VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES OK 2 2K 2 2K 2 2 2K 2 OK OK OK OK CAO VAN ANH THE INFLUENCES OF ELSA SPEAK ON ENGLISH SPEAKING COMPETENCE OF 10T" GRADERS IN A SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL lớp 10 ở một trường Trung học Phổ thông) M.A THESIS (Applied program) Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi - 2024 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES OK 2 2K 2 2K 2 2 2K 2 OK OK OK OK CAO VAN ANH THE INFLUENCES OF ELSA SPEAK ON ENGLISH SPEAKING COMPETENCE OF 10T" GRADERS IN A SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL (Anh hưởng của ELSA Speak đối với năng lực nói tiếng Anh của học sinh lớp 10 ở một trường Trung học Phổ thông) M.A THESIS (Applied program) Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi - 2024 DECLARATION I certify that this minor thesis, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English Language Teaching Methodology at the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi is the result of my work, and it was not previously submitted, in whole or in part, with any other application for a degree. Also, I have provided fully documented references to the work of others. The material in this thesis is entirely my own, except where stated otherwise by reference or acknowledgment. Hanoi, 2024 Supervisor Dr.
Huynh Anh Tuan Cao Van Anh ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This endeavor would not have been possible without the help of the people I am deeply indebted to. First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Huynh Anh Tuan, my supervisor, for his invaluable feedback, substantial support, and detailed guidance, which are indispensable elements in my accomplishment of this thesis. Moreover, I could never have undertaken this journey without all the lecturers and officers working at the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, who have generously provided me with their knowledge and expertise.
Furthermore, I would like to thank Ms. Hué Nguyén and Ms. Thuy Tran, my former teachers, for their valuable advice on my thesis. Also, I am grateful to ELSA Speak, especially Ms.
Linh Nguyén, for their active support during the time this research was conducted. Moreover, my special thank you is given to all the research participants, my dear students. The research would not have been accomplished without their valuable opinions and ideas in the questionnaire and interview. Last but not least, I would be remiss in not mentioning my own family, colleagues and students at AMES English, and my classmates.
Their assistance and patience have fueled my passion throughout this life-long career path. il ABSTRACT The study aims to investigate the impacts of ELSA Speak, which is an educational application, on improving students’ English speaking competence at a senior high school. This is action research, and the instruments utilized for data collection included two tests (pre-test and post-test) for students, a questionnaire, and a personal interview for each of them. The participants were 15 students in a class at a senior high school.
The findings are expected to indicate that they all have favorable attitudes towards the use of ELSA Speak on a daily basis after 2 months of employing this application. Additionally, it is revealed that ELSA Speak can be a powerful tool to facilitate more rapid progress in the participants’ confidence as well as their speaking competence. There are further pedagogical implications arising from these findings. This research is supposed to be of profound significance to both teachers and students in teaching and learning English language speaking skills.
11 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AI: Artificial Intelligence ASR: Automatic Speech Recognition ELSA: English Language Speech Assistant CEFR: Common European Framework of References for Languages IV LIST OF TABLES Table 3. Steps in the action cycle (by Nunan, 1992). Coding system for discourse anaÏyS1S.---- 5 +5 «++s<++ss+ex++ 30 Table 3. Summary of data analytical framework in the thes1s.
The pre-test scores of 15 students in speaking skIlls. The post-test scores of 15 students in speaking skills. Descriptive statistics of the post-test SCOTES. T-test paired sample statistics.
Comparing the pre-test and post-test reSuÏfS. The interest/enjoyment of students.-- 5555 ss+s++ss++ 39 Table 4. The perceived competence of students. The effort/importance and pressure/tension of students.
The value/usefulness of interactive activities .- ---- «5+2 44 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3. The model of action research by Kemmis & Taggart (1988, p. The cycle conducted in the thesis .- --- <5 5555 + +s£++*£<s<+ 22 VI TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION 0 mtxaxea3Ÿ3. HH HH HH HH HH HH, ii ABSTRACT.
11 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. HH HH HH re IV LIST OF TABLES .-- SH TT HH HT nh nh HH rệt V LIST OF EFIGURES. 1S SH SH TH TT TH HT nh ty vi CHAPTER 1. Rationale for the Study .-- 2G 1 S11 211991 91 11 1v ng nh ng nh Hy 1 1.
Aim and objectives of the Study. Scope of the Study. Method of the Study. Significance of the SẦUỈy.
Structure Of the Study .-- - 11 vn TH ng ng ng ngư 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. Students’ speaking competence. Definition of speaking.- --- «s11 vn ng nh nh Hy 6 2. Components of speaking Skills.
Types of speaking performance. ELSA Speak AppÏICafIOT.- ---- - 1c x1 vn vn ng ng 11 2. General information about ELSA Speak. The key features of ELSA Speak.- --cs kg rrien 12 2.
The science behind the mechanism of ELSA Speak. Previous studies related to using ELSA Speak to enhance speaking skills .- G5 2 90118118930 19111 101 91091 vn ngư 17 vii CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOCY. An overview of the high School. English language training in the schoOÌ.- - -- c + 1 vn ng ng HH ng nưy 19 3.- --- -- << x1 vn ng ng ng 22 3.
Data collection pfOC€CUTGS. Data analytical fram€WOTÍK. - -- - cv HnH gnH gh nH gh n ry 28 3. 29 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.
Improvement of the students’ speaking skills after the intervention. - SG HH TH HH nu HT HH HH nghệ 34 4. Semi-structured Inf€TVICW. - ch ng nh rệt 37 4.
Students’ opinions towards the application of ELSA Speak in their learning of English speaking Skills. Semi-structured ITIfCTVICW. cv HH ng TH HH ky 45 4. Discussion on the improvement of the students’ speaking skills after the 019a/251010I 0200701078.
Discussion on the students’ opinions towards the application of ELSA Speak in their learning of English speaking skIÌÌS. Discussion from the quesfIO'I4ITG. Discussion from semi-structured interview with studenfs. 49 Vili CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION.
Suggestions for further Study .- - -s + + x1 E911 1 E910 919v ng ng ng rry 55 REEERENCES. LH HH HH HH Hà HH Hà Hà HH HH ng 56 _. Rationale for the study Learning English language involves four major skills, namely reading, listening, speaking, and writing. Additionally, speaking competence is one of the ultimate goals of learning English language for students of all levels.
According to Brown and Yule (1983), speaking is the skill used to judge language learners in most real-world situations. Notwithstanding, due to a dearth of communicative environment, it can be a challenge for students to learn English speaking skill, especial for those who are in rural areas. In the past few years, ELSA Speak application has been employed as a tool to supplement students’ pronunciation and other aspects regarding speaking skills. Developed based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, this application uses Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) in order to analyze every single word pronounced by users and give them feedback on their performance.
In general, ELSA Speak equips its users with a multitude of functions that are believed to help them speak English more comprehensively. So far, the application of ELSA Speak by non-native speakers has been a topic of concern for various researchers. Some of them focused on the special features of ELSA Speak from students’ perception while some put their effort to investigate the use of this mobile application in a certain classroom setting. However, there are fewer papers that are about the impacts of ELSA Speak on students’ English speaking competence and their attitudes towards this application in the context of self-study at home.
Based on the literature review along with the concrete teaching English situation at school, this study is conducted to bridge this gap. As a teacher of English, the researcher does understand the obstacles of students while trying to sharpen their speaking skills without a native speaking environment. Moreover, the importance of speaking English fluently and understandably cannot be ignored. Therefore, the researcher decided to undertake this study with a view to finding a new way to supplement teaching speaking skills in Vietnamese schools.
Aim and objectives of the study This research aims at exploring the influences of using ELSA Speak on improving students’ speaking competence in a senior high school. This general aim can be accomplished by the following objectives: - To explore the impacts of ELSA Speak on students’ speaking competence - To investigate students’ attitude towards the implementation of ELSA Speak in the context of self-study 1. Research questions In order to accomplish the aforementioned aims and objectives, the research is conducted to answer the following question: - What are the influences of ELSA Speak on improving students’ English speaking competence in a senior high school? - What are the students’ attitudes towards the use ofELSA Speak in order to enhance their English speaking skills? 1. Scope of the study The participants of this study are fifteen 10" graders at a senior high school in Ninh Binh.
The study involves the marked effects of ELSA Speak on students’ speaking competence and students’ perspectives on the implementation of ELSA Speak. Anything that is not related to these two considerations, therefore, would be beyond the scope. Method of the study From the aforementioned research question, there are three corresponding hypotheses: - ELSA Speak exerts positive impacts on English language learners - ELSA Speak has salutary influences on students’ attitudes toward learning speaking skills - ELSA Speak helps to improve students’ English speaking competence The study adopts action research to achieve its objectives. The research instruments are tests (pre-test and post-test), questionnaire, and semi-structured interview.
Significance of the study The significance of the study includes the following parties: For the teachers of English at this school: This research can be used to enhance the method of imparting English speaking abilities so that the teaching and learning process can be successful and produce a significant improvement in the speaking ability of the students. For this school’s students: Interactive exercises on the application can help students become more fluent speakers. For the author: The study will enable the author to identify a crucial, previously unexplored area in the teaching and learning of English. The results could serve as a crucial starting point for more research.
In general, this research endeavors to contribute to the theoretical discourse surrounding language acquisition, particularly in the context of technology-mediated learning. By investigating the influences of Elsa Speak on the English speaking competence of 10th graders in a senior high school, this study aims to offer insights into the efficacy of language learning applications. By extending existing theories on language acquisition to encompass contemporary educational tools such as Elsa Speak, this research seeks to deepen our understanding of the factors influencing second language acquisition among adolescent learners. Furthermore, findings from this study hold the potential to inform educational policies concerning the integration of technology in language learning curricula, thus bridging the gap between theoretical insights and practical applications in language education.
In addition to its theoretical contributions, this research holds practical significance for English language educators, students, and policymakers alike.