MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY VO NGOC THIEN TIEN SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ROLE-PLAY IN SPEAKING LEARNING MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL Ho Chi Minh City, 2023 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY VO NGOC THIEN TIEN SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ROLE-PLAY IN SPEAKING LEARNING Major: Teaching English to speakers of other languages Major code: 8 140 111 MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL Supervisor: Nguyen Thanh Luan, PhD Ho Chi Minh City, 2023 i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I, Vo Ngoc Thien Tien hereby certify that this thesis entitled “SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ROLE-PLAY IN SPEAKING LEARNING” is my own work. Except where reference is made in the text of thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma. Where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given. With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work; This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution.
Ho Chi Minh city 2023 Vo Ngoc Thien Tien ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express the deepest appreciation to all those concerned in my thesis. I would like to start my thesis by thanking all the lecturers at Ho Chi Minh Open University who have worked hard to provide me useful knowledge and skill for conducting this thesis. I would like to acknowledge and give my warmest thanks to my supervisor Dr. Nguyen Thanh Luan who gave me great care, thoughtful and insightful comments in the thesis.
His guidance and advice carried me through all the stages of writing my project. Without his help, this thesis could not have been finished. I am grateful to Faculty of English Department of Duong Diem high school for their willing help. I would like to send my special thanks to Ms.
Kim Tien, Ms. Que and Ms. Cam Giang for their kind supports. I would like to write down here my appreciation to the three classes, 11.3 for their participations in this thesis, which helps me to reach its completion.
I would also like to give special thanks to my husband and my family as a whole for their continuous support and understanding when undertaking my research and writing my project. Your prayer for me was what sustained me this far. iii TÓM TẮT Mục đích của luận văn nhằm phân tích việc sử dụng hoạt động đóng vai của học sinh phổ thông trong các bài học ngoại ngữ về kỹ năng nói. Phương pháp được sử dụng trong nghiên cứu này là phương pháp hỗn hợp tuần tự có giải thích nhằm trả lời hai câu hỏi nghiên cứu sau: “Học sinh phổ thông nhận thức như thế nào về hoạt động đóng vai trong việc học kĩ năng nói” và "Các thách thức mà học sinh phổ thông phải đối mặt trong quá trình sử dụng hoạt động đóng vai trong tiết học nói?".
Dữ liệu được thu thập bao gồm dữ liệu định lượng và định tính thống qua câu hỏi khảo sát và phỏng vấn. Để có được dữ liệu cần thiết và trả lời các câu hỏi của nghiên cứu, tác giả đã thu thập thông tin thông qua bảng câu hỏi khảo sát của 134 học sinh phổ thông từ ba lớp 11 tại một trường trung học phổ thông. Đồng thời, nghiên cứu tiến hành phỏng vấn với ba giáo viên dạy tiếng Anh tại một trường trung học phổ thông và phỏng vấn ba học sinh phổ thông từ mỗi lớp để tìm ra các yếu tố ảnh hưởng đến việc thực hiện đóng vai trong các tiết học kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh của học sinh. Dựa trên những dữ liệu thu thập được, kết quả của nghiên cứu cho thấy rằng việc sử dụng hoạt động đóng vai là một phương pháp hiệu quả và có ảnh hưởng tích cực trong các lớp học kĩ năng nói môn Tiếng anh của học sinh phổ thông.
Hơn nữa, kết quả cho thấy giáo viên và học sinh cũng nhận thức tích cực về hoạt động đóng vai và nhận thấy các khó khăn khi triển khai hoạt động đóng vai trong các tiết học kỹ năng nói Tiếng anh. Từ khóa: kĩ năng nói, hoạt động đóng vai, lớp học kĩ năng nói, nhận thức của học sinh trung học phổ thông. iv ABSTRACT The aim of this research was to analyze the EFL school students’ use of role- play in speaking skills lessons. The method used in this study was a sequential- explanatory mixed method to answer the two following research questions: "How is the practice of role-play in school students’ speaking skill learning perceived?" and "What challenges are faced by high school students during the implementation of role-play in EFL speaking skill learning?".
It includes both qualitative and quantitative techniques, namely questionnaires and interview techniques. To get the required data and to answer the question of the study, the researcher collected information by distributing a relevant questionnaire among 134 students from the three eleventh grades. EFL school students who are studying English as a compulsory subject at their high school The research also included an interview with three English teachers who teach the English language at a high school and three students from each class to find out the factors that impact the implementation of role-play in school students’ EFL speaking skill learning. The findings of the study were as follows: the use of role-play is an effective method and has a positive influence in EFL classes.
The participants, including teachers and students, also reported their positive perceptions of the use of role-play and identified their challenges during the implementation. Key words: speaking skill, role-play, EFL speaking class, school students’ perceptions. v TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS.
v LIST OF TABLES. ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. The rationale of the study. Background of the study.
Statement of the problem. Overview of the research:. Teaching speaking skill. Definition of speaking.
Components of speaking. Functions of speaking. Factors in teaching speaking. Knowledge of language.
Speaking skill activities. Types of speaking skill activities. The roles of the Teacher during speaking skill activities. Role-play as a method of teaching speaking skill.
Definition of role-play. The types of role-play. Fully scripted role-play. Semi-scripted role-play.
Non-scripted role-play. Categories of role in role-play. The benefits of role-play. Students’ communication skills development.
Improve students’ learning environments. Improve students’ speaking skills. Remove psychological problem for shy learners. Role-play as a method of teaching English speaking.
Challenges of using role-play in EFL speaking classroom. Learning English speaking skill. Theories of language learning. The core of successful English speaking learners.
Learners’ challenges in speaking English. Students’ perceptions of role-play. Previous studies and research gap. Data collection methods.
Rationale for questionnaire. Description of the questionnaire. Rationale for interview. Description of the interview.
Validity and reliability. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Positive perceptions of the importance of role-play for English-speaking teaching and learning. Challenges faced by high school students about their experience role- play-embedded English-speaking teaching and learning.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. Implications and contribution of the study. Limitations and recommendations for future research. 109 ix LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Demographical Information of Participants .2 The link between research questions and instruments .3 Demographical Information of the Interviewees .1 High School Students’ General Positive Perceptions of Role-Play in English-speaking Learning.2 High School Students’ Experience in Role-Play English-Speaking Tasks .3 High School Students' Perceptions of Applying Role-Play in Speaking .4 High School Students’ Perceptions of Knowledge and Skills .60 x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT Communicative Language Teaching DOET Department of Education and Training EFL English Foreign Language ESL English as a Second Language HCMUE Ho Chi Minh City University of Education SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences MOET Ministry of Education and Training 1 CHAPTER 1.
INTRODUCTION This chapter provides some background information on the study which is currently being conducted. The purpose and research questions of the study are also provided. Lastly, the research significance of the study is proposed in this chapter. The rationale of the study 1.
Background of the study The world is rapidly shrinking into a global language because so many people can communicate effectively. It is undeniable that English is a language spoken all over the world. English has been known as the most crucial language and is gaining more and more prominence. In the field of international relations, being fluent in English is of the utmost importance.
This is because being fluent in English is fundamentally required for any of us to become global citizens; this is something that cannot be avoided in the modern world. It is now widely acknowledged that English is the world's most significant language. It is utilized for communication by people from a wide variety of countries all around the world. It can be explained that two or more people coming from different countries chose English to connect with each other.
In addition, English has been a compulsory foreign language taught in formal education programs from primary to tertiary levels since Vietnam became open to globalization and internalization. People learned English to peruse their various purposes of education, work, business, travelling abroad, and other demands. In this notion, Crystal (2012) asserts that the English language is spoken in contexts in which it works as a first a mother tongue or first language; circumstances in which it functions as one of two official languages; and situations in which it functions as a foreign language. English is not only used as a tool for communication in English-speaking countries but also among speakers of different languages all over the world.
Across various disciplines and forms of distributing information, such as books, newspapers, airports, transactions on a global level, 2 associations on a global scale, fields of research, technology, and medicine, as well as sports, popular music, and advertisements. Vietnamese students are to acquire and master four English skills: writing, reading, listening and speaking. Recently, associated with the increasing role of English as an international communication for global communication, the important goal of English teaching and learning is to develop students’ communicative competence in English. Having said that, more attention should be paid to oral skills, including Listening and Speaking.
However, in the EFL language education in Vietnam, particularly the provincial schools, the practice of teaching and learning English may be problematic, and speaking skill is neglected. According to Tran (2013), many problems affecting English teaching and learning were identified, including the class size, the lack of authentic materials for language learning, traditional instruction rather than student-center approaches, and the low English levels of students. Among the four English language skills taught in high schools, speaking seems to be the most difficult skill in foreign language classrooms, whereas, as Thornbury (2005) highlighted, speaking is part of daily life that students take for granted. Moreover, speaking is very essential because it is the most frequently used skill while communicating and exchanging information.
As a result, students typically measure their success in learning a language as well as the value of an English class based on how proficient they are in their spoken language ability. Most high school students still show low motivation to speak English although they have learned English for a long. Their English language ability may be influenced by their native language. Also, students frequently struggle with issues in terms of inadequate vocabulary, grammatical mistakes, and incorrect pronunciation.