1 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** LÊ THỊ THÙY DƯƠNG SOME POSSIBLE SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING STUDENTS’ TALKING TIME IN CLASS AT HOANG VAN THU HIGH SCHOOL, NAM DINH (Một số gợi ý có tính khả thi nhằm mục đích tăng cường thời gian nói của học sinh trong lớp học tại trường THPT Hoàng Văn Thụ, tỉnh Nam Định) M. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Hanoi – 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** LÊ THỊ THÙY DƯƠNG SOME POSSIBLE SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING STUDENTS’ TALKING TIME IN CLASS AT HOANG VAN THU HIGH SCHOOL, NAM DINH (Một số gợi ý có tính khả thi nhằm mục đích tăng cườngthời gian nói của học sinh trong lớp học tại trường THPT Hoàng Văn Thụ, tỉnh Nam Định) M. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: VŨ THỊ BÍCH ĐÀO, M.A Hanoi - 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS Candidate’s statement. iii Table of contents.
iv List of abbreviations. viii List of tables. ix List of figures. Aims of the study.
1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Scope of the study. Methodology of the study. Significance of the study.
Design of the study. 3 PART II DEVELOPMENT. 4 Chapter I - LITERATURE REVIEW .1 Communicative Language Teaching .1 Definition of CLT .2 Characteristics of CLT .2 Student talking time and second language acquisition .1 The theory of student talking time and second language acquisition of some linguistics .1 Krashen’s comprehensible input .2 Swain’s output hypothesis .3 Long’s interaction hypothesis .2 Perspectives on student talking time .3 Studies on student talking time .3 Factors affecting student talking time in speaking lessons .2 Attitudes of the learners. 13 Chapter II – THE STUDY .1 An overview of English teaching and learning at Hoang Van Thu high school, Nam Dinh …………………………………………………………………….1 Hoang Van Thu high school .2 English teachers at Hoang Van Thu high school.
15 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.3 The 11th-form students and observation classes 11 .4 Tieng Anh 11 textbook and its speaking lessons.1 The subjects of the study. 17 Chapter III - STATISTICAL RESULTS AND DATA ANALYSIS. Data analysis from learners’ questionnaires .1 Students’ opinions about speaking topics in the new text book “Tieng Anh 11” .2 Students’ attitudes towards learning oral skill .3 Students’ and teachers’ talking time in speaking lesson .4 Reasons making students reluctant to speak in English speaking lessons ….5 Teachers’ current methods applied at Hoang Van Thu high school .6 Students’ expectation towards their teachers .2 Data analysis from teachers’ questionnaires .1 Teachers’ assessment of the new text book “Tieng Anh 11” .2 Teachers’ perception of CLT .3 Teachers’ current teaching methods .4 Difficulties teachers have encountered in their teaching process .5 The ways teachers use to motivate students at Hoang Van Thu high school .6 Teachers’ assessment on student talking time in a speaking lesson 28 III. 29 Chapter IV - FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
31 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.1 Current teaching methods .2 Learners’ difficulties in getting involved in speaking lessons .1 Students’ prior learning experiences .2 Low level of English language proficiency .3 Anxiety or shyness in class .3 Teachers’ difficulties in teaching speaking in speaking lessons .4 Student talking time and teacher talking time in speaking lessons .5 Learners’ expectations towards teachers. Recommendations for teachers to improve students’ talking time .1 Suggestions for the teachers .2 Activities for improving students’ talking time in class .1 Pair work and group work. 38 PART III CONCLUSION .1 Summary of the study .2 Limitations and suggestions for further study. VIII LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 10 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ----------*****---------- CLT: Communicative Language Teaching STT: Student talking time TTT: Teacher talking time ELT: English language teaching L1: first language L2: second language LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 11 LIST OF TABLES --------- *****--------- Table 1: Students’ and teachers’ talking time in speaking lesson Table 2: Teachers’ current methods applied at Hoang Van Thu high school Table 3: Teachers’ current teaching methods Table 4: The ways teachers use to motivate their students Table 5: STT and TTT in observations LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 12 LIST OF FIGURES ----------*****---------- Figure 1: Students’ opinions about speaking topics in the new text book “Tieng Anh 11” Figure 2: Students’ attitudes towards learning oral skill.
Figure 3: Reasons for the students’ reluctance to speak in English speaking lessons Figure 4: Students’ expectation towards their teachers Figure 5: Teachers’ assessment of the new text book “Tieng Anh 11” Figure 6: Teachers’ perception of CLT Figure 7: Difficulties teachers have encountered in their teaching process Figure 8: Teachers’ assessment on students’ talking time in a speaking lesson Figure 9: STT and TTT in class 11A1 Figure 10: STT and TTT in class 11A2 Figure 11: STT and TTT in class 11A3 Figure 12: STT and TTT in class 11A4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 13 Part I: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study It is undeniable that English, the main language of many countries in the world, has become a language for global communication. It is considered as the medium of communication in many different fields such as: science, technology, politics, economics, aviation and so on. In fact, with the spread of globalization and the rapid expansion of information and technology, English has become more and more important for any countries in the world.
At upper secondary schools Vietnam, English is now a compulsory subject for all students. Due to its importance, English has received a lot of attention from students. As for them, the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing are very important but speaking skill is the top priority among the four. “Speaking in a second or foreign language has often been viewed as the most demanding of the four skills.
For that reason, speaking is the direct communication helping learners achieve their learning and working. However, one of the problems people care most in a speaking lesson is talking time. Studies of classroom discourse in ELT consistently show that teachers talk more than learners. In particular, most questions in the classroom are asked by teachers, these tend to be of the display type, and learners‟ responses to them tend to be short.
Most teachers readily agree that students should receive as much opportunity to speak as possible when learning English as a foreign LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. This idea is especially true in the EFL classroom, where students do not live in an English-speaking country. In such cases, students may only have the chances to practice English as a conversational tool during forty five minutes of the lesson. But whatever the situation, the more students speak in English, the better English speakers they become.
Being a teacher of a high school, within a minor thesis, the researcher would like to investigate the reasons why students are reluctant to speak in speaking lessons, and she hopes to be able to make some recommendations that can help students improve their talking time in speaking lessons. This actually drives the researcher to carry out the study “Some possible suggestions for improving students’ talking time in class at Hoang Van Thu high school, Nam Dinh. Aim of the study The study is aimed at: 1. Investigating the current speaking teaching and learning situation at Hoang Van Thu high school.
Finding the reasons why students are reluctant to speak in speaking lessons. Making some suggestions for the teachers with the hope of helping students improve their talking time in speaking lessons. Research questions: To reach the aim of the study, the two research questions are addressed: 1. How is the reality of students‟ talking time at Hoang Van Thu high school in Nam Dinh? 2.
What should teachers do to improve students‟ talking time in class at Hoang Van Thu high school? 4. Scope of the study With the purpose of helping students at Hoang Van Thu high school to improve their talking time in speaking lessons, the teacher intends to give a brief overview of current English speaking teaching and learning situations at Hoang Van Thu high school, find out factors making the students reluctant to speak and suggest some techniques and activities which help them improve their talking time in speaking lessons 5. Methods of the study To realize the aim of the study, quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Two survey questionnaires were used to collect information and evidence for the study.
The first questionnaire was for 150 students of grade 11th at Hoang Van Thu high school The second questionnaire was for 10 English language teachers at Hoang Van Thu high school LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 15 Besides, survey questions are used to collect information and evidence for the study. All comments, remarks, recommendations assumption and conclusion provided in the study based on the data analysis. Significance of the study The study hopes to contribute a small part to help teachers improve their teaching skills so that they can give a great assistance to learners with better involvement in English speaking lessons. Design of the study This minor thesis is composed of three parts: Part one: Introduction, presents the rationale of the study, the aims of the study, research questions, scope of the study, methods of the study, significance of the study and design of the study.
Part two: Development, including the following chapters Chapter one, Literature review, presents the concepts relevant to the study, the definition of CLT, characteristics of CLT, Student Talking Time and Second Language Acquisition, the last is factors affecting learners‟ participation in speaking lessons Chapter two is The study in which the writer talks about the students and teachers at school, the real situations of teaching and learning English at Hoang Van Thu high school and the research method including the following parts: the subjects of the study, the instruments, procedures and method. Chapter three, namely Statistical results and data analysis, presents data analysis and discussion, focus on analysis about students‟ activities towards speaking skills, factors that make them reluctant to speak, current teaching methods of teachers at Hoang Van Thu school and the amount of time students and teachers talk in speaking lessons. Chapter four, Findings and Recommendations discover factors affecting both students and teachers during speaking lessons. Basing on these factors, the researcher would like to make some suggestions to help students improve their talking time in speaking lessons.
Part three, Conclusion summarize all the key issues as well as the limitations of the study and suggestions for further study. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 16 PART II - DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I - LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter consists of three sections. Section one deals with the issue of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) which is intended to be discussed in terms of the definition of CLT and characteristics of CLT. Section two focuses on the Student Talking Time (STT) and Second Language Acquisition.
The last section is about factors affecting STT. Communicative Language Teaching It is undeniable that most learners of English nowadays desire to be able to communicate with others in the language they learn. Parallel with this change in the aims of learning English, methods of teaching had to be changed. For a long time, a number of language teaching methodologists have constantly looked for the most appropriate way to teach English more successfully and effectively.