TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS INTRODUCTION As an international language, English offers a source of benefits to young people First and foremost, English assists young people to acquire more knowledge Indeed, more and more materials namely books, lectures and videos as well are printed or constructive in English As a result, people with English proficiency tend to stand a chance of exploring deeper anything without being prevented by language barrier Secondly, speaking English fluently is the best advantage for people who want to go abroad They will have no interference of language in communicating with foreigners Besides, learning English will help young people find good jobs Almost all companies enquire employees to be knowledgeable about some languages, especially English The more fluently they speak English, the more chance they will be offered in a good position with high salary Therefore, English plays an important role in our life Of course, more and more people want to use it as a means of communication at work, in business and tourism As a teacher, I am aware that English has been one of the compulsory subjects in secondary schools and high schools in Vietnam All grade 10 students in Dong Nai Province had to take communicative English tests with the four language skills: Listening, speaking, reading and writing in the first term of the school year 2015 Therefore, English teachers are trying their best to train and help their students to become good communicative English users In teaching the four language skills, we think that speaking is the most difficult and important skill, but the teaching of speaking in my school has not been really effective STUDENTS’ LEARNING PROBLEMS In Tri An School, many students are not good at communicating in English for a number of reasons: First, they have few learning speaking strategies because they are usually provided with grammar and language structures which are thought to be important for the examinations Second, they are very shy when they speak out in front of the class because they always feel nervous and afraid of making mistakes because they are worried if other TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS people will laugh at them Moreover, they have little chance of practicing speaking English Finally, many tasks in the textbooks: English 10, English 11 and English 12 are not suitable for students’ learning needs Some topics are not really close to daily life that is the reason why students often find it difficult to express their opinion naturally As a teacher of English, I think that teaching English for communication is essential However, my personal experience of its methods is still limited due to the following reasons: There are so many students in a class that just a few of them have chance for communication; a period of forty five-mitute time is quite short, it prevents teachers from teaching effectively; grammar translation is still a conventional method in teaching English; Most of the teachers don’t get familiar with natural responses to communicative situations except for questions and answer activities between teacher and students Therefore, the students are not confident enough to express themselves in English As a teacher, I really know that there are a lot of methods that can be applied in the class in order to improve students’ speaking skill In this research, I focus on grade 12 students’ speaking skill because I have applied this method to students in grade 10, 11 for two years I total agree that interaction is two-way communication and it based on real- life situations that require communication By using this method, my students have the opportunity to communicate with each other in the target language Therefore, teachers should create a classroom environment for students to have real- life communication LITERATURE REVIEW Everyone admits the importance of speaking, the goal of teaching speaking is to improve students’ communicative skills By this way, students can not only express their idea and feelings but also learn how to follow the social rules appropriate in each communicative situation Nunan (1991) wrote, "Success is measured in terms of the ability to carry out a conversation in the (target) language." Therefore, if students not learn how to speak or not get any opportunity to speak in the language classroom, they may then get frustrated and TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS lose interest in learning the language Our responsibility is to improve students’ four language skills: Listening, speaking, reading and writing I think speaking is the most important skill for my students because the purpose of our English course is really to enable our students to communicate effectively In fact, if the appropriate communicative tasks or activities are taught in the right way, speaking in class can be a lot of fun The achievement in learning speaking will increase students’ motivation In recent research, it is true that in a language class, it is necessary for the teacher to create a positive classroom atmosphere so that he or she can encourage the students to communicate with each other By doing this, the students can express their ideas, feelings and opinions without feeling afraid of making mistakes Besides, the students can conduct communicative tasks in an effective way Many researchers emphasize the importance of teaching conversations or role play to English language teaching Jack C Richards emphasizes that communicative practice refers to activities where practice in using language within a real communicative context is the focus, where real information is exchanged, and where the language used is not totally predictable In agreement with Richards, Willis (1996) states that creating a low stress atmosphere and using the language for real purposes are ways to get meaningful communication and through interaction and students have the opportunity to acquire discourse skills Willis also points out that the essential conditions for effective language learning, such as exposure, use, and motivation In agreement with Willis, Nunan (1991) says that task-based learning views the learning process as a set of communicative tasks that are directly linked to the curricular goals they serve He also stresses the crucial role of communicative tasks in task-based teaching and learning He says that task-based teaching involves an approach where communicative tasks are particularly important because students need to be involved in interactions in the classrooms and real life As a result, this view changes the approach of designing tasks to be developed in the classroom TASK MODIFICATION TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS Roger Nunn suggests that teachers must take into account the following criteria when they design tasks and exercises for English learners or students Let’s consider the areas: Simulating "Real" Conversation Classroom tasks are simulations and can only approximate real-life communication, but real-life skills, such as adjusting to an interlocutor's contribution can be built in Tasks designed to practise interactive ability should be an appropriate task for students They must be able to imagine themselves in the situation Exchanging An interactive task should require students to exchange information, opinions, attitudes, but not for its own sake There should be a real purpose; each participant should need to find something out from the others in order to complete the task Comprehensible Input The task should require the participants to make sure they fully understand what the others tell them and to make themselves fully understood to the others In this way, students will need to adjust to each other's contributions Improvising The task should require both predictable and unpredictable communication Real conversation always involves unpredictability so an ability to improvise needs to be practised For example, an attempt to come to an agreement is unpredictable There is no requirement to actually reach an agreement, so the participants may develop the conversation freely On the other hand, they must exchange the information for an agreement to be possible and cannot easily avoid asking questions Mixed- Ability For mixed-ability courses, tasks should favour the production of contributions of all kinds They should allow both weak and strong participants to extend themselves to their full ability For strong participants, making themselves understood to students with less linguistic ability is a useful skill Opportunity and time must be available for candidates TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS (Roger Nunn - Kochi University, Japan) In order to make the tasks more effective and relevant and appropriate for our students, I often redesign the tasks to meet the students’ learning goals Let’s have a look at the following task design Part one: English 12 - Unit 2: Cultural Diversity (Page 23) Task (Task from the textbook) Below are some typical features of American cultural Work in pairs, discuss and find out the corresponding features of Vietnamese culture Newly-designed Task Role- playing: Instruction: Work in pairs to play roles in the dialogue Change the roles when you have finished Mary: Hi! Thao Thao: Good morning, Mary Mary: Well, what are you doing? Thao: Oh, I am just looking the picture of my family Do you want to see it? Mary: Um, I’d love to Who are they? Thao: My grandparents, my parents and my brother and me Mary: I want to know something about the culture of vietnam Would you mind answering my questions? Thao: Oh, no Go ahead Mary: How many generations are there in a Vietnam family? Thao: Well, two, three or even four generations live under one roof Mary: Oh, that’s really interesting Who looks after their old- aged parents? Thao: They are taken care by their sons TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS Mary: Really? Is it polite to ask questions about age, marriage and income in Vietnam? Thao: Well, asking questions about age, marriage and income is accepted in Vietnam Mary: That sounds surprising When are groceries bought? Thao: Uh, groceries are bought every day Mary: Which holidays are the most important in Vietnam? Thao: Yeah, Tet or Lunar New Year is the most important in Vietnam Mary: It’s wonderful I want to take part in this holiday Thao: Oh, I hope you are really interested in it I feel excited when I talk to you Now, I have some things to Goodbye for now! Mary: Bye See you later Thao: Thank you Making questions: Instruction: Work in pairs to make correct questions, using the word provided Then, ask your partner to answer the questions to make your own dialogue Generations How many Their old- aged parents Who Questions about age, marriage and income Is it Every day When Tet or Lunar New Year Which Rationale: Encouraging students to practise making dialogue is a very necessary strategy in teaching spoken communication because it helps students get information from others We this in order to motivate students to ask and answer about their real life Suggested Questions Generations their old- aged parents How many generations are there in a Vietnam family? Who looks after their old- aged parents? TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS questions about age, marriage and income Every day Tet or Lunar New Year Is it polite to ask questions about age, marriage and income in Vietnam? When are groceries bought? Which holidays are the most important in Vietnam? Part two: English 12 - Unit 10: Endangered Species (Page 110) Task (Task from the textbook) Work in pairs Look at the information about the giant panda, tiger, rhino and elephant, which are endangered animals Ask and answer questions about them Newly-designed Task Role- playing: Instruction: Work in pairs to play roles in the dialogue Change the roles when you have finished Ngoc: Hi! Hang Hang: Hello, Ngoc Ngoc: Well, you look nice today Hang: Thank you You are, too Ngoc: Can you tell me something about the elephants which are now in danger? Hang: Certainly, they live in small areas of India, Sri Lanka, China and Southest Asia and the Sahara desert in Africa Ngoc: What is the population of elephants in the world? Hang: Well, It’s about 700.000 Ngoc: Oh, that’s really surprising What is their height and their weight? Hang: Their average height is 1.2 m to 1.8 m every elephant can weigh about 1000 to 3000 kg Ngoc: What is their main food? TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS Hang: Well, they can eat grass, barks, roots, leaves or fruits Ngoc: That sounds interesting How long can they live? Hang: Uh, all of them are safe, so their life span can reach 60 years Ngoc: Why are they declining now? Hang: Well, because some people are seriously destroying their habitat and hunting them illegally, which makes them on the verge of extinction Ngoc: Well, sad to hear that I hope in the future, people will be more aware of protecting these animals Hang: Oh, I hope so, too I am really interested in talking with you but I have some things to Goodbye for now! Ngoc: Bye See you later Hang: Thank you Making questions: Instruction: Work in pairs to make correct questions, using the word provided Then, ask your partner to answer the questions to make your own dialogue Habitat Where Population What Height and weight What Food What Life span Reason for decline How long Why Rationale: Encouraging students to practise making dialogue is a very necessary strategy in teaching spoken communication because it helps students get information from others We this in order to motivate students to ask and answer about their real life TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS Suggested Questions Habitat Population Height and weight Food Life span Reason for decline Where elephants live? What is the population of elephants in the world? What is their height and their weight? What is their main food? How long can they live? Why are they declining now? Part three: English 12- Unit 11: Book (Page 122) Task (Task from the textbook) Work in pairs Ask and aanswer about the book you are reading or you have read Newly- designed Task Role- playing: Instruction: Work in pairs to play roles in the dialogue Change the roles when you have finished Huyen: Good morning What are you doing? Thuy: Good morning Well, I am reading a book Huyen: Are you interested in reading the books? Thuy: Yes, of course It’s very relaxing and knowledgeable Huyen: What sorts of books you like to read? Thuy: Oh, I love reading novels Huyen: What is the name of the book which you have just read? Thuy: Well, I’ve read “The call of the wild” Huyen: Who wrote that novel? Thuy: A famous novel written by Jack London Huyen: Oh, I haven’t read it Can you tell me something about that novel? Who is the main character? Thuy: The main character is “ Buck” – A brave ansd strong dog Huyen: What is the theme? TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS Thuy: Well, Buck was brought to the north area by some ugly hunters and had to work as a good- puller Huyen: What’s then? Thuy: Then, Buck met a generous man named John who saved his life However, Buck had left John and followed the call of the wild Huyen: Oh, it sounds attractive and meaningful Thuy: If you have time, read it Huyen: Sure I hope we can love animals especiallydogs more and more through novels like this Thuy: Oh, it’s too late I have to go home See you later Huyen: Bye See you next time Rationale: Encouraging students to practise making dialogue is a very necessary strategy in teaching spoken communication because it helps students get information from others We this in order to motivate students to ask and answer about their real life Making questions: Instruction: Work in pairs to make correct questions, using the word provided Then, ask your partner to answer the questions to make your own dialogue Reading books Are you .? Novel What “The call of the wild” What Jack London Who The main character is “ Buck” Buck was brought to the north area by some ugly hunters and had to work as a good- puller Who What Suggested Questions 10 TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS Reading books Novel “The call of the wild” Jack London Are you interested in reading the books? What sorts of books you like to read? What is the name of the book which you have just read? Who wrote that novel? The main character is “ Buck” Who is the main character? Buck was brought to the north area What is the theme? by some ugly hunters and had to work as a good- puller Part four: English 12- Unit 14: International Organizations (Page 156) Task (Task from the textbook) Below is some brief information about two international organizations Work in pairs Ask and answer questions about them Newly- designed Task Role- playing: Instruction: Work in pairs to play roles in the dialogue Change the roles when you have finished Mai: Hello, Phuong I’m preparing for my report about the UNICEF Can you give me some information about it? Phuong: Oh, yes, of course I’m very willing to help you Mai: When was UNICEF founded? Phuong: It was founded in 1948 Mai: What’s the date and the month? Phuong: Ah, December 11th Mai: Where’s its headquater? Phuong: Well, New York city Mai: Do you know who is the leader? 11 TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS Phuong: Let me see Oh, Anthony Lake Mai: Anthony Lake? Is he a American? Phuong: Yes, you’re right Mai: What are the aims of UNICEF? Phuong: Well, it’s an international organization to advocate for the protection of children rights, to help meet their basic needs and help them reach their full potential Mai: Can you tell me what are its main activities? Phuong: Firstly, it has been providing supports and funds for the most disadvantaged children, victims of wars, disasters and extreme the poverty Secondly, it carried out education development programmes for children Mai: Is this organization very developing? Phuong: Yes, of course It’s very developing in all over the world Do you need anything? Mai: I think it’s enough for my good report Thank you very much Phuong: You’re welcome Bye Mai: Bye See you soon Rationale: Encouraging students to practise making dialogue is a very necessary strategy in teaching spoken communication because it helps students get information from others We this in order to motivate students to ask and answer about their real life Making questions: Instruction: Work in pairs to make correct questions, using the word provided Then, ask your partner to answer the questions to make your own dialogue In 1948 When December 11th What New York city Where Anthony Lake It’s an international organization to Who advocate for the protection of children rights Firstly, it has been providing supports and funds for the most disadvantaged children 12 What What TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS Developing in all over the world Is ? Suggested Questions When was UNICEF founded? In 1948 What’s the date and the month? December 11th Where’s its headquater? New York city Who is the leader? Anthony Lake It’s an international organization to What are the aims of UNICEF? advocate for the protection of children rights Firstly, it has been providing supports What are its main activities? and funds for the most disadvantaged children Is this organization very developing? Developing in all over the world * This is a table that shows about the confidence of students when practising the dialogues before and after applying this method 12 A1(36 students) Less confident Confident More confident Before applying this method After applying this method 17 students students 10 students students 11 students 17 students 12 A2 (33 students) Less confident Confident More confident Before applying this method After applying this method 13 students students 11 students students 10 students 15 students REFERENTIAL QUESTIONS 13 TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS Besides using dialogues, I often make referential questions when I teach the four language skills: Listening, speaking, reading and writing because using more referential questions in the classroom will provide students with opportunities for real communication I also encourage my students to make referential questions so that they can exchange real information in the class As Nunan (1994) says: Referential questions are questions we ask someone because we don't know the answer In a language classroom, this can mean questions that the teacher asks students and students ask each other He also explains that referential questions can be compared to display questions, for which the answer is already clear and the teachers ask just to see if the students know the answer, or for language manipulation We should consider the following example : English 12- Unit 15: Women in society - Speaking - Task (Page 166) Discuss whether you agree or disagree with the following statement and give explanations “Married women should not go to work.” (Referential question) The students will have opportunities to express their opinions, exchange real information with each other by deciding on the most important cause This means that I am successful in helping them to produce real communication CONCLUSION Teaching English speaking skill by making use of communicative tasks can be applied in all classes in my school Teachers design communicative tasks in order for students to improve their speaking skill As a result, students can feel like speaking English more Moreover, their pronunciation will be improved clearly The more they practice, the better and more condident they become in their pronunciation and vocabulary As for students and teacher’s perspectives to teaching and learning grammar, this approach to teaching speaking will change their thinking that the teachers only make use of all exercises in the textbook without any improvements, but it is the teacher’s job to design communicative tasks or activities in order to help students to achieve their communication goals of learning and teaching 14 TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS This is the third time I have written this research paper I realize that my students are more confident and they practice more naturally when they express their idea before class I really expect that the research will bring good results to me and other teachers in Tri An High School I strongly hope that communicative tasks in teaching speaking skills are useful not only for students but also for teachers and my school Finally, I would be very thankful for any comments and suggestions regarding possible improvements MẠCH THI THU NGA REFERENCES Brand, S.T and Donato, J M, (2001) Storytelling in Emergent Literacy: Fostering Multiple Intelligences, Thomas Learning, USA Brown, H Dough (1994) Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy Prentice Hall Regents Harmer, J.(2001) The Practice of English Language Teaching, Pearson Education Ltd 15 TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS Hubbard and Jones, P&H.(1983) A Training Course for TEFl, Oxford University Press Keppel, G (1991).Design and analysis: A researcher’s handbook (3 rd ed ) Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Larsen-Freeman, Diane (1986).Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching, Oxford University Press Littlewood , W T (1992) Teaching Oral Communication, Blackwell Publishers, UK Roger Nunn - Kochi University (Japan) Ur, P (1996) A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and theory, Cambridge University Press Willis, D and J Willis (2007)Doing Task-based Teaching, Oxford University Press Willis, J (1996) A framework for task-based learning London: Longman 16 [...]... teaching and learning grammar, this approach to teaching speaking will change their thinking that the teachers only make use of all exercises in the textbook without any improvements, but it is the teacher’s job to design communicative tasks or activities in order to help students to achieve their communication goals of learning and teaching 14 TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE. .. students 8 students 11 students 8 students 10 students 15 students REFERENTIAL QUESTIONS 13 TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS Besides using dialogues, I often make referential questions when I teach the four language skills: Listening, speaking, reading and writing because using more referential questions in the classroom will provide students with opportunities for... Literacy: Fostering Multiple Intelligences, Thomas Learning, USA Brown, H Dough (1994) Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy Prentice Hall Regents Harmer, J.(2001) The Practice of English Language Teaching, Pearson Education Ltd 15 TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS Hubbard and Jones, P&H.(1983) A Training Course for TEFl, Oxford University... international organization to Who advocate for the protection of children rights Firstly, it has been providing supports and funds for the most disadvantaged children 12 What What TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS Developing in all over the world Is ? Suggested Questions When was UNICEF founded? In 1948 What’s the date and the month? December 11th Where’s its headquater?.. .TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS Reading books Novel “The call of the wild” Jack London Are you interested in reading the books? What sorts of books do you like to read? What is the name of the book which you have just read? Who wrote that novel? The main character is “ Buck” Who is the main character? Buck was brought to the north area What is the theme? by. .. founded in 1948 Mai: What’s the date and the month? Phuong: Ah, December 11th Mai: Where’s its headquater? Phuong: Well, New York city Mai: Do you know who is the leader? 11 TEACHING GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS Phuong: Let me see Oh, Anthony Lake Mai: Anthony Lake? Is he a American? Phuong: Yes, you’re right Mai: What are the aims of UNICEF? Phuong: Well, it’s an international... means that I am successful in helping them to produce real communication CONCLUSION Teaching English speaking skill by making use of communicative tasks can be applied in all classes in my school Teachers design communicative tasks in order for students to improve their speaking skill As a result, students can feel like speaking English more Moreover, their pronunciation will be improved clearly The more... SKILLS BY USING COMMUNICATIVE TASKS This is the third time I have written this research paper I realize that my students are more confident and they practice more naturally when they express their idea before class I really expect that the research will bring good results to me and other teachers in Tri An High School I strongly hope that communicative tasks in teaching speaking skills are useful not only... Phuong: You’re welcome Bye Mai: Bye See you soon Rationale: Encouraging students to practise making dialogue is a very necessary strategy in teaching spoken communication because it helps students get information from others We do this in order to motivate students to ask and answer about their real life 2 Making questions: Instruction: Work in pairs to make correct questions, using the word provided... Larsen-Freeman, Diane (1986).Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching, Oxford University Press Littlewood , W T (1992) Teaching Oral Communication, Blackwell Publishers, UK Roger Nunn - Kochi University (Japan) Ur, P (1996) A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and theory, Cambridge University Press Willis, D and J Willis (2007)Doing Task-based Teaching, Oxford University Press Willis, J (1996) A framework