A study on the problems in teaching english speaking skills to the minority students at sonla ethnic boarding high school and some suggested solutions

Hä vµ tªn : NguyÔn ThÞ H­¬ng Giang Ngµy sinh : 7/10/1976 N¬i sinh : Phóc Hµ - §ång Hû – Th¸i Nguyªn §èi t­îng : HVCH –K14 K2005 – 2008 Khoa : Ng«n ng÷ V¨n ho¸ Anh Mü Tr­êng : §HNN- §¹i häc Quèc gia Hµ Néi M· thÎ th­ viÖn: M4070339 vietnam national university, hanoi college of foreign languages department of post-graduate studies Nguyễn Thị Hương Giang a study on the problems in teaching english speaking skills to the minority students at sonla ethnic boarding high school and some suggested solutions (T×m hiÓu nh÷ng khã kh¨n trong d¹y kü n¨ng nãi cho häc sinh d©n téc thiÓu sè ë tr­êng THPT D©n téc néi tró tØnh s¬n la vµ mét sè gi¶i ph¸p kh¾c phôc) M.a minor thesis (coursework) Course: K14 Field: English teaching Methodology Code: 601410 supervisor: nguyÔn bµng, ma. Sơn La, 2008 Declaration I, Nguyen Thi Huong Giang, certify that this thesis is entirely my own work and contains no material which has been submitted for the examination in any other course or accepted for the award of a degree in any other university or institution. The thesis also contains no material previously published or written by other person, except where due reference is made in the text. Sonla, November 2008 Signature Nguyen Thi Huong Giang ii acknowledgements For the completion of this thesis, I have received great assistance and support from my teachers, colleagues, students and my family. First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Mr. Nguyen Bang, MA. from College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, for his invaluable guidance, criticism and his encouragement in the process of completing the minor thesis. I am also grateful to all lecturers and the staff of the Department of Post-Graduate Department, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their useful lectures and guidance during my study at the Institution. I truly wish to thank all the colleagues and the students at Son La Ethnic Boarding High School for their assistance and co-operation in giving me valuable information. Last but not least, I would like to acknowledge my debt to my family, whose patient love enabled me to complete this work. iii Abstract The importance of speaking is undeniable in language teaching and learning. Therefore, understanding the teachers’ difficulties in teaching speaking skills is apparently necessary to gain effective teaching and learning. This minor thesis was carried out with an attempt to investigate the areas of difficulties and obstacles that the teachers have encountered when teaching speaking skills to the minority students at Son La Ethnic Boarding High School (SEBH). The Thesis is organized in 3 parts: First, the Introduction presents the rationale, aims and significance of the study, research questions, scope, method and design of the study. The Development is divided into 3 chapters. Chapter one provides some theoretical background of related issues concerning the definition of CLT, characteristics of CLT as well as the teacher’s and student’s role in CLT. Moreover, there is a presentation of the language skills, the nature of speaking skills, the characteristics, the role of speaking in language teaching and learning, the approaches to teaching speaking and some problems in teaching speaking. Chapter two carries out about the research setting, the methodology, the instrument, and the subjects of the study. There also presents the results of the two survey questionares designed to find out the problems that teachers and students at SEBH have encountered in teaching and learning speaking skills. Chapter three provides researcher’s findings of the problems in teaching and learning speaking skills. Another very important part of this chapter is the suggested solutions which help overcome the major problems as well as improve the quality of teaching and learning speaking skills at SEBH. Finally, the Conclusion summaries the study and offers some suggestions for further study. iv List of abbreviations Clt: Communicative Language Teaching. Sll: Second Language Learning. Elt: English Language Teaching. Sebhs: Son La Ethnic Boarding High School. Moet: Ministry of Education and Training. v List of tables Table 1: Description of teachers’ experience Table 2: Teachers’ attitudes towards speaking skills and teaching English speaking in the text book Table 3: Teachers’ CLT training background Table 4: Teachers’ perception of CLT Table 5: Number of teachers who have applied CLT in teaching speaking skills Table 6: Teachers’ difficulties in teaching speaking skills to the minority students Table 7: The teachers’ attitudes towards reluctant speakers Table 8: Techniques to minimize the difficulties in teaching speaking Table 9: Methods applied in teaching speaking Table 10: Students’ reason for learning English Table 12: Students’ opinions on the speaking topics Table 13: Factors that make the students reluctant to speak Table 14: Teachers’ reactions to students’ mistakes Table 15: Students’ opportunities to speak English outside classroom Table 16: Teachers’ current techniques to encourage students to speak English vi Table of contents Declaration……………………………………………………………………………i Acknowledgements…………………………………………………..…………….ii ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………...iii List of abbreviations……………………………………………….……………..iv List of tables…………………………………………………………….…………....v Part A: Introduction………………………………………………………...........1 1. Rationale…………………………………………………………………………......1 2. Aims and Significance of the study………………………………………………….2 3. Research questions…………………………………………………...……………...2 4. Scope of the study……………………………………………………………………3 5. Method of the study………………………………………………………………….3 6. Design of the study…………………………………………………………………..3 Part b: development…………………………………………………...………….4 Chapter one: literature review………………………………….….....………4 1.1. Communicative Language Teaching……………………………………...………4 1.1.1. Definitions of Communicative Language Teaching ……………… .……..4 1.1.2. Characteristics of Communicative Language Teaching…………..………….5 1.1.3. The teachers and students’ role in Communicative Language Teaching…….6 1.2. Language skills……………………………………………………………………..7 1.2.1. Oral communication……………………………………………………...……7 1.2.2. Oral skills…………………………….………………………………...……...8 1.3. Speaking skills……………………………………………………………………...9 1.3.1. Definitions of speaking………………………………………………...……...9 vii 1.3.2. The characteristics of speaking………………………………………...……...9 1.3.3.The role of speaking in language teaching and learning………………...……10 1.3.4. Approaches to the teaching of speaking………………………………...……11 1.3.5. Problems with speaking activities…………………………………...…….....12 1.4. Summary…………………………………………………………………...….....13 Chapter two: the study……………………………………….……………………14 2.1. Research setting……………………………………………….…………………..14 2.1.1. An overview of the research site……………….…………………….......…..14 2.1.2. Description of the teachers of English in SEBH…………….……………….14 2.1.3. The students at Son la Ethnic Boarding High School…………….………….15 2.1.4. The current situation of English teaching and learning at SEBH……..……...15 2.1.4.1. The materials of teaching and learning………………………..…….…15 2.1.4.2. The teaching and learning English speaking skills………………...…..16 2.2. Methodology study……………………………………………………….………16 2.2.1.Participants…………………………………………………………….…..….16 2.2.2. Research instruments……………………………………………….………..17 2.2.3. Data analysis………………………………………………………..…….......17 2.3. Presentation of the statistical results……………………………………...………17 2.3.1. Data analysis of teachers’ survey questionaire…………………….………....17 2.3.1.1. Methodology………………………………………………………......17 2.3.1.2. The findings ……………………………………………………..….....18 2.3.2. Data analysis of students’ survey questionare………………………...……....24 2.3.2.1.Methodology……………………………………………………………24 2.3.2.2. The finding……………………………………………………..………25 2.4. Summary…………………………………………………………………………..32 Chapter three: findings and suggestions…………………………..………..33 3.1. Findings………………………………………………………………...………….33 3.1.1. Problems from the teachers…………………………………………………..33 3.1.1.1. Lack of training in CLT………………………………………………..33 3.1.1.2. Teaching method is not satisfactory…………………………………...34 3.1.2. Problems from the students…………………………………………………..35 3.1.2.1. Low English proficiency………………………………………………35 3.1.2.2. Lack of motivation…………………………………….………………35 viii 3.1.2.3. Lack of confidence…………………………………………………….36 3.1.2.4. Use of the mother- tongue during group work…………...……………36 3.1.3. Other Problems……………………………………………………………….36 3.1.3.1. Classes are of big size…………………………………………………36 3.1.3.2. Lack of necessary facilities…………………………………….…… 37 3.2. Possible solutions……………………………………………………….……….37 3.2.1. Improving CLT knowledge for the teachers……………….………………37 3.2.2. Using suitable techniques for error correction in English speaking lessons.38 3.2.3. Implementing of some kinds of communicative activities………….……..38 3.2.4. Providing more interesting topics to encourage students’ participation...…40 3.2.5. Providing more opportunities to practise speaking English………………..40 3.2.6. Helping students to be confident……………………………………….…..40 3.2.7. Building a habit of speaking English for students in class………..………..41 3.2.8. Training students to become efficient speakers…………………………....41 3.2.9. Making good use of emotional factors………………………………….….41 3.2.10. Equipping teaching facilities……………………….………………..……42 3.3. Summary……………………………………………………………………...…42 part c: conclusion………………………………………………………………..43 1. Summary of the study…………………………………………...…………………43 2. Limitations of the study……………………………………………………………44 3. Suggestion for further study………………………………………………………..44 References……………………………………………………………...……………45 Appendices…………………………………………………...…………………………i Appendix a (A questionnaire completed by the teachers)……………………………….i Appendix b ( A questionnaire completed by the students)……………………………...iii Part a: introduction Rationale In Vietnam, in the recent years, the teaching and learning of English have been gaining significance firstly because it is an international language; secondly it is also seen as a means to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between Vietnam and other countries, especially since Vietnam became an official member of WTO. There have been an increasing number of people desiring to know English with the hope of keeping up with the latest modern technology in the world. English has now been taught not only at all universities and colleges, but also at almost every senior high school and it is considered as a compulsory subject at secondary school. To meet the demand of learners of English, teachers of English in Vietnam have been trying to find out the most suitable and effective method of teaching English.They have always tried to catch up with the world’s latest frameworks of English Language Teaching. As in other countries, teachers of English in Vietnam are now using Communicative Approach to teach English to learners of all levels. They hope to provide learners with a means of communication, namely English which is vital for them to be successful in their job and to fulfill their social demands in the time of globalization. At Son la Ethnic Boarding High School, where the author studies, English is a compulsory subject in the curriculum and it is considered as a major subject for the high school examination. It is taught with the purpose that students have some basic knowledge of English in order to communicate and to use it as a key to science and technology. However, there still exist many difficulties facing English language teachers in Vietnam in general and English language teachers at Son La Ethnic Boarding High School in particular in teaching speaking skills to students. The teachers of English at Son La Ethnic Boarding High School find it difficult to teach speaking successfully. In the teaching situations, the students usually keep quiet in speaking lessons; they mind speaking English. There are many students who have good knowledge of grammar which works wonderfully at reading and writing exercises but they can not express themselves in English. What is more, in real-life situations, students find it hard to communicate with English speaking people; it is hard for them to response spontaneously and naturally. Certainly, there are many reasons for this. If those difficulties are not found out and no solutions can be given, the speaking classes cannot be successful and students will be fed up with learning English if they find it worthless to study the subject. All of the above reasons have inspired the author to do the research on “The problems in Teaching English Speaking Skills to the Minority students at Son La Ethnic Boarding High School and some Suggested Solutions” with the hope to make a small contribution to the quality of teaching and learning speaking skills at Son La Ethnic Boarding High School. Aims and Significance of the study This study is aimed at finding out the areas of difficulties in teaching English speaking skills to the minority students at SEBH. Also, it is expected that some solutions to overcome difficulties encountered will be suggested. To be more specific, in realizing this study, the objectives are: Investigating the current situation of teaching and learning of speaking skills at Son La Ethnic Boarding High School. Investigating the areas of difficulties and obstacles that the teachers at SEBH have encountered when teaching the speaking skills. Suggesting some solutions with the hope of helping English language teachers at SEBH improve the quality of their teaching, this later helps improve students’ learning quality. Research questions: In order to achieve the above aims, the research questions are as follows: What are the current methods and techniques of teaching speaking skills used at Son La Ethnic Boarding High School? What are problems experienced by the teachers in teaching English speaking skills at Son La Ethnic Boarding High School? What are feasible solutions to overcome those difficulties? Scope of the study The study focuses on the difficulties that the English language teachers have met when teaching speaking skills to the minority students at SEBH and some suggested solutions which help them improve the quality of their teaching. The study of difficulties, some suggested solutions to other skills and levels would be beyond the scope of the study. Method of the study In order to realize the aims of the study, quantitative method was used. Two survey questionnaires were used to collect information and evidence for the study: - The first survey questionnaire is carried out on 140 students at SEBH. - The second survey questionnaire is carried out on 4 English language teachers of SEBH. All comments, remarks and recommendations given in the study were based on the data analysis. Design of the study This study consists of three parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion. Part A: Introduction Part B: Development The development comprises three chapters: + Chapter I : Literature Review + Chapter II : The study + Chapter III : Data analysis and Discussion of the findings Part C: Conclusion Part b. development Chapter 1: literature review Communicative Language Teaching. Definition of Communicative Language Teaching Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) appears in the 1960s and 1970s and was thought as a resolution against the Audio- lingual Method. It is an outcome of more attention to learners’ effective and appropriate use of language learnt. It is pointed out by Brindley (1986: 11) that “The 1970’s and 1980’s could be regarded as the era of Communicative Language Teaching”. Communicative Language Teaching also marks the beginning of a major innovation within language teaching because of its superior principles which are widely accepted nowadays. So far, several researchers have done the work on CLT and different authors view CLT differently. However, it is difficult to define it in a satisfactory way. There is a variety of definitions about CLT and each of them developed her / his own ideas regarding CLT. As for Nunan (1989: 194), Communicative Language Teaching means: CLT views language as a system for the expression of meaning. Activities involve oral communication, carrying out meaning tasks and using language, which is meaningful to the learners. Objectives reflect the needs of the learners; they include functional skills as well as linguistic objectives.The learner’s role is as a negotiator and integrator. The teacher’s role is as a facilitator of the communication process. Materials promote communicative language use; they are task- based and authentic. It is thought that the definition contains aspects that are common to many other definitions. The definition above, as with any definitions of the language teaching method ( Penny Cook, 1989), represents a particular view of understanding and explaining language acquisition. It is socially constructed and must be seen as a product of social, cultural, economic, and political forces. Williams (1995) summarizes the CLT classroom as one in which there is an emphasis on the use of authentic language and unpredictable input. Negotiation of meaning between students and teachers should be essential in the implementation of tasks with resulting comprehensible input. Risk talking which leads to successful communication is also very important. In his viewpoint, Williams emphasizes the lack of focus on the direct instruction of language rules and error correction. A major emphasis is on learner autonomy. According to Bock (2000) CLT is tailored to get at meaning and leaners negotiate meaning in class. Meaning is considered as what is communicated. The negotiation of meaning can be implicated through pair work, group work in problem- solving tasks. He also states: “Authentic materials, functional tasks, and groups and pair work are significant aspects of CLT”. Characteristics of Communicative Language Teaching. The theory of language in CLT shows that language is used as a means of communication. Characteristics of CLT are given by Richards and Rodgers( 2001) as follows: Language is a system for the expression of meaning. The primary function of language is to allow interaction and communication. The structure of language reflects its functional and communicative uses. The primary units of language are not merely its grammatical and structural features, but categories of functional and communicative meaning as exemplified in discourse. Thus, the objective of language teaching is to develop “communicative competence”. Richards and Rodgers (2001 : 155) show that CLT aims to “ make communicative competence the goal of language teaching” And communicative competence is defined by Hymes( 1972 : 7): “ Communicative competence as speaker needs to know to communicate effectively in culturally significant setting.” Another characteristic of CLT is the introduction of authentic material (Dublin, 1995; Larsen- Freeman, 1986; Long and Crooks, 1992; Nunan, 1990; Widdwson, 1996). In CLT, it is considered desirable to give learners the opportunity to response to genuine communicative needs in realistic L2 situations so that they develop strategies for understanding language as actually used by native speakers (Canale and Swain, 1980). The Teachers’ and Students’ roles in Communicative Language Teaching. Teacher roles: As Communicative Language Teaching is learner- centered, the teachers, though, are still the people to set up activities and give instructions to students, they step back to listen and monitor the class rather than talking much. Breen and Candlin (1980) describe