1 Vietnam National University, HANOI UNIVERSITY oF languages AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY of Post- graduate studies -----***----- NGUYỄN THUÝ NHUNG The exploitation of cooperative activities for teaching speaking skill to the 12th form non- specialized english students at bac ninh specialized high school. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 HANOI, 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 Vietnam National University, HANOI UNIVERSITY oF languages AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY of Post- graduate studies -----***----- NGUYEN THUY NHUNG The exploitation of cooperative activities for teaching speaking skill to the 12th form non- specialized english students at bac ninh specialized high school. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor : Trần Hiền Lan, M.A HANOI, 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration. iii Table of contents.
iv List of abbreviations and tables. vi PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Aims of the study. Methods of the study.
Scope of the study. Design of the study .3 PART 2: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. The teaching and learning of the speaking skill. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT).
The nature of CLT. Features of CLT. The role of speaking in foreign language teaching. Cooperative learning and its activities.
What is cooperative learning?. Essential components of cooperative learning and activities. Cooperative learning techniques and activities in a speaking lesson. The role of cooperative activities in teaching speaking skill.
13 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 7 Chapter 2: THE STUDY. Background of the study. The learning and teaching situation. The teachers of English group.
The teaching material. Data collection instruments. Methods of data analysis. 19 Chapter 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION.
Analysis of the questionnaires. Results of teachers‟ survey questionnaire. Results of students‟ survey questionnaire. Analysis of the researcher’s class observation.
40 Appendices Appendix 1: Questionnaire for teachers. I Appendix 2: Questionnaire for students. …IV LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 8 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND TABLES 1. Abbreviations CLT: Communicative Language Teaching BNSHS: Bac Ninh Specialized High School EFL: English as a Foreign Language 2.
Tables Table 1: Data collected from teachers Table 2: Data collected from students Table 3: Description of classes observed LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 9 PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Entering the 21st century, under the impact of globalization Vietnam is facing a range of political, social, economic, technological and educational changes. It is widely accepted that the shift from a central economy to a mixed system with both socialist and market sectors since the late 1990s has required the Vietnamese education system to carry out remarkable changes. Today, people insist that education and training must not only be able to equip students with new scientific and cultural knowledge but also develop their reasoning thought, creative abilities and team work skills.
Language teaching is a complex process involving many interrelated factors. Besides suitable and effective methods of teaching language, classroom interaction is considered as the most vital element in language learning process. The emphasis on individual achievement and transmission of information has become inadequate in supporting the development of students‟ thinking and learning skills. The best way is to enable students to become actively involved in their learning processes, which will provide them with more opportunities to develop important knowledge and skills for today‟s labour market.
It is clear that one of the main goals of learning English is to use it effectively in communication. Speaking skill, more or less, is an important skill that students must acquire in the learning process. Since the application of the new textbooks, speaking skill has had a different position at upper secondary schools. As we know, learning a foreign language is a process in which learners do not have a natural communication environment like native people.
Thus, in order to help students master a foreign language as a means of communication, the teacher plays an important role in finding out the ways to make their speaking lessons more interesting and productive. Accordingly, nowadays, instead of making use of activities that demand accurate repetition and memorization of sentences and grammar patterns, activities that ask learners to negotiate meaning and to interact meaningfully are required. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 10 All the reasons mentioned above encouraged the researcher to carry out the study "The exploitation of cooperative activities for teaching speaking skill to the 12 th form non- specialized English students at Bac Ninh Specialized High School.” with the hope to contribute her small part to improving the teaching and learning of the speaking skill for the 12th form non - specialized English students at her school. Aims of the study The study aims at: investigating the current situation of teaching and learning speaking skill for the 12th form non - specialized English students at BNSHS evaluating the use of cooperative activities in speaking lessons offering some suggestions on using cooperative activities in speaking lessons to promote students‟ speaking ability 3.
Research question For the purpose of investigating the current situation of using cooperative activities in speaking lessons, the researcher set up the following research question to guide her in doing this research: “To what extent do the teachers at Bac Ninh Specialized High School exploit cooperative activities in speaking lessons for the 12th form non - specialized English students?” 4. Methods of the study To conduct the study, quantitative and qualitative methods will be used. The data collected will come from two sources: the 12th form non - specialized English students and teachers of English at Bac Ninh Specialized High School. Questionnaires and classroom observation will be used to collect information and evidence for the study.
All the comments, recommendations and conclusions provided in the study will be based on the data analysis. Scope of the study This study limits itself to the application of cooperative learning for the 12 th form non - specialized English students‟ speaking skill. It is concerned with the context at Bac Ninh Specialized High School. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Design of the study This study includes three main parts: the introduction, the development and the conclusion. The first part, “Introduction”, provides the basic information such as rationale, aims, research question, methods, scope and design of the study. The second part, “Development”, consists of the four chapters: Chapter one, Literature review, deals with theoretical background about communicative language teaching, speaking skill and cooperative learning. Chapter two, The study, is an overview of the reality of teaching and learning speaking skill for the 12th form non - specialized English students at Bac Ninh Specialized High School.
In this part, the school, the subjects and instruments used in the research will be discussed. Chapter three, Data analysis and discussion, deals with analyzing the data. Chapter four, Recommendations, focuses on some suggestions on using cooperative activities in speaking lessons. The last part, “Conclusion”, presents the summary of the major findings; points out some shortcomings revealed during the process of completing this research paper and suggests further studies.
LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 12 PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW To begin with the study, in this chapter, the researcher will present some theoretical background based on which the study will be carried out. The first section overviews the teaching and learning of the speaking skill. Then cooperative learning and its activities are discussed in the second section. The teaching and learning of the speaking skill A glance through the past century or so of language teaching will give an interesting picture of how varied approaches and methods applied in language teaching are.
David Nunan (1991b: 228, cited in Bang, N & Ngoc, N.B) remarks “It has been realized that there never was and probably never will be a method for all”. As a matter of fact, there is no perfectly good language teaching method for all, instead we need to get on well with the approach to language teaching we have chosen and design effective tasks and techniques informed by that approach. New methods have appeared, developed and replaced the previous ones for the only purpose: to find out the best way to teach a foreign language. In recent years, there has been a preference for learning foreign languages in general and English in particular as a means of communication.
Thus, Communicative Language Teaching becomes the most preferable method. The following part will concern with the communicative approach and its implication for teaching and learning the speaking skill. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) Being founded in the early 1960s “CLT” has recently become a fashionable term to cover a variety of developments in syllabus design and to a lesser extent, in the methodology LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 13 of teaching a foreign language, especially English. CLT is emphasized as an appropriate approach to language teaching for the 21st century.
The nature of CLT For many years, language teaching was seen as helping learners develop linguistic competence – that is, helping students master the sounds, words and grammar patterns of English. The idea was that by studying the bits and pieces of a language, students could eventually put them all together and communicate. In the mid - 1970s the notion of linguistic competence came to be viewed as a component of the broader idea of communicative competence. According to Canale and Swain (1980), the second language learners cannot be expected to achieve a satisfactory level of communicative competence if no knowledge of probability of occurrence of grammatical forms and communicative function is developed.
Their view of communicative competence consists of four areas of knowledge and skills. Grammatical competence Strategic competence Communicative competence Sociolinguistic competence Discourse competence Grammatical competence: Ability to use correct grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation Sociolinguistic competence: Ability to use appropriate language in different contexts and settings Discourse competence: Ability to combine language elements to show cohesion in form and coherence in thought LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 14 Strategic competence: Ability to use verbal and non-verbal communication strategies It is concluded that using language well is not simply a question of its grammar but its overall appropriateness and acceptability. CLT is the approach which recognizes communicative competence as its aim. These four components of communicative competence have several practical implications for EFL teachers.
Since communicative competence is a multifaceted construct, it is important for teachers to understand the difficulties learners face when they are speaking English. Features of CLT According to Littlewood (1981:1), one of the most characteristic features of CLT is that it plays systematic attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language. Furthermore, David Nunan (1991a: 279, cited in Bang, N & Ngoc, N.B) offers five features to characterize CLT: An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language. The introduction of authentic texts into learning situation The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also on the learning process itself An enhancement of the learner‟s own experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the classroom.
CLT is a teaching methodology that emphasizes fluency over accuracy. This approach stresses the use of language and the ability to communicate. Meaning is what is communicated; therefore, CLT is tailored to get at meaning. Learners are given opportunities to negotiate meaning in class.
Richards and Rogers (2001:158) emphasize that one dimension of CLT is “ its learner-centered and experience- based view of second language teaching”. Far from being a „transmitter‟ of knowledge, the teacher is a „facilitator‟. Characterized by high participation, the CLT classroom becomes a place for students to engage in meaningful language use.