VINH UNIVERSITY DERPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ************ NGUYỄN THỊ HÀ GIANG USING PEER INTERACTION ACTIVITIES TO TEACH ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL IN THE TENTH FORM CLASS (SỬ DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG TƯƠNG TÁC GIỮA HỌC SINH LỚP 10 ĐỂ DẠY KỸ NĂNG NÓI TIẾNG ANH) GRADUATION THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology VINH 2011 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For the completion of the study, I had been fortunate to receive invaluable contributions from many people First of all, I especially would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Mrs Nguyen Thi Van Lam, M.A for her useful instructions, advice and comments, without which the study would not have been completed My profound thanks also go to all of my teachers from the Department of Foreign Languages at Vinh University, who have given me expert guidance and favorable conditions for the completion of the work I am deeply thankful to all the English teachers and students at Nguyen Du High School Thanks to their help, I could finish the survey used for my study I am really in debt to my beloved family, sweetheart and friends for their help and encouragement during the process of writing this research Though the study has been done with all my attempts, my limitation of ability and knowledge may cause mistakes in the work Therefore, all comments and remarks on the study would be highly appreciated Vinh, May 2011 Nguyen Thi Ha Giang ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Pag e ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLES AND CHARTS PART I INTRODUCTION Justification of the Study Aims and Objectives of the Study Methods of the Study Scope of the Study Format of the Study PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Speaking Skill in Second Language Learning 1.1.1 Speaking Skill 1.1.2 Characteristics of a Successful Speaking Activity 1.1.3 Problems with Speaking Activities and Solutions 1.1.3.1 Problems 1.1.3.2 Solutions 1.2 Interactionism 1.2.1 The Interactionist Position 1.2.2 Interaction in Second Language Learning 1.2.2.1 Roles of Interaction in Second Language Learning 12.2.2 Types of Interaction 1.2.2.2.1 Learner-Content Interaction 1.2.2.2.2 Learner-Instructor Interaction 1.2.2.2.3 Learner-Learner Interaction (or Peer Interaction) 1.3 Peer Interaction in English Class 1.3.1 Communicative Language Teaching iii 1.3.1.1 Types of Learning and Teaching Activities 1.3.2 Roles of Peer Interaction Activities in English Class 1.3.3 Three Suggestions for Successful Peer Interactions 1.3.4 Types of Peer Interaction Activities 1.3.4.1 Pair Peer Interaction Activities 1.3.4.2 Group Peer Interaction Activities 1.3.4.3 Whole Class Peer Interaction Activities CHAPTER 2: REAL SITUATION OF USING PEER INTERACTION ACTIVITIES TO TEACH ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL IN THE TENTH FORM CLASS 2.1 The Survey 2.1.1 Objectives of the Survey 2.1.2 The Informants and Setting 2.1.3 Questionnaire Description 2.1.3.1 Questionnaires for Teachers 2.1.3.2 Questionnaires for Students 2.1.4 The Survey Result 2.1.4.1 The Survey Result from Teachers 2.1.4.2 The Survey Result from Students 2.2 Real Situation of Using Peer Interaction Activities to Teach English Skill in the Tenth Form Class in High School CHAPTER 3: SUGGESTED PEER INTERACTION ACTIVITIES TO TEACH ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL IN THE TENTH FORM CLASS 3.1 Procedures in Organizing a Peer Interaction Activity 3.1.1 Pre-activity Stage 3.1.1.1 Engage-Instruct-Initiate Sequence 3.1.1.2 Grouping Students 3.1.2 During-Activity Stage 3.1.2.1 The Roles of the Teacher 3.1.2.2 Providing Feedback 3.1.3 Conclusion Stage 3.1.3.1 Stopping the Activity iv 3.1.3.2 Feedback after the Activity 3.2 Suggested Peer Interaction Activities to teach English speaking skill in the 10 th Form Class 3.3 The Reality of the Students’ Attitude towards Peer Interaction Activities after Participating in 3.3.1 The Extra Survey 3.3.1.1 Objectives of the Extra Survey 3.3.1.2 The Informants and Setting 3.3.1.3 Questionnaire Description 3.3.1.4 The Extra Survey Results 3.3.2 Findings and Discussions PART III: CONCLUSION Recapitulation Suggestions for Further Studies REFERENCES APPENDIX v TABLES AND CHARTS Table 2.1 The Survey Result from Teachers Chart 2.1 The Survey Result from Teachers for Question Chart 2.2 The Survey Result from Teachers for Question 10 Chart 2.3 The Survey Result from Teachers for Question 11 Chart 2.4 The Survey Result from Teachers for Question 13 Table 2.2 The Survey Result from Students Chart 2.5 The Survey Result from Students for Question Chart 2.6 The Survey Result from Students for Question Chart 2.7 The Survey Result from Students for Question 10 Chart 2.8 The Survey Result from Students for Question 11 Table 3.1 The Survey Result from Students Chart 3.1 The Extra Survey Result from Students for Question vi PART I: INTRODUCTION I Justification of the Study English has been widely used all over the world and become an international language It is, hence, understandable why the demand on English learning is increasing considerably day by day The goal of the language learners has changed and shifted from obtaining language knowledge to achieving the communicative ability in English Educationalist and linguists have made great efforts to find the most appropriate method with the view to enabling language learners to get the most desired results To meet the need, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is applied as the dominant method In CLT, the learner's role is more emphasized than in other traditional methods Most of the class-time is devoted to student-student interaction, not teacher-student interaction As a result, students can participate more actively and they can direct and develop the classroom activities by interacting among themselves while the teacher is a facilitator of the learning process In other words, peer interaction becomes the primary and powerful technique in modern language teaching Additionally, it is believed that like other cognitive development, language proficiency can be obtained through interaction, including peer interaction Peer interaction can provide various learning opportunities Not only more proficient learners assist their peer but mutual assistance among the learners of similar proficiency also occurs Consequently, peer interaction can promote the quality of language learning Besides, speaking is a crucial part of second language learning and teaching Despite its importance, for many years, teaching speaking has been undervalued and English language teachers have continued to teach speaking just as a repetition of drills or memorization of dialogues However, today’s world requires that the goal of teaching speaking should improve students’ communicative skills, because, only in that way, students can express themselves and learn how to follow the social and cultural rules appropriate in each communicative circumstance Therefore, the author has attempted to conduct the study entitled "Using Peer Interaction Activities to Teach English Speaking Skill in the tenth Form Class" to promote an interactive process through which the students could learn from each other through the use of a good selection of interactive class activities Aims and Objectives of the Study The study aims to: • Point out the real situation of using peer interaction activities to teach English speaking skill in the tenth form class in Nguyen Du High School • Provide some suggested peer interaction activities applied within speaking lesson of the new English textbook of the tenth form To achieve these aims, the study answers the following questions: • What is the real situation of using peer interaction activities to teach English speaking skill in the tenth form class? • How can peer interaction activities be used in teaching English speaking skill to the tenth form students? Methods of the Study This study has been conducted with qualitative and quantitative methods It uses the qualitative for get the in-depth knowledge which refer to peer interaction in English teaching and learning Furthermore, it also uses quantitative method to get information about the real situation of English speaking skill teaching and learning in the tenth form class Firstly, the study searches and reviews reference documents relating to the topic Next, it conducts a survey which involves in the tenth form students and teachers at Nguyen Du High School to investigate for their attitude towards speaking skill and their thought about peer interaction in English speaking lessons Finally, the study suggests some peer interaction activities applied within speaking lesson of the English textbook of the tenth form Scope of the Study Due to limitation of time and experience, it is impossible for the author to carry out the study discussing all the matters concerning peer interaction and all the levels of students In this paper, only the most necessary knowledge about peer interaction which is used in language teaching is mentioned and the study focuses on English speaking skill of students of the tenth form in high schools Format of the Study The study consists of three main parts: Part one entitled "Introduction" outlines the background of the study In this part, the author presents the reasons for choosing the topic, the objectives, the methods, the scope and the format of the study Part two with the title "Development" comprises three chapters In Chapter 1, "Theoretical Background", general theoretical of speaking and teaching speaking skill; the definition, the roles and some types of interaction in language learning are provided Moreover, in this chapter, the author focuses on the peer interaction with its roles in English class and some types of peer interaction activities Chapter deals with the investigation of the factual situation of using peer interaction activities in teaching and learning English speaking skill in high schools In Chapter 3, the author gives some suggested peer interaction activities applied within the English textbook of the tenth form Part three is the "Conclusion" in which a brief overview on the achievements of the study is presented together with suggestions for further studies The study ends up with "References" providing a list of sources of materials which are used during the process of writing the study and “Appendix” with the survey questionnaires for teachers and students PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Speaking Skill in Second Language Learning 1.1.1 Speaking Skill There is no point in studying English without practicing speaking it Through speaking, one can express his mind, ideas and thoughts freely and spontaneously To most people, mastering the art of speaking is the single most important aspect of learning a second or foreign language, and success is measured in terms of the ability to carry out a conversation in the target language In psycholinguistic, speaking is a productive language skill It is mental process (O’Grady, 2000, p.310) Mental process is also called as “a process of thinking” We use words, phrases, and sentences to convey a message to a listener A “word” is the smallest free form (an item that may be uttered in isolation with semantic or pragmatic content) in a language, while a phrase is a syntactic structure that consists of more than one word but lacks the subject-predicate organization of a clause When we combine these words into one group, then it becomes a sentence Many students regard speaking ability as the measure of knowing a language These students define fluency as the ability to converse with others, much more than the ability to read, write or comprehend oral language They regard speaking as the most important skill they can acquire, and they assess their progress in terms of their accomplishment in spoken communication (Burnkart, 1998) Generally, students need to recognize that speaking involves three areas of knowledge (Burnkart, 1998): • Mechanics (pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary): the right words are used in the right order with the correct pronunciation • Functions (transaction and interaction): when clarity of message is essential (transaction/information exchange) and when precise understanding is not required (interaction/relationship building)• • Social and cultural rules and norms (turn-taking, rate of speech, length of pauses between speakers, relative roles of participants): how to take into account who is speaking to whom, in what circumstances, about what, and for what reason ... using peer interaction activities to teach English speaking skill in the tenth form class? • How can peer interaction activities be used in teaching English speaking skill to the tenth form students?... aims to: • Point out the real situation of using peer interaction activities to teach English speaking skill in the tenth form class in Nguyen Du High School • Provide some suggested peer interaction. .. SITUATION OF USING PEER INTERACTION ACTIVITIES TO TEACH ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL IN THE TENTH FORM CLASS 2.1 The Survey 2.1.1 Objectives of the Survey 2.1.2 The Informants