Using dialogue and drama activities in teaching speaking skill to the 11th form students at nghen high scholl in ha tinh province

===    ===hoàng thị thảo using dialogue and drama activities in teaching speaking skill to the 11th form students at nghen high school in ha tinh province sử dụng hoạt động hội thoại

===    ===

hoàng thị thảo

using dialogue and drama activities in teaching speaking skill to the 11th form students at nghen

high school in ha tinh province

(sử dụng hoạt động hội thoại và đóng kịch trong việc dạy kỹ năng nói cho học sinh lớp 11

trờng thpt nghèn tỉnh hà tĩnh)

graduation thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Vinh - 2011

===    ===

using dialogue and drama activities in teaching speaking skill to the 11th form students at nghen

high school in ha tinh province

(sử dụng hoạt động hội thoại và đóng kịch trong việc dạy kỹ năng nói cho học sinh lớp 11

trờng thpt nghèn tỉnh hà tĩnh)

graduation thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Supervisor: vũ thị việt hơng, m.a Student: hoàng thị thảo, 48A - English

Vinh, May 2011

Then, I desire to give my deep attitude to all teachers in the foreign languages department who gave me some useful materials and opinions on the thesis.

My thanks are also sent to my family and my friends who gave me a lot of good conditions and encouragement to complete the thesis.

Finally, my sincere thanks are due to all of you who will give me some comments after reading the graduation thesis.

Vinh, May 2011

Hoang Thi Thao

Aware of the importance of using dialogue and drama in communication and English speaking teaching and learning, the author has carried out this study In this thesis, the author discusses the basic theories about Communication Approach first and then the nature of speaking Next, the general information about dialogue and drama is studied Two months at high school, the author has an opportunity to approach to the reality and investigate the teaching and learning English of the 11 th

form students, those are real findings and discussion with teachers and students Moreover, suggested dialogue and drama activities for speaking class are introduced with the aim to help students have interesting and attractive speaking lessons at classes

Table of contents

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

ABSTRACT ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iii

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vi

ABBREVIATIONS vii

Part I Introduction 1

1 Justification of the Study 1

2 Aims and Objectives of the Study 2

3 Methods of the Study 2

4 Scope of the Study 3

5 Overview of the Study 3

Part ii Investigation 5

Chapter 1 Theoretical background 5

1.1 An Overview on Communication Approach 5

1.2 Nature of Speaking 6

1.2.1 What is Speaking? 6

1.2.2 The Importance of Speaking Skill 6

1.2.3 Characteristics of a Successful Speaking Activity 7

1.2.4 Principles to Teach Speaking in Communicative Approach 8

1.2.4.1 Principles for Beginning Levels 8

1.2.4.2 Principles for Intermediate and Advanced Levels 9

1.2.5 Problems with Speaking Activities 10

1.3 Dialogue and Drama 11

1.3.1 An Overview on Dialogue and Drama 11

1.3.2 Dialogue 13

1.3.2.1 Definition 13

1.3.2.2 Advantages of Dialogue 14

1.3.2.3 Procedures for Presenting Dialogue in Class 15

1.3.3 Drama 15

1.3.3.1 Definition 15

1.3.3.2 Advantages of Drama 16

1.3.3.3 Procedures for Presenting Drama in Class 17

Chapter 2 Discussion and Major Findings 19

2.1 Characteristics of the 11th form students 19

2.2 Overview of the Survey 20

2.2.1 Aims of the Survey 20

2.2.2 Research Questions 20

2.2.3 Informants and their Background 21

2.2.3.1 The Teachers 21

2.2.3.2 The Students 21

2.3 Description of the Survey 22

2.3.1 Questionaires for Teachers 23

2.3.2 Questionaires for Students 23

2.3.3 Discussion and Summary of Findings 23

2.3.3.1 For Students 23

2.3.3.2 For Teachers 27

Chapter 3 Suggested Dialogue and Drama Activities for Speaking Classes at High Schools 30

3.1 Dialogue 30

3.1.1 Dialogue Strategies 30

3.1.2 Necessary Factors to Start a Dialogue 31

3.1.3 Suggested Dialogue Activities 32

3.1.3.1 Information Gap 32

3.1.3.2 Role Play 35

3.1.3.3 Interviews 36

3.1.3.4 Jigsaw Activities 39

3.1.3.5 Dialogue Games 40

3.2.1 Drama Strategies 41

3.2.2 Necessary Factors to Start a Drama 41

3.2.3 Suggested Drama Activities 42

3.2.3.1 Role Playing 42

3.2.3.2 Monologues 43

3.2.3.3 Mime 44

3.2.3.4 Story Telling 45

3.2.3.5 Drama Games 46

3.2.3.5.1 Ten Second Objects 46

3.2.3.5.2 Two Truths One Lie 47

Part iii Conclusion 49

1 Recapitulation and Implications 49

2 Suggestions for Further Studies 50

References

Appendix

1 Questionaires for Teachers

2 Questionaires for Students

List of Tables and Figures

1 Figure 1 William Littlewood’s a continuum of classroom activities 12

2 Table 1 The Survey results from Students for Questions from 1 to 20

24

3 Table 2 The Survey results from Teachers for Questions from 1 to 14

28

C.A Communication Approach i.e That is to say

etc et cetera e.g For example

Part I introduction

1 Justification of the Study

From past to present, it can not be denied that language is a vital tool ofcommunication of human beings It is a system of signs for encoding and decodinginformation used by the people of a particular country or profession Thanks tolanguage, people are able to think themselves and to cooperate with others in ourcommunity Besides, we can use language to express our thoughts, emotion andhope to the others From the basic means of communication, human gradually actand create the society more developed

Nowadays, English is the most popular international language It isconventional wisdom that English is used in many countries and in many areas oflife Many countries use English as their mother tongue, such as Canada, America,Australia, New Zealand, etc In Vietnam, English has not only been used as thesecond language but it is also used widely from schools to scientific community,from the young to the old

Last time, in general the teaching of English has a lot of improvements tomeet the task of training the language skills for high school students However, theteaching of English in the high schools have not effectively met the aboverequirements due to many objective and subjective reasons

Firstly, because the time and program content demand teachers to conveysufficient information in each instruction, teachers do not have much time to teachstudents, especially English speaking skill English speaking ability of students atschools is still very much limitted, they are often afraid of saying wrongly, shy andpassive in English communication, because there is fewer opportunities to trainspeaking skills

Thus, being an English teacher in the future, the author wishes to find out the

problems and solutions for the thesis “Using Dialogue and Drama Activities in

Tinh Province” to help students speak English more effectively Dialogue and

Drama have come into our thoughts as the best solution for their advantages ofpromoting communication in language classes The research results will help themhave more experience and professional knowledge to fulfil teaching tasks Besides,the success of the thesis will promote English speaking ability in particular andEnglish quality in general

2 Aims and Objectives of the Study

For the reasons mentioned above, the thesis is conducted with the wish that itcan contribute to the improvement in teaching English in general and in teachingspeaking skill in particular The thesis aims to:

Help students be aware of the advantages and necessity of using dialogueand drama activities in learning English speaking

Find out the effective organization of dialogue and drama for students

Improve students’ ability to speak English and the quality of studyingEnglish through dialogue and drama

As soon as beginning to carry out the thesis, the author has oriented researchquestions with the desire to identify the clear aims of this thesis:

 What are the advantages of using dialogue and drama activities in learningEnglish speaking?

 How to logically organize the dialogue and drama activities for students?

 How to improve students’ speaking skill and the quality of study Englishthrough dialogue and drama activities?

3 Methods of the Study

To complete the thesis, the following methods have been used:

 Qualitative method

+ Why is the thesis carried out?

+ How is the thesis carried out?

 Quantitative method

+ What does the thesis need?

+ Where is the thesis carried out?

+ When does the thesis carried out?

 Experimental method

+ Select the experimental and controlled group

+ Introduce the dialogue and drama model for the students

+ Observe the implementative process and results of the groups

+ Process and evaluate the experimental results

4 Scope of the Study

Dialogue and Drama are so various, so it is hard to cover all the mattersconcerning the teaching and learning English as well as types of dialogue anddrama This thesis only focuses on helping the 11th form students at Nghen highschool improve speaking skill through dialogue and drama activities

5 Overview of the Study

The thesis consists of three main parts: Introduction, Investigation andConclusion

Firstly, part I with the title “Introduction” maps out the background of the

Study It presents Justification of the Study, Aims and Objectives, Methods, Scopeand Overview of the Study

Next, part II named “Investigation” comprises three chapters:

Chapter 1 entitled “The Theoretical Background” provides all concepts

related to the Study

Chapter 2 is about the “Discussion and Major Findings” which results from

the survey of the situation of learning and teaching English Speaking and using

Chapter 3 named as “Suggested Dialogue and Drama Activities for

Speaking Classes at High Schools” discusses about the necessary factors to start

Dialogue and Drama Activities in English Speaking and some suggested Dialogueand Drama activities used at high schools

Then, Part III is the “Conclusion” which give a brief overview on the

achievements of the thesis and suggestions for the further studies

Besides, “Appendix” are questionaires to investigate the reality of teaching

and learning at Nghen high school

And the last part, “Reference” is coming next to a list of sources of

materials

Part II Investigation

Chapter 1

Theoretical Background

1.1 An Overview on Communicative Approach

The Communicative Approach is based on the idea that learning languagesuccessfully comes through having to communicate real meanings When learnersare involved in real communication, their natural stratergies for languageacquisition will be used, and this will allow them to learn to use the language

In 1960’s and 70’s foreign language learning was widely extended with theestablishment of comprehensive schools The C.A in language teaching starts from

a theory of language as communication The goal of language teaching is to developwhat Hymes (1972, cited in Richards and Rodgers 2001: 159) referred to as

“communicative competence” (i.e the ability to use the language correctly andappropriately to accomplish communication goals)

C.A focuses on language as a medium of communication Recognises that allcommunication has a social purpose – learner has something to say or find out Itmeans that C.A is much more student-centred, instruction focuses on the learnersand the learning process Students participate in the learning process by establishinglearning goals, developing and choosing learning strategies, and evaluating theirown progress Learner-centered instruction encourages students to takeresponsibility for their own language skill development and helps them gainconfidence in their ability to learn and use the language

Moreover, classroom activities guided by the C.A are characterised by trying

to produce meaningful and real communication Classroom should provideopportunities for rehearsal of real-life situations and for real communication.Emphasis on creative role-play, simulations, surveys, projects – all producespontaneity and improvisation – not just repetition and drills Website

classroom, students attend to models provided by the instructor (input) and thenbuild on those models as they use language themselves (output)” In C.A, dialogs, ifused, centered around communicative functions and are not normally memorized.

1.2 Nature of Speaking

1.2.1 What is Speaking?

Communication is an essential need for human beings Speaking is animportant skill because one of the keys in English communication is speakingability Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involvesproducing and receiving and processing information (Brown, 1994; Burns andJoyce, 1997)

Speaking is the productive skill in the oral mode By mastering speakingskill, students can carry out conversation with others, give ideas and change theinformation with interlocutor and they are able to know the situation that happen inthe world The components of English skill that should be given and studied inEnglish speaking class are pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, fluency, accuracyand comprehension

1.2.2 The Importance of Speaking Skill

Speaking is key to communication Many language learners regard speakingability as the measure of knowing a language They consider speaking as the mostimportant skill they can acquire, and they assess their progress in terms of theiraccomplishments in spoken communication

The mastery of speaking skill in English is a priority for many second orforeign language learners Learners consequently often evaluate their success inlanguage learning as well as the effectiveness of their English course on the basic ofhow well they feel they have improved in their spoken language proficiency(Richards, 1990)

In fact, speaking is the most important skill, because it is one of abilities tocarry out conversation on the language Speaking requires that learners not onlyknow how to produce specific points of language such as grammar, pronunciation,

or vocabulary (linguistic competence), but also that they understand when, why and

in what ways to produce language (sociolinguistic competence)

1.2.3 Characteristics of a Successful Speaking Activity

A successful speaking lesson is the desire of both teachers and students.According to Ur (1996, p.120, cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam & Ngo Dinh Phuong,2007), there are four characteristics to make a successful speaking activity

Firstly, students talk a lot In classroom speaking tasks, students talk a lot inthe foreign language One common problem in speaking activities is that studentsoften talk little in the foreign language and spend the rest of the time chatting intheir native language Another problem is that the teacher talks too much of thetime, thus taking away valuable practice time from the students So, in all theclassroom now, teachers should play the role of guiders, so they should let students

be free to express their ability in the natural way The more learners talk, the betterthe effect is

Secondly, participation is even and fair Whether the activity takes place inthe whole class or in small groups, everyone have equal opportunities to talk, andthe teacher should control the talkative participants

Thirdly, motivation is high Motivation is one of important factors to create asuccessful speaking activity Students will be eager to speak when they areinterested in the topic and they find something new to say with the aim to contribute

to achieving a task object

Lastly, language is of an acceptable level of accuracy and relevance In aclassroom speaking activity, language in at right level The activity must bedesigned so that students can complete successfully with language they have If the

students lack too much vocabulary, the activity will become frustrating and thestudents are likely to give up or return back to the native language

1.2.4 Principles to Teach Speaking in Communicative Approach

Forseth et Al (1996:35, cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam & Ngo Dinh Phuong,2007) divide the principles into two groups: (1) for Beginning Levels and (2) forIntermediate and Advanced Levels

1.2.4.1 Principles for Beginning Levels

Speaking is a crucial part of the language learning process To get asuccessful speaking lesson, it is necessary to have principles for specific levels

For beginning levels, firstly, limit the objectives to avoid making studentsconfused The teacher should provide learners with enough structured practice sothey can begin interacting at a basic level This will encourage students moreconfidently when speaking Limit the objectives is the motive force for student to beinterested in speaking Then more free production can come after structured practice

to help students develop their speaking

Secondly, mix the speaking activities with comprehension work To get thenatural speech, students should listen the teacher’s suggestions before they speak.Listening and catching the basic components, students will be confident to practiceactivities Also, comprehension work fosters an interaction between speaking andlistening

Thirdly, provide activities which involves dialogues and functional use of thelanguage An activity involving language use will motivate students to take part inspeaking lesson Dialogues are more concrete and controlled than less structureddrills Language use should be focused on rather than knowledge about language

Fourthly, not to emphasize the significance of mistakes A common problem

is that most of students are afraid of being corrected mistakes by teachers orclassmates So it is not necessary to focus on correcting mistakes and it will

encourage students to speak without fear of correction And speaking activities willconcentrate on meaning and communication rather than grammatical correctness.Certainly, the teacher doesn’t ignore the corrections Corrections should especiallyfocus on problems affecting clear communication or language already taught to thestudents

Lastly, state the purpose / goal of the activity to the students Everything willbecome imbalance or indirect way if the teacher doesn’t state the purpose of theactivity for the students This provides a context or focus to help comprehensionand allows the learners to concentrate on the task and understand why they do it

1.2.4.2 Principles for Intermediate and Advanced levels

The first principle is to focus on and work toward real, spontaneous speech.Real speech is most often unrehearsed and unpractised So the teachers should notlet students practice form-based drills Natural speech will be better

Next, design activities which encourage natural interaction betweenspeakers The interaction between speakers will create the noisy atmosphere for theactivity And the speakers will be motivated when interacting each other Theinteraction intergrates speaking and listening

Another principle is to place students in pairs, triads or small groups.Working individually will make students bored Small groups, triads and pairs arestudent-centered This gives students more opportunities to change information andincreases the quantity of speech spoken by the students

Besides, the teacher provides topics of interest to the students Interestingtopics will encourage students motivation It is good to ask students what they aremost interested in It is a chance for them to give opinions and understanding

At the advanced, especially in free production, allow only speech in thetarget language If learners use much mother tongue, the rate of success will be low.Although students may dislike this, they should be discouraged from using their

own language without the teacher’s permission Only speaking English will increasethe amount of speech and the speaking activities will be more successful

1.2.5 Problems with Speaking Activities

Learning English is not easy and speaking English well is more difficult Itseems when a learner starts to talk, he get trouble to express his opinions andunderstanding To make thoughts into speech is a problem The teacher oftenencounters many problems in getting students to talk in the classroom

According to Ur (1996:121, cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam & Ngo DinhPhuong, 2007), the first problem is the inhibition of students Unlike reading,writing and listening activities, speaking requires some degree of real-time exposure

to an audience In the classroom, students have to face to the teacher, therefore, theyare often inhibited about what to talk in the target language: worried about makingmistakes, fearful of criticism or losing face, or shy of standing before other students,especially when they are lack of many factors to express confidently andeffectively

The second problem is that students have nothing to say Students usuallycomplain that when required to speak any topic, they don’t have ideas to express.Although sometimes they are ready to talk, when required they forget all Sospeaking anything in English, students find that they are forced to speak

Another difficulty is low or uneven participation A class at high school hasmany students (from 40-50 students) As usual, only one participant can talk at atime if he or she is to be heard; and in a large group this means that each one willhave only very little talking time This problem is companded by the tendency ofsome learners to dominate while others speak very little or not at all

In classes where all, learners tend to use mother tongue When a person hastwo linguistic tools to use, his natural tendency will use which he feels better andeasier It is so uncomfortable to speak in the foreign language If they are talking insmall groups it can be quite difficult to get some classes – particularly the less

disciplined or motivated ones – to keep to the target language It is a matter which isnot easy to solve in foreign environment at high schools, especiall in thecountryside and remote areas.

The last problem is that teacher dominates speaking class Althoughcommunicative tendency appears in thoughts and actions of teachers, the number ofstudents is too many, teachers often spend time explaining meaning of words orgrammar structures They are afraid that students will not understand and catch thelesson Moreover, teachers use more teacher-students interaction than others Theythink other activities such as pair work or group work can break the disciplines inclass and make noise

1.3 Dialogue and Drama

1.3.1 An Overview on Dialogue and Drama

Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English) is a literary andtheatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange betweentwo or more people Its chief historical origins as narrative, philosophical ordidactic device are to be found in classical Greek and Indian literature, particularly

in the ancient art of rhetoric The word “dialogue” was taken from the Old French

but is Greek in origin Dialogue “comes from the Greek word dialogos Logos

means ‘ the word’ or in our case we would think of the ’meaning of the word’ And

dia means ‘through’— it doesn’t mean “two” (Bohm, 1990, p.1) The old Greek

word was “dialegesthai” which meant “to discuss”

Drama, as a form of self-expression, is age-old and exists in every culture inthe world, originated in Ancient Greece for several centuries around 530 B.C The

use of "drama" in the narrow sense to designate a specific type of play dates from

the 19th century More than any other literary form, drama is a visual andcollaborative medium, designed to be performed by actors in front of an audience

Generally speaking, drama is more dominated by dialogue than are fictionand poetry The word “drama” itself comes from the Greek “Dran” meaning to do,

to act The use of “drama” in the narrow sense to designate a specific type of playdates from the 19th century

Towards communicative competence, according to William Littlewood(1981), there is a continuum of classroom activities to promote communicativecompetence:

Improvisation

Figure 1 William Littlewood’s a continuum of classroom activities

As can be seen from the diagram, although conversational competencecomes from fluency activities or natural language interaction outside the classroom,the use of controlled activities can help students develop confidence as well as theability to participate in and maintain simple activities In speaking classroom, it isnecessary to introduce and teach students from controlled activities to free practice

to enhance creativity of students Such as, in the table, teacher should performmemorised dialogues to contextualised drills and in turn to another activities andfinally to Improvisation activities The final thing that the teacher can bring students

is to stimulate the students’ creativity and desire to discover and find out

1.3.2 Dialogue

1.3.2.1 Definition

Dialogue is a special conversation among people with different points ofview on issues of mutual concern In dialogue, people explore common ground,listen attentively for understanding, suspend judgements and examine their ownassumptions J.Krishnamurti (1997) indicated that dialogue implies a relationshipbetween ‘self’ (in-group) and other (out-group) which is characterised by a degree

of empathy, the result of which is to curb the severity of intercultural, interreligiousand international conflicts

Unlike participants in other forms of conversation, people engaged indialogue do not try to accomplish a specific task or persuade others to accept theirposition Participants in dialogue assume that many people have pieces of theanswer and that together they can craft a solution

Dialogue is the mode aimed for within learning groups, where it is clearthat the purpose of communication is assisting people in their learning Dialogue

is a useful mode in the contexts of coaching or mentoring David Bohm presentsdialogue as a “communication” of people and as a “collective way of opening upjudgements and assumptions” Participants in a dialogue are considered as beingcapable of overcoming the fragmentation of thought that arises due to ittsdivision into objects, its subsequent selection and separation of such objects, andthe concluding for mation of “assumptions” that inevitably divide people from

on another

Besides, dialogue can be used when thinking things with the help of others Ithas also been advocated for research and development contexts in which it is

In addition, dialogue can be used to take the heat out of a conflict It can turn

a clash of opinion into an opportunity to weigh the claims of competingperspectives and, in the process, learn

Moreover, dialogue is an excellent tool in developing a character Dialogueactivities encourage learners to look at the English language through dialogues andspoken interaction

1.3.2.2 Advantages of Dialogue

At its simplest, a dialogue can take place when two or more people aretalking together Dialogues have come into our thoughts as the best solution fortheir advantages of promoting communication in language classes Using dialogues

in teaching English speaking certainly avoids boring classes

The decided advagtage of dialogue is that it is an approach to interpersonalcommunication which encourages learning It takes the competitive and conflictualelements, which block learning, out of communication It allows us to release ouridentification with our ideas, so that we can examine them We tend to act as if ourideas are us, as if to challenge them is to attack us

By holding our ideas lightly we can view them as if they were the ideas ofothers, or like those we have come across in a book We can evaluate them: whatassumptions underlie them, what might be the consequences of holding them, whatare their benefits and their limitations

When two or more people enter into dialogue a space opens up between them

in which they become open to change The one who puts an idea forward will bewilling for it to change, and the others will be willing for their own views to change

in the encounter with the idea they are examining The learning that can come ofdialogue goes beyond the mere stacking up of information It can bring about deeplearning, learning that can change us

1.3.2.3 Procedures for Presenting Dialogue in Class

To get a successful speaking lesson, teachers should create procedures forpresenting dialogue to help students practise Here are sugested steps for presenting

a dialogue in a speaking class:

1 Set the situation

2 Read the dalogue once to the students

3 Present new vocabulary and ask students to read them

4 Briefly present the meanning of new structures contained in the dialogue

5 Read the dialogue to the students two or three times and ask them to repeat

6 Ask comprehension questions

7 Dialogue practice: Teacher – Student or Student – Student

8 Give the students an activity for communication

1.3.3 Drama

1.3.3.1 Definition

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance The termcomes from a Greek word meaning “action” which is derived from “to do” or “toact” Drama is mostly acting, expressing feelings

The enactment of real and imagined events through role-play, play makingand performances, enabling individuals and groups to explore, shape and represent

According to Howard Gardner (1983), drama, as “a form of self-expression”,

is age-old and exists in every culture in the world In fact, it has always been used as

a means of exploring and expressing human feeling Being a distinct skill in itself, it

is a subject that is offered in secondary school However, being versatile andflexible, drama can be used in other areas of the curriculum as well, in the form ofdrama activities

Drama in the school can be used to help the child become a more fullyintegrated being by developing his physical, mental, emotional, psychological, andspiritual faculties, and it can serve as an instrument for teaching skills and facts Asall drama teachers and practitioners know, drama games are an invaluable resourcefor teachers, they fundamental for team building, developing communication skillsand confidence building, they allow learners to understand how to engage withactivities by placing particular demands on the learner

1.3.3.2 Advantages of Drama

Drama is a unique tool to explore and express human feeling Drama is anessential form of behaviour in all cultures, it is a fundamental human activity.Drama brings us many positive impacts on a student’s Physical, Emotional, Social,and Cognitive Development

 Self-confidence: Taking risks in class and performing for an audience and

teaching students to trust their ideas and abilities The confidence gained in dramaapplies to school, career, and life

 Imagination: Albert Einstein said, "imagination is more important than

knowledge." Making creative choices, thinking of new ideas, and interpretingfamiliar material in new ways are essential to drama Without imagination,education becomes a kind of intellectual recycling of the same knowledge passedfrom teacher to student and back to teacher on the test Education should do more

than simply transmit information; it should develop skills such as imagination thatevolve our knowledge and move us forward as a species

 Empathy: Acting roles from different situations, time periods, and

cultures promotes compassion and tolerance for other’ feelings and viewpoints

 Concentration: Playing, practising, and performing develop a sustained

focus of mind, body, and voice, which also helps in other school subjects and life

 Communication skills: Drama enhances verbal and nonverbal expression

of ideas It improves voice projection, articulation of words, fluency with language,and persuasive speech Listening and observation skills develop by playing dramagames, being an audience, rehearsing, and performing

 Problem solving: Students learn how to communicate the who, what,

where, and why to the audience Improvisation fosters quick-thinking solutions,which leads to greater adaptability in life

 Fun: Drama brings play, humor, and laughter to learning; this improves

motivation and reduces stress

 Relaxation: Many drama activities reduce stress by releasing mental,

physical, and emotional tension

 Trust: The social interaction and risk taking in drama develop trust in

self, others and the process

 Physical fitness: Movement in drama improves flexibility, coordination,

balance, and control

 Social Awareness: Legends, myths, poems, stories, and plays used in

drama teach students aboutr social issues and conflicts from cultures, past andpresent, all over the world

1.3.3.3 Procedures for Presenting Drama in Class

Drama as a teaching tool is integrated into all other school subjects Allteachers, especially in elementary schools, should use drama games, techniques, andstrategies on a regular basis to teach classroom material in all school subjects Whenintegrating drama into classroom content, teachers should have clear theatre goalsand give them equal emphasis as the goals for the subject being taught Forexample, theatre standards, drama vocabulary, and skills of creative expressionshould be incorporated into and assessed in arts integrated lessons

Here are suggested steps for presenting drama in speaking activities:

1 Creating dramatic situations: Teachers can take any stories, poems or

plays or anything in real life to create situations for students to practise Theimportant thing is based on students’ needs and interests to give them chances topractise

2 Developing contents: From the situations, teachers and students can give

ideas to develop the content more attractively Teachers can simplify to be suitablefor the beginning level or give complex situations for advanced level

3 Preparing speech: Teachers need to guess the language to be used in the

drama depending on each level And then show the vocabulary or suggestions tohelp students

4 Preparing information: Learners need to be supplied enough information

about the background, the content, the characters to perform well The more carefulthe description is, the more successful the drama is

5 Casting: Before casting for the students, teachers can make the samples.

Then casting for the learners depending on the personality, the ability of eachstudent

6 Performing: Learners start to perform, express their ability, their feelings

and teachers observe

7 Finishing: After students finish performing, teachers spend time for

students self-correcting and then they remark, correct the mistakes and encouragestudents to be more confident in the next lessons

Chapter 2

Discussion and Major Findings

2.1 Characteristics of the 11 th form Students

In fact, high school learners are qualitatively different than younger learners.Most high school students have achieved the formal operational stage and are bothinternally and externally motivated According to J Harmer (1998), the age ofstudents is a major factor in the development of psychophysiology and in teachers’decisions about how and what to teach Students of different ages have diffirentneeds, competences and cognitive skills There are some factors to affect to thestudents’ learning English at high school: the aptitude, learners characteristics orstyle, language levels, motivation and learning environment To illustrate for thedifference of students levels through period of lives, Harmer (1998) give thefollowing progression:

Advanced Upper intermediate Mid - intermediate Lower intermediate/pre - intermediate Elementary

Students at this grade are about 16 or 17 years old They are no longerchildren but not adults Their thoughts and actions are sometimes very spirited, butsometimes proper However, at this age, the aptitude and the faculty of thought andcreativity are really developed These are positive and convenient factors forlearning English at school

Students at Nghen high school have the same above characteristics Besides,most of them are descended from farming or small trading families, they are veryhard working and patient in studying At classes, they concentrate to their teacher’sexplanation for the lesson At home, after helping their parents do housework, theytake advantage of spared time to study Because of their families’ low economicconditions, students have fewer opportunities to learn English well However,during two months of teaching practice, the author witnessed many students whohad difficult circumstances are excellent at their classes and school

For different characteristics and conditions, there is no real limit to the way

in which teachers can group students in a classroom and give the teaching programfor each level of students However, teachers try their best to cover all students’levels and tend students to take part in lessons naturally, maintain their interest andrelate to them in appropriate ways

2.2 Overview of the Survey

2.2.1 Aims of the Survey

This survey is conducted at Nghen high school in Ha Tinh province Theauthor carries out this survey with the aim to investigate the real state of teachingand learning speaking English at Nghen high school now Moreover, the authorwants to search the attitudes of students towards English speaking skill and to findout the students’ ability in speaking English

2.2.2 Research Questions

As soon as beginning to carry out the investigation, the author has orientedresearch questions with the desire to identify the clear aims of this survey:

 What are the importance and necessity of using dialogue and drama activities

in learning English speaking?

 How to logically organize the dialogue and drama activities for students?

 How can the teachers improve students’ ability to speak English throughdialogue and drama?

2.2.3 Informants and Their Background

The survey is designed for two groups: the teachers and the students atNghen high school

2.2.3.1 The Teachers

Nghen high school is a big school with studious tradition in Ha Tinhprovince Being a standard school with applying the new English textbook programwhich students have opportunities to study four skills: listening, speaking, readingand writing Besides, most of teachers at Nghen high school are young and active.They are very enthusiastic on helping students study

The survey questionaire for teachers was conducted among 10 teachers atNghen high school where I spent 8 weeks for my teaching training The personhaving more than 10 years of teaching experience is the group leader, teacherNguyen Thi My Thanh, my teaching supervisor at Nghen high school And 9 otherteachers have 5-10 years of teaching experience

2.2.3.2 The Students

Nghen town and others from neighbouring areas Nghen high school dividesstudents into some groups: A (Maths, Physics and Chemistry), C (Literature,History and Geography) and D (Maths, Literature and English) It is veryconvenient for them to choose branch of learning

In the time of teaching practice, the author got more real information Forexample, there was a student from class 11B13 sent her a message with the content

“Yesterday, there was a foreigner visitting my Catholic Church He came andbrought scholarship for Catholic students At that time, I wanted to say something

to thank him and express my admiration But I couldn’t because my speaking ability

is so bad Can you help me to improve my speaking skill?” This is a typicalexample for many other students at Nghen high school In fact, students haverealized the importance of English speaking at school and in social communication.However, they are so ambiguous about the tendency to learn English and don’tknow how to study English appropriately and effectively

The survey questionaire for students was conducted among a quite largenumber of 11th form students at Nghen high school There are 100 students who are

involved in this survey Among the students, 43 students at class 11B13 (where Itrained teaching in 8 weeks), 40 students at class 11B14 (advanced class), and 17other students at class 11B3

2.3 Description of the Survey

Spending two months on training teaching, the author had a chance to findout the real state of learning English speaking at Nghen high school in particularand in Ha Tinh province in general During the teaching practice time, beingfamiliar with students, having opportunity to learn experience from the teachers and

to enrich the knowledge, the author partly finds out new right tendency for thethesis and the survey

2.3.1 Questionaires for Teachers

The survey was conducted for teachers with 15 short and clear questions(Appendix 1) The content of these questions is related to general informationabout the teachers including their teaching at school, their feelings and theirteaching experience In addition, the author wants to understand more about thereality of using dialogue and drama in teaching speaking at this school and theways that teachers teach speaking effectively depending on each group ofstudents Most of teachers at this school are very young having from 5 to 10 years

of teaching experience

2.3.2 Questionaires for Students

The author has designed 20 questions to investigate the students´ attitudestowards English and the English speaking learning at Nghen high school (Seeappendix 2) The survey questionaires focuses on the period of learning Englishfrom the past up to now; their attitudes in learning English, especially Englishspeaking; the current state of studying speaking skill at secondary schools; thestudents’ feelings after learning English speaking with dialogue and drama and theirexpectation in next lesson

2.3.3 Discussion and Summary of Findings

2.3.3.1 For Students

After two months of teaching practice, the author had investigated, analysedand summarized the result gained in the survey on the 11th form students at Nghenhigh school (in Ha Tinh province) The survey consists of 20 questions on Englishspeaking skill Most of students have learnt English for 6 years, it means that theyhave basic knowledge and competence Now, at school, they have three Englishperiods per week However, because of low condition of each student, they have

the author wants to give a little bit ability to support for this school to improveEnglish speaking skill through dialogue and drama.

During the investigating period, one student gets a sheet of paper containing

20 questions and works individually in 15 to 20 minutes to give their own answers

Here is the table of the result of the survey: