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The current study entitled “Applying ProblemSolving Activities in Teaching Speaking Skills for the Secondyear EnglishMajor Students at Vietnam University of Commerce” was carried out to find out the effectiveness of problemsolving activities in improving students’ speaking competence as well as investigate the students’ motivation towards the use of problemsolving activities in speaking lessons at Vietnam University of Commerce (VUC), and then give some pedagogical implications for teachers. An action research was implemented with 40 students of English Department at VUC during four weeks. Data were collected by observations, oral tests, questionnaires, and student’s journals. To answer two research questions (1) To what extent does the application of problemsolving activities improve students’ speaking skills? and (2) What are the effects of problemsolving activities on students’ motivation?, four speaking lessons were conducted in the form of problemsolving activities. The main findings highlighted the students’ improvement in speaking skills after the treatment. This was shown by the students’ journals and comparisons of results of oral pretest and posttest, which have the same format and criteria for assessing. The analyses of the postintervention questionnaire and observation sheet also indicated that the students are more interested and involved in speaking lessons. Thus, it is expected that the results of this study could benefit English teachers in general and English teachers in VUC in particular to enhance their speaking lessons.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would love to express my deep indebtedness to a number of people whose invaluable support and encouragement were of great help in the completion of this study First and foremost, I would like to advance my special gratitude and respect to my minor thesis advisor, Assoc Prof Dr Tran Xuan Diep for his invaluable suggestions, continuous support, great encouragement, motivating attitude as well as critical comments from the beginning of my study I could never have achieved this without his support I am also thankful to all my teachers at the English department, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi My special thanks to 40 second-year students at Vietnam University of Commerce for their invaluable support and cooperation to start and complete my thesis Lastly, my special words of thanks are extent to my family for their endless help, patience and support i ABSTRACT The current study entitled “Applying Problem-Solving Activities in Teaching Speaking Skills for the Second-year English-Major Students at Vietnam University of Commerce” was carried out to find out the effectiveness of problem-solving activities in improving students’ speaking competence as well as investigate the students’ motivation towards the use of problem-solving activities in speaking lessons at Vietnam University of Commerce (VUC), and then give some pedagogical implications for teachers An action research was implemented with 40 students of English Department at VUC during four weeks Data were collected by observations, oral tests, questionnaires, and student’s journals To answer two research questions (1) To what extent does the application of problem-solving activities improve students’ speaking skills? and (2) What are the effects of problem-solving activities on students’ motivation?, four speaking lessons were conducted in the form of problem-solving activities The main findings highlighted the students’ improvement in speaking skills after the treatment This was shown by the students’ journals and comparisons of results of oral pre-test and post-test, which have the same format and criteria for assessing The analyses of the postintervention questionnaire and observation sheet also indicated that the students are more interested and involved in speaking lessons Thus, it is expected that the results of this study could benefit English teachers in general and English teachers in VUC in particular to enhance their speaking lessons ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 1: Action Research Model ( Kemmis, 1988) 19 Figure 2: Comparison of Results of Pre-test and Post-test 30 Figure Students’ Level Motivation 34 Abbreviation VCU: Vietnam University of Commerce iii TABLES OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION .1 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW .5 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODS 17 2.1 The Setting 17 2.2 Subjects 18 2.3 Research Approach 18 2.4 Data Collection Instruments .19 2.4.2 Questionnaires 20 2.4.3 Observation Sheet .20 2.4.4 Students’ Journals 21 2.5 Intervention: The Application of Problem-Solving Activities 21 2.7.Data Analysis 25 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 27 3.1 Preliminary Investigation 27 3.2 Evaluation 30 3.3 Summary 37 PART C: CONCLUSIONS 39 4.1 Recapitulation of Main Ideas 39 4.2 Limitations of the Study .40 4.3 Suggestions for Further Studies 40 REFERENCES 42 APPENDICES………………………………………………………………………I iv PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the Study Among four skills, speaking plays the most essential part in communication In fact, Vietnamese students realize the necessity as well as importance of enhancing language skills in order to meet future job’s needs and communicate in social conversations However, it is hard for most of them to use English in the real situations In the real context of Vietnam University of Commerce, lecture-oriented method is still applied at present although there have been a large number of changes about teaching materials and supplementary activities Students not feel elated and enthusiastic when participating in speaking lessons Their lack of confidence as well as uninteresting speaking activities leads to demotivate them to join in In addition, other problems such as lack of vocabulary, involvement or enjoyment have great impacts on their participation in speaking lessons To solve these problems, more effective speaking activities need to be exploited so as to enhance learners’ communicative competence and help them get more involved in speaking lessons, so current teachers need to actively engage students in speaking activities that are enjoyable and are based on a more communicative approach One of them is problem-solving activities, which received many supports from scholars and teachers Using problem-solving activities is regarded as an effective way to practise communication skills in which students work with each other to find out appropriate solutions to a specific problem Therefore, this is a good chance for them to interact with teachers or other students, which encourage them to be more cheerful and inspired Moreover, their discussion will help them share information, create new ideas and boost their self-confidence Thus, their speaking skill will also be improved Students use target language as a means to solve a problem, which also increases their motivation, participation and critical thinking The above mentioned situation has urged the researcher to conduct a study of “Applying Problem-solving Activities in Teaching Speaking Skills to the Secondyear English-Major Students at Vietnam University of Commerce” This study is intended to make a contribution to helping students at Vietnam University of Commerce improve their speaking skills 1.2 Aims of the Study The study aimed at finding out whether the application of problem-solving activities has a positive impact on the speaking skills of the Second-year EnglishMajor Students at Vietnam University of Commerce Then, suggestions on how to use problem-solving activities effectively to enhance students’ speaking competence are given 1.3 Objectives of the Study The specific objectives of the study were as follows: • To investigate the extent to which the application of problem-solving activities has improved the speaking competence of the Second-year English-Major Students at Vietnam University of Commerce • To exploit the effects of problem-solving activities on students’ motivation in speaking skills 1.4 Research Questions In this investigation, the following research questions were addressed: To what extent does the application of problem-solving activities improve students’ speaking skills? What are the effects of problem-solving activities on students’ motivation? 1.5 Scope of the Study The study was conducted on 40 Second-year English-Major Students at Vietnam University of Commerce in the first semester of 2014-2015 via the application of problem-solving activities in teaching speaking skills 1.6 Significance of the Study The foremost significance of this study is that it will contribute to a more effective use of problem-solving activities in order to enhance speaking skills for the Second-year English-Major Students at Vietnam University of Commerce The findings of the study will provide an insightful understanding of the current situation of exploiting problem-solving activities in teaching speaking skills to the Second-year English-Major Students at Vietnam University of Commerce In other words, the study also helps revisit the features and principles of problem solving in education Moreover, English teachers may find the recommended problem-solving activities a useful reference to make their speaking lessons more communicative, meaningful and practical 1.7 Methodology An action research was applied in this minor thesis to improve students’ speaking skills and teaching speaking in the researcher’s own class In order to collect sufficient and relevant data for the study, four instruments were employed: - Pre-test and post-test to assess student’s speaking ability - Observation sheet to find out students’ motivation during the intervention - Survey questionnaires to investigate students’ achievement and motivation before and after the intervention - Student’s journals to investigate students’ improvement towards this application 1.8 Design of the Study The study consists of three parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion The Introduction presents the rationale, aim, objectives, scope, significance and methodology The Development includes three chapters which are as follows: Chapter One covers an in-depth review of the literature in which a relevant theoretical background and a review of related studies concerning applying problem-solving activities in teaching speaking skills Chapter Two features the research methods including the background information of the context, the subjects of the study, the instruments used to collect data, and the procedures of data collection and data analysis Moreover, a detailed description of data analysis is provided Chapter Three shows the findings and discussions, the results of the study are shown The Conclusions ends the report with the recapitulation of main ideas, the limitations of the study and the suggestions for further studies PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Theoretical Background 1.1.1 An Overview of Speaking 1.1.1.1 Some Concepts of Speaking Speaking skill plays an essential role in teaching and learning a foreign language There are a variety of views on the term “speaking” given by different linguists According to Chaney (1998), “Speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols in a variety of contexts” (p 13) While Byrne (1986, p 8) defined that speaking is “a two-way process between speaker and listener, involving the productive skill of speaking and the receptive skill of understanding” The speaker plays the role of encoding the message to be conveyed in an appropriate language, while the listener has to decode the message A similar view of “speaking” given by Scott, R (1981) was that speaking is “an activity involving two (or more) people in which the participants are both hearers and speakers having to react to what they hear and make their contributions at high speed” Through the interaction, each participant will try to achieve his communicative goals and fulfill his ability of interpreting what is said to him Expressing message or sharing information through verbal and non-verbal symbols is actually effective ways in real-life situations which will help people understand each other without words Theodore Huebner stated that “language is essentially speech, and speech is basically communication by sounds” According to him, speaking is a skill used by someone in daily life communication whether at school or outside The skill is acquired by much repetition; it primarily a neuromuscular and not an intellectual process It consists of competence in sending and receiving messages To sum up, it is obvious that speaking is one of the most important skills for learners The ability to speak fluently, appropriately and understandably every time, everywhere and in every situation is the goal as well as the desire of language learners It is not easy for them to master immediately because speaking skills require learners to practice regularly and patiently From these reasons, Bygate (1987, p 2) considered speaking skills as “a skill which deserves attention every bit as much as literary skills in both first and second language” 1.1.1.2 The Roles of Speaking Skills in Language Teaching Speaking creates motivation in language learning According to Crook and Schmidt (1991), motivation is defined as the learner’s orientation with regard to the goal of learning a second language Learning a language is to know to learn how to use it, as Nunan (1991) stated “success is measured in terms of the ability to carry out a conversation in the (target) language” Mastering a language is that learners can use it flexibly in every situation If students cannot speak or they not have a chance to speak, they will get bored and lose their interest in learning a language Therefore, the right activities need using in a right way, which makes speaking in class be cheerful and raises learners’ motivation as well as creates a dynamic English language classroom Speaking also helps other language skills be improved It is obvious that speaking and listening are the two inter-dependent macro skills A student who is good at speaking is more likely to be good at listening than the others A student who speaks English well also has a higher chance of reading and writing English better than the others (Nation, 1990, p.21) Speaking is fundamental to human communication In fact, we speak more than we write, whereas many English teachers still spend the majority of class time on reading and writing Speaking and listening skills are not really esteemed Rivers, W.M (1987) Interactive Language Teaching Cambridge Language Teaching Library Shumin, K (1997) Factors to consider: Developing adult EFL students’ speaking abilities English Teaching Forum, 35(3) Scott, R (1981) Speaking (In Johnson & Morrow Eds) London: Longman Theodore Huebner (1960) Audio Visual Technique in Teaching Foreign Language New York: Cambridge University Press, p Ur, P (1996) A course in language teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Wallace, M J., 2001, Action Research for Language Teachers, Cambridge: CUP Wright, T.(1987) Roles of teachers and learners Oxford: Oxford University Press 44 45 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE (BEFORE THE INTERVENTION) MY NAME IS NGUYEN THI THANH HA FROM K21A AT POST-GRADUATE STUDIES, ULIS, VNU I AM CONDUCTING MY M.A THESIS ENTITLED “APPLYING PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS TO THE SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT VIETNAM UNIVERSITY OF COMMERCE” I WOULD LIKE YOU TO HELP ME FINISH THIS SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE YOUR ASSISTANCE IN RESPONDING THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS WOULD MAKE A GREAT CONTRIBUTION TO THE COMPLETION OF MY THESIS YOU CAN BE ASSURED THAT YOUR NAME WILL NOT BE MENTIONED IN ANY DISCUSSION OF THE DATA COMPLETE THESE QUESTIONS, PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS TO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP! DIRECTIONS: PLEASE RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS AS HONESTLY AS POSSIBLE PUT A TICK IN THE BOX THAT CORRESPONDS TO YOUR ANSWER CHOICE QUESTION 1: HOW IMPORTANT IS SPEAKING SKILL TO YOU? VERY RATHER NOT AT ALL LITTLE QUESTION 2: DO YOU THINK WHAT LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY IS SPEAKING? TOO EASY EASY NORMAL DIFFICULT T OO DIFFICULT QUESTION 3: WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING FEARS DO YOU COME ACROSS WITH WHEN SPEAKING? LOOKING FOOLISH/EMBARRASSMENT FORGETTING WHAT YOU NEED/WANT TO SAY CRITICISM FROM AUDIENCE TOO MANY PEOPLE WATCHING/LOOKING AT YOU BEING LAUGHED AT I QUESTION 4: DO YOU THINK SPEAKING ACTIVITIES GIVEN IN CLASS HELP YOU IMPROVE YOUR SPEAKING SKILLS? STRONG AGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE QUESTION 5: WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING FACTORS CAUSE DIFFICULTIES WHEN SPEAKING ENGLISH? BAD GRAMMAR INSUFFICIENT VOCABULARY SHYNESS POOR PRONUNCIATION II APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE (AFTER THE INTERVENTION) MY NAME IS NGUYEN THI THANH HA FROM K21A AT POST-GRADUATE STUDIES, ULIS, VNU I AM CONDUCTING MY M.A THESIS ENTITLED “APPLYING PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS TO THE SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT VIETNAM UNIVERSITY OF COMMERCE” I WOULD LIKE YOU TO HELP ME FINISH THIS SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE YOUR ASSISTANCE IN RESPONDING THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS WOULD MAKE A GREAT CONTRIBUTION TO THE COMPLETION OF MY THESIS YOU CAN BE ASSURED THAT YOUR NAME WILL NOT BE MENTIONED IN ANY DISCUSSION OF THE DATA COMPLETE THESE QUESTIONS, PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS TO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP! PLEASE CIRCLE ONE NUMBER FOR EACH STATEMENT BELOW TO INDICATE YOUR CHOICE: QUESTION 1: WHAT IS YOUR LEVEL OF INVOLVEMENT IN THE PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES? NOT AT ALL LITTLE ENOUGH MUCH VERY MUCH IN THE FOLLOWING TABLE PLEASE RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS AS HONESTLY AS POSSIBLE PUT A TICK () IN THE BOX THAT CORRESPONDS TO YOUR ANSWER CHOICE FROM QUESTION TO QUESTION 9: REMEMBER, THERE ARE NO RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS! STATEMENT AGREE III DISAGR AL I am interested in doing problem-solving NEUTR EE activities very much I felt excited and comfortable when working on these problem-solving activities THE LESSONS IN THIS COURSE WERE VERY BORING PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES WERE VERY HELPFUL TO COMPETENCE WITH THE ACTIVITIES, ENHANCE HELP OF MY SPEAKING PROBLEM-SOLVING I WAS MUCH MORE MOTIVATED AND FEEL FREE PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES CREATED THE REAL NEED FOR ME TO COMMUNICATE PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES HELPED ME PRACTICE WHAT I HAVE LEARNT IN REAL CONVERSATION 10 THANKS TO PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES, MY DECISION MAKING WAS IMPROVED IV APPENDIX OBSERVATION SHEET (ADAPTED FROM NUNAN 1989, P.110) OBSERVER: DATE: …………………………… …………………………………… TEACHER: TIME OF CLASS: ……………………………… ………………………… NUMBER OF STUDENTS: LEVEL OF CLASS: ………………… ………………………… OBSERVATION FOCUS: LEVEL OF STUDENT MOTIVATION GENERATED BY THE TEACHING MATERIALS IN USE, IS AN AVERAGE MARK FOR ANY ONE ITEM INSTRUCTIONS: − This sheet is for observing the class as a whole, not individual student − Complete this sheet when the activity is drawing to a close − Circle ONE number for each statement below − Add final comments at the bottom of the sheet if you wish Mark how involved in the learning task the students are not very involved very involved Mark the level of the student concentration on the learning task low high The students are enjoying the activity not really very much so The students are paying persistent (extended) attention to the learning task not really very much so Mark the student’s activity level (effort/ intensity of application) low high The students find the teaching materials interesting not really very much so Studying through problem-solving activities is challenging for students not really very much so The applied method is appropriate for students not really very much so V APPENDIX CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING SPEAKING TESTS (ADAPTED FROM HARRIS, 1969, P.18) SPEAKING CRITERIA SCORE Pronunciation Grammar Vocabulary FURTHER EXPLANATION S Has fewer traces of foreign accent Always intelligible, though one is conscious of a definite Pronunciation problem necessitate concentrated listening and occasionally lead to misunderstanding Very hard to understand because of pronunciation problems It must frequently be asked to repeat Pronunciation problems so severe as to make speech virtually unintelligible Makes few (if any) noticeable errors of grammar of word order Occasionally makes grammatical and/or wordorder errors which not, however, obscure meaning Makes frequent errors of grammar and word order which occasionally obscure meaning Grammar and word order errors make comprehension difficult Must often rephrase sentence and/or restrict himself to basic patterns Errors in grammar and word order so severe as to make speech virtually unintelligible Use of vocabulary and idiom is virtually that of a native speaker Sometimes uses inappropriate terms and/or must rephrase ideas because of lexical inadequacies Frequently uses the wrong words, conversation somewhat limited because of inadequate VI Fluency Comprehension vocabulary Misuse of words and very limited vocabulary make comprehension quite difficult Vocabulary limitations so extreme as to make conversation virtually impossible Speech as fluent and effortless as that of native speaker Speed of speech seems to be slightly affected by language problems Speed and fluency are rather strongly affected by language problems Usually hesitant, often forced into silence by language limitations Speech is halting and fragmentary as to make conversation virtually impossible Appears to understand everything without difficulty Understands nearly everything at normal speed although occasional repetition may be necessary Understands most of what is said as slower-thannormal speed with repetitions Has great difficulty following what is said; can comprehend only "social conversation" spoken slowly and with frequent repetitions Cannot be said to understand even simple conversational English VII APPENDIX RECORDS OF SCORES OF STUDENTS’ PRETEST AND POSTTEST STUDENT TEST CODE S01 S02 S03 S04 S05 S06 S07 S08 S09 S10 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15 S16 S17 S18 S19 S20 S21 S22 S23 S24 S25 S26 S27 S28 S29 S30 S31 PRE-TEST 8,0 8,0 8.5 7.5 8,0 7,5 8,5 6,5 7,0 7.5 8.5 7.5 7,0 7,5 6 7.5 6.5 7,0 VIII POST-TEST 6.5 7,5 7,0 8.5 8.5 8.5 7.5 9 8,0 8,0 8,5 9,0 8,5 8,0 8.5 9,0 9,0 7.5 7,5 S32 S33 S34 S35 S36 S37 S38 S39 S40 8,0 7,5 6.5 7,0 8,0 8,5 8,0 8,0 8,0 7.5 APPENDIX ORAL PRE-TEST STUDENT A: YOU ARE INTERVIEWING STUDENT B FOR A JOB AT YOUR SPORTS CLUB ASK B THE RIGHT QUESTIONS TO OBTAIN THE ANSWERS BELOW SCORE ONE POINT FOR EACH CORRECT ANSWER YOU RECEIVE - At weekends Since I was at school Several years ago During the holidays No, only a few weeks - The Economist - For two years - No, not yet - In the next six months - No, I haven’t STUDENT B: IX YOU ARE BEING INTERVIEWED FOR A JOB AT STUDENT A’S SPORTS CLUB ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THEY ASK ORAL POST-TEST STUDENT A: YOU ARE A RESEARCHER AT NY UNIVERSITY’S STERN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, AND AN EXPERT IN E-TAILING ANSWER B’S QUESTIONS, ADDING DETAILS AND OPINIONS STUDENT B: YOU ARE A JOURNALIST INTERVIEWING A RESEARCHER FROM NY UNIVERSITY’S STERN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ASK FOR INFORMATION AND OPINIONS ABOUT: - The problem of visitors who just browse websites without buying Customer-tracking software and customer privacy Animated sales reps Your own question APPENDIX LESSON PLAN TOPIC: CORPORATE CULTURE DURATION: 50 MINUTES I Aim: - Provide students with useful knowledge about culture at workplace - Encourage students to use useful language to discuss or exchange information with each other II Materials: - TEXTBOOK, CD III ANTICIPATED PROBLEMS: SS MAY HAVE DIFFICULTY IN EXPRESS THEIR FEELINGS ABOUT COMPANY CULTURE IV PROCEDURE: A PRE-SPEAKING (10 minutes) X * Aim: to introduce the topic of work culture and work placements (internship) and provide students with language and knowledge and to highlight useful expression - Brainstorm words and phrases related to the topic and write them on board (e.g.: internship, the structure of company, work placement, office etiquette, relationship with colleague, etc.) - Introduce the recording of a conversation about work placement problems Tell Ss to listen to the tape and complete the task by answering some questions Call on some Ss to finish it Play the tape several times if necessary Ask other Ss in the class to comment on the work done by these students on the board Play the tape again and check the exercise in front of the class as a whole - Ask students to work in small groups to the task provided by the teacher Give students some minutes to think and discuss with their group members B WHILE- SPEAKING (30 minutes) - Students work in groups of three or four to rank the words according to size and give the reasons for their choice - Teacher gives instruction to the students - Teacher goes around and provides help when necessary - Teacher calls on some groups to practice in front of the class - Class listen to some groups presenting their ideas - Teacher gives feedback on students’ presentation C POST- SPEAKING (10 minutes) - TEACHER ASKS SS TO WORK IN PAIRS AND TALK ABOUT THEIR WISH FOR THEIR FUTURE CAREER (PERKS, COLLEAGUE, AND ENVIRONMENT) - CALL SOME PAIRS TO PERFORM IN FRONT OF THE CLASS - MAKE NECESSARY COMMENTS AND CORRECTIONS XI ... the language classroom in Thai context In this study, a one group pre-test and post-test design was also employed for 49 students at a secondary school in Udon Thani, Thailand to assess their English... looking at you was chosen by 45% is in third place Next, Forgetting what you need/want to say is in fourth place with the percentage of 42.5% Finally, looking foolish/ embarrassment was chosen by 37.5%... think speaking activities given in class help you improve your speaking skills? Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree 1/40(2.5%) 4/40(10%) 5/40(12.5%) 19/40(47.5%) 11/40(27.5%) Table