ACKOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, M.A, without whose valuable comments and guidance, my thesis would not have been accomplished My special thanks go to all teachers of Foreign Languages Faculty and English major students from Course 35 at Hanoi Pedagogical University N0.2 in the academic year of 2012-2013 They helped me to complete my graduation Finally, I am immensely grateful to my family and friends for their non-stop encouragement and support during the research’s finalization i ABSTRACT Many researchers have done many studies on speaking in general and speaking lesson in particularly They give principles, problems, and characteristics of a speaking lesson In addition, they mention many other factors in a speaking lesson, i.e teacher and students’ role, effective ways of organizing a speaking lesson It is obvious that students together with the teacher are the most important ones Modern teaching methods of foreign languages count on involving the use of different forms of organizing activities and activities used in a speaking lesson The thesis focuses on finding the most common ways of preparing and organizing a good speaking lesson Primary data was collected from fifty trainee teachers from K35A of Faculty of Foreign Languages at Hanoi Pedagogical University N0.2 Some limitations and directions have been indicated for future research ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Title: HOW TO PREPARE AND ORGANIZE A SUCCESSFUL SPEAKING LESSON FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS (Submitted in partial fulfillment for Degree of Bachelor of Arts in English) I certify that all the materials in this study which are not my own work have been identified and acknowledged, and that no material is included for which a degree has been conferred upon me Date submitted: May 2013 Student Supervisor Pham Thi Thu Trang Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, M.A iii TABLE OF CONTENT ACKOWLEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP iii TABLE OF CONTENT iv PART ONE INTRODUCTION I Rationale II Research presupposition III Research objectives IV Research scope V Research tasks VI Research methods VII Significance of the proposed research VIII Design of the research work PART TWO DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND I Literature review II Overview of the speaking lesson iv II.1 Characteristics of a successful speaking activity II.2 Problems with speaking activities II.3 Stages of a speaking lesson II.3.1 Warm-up II.3.2 Introduction II.3.3 Presentation II.3.4 Practice II.3.5 Review II.4 Forms of organizing activities in a speaking lesson II.4.1 Whole-class II.4.2 Group work 10 II.4.3 Pair works 11 II.4.4 Individual work 13 II.5 Teacher’s roles during a speaking lesson 13 II.6 Students’ roles in a speaking lesson 14 II.7 Tips for teachers on preparing and organizing a speaking lesson 15 II.7.1 Preparing a speaking lesson 15 II.7.1.1 Preparing the lesson plan 15 II.1.2 Planning for out-of-class learning 16 II.7.1.3 Choosing appropriate teaching methods 16 II.7.1.4 Selecting appropriate teaching aids 16 II.7.2 Organizing a speaking lesson 17 II.7.2.1 Warm-up 17 II.7.2.2 Introduction 20 v II.7.2.3 Presentation 21 II.7.2.4 Practice 21 II.7.2.5 Review 22 CHAPTER TWO: THE RESULTS I Survey 24 I.1 Rationale for the use of survey questionnaire 24 I.2 Purpose of the survey 24 I.3 Population of the survey 24 I.4 Construction of the survey 24 I.5 Try-out 25 I.6 Steps of the data analysis II Results of the survey 25 II.1 Preparing a speaking lesson 25 II.2 Organizing a speaking lesson 26 II.2.1 Warm-up 26 II.2.2 Introduction 27 II.2.3 Presentation 28 II.2.4 Practice 29 II.2.5 Review 30 II.3 Students’ reaction 30 III Sub-conclusion 31 PART THREE CONCLUSION I Summary of the study 33 vi II Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study 33 REFERENCES 35 SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE 36 vii PART ONE INTRODUCTION I Rationale In the globalization age today, English assumes as a more and more important part as a means of international communication than ever Therefore, in some recent years, the focus of teaching has been promoting oral skills in order to respond to the students’ needs for effective communication However, due to some objective and subjective reasons, teaching and learning English in general and teaching and learning speaking in particular does not come up to the study aims Despite teachers’ efforts to provide students with opportunities to develop their communicative skills, how to teach and learn speaking effectively is still a challenging question to both teachers and students at many high schools in Vietnam English teaching program for high school students in Vietnam has been changed since the academic year 2006- 2007 Therefore, there are many unprecedented things in the textbook in which a unit is divided into five lessons, i.e reading, speaking, listening, writing, and language focus Speaking is one of new skills in teaching program It is said that speaking is the skill students have a lot of difficulties in learning Students seem to be reluctant, and reluctance to speak is seen as the biggest challenge Moreover, a speaking lesson depends on both teacher and learners While a teacher is trying to organize a speaking lesson, his students not pay attention to the lesson or in other words, they not take part in speaking activities at class As a result, the lesson’s objectives could not be achieved Through the process of teaching practice at Nguyen Van Huyen High School and discussion with English teachers there, I realize that it is necessary to give some ways to prepare and organize more successful speaking lessons II Research presupposition This study is about speaking lesson and I am making an analysis in preparing and organizing a speaking lesson so that the question is raised: What are the effective ways to prepare and organize a speaking lesson? III Research objectives The study is carried out to find out effective ways of preparing and organizing a speaking lesson at high schools IV Research scope The general research scope of this study is methodology The population involved in the study is 50 students from K35 English major of Foreign Language Faculty at Hanoi Pedagogical University N0.2 V Research tasks The paper studies reality of preparing and organizing speaking lessons at high schools and documents that gives tips of preparing and organizing a speaking lesson to finish the research objective VI Research methods To achieve the objectives of the study, the following methods have been applied: - Documents collection - Analysis - Survey questionnaire VII Significance of the proposed research In the context of Foreign Languages Faculty at Hanoi Pedagogical University No.2, the study was carried out to give a clear picture about ways the students used to prepare and organize a speaking lesson when they have a period of teaching practice Therefore, hopefully, the thesis is beneficial to both students and teachers in preparing and organizing a speaking lesson VIII Design of the research work The study has three main parts: Introduction, Development, and Conclusion Part one is the Introduction In this part, the rational, the aims, research questions, the scope of the study, methods of the study and also its design are presented The next part, Development consists of two chapters Chapter one is entitled “Theoretical Background” dealing with literature review, overview of speaking lesson (characteristic of a successful speaking lesson, problems with speaking activity, stages of a speaking lesson, forms of organizing speaking activities, teachers’ and students’ roles in a speaking lesson, tips for preparing and organizing a successful speaking lesson) Chapter two is named “The Results” including overall of survey and the result of survey The last part is the Conclusion which includes the summary of the study, limitations of the study and suggestions for further study References and Survey questionnaire are presented in the last pages of the study As seen in table 1, there is only one suggestion, greeting the whole class, whose percentage is 100% Obviously, this is compulsory teacher action in every speaking lesson It is followed by managing classroom and managing time with 98% Choosing appropriate speaking activities to motivate students stands at the next position with 94% Using teaching aids and non-verbal communication is paid attention by 68% of the students Many trainee teachers and teachers (86%) usually use gestures, and prepare appropriate teaching aids with every lesson to promote the lesson effectiveness Speaking at a suitable speed stands the next position with 68% There are three suggestions whose ration is lower than 50%, i.e not joining in the activities (48%), using the same simple phrases each lesson (42%), and the last, not correcting the students’ mistakes (10%) In the supplement for the warm up, there is an idea, examining the previous lesson I think this is not a good idea, because examining the previous lesson not only takes time but also makes students nervous, therefore, in the next parts of the lesson, it is very difficult to generate the students’ interest II.2.2 Introduction Table 2: Data collected from question part I in the survey questionnaire Suggested answers Number Rate (%) 47 94 47 94 Managing classroom 47 94 Keeping the language simple 35 70 Checking students’ comprehension periodically 37 74 Introducing the topic in order to generate students’ interest Choosing appropriate speaking activities to motivate students 27 Managing time 47 94 As can be seen from the table, there are four suggestions having the highest ration (94%), i.e introducing the topic in order to generate students’ interest, choosing appropriate speaking activities to motivate students, managing classroom, and the last, managing time The next is checking students’ comprehension periodically with 74% Finally, it is followed by keeping the language simple with 70% II.2.3 Presentation Table 3: Data collected from question part I in the survey questionnaire Suggested answers Number Rate (%) 49 98 36 72 Showing the form – how the grammar is made 46 92 Demonstrating and working on correct pronunciation and 49 98 32 64 37 74 47 94 Speaking up to 75% of the time, as they are presenting information Setting a natural context in which the language is hidden, in order to convey meaning of new language highlighting stress and intonation patterns Focusing on accuracy when correcting students at this stage Asking concept check questions to see if students have understood Illustrating the presentation with pictures, real objects, gestures, or anything else that can help make the meaning clear 28 As seen from the table 3, there are two suggestions, whose percentages are 98% The first is that the teachers speak up to 75% of the time, and the second, the teachers demonstrate and work on correct pronunciation, and highlight stress and intonation The next suggestion chosen by 47 people is that the teachers illustrate the presentation with pictures, real objects, non-verbal communication to help students understand more It is followed by another with 92%, the teachers show the form - how grammar structure is made The proportions of asking concept check questions to see if students have understood and setting a natural context in which the language is hidden, in order to convey meaning of new language reach 74% and 72% respectively Finally, the suggestion has the lowest rate is that the teachers focus on accuracy when correcting students at this stage II.2.4 Practice Table 4: Data collected from question part I in the survey questionnaire Suggested answers Number Rate (%) Letting students speak up to 90% of the time 48 96 Using activities for students to practice the task orally 48 96 Encouraging lots of pair work and group work during this 36 72 23 46 18 36 stage Monitoring the class but does not correct the mistakes until the end Focusing on fluency rather than accuracy As can be seen from the table, the first two suggestions’ percentage stands at the highest (96%) In this stage, it is good to let students speak up to 90% of the time and use activities for students to practice the task orally Especially, pair 29 work and group work are two appropriate forms of organizing activities in this stage And the suggestion of using pair work and group work reaches 72% Two final ones are monitoring the class but not correcting the mistakes until the end, and focusing on fluency respectively stand at 46% and 36% II.2.5 Review Table 5: Data collected from question part I in the survey questionnaire Suggested answers Number Rate (%) Correcting any mistakes that were heard during the 39 78 Reviewing the lesson's target language 23 46 Giving feedback on their performance 43 86 Managing classroom 45 90 Managing time 19 38 practice As can be seen from the table, managing classroom has the highest percentage (90%) It is followed by giving feedback on their performance in the lesson (86%) The third rank is correcting students’ mistakes in the practice stage (78%) Reviewing the lesson’s target language is paid less attention with 46% And managing time in this stage is not noticed as much as that in the previous stages because it gets only 38% II.3 Students’ reaction From the findings in terms of the achievements above and the result from questions in part II in the questionnaire survey, it can be concluded that the suggestions above can be exploited as a motivator for students to speak because it can arouse the interest in speaking among the majority of the students Besides, in order to increase the effectiveness of using these tips, it is necessary 30 to pay enough attention to students’ expectations and preferences and the classroom’s atmosphere It seems that they are relevant to students’ interests, their level of the target language and their ability to grasp chances to speak III Sub-conclusion Through the data collected from the survey questionnaire, it is concluded that there are many tips used in preparing and organizing a speaking lesson Firstly, to prepare a speaking lesson, the teachers should focus on preparing a lesson plan, choosing appropriate teaching methods and teaching aids These can help teachers deal with situations in the class and control them Secondly, the teachers are advised to follow some effective tips of organizing a speaking lesson In the warm up stage, the teachers should greet the whole class before starting a lesson They should choose appropriate speaking lesson activities to motivate students, manage classroom and time of the stage, and should not set up activities that are unrelated to the lesson In addition, the tips such as using teaching aids and non-verbal communication, and speaking at a suitable speed are concerned In the introduction stage, it is good to apply the following tips: introducing the topic in order to generate students’ interest, choosing appropriate speaking activities to motivate students, managing time and classroom Moreover, keeping the language simple and checking students’ comprehension are useful Dealing with presentation, here are some useful tips for teachers: speaking up to 75% of the time, demonstrating and working on correct pronunciation and highlighting stress and intonation patterns, and illustrating the presentation with pictures, real objects, and gestures As for practice stage, the teacher should develop student-centered environment learning, use activities for students to practice the task orally, and the last, encourage lots of pair work and group work during this stage 31 The last stage in a speaking lesson is review In this stage, the teacher should focus on managing classroom, giving feedback on their performance, and correcting mistakes in the practice stage 32 PART THREE CONCLUSION I Summary of the study It is undeniable that speaking skill is very important in the foreign language learning However, it is complex and often causes embarrassment to both teachers and students of English in teaching and learning respectively Taking this point into consideration, the study gives theoretical background of speaking lesson, teachers and students’ role in speaking lessons, and suggestions for preparing and organizing a speaking lesson for high school students Firstly, there are five stages in a speaking lesson, i.e warm-up, introduction, presentation, practice, and review Each stage has its role and importance in which students’ interest is generated, students’ ability is proved Secondly, teachers and students’ role in speaking lessons are considerable Teacher and students in the lesson play difference role but in short, teacher help students prove their ability and acquire information, and students are those who try their best to get the knowledge The third one is suggestions for preparing and organizing a speaking lesson I think this is a considerable part because of its purpose Through the data collected from questionnaire survey, many suggestions of preparing and organizing a speaking lesson are pointed out II Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study Although the study has accomplished the objectives set at the beginning, it cannot avoid some limitations Due to the shortage of time, limit of knowledge and the scope of the study, the study cannot cover all related to a speaking lesson, especially preparing and organizing a speaking lesson for high schools students Therefore, further study can focus on useful tips of preparing and organizing a speaking lesson for high school students 33 Obviously, mistakes are unavoidable, all comments and remarks on this research will be highly appreciated Though there are unavoidable limitations in this part, I hope that this can help teacher trainee get initial knowledge of teaching speaking 34 REFERENCES Burden, P., & Byrd, D (2003) Methods for effective teaching Allyn &Bacon Byrne, D (1991) Techniques for Classroom Interaction Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Doff, A (1988) Teaching English Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Doff, A (1991) Teaching English Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Farmer, J (n.d.) Module 5: The Warm Up [WWW page] URL http://eflinstructor.com/instructors/training-modules/66-the-warm-up Harmer, J (1991/1992) The Practice of English Language Teaching (1st ed.) Longman Harmer, J (2001) The Practice of English Language Teaching (3rd ed.) Longman Kerns, T (2006), ESL New Teacher Resource Guide, California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project Nunan, D., & Lamb, C (1996) The Self-directed Teacher Managing the Learning Process Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Richards, J C., & Lockhart, C (1999) Reflective Teaching to Children London: Longman Richards, J.C (1998) What’s the use of lesson plans? In J.C Richards (Ed.), Beyond Training New York: Cambridge University Press Richards, J.C., & Bohlke, D (2011) Creating Effective Language Lessons New York: Cambridge University Press Richards, J.C., & Renandye, W.A (2002) Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 35 Riddle, D (2010) Teach English as a Foreign Language Great Britain: Hodder Education Svinick, M., & McKeachie, W.J (2006) McKeachie’s Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers (13rd ed.) Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Terry, C (2008), How to Teach Speaking in an EFL Class, San-Miguel Ur, P (1996) A Course in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 36 SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE This survey aims at finding out effective ways of preparing and organizing a speaking lesson at high school I would like to be thankful to you for answering the questions in this survey Part I: Answer these questions Did you learn about the methodology to teach English for high school students? Did you have one-month teaching practice at a high school in the first term of the school year 2012-2013? If the answer for both questions and is yes, please answer the following questions What should a teacher before he begins a speaking lesson at school? a Preparing the lesson plan b Planning for out-of-class learning c Choosing appropriate teaching methods d Selecting appropriate teaching aids Others: In the warm-up stage, how you approach it? a Greeting 37 b Choosing appropriate speaking activity to motivate students c Managing class d Managing time e Speaking at a suitable speed f Using the same simple phrases each lesson g Using teaching aids and non-verbal communication h Not correcting the students’ mistakes i Not joining in the activities Others: Similarly, what you in the introduction stage? a Introducing the topic in order to generate students’ interest b Choosing appropriate speaking activities to motivate students c Managing classroom d Keeping the language simple e Checking students’ comprehension periodically f Managing time Others: 38 What does your teacher in the presentation stage? a Speaking up to 75% of the time, as they are presenting information b Setting a natural context in which the language is hidden, in order to convey the meaning of new language c Showing the form – how the grammar is made d Demonstrating and working on correct pronunciation and highlighting stress and intonation e Focusing on accuracy when correcting students f Checking the students’ understanding g Illustrating the presentation with pictures, real objects or anything that can make the meaning clear Others: 39 What does your teacher in the practice stage? a Letting students speak up to 90% of the time b Using activities for students to practice the task orally c Encouraging lots of pair work and group work d Monitoring the class but not correcting the students’ mistakes e Focusing on fluency rather than accuracy Others: What does your teacher in the review stage? a Correcting any mistakes that were heard during the practice b Reviewing the lesson's target language c Giving feedback on their performance d Managing classroom e Managing time Others: 40 Part II: Students’ reaction Do your students like the speaking activities in the lessons? a They like those activities very much b They like those activities c It seems that they not like those d I have no idea What your students during speaking lessons? a Actively take part in the tasks b Join the tasks only when being asked by the teacher c Join the tasks only when feeling interested d Do not join in any tasks How, you think, was the attitude of your students in your speaking lesson ? a They are motivated b They are not very motivated c They are reluctant Are your students willing to speak during speaking lessons? a Yes, they feel more motivated to speak b It depends on the given speaking activities c No, it seems that they are unmotivated or reluctant to speak 41 ... short, many researchers have done many research on speaking lesson, however they have not paid much attention to how to prepare and organize a speaking lesson for high schools students Therefore,... essential to carry out this study on how to prepare and organize a successful speaking lesson for high school students II Overview of the speaking lesson II.1 Characteristics of a successful speaking. .. structure for a lesson, to provide a ‘map’ for teacher to follow and to provide a record of what has been taught” Also according to Richards and Renandya (2002), daily lesson planning can benefit