MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING BA RIA-VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY PHAM HUU CAN USING ROLE-PLAY AS A TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE THE TENTH GRADERS’ SPEAKING SKILL AT AN UPPER-SECONDARY SCHOOL IN DONG NAI PROVINCE MASTER’S THESIS Ba Ria-Vung Tau, March 2023 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING BA RIA-VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY PHAM HUU CAN USING ROLE-PLAY AS A TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE THE TENTH GRADERS’ SPEAKING SKILL AT AN UPPER-SECONDARY SCHOOL IN DONG NAI PROVINCE MASTER’S THESIS Submitted to the Postgraduate Institute in partial fulfilment of the Master’s degree in TESOL Course code: 8140111 Supervisor’s name: Assoc. Pham Huu Duc, PhD. Ba Ria-Vung Tau, March 2023 i CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled: USING ROLE-PLAY AS A TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE THE TENTH GRADERS’ SPEAKING SKILL AT AN UPPER-SECONDARY SCHOOL IN DONG NAI PROVINCE In terms of the statement of requirements for Thesis in Master’s programs by Higher Degree Committee of Postgraduate Institute, Ba Ria Vung Tau University Ba Ria – Vung Tau, March 2023 PHAM HUU CAN ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Pham Huu Can, being a candidate for the degree of TESOL accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention an use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the library. In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and reproduction for thesis.
Ba Ria – Vung Tau, March 2023 PHAM HUU CAN iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this thesis is one of the hardest challenges and the greatest desires in my life. It was made possible thanks to the encouragement, assistance and support of many people. First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc. Pham Huu Duc for all his valuable guidance, encouragement, correction, helpful suggestions, careful and detailed comments from the beginning to the end of the study.
Next, I wish to convey my sincere appreciation and thanks to all lectures and the staff of Higher Degree Committee of Postgraduate Institute, Ba Ria Vung Tau University for their useful lectures and guidance during my study at the School. My sincere thanks are due to all my colleagues and students of class 10A5 at Thanh Binh upper-secondary school for their encouragement, kind and patient co- operation. Last but not least, my thanks are given to my beloved family members and my friends who have always supported me to carry out this thesis. iv ABSTRACT This action research aimed at improving students’ speaking proficiency by implementing role-play technique.
This research study used Classroom Action Research (CAR), which was done based on Kurt Lewin’s design (1946), to collect information from the students at Thanh Binh upper-secondary school in Dong Nai province, with 42 tenth grade students. The data was collected through qualitative and quantitative data in which the qualitative data were gained by analyzing the observation results. Then, the quantitative data were obtained from the students’ tests (fifteen- and forty-five- minutes tests) and their speaking scores of pre-task and post-task survey questionnaires. The findings from these instruments reveal that when the teacher implemented role-play in teaching speaking skills, the students had a chance to be cooperative and active in learning speaking skill.
Furthermore, they even motivate themselves to speak English in the class, which helps their speaking achievement to be better. It is recommended that teachers should use role-play to motivate students in learning. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY. i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS.
iv TABLE OF CONTENTS. v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. ix LISTS OF APPENDICES. x LIST OF TABLES.
xi LIST OF FIGURES. xii LIST OF DIAGRAMS. Background of the study. Aims and objectives of the study.
Hypothesis of the study. Subject and scope of the study. Significance of the study. Structure of the study.
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Concepts of CLT. Main characteristics of CLT. Conditions of Applying CLT.
Using CLT in Teaching Speaking Skill. An overview of role-play. What is role-play?. Types of role-play .3 Techniques to Control Role-Play.
Procedures of role-play. Presenting and practicing the forms and vocabulary. Implementing role-play. Definition of speaking skill.
The elements of speaking. Points to consider about speaking. Audience and tone. Types of speaking activities.
Using Role-Play in teaching and learning speaking skill. Historical related studies review .2 Previous studies carried out in foreign countries. Previous studies carried out in Vietnam. Research gap and conceptual framework.
The setting of the study. The materials and learning program. The research design. The Classroom Action Research Procedures.
The Technique of Collecting Data. The Technique of Data Analysis. Analyzing the Result of the Test. Analyzing Students’ Response.
The Criteria of the Action Success. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. The description of the data. Findings before implementing the classroom action research.
Findings of the First Cycle. Findings of the Second Cycle. Findings after Implementing the Classroom Action Research. The Result of Post-test.
The result of Questionnaire. Limitation and Suggestions for Further Studies. Suggestions for Further Studies. i APPENDIX A: Survey questionnaires for students .i APPENDIX B: The Questions of Pre-Test.
ii APPENDIX C: The Questions of Post-Test 1 and Post- Test 2 (Role-playing). iii viii APPENDIX D: The Procedures of the Test. iv APPENDIX E: The Students’ Speaking Score of Pre-test, Post-test 1,. v ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CAR: Classroom Action Research CLT: Communicative Language Teaching ECAs: Extracurricular activities EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESL: English as a Second Language Ss: Students x LISTS OF APPENDICES APPENDIX A: Survey questionnaires for students APPENDIX B: The Questions of Pre-Test APPENDIX C: The Questions of Post-Test 1 and Post- Test 2 (Role-playing) APPENDIX D: The Procedures of the Test APPENDIX E: The Students’ Speaking Score of Pre-test, Post-test 1, Post-test 2 xi LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Assessing Students’ Progress ………………………………….31 Table 2: The Rating Scores of Oral Test ……………………………………….32 Table 3: The Students’ Speaking Score of Pre-test, Post-test 1, Post-test 2…45,46 Table 4.
The use of role-play technique ……………………. Students’ attitudes towards speaking skill. Students’ difficulties in learning English speaking skill………….54 xii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Kurt Lewin’s Action Research Design……………………………….28 Figure 2: The Phases of Classroom Action Research that Modified by the Writer ………………………………………………………………………….……28, 29 xiii LIST OF DIAGRAMS Diagram 1: The improvement in the students' self-confidence through role-play activities ………………………………. Background of the study On the way of globalization, English has become an international language.
With a lot of advantages, English is widely used, and is the official language in many countries. It takes the role as a bridge for relationships and international cooperation. Vietnam is a developing country, the vital requirement to learn English is rapidly increasing. English is a compulsory subject in most of upper secondary schools.
The educators pay more attention to improving the four skills (Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing) equally. Since 2006, new English textbooks for students at grades 10, 11, and 12 have been officially used in schools in Vietnam. Speaking skill plays a more and more important role in helping learners communicate well. This skill also is one of the most difficult skills which the new textbooks require students to master.
Since the elements of teaching speaking skills are various, many problems occur in the teaching learning process. In learning English speaking skills, students often face with some problems. The author has found that these problems are also confronted by the 10th graders in learning speaking skills at Thanh Binh upper- secondary school in Dong Nai province. The problems with students’ speaking skills can be caused by a lot of different factors including students’ interest and attitudes towards learning English, the material, and even teachers’ monotonous and inappropriate use of teaching techniques, which makes students bored and unmotivated in the speaking lesson, and not confident about their speaking skills.
Hence, it is crucial to propose appropriate techniques to overcome the students’ low speaking ability: “It is the responsibility of the teacher to find out an effective technique in order to stimulate the students’ positive attitude towards the speaking class and their speaking skills. To help students learn how to speak English in the best way possible, the researcher decided to choose role-play activities as an effective teaching technique. The effectiveness of role-play activities in improving students’ speaking skills has 2 been demonstrated in a number of research studies. In specific, role-play has an important role in speaking teaching because it offers students a chance to practice communicating in different social contexts and in different social roles.
In role-play activities, students act to be someone else in the actual world situation that is brought into the classroom. “By bringing the outside world into the classroom, we can provide a lot of useful practice that would otherwise be impossible in cafés, shops, banks, etc. Besides, for the shy learners, according to Ladousse (1989), role-play supports the confidence of shy learners because here they are provided with a mask where learners with difficulty in conversation are liberated. They learn how to interact with other peers without being afraid that their mistakes might cause some misunderstanding.
In brief, role-play is indeed a useful teaching technique which should be applied by English as a second language (ESL) or English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers more often in the ESL or EFL classrooms. For all several reasons above, the author finds that it is both meaningful and practical to carry out the research with the title “Using role-play as a technique to improve 10th graders’ speaking skill at an upper secondary school in Dong Nai province. Aims and objectives of the study The main aim of the study is to enhance the speaking skill of the 10th graders by using role-play technique. In order to reach the aim, the study is expected to reach the following objectives: - Investigating the 10th graders’ attitudes towards the role-play used in their speaking periods.
- Evaluating the effectiveness of the role-play applied to English speaking skill teaching and learning. The subjects of the study are 42 male and female students coming from class 10A5. The action plan will be implemented in 3 months from January 2022 to May 2022, during the academic school year 2021-2022 at Thanh Binh upper-secondary school in Dong Nai province. Research questions The study is carried out to address the following questions: (1) What is the students’ attitudes towards the use of role-play technique to improve their speaking skill? (2) To what extent do the 10th students promote their speaking skills by using role-play technique? 1.
Hypothesis of the study In attempting to give a tentative solution to the problem, the hypothesis is stated as the follows: the students‟ speaking skill can be improved through role-play. Subject and scope of the study This study is only a small-sized scale study and it is conducted to find out the students’ difficulties in learning speaking English as well as examine how role-play activities help them improve their speaking ability. Thus, there is only one grade 10 class at an upper-secondary school in Dong Nai selected for study. Research methodology In order to achieve the aims mentioned above, the researcher decides to use the Classroom Action Research (CAR) procedured by Kurt Lewin’s design (1993) with two cycles in which each cycle contains four phases; planning, acting, observing, and reflecting.
If the results are less satisfactory, researchers can perform the cycle once again in order to achieve the criteria that have been determined. To address the two research questions, both qualitative and quantitative methods are exploited in this research.