VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ MINH PHƢƠNG USING PROJECT- BASED LEARNING TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILL FOR SECOND YEAR STUDENTS AT A UNIVERSITY IN VIETNAM ( Sử dụng phƣơng pháp dạy học theo dự án để tăng cƣờng kỹ năng nói cho sinh viên năm thứ hai tại một trƣờng đại học ở Việt nam ) M.A MAJOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English language teaching methodology Code: 60140111 Ha Noi, ngay 17 thang 1 nam 2018 i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ MINH PHƢƠNG USING PROJECT- BASED LEARNING TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILL FOR SECOND YEAR STUDENTS AT A UNIVERSITY IN VIETNAM ( Sử dụng phƣơng pháp dạy học theo dự án để tăng cƣờng kỹ năng nói cho sinh viên năm thứ hai tại một trƣờng đại học ở Việt nam) Field: English language teaching methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Assoc. Võ Đại Quang, Ph.D Ha Noi, ngay 17 thang 1 nam 2018 ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com i DECLARATION I hereby certify that the minor thesis entitle: Using Project- Based Learning to improve speaking skill for second year students at a university in Vietnam is the result of my own work in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty at Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University of Hanoi. The research has not been submitted to any other universities or institutions. Hanoi, 2017 i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to send my grateful words to those people who have approved and stood by me during this hard time.
This thesis would not have been fulfilled without the help of many people, and I would like to show my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has taught me, inspired me, challenged me, and supported me throughout the realization of this thesis. I would like to express my deepest thanks to my beloved supervisor, Assoc.Vo Dai Quang for his whole-hearted assistance, encouragement as well as profound guidance he gave me while I was doing my research. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all my lecturers and staff of Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, Vietnam, University of Languages and International Studies, whose support and consideration have enabled me to pursue the course. I would also like to express my whole-heated thanks to teachers and all students at Ha Noi Pedagogical University 2 for their helps and their willingness to participate in the research.
Without their help, this thesis would not have been completed. Last but not least, I owe my sincere thanks to my family and my kind-hearted friends, who have always inspired and encouraged me to complete this study. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iii ABSTRACT Speaking is considered as one of the most challenging and difficult skills for second language learners. Learning speaking is not only about producing words and sentences but communicating effectively with other speakers.
For many language learners, this is a difficult goal to reach. In order to help students improve their speaking skill, a new method of teaching was implemented. Project- Based Learning is expected to use as new method of teaching in class to change students‟ learning attitude, enhance students‟ speaking ability and provide new skills for students. With these objectives, the researcher adopted t- test to see the differences between the students‟ speaking ability before and after using the new learning technique.
Then she used survey and interview to gather information about students‟ attitude towards this learning method. The result collected and processed from the experiment proved that students have made significant improvement in their speaking skill by using Project- Based learning and their learning attitude by using this method was positive. This supported the research objectives and laid a foundation for further research in the future. Keywords : Project- Based Learning, speaking skill, improve iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION.
iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF TABLES. vi LIST OF FIGURES. vii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION.
The aims of the study. The scope of the study. The outline of the study. The importance of speaking.
The speaking activities in classroom. Test of speaking. Type of scoring rubrics. Project- Based Learning.
Characteristics of Project – Based Learning. 25 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. The nature of the data. 29 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Context of the study. Data collection techniques. The t- test results. Project - Based Learning .1 Concluding remarks on objective 1.
Concluding remarks on objective 2. Suggestion for further research. 69 APPENDIX v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vi LIST OF TABLES Table 2. Analytic Rubric with the Criteria of Speaking Performance (Adapted from Brown (2003) and O‟Malley and Pierce (1996)).
Experimental research procedures. Procedures of the project. Mean and Standard Deviation of Control and Experimental group in the pre- test. The result of variables between Experimental group and control group in pre- test.
Scale Criteria and Tests‟ Scores of Experimental Group. Scale Criteria and Test‟s Scores of Control Group. One sample Kolmogorov- Smirnov test. The result of independence t- test sample.
The group statistics of experimental group. Group statistics of control and experimental group in the post- test. The result of post- test between experimental group and control group. The score Criteria.
The Interpretation of the survey result. The result of students‟ responses to opened- ended questions. The result of interview. 52 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.
The category of speaking performances. Steps of developing Project- Based Learning in the classroom. 23 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter will provide the overview of the study such as rationale, research scope, research objectives, research questions, significance, methods, and design of the study. Rationale Effective English speaking has become an urgent requirement for students of the 21st century.
Nowadays, English language has been considered as the most common language of the world when its influence is represented in almost every aspect and area of life from education to politics, culture and business. This proves strongly the strength and influences of this language on people‟s lives in this century. It is now impossible to find a country where learning English has not become a norm. From undeveloped countries in Africa to the most prosperous nations in Europe, all people know a little English which they can use and understand simple English of others, even in many countries learning English is compulsory in school and they have standard tests to verify students‟ English capacity.
This approves the concept that English is becoming more and more important in our lives. In Vietnam, English has been considered as a compulsory subject in all levels of school. Students have learned English at young age and continued enhancing their competence at university level. Moreover, the teaching of English has been emphasized and invested greatly since 2020 project.
English becomes an important subject in all levels of school. In the future, by the year 2025, Vietnamese students are expected to reach CEF level after graduation. This proves the importance of teaching and learning English towards students. Therefore, it can be said that English is taught popularly in Vietnam and a lot of Vietnamese students know and be capable of using English.
One of the compulsory language skills to second year English- majored students at Ha Noi Pedagogical University 2 is speaking. It is an important skill in teaching and LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 learning English as a second language. According to Cameron ( 2001: 40) , speaking is the active use of the language to express intentional meanings so that other people can make sense of them. At the same time, it is the language users to combine language components appropriately and deliver intended messages successfully so that listeners can understand the information.
For university students, speaking helps them to express their ideas, opinions, thoughts and share these with other students and speakers. In university, speaking is the pivotal skill that prepares students in English department to become teachers who can speak English and communicate with English speakers. For others, spoken English lays a foundation for students to specialize in and discover diverse cultures all over the world and acts as a bridge to promote and develop their career. Speaking English also pushes students into awareness of surrounding changes by using English to read and transact ideas so that they are ready to engage in global changes.
Most importantly, speaking helps students understand context and become ready to communicate with people around the world. For those reasons, speaking is one of the crucial skills that helps to contribute to the spread and dominance of English. In the relation between speaking and teaching this skill in school, teachers take greater responsibility for teaching speaking in comparison with other skills. Thus, it is the teacher‟s role to help students speak as much as possible.
Which means is teachers have to work harder and spend more time for thinking about new strategies and practical, useful and applicable activities to help students speak and achieve the improvement with their learning. Concerned about Ha Noi Pedagogical University 2 students, this is a challenging mission for teacher to teach speaking. The students study English as their major come from different background and they have different purposes of learning. These students don‟t enjoy a good foreign language setting to learn because they don‟t have English speakers to interact and communicate frequently.
Students have to go out to the capital to talk with foreigners if they want to improve their speaking fluency and pronunciation. This is time- consuming and students can not afford for this often. Then, the other difficulties about teaching these students come from themselves. Many students are not comfortable to speak since they LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 3 hold a belief that their English is not good.
They are shy and embarrassed to make mistakes and speak as much as possible. Otherwise, students have troubles with vocabulary; they do not have enough words to express; therefore, they are afraid of speaking. Besides, students are not engaged in the classroom. As a result, they do not take part in learning process actively.
Taking into account these challenges, it is the teacher‟s responsibility to find the teaching method which is able to encourage students to learn English and produce effective results. Towards students‟ learning, it is a long –term plan to maintain and keep students‟ interest to speaking. When students perceive the importance of speaking and meaning and value of speaking skill in their life, they will put effort and attempt for it. This is very significant for teacher to understand her students‟ purposes and learning interest and find out suitable and practical method of teaching to students.
Project- Based Learning is one of instructional approaches to learning which allows students to plan, design and carry out projects that can produce a final product such as magazine, drama, presentation ( Paton 2000:13). Project- Based Learning is an open, accessible and practical method of teaching when it allows students free chances to speak and upgrade other skills during their project work. By joining and collaborating to complete an output product, students are more responsible with their assigned tasks and look for new ways to finish their roles. This is beneficial for their learning and later career.