VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* LÊ KIM PHA THE APPLICATION OF SIMULATION TECHNIQUE IN IMPROVING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL FOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS IN FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN HO CHI MINH UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (VIỆC ÁP DỤNG KỸ THUẬT MÔ PHỎNG TRONG VIỆC CẢI THIỆN KỸ NĂNG NÓI TIẾNG ANH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM NHẤT CỦA KHOA NGOẠI NGỮ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP THÀNH PHỐ HỒ CHÍ MINH) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111 Hanoi, 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* LÊ KIM PHA THE APPLICATION OF SIMULATION TECHNIQUE IN IMPROVING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL FOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS IN FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN HO CHI MINH UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (VIỆC ÁP DỤNG KỸ THUẬT MÔ PHỎNG TRONG VIỆC CẢI THIỆN KỸ NĂNG NÓI TIẾNG ANH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM NHẤT CỦA KHOA NGOẠI NGỮ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP THÀNH PHỐ HỒ CHÍ MINH) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111 SUPERVISOR: PHẠM HỮU ĐỨC, PhD. Hanoi, 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I, Lê Kim Pha, declare that this graduation thesis is original and has not been submitted for assessment elsewhere. I declare that this assignment is my own work and does not involve plagiarism or collusion. I give my consent for the electronic version to be examined by relevant plagiarism software programs.
I have made a photocopy or electronic copy of my assignment, which I can produce if the original is lost for any reason. Date: … / … / 2014 Signature Lê Kim Pha i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to send my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Phạm Hữu Đức, for his encouragement, dedicated guidance and constant assistance from the initial stage to the final stage to develop an understanding of the subject, without which this thesis would not have been possible. I would also like to express my hearty thanks for his spending precious family time on my call at any time.
It is my pleasure to thank the teachers of class DHAV9A and DHAV9B; Ms. Hoàng Lê Thị Tuyết and Ms. Lê Ngọc Diệp who facilitated me the most in the delivery of questionnaires and observation of the students‟ activities. I would like to thank the students of class DHAV9, NCAV7 who helped me pilot as well as fulfilled the questionnaires and interviews.
My warm gratitude goes to my family who always believes in me, always respects my choices and gives me the best support both of spirit and finance. Above all, I thank God, who blesses me with peaceful energy to support me at all time. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT There is no doubt about the significance of English in today‟s world when the communicative abilities become important. And one of the challenges is that how to help student be able to apply their classroom knowledge in real-life situations to the most extent.
Simulation is considered as one of the potential activities to wed theory into practice and improve students‟ speaking skills. The attempt was to know whether students were engaged in simulation and their responses to this activity. To serve these purposes, a quantitative research together with a specific group of 59 first-year students was chosen. At the same time, two phases of questionnaires, before introducing simulation and after its implementation were proceeded.
For the achievements of these purposes, besides 59 freshmen from DHAV9A, DHAV9B, more methodologies including questionnaires and the interviews were also employed to help the researcher examine and provide more details to the findings as statistics and reliable materials for the analyzing phase. The results have found students‟ interest and support for this kind of activities. They got chances to deal with realistic situations in relaxing settings, which not only prepared them with practical experience but promised to contribute to the improvement of their speaking skills. Additionally, this paper also provided several recommendations for the implementation of simulation, which were withdrawn from the research process.
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP……………………………………………….iii TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………….iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS…………………………………………………….viii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES……………………………………………….ix PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Aims and objectives of the study ····················································2 3. Scope of the study ·····································································3 5. Organization of the study·····························································4 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.
Definition of simulations in language learning context ··················5 1. Characteristics of simulations ···············································6 1. Distinction simulations and role-plays ·····································8 1. Distinction simulations and games ········································ 10 1.
The role of simulations in L2 teaching and learning context ·········· 11 1. The limitation of simulations ·············································· 12 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. The effects of simulations on students‟ attitudes in language learning ………………………………………………………………………. Courage and confidence ············································· 15 1.
Summary of previous studies on simulations in language teaching and learning · 16 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 2. Participants and setting of the study ············································· 18 2. Data collection instruments ·············································· 18 2. Data collection procedures ················································· 19 2.
Piloting ······························································· 19 a) Piloting the questionnaires ········································· 19 b) Piloting the interview ··············································· 20 2. Data analysis procedures ··················································· 21 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 3. Findings and discussion ··························································· 23 3. Students‟ English speaking learning before the introduction of simulations ····································································· 23 3.
Students‟ attitudes in general towards the current speaking activities at class ························································· 23 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Students‟ improvement of speaking skills in comparison with that of the last semester ······················································ 25 3. Students‟ frequency in practicing English speaking skills in daily situations ·································································· 25 3. Students‟ confidence in bringing English to realistic conversations with native speakers ····················································· 26 3.
Students‟ participation in a variety of activities ················ 28 3. The activities that students feel like to participate in most ···· 29 3. Students‟ choice among various activities: group discussion, class discussion, role play and simulations ································· 30 3. Students‟ expectations in their speaking class ·················· 31 3.
The implementation and students‟ responses towards simulations ··· 33 3. Students‟ interest in simulations ·································· 33 3. Students‟ responses about the benefits of simulations ········· 35 3. Students‟ self-evaluation about their roles in the simulations 37 3.
Comparison of students‟ attitudes among various speaking activities ··································································· 38 3. Do the students want simulations to be employed? ············ 39 3. Pedagogical implications ·························································· 39 PART C: CONCLUSION 1. Recapitulation of the study ························································· 41 2.
Conclusions of the study ··························································· 41 3. Limitations of the study ···························································· 42 4. Suggestions for further study ······················································ 43 REFERENCES ··············································································· 45 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDICES Appendix 1:Table 1: Simulation vs. I Appendix 2: Table 2: Simulation vs.
Game ·············································· II Appendix 3: Table 3: Summary of previous studies on simulation ··················· III Appendix 4: Table 4: The practice of speaking skills in real –life situations ······· V Appendix 5: Table 5: Students‟ confidence in communicating with native speakers. ·································································································· VI Appendix 6: Table 6: Students‟ participation in various types of activities………VII Appendix 7: Table 7: The activities that students feel like to participate in most………………………………………………………………………………VIII Appendix 8: Table 8: Comparison of students‟ attitudes among various speaking activities. ······················································································ IX Appendix 9: Schedule of classroom observation ………………………………….X Appendix 10: Questionnaire 1 (English version) Speaking activities in classroom before the application of simulations ····················································· XI Appendix 11: Questionnaire 1 (Viet version) Quan sát hoạt động trong tiết học speaking………………………………………………………………………….XIII Appendix 12: Questionnaire 2 (English version) Students‟ attitudes and responses to simulations ·················································································· XV Appendix 13: Questionnaire 2 (Viet version) Quan sát thái độ của sinh viên về simulations ················································································· XVII Appendix 14: Sample lesson plan 1 - Shopping Stands…………………………XIX Appendix 16: Lesson plan 2 - Restaurant Servicesimulations: Making and taking order in a restaurant ············································································· XXI vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS FFL : Faculty of Foreign Language HUI : Ho Chi Minh University of Industry DHAV9 : Đại học Anh văn 9 L2 : Second Language viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Simulation vs. Role play Table 2: Simulation vs.
Game Table 3: Summary of previous studies on simulation Table 4: The practice of speaking skills in real –life situations Table 5: Students‟ confidence in communicating with native speakers Table 6: Students‟ participation in various types of activities Table 7: The activities that students feel like to participate in most Table 8: Comparison of students‟ attitudes among various speaking activities Figure 1: The structure of a simulation Figure 2: Students‟ attitudes on speaking activities Figure 3: Students‟ improvement of speaking skills compared to the last semester Figure 4: The practice of speaking skills in real-life situations Figure 5: Students‟ confidence in communicating with native speakers Figure 6: Students‟ participation in various types of activities Figure 7: The activities that students feel like to participate in most Figure 8: Students‟ choice among discussion, role play and simulation Figure 8: Students‟ interest in simulation Figure 10: Students‟ responses about the benefits of simulation Figure 11: Comparison of students‟ attitudes among various speaking activities ix LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I, Lê Kim Pha, declare that this graduation thesis is original and has not been submitted for assessment elsewhere. I declare that this assignment is my own work and does not involve plagiarism or collusion. I give my consent for the electronic version to be examined by relevant plagiarism software programs. I have made a photocopy or electronic copy of my assignment, which I can produce if the original is lost for any reason.
Date: … / … / 2014 Signature Lê Kim Pha x LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to send my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Phạm Hữu Đức, for his encouragement, dedicated guidance and constant assistance from the initial stage to the final stage to develop an understanding of the subject, without which this thesis would not have been possible. I would also like to express my hearty thanks for his spending precious family time on my call at any time. It is my pleasure to thank the teachers of class DHAV9A and DHAV9B; Ms.
Hoàng Lê Thị Tuyết and Ms. Lê Ngọc Diệp who facilitated me the most in the delivery of questionnaires and observation of the students‟ activities. I would like to thank the students of class DHAV9, NCAV7 who helped me pilot as well as fulfilled the questionnaires and interviews. My warm gratitude goes to my family who always believes in me, always respects my choices and gives me the best support both of spirit and finance.
Above all, I thank God, who blesses me with peaceful energy to support me at all time. xi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT There is no doubt about the significance of English in today‟s world when the communicative abilities become important. And one of the challenges is that how to help student be able to apply their classroom knowledge in real-life situations to the most extent. Simulation is considered as one of the potential activities to wed theory into practice and improve students‟ speaking skills.
The attempt was to know whether students were engaged in simulation and their responses to this activity. To serve these purposes, a quantitative research together with a specific group of 59 first-year students was chosen. At the same time, two phases of questionnaires, before introducing simulation and after its implementation were proceeded. For the achievements of these purposes, besides 59 freshmen from DHAV9A, DHAV9B, more methodologies including questionnaires and the interviews were also employed to help the researcher examine and provide more details to the findings as statistics and reliable materials for the analyzing phase.