VIETNAM NATIONALUNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ----- ----- MAI THI ̣LỤA OANH AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF ROLE PLAY FOR ENHANCING THE SECOND YEAR NON- ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ SPEAKING PERFORMANCE AT HANOI UNIVERSITYOF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY (Nghiên cứu về việc sử dụng đóng vai tình huống để nâng cao khả năng nói tiếng Anh của sinh viên không chuyên năm thứ 2, trường Đại Học Kinh Doanh và Công Nghệ Hà Nội) M. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.10 Hanoi, 2013 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAMNATIONALUNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ----- ----- MAI THI ̣LỤA OANH AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF ROLE PLAY FOR ENHANCING THE SECOND YEAR NON- ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ SPEAKING PERFORMANCE AT HANOI UNIVERSITYOF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY (Nghiên cứu về việc sử dụng đóng vai tình huống để nâng cao khả năng nói tiếng Anh của sinh viên không chuyên năm thứ 2, trường Đại Học Kinh Doanh và Công Nghệ Hà Nội) M. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60. Do Tuan Minh Hanoi, 2013 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I certify that the minor thesis titled “An investigation into the use of role- play for enhancing second year non- English major students’ speaking performance at Hanoi University of Business and Technology”.
is the result of my own work and that this thesis has not been published or submitted for a degree to any other universities or institutions. Signature Mai Thị Lụa Oanh i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKOWLEDGEMENTS To complete the thesis, I have received a great deal of support from many people. First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Mr. Đỗ Tuấn Minh for his scholarly knowledge, wholehearted supervision, insightful guidance and constructive critical feedback.
He has inspired and encouraged me during the steps of the thesis. Also, my special thanks are sent to my colleagues who helped me with useful materials and classroom observations. My great thanks also go to my beloved second-year students in two classes, KT1711 and KT1715, of Hanoi University of Business and Technology (HUBT) for their participation in as well as their strong support for the research with comments, classroom observation opportunities without which my work would have not been completed. Last but not least, I would like to convey my wholehearted thanks to my family and all of my close friends for their encouragement and financial as well as spiritual support for me to fulfill this thesis.
Hanoi, September 2013 Mai Thị Lụa Oanh ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Role play is one of the teaching techniques which has been widely accepted and used in English language classes for many years both in Vietnam and in many other countries in the world. Because of the advantages of role play, the author of this study attempted to apply role play activities in teaching speaking to 60 second year non- English major students in hope that role play can solve some of the students‟ speaking problems such as passive learning behaviors, boring and quiet atmosphere, lack of motivation and confidence to speak, students‟ less speaking time, etc. This action research is conducted in two classes of Accounting at Hanoi University of Business and Technology with the focus on the effectiveness of role play in enhancing students‟ speaking performance. In this paper, the author uses three collection instruments: questionnaires, follow-up interviews with students and observation in each speaking lessons through the evaluation sheets.
The researcher first reviews some theories regarding speaking skill, role play, and then analyzes the participants‟ feedback and the teachers‟ observation on the effectiveness of role play. The research shows that role play is an effective technique in changing the students‟ attitudes towards speaking skill, their learning behaviors in speaking lessons and enhancing the students‟ peaking performance. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION. Rationale and statement of the problem for the study.
Aims of the study. Scope of the study. Research questions and hypothesis. Method of the study.
Organization of the study. 6 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. Theoretical background of speaking and teaching speaking. Definition and Nature of speaking.
Successful speaking activity. Activities to promote speaking. Theoretical background of role play technique. Definition of role play.
Types of role play and procedures in using role play. Benefits of role play in teaching speaking. The teacher’s roles in role play activities. The learners’ roles in role play activities.
Review of previous studies. 15 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Background of the study. The teaching and learning context.
The description of the teaching material. 54 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS HUBT: Hanoi University of Business and Technology ESL/ EFL: English as a second or foreign language LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Students‟ learning habits in previous speaking Table 2: Students‟ knowledge about role play Table 3: Students‟ interest in learning if role play is applied in speaking lessons. Table 4: Students‟ comments on the teacher‟s instructions for role play. Table 5: Students‟ preference for choosing pairs or groups Table 6: Students‟ preference in being prepared for a role play Table 7: Results of students‟ speaking performance in cycle 1 Table 8: Results of students‟ speaking performance in cycle 2 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Students‟ knowledge about role play Figure 2: Students‟ knowledge about what students do in role plays Figure 3: Students‟ attitudes towards speaking lessons Figure 4: Students‟ attitudes towards the role plays applied in the speaking lessons Figure 5: Students‟ habit of waiting for their teacher‟s calling Figure 6: Students‟ speaking time in role plays Figure 7: Students‟ understanding of teacher‟s instruction for role plays Figure 8: Students‟ actions when they do not understand the teacher‟s instructions Figure 9: Students‟ learning behaviors when being asked to role play Figure 10: Students‟ use of language in role plays Figure 11: Students‟ difficulties in role plays Figure 12: Students‟ comments on role plays organized by the teacher Figure 13: Students‟ comments on the effectiveness of role play Figure 14: Ways in which role play motivates students to speak Figure 15: Students‟ reflection on their speaking ability after role play is applied Figure 16: Students‟ improvement when role play is used in speaking lessons Figure 17: Students‟ expectations to use role play in the next speaking lessons Figure 18: The improvement in the students‟ speaking skill through role play activities vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale and statement of the problem for the study In the age of globalization in many aspects of daily life, English is assumed not only as a tool for international communication but also a powerful instrument to link people from many countries all over the world. For this fact, the demand for teaching and learning English in non- native English speaking countries is increasing, and this is also not an except in Vietnam setting. Of all the four English skills, speaking seems, according to O‟Malley and Pierce (1996), to be an important skill that a learner should acquire. In addition, as stated by Burn and Joyce (1997), one of the aims of most language programs is to develop spoken language skills and learning a language means one can use it in communication in oral or written forms to express feelings, thoughts and experience in different contexts.
However, regarding the context of Vietnam, speaking is mostly considered to be a difficult one to master by many Vietnamese students. From my own teaching experience and my class observation, many problems occur during the process of teaching and learning speaking skill among my students and other teachers at HUBT. However, the researcher of this study only mentions the three most outstanding problems that frequently arise during the process of learning and teaching speaking skill. These problems are investigated in terms of the students‟ low speaking ability, the students‟ low motivation in learning English, and the teacher‟s monotonous and inappropriate teaching techniques.
These problems seem to be closely connected and interrelated. Regarding the problem of students‟ low speaking ability, this is indicated through the fact that students only use a few words and give short responses when they are asked in English. Their overwhelming use of Vietnamese in English discussion is also a result of their low speaking ability. This unsatisfactory proficiency of the students‟ speaking is mainly due to the students‟ low motivation, high anxiety, and their limited vocabulary and also because of teachers‟ inappropriate use of teaching 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
As a result, the students easily get bored and uninterested in learning this skill. The reality also shows that when students are exposed to monotonous instructional activities, they do not participate actively and efficiently. This is specifically illustrated through the fact that students are unwilling to involve themselves in the assigned activities, and students do not have equal opportunity to participate in speaking group work. Besides, most of my students have wrong assumptions of working in pairs or groups in speaking lessons.
They mostly perceive that speaking lessons is only the procedure of putting class members into groups, then each one try to complete their task mainly individually and competitively. Furthermore, many of them carry out the speaking tasks assigned by their teacher by writing down their ideas and passively wait for the teacher‟s calling for presentation. As a result, many of them do not have chances to practice the language required, and after the lessons they do not remember anything related to the speaking tasks. All of these factors lead to the bad result that a few weeks later and before the speaking test, they gain nothing about the language use in a specific situation and they cannot communicate in English in their real life if the real life situations require them to use.
Therefore, theoretically it is impossible for the students to learn English with low motivation to have good speaking ability if they are inactive during the instructional process. Besides, the students with low motivation will be defensive to use their English in oral communication if monotonous classroom does not stimulate them to participate in classroom interaction. In practice, whether or not the students‟ speaking ability improves is greatly influenced by the intensity and frequency of their participation in oral communication. In short, it can be said that the root of the problems above is due to teachers‟ use of inappropriate teaching technique.
Hence, there needs to be an appropriate technique to overcome the students‟ low speaking ability. It is the responsibility of teachers to find out effective techniques for presenting the teaching materials in order to stimulate the students‟ positive attitude towards the speaking class. 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Of all the teaching techniques, role play seems to be one of the most interesting ones for the students to involve themselves in speaking activities. As said by Burns and Joice (1997), in role – playing technique, “the students act or pretend to be someone else in the actual world situation that is brought into the classroom”.
If this technique is utilized, it will “encourage peer learning and sharing of responsibility between the teacher and the learner in learning process”. Besides, they also stated that, for the shy learners, “Role play helps them by providing a mask where learners with difficulty in conversation are liberated”.