THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES LE THI KIM DUNG USING TASK-BASED LEARNING TO IMPROVE ENGLISH SPEAKING PERFORMANCE OF THE 11th GRADE STUDENTS AT DIEM THUY UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL AN ACTION RESEARCH Nghiên cứu hành động về sử dụng phương pháp dạy học dựa trên nhiệm vụ để nâng cao khả năng nói tiếng Anh của học sinh lớp 11 tại trường THPT Điềm Thụy M.A THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 THAI NGUYEN – 2018 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES LE THI KIM DUNG USING TASK-BASED LEARNING TO IMPROVE ENGLISH SPEAKING PERFORMANCE OF THE 11th GRADE STUDENTS AT DIEM THUY UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL AN ACTION RESEARCH Nghiên cứu hành động về sử dụng phương pháp dạy học dựa trên nhiệm vụ để nâng cao khả năng nói tiếng Anh của học sinh lớp 11 tại trường THPT Điềm Thụy M.A THESIS (APPLICATION ORIENTATION) Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Dr. Pham Lan Anh THAI NGUYEN – 2018 i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I declare that this research report entitled “Using task-based learning to improve English speaking performance of the 11th grade students at Diem Thuy Upper Secondary school: An action research” has been composed by myself, and described my own work, unless otherwise acknowledged in the text. I confirm that this work is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master at School of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University. This work has not been and will not submitted for any other degree at any other institution of higher education.
Author’s signature Lê Thị Kim Dung Approved by SUPERVISOR Phạm Lan Anh, Ph. Date: December, 2018 ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Ms. Pham Lan Anh, Ph. for the wholehearted guidance she gave me while I was doing this research.
I am truly grateful for her valuable support, inspiring suggestions, and timely encouragement during the accomplishment of the research. Without these, the thesis could not have been completed. Secondly, I would also acknowledge my great gratitude to all the professors as well as lectures at School of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University for their valuable lectures, which have contributed to lay the foundation for this thesis. Thirdly, I take this opportunity to show my gratitude to my colleagues and Diem Thuy Upper Secondary School administrators help and comments.
Also, my special thanks go to my students of class 11A3 for their active taking part in my research. Without help, this study could not have been fulfilled. I owe great debt of gratitude to my beloved family- my parents, my husband and my children whose support and encouragement have always been a great deal of strength that has helped me to overcome all problems to complete this thesis. Finally, I would like to send my special thanks to my readers for their concern, interest, and constructive comments.
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This thesis reported the results of an action research project regarding the effects of and students’ opinions towards the use of task based learning in relation to speaking learning. The data were collected through pretests, posttests, pre- questionnaires, post-questionnaires, observation with 40 grade 11th students at Diem Thuy Upper Secondary School. The tests were used to measure the students’ speaking learning improvement and the questionnaire was used to explore the students’ opinions towards learning speaking through task based learning. The observation was used to assess the process of task based learning implemented in speaking lessons.
The data analyses indicated that the students have positive opinions towards using task based learning. After twenty weeks of the action research, the students’ speaking performance has been improved remarkably. The findings of the study reconfirmed that task based learning is effective and plays an important role in promoting students’ speaking competence and changing their opinions towards English speaking learning. On the basis of data analysis and discussion, some practical implications for further studies were also presented in this field.
iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Statement of authorship. iv List of abbreviations. vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. Background to the study.
Aim, objectives and research questions of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study. Outline of thesis.
Speaking skills in language learning. Task-based learning (TBL). Definition of tasks. Types of tasks.
Characteristics of Task-based learning. The framework for TBL. The implementation of TBL in speaking lesson. Definition of Action Research.
Characteristics of action research. Previous studies on TBL. Rationale for doing action research. 28 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Models of action research. Action research process. Data collection instruments. Pretest and posttest.
Data collection procedures. DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION. Results of the pre-test and post-test. Results of the pre-test.
Results of the post-test. Comparison of the pre-test and post-test. Results of the questionnaires. Results of pre-questionnaires.
Results of post - questionnaires. Results of the observation. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION. Summary of major findings.
For other researchers. Limitations of the study. Recommendations for further research .71 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS TBL : Task-based learning vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TBLT : Task-based language teaching EFL : English as Foreign Language ELT : English Language Teaching CEFR : Common European Framework of Reference for Languages vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 1. A schedule of applying tasks in speaking lessons.
32 Table 2: Schedules of the data collection procedures. 42 Table 3: Descriptive statistics of the pre-test. 44 Table 4: Frequency of the pre-test scores. 44 Table 5: Descriptive statistics of the post-test.
45 Table 6: Frequency of the post-test scores. 45 Table 7 Descriptive statistics of the pre-test and post-test scores. 47 Table 8a : Paired Samples Statistics. 48 Table 8b: Paired Samples t-test.
The students’ opinions towards learning speaking English (N = 40). The students’ opinions towards learning speaking English (N = 40). Students’ opinions towards teacher’s organizing learning activities. Students’ opinions towards the opportunities for practice.
Students’ opinions towards the benefits of the task applied TBL on their interest. Students’ opinions towards the benefits of the task applied TBL on their relaxation. Students’ opinions towards the benefits of the task applied TBL on their motivation. Students’ opinions towards the benefits of the task applied TBL on their confidence.
57 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Willis’ Framework of TBLT (Willis, 1996, p. Simple Action Research Model (from MacIsaac, 1995: p53). Detailed Action Research Model (adapted from Susman 1983: p46).
Results of the pre-test scores. Results of the post-test scores. Comparison of the pre-test and post-test scores. 47 ix LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter provides the background to the study, states its scope and aims and presents the organizations of the thesis 1.
Background to the study Being one of the productive activities in the daily life, speaking, perhaps, is the most important language skill because it is the main skill needed to carry out a conversation. In addition, speaking is an interactive process for constructing and getting information as well as knowledge. Specifically, the mastery of speaking English is a priority for students in schools and universities. For the learners who are studying English in a non-English speaking setting, it is very crucial to experience a real communicative situation in which they learn how to express their own views as well as to develop their oral fluency and accuracy on speaking skill, which is essential for the success of foreign language communication.
Therefore, it is essential that English teachers provide a rich environment where meaningful communication takes place. Located in Thai Nguyen province, a mountainous area of Vietnam, Diem Thuy Upper Secondary school was established ten years ago. Like other high schools throughout Vietnam, English is one of the compulsory subjects in the curriculum in Diem Thuy high school. Based on the researcher’s observation in the English speaking class at Diem Thuy upper secondary school, some problems in the teaching and learning processes related to the researcher’s and students’ activities in the classroom are explained as the following.
First, the English teacher implemented the conventional method in teaching such as grammar translation, audio lingual and direct method in which she tended to directly ask them to create or memorize the conversations without giving enough time to practise together and join speaking activities. Moreover, lots of students still have some lexical, grammatical, and pronunciation problems in speaking skills, such as lack of ideas, poor vocabulary, incorrect pronunciation. Furthermore, students lack motivation in speaking because teachers only give the monotonous topic to the students so most of them were unwilling to show their speaking ability and the 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com lecturer only asked certain active students to speak. Besides, the students had few opportunities to speak due to the limited time.
Forty five minutes in a speaking lesson is not enough for students to complete all speaking activities required in the textbook. As a result, only a few students who had good ability in speaking were chosen to present oral performance. In addition, students are not confident to speak because they have limited chances to speak English in their real life situation. Consequently, most of the students only listened and remained silent.
Finally, despite the importance of this skill, the teaching and learning programs in schools stressed reading, writing, and grammar at the expense of listening and speaking. The assessment and evaluation techniques in schools did not have listening or speaking tests. As a result, learners paid more attention to reading as well as writing and disregard the oral skill. Another difficulty to (EFL) learners acquiring English in Diem Thuy high school is that English teachers mainly employ the traditional teacher-centered approach in which teachers monopolized the learning and teaching process (Nunan, 2004).
Ruse (2007) emphasizes learners do not like teachers who spend most of class time lecturing. Lecturing time de-motivates students as they do not love being passive in class. According to Nurhakim (2009), the highest goal of learning English is effective communication. Willis (1998) states that the communicative approach recommends teaching English through enjoyable activities.
This approach lets leaners express their ideas while practicing and using language. Many techniques have been developed to improve learners’ English ability, for instance, task-based learning, games, and English camps. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is a practical approach to the learning process, employing a large variety of activities and challenging learners to think freely as well as to increase their competence. Task-based learning which adopts the principles of CLT offers several benefits by helping learners develop creative thinking and problem – solving skills.
It is said that when the teachers assign various tasks for learners to perform, learners have the opportunity to use language 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. It is enjoyable for students to do tasks within their team, and this helps their learning (Lochan and Deb, 2006). A number of research show that task-based learning (TBL) has been accepted as an alternative approach to resolving the crisis of teaching English. Willis (1996) presents lots of benefits of TBL after doing her survey with her students.
First, learners feel self-confident when expressing whatever language they know. Second, students have experience of spontaneous interactions. Third, learners have more chances to notice how others express similar meanings.