraging students to reflect on their performance of the task may contribute to the development of the metacognitive strategies o f planning monitoring and evaluating，which are seen as important for language learning (O’Malley & Chamot, 1990)

Review of learner errors: While the students are performing a task in groups, teachers can move from group to group to listen in and note down some o f the conspicuous errors the students make together with actual examples In post-speaking stage, the teacher can address these errors with the whole class A sentence illustrating the error can be written oil the boaid, 5iudcnts can be invited to correct it, the corrected version is written up, and

a brief explanation provided Lynch (2001) offers an interesting way o f conducting a post-task analysis This involves three cycles based on repeated playing o f a recording of the task First, the students who did the task review and edit their own performance Second, the recording is replayed and other students are invited to comment, correct or ask questions Finally，the teacher comments on any points that have been missed and gives the final comment

Practice activities: Practice activities are based on features o f language that have already occurred in previous speaking tasks and transcripts or in features that have just been studied in analysis activities Students’ practicing activities to increase their confidence and make note o f useful language Through doing various exercises, the students learn to use and memorize the useful words, phrases, structures and grammar rules so as to consolidate their mastery o f the language form

Summary

In this chapter, I have reviewed motivation in language learning including motivational definition and motivational strategies The roles o f teacher and students have also been taken into consideration Finally, I have discussed the details o f theoretical foundation o f

TBT and stages o f implementing TBT in speaking lessons The review is hoped to guide the action plan once the problem has been identified and the causes have been exploited The following chapter w ill display the methodology o f the research.

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

This chapter consists o f four parts First，there are the research method, definition and some characteristics o f an action research Second, the description o f the data collection instruments: observation, questionnaire, and document analysis is provided in details Third, there comes the procedures o f collecting data Last, the description o f the subjects who are students taking part in the action research as informants, researcher and the teachers observing the class is presented

3.1 Research method

Recently, action research (AR) has gained popularity in English Language Teaching In this study AR was used, first o f all, because the researcher notes that educational development is to do with the intention o f improving the instructor’s classroom practice Secondly, it is the conduction o f an action research project that contributes much to a lecturer’s understanding o f his/her students’ and their achievement as a result o f changing his/her conceptions o f teaching, and this change is an essential for sustained pedagogical development Thirdly，the changes that come by an action research have capacity to be long Id lin g (Gibbs, 1995).

3.1.1 Overview o f action research

AR represents a growing field o f educational research whose chief identifying characteristic is the recognition o f the pragmatic requirements o f educational practitioners for organized reflective inquiry into classroom instruction In other words AR is a process

in which participants examine their own educational practice systematically and carefully, using the techniques o f research

Kemmis and Me Taggart (1988) state that AR is deliberate, solution-oriented investigation that group or personally owned and conducted It is characterized by spiraling cycles o f problem identification, systematic data collection, reflection, analysis, data-driven action taken, and finally, problem redefinition The linking o f the terms

^action,，and “ research” highlights the essential features o f this method: trying out ideas in practice as a means o f increasing knowledge about or improving curriculum, teaching,

The process o f an action research usually includes having an observer collect data, and together w ith the teacher develops a plan to bring about the desired change, acts on the plan，and observes the effects o f the plan in the classroom A n action research generally starts from a problem identified by the teacher, then planned and conducted by him self; it

is said a self-reflective, systematic and c ritic a l approach to enquiry by participants who are sim ultaneously members o f the context in w hich the research takes place.

D iffe re n t researchers suggest d iffe re nt steps in the action research process Kem m is and

Me Taggart (1988) suggest fo u r steps: planning, action, observation, and reflection

A ccording to them ，in the firs t step a problem or issue is id e n tifie d and a plan o f action is developed in order to bring about im provem ents in specific areas o f the research context

In the second step, the plan is put into action over an agreed period o f tim e and in the next

step, the effects of the action are observed and data arc collcctcd The last step involves

the effects o f the action evaluated and becom ing the basis fo r ftirth e r cycles o f research The action research procedure suggested by H enry and Kem m is (2001) consists o f fiv e steps: problem ide n tifica tio n , plan o f action, data collection，analysis o f data and plan fo r future action.

Nunan (1992:19) divides the action research cycle into six sm all steps: in itia tio n , prelim inary investigation, hypothesis, intervention, evaluation, and dissem ination, w hich are described in details in section 3.1.2 A lthough there are d iffe re nt processes o f an action research, the researcher adopted Nunan’ s six-step procedure fo r this study, fo r this procedure includes manageable steps o f an action plan M oreover, the procedure includes

a ll the other’ s opinions about the action plan.

This study includes tw o periods lasting fo r nine weeks The firs t period took place in four weeks, from week one to week fo u r o f the second term The second period included another five weeks, from week five to week nine In the firs t period, a ll the lessons were conducted as usual This means the teacher did not apply any treatments The aim o f this

stage was to assess overall class m o tiva tion and record the students’ participation in learning tasks in speaking lessons A t the same tim e the researcher collected in itia l data as

w ell In the next lessons, the focus was on the students’ m otivation and participation in learning tasks in speaking lessons during intervention w ith the aim at exploring the changes in the students’ m o tiva tion and participation in those learning tasks The tw o periods were conducted as in the fo llo w in g steps.

3.1.2 A ction research procedure

As stated above, N unan’ s A R m odel (1992) was applied in this study The description o f the six-step procedure is presented as fo llo w s :

Step 1: Initiation (W eek 1)

Observing the firs t three speaking lessons，the researcher realized that the students’ learning m otivation and th e ir p a rticip a tio n in speaking tasks were not high; therefore, she decided to id e n tify factors affe ctin g the students’ learning m otivation in speaking lessons and the firs t research question form ed was What are the causes of students，low motivation in speaking lessons?

Step 2: Preliminary investigation (From week 2 to week 4)

To confirm the problem stated in step 1 and to establish the baseline o f students’

m otivation，the fo llo w in g steps were im plem ented.

• The three speaking lessons o f units 8，9，10 were conducted in usual way, w ithout any treatm ent and were observed using O bservation sheet 1 (A ppendix 1) to measure students9 interest, enthusiasm, persistence w ith learning tasks, and

• The teacher’ s overall organization o f learning tasks and students，self-reported

m otivation during the class o f these three speaking lessons were confirm ed by the questionnaire fo r students (A ppendix 3).

• The speaking tasks in the course book were analyzed to fin d out whether the speaking tasks are various, attractive, and appropriate fo r the students’ level (Table 3).

D etails o f the data co lle ctio n instrum ents are provided in 3.2

Step 3: Hypothesis

The analysis and discussion o f the in itia l data led to the fo llo w in g hypothesis:

• Im plem enting TBT w ill increase the students9 motivation in speaking lessons

• The unappropriate speaking a ctivitie s in each lesson w ill be supplemented or substituted to increase the students’ m otivation.

Step 4: Plan Intervention (From week 5 to week 9)

Lesson plan w riting and preparation fo r plan implementation (From week 5 to week

6): Basing on the m ain reasons found, the researcher read literature to get more knowledge and suggested solutions (see 2.2.5 fo r more details) A new set o f teaching method was trie d out in order to solve the problem The new set o f teaching method was

w ritte n in details in the thee speaking lessons o f units 11，12，and 13 in class 10B at NUSS (A ppendix 7).

The speaking lesson plans fo r units 11，12，13 were designed in details focusing on the pre-task a ctivitie s O ther techniques such as allocating tim e fo r each task, fa cilita tin g students during task im plem entation by answering questions and g ivin g encouragement; supplem enting o r substituting speaking activitie s to increase students’ interest were

included in the lesson plans as the treatment techniques of the lesson.

The E nglish teacher o f class 10B，was in vite d to jo in the cooperative research He was

to ld the purposes o f observation and where to sit in the classroom in order to observe and com plete the tw o observation sheets in the study.

Plan implementation (From week 7 to week 9): In the three speaking lessons o f units 11， 12，13 the new ly designed lesson plans were taught The researcher then gave the lesson plans designed to the students im plem enting T B T w hile the teacher o f class 10B became

an observer The same questionnaire w hich was used in the in itia l step seeking info rm a tio n about the students9 leaning m o tiva tion was given to the students when each lesson finished O bservation sheets were fille d in w ith the necessary inform ation required

B oth the observation sheets and the questionnaires collected inform ation about the students’ m otivation.

The second research question formed was how task-based teaching improved students9 motivation in speaking lessons

Step 5: Evaluation

When inform ation had been collected, the data from the two observation sheets and the questionnaire o f the last three lessons were then analyzed and compared w ith the data o f two observation sheets and the questionnaire o f the first three lessons in order to evaluate the suggested solutions in the action plan The comparison was then used as evidence to show how useful the TB T techniques used by the teacher were.

Step 6: Dissemination

The action research procedure and its results were reorganized and presented in form o f a thesis, w hich was shared w ith M r Thang，and the researcher’ colleagues, especially younger teachers.

3.2 Description o f the data collection instruments

As m entioned above, the three data co lle ctio n instruments used in the study were classroom observation, questionnaire and document analysis (task analysis)

3.2.1 Classroom observation

5.2.1.1 R easons f o r ch oosing classroom ob servation

As H opkins (1993) cited in M e Borough (1997) describes, observation is a pivotal

a c tiv ity w ith a crucial role to play in classroom research It is interrelated to the research

in the interests o f increasing know ledge and understanding a phenomenon and whether that knowledge aspires to be idiographic and particular, or transferable and general This approach is considered the best to co lle ct the required inform ation, when the researcher is more interested in the behavior than in the perceptions o f the individuals (Kum ar, 1996).

W ajnryb (1992: 7) points out that an observation task is a focused a c tiv ity to w ork on

w hile observing a lesson in progress It requires the observer to collect data or inform ation fro m the actual lesson A n observer may watch a lesson alone or w ith others

or in many cases many observers m ay be involved sim ultaneously Besides, teacher is the researcher’ s lin k w ith learners, and also the learners’ lin k w ith research B y using the procedures o f classroom research, they w ill not only im prove achievement but also contribute to our general research knowledge about how language classroom w ork.

In this research, classroom observation was chosen as one o f the tools to collect inform ation as according to W allace (1998: 105); it is a good method to gather inform ation fo r an action research We also used the techniques focusing “ on our students: the way they w ork, the way they interact, the way they respond to our teaching, their on-task and o ff-ta sk behaviors and so on” as he suggested.

3.2.1.2 Description of Observation sheets 1 and 2

In this study, observations were carried out during the lessons to confirm the assumed problem m entioned in section 2.3 as w e ll as to investigate whether the T B T was being

im plem ented could help to increase students9 m otivation in speaking lessons The tw o observation sheets were adopted from Peacock (1997) The class was observed six tim es during six weeks These six observed speaking lessons were organized in tw o stages as

fo llo w s: In the firs t three lessons, the researcher observed the class to get inform ation about the students9 p a rticip a tio n and o ve rall class m otivation before im plem enting the action plan In the last three lessons, the data about the students’ participation and overall class m o tiva tion were collected again when T B T was implem ented The same observation sheets were given to the teacher-observer (non-participant) before each lesson during the action plan He was instructed to observe c a re fu lly and made a m ark fo r every response learners made in the appropriate colum n and m ark to show i f the students were w orking

or not.

The firs t observation sheet (see A ppendix 1) was designed to quantify students’ on-task behaviors so that it could measure students9 enthusiasm, persistence w ith learning tasks The observer started to observe the class after the students started w orking in d ivid u a lly,

in pairs or groups The observer placed h e rse lf (him self) in an unobtrusive position in the classroom to notice the students’ overall m o tiva tion and each o f the students’ on-task behavior that was shown by the fact that the students were showing one o f the above mentioned characteristics The observer put “ 1” i f the students were on-task and “ 2， ，if the students were o ff-ta sk when none o f the above-m entioned characteristic occurs The students were observed one after another，clockw ise around the class They were ide n tifie d by number Every fiv e seconds, the observer marked what was happening,

w rote down the category best describing the observed students’ behaviors at that moment

to see w hether the students were w orkin g or they were not w orking, and then passed to the next students The observer continued u n til a ll students had been observed 12 times.

Then she com pleted the second observation sheet, w hich focuses on levels o f student

m otivation generated by doing learning tasks In contract to the firs t observation sheet, the second one is fo r observing the class as a whole, not in d ividu a l student The observer completed this sheet by c irc lin g one num ber fo r each statement in the observation sheet when the a c tiv ity is draw ing to a close.

The second observation sheet 广see A ppendix 2) was used to assess overall class

m otivation generated by the tasks, as manifested by levels o f students' interest, enthusiasm, persistence w ith the learning task, concentration, and enjoym ent during class through eight item s Each item in this sheet was scored on a scale from one (lo w ) to five (high) The m axim um possible mean score by observation sheet 2 was 40 This observation sheet was com pleted w h ile the lesson is drawing to close and w ould be used

to analyze the result o f the observation.

3.2.2 Q uestionnaire

3.2.2.1 Reasons for choosing questionnaire

Questionnaire is one o f the m ost com m only used descriptive methods in educational research It can a ffo rd precision and c la rity because the knowledge needed is controlled

by tlic questions In addition, questionnaire can be used on a sm all scale and in the classroom environm ent (M cD onough, 1997: 171) Nunan (1989) states that through using questionnaires, one can inquire into any aspect w ith in teaching/ learning process A lso teachers fin d the chance to learn about classroom practices they use in class by analyzing these questionnaires A s commented by W allace (1998)，questionnaire can also save tim e The greater num ber o f inform ants, the more econom ic o f tim e it is to use a questionnaire Questionnaire was chosen fo r th is study because it can reach a large number o f people in

a very short tim e In th is study, the researcher had only three weeks to collect the in itia l data and three weeks to gather the post action data Yet inform ation from 35 students in one class was to be collected using questionnaire.

3.2.2.2 Description of the questionnaire

In this study, basing on questionnaire design (W allace, 1998: 135)，closed questions were

w ritten The advantage o f closed questions according to W allace is that they usually make the questionnaire easier, quicker to f ill on, and they also give quicker and more reliable

scoring o f the responses.

The questionnaire consists o f tw o parts Part I consists o f 9 closed questions w hich aims

to investigate students’ opinions about the teacher’ s organization o f speaking tasks Part II consists o f 6 closed questions seeking the students’ self-reported m otivation The content

o f the questionnaire was com piled, basing on the TB T approach w hich is mentioned in section 2.2 In order to obtain v a lid info rm a tio n , 15 closed questions related to each aspect were designed as fo llo w s:

P a rt I (fro m question 1 to question 9): Question 1 sought inform ation about how introduction to the to p ic o f the speaking task was given; question 2 gathered inform ation about the w ay the teacher helped students activate topic-related words or phrases; question 3 was to explore the teacher m odeled the a c tiv ity ; question 4 investigated inform ation about the tim e lim it that the teacher gave the students before starting the task; question 5 helped to p o in t out how the teacher9 s help students w ork in pairs or in groups; question 6 was used to discover the teacher’ s supplem entation o r substitution speaking

a ctivitie s; question 7 was used to reveal the teacher’ s asking students to present in fro n t o f the class; question 8 was to explore the teacher， s asking students, do peer-assessment when the tasks finished, and question 9 helped to p o in t out the teacher’ s g ivin g feedback

The questionnaires were given to the students im m ediately after each lesson and the students were enquired to answer the questions and easiness in responding to them For students’ optim um understanding o f the content o f the questions and easy response, a Vietnamese version (A ppendix 3) was given to the students.

D uring the action plan in the next three lessons，after each lesson，the same questionnaire was delivered to the students to gather info rm a tio n about the teacher’ s overall

This section has discussed the contents o f fourteen questions used in the prelim inary stage and in the second stage The aim o f description and analysis o f speaking tasks in the course book w ill be provided in the next section.

3.2.3 Docum ent analysis (Speaking tasks analysis)

3.2.3.1 Reasons for choosing document analysis

Document analysis can be an important source from which the data are collected One o f the biggest advantages o f document analysis is that in some situation a document

public attitudes, historical trend or sequences (May, 2001)

There are many ways to analyze a textbook, depending on the intent o f the analysis The analysis by the teacher, which can help instruction include the structure o f the text, the focus o f the author, and the usefulness o f the learning assists, the aims and approaches,

Document analysis was selected as a data-collecting tool in this study because the textbook is one o f the factors affecting students9 motivation in classroom (as mentioned in section 2.1.2.4) The analysis together w ith other in itia l data would help find out the main causes o f students’ low motivation in speaking lessons

3.2.3.1 Description of document analysis creteria

described and analyzed to find out whether the speaking topics were interesting and relevant to the students; the organization o f the speaking tasks and whether the tasks are various, attractive, and appropriate for the students’ level The details o f the speaking tasks analysis are presented in section 4 3

organization o f speaking tasks and the students’ self-reported motivation.