STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine. The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates and have not been published elsewhere. Author Bui Xuan Nguyen Thy 1 Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to acknowledge with all my greatest attitude the support, guidance and invaluable critical feedback which I have received from my supervisor, Dr. Ngu Thien Hung Next, my special thanks also go to the teacher staff of the teachers and staffs of Hue society for the Blind.
They are very supportive and cooperative to me throughout the whole process of conducting the study. Then, I would really thank the visually impaired students of Hue society for the Blind for their friendliness and sincere cooperation which contributed a lot to the result of the study. I would also like to thank all teachers in the English Department who have provided me with useful knowledge and skills throughout my years at university. Moreover, thanks are due to my close friends who helped me to collect relevant materials and gave me support as well as advice.
2 Finally, I wish to extend my thanks to all members in my family, especially my parents, who gave me precious encouragements during my writing process. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. 7 LIST OF TABLES .2 Purposes of the study .4 Significance of Study.5 The structure of the thesis.
12 CHAPTER 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW .1 Definitions of the visually impaired people .2 The Educational Needs of the Visually Impaired .3 Barriers faced by the Visually Impaired .4 Communicative Language Teaching .5 Definition of CLT .7 Probability rules of occurrence .9 Nature of language skills and oral communication .1 Nature of language skills .10 Nature of speaking skills and development of teaching speaking skills .1 Nature of speaking skills .1 Definition of speaking (spoken language) .2 Characteristics of speaking .2 Development approach of speaking skills .1 The pre-speaking .2 The while-speaking .3 The post-speaking .1 Definition of oral language .2 The importance of oral language in school curricula .3 What oral language skills do students need to develop .4 The role of the teacher as facilitator of oral language development .1 Method of Study .3 Procedures of Data Collection and Analysis. Reliability and Validity. 31 CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Results from Questionnaires .1 Questionnaire for teachers .1 Teachers‟ opinion on teaching speaking for visually impaired students.
Difficulties in teaching process at Hue Society for the Blind .3 Teachers‟ attitude towards the visual impaired students when making the same mistakes, and way to correct them .4 Teachers‟ current techniques to motivate reluctant speaking learners at Hue society for the Blind .2 Result of Questionnaire for students .1 Students‟ attitude towards English learning and the needs for the students in learning English .2 Students‟ attitude towards speaking skills .3 The factors that make students reluctant in speaking English .4 Current methods and techniques applied to teach speaking skills .5 Current implementations to encourage the students to speak more. 52 6 CHAPTER 5 - CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS.2 Implications to the Teaching and Learning Speaking Concerning the Visually Impaired Students. 64 7 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT : Communication Language Teaching EFL : English Foreign Language 8 LIST OF FIGURES Table 4.1 Teachers‟ opinion on teaching speaking for visually impaired 33 students Table 4.2 Difficulties in teaching process at Hue Society for the Blind 35 Table 4.3 The teachers‟ methods use to overcome the obstacles in the 36 process of teaching English to the visually impaired students Table 4.4 Teachers‟ attitude towards the visual impaired students when 37 making the same mistakes, and way to correct them Table 4.5 The solutions to students’ reluctance to speak 38 Table 4.6 Teachers‟ current techniques to motivate reluctant speaking 39 learners at Hue society for the Blind Table 4.7 Students’ attitude towards English learning and the needs for 41 the students in learning English Table 4.8 Students’ requirement towards the language the teacher uses 42 in the class Table 4.9 Students’ attitude towards speaking skills 44 Table 4.10 The factors that make students reluctant in speaking 46 English.11 Current methods and techniques applied to teach speaking 47 skills Table4.12 Current implementation to encourage the students to speak 49 more.13 Students’ desires 52 9 ABSTRACT This study aims at investigating the current English speaking teaching and learning situations of the visually impaired students in grade 6, 7, 8 at Hue Society of the Blind. These students are expected to need to employ English as a helpful tool for their future life.
To assist the students with vision loss in improving their English and overcoming socio-psychological barriers caused by their vision acuity, it is indispensable to have classroom activities suitable for their circumstances and needs. The students always try their best to overcome their misfortune and integrate into the society. In four English skills, the English speaking skill is suitable for the visual impairments as an effective means of communication. The thesis was carried out using the non-experimental action research which sought both qualitative and quantitative information about the teachers‟ and visually impaired students‟ situation in terms of their difficulties and solution needed for the improvement.
Data for the study was obtained with two different instruments: questionnaire, interviews and classroom observation. The participants of this research were 32 students with visual impairments in grades 6, 7, 8 at Hue Society for the Blind and their teachers of English. The result reveals that the students at Hue society for the blind had difficulties in learning in speaking English. This was found due to such reasons as student‟s lack of interest, teacher‟s methods and time allocation for teaching and practicing.
Based on the results, the researcher attempt to give some techniques to improve English speaking for the visually impaired at Hue Society for the Blind.1 Rationale In the modern life, English is important to those who use it both in studying and working. Things will be easier for you in your job and your communication if you speak English well. There will be times when you need to know how to obtain information on getting a job, or convince another person of your ideas. To accomplish these goals you will need English.
Students constantly share ideas and information in informal conversations. If you miss out on these conversations, your chances for professional and personal success will be limited compared to your peers. In my opinion, much of your success will depend on your speaking ability to communicate with people in English. It is not only significant for the sighted people but also the impaired people.
Why do both the sighted people and the impaired people use English to succeed in their life? Why there are many the research titles for exploring some techniques to teach English speaking skills for the sighted people but few for the impaired people? These questions frequently appeared in my thought. According to a recent statistics, there are about 800.000 visually impaired people in Viet Nam. Based on their extraordinary energy, they have overcome the special circumstances to integrate themselves into he society. Their great effort makes everyone admired.
Over the world, there are many visually impaired people successful in their life by their talent. Nowadays, the world always creates favorable conditions for visually impaired people. So the visually impaired people‟s needs of learning and using English speaking skill fluently to communicate with foreigners are very necessary. 11 As an English teacher, I know the difficulties for the sighted people when studying English and I assume that with the visually impaired people, these are more problematic.
I am lucky to take part in a special class for the visually impaired people in a sponsor center in Hue. I am impressed by their deep desire in English speaking. It is also the motivation for me to choose the topic of research: “Exploring some techniques to teach English speaking for the visually impaired at Hue Society for the Blind”.2 Purposes of the study This study aims at • Investigating the current English speaking teaching and learning situations of the visually impaired students in grade 6, 7, 8 at Hue Society of the Blind. • Identifying the factors which make the students inhibited or unwilling to speak English in class.
• Making some realistic and appropriate suggestions on teaching techniques for the teachers with a hope of helping them overcome socio- psychological barriers to improve their speaking skills and communicative well in English.3 Research questions To fulfill the purposes and objectives mentioned above, the study attempts to seek information for the three following research questions: 1. What difficulties do the teachers encounter in teaching English speaking skill for the visually impaired people? 2. What difficulties do the visually impaired people encounter in learning English speaking skill? 3. What techniques can the EFL teachers use to teach English speaking skill for the visually impaired people effectively? 12 1.4 Significance of Study It is hoped that the result of the study will contribute to the teaching to the teaching and learning English process at Hue Society of the Blind.
The study is expected to bring significant benefits on discovering effective methodologies and designing interesting activities in order to develop English speaking skill of visually impaired students in grades 6, 7 and 8 at Hue Society of the Blind.5 The structure of the thesis Apart from the References and the Appendices, this thesis consists of five chapters: • Chapter 1 the Introduction outlines the rationale of choosing this topic, stating the purpose of this study and posing the research questions. • Chapter 2 the Literature Review presents relevant background theories as well as the researcher‟ point of view on the examined issue. • Chapter 3 the Methodology presents the methods the researcher uses to conduct this thesis. • Chapter 4 the Findings and Discussions presents the result of the study.
• Chapter 5 the Conclusion gives brief remarks of the study, implications and suggestions for further research. 13 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definitions of the visually impaired people The study was carried out basing on the following definitions of term visually impaired people. These definitions center on the vision loss of the people. They are vision loss to such a degree as to qualify as an additional support need through a significant limitation of visual capability resulting from either disease, trauma, or congenital or degenerative conditions that cannot be corrected by conventional means, such as refractive correction, medication, or surgery.
This functional loss of vision is typically defined to manifest with best corrected visual acuity of less than 20/60, or significant central field defect, significant peripheral field defect including homonymous or heteronymous bilateral visual, field defect or generalized contraction or constriction of field, or reduced peak contrast sensitivity with either of the above conditions. In the United States, the terms "partially sighted", "low vision", "legally blind" and "totally blind" are used by schools, colleges, and other educational institutions to describe students with visual impairments. They are defined as follows: 1. Partially sighted indicates some type of visual problem, with a need of person to receive special education in some cases.
Low vision generally refers to a severe visual impairment, not necessarily limited to distance vision. Low vision applies to all individuals with sight who are unable to read the newspaper at a normal viewing distance, even with the aid of eyeglasses or contact lenses. They use a combination of vision and other senses to learn, although they may require adaptations in lighting or the size of print, and, sometimes, Braille; 14 Myopic - unable to see distant objects clearly, commonly called near-sighted or short-sighted Hyperopic - unable to see close objects clearly, commonly called far-sighted or long-sighted 3.