MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY -------- ∞0∞-------- LE TRAN ANH THU INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING ON STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL AT TRUONG DINH HIGH SCHOOL MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL HO CHI MINH CITY, 2023 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY -------- ∞0∞-------- LE TRAN ANH THU INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING ON STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL AT TRUONG DINH HIGH SCHOOL Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Major code: 8 14 01 11 MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL Supervisor: Dr. LE THI THANH THU HO CHI MINH CITY, 2023 TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC MỞ CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM THÀNH PHỐ HỒ CHÍ MINH Độc lập – Tự do – Hạnh phúc KHOA ĐÀO TẠO SAU ĐẠI HỌC GIẤY XÁC NHẬN Tôi tên là: LÊ TRẦN ANH THƯ Ngày sinh: 25/05/1980 Nơi sinh: Tiền Giang Chuyên ngành: Lý luận và phương pháp giảng dạy bộ môn Tiếng Anh Mã học viên: 1881401110033 Tôi đồng ý cung cấp toàn văn thông tin luận văn tốt nghiệp hợp lệ về bản quyền cho Thư viện trường đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. Thư viện trường đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh sẽ kết nối toàn văn thông tin luận văn tốt nghiệp vào hệ thống thông tin khoa học của Sở Khoa học và Công nghệ Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. Ký tên Lê Trần Anh Thư CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM Độc lập - Tự do - Hạnh phúc Ý KIẾN CHO PHÉP BẢO VỆ LUẬN VĂN THẠC sĩ CỦA GIẢNG VIÊN HƯỚNG DẲN Giảng viên hướng dẫn: Lê Thị Thanh Thu Học viên thực hiện: Lê Trần Anh Thư Lớp: MTESOLO18A Ngày sinh: 25/05/1980 Nơi sinh: Tiền Giang Tên đề tài: Investigating the Effect of Project-Based Learning on Students’ Speaking Skill at Truong Dinh high school.
Ý kiến của giáo viên hướng dẫn về việc cho phép học viên Lê Trần Anh Thư được bảo vệ luận văn trước Hội đồng: , ■ ■ ; Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, ngày 27 tháng 02 năm 2023 Người nhận xét Lê Thị Thanh Thu STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entitled “Investigating the effect of Project-Based Learning on students’ speaking skill at Truong Dinh high school” is my own work. I declare that the information reported in this study is the result of my own work, except where the due reference is made. The thesis has not been accepted for any degree and is not currently submitted to any candidature for any other degree or diploma. No other person‟s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis.
This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution. Tien Giang, February 2023 Researcher Le Tran Anh Thu i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of his MA thesis made me more matured. To me, this is the most rewarding achievement in my life. However, I owe this thesis to many individuals.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to all persons for their cooperation and encouragement in assisting me to complete this thesis. Without their invaluable support and assistance, this study would not have been completed. In particular, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr. Le Thi Thanh Thu for her generosity of time, knowledge, assistance and encouragement.
She always gave me the feeling of willingness to support me at any time during my research. It is an honor for me to have her as a supervisor. I sincerely thank the Board of Truong Dinh high school in which I have been working for providing me with a chance to pursue further study and creating favorable conditions that helped me complete my thesis. I would also like to extend thanks to my colleagues in Truong Dinh English Faculty who provided me with insightful knowledge that contributed to thesis writing, especially Ms.
Hoang Phuong Tieu Anh for her profound comments, invaluable feedback and useful suggestions on my research methodology. I would like to acknowledge the 79 Grade 10 students who kindly agreed to participate in this study despite their heavy learning schedules. The main data collection would not have been completed without their support and willingness. Special thanks are reserved for my loved family members, my parents, my husband, my two daughters for their love and support throughout the years that promoted my strength to complete the present study.
I love my family. The thesis is dedicated to them. ii ABSTRACT This study was conducted to investigate the effect of the use of Project-Based Learning to learn speaking on students‟ speaking skill and their attitudes within high school context. The study used a pretest-posttest control group design.
Two groups of 79 Grade 10 students at Truong Dinh in Tien Giang province participated in the study. They were using the standard textbook of English 10. These 79 participants were then assigned into two groups. Concerning students‟ speaking skill, both groups were given a pre-test before the treatment, the eight-week treatment and a post-test after the treatment.
The experimental group learned speaking through PBL while the control group learned speaking through conventional speaking teaching technique. Data were collected and analyzed to compare speaking skill of the students before and after the study between and within the two groups. The results indicated that students in experimental group outperformed those in the control group, which suggests that speaking learning through PBL was useful and effective to Grade 10 students. Moreover, this study explored the students‟ attitudes of speaking learning through PBL among students in the experimental group.
A questionnaire was designed to examine the attitudes of the participants after the treatment. The results suggested that the participants perceived the benefits of speaking learning through PBL in their learning process. Although some participants also revealed a few negative views on speaking learning through PBL, most of them agreed to choose PBL for their future learning. This leads to a number of implications in relation to the potential use of PBL in speaking learning.
iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Statement of authorship. iii Table of contents. iv List of tables. viii List of figure.
ix List of abbreviations. x Chapter One: Introduction .1 Rationale for the thesis.2 Aims of the study .4 scope of the study .5 Background of the study .1 Teachers and Grade 10 students at Truong Dinh high school………………….3 Teaching and learning speaking at Truong Dinh high school…………….6 Significance of the study .7 Organization of the study. 8 Chapter Two: Literature review .1 Definition of speaking .2 Functions of speaking .3 Characteristics of speaking skill .4 Rubric for speaking performance .5 The category of speaking performances .6 Speaking difficulties in foreign language learning .7 Factors enhancing speaking performance .2 Knowledge of language .8 Stages of teaching speaking.2 Project-based Learning .1 Definition of project-based learning .2 Principles of project-based learning .3 Advantages of project-based learning .4 Strategies and steps for project-based learning implementation .1 Definition of attitude .2 Components and types of attitudes .1 Studies over the world .2 Studies in Vietnam. 37 Chapter Three: Research methodology .3 Pilot study, validity and reliability .6 Data analysis methodology.
53 Chapter Four: Data analysis and interpretation .1 Data analysis methodology .2 Test analysis and discussion.1 Students‟ speaking results between two groups .1 Statistic about students‟ speaking results between the two groups .2 Comparison of CG and EG pre-test results .3 Comparison of CG and EG post-test results .2 Students‟ speaking results within two groups .1 Comparison of CG pre-test and post-test results .2 Comparison of EG pre-test and post-test results .3 Questionnaire analysis and discussion.1 Students‟ cognitive attitudes towards project-based learning .2 Students‟ affective attitudes towards project-based learning .3 Students‟ behavioral attitudes towards project-based learning. 72 Chapter Five: Conclusions and recommendations .1 Summary of the study .3 Suggestions for the further studies. 89 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 The experiment time plan 50 Table 4.1 Descriptive Pre-test (Control group) 54 Table 4.2 Descriptive Pre-test (Experimental group) 54 Table 4.3 Descriptive Post-test (Control group) 54 Table 4.4 Descriptive Post-test (Experimental group) 54 Table 4.5 Comparison of Pre-test between CG and EG 55 Table 4.6 Comparison of Post-test between CG and EG 56 Table 4.7 Comparison of CG Pre-test and Post-test 58 Table 4.8 Comparison of EG Pre-test and Post-test 59 Table 4.9 Students‟ attitudes towards project-based learning 62 Table 4.10 Students‟ cognitive attitudes towards project-based learning 62 Table 4.11 Students‟ affective attitudes towards project-based learning 64 Table 4.12 Students‟ behavioral attitudes towards project-based learning 67 viii LIST OF FIGURE Figure 3.1 The current study‟s design 41 ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CG Control group EFL English as a Foreign Language EG Experimental group ESL English as a Second Language MOET Ministry of Education and Training PBL Project-based Learning VSTEP Vietnamese Standardized Test of English Proficiency x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for the thesis In today's 4.0 era, knowing and using a foreign language fluently is considered a great success because foreign language plays an important role and is seen as a bridge among countries around the world in many fields.
Economic development, educational innovation and cultural exchange in the world referred to as a global village can only be realized through that means of communication that is foreign language in general and English in particular. Recognizing the importance of mastering a foreign language for students in the context of integration, the Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has issued the 2020 Foreign Language Project, which is considered a significant landmark in improving the effectiveness of English teaching and learning in schools in Vietnam. Developing the communicative skills of Vietnamese students including listening and speaking skills is the objective of this National Project. To achieve this aim, MOET and the Department of Education and Training in the provinces have been organizing many training courses to equip English teachers with the knowledge and skills so as to be able to meet the requirements of the innovation in teaching and learning foreign language in the current context.
According to the National Project, students finishing upper high schools are expected to achieve level three (B1) of the Vietnamese Foreign Language Competence Framework. In line with this initiation, the standard textbooks “Sách chuẩn” and the advanced textbooks “Sách nâng cao” known as two sets of the new textbooks were published by MOET to meet the requirements of 2020 Project. The teachers and students at Truong Dinh high school are using the standard textbooks as the main materials for teaching and learning. The researcher desires to conduct research on the Project-Based Learning‟s effectiveness in learning speaking skill for the following reasons.
Firstly, it comes from the reality of teaching and learning English at a high school named Truong Dinh, which 1 is situated in Go Cong town of Tien Giang province. After the researcher had taught at this school for about 18 years through several generations of students, she realized that the goal of teaching and learning English at this school was to get good marks and win a place in a famous university. Students get used to focusing only on grammar structures, reading comprehension, and vocabulary as these are the requirements of school tests as well as the high school graduation exam. Although the school's vice-principal is an English teacher and he pays attention to teaching and learning communicative skills (listening and speaking skills) for students at school by adding an elective period for the English teachers to help students improve these skills, the teaching and learning practice of two skills remains unchanged.
Learning listening and speaking skills in the target language is considered as a waste of time by most of the students.