Tài liệu Developing speaking skills for first year students of faculty of english hanoi open university

CODE: 27 DEVELOPING SPEAKING SKILLS FOR FIRST – YEAR STUDENTS OF FACULTY OF ENGLISH – HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITYHANOI, Developing Speaking Skills for first – year students of Faculty of English – Hanoi Open University HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH ---*

*--- GRADUATION THESIS B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH STUDIES DEVELOPING SPEAKING SKILLS FOR FIRST - YEAR STUDENTS OF FACULTY OF ENGLISH – HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Hong Minh, M.A Student: Vu Thuy Dung Date of birth : 11/ 08/ 1994 2016 Class: K19A07 (2012- 2016) Hanoi, 2016 Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) Developing Speaking Skills for first – year students of Faculty of English – Hanoi Open University DECLARATION DEVELOPING SPEAKING SKILLS FOR FIRST - YEAR STUDENTS OF FACULTY OF ENGLISH – HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY I certify that no part of the above reports has been copied or reproduced by me from any person’s work without acknowledgement and that report is originally written by under strict guidance of my supervisor. Hanoi, 15th April, 2016 Student Vũ Thùy Dung Supervisor Nguyễn Thị Hồng Minh, M.A Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) Developing Speaking Skills for first – year students of Faculty of English – Hanoi Open University ACKNOWLEDMENTS During the time I implement to research and complete this paper, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Ms Nguyễn Thị Hồng Minh, M.A, my supervisor for her sincere advice and patient guidance as her encouragement to my study. Without her help, my graduation paper would have been impossible to be fulfilled. I also would like to give my great thanks to the Management Board of the Faculty for providing favorable conditions for my study to be carried out. I also owe to Faculty of English. Hanoi Open University, all my teachers and the librarians for their help, encouragement and supports. Besides, I would like to express my deep thanks to my friends who encourage me to choose the subject and supply me a lot of materials in the writing of this paper. Finally, I am debited to my beloved parents who give me the best materials and intellectual condition to study. Hanoi, 15th April, 2016 Student Vũ Thùy Dung Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) Developing Speaking Skills for first – year students of Faculty of English – Hanoi Open University TABLE OF CONTENT PART A: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................... 2 1. Rationale .............................................................................................. 2 2. Aims and objectives of the study ........................................................ 3 3. Scope of the study................................................................................ 3 4. Research questions .............................................................................. 3 5. Methods of the study ........................................................................... 4 6. Design of the study .............................................................................. 4 PART B: DEVELOPMENT ........................................................................ 5 Chapter 1: Literature review...................................................................... 5 1.1 The definition of the English speaking skills .................................. 6 1.2 The importance of the English speaking skills ............................... 8 1.3 Common components making Speaking skills difficult ................. 9 1.3.1 Clustering .................................................................................. 10 1.3.2 Redundancy............................................................................... 10 1.3.3 Reduced forms........................................................................... 10 1.3.4 Performance variables .............................................................. 10 1.3.5 Colloquial language .................................................................. 11 1.3.6 Rate of delivery.......................................................................... 11 1.3.7 Interaction ................................................................................. 11 1.4 Summary of this chapter ............................................................... 11 Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) Developing Speaking Skills for first – year students of Faculty of English – Hanoi Open University Chapter 2: Analyses, Findings & Interpretations ................................... 12 2.1Design and methodology .................................................................... 12 2.1.1 The setting of the study ................................................................ 12 2.1.2 Data collection instrument ......................................................... 12 2.2 Preliminary results ........................................................................ 13 2.2.1 Student’s opinions on speaking skills ......................................... 14 2.2.2 Student’s opinions on learning speaking skills in group work.. 15 2.2.3 Students appreciation of the use of group work in the speaking class at Faculty of English .................................................................... 16 2.2.4 The best group size and difficulties the students had when working in group work .......................................................................... 19 2.2.5 Student’s desire for the better group work ................................. 21 2.3 General remarks ............................................................................ 22 2.4 The findings .................................................................................. 24 2.4.1 The lack of self-confidence......................................................... 24 2.4.2 The limitation of vocabulary ....................................................... 26 2.4.3. The mispronunciation and misunderstanding in using grammar ............................................................................................................... 28 2.4.4. The lack of general knowledge. .................................................. 30 2.4.5. Unfamiliar partner ...................................................................... 31 2.4.6. The lack of motivation and flexibility in speaking English. ........ 32 2.5. Summary ........................................................................................ 32 Chapter 3: Suggestions to deal with the problems .................................. 33 Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) Developing Speaking Skills for first – year students of Faculty of English – Hanoi Open University 3.1 Develop speaking skills through Pronunciation ........................... 33 3.2 Develop speaking skills through Grammar ................................. 34 3.2 . Develop speaking skills through reflective listening.................. 36 3.4 Develop speaking skills through reading...................................... 37 3.5 Enrich general knowledge ............................................................. 38 3.6 Build self-confidence ..................................................................... 40 3.6.1 Overcome fear of making mistakes ............................................. 40 3.6.3 Pay attention to physical appearance ......................................... 44 3.6.4 Prepare the topic carefully.......................................................... 44 3.6.5 Improve English self-study skills ................................................ 44 3.7 Improve group speaking ............................................................... 46 3.7.1 Working in pairs .......................................................................... 46 3.7.2 Working in small groups ............................................................. 47 3.8 Join activities outside class ........................................................... 49 3.8.1 Join the English speaking clubs ................................................. 49 3.8.2 Communicate with native speakers ............................................. 50 3.9 Summary ........................................................................................ 50 PART C: CONCLUSION ......................................................................... 51 Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) Developing Speaking Skills for first – year students of Faculty of English – Hanoi Open University LISTS OF FIGURES AND TABLES Table 1. Student’s opinions on speaking skills .............................................. 14 Table 2. Student’s opinions on learning speaking skills in group work ........ 15 Table 3. Students assessment for the teachers frequent use of group work ... 16 Table 4. Students appreciation of their participation in group work............. 17 Table 5: Student’s appreciation of group work for the benefit of speaking ... 18 Table 6: The best group size and difficulties the students had when working in group work ................................................................................................... 19 Table 7: Student’s desire for the better group work...................................... 21 Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Nowadays, with the development of economy and society, demands of communication of human are increasing constantly. In the past, when mass media was not developed yet, we could only communicated with the people who spoke the same language with you, mother tongue for example, but now the tide has turned. Communicative demands, associating new relationships are essential for the youth today. In the aim of associating with the foreigners, learning English is also a very important task. However, not everyone can be confident in their speaking competence and their communicating competence even students who study in faculties of English. Furthermore, non-native speakers will have to face with many difficulties when learning speaking English. It will take time, practice and perseverance. Mastering speaking skills is an advantage which leads to the success in communication. Speaking skills is one of the necessary skills for the present students but some students have not yet been really interested in this problem. Many students have not yet clearly presented a problem, his view in front of the class. Some students think that they only focus on the specialized knowledge without speaking skills. So, concentration on both the specialized knowledge and the development of the speaking skills are necessary for the students. Being a senior student, I found the difficulties in speaking of the firstyear students of the Faculty of English at Hanoi Open University. Thus, I decide to write about the strategies to develop speaking skills for first-year students and some effective ways in order to help them develop their speaking skills. Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) 2. Aims and objectives of the study The study focuses on the review of the Speaking skills definition and types. On the other hand, this study also mentions some strategies which relate to develop speaking skills for students. These aim are giving some basic knowledge about speaking skills and suggesting some effective strategies to enhance Speaking competence. Hopefully, this study will help the first-year students in developing their own skills. 3. Scope of the study Due to time limitation, the focused area of the research will only be among the first-year students of the Faculty of English at Hanoi Open University. This study mainly relates to the difficulties of first-year student in speaking skills and focuses on some strategies to help them speak better. 4. Research questions With the aims mentioned earlier are to find out some strategies which help students develop their speaking skill and speaking competence. The research questions were addressed as following and this thesis was hoped to answer them: • To investigate the theories of English Speaking Skills, importance of Speaking skills and common components making Speaking skills difficult. • What do the first-year students of the Faculty of English at HOU find the most difficult when using verbal English? • What are some suggestions for the students to develop their speaking abilities? Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) 5. Methods of the study To achieve the aims stated above, I read some referenced books in the library as well as books from my teacher. Moreover, I found some useful information on Internet which relate to my study. I also discussed with my supervisor, teachers and classmates who are learning English. To complete this study, I carried out surveys and interviews to gain better insight into the real situation then I bring them into this paper. 6. Design of the study The study is divided into three parts: Part A: Introductionis the introduction of the study including the rationale, aims and purposes, scope, research questions, methods and design of study. Part B: Development This part consist of three chapters: Chapter 1: Literature review This chapter provides and introduces some definitions and theories relatedto speaking skills. Chapter 2:Analyses, Findings & Interpretations It is the main part of study, which discloses the real situation of first-year English-majored students at Hanoi Open University in using verbal English, the difficulties which the students had when they study speaking skills. Chapter 3: Suggestions to deal with the problems In this chapter, I want to inform some suggestions to deal with the problem. Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) Part C: Conclusion This chapter is the concluding part where the author gives the conclusion and sum up main ideas of the graduation paper. PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Literature review Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) 1.1The definition of the English speaking skills As far as the researcher is concerned, there has been a myriad of definitions of speaking. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Current English(2009, p.414), speaking is “the action of conveying information or expressing ones’thoughts and feelings in spoken languages. Merriand – Webster online dictionary gave a general definition of speaking: “Speaking is uttering words or articulating in sounds with the ordinary voice. Speaking is the way to covey thoughts, opinions, exchange orally, or to express oneself.” We can simply understand this definition that if we propose our opinions, share ideas of express something, we have to use our voice, our words to make other people what we mean. By this way we can communicate. Chaney (1998, p.13), however, considered speaking a process: “speaking isthe process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal or non-verbal symbols in a variety of contexts”. Sharing the same viewpoint,Florez (1999, p.1) added that speaking is an “interactive” process, which consists of three main stages “producing, receiving and processing information.” In language teaching and learning, speaking is considered a skill topractice and master. In this light, Nunan (2003, p.48) put it that “speaking isthe productive oral skill. It consists of producing systematic verbal utterance toconvey meaning.” Also considering speaking as a skill, Bygate (1987, Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) p.3)investigated the distinction between knowledge and skill in speaking lesson,which he considered as crucial in the teaching of speaking. Indeed, to be agood learner of speaking, studying knowledge of grammar, vocabulary,pronunciation, intonation, etc. is not enough but the skill to use this knowledgeto communicate successfully is indispensable. In brief, there are different concepts of speaking, i.e. speaking as anaction, a process and a skill. In this study, the term “speaking” will be used torefer to a skill related to language teaching or learning. Another point of view on speaking is: “Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involved producing and receiving and processing information. Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including the participants themselves, their collective experience, the physical environment and the purposes for speaking” (Brown(1994); Burns and Joyce(1997)). From this point of view we can simply say that in certain situations we use certain type of language to say. For example in a conference we often use formal language and in daily life we often use informal language. On the other hand, this speaking definition regards speaking as an activity taken place between the speakers and the listeners. The speakers and the listeners interaction take place the real time, thereby allowing very little time for the speaker to respond to the listener if the rules of a conversation are to be maintained. In the interaction, the speaker gives out message to the listener. The listener gets the message from the speaker and gives the speaker feedback as to whether or not the listener has understood what the speaker has Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) just said or asked for more information. This process will be repeated for many times to get clear meaning of communicative interaction (McDonough and Shaw, 1993; Harmer, 1994). The definition of speaking skills is much diversified. In Cambridge Dictionary, speaking skills are defined quite simply. They are skills “to say words, to use the voice, or to have a conversation with someone”. Another famous dictionary, Oxford Advanced Dictionary defined speaking skills as skills “to press or communicate opinions, feelings, idea, etc; by or as talking and it involves the activities in the part of the speaker as psychological, physiological (articulator) and physical (acoustic) states.” In conclusion, the definitions of speaking are numerable because of the complexity of this process. Speaking is a productive skill and the main purpose this process is to transfer information and communicate or to express the speaker’s opinions and thoughts. It helps learners express their ideas clearly and smoothly. A good speaking skill plays an important role to help learners make a successful conversation. Therefore, learners should make all their efforts to be effective speakers by becoming involved active in speaking. 1.2The importance of the English speaking skills Among the four skills in learning English, speaking and writing are the productive skills. However, speaking is regarded as very important for language teaching and learning. Speaking is a bridge to reach other skills. Speaking helps learners to read better, to listen more effectively and write more accurately. Speaking is surely the most effective means of communication. (Ur, 1996). Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) There are two most important reasons why speaking should be taught in the classroom. The first reason is speaking is a good source of motivation for students. Nunan (1991) points out, “success is measured in terms of the ability to carry out a conversation in the (target) language”. For the students who have ability to speak English eligibly, they want to speak English; they know to express themselves in English. Thus, they always speak when possible. But for those who cannot speak English well, they do not want to speak in group. As a result, they may soon get de-motivated and lose interest in learning English. In addition to this, in the English speaking class, if the speaking activities are organized in the suitable way, speaking can have a lot of fun and therefore can raise motivation in the learners. If the speaking is practiced successfully, the other skills can also be improved through speaking. For the second reason, nowadays, the demand for communication among people is really important. Without it, the life does not exist. For this, speaking always plays an important role in people’s lives. Speaking is considered as a survival skill in real life. (Ur, 1996; p 134). For the ideas above, speaking skills also play the key role in foreign language learning and teaching. 1.3Common components making Speaking skills difficult Becoming the first-year students of Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University, most of them do not accustomed to speak English in class. They feel worried about speaking in class. They feel worried about speaking in class time and oral tests. Specially, the students who come from the other regions, they do not have a standard in pronunciation. Moreover, in speaking, there are a lot of ellison’s phenomena, structures can be reduced as much as Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) possible that is depended on the certain contexts etc. Thus, it is really hard for them in practicing not only speaking skills but also the other skills. Here are some popular difficulties that may make students confused during practicing speaking. Of course, there are many other phenomena in language they may meet. However, in this scope of this study, I only mention to some difficulties that are easy to recognize in speaking. 1.3.1 Clustering Fluent speech is phrasal, not word by word. Learners can organize their output both cognitively and physically (in breath groups) through such clustering. 1.3.2 Redundancy The speaker has an opportunity to make his/her meaning clearer through the redundancy of language. Learners can capitalize on this feature of spoken language. 1.3.3 Reduced forms Contractions, elisions, reduced vowels, etc. all form special problems in teaching spoken English. Students who don’t learn colloquial contractions can sometimes develop a stilted, bookish quality of speaking that in turn stigmatize them. 1.3.4 Performance variables One of the advantages of spoken language is that the process of thinking as you speak allows you to manifest a certain number of performance hesitations, pauses, backtracking, and corrections. You can actually teach learners how to pause and hesitate. For example, in English our “thinking time” is not silent, but rather we insert certain “fillers”: uh, um, well, you Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) know, I mean, like, etc. One of the most salient differences between native and nonnative speakers of a language is in their hesitation phenomena. 1.3.5 Colloquial language Making sure your students are reasonably well acquainted with the words and idioms and phrases of colloquial language and that they get practice in producing these forms. 1.3.6 Rate of delivery Another salient characteristic of fluency is rate of delivery. One of your tasks in teaching spoken English is to help learners to achieve an acceptable speed along with other attributes of fluency. This is the most important characteristic of English pronunciation. The stress-timed rhythm of spoken English and its intonation patterns convey important messages. 1.3.7 Interaction As noted in the previous section, learning to produce waves of language in a vacuum – without interlocutors – would rob speaking skills of its richest component: the creative of conversational negotiation. 1.4Summary of this chapter This chapter focuses on presenting theory and some definitions of specific terms to help students understand more about speaking skills and problems students can have during the process of practicing speaking skills. Also it highlights them… In short, this chapter shows an overview of speaking skills and some popular problems for students to have basic knowledge about them. Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) Chapter 2: Analyses, Findings & Interpretations 2.1Design and methodology 2.1.1 The setting of the study My survey questionnaire was hand out to 60 first-year students at Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University. They are both males and females at the age of 18 to 20. They are in the pre-intermediate level and are very interested in English. The study is carried out with a main aim of improving the speaking skills for the first-year students major at Hanoi Open University. There are many good reasons for choosing the freshmen as the subject of the study. First of all, these students have just left high school where they never do acquainted with speaking skills so when they began their study at a university, speaking is really strange to them. On the contrary, at the university they have to cope with many problems such as: listening, writing, reading and speaking. Besides the freshmen always lack self-confidence when being engaged in speaking practice. They also lack speaking environment and have problems of using their mother tongue. For instance, when they join in speaking activities they usually get troubles with expressing their mind in English. Finally, to help those who have tried much but still not become good speakers. These are reasons why I decided to do the study on using games for the first-year students to improve speaking skills. 2.1.2 Data collection instrument Some aspect of teaching and learning can be investigated through administering a questionnaire. Questionnaires are useful for gathering information about effective dimensions of teaching and learning and enable a teacher to collect a large amount of information quickly. Advantages of using questionnaire which Gillham (2000) highlights are: less pressure on respondents, not under pressure of interview bias and analysis of answer is straightforward. The researcher used the survey questionnaire as the main sources to fulfill its aims. Two collections of questionnaires were created to the opinion of both teacher and student about the use of teamwork in the Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) speaking classes of the 1st year students at Faculty of English. Clear instructions were given when the questionnaire was administered. 14 English questionnaires are designed for 60 students (2-3 classes of the same level in the first-year). The questionnaire was divided into 5 main parts: Part 1: Students opinions on speaking skill (Question 1, 2, 3) Part 2: Students opinions on learning in group work (4) Part 3: Students appreciation of the use of group work in the speaking class at Faculty of English (5, 6, 7) Part 4: The difficulties of the students when working in groups for speaking skill (8, 9, 10 and 11) Part 5: The students wishes in working in groups (12, 13, 14) 2.2Preliminary results Before giving the concrete result of the survey, the researcher will show the preliminary result. Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) 2.2.1 Student’s opinions on speaking skills Table 1. Student’s opinions on speaking skills Options/ a b c d 16 10 60 54 54 6 0 0 54 6 0 0 Question 1 a. English speaking compulsory at is your university. b. You just want to pass the oral exam. c. Speaking is necessary for your future job. d. You are interested in the speaking skills. 2 a. Very b. Rather c. Little d. Not at all 3 a. Very b. Rather c. Little d. Not at all Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016)