iv TABLE OF CONTENT CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1. Purposes of the study 2 3. Scope of the study 2 5. Significance of the study 3 6.
Method of the study 3 7. Design of the study 3 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2. Communicative Language Teaching 5 2. Characteristics of Communicative Language Teaching 5 2.
What is speaking? 8 2. Speaking skill in CLT 9 2. Characteristics of a successful speaking activity 10 2. Problems in teaching and learning speaking skill 11 2.
Information-gap activities 12 2. Definitions of information-gap activity 12 2. Roles of information-gap activities 12 2. Kinds of information-gap activities 13 2.
Roles of teachers and students in information-gap activities 14 2. Roles of teachers 14 2. Roles of students 16 2. Benefits of using information-gap activities in teaching speaking skill 16 2.
Increasing students’ motivation for speaking 16 2. Ensuring equal students’ participation 17 2. Developing both accuracy and fluency of students 17 2. Improving students’ ability of negotiating meaning 17 CHAPTER III: THE STUDY 3.
Setting of the study 17 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Methods of data collection 19 3. Questionnaires for students 19 3. Questionnaire for teachers 19 3.
Data analysis of students’ survey questionnaire and direct interview 20 3. Data analysis of teachers’ survey questionnaire and direct interview 27 3. Classroom observation 35 CHAPTER IV: CONCLUSION 4. Limitations of the study 42 4.
Suggestions for further researches 42 REFERENCES 44 APPENDIX 1 I APPENDIX 2 V APPENDIX 3 IX APPENDIX 4 X APPENDIX 5 XI APPENDIX 6 XIV LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vi ABBREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative Language Teaching CL: Cooperative Learning FICT: Faculty of International Cooperation and Training HaUI: Hanoi University of Industry IG: Information Gap L1: First Language L2: Second Language STT: Student’s Talking Time TTT: Teacher’s Talking Time LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Chart 1: frequency of trainees’ being let join in IG activities in speaking lessons Chart 2: trainees’ opinions of the sufficiency of IG activities in creating motivation Chart 3: trainees’ evaluation of teachers’ performance Chart 4: the learning atmosphere during IG activities Chart 5: the frequency of teachers’ using different kinds of IG activities Table 1: teachers’ grouping techniques for pair/group work (1) Table 2: teacher’s behavior during IG activities Table 3: teacher’s correction of trainees’ mistakes Table 4: trainees’ motivation for using English in speaking lessons Table 5: the degree of trainees’ interest in each kind of IG activities Table 6: trainees’ evaluation of the effectiveness of IG activities Table 7: Teachers’ purposes of using information-gap activities in speaking lessons Table 8: Teacher’s criteria for choosing a suitable IG activity Table 9: Teachers’ adaptation of activities Table 10: teachers’ grouping techniques for pair/group work (2) Table 11: Teachers’ instructions Table 12: Teachers’ monitoring during the activity Table 13: Teachers’ scaffolding Table 14: Teachers’ encouragement to trainees’ use of English in an IG activity Table 15: Teachers’ difficulties in conducting an IG activity Table 16: teachers’ evaluation of the effectiveness of IG activity LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter presents the rationale, purpose, scope, research questions, significance, research methods and design of the study. Rationale Nowadays, when Vietnam is on the way to regional and global integration, a demand for training students as competent communicators has been made for Vietnamese education in general and foreign language education in particular. A high proficiency of spoken English becomes not only an academic goal but one of the crucial keys to access advanced science and technology. However, there exists one problem that teachers and students of English in Vietnam cope with: the target language is mainly used in the classroom and learners have few opportunities to use English in authentic contexts outside the classroom.
This problem sets a challenging task for teachers of English in Vietnam; that is to design communicative activities which can provide students with “real” contexts for negotiating meaning so that they can develop communicative competence. This requires some changes in teaching approach from the traditional one which put emphasis on the production of accurate grammatical sentences into CLT approach which focuses on developing learners‟ communicative competence, i. the ability to communicate through language. In CLT, learner-learner interaction is paid more attention through some classroom tasks like problem solving, decision – making, opinion exchange, picture dictation and jig saw tasks, etc.
However, if teachers want to make these tasks beneficial and motivative to students, they should take into consideration the following questions raised by Hedge (2002: 263, cited in Rong & Lanying, 2008): 1. Which activities encourage participation from all students and so ensure that they all get practice opportunities? 2. Which activities oblige negotiation of meaning? In order to determine the effectiveness of classroom activities, a search for teachers and students‟ opinions of these activities is necessary because students may undervalue the activities assigned by teachers if there are any differences between their beliefs and teachers‟ ones. This may cause students‟ inactive participation and gradual loss of motivation to learning.
The above reasons have urged the author to conduct a study to show a picture of students and teacher‟s opinions concerning the effectiveness of classroom activities with a focus on LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 information gap tasks and try to draw some implications for effectively teaching spoken English for pre-departure trainees who are at elementary level at FICT – HaUI. It is hoped that this study will lay a foundation on which subsequent research into this matter is based and developed. Purposes of the study The study is to investigate the use of information-gap activities in improving pre-departure trainees‟ speaking skill, specifically: - To investigate the current practice of information-gap activities in speaking lessons at FICT, HaUI - To explore pre-departure trainees ‟ attitudes towards the implementation of information-gap activities in speaking lesson - To explore teachers‟ attitudes towards the implementation of information-gap activities in speaking lesson 3. What are pre-departure trainees‟ attitudes towards the implementation of information-gap activities in speaking lessons? b.
What are teachers‟ attitudes towards the implementation of information-gap activities in speaking lessons? c. How effective is the implementation of teaching speaking through information-gap activities to pre-departure trainees at Faculty of International Cooperation and Training? 4. Scope of the study Learners‟ success or failure in learning speaking can be affected by many factors which are closely related. Among these factors, their opinions about what the teacher implements in speaking lessons need taking into consideration.
However, this study only focuses on pre- departure trainees ‟ opinions about the implementation of information-gap activities in teaching speaking, particularly, their evaluation of the effectiveness of these activities in terms of promoting their participation and encouraging them to use English in speaking lessons. The 200 subjects chosen for this research are pre-departure trainees at preparatory stage at FICT – HaUI. Therefore, it cannot be said that the results of the study are general to all Vietnamese non-English majors. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 3 In addition, due to the time limitation, the researcher observes only two classes, it seems not reliable enough to come to the conclusion.
Significance of the study The study is carried out with the hope to provide teachers of English at FICT – HaUI with a deeper understanding about benefits of using IG activities in teaching speaking skill. In addition, it is hoped that the study will be of great use in helping teachers find an effective way to increase their students‟ participation as well as encourage them to use English in speaking lessons. Methods of the study A survey is done by delivering a questionnaire to 30 teachers of English and another questionnaire to 200 pre-departure trainees at FICT - HaUI who are being taught speaking skills under the process-based approach. Furthermore, interviews with pre-departure trainees and teachers and a class observation are also carried out to investigate how information-gap activities are implemented in speaking lessons at FICT – HaUI and the trainees‟ participation.
All the collected information and data are analyzed and discussed. Design of the study The thesis consists of four chapters as follows: Chapter 1 provides a general introduction, including the background for the research topic and its aim, significance, scope, research questions and the design of the thesis. Chapter 2 is an attempt to review some theoretical background for the study. The two underlying theories: communicative approach and cooperative learning which are the background for information-gap activities to occur are discussed.
In addition, the teaching of speaking and an overview of information-gap activities are also presented. Chapter 3 presents the methodology underlying the study, including the background information of the context where the study is conducted, the subjects, the instruments used to collect data, and the procedures of data collection. Besides, the teaching and learning English at FICT – HaUI is described. Furthermore, a detailed description of data analysis is presented.
Chapter 4 is the conclusion of the study. Some explanations, interpretations of the findings of the study and some pedagogical implications are given in this chapter. In addition, some possible suggestions for further research are also discussed. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 4 CHAPTER II - LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter aims to explore the theoretical background for the thesis, focusing on the following points: an overview of Communicative Language Teaching, speaking skills and information-gap activities.
Communicative Language Teaching 2. Characteristics of Communicative Language Teaching The communicative approach (Communicative Language Technique or CLT) emphasizes communication as the means and goal of foreign language learning. The communicative approach aims to help students use the target language in a variety of contexts. Its primary focus is to help learners create meaning rather than help them develop perfect grammar or acquire native-like pronunciation.
This means that successfully learning a foreign language is assessed in terms of how learners have developed their communicative competence. (Hymes, 1972) The communicative approach is usually characterized as a broad approach to teaching rather than as a teaching method. As such, it is most often defined as a list of general principles. One of the most recognized of these lists is five features of CLT pointed out by Nunan (1989): - An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language.
- The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation. - The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language, but also on the Learning Management process. - An enhancement of the learner‟s own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning. - An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activities outside the classroom.
These five principles show that the communicative approach is focused on the needs and desires of their learners. Unlike L1 acquisition where the contexts for language use are always available both inside and outside the classroom, when students learn a foreign language or second language, they do not have such many opportunities to use the target language outside the classroom. Therefore, bringing authentic materials into the classroom is very important, and CLT meets this demand when it provides students activities which have a close relationship to real communication everyday. In other words, CLT makes the LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 5 classroom closer to real-life language situations.
Only when students are exposed to real- life situations, their true desire for communication is created. That is the way that CLT create desire for communication for students. Richards and Rodgers (1986: 71) also points out some main features of CLT as follows: - Language is a system for the expression of meaning. - The primary function of language is for 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.