CODE: 27 DEVELOPING SPEAKING SKILLS FOR FIRST – YEAR STUDENTS OF FACULTY OF ENGLISH – HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITYHANOI, Developing Speaking Skills for first – year students of Faculty of English – Hanoi Open University HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH -* * - GRADUATION THESIS B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH STUDIES DEVELOPING SPEAKING SKILLS FOR FIRST - YEAR STUDENTS OF FACULTY OF ENGLISH – HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Hong Minh, M.A Student: Vu Thuy Dung Date of birth : 11/ 08/ 1994 2016 Class: K19A07 (2012- 2016) Hanoi, 2016 Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) Developing Speaking Skills for first – year students of Faculty of English – Hanoi Open University DECLARATION DEVELOPING SPEAKING SKILLS FOR FIRST - YEAR STUDENTS OF FACULTY OF ENGLISH – HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY I certify that no part of the above reports has been copied or reproduced by me from any person’s work without acknowledgement and that report is originally written by under strict guidance of my supervisor Hanoi, 15th April, 2016 Student Vũ Thùy Dung Supervisor Nguyễn Thị Hồng Minh, M.A Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) Developing Speaking Skills for first – year students of Faculty of English – Hanoi Open University ACKNOWLEDMENTS During the time I implement to research and complete this paper, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Ms Nguyễn Thị Hồng Minh, M.A, my supervisor for her sincere advice and patient guidance as her encouragement to my study Without her help, my graduation paper would have been impossible to be fulfilled I also would like to give my great thanks to the Management Board of the Faculty for providing favorable conditions for my study to be carried out I also owe to Faculty of English Hanoi Open University, all my teachers and the librarians for their help, encouragement and supports Besides, I would like to express my deep thanks to my friends who encourage me to choose the subject and supply me a lot of materials in the writing of this paper Finally, I am debited to my beloved parents who give me the best materials and intellectual condition to study Hanoi, 15th April, 2016 Student Vũ Thùy Dung Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) Developing Speaking Skills for first – year students of Faculty of English – Hanoi Open University TABLE OF CONTENT PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale 2 Aims and objectives of the study 3 Scope of the study Research questions Methods of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Literature review 1.1 The definition of the English speaking skills 1.2 The importance of the English speaking skills 1.3 Common components making Speaking skills difficult 1.3.1 Clustering 10 1.3.2 Redundancy 10 1.3.3 Reduced forms 10 1.3.4 Performance variables 10 1.3.5 Colloquial language 11 1.3.6 Rate of delivery 11 1.3.7 Interaction 11 1.4 Summary of this chapter 11 Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) Developing Speaking Skills for first – year students of Faculty of English – Hanoi Open University Chapter 2: Analyses, Findings & Interpretations 12 2.1Design and methodology 12 2.1.1 The setting of the study 12 2.1.2 Data collection instrument 12 2.2 Preliminary results 13 2.2.1 Student’s opinions on speaking skills 14 2.2.2 Student’s opinions on learning speaking skills in group work 15 2.2.3 Students appreciation of the use of group work in the speaking class at Faculty of English 16 2.2.4 The best group size and difficulties the students had when working in group work 19 2.2.5 Student’s desire for the better group work 21 2.3 General remarks 22 2.4 The findings 24 2.4.1 The lack of self-confidence 24 2.4.2 The limitation of vocabulary 26 2.4.3 The mispronunciation and misunderstanding in using grammar 28 2.4.4 The lack of general knowledge 30 2.4.5 Unfamiliar partner 31 2.4.6 The lack of motivation and flexibility in speaking English 32 2.5 Summary 32 Chapter 3: Suggestions to deal with the problems 33 Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) Developing Speaking Skills for first – year students of Faculty of English – Hanoi Open University 3.1 Develop speaking skills through Pronunciation 33 3.2 Develop speaking skills through Grammar 34 3.2 Develop speaking skills through reflective listening 36 3.4 Develop speaking skills through reading 37 3.5 Enrich general knowledge 38 3.6 Build self-confidence 40 3.6.1 Overcome fear of making mistakes 40 3.6.3 Pay attention to physical appearance 44 3.6.4 Prepare the topic carefully 44 3.6.5 Improve English self-study skills 44 3.7 Improve group speaking 46 3.7.1 Working in pairs 46 3.7.2 Working in small groups 47 3.8 Join activities outside class 49 3.8.1 Join the English speaking clubs 49 3.8.2 Communicate with native speakers 50 3.9 Summary 50 PART C: CONCLUSION 51 Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) Developing Speaking Skills for first – year students of Faculty of English – Hanoi Open University LISTS OF FIGURES AND TABLES Table Student’s opinions on speaking skills 14 Table Student’s opinions on learning speaking skills in group work 15 Table Students assessment for the teachers frequent use of group work 16 Table Students appreciation of their participation in group work 17 Table 5: Student’s appreciation of group work for the benefit of speaking 18 Table 6: The best group size and difficulties the students had when working in group work 19 Table 7: Student’s desire for the better group work 21 Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Nowadays, with the development of economy and society, demands of communication of human are increasing constantly In the past, when mass media was not developed yet, we could only communicated with the people who spoke the same language with you, mother tongue for example, but now the tide has turned Communicative demands, associating new relationships are essential for the youth today In the aim of associating with the foreigners, learning English is also a very important task However, not everyone can be confident in their speaking competence and their communicating competence even students who study in faculties of English Furthermore, non-native speakers will have to face with many difficulties when learning speaking English It will take time, practice and perseverance Mastering speaking skills is an advantage which leads to the success in communication Speaking skills is one of the necessary skills for the present students but some students have not yet been really interested in this problem Many students have not yet clearly presented a problem, his view in front of the class Some students think that they only focus on the specialized knowledge without speaking skills So, concentration on both the specialized knowledge and the development of the speaking skills are necessary for the students Being a senior student, I found the difficulties in speaking of the firstyear students of the Faculty of English at Hanoi Open University Thus, I decide to write about the strategies to develop speaking skills for first-year students and some effective ways in order to help them develop their speaking skills Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) Aims and objectives of the study The study focuses on the review of the Speaking skills definition and types On the other hand, this study also mentions some strategies which relate to develop speaking skills for students These aim are giving some basic knowledge about speaking skills and suggesting some effective strategies to enhance Speaking competence Hopefully, this study will help the first-year students in developing their own skills Scope of the study Due to time limitation, the focused area of the research will only be among the first-year students of the Faculty of English at Hanoi Open University This study mainly relates to the difficulties of first-year student in speaking skills and focuses on some strategies to help them speak better Research questions With the aims mentioned earlier are to find out some strategies which help students develop their speaking skill and speaking competence The research questions were addressed as following and this thesis was hoped to answer them: • To investigate the theories of English Speaking Skills, importance of Speaking skills and common components making Speaking skills difficult • What the first-year students of the Faculty of English at HOU find the most difficult when using verbal English? • What are some suggestions for the students to develop their speaking abilities? Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) Methods of the study To achieve the aims stated above, I read some referenced books in the library as well as books from my teacher Moreover, I found some useful information on Internet which relate to my study I also discussed with my supervisor, teachers and classmates who are learning English To complete this study, I carried out surveys and interviews to gain better insight into the real situation then I bring them into this paper Design of the study The study is divided into three parts: Part A: Introductionis the introduction of the study including the rationale, aims and purposes, scope, research questions, methods and design of study Part B: Development This part consist of three chapters: Chapter 1: Literature review This chapter provides and introduces some definitions and theories relatedto speaking skills Chapter 2:Analyses, Findings & Interpretations It is the main part of study, which discloses the real situation of first-year English-majored students at Hanoi Open University in using verbal English, the difficulties which the students had when they study speaking skills Chapter 3: Suggestions to deal with the problems In this chapter, I want to inform some suggestions to deal with the problem Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) open and positive message Open arms can indicate a good way to show that the person is approachable and friendly 3.6.3 Pay attention to physical appearance Good looking appearance creates self-confidence for speaker so it is very important to keep a good appearance every time Good appearance shows how self-confident and careful you are because when you try to make a good appearance means that you show your respect to other ones You can make a good impression by paying attention to grooming, clothing, accessories, and style that form the appearance 3.6.4 Prepare the topic carefully Take advantage of the powerful method of “narrow-reading”, which means that you will read and study all about the subject you have to speak is one of the best ways to speak English naturally Once learners can prepare a careful informative speech that presents accurate, thorough information about the topic and provide the listeners with the kind of information they want and need, it will be a good start to gain success in speaking Good preparation, therefore, give the first-year students a foundation to present their ideas and interest to others 3.6.5 Improve English self-study skills A very useful tip for students to speak English naturally is that they have to create a reasonable timetable and make every effort to reach the success Set goals, put them into practice and make a commitment To speak English naturally requires a lot of motivation Make sure you are ready to begin studying, start off slowly, but regularly After you have carried out for a week, adjust your schedule accordingly Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) For instance, learners can try to speak only English or not to use their mother tongue in the speaking class as well as avoid interrupting when the partner is speaking or laughing at the partner’s mistakes Keep talking to yourself when you are doing daily things This will help you to think in English For example, you can say “ I am going to the kitchen Now I am making a cup of tea” Nowadays the internet has been seen as a helpful learning environment for English self-study; it is very easy and convenient for learners to access the internet anytime Make full use of internet and modern facilities to server for your study For example, if you are interested in sport or music, look up some websites or sign in social network that cover these topics Start making your own vocabulary lists around these topics, and learn the words and phrases Use social network to find groups of native speakers interested in online conversation to experience much more information There would be a balanced exchange in the learning process In addition, there are lots of available websites providing instructions on how to speak English naturally with native teachers or consultants in many aspects of English learning from building grammar structures, vocabulary and pronunciation to raise motivation and inspire positive attitudes towards speaking the language Speaking English does not take a lot of time, but it requires regular periods Practice every day is the key to speak English well “Practice makes perfect Never pass up an opportunity to speak English” (Corcoran, 2002, p.170) The goal is not to count how many hours you spend learning English The goal is to make practicing speaking English become a part of your daily routine as natural as a life-long habit Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) 3.7 Improve group speaking Pair work and group work give the students more chances to speak English in the classroom Students participate in the lesson much more actively because they are involved in talking to their friends When speaking group in class, students can discuss freely and practice communicating simultaneously with classmates Also, the skill can help them know how to cooperate with other to achieve the best result in speaking group John K.Brilhart (p67, 1996) said that a group is two or more persons united for some purposes and interacting in such a way that they influence each other Working in pairs and groups is less stressful for students, especially the introverts who needn’t perform in front of the whole class They will feel more confident working with their friends who are more likely to accept his/her correction or criticism These methods prevent them from not being laughed at by the whole class if they say something wrong 3.7.1 Working in pairs In this kind of work, students will be divided into pairs who work simultaneously together, two students are in duty of discussing a small topic or sharing the answer to an exercise in which they in turn express their ideas Pair work bring first-year students chances to talk to their partners comfortably and confidently since he or she only speaks to one person, the unfamiliarity and timidity will disappear and be place by free communication and mutual understanding The work is also the base for students effective speaking in a bigger group as they are no longer timid after working in pair for a time Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) Working in pairs gives individual students lots of speaking time If working together, students will often have more confidence than when completing exercises individually If they are competing with their partners, they will be more motivated 3.7.2 Working in small groups Group work is just a natural part of language classroom In fact, students should receivers many benefits from working in groups as they study English and pursue language fluency This activity give students opportunity to create more complex dialogues, explore relationships between characters, pool knowledge together, and have a more social learning environment Additionally there is a better chance for self-correction or peer correction and for a discussion on a wider range of thoughts and opinions Groups that work well together can achieve much more than individuals working on your own A broader range of skills can be applied through sharing, discussing ideas, all of which a play a pivotal role in deepening your understanding of a particular subject area When being a part of a team, learners can develop their interpersonal skills such as speaking and listening as well as team working skills regarding leadership, supporter or planner Actually, some of these skills will be useful throughout their academic career and highly appreciated by others Besides, group work brings some benefits below: - Students help each other: When they work in groups, they will learn each other to answer language specific questions or clarify confusing points of English When they help each other, it benefits both of the students involved The students with the question will have it answer, Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) and others with the answer will remember it better because they have taught it to another - Students challenge each other: It is said that speakers modify their speech to be more like the people to whom they are talking It means that less accomplished students will become better speakers just by talking to others more advanced than them without help and pressure - Students encourage each other: encouragement between language learners can happen in many ways One ways comes is when lower level students see the accomplishments of higher level students They share their experiences; one student’s story becomes a blueprint for success for the other - Students become closer to each other: By working together, students will also develop relationships with each other They will share personal opinions and life goals They will talk about what they want most out of life all in the name of learning language - Students use language creatively: In a group, there are students with different personality and this variety will bring diversity of ideas Communicative classroom focus on getting students to use the language they know to get their meaning across Creative use of language makes communication possible even when speakers may not good at grammar for what they are trying to say - Identify your own strengths and weaknesses: Students may be a better leader than listener, or they might be good at coming up with amazing ideas but not good at putting them into action It provides a structured learning experience that can prepare students for the realities and diversity of the workplace, working with people with different skills, cultures, approaches and from different places Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) 3.8 Join activities outside class 3.8.1 Join the English speaking clubs Taking part in English speaking clubs is also an effective way to practice speaking Currently, speaking English is become increasingly significant skill and more and more English speaking clubs are opened to meet the demand of learners who are interested in English and desire to well perform in the language When joining these clubs, they have opportunities to make new friends, to free talk about various topics which are given by masters of English in the clubs In speaking clubs, the leader of the club will suggest having the latest news about the art, sports, economics, or even politics prepared by all members in advance to share others This activity is very useful for English learners to widen horizon and become more dynamic and in seeking information There are also lots of interesting games, pictures and tasks establishing to help members to train their quickness, complexity as well as to combine their speaking skills through activities Clearly, speaking activities based on games are a useful way of giving learners a valuable practice which involves practice of oral strategies such as describing, predicting, simplifying, asking for feedback or guessing unknown information Besides, learners can also learn how to tell a story so that they could explore their unique expressiveness and develop their competence to express thoughts and feelings in an articulate and lucid manner By telling story, the first-year students can experience the moment that they concentrate their mind, thinking to tell a story with an impressive and attractive way while others pay attention to listening and having witty comment comments Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) 3.8.2 Communicate with native speakers It is undeniable that peaking to the natives is one of the fastest ways to improve students intonation, stress, pronunciation, vocabulary, and also their confidence.In fact, not everyone can travel to the country where the target language is spoken Thus, grasp all the chances to communicate with foreigners when you meet them by chance in the street or in shopping center, etc Be polite and talent to make friends with people who only speak English You are forced to speak with them in English instead of relying on your mother tongue All they need is to meet new people and understand better about your local area, they will not judge you and your English skills in anyway.In addition, learners should be more active to take part in professional networking organization, or team that host international events Many of these will have a mixture of native speakers You can offer language exchange sessions You can teach them your mother tongue and they will happy to help you practice English Interestingly, thanks to technological advancements, learners nowadays can join online conversation clubs There are hundreds of language conversation club online These websites are a great option for you to converse with native speakers right in the comfort of your own home 3.9 Summary Basing on the current situation and the result from the data analysis of the survey, I suggest some solutions to help first-year students speak English naturally However, to achieve the purpose in their process of speaking, each student should make lots of effort in the process of speaking In addition, they should be wise to combine these methods effectively so that they could choose the most suitable way for their own to bring it into the play Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) PART C: CONCLUSION Interaction stimulates communicative skills, especially speaking skills Interaction should be viewed as a part of language teaching in order to improve English speaking skills for the first-year student However, teachers should concern about their students’ attitude and feeling to provide them the most benefit interaction activities In short, from the study, firstly I wish to supply basic knowledge of the speaking skills and some problems that students can have during the process of practicing speaking skills (chapter 1) Then I give the questionnaire for freshmen from Faculty of English of Hanoi Open University and realize that improving speaking skills for the first-year students requires a lot of effort of teachers and students, depending deeply on knowing carefully students attitude, feeling and desire to improve English speaking through interaction (chapter 2) Consequently, this is essential to mention factors to concern when using group activities to train interaction strategy for improving speaking skills through pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary also as the ways to improve speaking skills in class (chapter 3) Although this study is only like “a sand in desert” of many studies by famous authors on the similar topic, I still hope that it can help the first-year students overcome their difficulties to improve their speaking skills Due to the time limit and my inadequate ability and experience, mistakes and imposed ideas in the study are unavoidable I would be grateful if I had chances to receive any remarks, comments on my study which would be extremely useful for my further studies in the future Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) REFERENCES Ashley, M (1976) Practical English language teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Brown, G & Yule, G (1983) Teaching the Spoken Language Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Brown, H.D (1994) Teaching by Principles; An Interactive Approach to Language pedagogy New Jersey; Prentice Hall Regents Bygate M (1987) Speaking Oxford: Oxford University Press Cook, G (1996) The interactional function of conversation Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Davis, H and Perse, A (2000) How to teach English London: Addison Wesley longman Eanest G B (1997) The Communication Value of Intonation in English Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Florez, M.A.C (1991) Communicative language teaching: the state of art California: Brown Company Publisher Gillham, B (2000) Developing a Questionnaire London and New York, Continuum 10 Harmer, J (1994) The Practice English Language Teaching London, Longman 11 Harris, B (2000) Effective technique for English conversation groups 12 Mc Donough, J & Shaw, C (1993) Material and Methods in ELT Cambridge University Press 13 Nunan, S (1985) Language Teaching Course Design Trend and Issues Commonweldth of Australia 14 Nunan, D (1999) Syllabus Design Oxford University Press Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) 15 Nunan, D (1991) Language teaching Methodology UK: prentice – hall International 16 Robert, S.B and Paul, N (1997) Language teacher Boston: Mcgraw – Hill (3rd.ed.) OCLC 64230435 17 Roach (1998) Testing communicative performance New York: Falmer Publishing Company 18 Sofsian, H (2006) Self-study and Diversity Rotterdam: Sense Publishers 19 Svennevig, A (1999) Getting acquainted in conversation: a study of initial interactions Amsterdam: John Benjamin Publishing Company 20 Sweeney, M.& Farmer, G (1994) Teaching and researching autonomy.Harlow: Pearson Education Limited 21 Taguchi, A (2007) English and language teaching materials Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 22 Tomaz P.S (1995) Learning to learn English Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 23 Tudor, G.M (1996) Preparing and delivering scientific presentation Berlin: Springer Publishing Company 24 Ur, P (1996) A course in language teaching – Practice and theory Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 25 Ur, P (1996) A course in Language Teaching Practice and Theory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 26 Vaid, S (2008) How to speak and write better English New Dehli: Orient Paperbacks Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) APPENDIX Survey questionnaire for students: This survey is designed for my research into the reality of using group work in the speaking class of the 1st students at Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated You can be confident that the data collected are only for the study purpose Thank you very much for your cooperation: Why you learn speaking skills? You can tick more than one answer: a English speaking is compulsory at your university b You just want to pass the oral exam c Speaking is necessary for your future job d You are interested in the speaking skills How important are speaking skills to you? a Very b Rather c Little d Not at all How important are speaking skills to you? a Very b Rather c Little d Not at all Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) How you like practice speaking in class? (Please tick the appropriate column where the numbers indicate how much you like the way the speaking activity is organized: 1:not at all; 2: little; 3:rather; 4:very much) 1: Individually 2: In a small group 3: With the whole class How often your English teachers implement group work in your speaking class? a Always b Often c Sometimes d Never How you work when working in a small group? a Work with great interest b Remain silent all the time c Chat with other group member about another topics d Speak Vietnamese while others discuss in group How much the group activities organized by the teachers in the speaking class help you in the following activities(Please tick the appropriate column where the numbers indicate how much you like the Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) way the speaking activity is organized: 1:not at all; 2: little; 3:rather; 4:very much) a Speak more in English b Feel more confident c Give you more opportunities for exchanging ideas d Learn from each other How many members you think is the most suitable for a group? a From three to five b More than five c The more the merrier d It depends on the kind of activities Do you have any difficulties when working in groups? a Yes, often b Yes, sometimes c Yes, but rarely d No, never 10 Which of the following difficulties you often come across with? a It’s difficult to talk with some partners b The other partners talk over you c The other partners talk less than you d Others 11 What are the factors that cause the difficulties? a Teacher’s low proficiency and experience in English and methodology Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) b The student’s low proficiency in English c The student’s passive learning style d Topics are not interesting e Other (please specify) 12 Who you like to work with for group work? a The students of the same English proficiency b The students of the mixed English proficiency c The students of the same interest d Students sitting next or near to you e The students of the same age f The students of the same sex g The students of opposite sex h Others (specify) 13 What kind of activities you want to in groups? Put a tick next to the activities a Role playing b Games f Discussion g Reading a long story c Conversation d Debating e Cross h Problem grouping 14 What you like the teacher to to facilitate group work activities? Please put a tick Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016) solving a To minimize his/her talking time e To provide a promoting leadin b To create a good language f To give clear instruction atmosphere c To give feedback, praise and encouragement g To provide necessary vocabulary, language, and suggest the ideas d Not to interrupt to correct h Other (please specify) when you are speaking Thanks for your co-operation! Vũ Thùy Dung – K19A07 ( 2012 – 2016)