VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES VŨ THANH LOAN DESIGNING A TASK-BASED SPEAKING SYLLABUS FOR THE ELEMENTARY ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS OF A UNIVERSITY IN HANOI (Thiết kế chƣơng trình dạy kỹ năng nói theo nhiệm vụ cho sinh viên chuyên ngành tiếng Anh trình độ sơ cấp của một trƣờng đại học ở Hà Nội) MA THESIS Major : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01 HANOI, 2018 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES VŨ THANH LOAN DESIGNING A TASK-BASED SPEAKING SYLLABUS FOR THE ELEMENTARY ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS OF A UNIVERSITY IN HANOI (Thiết kế chƣơng trình dạy kỹ năng nói theo nhiệm vụ cho sinh viên chuyên ngành tiếng Anh trình độ sơ cấp của một trƣờng đại học ở Hà Nội) MA THESIS Major : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231. Hoang Ngoc Tue HANOI, 2018 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby certify that the M.A thesis entitled “Designing a Task-based Speaking syllabus for elementary English majored students at a University in Cau Giay district Hanoi” is a presentation of my original research work for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University, and that this thesis has not been published or submitted for any degree at any other universities or tertiary institutions. Wherever contributions of others are involved, every effort is made to indicate this clearly, with due reference to the literature, and acknowledgement of collaborative research and discussions. Approved by Supervisor Hanoi, 2018 Signature (Signature and full name) M.A Student, Vu Thanh Loan Date: …………………………………….
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am greatly indebted to Dr. Hoang Ngoc Tue, my supervisor, to whom I wish to extend my sincere gratitude for his guidance, constructive criticisms, valuable suggestions and encouragement, without which the thesis might not have been completed. I would also like to express my gratitude to all my lecturers at the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies – VNU for their useful lectures, comments, and suggestions. Special thanks are due to all the English staff and the first year English majors of Y.
University for their contribution to the data collection and their constructive suggestions for this research. Finally, I owe the completion of this study to my beloved family for their endless support, patience and understanding. iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This thesis was conducted in an attempt to investigate the gaps between the current speaking 1 syllabus and the first year elementary English students‟ demand at Y.U, in the hope of designing a more appropriate syllabus to teach speaking skill to suit students‟ level. To achieve this aim, the study first (1) looked at the current speaking skill 1 course for first year students majoring in English at Y.U to see if it met the students‟ needs.
(2) Then it identified the target needs and learning needs perceived by teachers and Elementary English majors at Y. (3) The final stages was devoted to proposing a speaking skill 1 syllabus based on need analysis the study has been conducted in the form of survey research, with the informants of the study being teachers of English and students of two classes, English Department, Y. The results obtained showed that there is a considerable gap between the target needs of the current speaking 1 syllabus and the students ‟learning needs. Based on the findings, the students and teachers prefer to have a new speaking syllabus which provides them with specified objectives and activities to support in speaking class.
Moreover, the Task-based syllabus was opted for because it is believed to provide the elementary English students with a number of tasks that illustrate different situations needed by these learners and help them promote both accuracy and fluency. Key words: syllabus design, Task-based approach, speaking skills, target needs, learning needs v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES List of Figures Figure 1.1: Product-based vs. Process-based syllabus (adapted from White (1988: 44)) .2: Types of Language Syllabus .3: Framework for task based syllabus design (Long, 1985) .4: Framework for task based syllabus design (Ellis, 2003: 66) .5: The Framework of Task-Based Instruction .1: Table of the National High School Graduation examination‟s English scores .2: Students' years of learning English .1: Teachers‟ attitude towards the current textbook .2: Teachers‟ and Students‟ attitudes towards the need of designing a new Speaking skill 1 Syllabus .3: Teachers‟ evaluation towards Students‟ competence at Speaking 1 skill Exams .4: Teachers‟ opinion about the appropriate number of topics for the syllabus. 56 List of Tables Table 3.1: Students‟ attitude towards the current speaking 1 skills course .2: Teachers‟ attitude towards the current textbook .3: Teachers‟ and Students‟ opinion about the objectives of the Speaking skill 1 course .4: Teachers‟ and students‟ opinions about interesting topics for a new speaking skill 1 syllabus .5: Choice of tasks according to Students and Teachers‟ expectation .7: Grammar Structure in the Syllabus.
XXXVII vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. v LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW.
An Overview of Syllabus Design. Definition of syllabus. Approaches to Language Syllabus Design (LSD). Types of Syllabus.
Notional/Functional syllabus. Skill-based syllabus. Content-based syllabus. Learner-Centered Syllabus.
Task-Based syllabus (TBS). Steps in Task –Based Syllabus Design. Aims and objectives setting. Task Selecting and Sequencing.
The framework of TBLT applied in teaching speaking. An overview of speaking. Definition of speaking. Nature of Speaking.
Principles for Teaching Speaking Skills. 21 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Tasks to be employed in speaking syllabus. Classroom Effective Speaking Activities.
Rationale of choosing Task-Based Speaking Syllabus. Setting of the Study. The Syllabus for Speaking skill 1. The Research Questions.3 The Questionnaire and Procedure.
Data collection procedures. 38 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION. Teacher’s and Students’ satisfaction degree towards current Speaking Syllabus. Students’ attitude towards the current speaking 1 skills course.
Teachers’ attitude towards the current Speaking 1 textbook. Teachers’ evaluation towards Students’ Speaking competence at Speaking 1 skill class. Teachers’ and Students’ expectation for a Speaking 1 skill Syllabus. Objectives of the Speaking skill 1 syllabus.
45 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. 49 CHAPTER 4: THE PROPOSED SPEAKING SKILL 1 SYLLABUS. Setting a type for Speaking skill 1 Syllabus. Aims and Objective of the Syllabus.
The organization of the syllabus. Time allocation and evaluation. V Appendix 1: THE PROPOSED SPEAKING SKILL 1 SYLLABUS SPEAKING 1- SCHEDULE (Calendar, Course Contents and Task Specifications). V Appendix 2: NEEDS ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987).
XI Appendix 3: THE CURRENT SPEAKING SKILL 1 SYLLABUS. XIII Appendis 4: THE STUDENTS‟ QUESTIONNAIRES. XVIII Appendix 5: THE TEACHERS‟ QUESTIONNAIRES. XXII Appendix 7: CEFR SCALE FOR SPEAKING LEVEL A2.
XXVIII Appendix 8: STUDENTS‟ ATITUDES TOWARDS THE CURRENT. XXXI SPEAKING SKILL 1 COURSE. XXXI Appendix 9: TEACHERS‟ ATITUDES TOWARDS THE CURRENT SPEAKING SKILL 1 COURSE. XXXII Appendix 10: TEACHERS‟ AND STUDENTS OPINIONS ABOUT OBJECTIVES.
XXXIII ix LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Appendix 11: TEACHERS‟ AND STUDENTS‟OPINION ABOUT INTERESTING TOPICS FOR A NEW SPEAKING SKILL 1 SYLLABUS. XXXIV Appendix 12: CHOICE OF TASKS ACCORDING TO STUDENTS AND TEACHERS‟EXPECTATION. XXXV Appendix 13: TEACHERS‟CHOICE OF GRAMMAR-STRUCTURES NEEDED TO BE USED IN THE SYLLABUS. XXXVI Appendix 14: GRAMMAR-STRUCTURES USED IN THE SYLLABUS.
XXXVII Appendix 15: THE SAMPLE OF LESSON PLAN. XXXVIII x LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Rationale Speaking is one of the four major language skills that foreign language students have to master. It is a common knowledge that speaking is very important in language learning as, according to Richards (2008:19), of four major language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, the mastery of speaking skill in English is a priority for many second-language or foreign language learners.
Consequently, the success of learners in language learning is often evaluated on the improvement in their spoken language proficiency. As speaking is of such a great importance for language learners, teaching how to speak well is the inevitable aim of almost all language courses. In Vietnam, although most of schools have conducted English teaching trial programs from Grade three, the amount of students in Vietnam who can use English as a communicative tool in real life is not much. The fact is that almost students may master language knowledge such as grammar structures and vocabulary, yet they cannot use English to communicate fluently and effectively.
Being a teacher who has taught English for more than seven years, I realize that my students, especially the first-year English-majors at Y. who as part of their studies have to make oral productions, also share the same problems. Many students seem to lack the skills and confidence to make effective presentations in their final oral examination, resulting in a majority of them do not meet the target needs of the course. Following the textbook-based syllabus, in the teaching process, many teachers at Y.
find difficult to motivate students to speak in the target language comfortably and naturally in speaking lessons. Some of them complain about spending much time compiling and adapting materials in order to meet their students‟ needs and make the speaking lessons more interesting and motivating. Whether the journey speaking teachers and learners have to go on under their speaking course is smooth and whether the learners can reach the destination of the journey depend on a wide variety of factors such as the course syllabus, the teaching 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com methodology, the available resources and the motivation of the students. Among all these influential factors, the course syllabus is extremely important because if appropriately designed with careful need analysis, the syllabus can act as the guidance for both teachers and learners in terms of aims, the objectives, teaching methodology, material suggestions, time allocation, assessments, and almost all the matters of learning and teaching.
In fact, a course syllabus can be compared with a helpful travel guidebook or a compass for teachers and learners in their journey to knowledge. Among several versions of the Communicative Approach, the author sees that Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is popular and relevant to our educational purposes. TBLT refers to an approach based on the use of tasks as the core unit of planning and instruction in language teaching, (Willis, 25:36). And it provides a structure framework for both instruction and assessment.
Students are more likely to develop intrinsic motivation in a task-based approach and it enables teachers to see if students are developing the ability to communicate in language learning. Despite its importance, the syllabus in teaching speaking -one of the most difficult language skills is not always given adequate attention, especially at Y. University where the current used syllabus is available but not referring to the situation analysis and learner needs analysis. Consequently, when the syllabus was implemented, it showed a lot of pitfalls, the greatest of which being the students‟ disinterest in learning speaking, the irrelevance of the speaking tasks and the teaching methodology.
This fact heightens the need to design a new speaking syllabus for a particular group of students, i., beginner students, low-intermediate, intermediate, etc. That syllabus should be based on careful analyses of contextual factors and learner needs as well as educational target needs, i., the objectives of the foreign language program. The ideas above motivate me to design a new speaking skills syllabus for the elementary students at Y.