THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES PHAN THI THU GIANG AN APPLICATION OF DRAMA IN ENGLISH PROJECT LESSONS IN BAC KAN GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL (Áp dụng đóng kịch trong các tiết học “project” môn Tiếng Anh ở trường THPT Chuyên Bắc Kạn) M.A THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 THAI NGUYEN – 2019 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.vn c THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES PHAN THI THU GIANG AN APPLICATION OF DRAMA IN ENGLISH PROJECT LESSONS IN BAC KAN GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL (Áp dụng đóng kịch trong các tiết học “project” môn Tiếng Anh ở trường THPT Chuyên Bắc Kạn) M.A THESIS (APPLICATION ORIENTATION) Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Dr. Nguyen Trong Du THAI NGUYEN – 2019 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.vn c CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “An application of drama in English project lessons in Bac Kan Gifted High School” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language. Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis. Thai Nguyen, July 2019 Phan Thi Thu Giang Approved by SUPERVISOR Date: ………………………… Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.vn c ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author of this minor study gratefully gives acknowledgement to all the support and motivation during the time of doing this research.
First of all, I would like to express me sincere thanks and gratefulness to my supervisor, Dr. Nguyen Trong Du. His kind support and helpful advice went through the process of completion of my thesis. Without his instructions, encouragement, and inspiration, the thesis would not have been done effectively.
I also acknowledge my thankfulness to my school principal, my colleagues, and my students who directly took part in my thesis with kind assistance and support. Besides, I would like to express my thanks to the lecturers and my friends whose kind help, care, motivation gave me strength during the time I spent in Thai Nguyen. My special thanks approve to my parents, my brothers, and my sister for their endless love. I especially thank my Mother who had never stop loving and encouraging me, and she, perhaps only watches me on my Master Thesis Defense Day FROM THE HEAVEN.
Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.vn c ABSTRACT English has become an indispensible tool in modern society, so teaching and learning English have to be innovated to meet the more and more demanding requirements. This minor thesis aims to investigate the attitude of the learners in a gifted high school in the north of Viet Nam towards the application of drama in project lessons as well as the influence of drama strategy on students’ speaking performances and their soft skills development. The study is in the form of an action research, which is believed to enable the researcher to investigate the participants thoroughly and precisely. Qualitative and quantitative methods objectively supported for the main findings of the study.
The data instruments include questionnaires and the researcher’s observation sheets. Some video recorded are involved as a part of data for deeper observation and analysis. The results reveal that the majority of the students felt interested in the applying of drama in project lessons. Moreover, most students gained the improvement in their speaking competence in general.
The main finding of the study from the analysis of both students’ responses in the questionnaires and teacher’s observation checklist was that students’ soft skills such as team-building skill, problem-solving skill, and inter-personal skill improved significantly. However, the results also point out that some students seemed to have lost interest and motivation by the end of the project. It suggests that various teaching strategies should be combined to gain effectiveness. This study also provides some pedagogical implications for students, teachers, and other researchers to study the application of drama in project lessons in a larger scope with bigger population to reach more precise validity, reliability, and generalization.
Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.vn c LIST OF TABLES AND PICTURES Chart 1: Student’s attitude towards the applying of drama in project lessons. 34 Chart 2: Influence of drama on students’ speaking performances. 39 Chart 3: Influence of drama on students’ social skills. 42 Picture 1a: Eagerly prepare for drama performance.
33 Picture 1b: Eagerly prepare for drama performance. 33 Picture 2: Drama performances. 36 Picture 3: Teambuilding spirit. 41 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.vn c TABLE OF CONTENT CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY.
iii LIST OF TABLES AND PICTURES. iv TABLE OF CONTENT. Rationale of the study. Aims of the study.
Scope of the study. The significance of the study. Method of study. Design of the study.6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Project-based learning. Drama activities as a strategy in teaching and learning language. Contextualizing language and providing a safe environment. Sustainable, holistic learning.
Improving personal and social competences. Teaching and learning English speaking skill.26 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc. Qualitative method applied in the study. Quantitative method applied in the study.
Application of drama in practical teaching context. Data collection instrument. Data analytical method. Data analysis of questionnaires.
Data analysis of observation sheets and video clips .30 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. The main findings of the study. The students’ attitude towards drama project lessons. The influence of drama on students’ speaking performances.
The influence of drama on students’ social skills.40 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS. The conclusion of the study. The limitation of the study. The implications of the study.55 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.vn c CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale of the study These days, English has proven its indispensable role in each nation’s development all over the world. It is English that help bridge the different races, cultures, religions, politics, and society. In the world of globalization, English has become a dominant language used and spoken both nationally and internationally. There are a number of sectors where English is needed such as medicine, politics, engineering, economy, tourism, finance, international relations, education etc.
English is not only important at a global scale but also at regional level like ASEAN regions. It is stated in the ASIAN Charter article 34 that the means of communication within ASEAN countries in the fields of government sectors as well as other organizations related in both government and private sectors. Therefore, English has shown its power when it becomes the first priority for the people of ASEAN to create the relationship without borders in geography and culture, and the world of competiveness. To turn English a second language of the nation, much effort has been made in many ASIAN countries in order to improve their citizens’ English proficiency to meet the great demand of the modern world.
Regarding the foreign language teaching and learning in Viet Nam, English is considered the core subject in the national curriculum. According to To (2010), the English capacity of Vietnamese people is limited although there have been some positive changes in the teaching context recently. It is reported by executive manager of Project 2020 that 98% of Vietnamese students study English for seven years (from grade 6 to grade 12, age 11–18), but cannot use it for basic communication (Nhan, 2013). With a view to improving English language teaching and learning in Vietnam in the time of industrialization and modernization, Prime Minister has announced Decision No.
1400/QĐ-TTg “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the National Education System, Period 2008 to 2020”. The general goal of this project is that “by the year 2020 most Vietnamese youth whoever graduate from vocational schools, colleges and universities gain the capacity to use a foreign language independently. 1 c This will enable them to be more confident in communication, further their chance to study and work in an integrated and multi-cultural environment with variety of languages. This goal also makes language as an advantage for Vietnamese people, serving the cause of industrialization and modernization for the country” (MOET, 2008).
For the Gifted High School System, another decision is issued by MOET in 2010 (Decision No. 959/QD-TTg – “Developing The Gifted High School System, Period 2010 to 2020”), which narrows the scope of the previous policy to gifted schools only. According to this Decision, from school year 2011-2012, natural science subjects, including Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Computer Science, will be taught totally in English in piloted gifted schools. The implementation would be applied in the remaining gifted schools by 2015.
It requires not only teachers but also learners to innovate teaching and learning process to reach this goal. In the teaching context in Bac Kan province, a remote and mountainous area, although most people are aware of the importance and the necessity of English, the underdeveloped social economic condition has become a barrier in improving this foreign language. In addition, the extreme lack of language speaking environment results in students’ quite low English proficiency. In details, the results of the National Examinations of Secondary Education in some recent years have shown that only around 10% of the students could get mark from 5.
This fact challenged both teachers and learners to innovate teaching and learning to meet the demand of the country’s industrialization, modernization, and international integration process. Bac Kan Gifted high school was founded in 2003 and it has become a trustworthy place where educated talented students for the province. However, for students there, English is not their cup of tea and speaking English is a difficult task. Most of the students are ethnic minority people and quite shy to speak English in front of the others.
Their English competence is pre-intermediate and they can hardly have chances to communicate with English native speakers. Three forty five- minute-lessons a week is time for practicing their speaking skill of most of the Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc. Only a few of them have chance to interact with English speakers through social networks. As a result, although they spent six or seven years studying English at school, they have to make a great effort to pronounce an English sentence correctly, and they are not confident enough to communicate in the target language.
They may understand the language and know a lot about its grammar and lexicon, but when they need to speak, they seem to be at a loss for words or too shy to speak in front of other people. Thus, their English scores in examinations were low. Moreover, English proficiency is currently a barrier for most of them, which disadvantages them from gaining prizes in some certain international competitions partly due to misunderstanding the requirements and poor English performances. Piloted English textbook, which was applied in Bac Kan Gifted high school three years ago, is a new curriculum for both teachers and students.
After each unit in this textbook, there is a lesson named “project” at which teacher can create different kinds of activities to help students develop their sub-skills. It is the time when the learners have more chances to improve their speaking skill.