HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH - CODE: 19 - GRADUATION THESIS B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH STUDIES Using Information Gap Activities To Enhance Speaking Skill For The First Year Students At Faculty Of English – Hanoi Open University Supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Mai Hương,M.A Name of student: Lê Hồng Ngọc Date of birth: 23-06-1993 Class: K18A1 (2011-201) HÀ NỘI – 2015 Graduation paper DECLARATION Title: Using Information Gap Activities To Enhance Speaking Skill For The First Year Students At Faculty Of English – Hanoi Open University I certify that no part of the above report has been copied or reproduced by me from any other person’s work without acknowledgement and that the report is originally by me under strict guidance of my supervisor Hanoi, 4th May, 2015 Student Supervisor Lê Hồng Ngọc M.A Nguyễn Thị Mai Hương Graduation paper ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I especially would like to express my endless gratitude to my supervisor, ThS Nguyen Thi Mai Huong, for her helpful encouragement, constructive comments and precious advice at all stages of the development of this graduation paper There is no doubt that the study would be impossible to be accomplished without her constant assistance My sincere thanks also go to the teachers and the first year students at Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University for their valuable suggestions and cooperation in discussing and completing the survey questionnaires for the research Finally, I owe a great debt to my family as well as my roommates whose support and inspiration have greatly contributed to the fulfillment of the thesis Graduation paper ABSTRACT This graduation paper studies the real situation of using information gap activities to enhance speaking skill for the first year students at Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University All needed data was collected through a series of survey questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations The results show that information gap activities have been exploited widely and gained some certain achievements at Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University However, there still remain the following problems facing both the teachers and students As for the teachers, the matters recognized are of adapting activities, limited time and the way to organize crowded classes or to involve all students To students, the lack of confidence when speaking English, the discomfort when working in pairs or groups, and the poor language practice are their major difficulties Carefully considering these existing problems, a list of suggestions to improve the method is offered Recommended sample activities of guessing games, information gap exercises and exchanging personal information activities are also introduced with a view to helping the first year students at Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University develop their speaking skill Graduation paper Contents DECLARATION .1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT .3 PART A : INTRODUCTION 1.1 Aims and Objectives of the study .7 1.2 Scope of the study 1.3 Research questions .8 1.4 Methods of the study 1.5 Design of the study .9 PART B : DEVELOPMENT 10 CHAPTER : LITERATURE REVIEW 10 2.1.1 Speaking Skills 10 2.1.2 Information Gap Activities 16 Chapter : THE STUDY 29 2.2.1 2.1 Data collection 29 Graduation paper 2.2.2 2.2 Data analysis 30 2.2.3 2.3 Summary of findings 42 CHAPTER 3: IMPLICATIONS AND APPLICATION 46 2.3.1 3.1 Implications 46 2.3.2 3.2 Application 52 PART C : CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 59 3.1 Summary 59 3.2 Limitations of the study .60 3.3 Suggestions for further study 60 REFERENCES 62 Graduation paper PART A : INTRODUCTION Rationale In the modern time of internationalization and globalization, English is considered as a means of communication all over the world In Vietnam, since the development of market economy, having a good command of English has become not only a great interest but also an increasing demand for most people English now is therefore a compulsory school subject in many schools and universities and of all the four skills, speaking obviously plays the most vital part in communication However, most Vietnamese learners find it hard to be able to use English in the real life The reasons may stem from the fact that traditional language teaching method like the Grammar- Translation one which has been applied to teaching English in our country for ages Hence, current teachers “need to actively engage students in speaking activities that are enjoyable and are based on a more communicative approach” (Raptou, 2002) Exploiting information-gap activities may be a good solution In many classes in Vietnam, there is still an unrealistic use of language when teachers often spend a large of proposition of class time asking “display” questions for which they and their students already know the answers In contrast, by using information gap activities, the teacher will motivate students to speak English and will create like-real situations where one of them has some information and other does not; thus, there is a need to communicate In other words, information gap activities give students opportunities to manipulate English appropriately not only inside but also outside the classroom There have been a number of previous studies on how to exploit information gap activities in the speaking class Nevertheless, no researchers have examined the Graduation paper practice of using information gap activities to enhance speaking skill for the first year students in Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University This has given the researcher desire to carry out a research study on this issue Aims and Objectives of the study This study is specially targeted at Examining the current situations of using information gap activities in teaching speaking skill to the first year students in Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University Indicating benefits as well as problems of applying information gap activities in English speaking class Suggesting some useful and applicable information gap activities to develop speaking ability for the first year students Scope of the study Due to limited time and experience, this study focuses mainly on the application of information gap activities to develop speaking skill for the first year students in Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University The reasons for the researcher’s choice are as follows: First, the Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University has widely been known as prestigious university of English learners in Vietnam; thus, there may be much room for information gap activities to be used and information gap exercises are assumed to have been exploited here long enough to examine its effectiveness Second, it would be convenient and manageable for the researcher who is the last year student of this university to administer the questionnaires and carry out some necessary interviews and classroom observations serving the research purpose Graduation paper Research questions In the light of the goals of the study, the following research questions are posed: (a) In what ways have information gap activities been used to develop speaking skill for the first year students in Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University? (b) What are the benefits of using information gap activities as perceived by the teachers? (c) What are the benefits of using information gap activities as perceived by the students? (d) What are the problems of using information gap activities as perceived by the teachers? (e) What are the problems of using information gap activities as perceived by the students? Methods of the study This study was mainly conducted according to qualitative research by using survey questionnaire and interview and basing on quantitative approach by using observation technique collect data The main informants of the study fall into two categories: the first year students and the teachers of English As they are directly involved in the process of language learning and teaching, studying their opinions will give the researcher a complete picture of the use of information gap activities to enhance speaking skill for the first year students in Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University Graduation paper Design of the study This graduation paper covers three main parts as follows: Part A – Introduction would provide readers with overall information about the research including the rationale for the study, aims and research questions, significance, scope as well as the organization of the study Part B – Development would deal with three major chapters: Chapter : Literature review with a hope to providing theoretical background for the following chapters Chapter : Results and Discussion is designed to present some crucial findings based on the analysis and synthesis of the data collected Chapter : Implication for better use of information gap activities and applicable information gap activities designed are also important parts in this chapter Part C : Conclusion summarizes briefly the main content of the study, indicates summary of findings, some limitations of the study and gives out suggestions for further research Graduation paper 14 Klippel, D (2004) Techniques and principles in Language Teaching Oxford: Oxford University Press 15 Levihn, and Hendenquist, T (1986) The social construction of reality Harmondsworth:Penguin 16 Little Wood, W (1981) Communicative language teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 17 Markee, N (1997) Managing curricular innovation Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 18 Maykut and Morehouse, R (1994) Beginning qualitative research-A philosophic and practical guide London: Falmer Press 19 McGroaty, M (1984) Some meanings of communicative competence for second language students TESOL Quartly, 18, 257-272 20 Nation, I.S.P (1990) Teaching and Learning Vocabulary New York: Newbury House 21 Neu, H., & Reeser, T.W (1997) Parle-moi un peu!: information gap activities for beginning classes Boston: Heinle & Heinle 22 Norman, D., & Levihn, U (1986) Communicative ideas London: Language Teaching Publications 23 Nunan, D (1989) Designing tasks for the communicative classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 24 Nunan, D (1991) Language teaching method Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall 25 Patton, M Q (1990) Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods (2nd ed.) Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc 26 Richards, J., Platt, J., and Webber, H (1986) Longman dictionary of applied linguistics London: Longman Group Limited 27 Scivener, J (1994) Learning Teaching Oxford The Bath Press 63 Graduation paper 28 Scott, R (1981) Speaking (In Johnson & Morrow Eds) London: Longman 29 Ur, P (1981) Discussion that work Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 30 Ur, P (1996) A course in language teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 31 Ur, P., Wright, A (1993) Five-minute Activities Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Websites Galloway, A (1993) Communicative language teaching: an introduction and sample activities Retrieved December 10, 2006 from http://www.cal.org/ericcll/digest/gallow01/html Raptou, V (2002) Using Information Gap Activities in the Second Language Classroom Retrieved from the World Wide Web 26 Sep 2006 at http://www.caslt.org/research/gap.htm 64 Graduation paper APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONAIRE FOR TEACHERS This survey questionnaire is designed for my study entitled “Using Information Gap Activities to Enhance Speaking Skill for First Year Students in Faculty of English, HOU” Your assistance in responding the following questions would make a great contribution to the completion of my graduation paper You are assured that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Please choose the answer by putting a tick next to your choice or expressing your ideas in the blanks You can choose more than one answer Thank you very much for you helps For what reasons you exploit information gap activities in teaching speaking for the first year students? (You can choose more than one answer) To increase students’ motivation for speaking To develop accuracy for students To develop fluency for students To reduce the use of mother tongue in English speaking To improve students’ ability to negotiate meaning Others (please specify your choice)………………………… Which factors you take into consideration when choosing an appropriate IGA to teach speaking skill for the first year students? 65 Graduation paper Students’ interest Students’ level of English Lesson’s topic Lesson’s objectives Time allowance Teaching aids Others (please specify)……………………………………… Indicate your frequency of using the following kinds of IGA in a speaking lesson by putting a tick in the appropriate box: Kinds of IGA Always Often Sometimes Rarely Never Guessing games Completing grid Detecting differences Jigsaw activities Shopping list Exchanging personal information How much time you spend on an IGA in a speaking lesson? 66 Graduation paper Less than 10 minutes More than 15 minutes 10-15 minutes Others……………… In what way you often organize your class to the IGA? (You can choose more than one answer) Individual work Group work Pair work The whole class What you often to help your students practice in groups/pairs/teams effectively during IGA? (You can choose more than one answer) Ask students to self-adjust their work Assign a group/team leader Set up a rule of no Vietnamese Others (please specify)……………………………………… What you to assist your students during IGA? (You can choose more than one answer) Observe and wait until students ask for help Sit/stand besides them and give students suggestions when necessary Go round to check students’ performance Move around to help shy or less advanced students to actively take part in 67 Graduation paper Others (please specify)……………………………………… In which ways you deal with students’ mistakes? (You can choose more than one answer) Ignore their mistakes Ask them to self-correct Encourage cross check among pairs or groups Give correction right after students’ making mistakes Take notes typical mistakes of students and then correct all at the end of the activity Others (please specify)……………………………………… What benefits you think students can get from exploitation of IGA in the speaking lesson? (You can choose more than one answer) The motivation in speaking English The confidence in speaking English Fun The cooperation and interaction with others Nothing Others (please specify)……………………………………… 10 What problems you encounter when conducting an IGA? (You can choose more than one answer) 68 Graduation paper Students are shy or lazy to talk I find it hard to design an appropriate IGA I have difficulty in class management Time is limited Students’ levels of English are different Teaching aids are poor Others (please specify)……………………………………… 11 What are your suggestions to improve the use of IGA in teaching speaking skill for the first year students on FOE,HOU? ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… Thanks again for your cooperation 69 Graduation paper APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTION FOR STUDENTS This survey questionnaire is designed for my study entitled “Using Information Gap Activities to Enhance Speaking Skill for First Year Students in Faculty of English, HOU” Your assistance in responding the following questions would make a great contribution to the completion of my graduation paper You can be assured that you name will not be mentioned in any discussion of the data To complete these questions, please follow the instructions Thank you very much for your help Notes: Information gap activity is that: “one person has information that another does not have, so there is a need to communicate” (Doff, 1988) Information gap activities are classified into: guessing games, information gap exercises and exchanging personal information Guessing games: For example, one student chooses a famous actor, and the others ask yes-no questions until they discover the famous actor Information gap exercises: + Completing the grid: One student or one group has an empty grid and the other has the text, which is not shown to the opposite team Student(s) with empty text complete(s) the grid by asking questions + Detecting differences: Without looking at each other’s pictures, pairs of students try to find as many differences or similarities between the pictures as possible 70 Graduation paper + Jigsaw activities: each student has one or a few pieces of the “puzzle”, and they must cooperate to fit all the pieces into a whole picture + Shopping list: one is a customer and has a shopping list while the other is a shop assistant and has a list of items in the shop and their prices They are not allowed to look at each other’s list They will try and sell things Exchanging personal information: Students work together to share with each other their personal information; therefore, they can find out their own similarities/differences or things from each other which they didn’t know Indicate your frequency of taking part in the following kinds of information gap activities (IGA) in a speaking lesson by putting a tick in the appropriate box: Kinds of IGA Always Often Sometim es Rarely Never Guessing games Completing grid Detecting differences Jigsaw activities Shopping list Exchanging personal information For each IGA, you are allowed to take part in within: 71 Graduation paper Less than 10 minutes More than 15 minutes 10-15 minutes Others …………………… In what way does your teacher often organize your class to the IGA? You can choose more than answer Individual work Group work Pair work The whole class What does your teacher often to help you and your classmates practise in groups/pairs/teams effectively during IGA? You can choose more than answer Asks students to self-adjust their work Assigns a group/team leader Sets up a rule of no Vietnamese Others (please specify)………………………………………… During IGA, you notice your teacher often: (You can choose more than answer) Observe and wait until students ask for help Sit/stand besides students and give students suggestions when necessary Go round to check students’ performance 72 Graduation paper Others (please specify)………………………………………… In which ways does your teacher correct students’ mistakes? Ignore students’ mistakes Ask students to self-correct Encourage cross check among pairs or groups Give correction right after students’ making mistakes Take notes of typical mistakes of students and then correct all at the end of the activity Others (please specify)……………………………………… Indicate your interest in taking part in the following kinds of information gap activities (IGA) in a speaking lesson by putting a tick in the appropriate box: Strongly Quite like like Kinds of IGA Strongly Quite Like Dislike dislike dislike Guessing games Completing grid Detecting differences Jigsaw activities 73 Graduation paper Shopping list Exchanging personal information Taking part in IGA helps you gain: (You can choose more than one answer) The motivation in speaking English The confidence in speaking English The leisure time The cooperation and interaction with others Nothing Others (please specify)………………………………………… What problems you encounter when taking part in an IGA? (You can choose more than one answer) You are shy or lazy to talk Activities are too difficult and complicated You find it hard to follow your teacher’s instructions Some of your classmates are too aggressive Others (please specify)………………………………………… 10 Please indicate you assessment of IGA used in your class by putting a tick on the appropriate column 74 Graduation paper 1 Very good 2 Good 3.Quite good 4.Quite bad 5.Bad Extremely bad The appropriateness with students’ English level The effects on motivating students to speak more in the speaking less The effects on increasing students’ participation Teacher’s instructions 75 Graduation paper The teacher’s organization of IGA The way teacher deal with students’ mistakes 11 What are your suggestions to improve using IGA in the speaking lesson for the first year students on FOE, HOU? ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………… Thanks again for your cooperation! 76 Graduation paper APPENDIX Questions for interviews: What kinds of information gap activities you often use in your speaking lessons? What are your purposes of exploiting information gap activities in your speaking lessons? In what ways you often help your students during information gap activities? What are problems you have to encounter when applying information gap activities in your speaking lessons? What are your recommendations to improve the method? 77 [...]... certain situations of each group to find out their own method to enhance speaking skill for their students 1.2 Information Gap Activities 1.2.1 Definition of information gap activities In all real conversations, people are genuinely exchanging information The most common reason is that one person has a piece of information that is unknown to the other(s) and there is “a need to communicate” (Doff, 1988,... two-way information gap occurs when both learners have information to share in order to complete the activity The researcher finds Doff’s ways of classifying information gap activities into guessing games, information gap activities for pair work and exchanging personal information activities the clearest and the most reasonable These types of activities are easy for the teachers to exploit and easy for students. .. frequency for the first year students More than 75% of the students can attend at least three kinds of information gap activities regularly or occasionally, indicating teachers’ remarkable recognition of the advantages of information gap activities Moreover, it is possible to say that the appearance of Inside out book and some other materials which aims at developing four English skills at the same... that different authors have different ways to give a definition of what an information gap activity is However, they all agree that an information gap activity is an activity in which “one person has a piece of information that another does not have, so there is a need to communicate” (Doff, p.211) 1.2.2 Types of information gap activities Different methodologists offer different ways to classify information. .. classify information gap activities They are as follows: Norman and Levihln (1986, p.100) divides information gap activities into two main kinds: puzzle form and personal questionnaire Doff (1988) classifies information gap activities into guessing games, information gap activities for pair work and exchanging personal information activities Littlewood (1981) considers information gap activities as... is to gain a capacity to speaking in that language However, many language teachers have difficulty in motivating their students to speak in the target language Thanks to information gap activities, students inspiration for speaking will be increased since they talk for themselves, for their own sake One side has a certain thing that must be shared with the other to solve a problem, gather information. .. picture of the use of information gap activities to enhance speaking skill for the first year students in FOE,HOU For conveniences, 100 candidates for the research were chosen randomly from 4 classes of K21, Faculty of English, HOU Also, 5 teachers who are teaching English for the first year students will be chosen randomly as participants responding to questionnaire and interviews After searching for. .. communicative activities which consist of two kinds: sharing information with restricted cooperation and sharing information with unrestricted cooperation Following Ellis (1999) divided information gap activities into two types: one-way and two-way In one-way information gap activities, one person holds all the information, and the other simply listens, understands and records the information they receive... exchanging information and using language communicatively • Exchanging personal information activities Doff A (1988) views this kind of information gap activity as one of the easiest and most interesting forms of communicative classroom activity in which students tell each other about their own lives, interest, experiences, etc When students talk about themselves, there is a natural information gap since... perform an information gap activity which is claimed to develop students ability of using common expression in making small talks whereas the topic of the lesson is about technology and the lesson is targeted at developing students capacity of talking about the uses of mordent invention in daily life Therefore, in order to pick out suitable information gap activities, the topic and objectives of