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Tài liệu Using debate technique to improve the speaking skill of the 3rd year students majoring in english for tourism at ha long university

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NGUYỄN VÂN ANH VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Nguyễn Vân Anh COVER PAGE 2 ENGLISH LANGUAGE USING DEBATE TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE THE SPEAKING SKILL OF THE 3RD YEAR STUDENTS MAJORING IN ENGLISH FOR TOURISM AT HA LONG UNIVERSITY MA THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSE: 2016 – 2018 HANOI, 2018 VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Nguyễn Vân Anh USING DEBATE TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE THE SPEAKING SKILL OF THE 3RD YEAR STUDENTS MAJORING IN ENGLISH FOR TOURISM AT HA LONG UNIVERSITY Field: English Language Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hồ Ngọc Trung HANOI, 2018 DECLARATION BY AUTHOR The researcher, Nguyễn Vân Anh, fully declares that this thesis “Using Debate Technique to Improve the Speaking Skill of the 3 rd Year Students Majoring in English for Tourism at Ha Long University” is the result of my own progress of researching and I am the sole author of this thesis. With the exception of the reference indicated in the thesis, to the best of my knowledge, this thesis is conducted without using any other researchers and / or scholars. Furthermore, this thesis is submitted and fulfilled the requirements of the M.A. degree after a carefully examining progress. Author’s Signature Nguyễn Vân Anh Approved by SUPERVISOR Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hồ Ngọc Trung Date:…………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is completed after many working hours, as well as the contribution from numerous people with their effort, enthusiasm and assistance; and this thesis is whole heartedly dedicated to them. First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hồ Ngọc Trung for all of his encouragement and timely guidance. Had it not been for his support, in addition to his comments and advice, I would not finish this thesis. Next, I would like to convey my sincere appreciation and thanks to Mr. Đặng Nguyên Giang and the staff of the Department of Foreign Languages, Graduate Academy of Social Sciences for granting me the honor of writing this thesis as well as their assistance and most valuable comments. Additionally, I would be most grateful for all of the help from teachers at Ha Long University. Their help encouraged me a lot in the progress of completing the thesis. Furthermore, I would like to send my special thanks to all of the students at Ha Long University for their enthusiasm; their answers and responses helped me a lot with the analysis of the thesis. Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to my beloved family, who always support me during the progress of conducting and finishing this thesis. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION BY AUTHOR ....................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................. ii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 1 1.1. Rationale ................................................................................................. 1 1.2. Aim(s) of the Study ................................................................................. 2 1.3. Research Questions ................................................................................. 3 1.4. Scope of the Study .................................................................................. 3 1.5. Significance of the Study ........................................................................ 3 1.6. Research Methods ................................................................................... 4 1.7. Structure of the Study ............................................................................. 5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................... 7 2.1. Concepts of Speaking.............................................................................. 7 2.1.1. Definition of Speaking ...................................................................... 7 2.1.2. The Elements of Speaking ................................................................ 8 2.1.3. Principles of Teaching Speaking .................................................... 10 2.1.4. Teacher’s Roles in Teaching Speaking........................................... 11 2.1.5. Components of Teaching Speaking ................................................ 13 2.1.6. Techniques in Teaching Speaking .................................................. 15 2.1.7. Characteristics of Successful Speaking .......................................... 17 2.2. Concepts of Debate ............................................................................... 18 2.2.1. Definition of Debate ....................................................................... 18 2.2.2. Benefits of Debate........................................................................... 19 2.2.3. Debate as an active learning strategy.............................................. 20 2.2.4. Parts of Debate Technique .............................................................. 21 2.2.5. Procedure of Debate Technique ...................................................... 22 2.2.6. Debate Technique for the Improvement of Speaking Skills........... 23 2.3. Summary ............................................................................................... 24 iii CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY ............................................................... 25 3.1. Setting of the Study ............................................................................... 25 3.2. General Situation of the Experimental Class ........................................ 25 3.3. Research Method................................................................................... 27 3.3.1. Action Research: An Introduction and the Reason for the choice .. 27 3.3.2. Research Design.............................................................................. 28 3.3.3. Target of Classroom Action Research ............................................ 29 3.4. Research Procedure ............................................................................... 30 3.4.1. Step 1: Planning .............................................................................. 30 3.4.2. Step 2: Action ................................................................................. 30 3.4.3. Step 3: Observation ......................................................................... 31 3.4.4. Step 4: Reflection ............................................................................ 32 3.5. Data Analysis ........................................................................................ 32 3.5.1. Method of Collecting Data ............................................................. 32 3.5.1.1. Observation ........................................................................... 32 3.5.1.2. Tests ...................................................................................... 33 3.5.1.3. Documentation ...................................................................... 34 3.5.2. Technique of Data Analysis ............................................................ 34 3.5.2.1. Mean ..................................................................................... 34 3.5.2.2. Standard Deviation ............................................................... 35 3.5.2.3. T-Test Analysis ...................................................................... 35 3.5.2.4. Reflection .............................................................................. 38 3.6. Summary ............................................................................................... 40 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ....................................... 41 4.1. Findings and Discussions for Cycle 1................................................... 41 4.1.1. Planning .......................................................................................... 41 4.1.2. Action’s Implementation ................................................................ 41 4.1.3. Observation ..................................................................................... 43 4.1.4. Reflection ........................................................................................ 44 4.1.5. Test’s Result Calculation: Cycle 1.................................................. 44 iv 4.1.5.1. Calculating the Test Score ................................................... 44 4.1.5.2. Calculating Mean ................................................................ 45 4.1.5.3. Calculating the Standard Deviation and t0 ......................... 46 4.1.5.4. Interprpetation ..................................................................... 46 4.2. Findings and Discussions for Cycle 2 ................................................... 46 4.2.1. Planning .......................................................................................... 47 4.2.2. Action Implementation ................................................................... 47 4.2.3. Observation ..................................................................................... 50 4.2.4. Reflection ........................................................................................ 50 4.3. Findings and Discussions for Cycle 3 ................................................... 50 4.3.1. Planning .......................................................................................... 51 4.3.2. Action Implementation ................................................................... 51 4.3.3. Observation ..................................................................................... 53 4.3.4. Reflection ........................................................................................ 54 4.3.5. Test’s Result Calculation: Cycle 2 and Cycle 3.............................. 54 4.3.5.1. Test’s Results ........................................................................ 54 4.3.5.2. Calculating Mean ................................................................ 56 4.3.5.3. Calculating the Standard Deviation and t0 .......................... 56 4.3.5.4. Interprpetation ..................................................................... 56 4.4. Cycle 4 .................................................................................................. 57 4.4.1. Planning .......................................................................................... 57 4.4.2. Action’s Implementation ................................................................ 57 4.4.3. Observation ..................................................................................... 59 4.4.4. Reflection ........................................................................................ 59 4.4.5. Test’s Result Calculation: Cycle 4.................................................. 60 4.4.5.1. Test’s Results ....................................................................... 60 4.4.5.2. Calculating Mean ............................................................... .61 4.4.5.3. Calculating the Standard Deviation and t0 .......................... 62 4.4.5.4. Interprpetation ...................................................................... 62 4.5. Summary ............................................................................................... 62 v CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ..................................................................... 64 5.1. Recapitulation ....................................................................................... 64 5.2. Concluding Remarks ............................................................................. 64 5.3. Implications ........................................................................................... 65 5.4. Limitations and Suggestions for Further Studies .................................. 65 REFERENCES ................................................................................................ 69 APPENDIX 1: LESSON PLANS ...................................................................... I Lesson Plan for Debate Activity – Cycle 1..................................................... I Lesson Plan for Debate Activity – Cycle 2.................................................. III Lesson Plan for Debate Activity – Cycle 3................................................... V Lesson Plan for Debate Activity – Cycle 4................................................ VII APPENDIX 2: TESTS .................................................................................... IX Pretest 1 ........................................................................................................ IX Post-test 1 .................................................................................................. XIII Post-test 2 ................................................................................................... XX Post-test 3 ................................................................................................ XXX Post-test 4 .............................................................................................. XXXII vi ABSTRACT There are numerous ways of improving speaking ability for students, and this thesis is conducted not beyond this purpose. In particular, this thesis mainly focuses on the way of applying Debate Technique in teaching speaking, especially in the scope of universities. Generally speaking, Debate Technique is considered one of the most effective ways of teaching speaking skills; and applying this teaching method in classes showed the evidence of effectiveness in reality. Additionally, it is undeniable that using Debate Technique, in teaching English in general and the skill of speaking in particular, now becomes more and more popular at schools and universities because of the value it brings. Therefore, this thesis concentrates on the implementation of Debate Technique and proves that its use can help student’s speaking skills to be enhanced. After analyzing and synthesizing the statistics, the researcher discussed and recommended some implications along with suggestions for further research. Finally, it is much hoped that the results of the study could be useful for the development of teaching and learning English speaking skill at Ha Long University. vii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: List of the members of the Experimental Class ............................. 25 Table 3.2: Teaching aspects for an observation sheet ..................................... 31 Table 4.1: Team division: Cycle 1 .................................................................. 42 Table 4.2: Observation checklist – Cycle 1 .................................................... 43 Table 4.3: Test score – Cycle 1 ....................................................................... 45 Table 4.4: Value of Mean – Cycle 1 ............................................................... 45 Table 4.5: Team division: Cycle 2 .................................................................. 48 Table 4.6: Observation checklist – Cycle 2 .................................................... 49 Table 4.7: Team division: Cycle 3 .................................................................. 52 Table 4.8: Observation checklist – Cycle 3 .................................................... 53 Table 4.9: Post-test Score – Cycle 2 and Cycle 3 ........................................... 55 Table 4.10: Value of Mean: Cycle 2 and 3 ..................................................... 56 Table 4.11: Team division: Cycle 4 ................................................................ 58 Table 4.12: Observation checklist – Cycle 4 .................................................. 58 Table 4.13: Test score – Cycle 4 ..................................................................... 60 Table 4.14: Mean calculation – Cycle 4.......................................................... 61 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1: Action research cycle proposed by Wilf Carr and Stephen Kemmis (1986) .............................................................................................................. 27 Figure 3.2: T-Test distribution figure………………………………………..37 Figure 3.3: Process of a debate action............................................................. 39 Figure 4.1: Mean of the Post-test from Cycle 1 to 4 ....................................... 61 ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Rationale English increasingly affirms its indispensable role in all exchange activities and international cooperation in all fields of economics, politics, culture, education, science, health care and social life, etc. of most countries and regions in the world. To Vietnam, we also clearly identify the position of the language for the overall development of society as a tool for facilitating integration into the international and regional communities, a tool to access to global information, science and technology and a tool to approach other cultures as well as important worldwide events. Therefore, English has become a compulsory subject in all colleges and universities throughout the country for many years. Also, Vietnamese educators increasingly become aware that one of the decisive elements which contributes to learners’ success is his/her competence in English. And “How to help students communicate confidently in English?” is the question which always ponders every teacher of English at every foreign language training institution. Theoretically speaking, good grammar, good vocabulary and good pronunciation help us communicate well. The ultimate goal of every English learner is to be able to communicate in English at various degrees depending on the individual's job requirements. However, communicating well in English is not an easy-to-achieve goal to almost English learners, especially to Vietnamese learners of English. To students who major in English for tourism at Ha Long University, communicating well in English is really significant because it is the key tool of their future job. In order to communicate well in English, students must be good at speaking skills by mastering speaking elements including grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and fluency. But, frankly speaking, most of these students usually face difficulties which prevent them from participating eagerly in the speaking lessons. After over ten years of teaching English at Ha Long University (formerly Ha Long College of Culture, Art and Tourism), I noticed that many students are timid, not excited during hours of speaking 1 lessons even when they are good at vocabulary and grammar. This means that students are possibly not interested in the subject or have not found effective learning methods for this subject. So, how to stimulate students to be actively involved in the speaking activities in the class is a difficult question to answer. One of the reasons why students’ motivation in speaking classes is low is that they do not have many chances to practice English inside and outside the class. There are several techniques which teachers can use to stimulate students to participate in the speaking lessons. The chosen technique should be interesting enough to inspire students to the speaking activities. One of the appropriate techniques for teaching speaking skills is debate technique. It is recognized as an active learning strategy through which students will learn more through a process of constructing and creating, working in a group and also sharing knowledge. Debate is a teaching strategy to improve verbal communication and critical-thinking skills. Debating is an effective pedagogical strategy because of the level of responsibility for learning and active involvement required by all student debaters. Maryadi (2008, p.16) states that “debate can motivate students’ thinking, moreover if they must defend their stand or opinion which is in contradiction with conviction themselves”. This strategy can involve all students to be active, not only debate performer. For the above-mentioned reasons, I have decided to carry out a study entitled “Using Debate Technique to Improve the Speaking Skill of the 3 rd Year Students Majoring in English for Tourism at Ha Long University” for my MA thesis. 1.2. Aim(s) of the Study The aim of the study is to improve the speaking skills of third year students who major in English for Tourism at Ha Long University by using debate technique. In order to achieve the aim, the study is expected to fulfill the following objectives: (i) Describing the use of debate technique in teaching the speaking skill to third year students majoring in English for Tourism at Ha Long University; 2 (ii) Identifying how much students’ speaking skill improve after being taught by using debate technique. 1.3. Research Questions For the objectives of the study, the following research questions are addressed: 1. How is the debate technique used to improve the speaking skill of third year students majoring in English for Tourism at Ha Long University? 2. How much do students improve their speaking skill after using debate technique? 1.4. Scope of the Study Within the MA thesis, the present study involves the investigation of what the students truly do during the debates in their speaking lessons and its impacts on the communicative competence of 19 major English students who are in the third year of a three-year English for tourism program at the Faculty of Foreign Studies, Ha Long University. Debate is experimented as an intensive methodology in speaking lessons in one class during a fifteen-week semester. 1.5. Significance of the Study In our contemporary society, people are living in an information-rich one with increasing numbers of media sources, the growth of the internet and the emergence of social media and they affect the way people teach foreign language. Young people today not only need to have the skills needed to understand the information being presented, they need to have the skills to research through different sources, critically analyze the information presented and form their own conclusions and arguments as a result. The changes motivate the teacher to change and renew their teaching method, and applying debate activities is one of them. Debate can also help to broaden horizons, improve cultural awareness and bring together young people from diverse backgrounds. There is evidence that debate can be particularly powerful when working with students from more disadvantaged backgrounds, boosting their confidence and even increasing aspirations for higher education. 3 Furthermore, for all students, debating activities are good preparation for further study and help to develop the skills which will be vital when coming to university level study. The research element of debate in particular helps students to develop library research skills, self-managed study and time management. It also introduces students to more in-depth analysis of a particular topic that is often difficult to introduce within the curriculum. In the context of the study, firstly, in this study the students are expected to be able to improve their speaking skills by using debates. Secondly, the study is hoped to help teachers to get alternative ways in their teaching process, especially by using debates. Additionally, the readers are expected to obtain any information in order to improve their knowledge by reading this thesis. And finally, to the writer, this thesis helps her develop knowledge and experience in composing academic writing. 1.6. Research Methods This study is a classroom action research. Undoubtedly, action research is an attractive selection for teacher researchers, school administrative staff in the teaching and learning environment to consider. Distinctively, action research in education can be defined as the process of studying a school situation to recognize and pick up the quality of the educative procedure. It is responsible for practitioners about new knowledge and perception about how to enhance educational practices or resolve important problems in classrooms and schools. Within the context of this study, the main goal of action research is to determine ways to enhance the speaking skills of the students at Ha Long University. Simultaneously, action research can enhance the lives of those professionals who work within educational systems. Using action research to be the research method of this study helps teachers develop new knowledge directly related to their classrooms, promotes reflective teaching and thinking, expands teachers’ pedagogical repertoire, puts teachers in charge of their craft, reinforces the link between practice and student achievement, fosters an openness toward new ideas and learning new things, and gives teachers ownership of effective 4 practices. Moreover, action research workshops can be used to replace traditional, ineffective teacher in-service training as a means for professional development activities. To be more applicable, teacher in-service training needs to be extended over multiple sessions, contain active learning to allow teachers to manipulate the ideas and enhance their adjustment of the information, and align the concepts showed with the current curriculum, goals, or teaching concerns. Consequently, providing teachers with the necessary skills, knowledge, and focus to engage in meaningful inquiry about their professional practice will enhance this practice, and effect positive changes concerning the educative goals of the learning community. The data collection will be done using test and observation. The data from the test and observation is going to be taken from every stage and analyzed quantitatively. The participants of this study are 19 students in class English for Tourism 3. The result of this study will tell us how using debate technique can improve students’ speaking skills. 1.7. Structure of the Study This paper is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 briefly introduces the background information of the study, the reasons why the writer chooses the topic for her MA thesis, the aims, objectives of the study and the research questions which are going to be addressed in the study. The scope of study, its significance and structure are also raised in this chapter. Chapter 2 consists of theoretical framework of teaching speaking skills and the debate technique and previous studies related to the thesis. Chapter 3, the methodology chapter, will make it clear how the present study was implemented, including information about context, participants, and procedures, instrumentation and data collection. Methods of analysis will also be addressed in this chapter. Analysis of a range of data collected from various sources (oral data from group planning and individual presentations, teacher’s observation notes) for the study will be clarified in this chapter. 5 Chapter 4 will present findings from the present study and discuss these results. Chapter 5, which is also the concluding chapter of the study includes conclusion, implications, limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies. 6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. Concepts of Speaking 2.1.1. Definitions of Speaking Right from the establishment of the human society, speaking has been being used as one of the most common ways of communicating. According to the viewpoint of Fulcher (2003), speaking is the verbal use of language to communicate with others. People use speaking to form social relationship, express their ideas or give commands to the others. Whenever a person produces a short piece of spoken sentences, it is called a speech. Speech has a close relation with making choices. Particularly, speakers have to make a proper choice of the way of interaction to express themselves and describe what they need to other persons. Speaking is also defined by Eckard & Kearny (1981), Florez (1999) and Howarth (2001) that it is “a two-way process involving a true communication of ideas, information or feelings”. This view reflects the spoken texts or the creation of collaboration between two or more participants simultaneously, and a shared physical situation. Additionally, according to Burns & Joyce (1997) and Luoma (2004, p.2) speaking is defined as “an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information”. Its form and meaning are reliant on the situation in which it happens, containing the contributors themselves, the physical setting, and the purposes for speaking. It is often impulsive, open-ended, and growing. Another definition given by Louwerse & Mitchel (2003, p.243), that speaking is a process using a language proficiently and is taken for granted, because the competence of speaking is an innate ability to each individual since they were born. Because of this reason, speaking is a natural progress of five main components, including using language in a person’s ordinary voice, 7 uttering words, understanding and being able to say words, expressing one self’s opinions in words and making speech. Besides, the variety of the number of languages all over the world is one of the most outstanding factors causing the advent of learning foreign languages. Because the necessity of speaking in general and speaking another language, in addition to an individual’s mother tongue, it is considered one of the most important skills to learn. Generally speaking, it can be concluded that speaking is the process of constructing a person’s ideas; in other words, it is a way a person shows other people his or her feelings and communicates effectively by words and phrases. 2.1.2. The Elements of Speaking According to Harmer (2003, p.288), there are two main factors that English-speaking competence presupposes the significance for spoken production, which will be mentioned below: 2.1.2.1. Language Features According to Dalton and Seidlhofer (1994), the characteristics of language in general and speaking in particular can be categorized into four main aspects, including Connected speech, Expressive devices, Lexis and Grammar and Language of negotiation.  It is claimed that in connected speech, sounds are undergone some different processes; in particular, they are modified (assimilation), omitted (elision), weakened (by using contractions and patterning) or added (linking). Because of this processes, it is necessary for teachers to involve students in classroom activities which are designed in special purposes in order to enhance their connected speech.  Expressive devices: In English-speaking countries, this aspect of language feature is showed by people who use it as their first language to alter not only their pitch and word stress in certain parts of utterances, but also the way of using their volume and speaking speed, and is showed by other 8 paralinguistic (non-verbal) and physical means like emotion (especially in face-to-face conversation).  Lexis and Grammar: A wide range of vocabulary and phrases could be used by teachers for numerous teaching functions, including expressing feelings or emotions, showing his or her agreement or disagreement, giving orders or showing approval.  Language of negotiation: Effective speaking gets benefits from the language of negotiation that speakers use to get hold of the ideas’ clarification and present the content’s structures of what we speak. We usually require this kind of clarification during the conversation, when we are focusing on the content of the speech. This feature is, obviously, very necessary to students. 2.1.2.2. Social Processing It is also said by Harmer (2003, p.294) that whether speaking is effective or not depends on the processing skills which are very important, particularly:  Language processing: this skill involves the ability of getting learned vocabularies back of students and their way of combining words into a propositionally and syntactically suitable sequence.  Communicating with others: on the purpose of sharing ideas and opinions with others in a natural, effective and spontaneous way, it is required from speakers a good skill of listening, and they have to comprehend almost correctly the emotions of the person to whom he or she is talking as well. Furthermore, the speaker has to have a certain range of social and linguistic knowledge to analyze the content of his or her partner. If all of these criteria are fulfilled, communicators can take turns in the conversation 9
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