The reality of teaching and learning oral skills at some high schools in Haiphong city

Chapter Three: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 1. Methodology 1.1 An overview of the research site and the participants As mentioned before, the research has been conducted at the three high schools in Haiphong city namely Thai Phien High School, Le Hong Phong High School (in the city) and Kien Thuy High School (in the countryside). At each school, the researcher chose randomly one 10th Grade class, in which the number of the students is fifty. Also, six to eight teachers of the English staff at those schools are also selected by chance in order to get the objective data. Among those teachers, some have had many years of teaching (more than 10 years); some others have just experienced teaching for few years. Therefore, the total participants of this study are 150 students of 10th Grade and 20 teachers at the three selected high schools in Haiphong city, both in the urban and rural areas. All the participants took part in the survey by responding to the two kinds of questionnaires, one for the students and one for the teachers. Besides, some teachers are also invited to take an informal interview so as to get a complete look into the research issues. Research questions and Design of the questionnaires Based on the aims of the study, some research questions have been raised as follows: How is the reality of teaching and learning oral skills at some high schools in Haiphong city? What are the difficulties faced with by the teachers? What obstacles do the students often cope with when learning oral skills via the new set of English textbooks? What are their expectations of an interesting speaking lesson? The two kinds of questionnaires were designed according to the research questions stated above. First, the questionnaire for the students consists of 10 questions from (Q1) to (Q10) with multiple choices (A, B, C, and D). Those are both closed questions, in which the students only choose one option, and open-ended questions with more possibilities at their disposal. All the questions are written in English. In case some students may misunderstand the questions’ meanings, the researcher has explained some terms in Vietnamese to the students during the implementation of the survey. Second, the questionnaire for the teachers with 9 questions from (Q1’) to (Q9’) is presented in English version. The questions posted in this questionnaire are also both closed and open-ended ones. Data collection procedures After collecting all the questionnaire responses from both teachers and students, the researcher has calculated the numbers of responses and the percentages respectively of the questions in each questionnaire. The results then have been arranged according to three main items that are in accordance with the research questions. The subtitles under each item are illustrated by tables of statistical results of questions. Hence, the scheme for data interpretation will be as follows: ♦ Item 1: The reality of teaching and learning oral skills at some high schools in Haiphong city Facilities and reality of teachers’ training + Table 1: Facilities of teaching and learning English (Q9’) + Table 2: Reality of teachers’ training (Q1’) Opinions of teachers and students about the new set of English textbooks + Table 3: Students’ opinions about speaking topics (Q3) + Table 4: Teachers’ opinions about the new English textbooks Students’ attitudes towards learning oral skills + Table 5: Students’ attitudes towards learning oral skills (Q1, Q2) Teachers’ current method and techniques in teaching speaking skills + Table 6: Teachers’ current methods (Q3’) + Table 7: Teachers’ current techniques to enhance students to speak (Q5’, Q6’, Q7’) + Table 8: Teachers’ current techniques under students’ observation (Q7, Q8, Q9) ♦ Item 2: Difficulties faced with by the teachers and their opinions about a successful speaking lesson + Table 9: Teachers’ difficulties in teaching speaking (Q4’) + Table 10: Teachers’ opinions of a successful speaking lesson (Q8’) ♦ Item 3: Difficulties faced with by students and their desires + Table 11: Difficulties faced with by students in learning oral skills via the new English textbooks (Q4, Q5, Q6) + Table 12: Students’ desires for an effective speaking lesson (Q10) It is noted that the scheme and coding tables in this research emerged from an examination of the data rather than being determined beforehand. 2. Data Analysis and Findings 2.1 Item 1: The reality of teaching and learning oral skills at some high schools in Haiphong city In order to investigate into the real situation of teaching and learning speaking skills at some high schools in Haiphong city, two types of questionnaires have been delivered to both teachers and students of those schools. Some main issues have been revealed, including “Facilities and reality of teachers’ training”, “Opinions of teachers and students about the new set of English textbooks”, “Students’ attitudes towards learning oral skills” and “Teachers’ current method and techniques in teaching speaking skills”. Those issues will be analyzed through tables of questionnaire results below: 2.1.1 Facilities and reality of teachers’ training Facilities of teaching and learning English at high schools in Haiphong city Options Questions A B C D Q9’ How are the teaching facilities at your school? A Very good B. Good C. So-so D. Poor 0/20 2/20 13/20 5/20 0% 10% 65% 25% Table 1: Facilities of teaching and learning English From the table above, we can see that more than half of the teachers (65%) think the facilities at their schools to be at ‘so-so’ level. No one chose option A (very good); only 10% evaluate the facilities as ‘good’ and the rest (25%) feel that the equipment for teaching and learning English is ‘poor’. This result also reflects the real situation in Vietnam, which is still on the way to develop. Although the budget for education makes up a great deal in the total state budget, it cannot meet the demand for teaching and learning of all schools nationwide, especially, in mountainous and rural areas where the living standard is still very low. In fact, among 6 teachers of the rural area in this survey, no one chose options A (very good) and B (good), but all of them think the facilities are so-so or even poor. Reality of teachers’ training Options Questions A B C D Q1’ Have you been trained to teach the new set of textbooks? A Yes, in English teaching workshops B. No, I only exchange experience with my colleagues. C. No, I have only read via some documents D. No, I have to adapt myself 8/20 9/20 2/20 3/20 40% 45% 10% 15% Table 2: The reality of teachers’ training In order to help teachers to get used to the new materials, the MOET has guided to hold training workshops for the teachers over the country before officially applying the new English textbook. In fact, some selected teachers from each city/ province will be trained together in the nationwide workshops. Then, they will come back to their city/province to popularize the training to the teachers there. 8 out of 20 teachers being asked have said that they have ever joined in those kinds of workshops. And nearly the same numbers of teachers (9/20 or 45%) have only exchanged experiences with their colleagues. The rest mostly read through some documents delivered by the MOET (10%) and adapt themselves (15%). In an attempt to study deep insight of the reality, I have conducted an informal interview with the teachers attending to the workshops. And most of them complained that their questions and difficulties were not satisfactorily dealt with. It seemed to have a big gap between textbook writers and the teachers. As the result, the teachers still have to adapt themselves at last. To sum up, the facilities of teaching and learning English as well as the teachers’ training in Vietnam generally and Haiphong city particularly are still not very good. However, under the circumstances in Vietnam, those are great effort of the MOET in improving English speaking environment of the country. Hopefully, in the near future, with the development of society and economy, the conditions of teaching and learning English will be considerably improved. 2.1.2 Opinions of teachers and students about the new set of English textbooks Students’ opinions towards speaking topics in the textbook “Tieng Anh 10” Options Questions A B C D Q3 What do you think about the speaking topics in the textbook “Tieng Anh 10”? A Interesting B. Boring C. Normal D. Not suitable 52/150 8/150 83/150 7/150 35% 5% 55% 5% Table 3: Students’ opinions about speaking topics The ratings collected in the table 3 point out that more than half of the students think the speaking topics in the textbook to be ‘normal’ (55%). However, not a small amount of them, about one-third (35%), considers those topics to be ‘interesting’, and only 5% of them do not agree with the speaking topics when they chose option C (not suitable). Although the ‘interesting’ rate is not much, it has marked the initial success of the textbook designers because they can make speaking topics not too boring for the students (only 5%). Teachers’ opinions about the new English textbook Options Questions A B C D Q2’ What do you think about the textbook “Tieng Anh 10”? A Good but difficult B. Good and appropriate C. More or less the same as the old one D. Not good for high school students 17/20 2/20 0/20 1/20 85% 10% 0% 5% Table 4: Teachers’ opinions about the new textbook The statistical results above show that most teachers agree with the textbook “Tieng Anh 10”, only 1 out of 20 teachers thinks the book is not good for high school students. However, 85% of them think that the book is ‘difficult’. It requires the teachers to simplify the lesson in some cases. In brief, it can be said that the attitudes of the teachers and students towards the textbook “Tieng Anh 10” are quite positive. Yet, the textbook also poses a great challenge to both teachers and students because of its difficulty. Therefore, the textbook writers and the teachers should co-operate more tightly to find out adaptations that make students more concern to the topics in the new English textbook, hence, to improve their own interest in learning English. 2.1.3 Students’ attitudes towards learning oral skills Options Questions A B C D Q1 How is speaking skills important to you? A Very B. Rather C. A little D. Not at all 63/150 51/150 30/150 6/150 42% 34% 20% 4% Q2 How much do you feel interested in speaking lessons in class? A Very B. Rather C. A little D. Not at all 15/150 38/150 66/150 31/150 10% 25% 44% 21% Table 5: Students’ attitudes towards learning oral skills Question 1 aimed at finding out students’ attitudes towards learning oral skills in general. The results indicate that many students consider English speaking skills to be very important (42%) and rather important (34%). Only 4% of them do not think speaking skills to be important at all. From this result, we can see that students are more and more aware of the importance of speaking skills, especially when there are more and more foreigners coming to Vietnam. Still, 30 out of 150 students only put English speaking skills on the level of little importance. Therefore, the teachers should raise students’ awareness of the importance of English not only for their study, but also for their life in the future. By giving question 2, the researcher would like to know students’ interest in speaking lessons. From the statistical results from the table 5, it easily realized that only 10% of students are really fond of speaking lessons and 25% of them are rather interested in, whereas, a great deal of students answered that they just like speaking lessons a little and some of them (21%) do not feel interested in those lessons at all. In short, it can be concluded that many students suppose English speaking skills to be important to them. However, not many of them find speaking lessons in class interesting. So, the question raised here is what the teachers should do to satisfy their students by speaking lessons. 2.1.4 Teachers’ current methods and techniques in teaching speaking skills Teachers’ current methods Options Questions A B C D Q2’ What teaching method(s) is/are you currently applied in your teaching speaking skills? A Grammar Translation Method B. Communicative Language Teaching C. Audio-lingual Method D. Others:……………………………… 1/20 13/20 1/20 5/20 5% 65% 5% 25% Table 6: Teachers’ current methods This is an open-ended question, so the teachers can choose multiple choices. There are 5 out of 20 teachers chose to combine both Grammar Translation Method and Communicative Language Teaching (option D). Only one teacher is persistent with the traditional method and another chose Audio-lingual Method. 65% is the percentage of the teachers answering they use Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). This fact indicates the gradual change in language teaching method of teachers under the guideline of the MOET. However, when being asked that “How do you know about CLT?” or “As for you, what are the outstanding features of CLT?” in an informal interview, many of the teachers at those schools cannot give a clear answer. So far, they have not exploited comprehensively the approach in their own lessons. b. Teachers’ current techniques to enhance students to speak Options Questions A B C D Q5’ What do you do if your students are reluctant to speak? A Get angry B. Give them punishment (e.g. give low marks, ask him/her to speak in public, etc.) C. Let them sit down and call others D. Encourage them to speak by suggested questions 0/20 0/20 6/20 15/20 0% 0% 30% 75% Q6’ What do you do to make your students interested in their speaking lesson? A. Giving marks B. Praising them in front of class C. Letting them choose the topic themselves D. Creating some interesting games and activities E. Others:……………………………… 15/20 11/20 6/20 10/20 75% 55% 30% 50% Q7’ What do you do after finishing topic discussion? A. Encouraging students to practice more about the topics outside class B. Correcting errors C. Summarizing ideas from students and give feedback D. Giving students homework 4/20 10/20 12/20 9/20 20% 50% 60% 45% Table 7: Teachers’ current techniques to enhance students to speak The responses in table 7 show that most of them (75%) encourage students to speak by suggested questions while 30% of them let the students sit down and call others when they are reluctant to speak. In order to make students interested in their speaking lessons, most teachers at high schools chose to give marks as the rewards (75%). Other measures are also used with different ratings such as praising students in front of class (55%), letting students choose the topic themselves (30%), and create some interesting games and activities (50%). After finishing topics, more than half of the teachers, as usual, summarize ideas from students and give feed back (60%), correct students’ errors (50%) and give them homework (45%). Only 20% of them encourage the students to practice the topic more outside class. This action should be done more regularly to raise students’ awareness of actively practicing English frequently. Besides the questions for teachers, the same kind of questions are also given out to the students in order to get an in-depth answer for the teachers’ techniques to encourage students to speak. The results from the table 8 below can make it clearer. Options Questions A B C D Q7 After giving the topic, what does your teacher often do? A. Provide new words and structures relating to the topic B. Provide main ideas of the topic C. Elicit ideas from students D. Give some tasks 95/150 43/150 33/150 17/150 63% 28% 22% 11% Q8 What does your teacher often do to encourage you to speak in class? A. Give marks B. Praise you in front of class C. Let you choose the topic for discussion D. Create some interesting games and activities E. Others:………………………… 47/150 30/150 37/150 45/150 31% 20% 25% 30% Q9 Does your teacher correct your errors while you are speaking? A. Never B. Seldom C. Sometimes D. Frequently 4/150 9/150 40/150 94/150 3% 6% 27% 63% Table 8: Teachers’ current techniques under students’ observation For questions (Q7) and (Q8), the students can choose as many options as they want to or they can express their own ideas besides the prescribed options. As we can see from the results above, most teachers (63%) often provide students with new related words and structures after giving the topic. Sometimes, they provide their students with main ideas of the topic (28%) or ask students to tell ideas. For easy topics, they give students tasks at once (11%). In this case, the teachers should be more flexible in making ‘a good start’ for each speaking lesson instead of being too persistent to the usual routines. Regarding to the (Q8), all the measures for encouraging the students to speak in class are chosen but not with high percentages. There are a lot of ‘others’ choices for this question. As for many students, the techniques to motivate them to speak are not effective enough. Moreover, one of the common problems in the high schools is that the teachers have the habit of correcting students’ errors while they are speaking. The findings of the questions (Q9) reveal that 63% of the teachers frequently correct students’ errors; only 3% never and 6% seldom do so. This habit of the teachers makes students reluctant to speak because they are afraid of making mistakes. In the next 2 items, more findings about the difficulties of teachers and students in teaching and learning oral skills via the textbook “Tieng Anh 10” will be displayed as well. 2.2 Item 2: Difficulties faced with by the teachers and their opinions of a successful speaking lesson 2.2.1 Teachers’ difficulties in teaching speaking Options Questions A B C D Q4’ What are the difficulties that you have faced with when teaching speaking in the textbook “Tieng Anh 10”? A. Large classes B. Difficult speaking topics C. Learners’ reluctance D. Not enough time E. Others:……………………………… 13/20 13/20 16/20 5/20 65% 65% 80% 25% Table 9: Teacher’s difficulties in teaching speaking According to the figures in the table above, a majority of teachers (80%) have difficulty with learners’ reluctance and more than a half of them (65%) finds large classes and difficult speaking topics big challenges. Time is also a problem of teachers in teaching speaking skills (25%). These findings also reflect the common problems of teachers at high schools. This requires more co-operations between teachers and text writers. 2.2.2 Teachers’ opinions of a successful speaking lesson Options Questions A B C D Q8’ What do you think of a successful speaking lesson? A. Students talk a lot B. Participation is even C. Motivation is high D. Language is of an acceptable level E. Others:……………………………… 16/20 9/20 14/20 11/20 80% 45% 70% 55% Table 10: Teachers’ opinions of a successful speaking lesson This question is based on the idea of Penny Ur (1996) about the characteristics of a successful speaking activity. As we can see from the results of table 9 above, most teachers are inclined to the option A-students talk a lot (80%) and option C-motivation is high (70%). For the other two, the percentages are not very low with 45% and 55% respectively for ‘participation is even’ and ‘language is of an acceptable level’. Of course, there are many other criteria of a successful speaking lesson such as the learners, the teacher, the class atmosphere or effective activities. Item 3: Difficulties faced with by students and their desires Difficulties faced with by stude