SKKN Some ways to improve speaking skills of grade 10 students at Nguyen Huu Canh high school

SOME WAYS TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILLS OF GRADE 10 STUDENTS AT NGUYEN HUU CANH HIGH SCHOOL Người thực hiện: Nguyễn Thị Xuân Mai... SỞ GIÁO DỤC ĐÀO TẠO ĐỒNG NAI Trường THPT Nguyễn Hữu Cả

SỞ GIÁO DỤC ĐÀO TẠO ĐỒNG NAI

SỞ GIÁO DỤC ĐÀO TẠO ĐỒNG NAI

Trường THPT Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh

Mã số:

SOME WAYS TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILLS

OF GRADE 10 STUDENTS

AT NGUYEN HUU CANH HIGH SCHOOL

Người thực hiện: Nguyễn Thị Xuân Mai

SỞ GIÁO DỤC ĐÀO TẠO ĐỒNG NAI

Trường THPT Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh

SOME WAYS TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILLS

OF GRADE 10 STUDENTS

AT NGUYEN HUU CANH HIGH SCHOOL

Người thực hiện: Nguyễn Thị Xuân Mai

5 Some ways to improve speaking skills of grade 10 students at

Nguyen Huu Canh high school

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1 Tên sáng kiến: Some ways to improve speaking skills of grade 10 students at

Nguyen Huu Canh high school

2 Lĩnh vực áp dụng sáng kiến: phương pháp giảng dạy bộ môn

3 Tác giả:

- Họ và tên: Nguyễn Thị Xuân Mai Nam (nữ): Nữ

- Trình độ chuyên môn: thạc sĩ giảng dạy

- Chức vụ, đơn vị công tác: giáo viên trường THPT Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh

- Điện thoại: 0918806338 Email: xuanmai@nhc.edu.vn

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SOME WAYS TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILLS OF GRADE 10

STUDENTS AT NGUYEN HUU CANH HIGH SCHOOL

1 Introduction

In the world of integration, English fluency plays an integral part of communication as well as any other aspects of life Speaking English well may help one feel more confident Confidence is the key to every success Therefore, teaching and learning English should be combined effectively so that students can get active roles in learning process The more confident they get, the better they can communicate

The goal of teaching speaking is to improve students’ communication skills in order that they can express themselves and learn how to use the language Nowadays, many teachers agree that students should learn to speak English by interacting with others Therefore, English teachers should be creative in developing their teaching process to create good atmosphere where students have real-life communication By using this method, teachers help students have the opportunity of communicating with each other in the target language Moreover, teachers should apply appropriate methods and techniques of teaching speaking to make the English lessons more exciting for students to develop their speaking skills

2 Literature review

Definition of Speaking

Speaking is considered to be one of the four skills that give speakers the ability to communicate effectively Speaking skills allow the speaker to express his ideas in a passionate and convincing manner In addition, speaking skills help to make sure that one will not be misunderstood by those that are listening

In the opinion of Everson (2009), speaking is the crucial skill of language in the sense that it enables individuals to communicate through the use of verbal codes or words that are understood by both sender and the

recipient Cohen (1996) stated that speech contains its own skills, structures, and conventions different from written language Learning to speak English through interaction with each other is not an easy task because it is Shumin’s (2002) contention that students require much more than knowing grammatical and semantic rules Through interaction, especially in speaking activities, students get chances to develop their own communication and express what they gain rather than learning the structures of a language Furthermore, in Nunan’s (2011) view, speaking consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning Also, according to Kaikala (2012) speaking is both a factor of language learning and teaching achievement and an important skill in human interaction In short, there are many of different concepts of speaking, i.e speaking as an action, a process and a skill As English is universally used as a means of communication, English speaking skills should

be developed along with the other skills in order that these integrated skills will enhance communication competence

The importance of speaking skill

It is universally accepted that language is a tool for communication When we communicate with others, we want to express our ideas, and to know others’ ideas as well Although the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing are all well connected, Zaremba (2006) claims that speaking seems to be the most important skill required for communication of all the four macro English skills Speaking is “the process

of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts” (Chaney & Burk, 1998, p 13) According

to Brown (1994); Burns & Joyce (1997), speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information Its form and meaning are relying on the context where it happens, including the participants themselves, their combined experiences, the physical environment, and the purposes for speaking In the opinion of

Cohen (1996) speaking contains its own skills, structures, and conventions different from written language Also, Kaikala (2012) noted that speaking is both a factor of language learning and teaching achievement and an important skill in human interaction On the whole, proficiency in speaking skills provides learners with many benefits such as becoming a successful, effective communicator We are living in a global community in which languages and cultures mix together Therefore, it is very useful for those that are good at speaking skills to express themselves

3 Methodology:

Research context

Nguyen Huu Canh high school is the place where I conducted and collected all the data of the research This school is located in Bien Hoa city Most of the students come from working - class families; therefore, they rarely have chances to study English at Foreign Language Centres or extra classes They only study English at school

Participants

The subjects involved in the research include 40 grade 10 students aged from 15 to 16 from Nguyen Huu Canh high school The class chosen for my investigation is 10A1 They are my students, so it was convenient for me to

ask them to complete the questionnaires in class

Research instruments

At the beginning of the school year, in every speaking lesson the classroom atmosphere tended to be deadly dull Most of my students were so afraid of taking turns speaking English that they did not look at me I tried my best; however they seemed not to cooperate with me I wondered how I made

my students get involved in my English speaking lessons

In this school year students were asked to do three speaking tests The first test was after Unit 1 to test students on speaking skills The second test was in the final first term test (there were 4 parts and speaking skills

accounted for 20% of the total) to check whether my students made progress The third speaking test was in the middle of the second term in order to come

to the conclusion on how much my students made progress

After students did the first speaking test I realized their speaking skills were not good enough Therefore, my students were asked to complete the first questionnaire The aims of this questionnaire were to understand the problems students had in learning speaking skills After that, I conducted this research to find some ways to help my students improve their speaking skills Another questionnaire was given to students after I finished my research to find out more about the results of my application for improving students’ speaking skills and how successful I was The time between two questionnaires was six months

Furthermore, when I was teaching, I often made observations about students’ attitudes in class From that I could adjust my ways of teaching to help them develop their necessary skills more

4 Some problems grade 10 students have before making the research

By observing students while teaching and analyzing the first questionnaire, I realize that my students have some of the following problems:

- The factors make them reluctant to speak English in class:

+ Fear of mistakes and derision

+ Low proficiency in English

+ Not being accustomed to speaking in class

+ Teacher’s uneven allocation of turns

+ Teacher’s intolerance of silence

- The factors that prevent their speaking English process:

+ Being unable to find words and structures

+ Being unable to find ideas

5 Some ways to improve speaking skills of grade 10 students at Nguyen Huu Canh high school

From these problems above and the results of question 5 in the first questionnaire I always did my best to find some ways so that I can help my students improve their speaking skills

No one can deny the fact that most of the foreign language learners try

to learn English because it serves the purpose of international communication Obviously, perfect communication is not possible for anyone without using a language As speaking skills play a dominant role in communication, there are some key principles that are important for developing speaking skills

Providing good input

Input is something that students receive from teachers Input is what students hear, see and perceive when teachers teach Teachers should provide good input to prepare students with their storage of language information Teachers can create an environment where there are many sources of input These sources may include materials from tapes, videos, English TV programs, other English speakers and teachers can also be the rich sources of input In addition, good input requires elements of quality Among good input, comprehensible input is very necessary It is teachers’ input that students can understand with great ease owing to its high quality as well as relevance Comprehensible input helps students acquire language naturally rather than learn it consciously (Krashen, 1985), so teachers should be sensitive and skillful in selecting input materials for students and input materials should be suitable for students’ developmental process

Creating interactive process

After providing good input, teachers should provide interactive process for students to communicate and control their production In interactive process students are motivated as teachers create an atmosphere of attention and participation; therefore, lessons that help students enrich their vocabulary

and use their knowledge in situations resembling real life become more interesting The teachers’role is not limited as a controller, instead we should communicate with them In teacher-student communication, the two-way interaction such as teacher-student and student-student is set up in which students regulate their speech to achieve the end, e.g communication itself Apart from being communicator, teachers should also select supportive and motivating styles in order that learners can develop different language and communication skills as well as the ability to search for information

Tolerance of silence

There are different kinds of levels of students in class; therefore, in speaking class, there is, usually silence For silence, there are two interpretations One is the long silence; the other is the short silence The long silence often refers to the beginners or slow, weak students It takes long time for them to output their speech According to Baurain (2011) silence means a multifaceted, often determined border between thoughts and speech or between thoughts and words Silence might reflect that thoughts cannot be spoken, or truths seem to be inexpressible Sometimes, students are eager to speak but they do not know how to speak it However, some teachers cannot tolerate this silence The speedy expectation of teachers may kill students’ enthusiasm and confidence The short silence usually occurs between or within activities in the classroom Some teachers do not like this silence and try to fill in the time by talking too much This talking may affect negatively both input and interaction Teachers should be tolerant of silence Reda (2012) suggested that teachers should encourage students to engage more in speaking class by considering what they like and what they need in order to prepare interesting material In most situations, teachers are expected to create comfortable atmosphere

Learning by doing

Learning by doing encourages students to experience the language, which is a process of acquisition leading to high level of proficiency High level of proficiency requires much practice Much practice can boost students’ confidence in their own English language abilities Teachers should encourage students to speak, to practise, and to use English to communicate in class and also out of class as much as possible The more they practise, the more progress they make Obviously, learning by doing can also increase motivation of students as well as desire to learn More importantly, students can develop their practical language skills which can be applied in their daily lives

From controlled to automatic

There are two ways to improve students’ oral production One is to practise speaking based on structure This way focuses on mastery of grammatical structures rather than on mastery of vocabulary It can make students have a sense of control over the language and they can communicate; however, it is more suitable for low- level students The other kind of activity that promotes speaking is topic or function based This way helps students have more opportunities to express their thoughts, ideas, or even arguments Whether teachers adopt structure focused or function or topic focused activities depends on students’ level

There are two kinds of speaking activities One is factual information exchange; the other is personal idea exchange By factual information exchange, students can exchange information based on facts, do not have to express their own opinion They just need to share information or complete the missing information Such activity is called information-gap exchange This activity can keep students talking as they have information to say The other activity expressing their own ideas can be productive or non-productive

If students are interested in the topic or have a lot of things to say, they can

fill the classroom with their talking voices, but the topic is not what they feel interested in or what they do not have a lot to say, silence will occur

Therefore, teachers should design activities having a sense of control for students and also prepare them for further speaking development in order that they can move from controlled activities to automatic production in speaking

Dealing with students’ errors

In speaking class, most of the students surely make mistakes in their speaking practice How teachers deal with students’ mistakes and errors is very important to individual learner If teachers correct theirs too much or too frequently, we may kill students’ enthusiasm or willingness to continue speaking or even destroy the flow of the class If we do not correct at all, some of the mistakes can become unchanging Therefore, we should know the nature of what kinds of mistakes of students so that we can deal with their mistakes or errors scientifically Deep understanding or error analysis can help teachers operate and manage speaking periods better

From the start of every activity, teachers should be clear of the aims and make sure that students can be aware of what teachers expect from them The first port of call when correcting should be students themselves Students can usually correct themselves as they realize they have made a mistake Teachers should give students a chance and time so that they can correct themselves Just by raising eyebrows or repeating the mistake, teachers can help students know what we mean and go back to correct error themselves Students can also correct one another Peer correction creates a positive class atmosphere because students realize teachers are not the only source of error correction and they can also learn a lot from one another In addition, teachers can get students to work in groups and have them correct each others Although it is possible, there are some problems with this way and teachers

need to make sure of class as well as monitor them closely while it is happening

These principles can be applied in teaching speaking flexibly The most important thing is that teachers can help students practise speaking as much as possible

6 Implementation

I have been teaching English for 21 years My school is in Bien Hoa city Most of students come from working - class families, so they rarely have conditions to study English at Foreign Language Centres or extra classes They only study English at school Among four skills, my students are often afraid of speaking skills To make my speaking periods successful I have tried many ways As I want to help my students follow my lesson easily, I give them input which refers to what information they must have in the lesson so that they may reach the objective and how they get this information My instructions should be brief, easy to understand and clear so that all students know what they have to do These help attract students’ commitment to the lesson and avoid confusion

After all my students understand what to do, I reduce my speaking time

in class while increasing student speaking time I observe my students while they are practising At that time I circulate around classroom to ensure that

my students are on right track and see whether they need my help while they are working in pairs or groups By this way I want my students have more time to practise speaking and I can find ways to help slow or weak students

One of the problems that often prevent speaking English process of students is shortage of vocabulary Most of the students do not spend time learning vocabulary, so their vocabulary is very limited When speaking they often get stuck or cannot finish the sentences they want to speak One simple way is that before teaching speaking I often give students vocabulary that are relating to the topic Another way is that in pre-speaking stage I use “mind

map” to give students the topic so that they can work in groups to find out as many words relating to topic as possible By this way I want to help my students enrich their vocabulary and they can memorize new words more easily

Some of my students feel very shy to speak because they do not acquire the target language They do not even interact with other students or keep silent when they are asked to speak English all the time Therefore I try to create a comfortable atmosphere in the classroom where students are not afraid of speaking and enjoy communicating with me I try to let them feel relaxed and comfortable in English periods There is a close relationship between my students and me as we are enthusiastic about learning and respectful of one another Both strong and weak students are most motivated

to learn when they feel comfortable and relaxed According to Nunan (2011) teachers should pay attention to many problems in classroom I provide maximum opportunities for students to speak English by providing a rich environment containing collaborative work, materials and tasks that are suitable for my students’ levels I try to involve each student in every speaking activity by varying speaking activities Some activities that can be done to promote speaking are: discussions, role play, simulations, interviews, story completion, brainstorming, pair work, group work, etc

Most of students are often worried about making mistakes This makes them feel unconfident when speaking English, especially some weak students The teachers should not correct very often the students’ mistakes while they are speaking (Kayi, 2006) When my students are speaking I don’t interrupt them to correct their mistakes, I take notes in my paper After my students finish speaking I correct mistakes for all class without mentioning whose mistakes By this way every student doesn’t worry about their mistakes, they can improve themselves from other mistakes

Besides, while teaching I often ask eliciting questions such as “What do you mean?” “How did you reach that conclusion?” to prompt students to speak more Also, I often provide helpful feedback like “your presentation was really great It was a good job” By this way, I can encourage my students

to speak more

7 Some illustrations of the ways to help students improve their speaking skills

In this part, two illustrations are given to make everything more clearly

In Unit 3: People’s background - Lesson B: Speaking

1 Activity 1: “Word square”

Find 9 words about Marie Curie

input I provide for students, the better they can talk about Marie Curie’s background in activity 2

In Unit 10: Conservation - Lesson B: Speaking

1 Activity 1: Look at the pictures and tell the differences between a

traditional zoo and a new kind of zoo

A traditional zoo A new kind of zoo

In this activity, I would like my students to understand little by little how a traditional zoo and new kind of zoo are different by describing two pictures If my students get stuck I can help them by asking some questions such as:

+ In traditional zoo where is the tiger kept?

+ In new kind of zoo is the tiger kept in a cage?

Expected answers:

- In traditional zoo, animals are kept in cages They can have better food,

their health is looked after but they have no freedom,

- In the zoo of the new kind, animals can live in their natural environment

They aren’t kept in cages but they can die of hunger or disease,