VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE BÙI THỊ THANH USING LEXICAL CHUNKS TO SUPPORT GRADE 12TH STUDENTS IN LEARNING TO SPEAK ENGLISH – A STUDY AT VU TIEN HIGH SCHOOL OF THAI BINH (Sử dụng cụm từ vựng để hỗ trợ học sinh lớp 12 học nói tiếng Anh - Nghiên cứu trường THPT Vũ Tiên, Thái Bình) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi - 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE BÙI THỊ THANH USING LEXICAL CHUNKS TO SUPPORT GRADE 12TH STUDENTS IN LEARNING TO SPEAK ENGLISH – A STUDY AT VU TIEN HIGH SCHOOL OF THAI BINH (Sử dụng cụm từ vựng để hỗ trợ học sinh lớp 12 học nói tiếng Anh - Nghiên cứu trường THPT Vũ Tiên, Thái Bình) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Dr Le Van Canh Hanoi- 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Pages CANDIDATE‟S STATEMENT………………………………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ……………………………………………… ii ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………… iii TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………… iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES………………………………… v PART A- INTRODUCTION………………………………………… 1 Rationale…………………………………………………………… Aims of the study……………………………………………… Research questions……………………………………………… Method of the study………………………………………………… Scope of the study…………………………………………………… Design of the study………………………………………………… PART B DEVELOPMENT…………………………………………… CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND………………… 1.1 SPEAKING SKILL………………………………………………… 1.1.1 The importance of speaking………………………………… 1.1.2 What is involved in speaking a foreign language? …………… 1.2 LEXICAL CHUNKS……………………………………………… 1.2.1 Definition of lexical chunks……………………………… 1.2.2 Classification of lexical chunks……………………………… 1.2.3 Advantages of using lexical chunks in teaching speaking… 12 1.2.3.1 Promoting language fluency………………………… 12 1.2.3.2 Enhancing language accuracy…………………………… 14 1.2.3.3 Increasing learners‟ motivation………………………… 15 1.3 Lexical classroom activities……………………………………… 16 iv 1.4 Summary………………………………………………………… 18 CHAPTER II: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY…………………… 19 2.1 Action research……………………………………………… 19 2.2 Reasons for adopting action research 20 2.3 Research instruments…………………………… 20 2.4 Research procedure………………………………………………… 21 2.5 Participants……………………………… …………… … ……… 23 2.6 Summary…………………………………………………………… 23 CHAPTER III: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION………… 24 3.1 Results from students‟ pre- treatment questionnaire ………… 24 3.1.1 Students‟ attitude and motivation to learn to English in speaking lessons…………………………………………………… 24 3.1.2 Factors prevent students from speaking English in the classroom.…………………………………………………… 28 3.2 Results from students‟ post-treatment questionnaire……………… 28 3.2.1 Students‟ attitude and motivation to learn English when they are taught lexical chunk……………………….……………………… 28 3.2.2 Students‟ opinions about the benefits of using lexical chunks in speaking lessons…………………….…………………………… 29 3.2.3 Students‟ opinions about factors affecting the effectiveness of learning lexical chunks in speaking lessons………………………… 33 3.2.4 Students‟ recommendations for the improvement of learning lexical chunks in speaking lessons…………………………………… 3.3 Summary…………………………………………………………… v 34 35 CHAPTER IV: MAJOR FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MORE EFFECTIVE APPLICATION OF LEXICAL CHUNKS…………………………………………………… … 36 PART C CONCLUSION……………………………………………… 39 Conclusion…………………………………………………………… 39 Implications ………………………………………………………… 39 Limitations and iSuggestions for further study…………………………… 40 REFERENCES…………………………………………………… 41 APPENDICES…………………………………………………………… I APPENDIX A:PRE- TREATMENT QUESTIONNAIRE ……… I APPENDIX B: POST – TREATMENT QUESTIONAIRE……… III APPENDIX C: SAMPLE LESSON PLAN…………………………… VII vi LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS List of tables Table 1.1: Nattinger and DeCarrico‟s classification of lexical chunks 10 Table 1.2: Lewis‟ typology of lexical chunks………………………… 12 Table 3.1: The degree of the students‟ interest in speaking lesson…… 24 Table 3.2: Factors prevent students from speaking English in the classroom……………………………………………………………… 27 Table 3.3: The degree of students‟ motivation in speaking lesson after being taught lexical chunks…………………………………………… 28 Table 3.4: Students‟ opinions about the accuracy in speaking lesson when taught lexical chunks…………………………………………… 29 Table 3.5: Students‟ opinions about the fluency in speaking lesson when taught lexical chunks…………………………………………… 30 Table 3.6: Students‟ opinions about their improvement in speaking lesson when taught lexical chunks …………………………………… 31 Table 3.7: Students‟ opinions about the advantage of learning lexical chunks in understanding English grammar……………….…………… 32 Table 3.8: Common factors affected the effectiveness of lexical chunks in speaking lessons …………………………………………… 33 Table 3.9: The students‟ recommendations for the improvement of learning lexical chunks in speaking lessons…………………………… 34 List of charts Figure 3.1: Students‟ need to learn to speak English………………… 25 Figure 2: Students‟ interest toward learning grammar……………… 25 Figure 3.3: Students‟ efforts toward learning to speak English……… 26 Figure 3.4: Students‟ opinions about the accuracy in speaking lesson when taught lexical chunks…………………………………………… vii 30 Figure 3.5: Students‟ opinions about the fluency in speaking lesson when taught lexical chunks…………………………………………… 31 Figure 6: Students‟ opinions about their improvement in speaking lesson when taught lexical chunks…………………………………… viii 32 PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Acquiring vocabulary is a critical issue to help students develop their vocabulary to speak English and improve their speaking skills In Wilkins‟ words (1972:111) “Without grammar, very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” Krashen argues that vocabulary plays a fundamental role in verbal communication “In order to communicate well in a foreign language, students should acquire an adequate number of words and should know how to use them accurately If acquirers not recognize the meaning of the key words used by those who address them they will be unable to participate in the conversation” (Krashen, 1983 cited in Lewis, 1993: 23) He further clarifies that if the students‟ vocabulary is poor, they cannot communicate effectively no matter how good their grammatical knowledge might be “If our students know the morphology and the syntax of an utterance addressed to them, but not know the meaning of key lexical items, they will be unable to participate in the communication For this reason, we are not impressed with approaches that deliberately restrict vocabulary acquisition and learning until the morphology and syntax are mastered” (Krashen, 1983 cited in Lewis, 1993: 23) Three basic elements of a language are phonology, vocabulary and grammar In fact, both grammar and phonology are embedded in vocabulary because we cannot teach vocabulary without teaching the students how to pronounce the words and how words are put together to make grammatical sentences According to Michael Lewis (1993), vocabulary is more than words; they are “grammaticalised lexis” (1993: vii) However, EFL teachers seem to overemphasize learning grammar more than vocabulary in their teaching The role of vocabulary has long been underestimated in EFL education Lewis (1993) proposes the Lexical Approach and brings the field to systematically examine the nature of lexis in second language acquisition According to him “the grammar/ vocabulary dichotomy is a false Often when „new word‟ are introduce into the class it will be appropriate not simply to present and record the word but to explore the grammar of the word” (Lewis, 1993: 115) He strongly argues that “language consists of grammaticalised lexis, not lexicalised grammar” (Lewis, 1993: vi) The pairing of grammar and vocabulary is best seen in lexical chunks, which are retrieved and processed as whole units These units may not only enhance the accuracy and fluency of the language, but also speed up language processing significantly These characteristics of lexical chunks motivate me to experiment using lexical chunks to develop my students‟ speaking skills Aims of the study The thesis is primarily aimed to gain understanding of the extent to which lexical chunks can motivate and benefit students in their speaking activities and then give some suggestions for teachers to stimulate students to speak and overcome the difficulties they face with in using lexical chunks to teaching speaking skills and some suggestions for the next cycle of the research on the topic Research questions The study was designed to answer the following questions: (1) To what extent does the use of lexical chunks influence the students‟ motivation to speak English as measured by their self- reported changes in their confidence and participation in speaking English? (2) What the students self-report on the benefits of using lexical chunks to their speaking English in the classroom? (3) What are students‟ perceived difficulties in learning to speak English with this teaching strategy? Scope of the study The study is limited to the understanding of the impact of using lexical chunks on students‟ speaking skills development It is just a small – scale action research project, which was undertaken to improve my teaching practice Method of the study A quantitative method was used to gain the aim of this study, which is exploratory in nature Data were collected by means of pre- and post – treatment questionnaires It is noted that the primary aim of the study is to gain understandings of the extent to which using lexical chunks can support students in learning to speak English for my teaching practice rather than to find out the cause – and – effect relationship between the use of lexical chunks and students‟ speaking proficiency Therefore, pre – and post – treatment questionnaires are appropriate for this aim Design of the Study The thesis is composed of three following parts: Part A: Introduction provides the rationale, aims, scopes, method and design of the study Part B: Development- consists of four chapters Chapter I: Literature Review: This chapter provides the theoretical background for the study ... INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE BÙI THỊ THANH USING LEXICAL CHUNKS TO SUPPORT GRADE 12TH STUDENTS IN LEARNING TO SPEAK ENGLISH – A STUDY AT VU TIEN HIGH SCHOOL OF THAI BINH (Sử. .. SCHOOL OF THAI BINH (Sử dụng cụm từ vựng để hỗ trợ học sinh lớp 12 học nói tiếng Anh - Nghiên cứu trường THPT Vũ Tiên, Thái Bình) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410... Figure 3.1: Students? ?? need to learn to speak English? ??……………… 25 Figure 2: Students? ?? interest toward learning grammar……………… 25 Figure 3.3: Students? ?? efforts toward learning to speak English? ??……