VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ THU NHUNG TEACHERS' PERCEIVED DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILL FOR PRE-INTERMEDIATE CLASSES AT ACADEMY OF FINANCE IN THE LIGHT OF CLT (KHÓ KHĂN CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TRONG VIỆC DẠY KĨ NĂNG NÓI CHO CÁC LỚP KHÔNG CHUYÊN TẠI HỌC VIỆN TÀI CHÍNH) M. MINOR THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60.10 HANOI - 2009 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ THU NHUNG TEACHERS' PERCEIVED DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILL FOR PRE-INTERMEDIATE CLASSES AT ACADEMY OF FINANCE IN THE LIGHT OF CLT (KHÓ KHĂN CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TRONG VIỆC DẠY KĨ NĂNG NÓI CHO CÁC LỚP KHÔNG CHUYÊN TẠI HỌC VIỆN TÀI CHÍNH) M. MINOR THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60.10 Supervisor: Nguyễn Thu Hiền - MA HANOI - 2009 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements.ii List of abbreviations and tables.iii Table of contents.iv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for the study.
Scope of the study. Aims and research questions of the study. Methods of the study. Organzation of the study.3 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.
The overview of CLT. Speaking skill in the light of CLT. The nature of speaking skill. The importance of teaching speaking skill.
The role of the teacher and learners in a speaking lesson. The role of the teachers. The role of the learners. The characteristics of speaking activities.
The characteristics of a successful speaking activity. Categories of speaking activities. Organization of a speaking activity. Whole-class discussion.12 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Teachers' perceived difficulties in teaching speaking skill in the light of CLT. Difficulties from teachers. Difficulties from students. Difficulties from Educational system.27 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 3.
Setting of the study. Participants of the study. Data collection instruments. Procedures of data collection and data analysis.23 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 4.
The results of the survey questionnaire and the semi-structure interview.Difficulties from students. Difficulties from teachers. Difficulties from educational system. The additional results of the semi-structure interview.
Warm-up activities. Teachers' suggestions to motivate students. The formation of the groups. Teachers' suggestions to deal with disruptive behaviors.
Teachers' suggestions in using the textbook Business Basics. Teachers' suggestions to deal with the problem of large-sized classes .36 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.36 CHAPTER FIVE: IMPLICATIONS TO COPE WITH TEACHERS' DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILL 5. Suggestions for warm-up activities. Organization of group work and pair work.
Some suggested speaking activities in the classroom. Information gap activities. Creating a supportive and motivational speaking environment. Establishing a good relationship between teacher and students.
Encourage students to speak. Suggestions for teaching speaking in large classes.43 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION 6. Limitations of the study. Suggestions for the further study.I LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iii LIST OF FIGURES AND ABBREVIATIONS Figure 1: Teaching English experience Figure 2: Teachers' education and qualifications Figure 3: Average number of students in each class Figure 4: Reported difficulties in teaching speaking skill Figure 5: Difficulties from students Figure 6: Difficulties from teachers Figure 7: Difficulties from Educational system Figure 8: English teaching schedule for the first term Figure 9: Some teachers' suggested warm-up activities Figure 10: Teachers' suggestions to motivate students Figure 11: Teachers' suggestions to deal with disruptive behaviors AOF: Academy of Finance CLT: Communicative Language Teaching EFL: English as Foreign Language SLA: Second Language Acquisition LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale of the study In the trend of globalization, English – which is considered to be an international language – has become more and more popular and widely used in many countries in the world, including Vietnam. In recent years, with the national policy of renovation and expansion of international relations, there has been an increasing need for learning English in Vietnam. To meet the demand of learners of English, teachers of English in Vietnam have been trying to find out the most suitable and effective methods of teaching English. They always try to catch up with the world’s latest frameworks of English Language Teaching.
Therefore, as in many other countries, teachers of English in Vietnam are now using Communicative Language Teaching Approach (CLT) to teach English to students of all levels. They hope that by using this teaching method, they can help their students improve their English and use it effectively and fluently in communication. Having been aware of the necessity of good English knowledge of learners, the Academy of Finance (AOF) has paid considerable attention to update teaching methodologies. Of all the teachers’ contribution, those following CLT are highly appreciated for its usefulness to students’ achievement.
The aspects of greatest concern are: syllabus design, learning strategies, methods of teaching four skills of listening, reading, writing and speaking. With the recognition of the importance of developing speaking skill in pre-intermediate students at AOF and hope of helping teachers of English deal better with teaching speaking skill, I would like to do a research on teachers' perceived difficulties in teaching speaking skill for pre-intermediate classes at AOF in the light of CLT. Scope of the study This study is aimed at meeting the need of the non major English first-year students at AOF on an appropriate way to practice speaking skill. The data collection and data analysis therefore are based on the information provided by teachers at AOF who teach English to the first year students during their first semester.
Materials involved in the strategy training program include the students’ course book and workbook – “Business Basics” written by David Grant and Robert McLarty (1995) and other tasks developed by LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 the teacher. Within the framework of a minor thesis, the author only intends to study teachers' perceived difficulties in teaching speaking skill to the first year students of Academy of Finance. Then, this study also gives some suggestions to help the teachers at AOF in particular and at other universities in general to deal better with teaching speaking skill to non-major English students at pre-intermediate level. Aims and research questions of the study Within the framework of a minor MA thesis, the study aims at studying the difficulties teachers perceive when they teach speaking skill to non-major English students of AOF at pre-intermediate level and providing some suggestions to overcome these difficulties.
The researcher wish to find out the questions as follows: - What are teachers' perceived difficulties in teaching speaking skill to non-major English students of AOF at pre-intermediate level? - What are teachers' perceived causes of these difficulties? - What are teachers' suggestions to solve these problems? 4. Methods of the study To complete the study, qualitative method was used. A survey questionnaires and a semi-structure interview were conducted to collect information for the study. All comments, remarks, suggestions and conclusion provided in the study based on the analysis of the data collected from the survey and the interview.
Organzation of the study My study is divided into six chapters: ► Chapter 1: Introduction briefly states the rationale for the study, aims and research questions, scope, methods and organization of the paper. ► Chapter 2: Literature review discusses the literature on CLT, speaking skill, teaching speaking skill, speaking activities, perceived difficulties in teaching speaking skill and causes of these difficulties. ► Chapter 3: Methodology presents the methods used to find out data for the study. In details, it includes the selection of participants, data collection instruments, procedures of data collection and data analysis.
► Chapter 4: Results and discussion present and discuss the results of the questionnaire and semi-structure interview. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 3 ► Chapter 5: Implication to cope with teachers' perceived difficulties in teaching speaking skill presents useful suggestions to deal with these difficulties. ► Chapter 6: Conclusion summarizes the findings, discusses the limitations of the study and provides suggestions for the further study. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 4 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter briefly presents the overview of CLT, the nature of speaking skill and the importance of teaching speaking skill, the role of teachers and learners in speaking lessons, speaking activities and their characteristics, and difficulties in teaching speaking skill for non-major students of English.
The overview of CLT Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) which emerged in the 1970s and 1980s is currently the most favorite and the most widely-used method in English language classes in Vietnam. Different authors view CLT differently. However, most definitions of CLT come under its weak version which emphasizes the importance of opportunities to use English for communicative purposes. Among the available definitions, the one given by Nunan (1989) seems to be the most widely-accepted and the most favorable on.
As for him, “CLT views language as a system for the expressions of meaning. Activities involve oral communication, carrying out meaning tasks and using language, which is meaningful to the learners. Objectives reflect the needs of the learners including functional skills as well as linguistic skills.” Nunan also asserts that in communication process, learners are negotiators and integrators whereas teachers are facilitators. Whatever its definition is, its goal still remains the same, that is communicative competence.
The concept of communicative competence was first introduced by Hymes in 1972 and continued to be developed by Canale and Swain (1980), Canale (1983), Bachman (1990), Bachman and Palmer (1996). Canale and Swain (1980) expanded on the theoretical basis of CLT for both teaching and testing. In their reaction against an over emphasis on function and a lack of emphasis on grammatical complexity (as was reflected in Wilkin's functional/notional syllabus and Munby's communicative syllabus), they pointed out that externally oriented communication is not necessarily more essential than other purposes of language such as self-expression, verbal thinking, problem solving, and creative writing. In addition, CLT is usually characterized as an approach to teaching, rather than as a teaching method with a clearly defined set of classroom practices.
As such, it is most LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 5 often defined as a list of general features. One of the most recogninzed of these lists is Nunan's (1991, p.279) five features of CLT: ► 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 process itself.
► 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. In short, until now CLT has been considered the most comprehensive approach. Speaking skill in the light of CLT 2.
The nature of speaking skill Speaking is "an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information" (Brown, 1994; Burns & Joyce 1997). Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including the participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical environment, and the purposes for speaking. It is often spontaneous, open-ended, and evolving. Speaking requires that learners not only know how to produce specific points of language such as grammar, pronunciation, or vocabulary (linguistic competence), but also that they understand when, why and in what ways to produce language ("socio-linguistic competence").
It has its own skills, structures, and conventions different from written language (Burns & Joyce, 1997; Carter & McCarthy, 1995; Cohen, 1996). A good speaker synthesizes these skills and knowledge to succeed in a given speech act. The importance of teaching speaking skill For most people, the ability to speak a language is synonymous with knowing that language since speech is the most basic means of human communication.