VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ******************* ĐỖ THỊ MAI HƯƠNG USING WARM–UP ACTIVITIES TO RAISE THE INTEREST IN SPEAKING CLASSES OF THE 11TH GRADERS: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT AT NGUYEN DUC THUAN HIGH SCHOOL (Sử dụng các hoạt động khởi động để tạo hứng thú trong giờ học nói cho học sinh lớp 11: Một nghiên cứu hành động tại trường THPT Nguyễn Đức Thuận) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HÀ NỘI – 2016 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ******************* ĐỖ THỊ MAI HƯƠNG USING WARM–UP ACTIVITIES TO RAISE THE INTEREST IN SPEAKING CLASSES OF THE 11TH GRADERS: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT AT NGUYEN DUC THUAN HIGH SCHOOL (Sử dụng các hoạt động khởi động để tạo hứng thú trong giờ học nói cho học sinh lớp 11: Một nghiên cứu hành động tại trường THPT Nguyễn Đức Thuận) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Assoc. Nguyễn Văn Độ HÀ NỘI – 2016 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work and effort and that has not been submitted anywhere for any award.
I certify that the thesis “Using warm-up activities to raise the interest in speaking classes of the 11th graders: An action research project at Nguyen Duc Thuan High School” is the result of my own study and that it has not been submitted to any other university or institution wholly or partially. : Hanoi, 2016 ĐỖ THỊ MAI HƯƠNG i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to Assoc.Prof Nguyen Van Do, my honorable supervisor for his great guidance and encouragement without which the study would not be completed. His patience and the amount of time he spent on revising manuscripts with muddled up contents have been truly appreciated. Besides, his sense of thoughtful criticism and recognition of the work have played a crucial role to the progress and completion of this study.
I also take this opportunity to express my thankfulness to all of my course instructors and lecturers of University of Foreign Languages and International Studies - Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their valuable advice and suggestions throughout my study. In addition, I am appreciative of the English teachers and my students of class 11A and 11C at Nguyen Duc Thuan High School for their wholehearted cooperation in involving in the lessons and participating in questionnaires which gave great help to form a significant part of this study. Last but not least, my heartfelt gratitude goes to all those who have kindly advised and helped me towards the completion of my study report. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT In the globalization age today, English assumes as a more and more important part as a means of international communication than ever.
Therefore, in some recent years, the focus of teaching has been promoting oral skills in order to respond to the students‟ needs for effective communication. However, due to some objective and subjective reasons, teaching and learning English in general and teaching and learning speaking in particular does not come up to the study aims. How to teach and learn speaking effectively is still a challenging question to both teachers and students at many high schools in Vietnam. It is also the question that has inspired me to investigate the use of warm-up activities to motivate 11th grade students to speak in speaking lessons.
In attempt to increase students‟ motivation in English speaking activities at Nguyen Duc Thuan High School, the reseaerchers aims to find out the students‟ attitude towards warm-up activities as well as their effectiveness in enhancing students‟ interest in speaking skill, and the suggestions for teachers to apply warm-up activities at Nguyen Duc Thuan High School. To find the answers to these questions, an action research project was carried out through several steps, using a combination of two data collection instruments: class observation, students‟ pre-task survvey questionnaire and post-task survey questionnaire. The result showed that the students‟ interest increased significantly when warm-up activities were implemented. It is hoped that this thesis will be found of value to those who have great interest in using warm-up activities in speaking lessons.
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENT STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP. iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.vii LIST OF APPENDICES. viiii LIST OF TABLES. ix LIST OF CHARTS.
Rationale of the study. Aims and significance of the study. Scope of the study. Method and procedure.
Organization of the study. 5 CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND. Definition of speaking. Significance of speaking.
Characteristics of a successful speaking activity. Overview of current teaching and learning ESL learning situation in Vietnam. Current teaching and learning ESL learning situation in Vietnam. Problems of teaching and learning speaking skill in Vietnam.
Warm-up activities. Definition of warm-up activities. Principles of Warm-up Activity. 11 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Significance of warm- up activities. The action research procedure. Setting of the study. Data collection methods.
18 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS OF DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION. Data collected from pre-task survey questionnaire. Students raise their great awareness of the importance of speaking skill. Students show their low interest in speaking skill.
Students passively participate in speaking activities. Warm–up activities were not often organized in speaking lessons in grade 10:. Data collected from post-task survey questionnaire and observation. Students’ attitude towards warm–up activities.
Students show great excitement during warm–up activities. Warm–up activities help increase students’ motivation during speaking activities. Students’ high involnement in warm–up activities and speaking lessons. Warm–up activities foster students’ participation in the lesson.
Warm–up activities motivate students to involve in speaking activities within the lesson. 29 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Warm–up activities boost the students’ interest in speaking in general. Students highly value the use of warm–up activities in speaking lessons.
Students' preferences for the use of warm-up activities. Students' preference for the use of warm-up activities. Students' expectation for the use of warm-up activities. Limitation and suggestion for further study.
VIII APPENDIX III. IX APPENDIX IV. XI vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL English as a foreign language ESL English as a second language vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX I: SAMPLE GAMES USED IN WARM-UP ACTIVITIES IN SPEAKING LESSONS APPENDIX II: PRE-TASK SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE APPENDIX III: POST-TASK SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE APPENDIX IV: OBSERVATION SHEET viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The amount of time spending for practising English speaking outside classroom Table 2: Students' participation in warm - up activities Table 3: Students' participation in speaking lessons Table 4: Students' interest in speaking skill ix LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Students' opinion towards the importance of speaking skill Figure 2: Students' interest in learning speaking skill Figure 3: Students' participation in speaking activities Figure 4: Frequency of using warm - up activities in speaking lessons Figure 5: Students' feeling while taking part in warm - up activities Figure 6: Students' feeling after taking part in warm - up activities Figure 7: Students' expectation for the use of warm - up activities x LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study In Vietnam, English has earned an increasing attention from different fields of the society such as technology, science, business, education, and entertainment.
It is also considered as a major means of communication thanks to its globalization. Therefore, English has become popular and it is taught from elementary school to higher education. In order to study English, learners need to attain four language skills: speaking, writing, reading and listening. Among these skills, speaking seems to be the most crucial for communication process (Boonkit, 2010) and it can be seen as a bridge to facilitate other skills (see Ur, 1996).
In addition to this, speaking can assist students to be better readers, effective listeners as well as more accurate writers. In a study taken by Nunan (1991), it was highlighted that success is measured in terms of the ability to carry out a conversation in the (target) language. Moreover, learners are enabled to show their feeling or opinions by verbal and non-verbal symbols in different contexts through oral production (Rahimy & Safarpour, 2012). It is apparent to realize the importance of speaking skill.
However, less attention has been paid in speaking classrooms at Nguyen Duc Thuan High School in general and most Vietnamese high schools in particular for the following reasons. Firstly, most English tests are grammar-oriented. It means that teachers and students focus mainly on learning and revising grammar structures and students do not get much chance to practice their speaking skill. As a result, speaking skill is given less emphasis and seems to be ignored for years and after graduating from school, students are good at using grammar structures and vocabulary, but find difficulties to speak English naturally.
In addition, in speaking lessons, students often experience lack of knowlege, words and expressions needed for speaking or motivation to speak. They even suffer from shyness or lack of confidence. Thus, arousing students' interest as well as 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com providing them some language preparation is an essential part to prepare for students to speak. At the beginning, to stimulate students to learn, warm-up activities should be stressed.
The importance of warm up activities in learning English has been confirmed in many studies. For example, it has been found out that pre-reading techniques have real impact on the students's motivation to read (To, 2004) and brainstorming before speaking tasks encourages better learning (Cullen, 2008). However, practising warm-up activities in a school which has adopted communicative methods for students is still a new technique and requires great efforts from teachers. Obviously, there are a lot of warm-up activities, which are really useful for teachers.
The main reasons above lead me to my choice of the subject: “Using warm-up activities to raise the interest in speaking classes of the 11th graders: An action research project at Nguyen Duc Thuan High School”. Hopefully, the success of the research can bring many benefits for both teachers and learners; reinforce teachers to adopt warm-up activities frequently in speaking class as well as conduct more studies in this field. Aims and significance of the study 2. Aims and research questions The major aims of the study are: 1.
To explore the effectiveness of using warm-up activities in speaking lessons of grade 11 in Nguyen Duc Thuan High School. To find out students‟ attitudes towards warm - up activities used in speaking lessons With these initial targets, the result is expected to raise implications for teachers of English, students and educators. In order to achieve the aforementioned aims, the paper seeks the answers for the following research questions: 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 1) To what extent can warm-up activities enhance students‟ interest in speaking class at Nguyen Duc Thuan High School? 2) What are the students‟ attitudes towards speaking lessons before and after the use of warm-up activities for speaking learning? 2. Significance of the study The study highlights the importance of students‟ interest to the speaking class and the result of the study also will be used for the author's personal growth in teaching job.