VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** BÙI NGỌC ANH IMPROVING ENGLISH SPEAKING COMPETENCE THROUGH PROJECT-BASED LEARNING AT A SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES IN VIETNAM Cải thiện kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh thông qua việc học theo đề án tại một trường ĐHNN ở Việt Nam M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI - 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES ***************** BÙI NGỌC ANH IMPROVING ENGLISH SPEAKING COMPETENCE THROUGH PROJECT-BASED LEARNING AT A SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES IN VIETNAM Cải thiện kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh thông qua việc học theo đề án tại một trường ĐHNN ở Việt Nam M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601140111 Supervisor: Dr. Dư ng Đ c inh HANOI - 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby declare the thesis entitled “Facilitating English speaking competence through project-based learning at a school of foreign languages in Vietnam” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies- VNU, Hanoi, and this thesis is in total fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Arts.
This thesis has not been submitted for any degree and any other university or institution. Hanoi,2017 i Ng c nh i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deep thanks to people who have assisted me when I carried out the research. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor, Duong Duc Minh, PhD for his encouragement and guidance throughout the research. I also wish to thank all my teachers of Post-Graduate Studies Department, VNU for supporting me with a lot of knowledge and giving me the best environment to fulfill my thesis.
I would like to acknowledge and express my appreciation to the teachers and students at School of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University who have helped me to collect the data. Finally, I am deeply indebted to all the support and encouragement that my family has so loving offered me. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This study explored high school teachers’ perceptions of project-based learning in the new English textbooks. The specific areas of investigations were teachers’ perceptions about (1) P L’s definitions, P L’s benefits for students in language learning in terms of motivation, improvements in language skills, learning autonomy, teamwork skills and teachers’ roles in P L, (2) their challenges in implementing PBL.
The findings from questionnaires and interviews reveal that teachers had a clear understanding of PBL was and a positive attitude to the benefits of PBL for students in language learning. Also, the results of the study show that teachers encountered with three main challenges when implementing PBL : students’ ability, time for preparation and schools’ facilities. asing on these findings, suggestions are made to enhance the success of PBL in teaching and learning English language. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP.
iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .vii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES. Aims of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study.
Outline of the study. 5 CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW. Definition of speaking. Project-based learning.
General definition of project-based learning .Major features of PBL. Previous research works. Advantages of PBL. Disadvantages of PBL.
11 Chapter II: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Research questions and subject of the study. Research questions restated. 12 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Subjects of the study. Data collection instruments. Pre-test and Post-test. Data collection procedure.
20 CHAPTER III: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Research question 1: “How important is applying PBL integration in the curricula to English learning process of students at SFL?”. Research question 3: “Are there any difficulties in applying PBL to students at SFL-TNU? If yes, what are some possible solutions?”. The importance and the benefits of PBL integration.
Students’ difficulties when working with PBL. The importance of suggested solutions. 35 CHAPTER IV:IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION. The role of teachers in PBL integration.
The role of students in PBL integration. Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further research. 43 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
I APPENDIX I: PRE-TEST FOR STUDENTS. I APPENDIX II: POST-TEST FOR STUDENTS .IV APPENDIX III: SPEAKING ASSESSMENT CRITERIA FOR B1. VII PPENDIX IV: STUDENTS’ SCORE IN PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST .IX APPENDIX V: OBSERVATION SHEET FOR THE RESEARCHER.XI APPENDIX VI: STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE. XII vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS PBL: Project-based learning SFL: School of Foreign Languages TNU: Thai Nguyen University TS: Total Score AS: Average Score EOP: English Oral Proficiency vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 2.
Action research cycles (Kemmis & McTagart, 1988). The Process of Project-Based Learning (Krajcik & Blumenfeld, 2006). Students’ opinions about benefits of P L. Pre-test scores.
Number of errors per error type occurred in pre-test. Result of observation on students’ presentation at week 8. Post-test score. Number of errors per error type occurred in post-test.
Students’ evaluation of difficult areas. Students’ evaluation about the importance of suggested solutions……29 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale English, which is considered one of the most dominant languages in the world, has never been a minor concern of the human being in general and Vietnamese people in particular. It is seen as a useful tool for the purpose of connecting people on the earth and the key to achieving success in a variety of fields.
More essentially, English is also the primary business language as well as prior standard for those who want to enter a global workforce, research or international market place. Realizing the new trend, Vietnamese educators have made English a compulsory subject in the curricula at all schools including the primary, secondary and university levels. Increasingly, language skills are top priority criteria for employees who want to get stable jobs in the modern life. Additionally, the practice of English as a foreign language (EFL) education in Vietnam is still lacking practical communicating environment and the fundamental application of second language (L2) is primarily bound to the classroom context, which is the same barrier to the majority of Asian contexts (Elam & Nesbit, 2012).
Most classroom periods follow teacher-centered learning model, in which learners try to memorize vocabulary, grammatical rules, recite pre-fabricated dialogues and complete paper tests. For instance, during an English lesson at high school on the topic “Making a phone call”, students are normally expected to keep in mind vocabulary related to greetings, giving information, and saying goodbye, then listen to a dialogue and fill in the blank. It means that they seem to have few opportunities to collaborate with group members or social interaction after school days. In other words, “living and functioning in a first language (L1) environment while studying English compounds the disconnection between second language (L2) English”, as stated by arrs (2012, p.
Therefore, the way English is taught and learnt is still a big issue which demands researchers to spend large amounts of time and effort to discover the best 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com answers to this question. Brown (2011) fully acknowledges that there should be a new language teaching method owing to the expanded scope of language teaching programs all over the world. Integrating project-based learning in the curricula at Thai Nguyen University in general and School of Foreign Language in particular is regarded as a useful and efficient strategy. This is a new teaching method that arranges learning process based on certain projects.
According to Thomas (2000), complex tasks are displayed in projects aimed at developing students’ ability in design, problem-solving and investigative activities. In other words, this teaching method brings pupils a good chance to improve integrated skills such as language competence and other necessary expertise in the 21st century. The outstanding advantages of this program are obvious, because it helps learners practice many skills at the same time (writing, reading, listening and speaking) while other subjects just focus in one or two competences. As a result, this model makes great contributions to raising their studying results and learning important life skills.
The reason why action research is employed is that this kind of method concerns with improving specific point in a teacher’s technique in a particular classroom using empirical measurement as stated by Richards and Platt & Platt (1992). Hence, this action research, conducted within fifteen weeks, was implemented to address the effectiveness of project-based learning (PBL) for promoting students’ motivation, personal skills, as well as studying achievements at School of Foreign Languages – Thai Nguyen University (SFL-TNU). Aims of the study There are two main purposes of implementing this research. Firstly, this study is designed to explore the importance and major advantages of integrating project-based learning (PBL) in the curricula at SFL – TNU.
In other words, it is likely to be conducted with the purpose of examining whether or not using educational projects is an appropriate approach to support students’ language skills in general and enhance their English speaking skill in particular. The study 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com also clearly exposes several unexpected difficulties which participants experienced during the process of working with projects at School of Foreign Languages. Secondly, this paper recommends several solutions to problems encountered (if any) while teaching and studying project-based subjects in order to decrease unexpected matters as well as raise the effectiveness of this method. How important is applying PBL integration in the curricula to English learning process of students at SFL? 2.
To what extent can P L facilitate students’ speaking competence? 3. Are there any difficulties in applying PBL to students at SFL-TNU? If yes, what are some possible solutions? 4. Scope of the study This study mainly concentrates on the practical effectiveness of PBL integration in the curricula at School of Foreign Languages. Furthermore, not only strong points but also weak points of this approach will be shown so that educators are able to solve the unexpected problems and raise students’ self-direction, motivation and results in English subjects at SFL-TNU.
The participants joined in this research are a group of 84 sophomores whose major is English Education at SFL-TNU. Significance of the study This research, among all research work, is constructed not only to explore previous related theories to get background knowledge of PBL but also to change and improve educational situations. Implementing this practical study is highly supposed to point out pupils’ various learning difficulties in acquiring English as a second language; furthermore, it will make great contribution to clarifying the importance of applying PBL in curricula for non-native learners. In addition, the finding results are likely to contain fruitful conclusions when revealing positive aspects along with weak points should be eliminated.
After that, the composition will suggest several solutions so as to improve both teaching and studying these 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. As a result, this research aims at bringing students a good chance to practice integrated language competence with projects, enhance communication skill, strengthen collaborative abilities through discussions and peer assessments as well as apply their knowledge into real life contexts. Outline of the study This paper’s content will be arranged in an order which reveals information from theoretical to empirical. PART A: INTRODUCTION, gives an overview of the study.