Rationale for the study Language is an important aspect in our daily life. Language is a fundamental aspect used by human to express everything, face to face communication, scientific inquiry, and many other purposes. Chaney in Kayi states, “Speaking itself is the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts .” Speaking is a productive skill .Therefore, speaking is a crucial part in learning foreign language that has to be mastered by students in order that they can communicate with others. According to Burkart the goal of teaching speaking skill is communicative efficiency.
Therefore, practicing English regularly is needed to improve students’ speaking ability and it needs high motivation of the students. English teachers play important roles to support and to help the students practice English. Teachers should be creative in creating appropriate and interesting activities to help their students improve their oral production. Besides, they also should consider the students’ interest which determines whether the activities are appropriate or not.
Based on my observation conducted in Lam Kinh High School , I found that the students had low achievement in speaking. There were some factors that caused students’ difficulties in learning speaking: (1) low vocabulary mastery, (2) lack of English practice in their daily activity, (3) poor self-confidence, (4) the lecturing method applied by the teacher, (5) and the textbook media used by the teacher. In addition , in recent years, the importance of English speaking skills has been increasingly recognized, especially in the context of global integration and international examinations like IELTS. However, many high school students still struggle with speaking confidently and fluently in English.
Traditional speaking activities often lack structure and fail to motivate students to improve. Hence, this initiative explores “The application of the IELTS Speaking test format as an effective tool in teaching , enhancing students' speaking skill” 2. Aims of the study Through surveys and observations, the following problems were identified in the current teaching of speaking skills: Students lack motivation to speak English in class. Speaking activities are repetitive and lack real-world application.
Students often speak in short, simple sentences with poor grammar and limited vocabulary. There is no standard format or assessment tool to measure speaking progress. With the reasons above in my mind, the finding of the study can be used by Note: At this page, the paragraph “Language …… communicative efficiency’’ is consulted from Reference number [4]. 1 teachers, students, and other researchers in increasing students’ ability.
For both teachers and students, this study can be useful as a technique in teaching speaking since the treatment of this technique is conducted continuously, it will make the students comprehend and meet the requirements in studying language easily. The teacher as a facilitator guides the students to improve their speaking skill effectively by giving some techniques. Later, it is for other researchers who may need to use and apply by using other techniques in teaching it .Especially, the students access to the format in IELTS speaking test. Objects of the study The study is expected to give theoretically and practically significances in English teaching and learning process: 3.Theoretical Significance This research is supposed to enrich knowledge about the effectiveness of using ielts format in teaching speaking skill .Empirical significance The result of this research is intended for: 3.The English Teacher : This study is expected to give some knowledge in teaching speaking 3.The students: The result of the study can stimulate the students’ motivation in learning and consequently they are interested in studying English.
- To improve students’ speaking fluency and confidence. - To help students become familiar with international English testing standards.) - To create a more engaging and goal-oriented speaking environment. Future Research: For the other researchers, this research can be used as a material reference if they want to investigate the same subject. So that ways, the researcher has tried to give the best contribution.The researcher: This study is expected to give some knowledge to the researcher especially to enhance the knowledge toward teaching process especially in speaking recount text.
Methods of the study To realize the aims of the study, a detailed study is used. The theoretical background of the study comes from many published books written by different authors on language teaching. The data collected for the study came from two sources: the students and the English teachers at upper secondary schools by making personal observations through attending classes and drawing out experiences 2 II. Definition of speaking [4].
Many definitions about speaking have been proposed. Speaking derives from the word “Speak”. According to Oxford dictionary “Speak” means say things; talk, be able to use a language, make a speech, express ideas, feelings. Speaking is the verbal use of language to communicate with other.
In additional, Hughes explains that speaking in interactive and according to accomplish pragmatic goals through interactive discourse with other speaker of language. Speaking is the productive aural/oral skill. It consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning. Teaching speaking is sometimes considered a simple process.
Commercial language schools around the world hire people with no training to teach conversation. Although speaking is totally natural, speaking in a language other than our own is anything but simple. According to Chaney, speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts. Speaking has often been dealt with in a similar way in language teaching.
It is sometimes thought of as something which is covered sufficiently by virtue of being so bound up in the teaching of everything else. Paradoxically, although many learners feel that being able to communicate effectively through speech is their main priority, when speaking is the main aim of the lesson. Some learners can’t quite see the point of doing something in the classroom that they could quite easily do over a coffee, and teachers can feel a sense of guilt because they have not taught something with a clear learning outcome that can be held up as justification for the lesson. As we can see, there are many reasons why people speak to each other.
One primary use of language is to establish and maintain social relationship. We say “hello” to people when we meet them, exchange small talk about the weather, work, sport and family relationships. As part of this social use of language we also try to entertain each other by making jokes and telling anecdotes and stories. We may also share views and opinions on a variety of subjects.
When we chat to friends there is no agenda of what we should cover. Those involved in the conversation can introduce a variety of subjects. Harmer defines speaking ability as the ability to speak fluently presupposed not only knowledge of language features, but also the ability to process information and language ‘on the spot’. It requires the ability to cooperate in the management of speaking turns and non-verbal language.
It happens in the real situation and has little time fo detailed planning. Therefore, the fluency is required to reach the goal of the conversation. Cameron states that speaking is also important to organize the discourse so that the interlocutor understands what the speaker says. Speaking is important for language learners because speaking is the first form of communication.
They Note: At this page, the definition of speaking is consulted from Reference number [4]. Grammar: There are several definitions of grammar. First, according to (Richards & Schmidt, 2018)grammar is a description of the structure of language, such as words and phrases that can become sentences. The next definition from (Structure, n.) grammar is a set of language system rules and language structures, while from the definition above , it can be concluded that grammar is a structure set to make sentences have unified meaning.
Pronunciation: According to Harmer (2001), pronunciation is the ability to produce sounds or expressions from the mouth, which aims to make students able to produce clear language. Vocabulary: According to Barnhart (2008), vocabulary is a collection of distinct words that people employed to carry out operation and communicate. The participation in communication is sustained by vocabulary, which is a key component of language.: According to Harmer (2007),fluency is when a person focus on speaking using clear and effective sentences. When a person speaks confidently without being nervous, it is called fluency.
The word fluency refers to the ability to use language quickly and confidently without worry or fear of making mistakes. So it can be said that fluency is a person's focus on speaking clearly and effectively as possible. Comprehension : According to Hughes (2003), comprehension is a person who knows about everything. Someone who has good comprehension is someone who is smart in understanding any topic after which they will get a satisfactory score.
Aspect Score Criteria [7]. Pronunciation 1 Pronunciation problems so severe as to make speech virtually unintelligible 2 Very hard to understand because of pronunciations problems. Must frequently repeat in order to make him or herself understood 3 Pronunciation problems necessitaty concentrations on the part of listeners and occasionally lead to misunderstanding 4 Always intelligible, although the listeners are conscious of a definite accent and occasional inappropriate intonation patterns 5 Pronunciation and intonation approximate that of a native speakers Note: At this page , the aspects of speaking is consulted from Reference number [5] and the criteria in Reference number [7] 5 speaker) and receptive skills (of those who are listening or understanding the speech). The speakers convey their ideas in an appropriate language and other ways which can make their massage understood-the ways which called communicative strategies.
Teaching speaking skill to the students should be based on the above recommendations. Besides, teaching speaking skill should also be oriented to enable students to speak in English in different situations and genres. Proposed four recommendations for teachers who are going to teach speaking skill. First, whatever the activity chosen, it should allow students to talk a lot.
Teachers should select speaking activities that demand students to talk a lot. The activity should also be able to involve all the students in the activity. It does not only better students who dominate the class. Besides, that the activity should be able to motivate students to participate.
Background of the study 2. Description of the English syllabus at upper secondary schools The new textbooks chosen are English 10, 11- Global Success by Nha Xuat Ban Giao Duc. Each consists of 10 lessons which have been covered through out the school year with mid-term and end –of- term tests in between. Each lesson is divided into 8 periods with the aim of giving the students basic knowledge of English and practice four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing skill.
By using this textbook, we can develop our students’ communicative competence and our students can learn real things from daily life. At the end of each term, students have an exam for four skills. Description of the students at upper secondary schools Most of students of LamKinh high school have already learned English for at least four years at lower secondary school but many of them are at the low level of English proficiency. Another fact is that most of the students are from rural areas in Tho Xuan district.
Consequently, individual differences in learning styles, identities, attitudes, motivation, etc are unavoidable and may cause the teachers some problems during their teaching. In addition, their lack of awareness on the importance of English as well as motivation makes them not interested in learning English. Although most of them have already learnt English for at least four years at lower secondary school, their knowledge of English is still poor and limited. Some students can even hardly say a complete sentence in the target language.