VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ PHƢƠNG LIÊN BUILDING STUDENTS’ CONFIDENCE IN ENGLISH SPEAKING CLASS THROUGH GROUP WORK AT FACULTY OF FINANCE AND BANKING, VIETNAM UNIVERSITY OF COMMERCE (XÂY DỰNG SỰ TỰ TIN CHO SINH VIÊN TRONG GIỜ HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH THÔNG QUA HOẠT ĐỘNG NHÓM Ở KHOA TÀI CHÍNH – NGÂN HÀNG, TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC THƢƠNG MẠI) M. Minor Thesis English Teaching Methodology 601410 Hanoi, 2012 z VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ PHƢƠNG LIÊN BUILDING STUDENTS’ CONFIDENCE IN ENGLISH SPEAKING CLASS THROUGH GROUP WORK AT FACULTY OF FINANCE AND BANKING, VIETNAM UNIVERSITY OF COMMERCE (XÂY DỰNG SỰ TỰ TIN CHO SINH VIÊN TRONG GIỜ HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH THÔNG QUA HOẠT ĐỘNG NHÓM Ở KHOA TÀI CHÍNH – NGÂN HÀNG, TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC THƢƠNG MẠI) M. Minor Thesis Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 601410 Supervisor : Assoc. Dƣơng Thị Nụ Hanoi, 2012 z TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT.
i LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. ii LIST OF TABLES.iii LIST OF CHARTS. iv LIST OF FIGURES. v TABLE OF CONTENTS .iii PART I: INTRODUCTION.
Aims of the study. Methods of the study. Scope of the study. 3 PART II: DEVELOPMENT.
5 CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW. Theoretical background of speaking .1 Teaching speaking skill in Communicative Language Teaching Approach. Group work in speaking lessons. Definition of group work.
Some main group work activities. Benefits of using group work in large classes. Confidence of students in speaking class through group work activities. Concept of confidence.
Theoretical framework of the role of students’ confidence in second language learning. 13 CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY. Sample and sampling procedure. Data collection procedures.
21 CHAPTER III: MAJOR FINDINGS, DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. Major findings and discussions. The importance of group work activities in speaking class. Students’ assessment about the importance of group work activities in speaking class.
The frequency of organizing group work in speaking class. The teachers’ methods of encouraging students to speak. Factors affecting students’ confidence in speaking. Students’ confidence in using English in the speaking class.
Comparison between teachers’ and students’ assessment of the topics in speaking lessons. Comparison between students’ speaking time and teachers’ expectations. Students’ evaluation on learning speaking English. Comparison between teachers’ and students’ assessment about factors affecting students’ confidence in speaking lessons.
Suitable group work activities used to stimulate and encourage students’ confidence in speaking class. Teachers’ and students’ assessment of most popular working group activities. Comparison between teachers’ answers and students’ expectations about the most suitable group work activities that stimulate students’ confidence35 3. Problems teachers have to face in teaching speaking skill.
Comparison of teachers’ and students’ suggestions to increase students’ confidence in speaking class .1 Recommendations for teachers. Recommendations for students. 39 PART III: CONCLUSION. Limitations and suggestions for further study.
I z ABSTRACT Speaking plays a very important role in communicating with others in a second language, not only in teaching and learning environments, but also outside the classroom. The students should be able to take part in conversations, discussions, negotiation and to express with their own view. However, most of them feel nervous in speaking and unwilling to participate in speaking activities in the class because of lack of vocabulary, fear of making mistakes, inconfidence in their pronunciation, etc. The above mentioned situation has been improved a lot through group work activities applied in the speaking class.
It is undeniable that group works stimulate students a lot in exchanging information and ideas among partners with less anxiety of making mistakes as well as more confidence in speaking English. Therefore, the study “Building students’ confidence in English speaking class through group work at Faculty of Finance and Banking, Vietnam University of Commerce” has investigated the main factors affecting students’ confidence in speaking, suggested suitable group work activities to encourage them to speak, and appropriate teaching methods to lengthen their talking time. i z LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS VCU : Vietnam University of Commerce CLT : Communicative Language Teaching EFL : English as a Foreign Language ii z LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: Students’ learning styles. 30 Table 2: Student’s motivation.
31 Table 3: Factors causing students’ inconfidence. 32 Table 4: Students’ language levels. 32 iii z LIST OF CHARTS Page Chart 1: Students’ assessment about the importance of group work activities in the speaking class. 22 Chart 2: Teachers’ assessment about the importance of group work activities in the speaking class.
22 Chart 3: Students’ opinion about the frequency of organizing group work in the speaking class. 23 Chart 4: Teachers’ opinion about the frequency of organizing group work in the speaking class. 24 Chart 5: Students’ assessment of the teachers’ methods of encouraging students to speak. 24 Chart 6: The teachers’ methods of encouraging students to speak.
25 Chart 7: Students’ assessment of their confidence in speaking English. 25 Chart 8: Students’ assessment of their reluctance in speaking. 26 Chart 9: Students’ speaking time. 28 Chart 10: Teachers’ assessment of students’ speaking time.
29 Chart 11: Teachers’ talking time in the speaking class. 30 iv z LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1: Comparison between teachers’ and students’ assessment of the topics in speaking lessons. 27 Figure 2: Students’ and teachers’ answers about factors affecting students’ confidence in the speaking class. 33 Figure 3: Teachers’ and students’ assessment of most popular group work activities.
34 Figure 4: Group work activities stimulate students’ confidence most. 35 Figure 5: Teachers’ assessment of their problems in teaching speaking skill. 36 Figure 6: Teachers’ and students’ suggestions to increase students’ confidence. Rationale English is considered to be one of the most popular languages in the world.
In Vietnam, with the changes and the development of the economy and society, as well as the implementation of the open - door policy, English has been used more and more widely both by the young and the old. It has been the most popular foreign language. English has been influenced on our education curriculum as a compulsory subject. It is known that, in learning a foreign language in general, and English in particular, speaking plays an extremely important role.
It is an important skill that “makes you more fluent language user; speaking is a chance to notice the gaps between what you want to say and what you can say; it is a chance to test hypotheses about language” (Marilyn Lerris, 1999 quoted by HeLina). Like many other universities, teachers and students of Vietnam University of Commerce (VCU) realize the role of building speaking skill, applying Communicative Language Teaching method to create more opportunities for students to practice English through group work, and encourage students communicate confidently in oral English as much as possible. Speaking well is of great importance to students when communicating with others in a second language, not only in teaching and learning environments, but also outside the classroom. The students should be able to speak in a well structured way and develop their ability to take part in conversations, discussions, negotiation and to express with their own view.
Over the past years, as a teacher for non – English - major students at VCU, Faculty of Finance and Banking, the researcher found that during the speaking lessons, students usually keep silence and encounter a lot of difficulties in working group activities. Students start with the beginner level of English when they enter the college, so just a small number of them are able enough to communicate in English. They only like working individually, answering the 1 z questions of teachers, not working in groups or speaking with their partners. So, what are the reasons? Some students are afraid of making mistakes; some may feel nervous because they lack vocabulary; some feel unconfident with their pronunciation, etc.
The above mentioned situation has urged the researcher to conduct the study “Building students’ confidence in English speaking class through group work at Faculty of Finance and Banking, Vietnam University of Commerce”. The expectation is to make a contribution to an increased understanding of using group work in speaking lessons at VCU. Aims of the study The aim of this study is to explore the reality of the organization of group work in the speaking lessons for first year students at Faculty of Finance and Banking, Vietnam University of Commerce where the researcher is teaching. In addition, this study attempts to investigate the popular group work activities and to identify strategies used by teachers to stimulate confidence of students in speaking class.
Another aim is to identify which group work activities are suitable to encourage confidence of students in speaking in the class. The third aim is to compare teachers’ practice with students’ expectation. Basing on the findings, the researcher suggests practical recommendations for group activities in speaking lessons for the first year non – English - major students at VCU. In particular, the study is conducted to ascertain the answer to the following question: In what ways group work activities in speaking lessons help build confidence for the first year non major students at Faculty of Finance and Banking, Vietnam University of Commerce? 3.
Methods of the study In order to realize the above aims of the study, quantitative survey method of research was mainly used. The data collected for the study came from the first year 2 z students at Faculty of Finance and Banking, Vietnam University of Commerce. Survey questionnaire was used to gather information and evidence for the study. In addition, to make the data collected more reliable and authentic, qualitative method was applied with two instruments: an interview and class observation.
All the comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusions provided in the study were based on the data analysis of the study. Scope of the study In fact, group work is applied in any of the four skills, namely listening, reading, writing, and speaking. However, the researcher has chosen to focus on speaking skill for the fact that mastering speaking is very important in learning foreign language. Among four language skills, group work is used the most frequently in the speaking lessons.
Thenceforward, we excerpt ourselves to identify and apply group work in speaking class to build confidence for the non-English-major first year students at Faculty of Finance and Banking, VCU. Design of the study There are three parts in this thesis. Part I – Introduction presents the rational, the aims, the research question, methods, scope, as well as design of the study. Part II – Development includes three chapters.
Chapter I – Literature review presents background knowledge of speaking, teaching speaking skill in Communicative Language Teaching Approach, communicative activities, and speaking activities. In addition, this chapter presents the definition of group work, some main group work activities and benefits of using group work in large classes. Besides, the concept of confidence and theoretical framework of the role of students’ confidence in second language learning are also presented in this chapter. Chapter II – Methodology deals with the overall picture of how the research was carried out from research context, sample and sampling procedure, research methods, research materials to data collection and analysis.
3 z Chapter III – Major findings, discussions and recommendations shows the answer of the posed question: In what ways group work activities in speaking lessons help build confidence for the first year non major students at Faculty of Finance and Banking, Vietnam University of Commerce? The findings end with recommendations for both teachers and students. Part III – Conclusion reviews the main content and findings of the study, provides conclusions, some limitations of the study and suggestions for further study.