Applying some useful speaking activities to enhance the 10th form students’ activeness at 4 Tho Xuan high school

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HOÁ
TRƯỜNG THPT 4 THỌ XUÂN
EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE
APPLYING SOME USEFUL SPEAKING ACTIVITIES
TO ENHANCE THE 10TH FORM STUDENTS’ ACTIVENESS
AT 4 THO XUAN HIGH SCHOOL
 Người thực hiện: Đỗ Thị Sen
 Chức vụ: Giáo viên
 Đơn vị công tác: Trường THPT 4 Thọ Xuân
 SKKN thuộc lĩnh vực (môn): Môn Tiếng Anh
THANH HOÁ NĂM 2018
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
1. INTRODUCTION
1
1.1. Reasons for choosing the research.
1
1.2. Aims of the research..
1
1.3. Object of the research
2
1.4. Methods of the research.
2
2. CONTENT..
3
2.1. Theoretical background.
3
2.2. The reality of the problem......
5
2.3. Measure implementation
8
2.3.1. Brainstorming 
9
2.3.2. Information Gap Activities..
11
2.3.3. Playing Cards.
13
 2.4. Result..
14
 3. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS...
15
3.1. Conclusion.
15
3.2. Suggestions
15
REFERENCES..
16
APPENDIX...
17
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Reasons for choosing the research
 English nowadays has become more and more popular and has been widely used in Viet Nam. It is one of the major subjects in many schools and an indispensable means of communication at present. It is also a "useful tool" and a "master- key" to discover the world of science, technology, education, culture, business and diplomacy. With such a trend of development, learning English is, therefore, important than ever before. It is of such great importance that many students are more and more interested in learning English. All learning is active in a certain sense, but some kinds of learning are more active than others. Here, active learning is defined in one sense to mean that the learner uses opportunities to decide about aspects of the learning process. The stimulation of learning activities and regulation processes, or teaching students how to learn, is likely to lead to the best performance in the long run.
 Speaking skill is a very important skill when learning English. Today’s world requires that the goal of teaching speaking should improve students’ communicative skills, because, only in that way, learners can express themselves and learn how to follow the social and cultural rules appropriate in teacher communicative circumstances. Many language learners regard speaking ability as the measure of knowing a language. These learners define fluency as the ability to converse with others, much more than the ability to read, write or comprehend oral language.
 The real situation of English language teaching in Vietnam shows that speaking is the skill students usually neglect and are not good at even though they have very good grammatical knowledge. Students’ learning methods depend much on teachers; students still are quite passive in their learning process. In order to improve the students’ speaking ability, teachers can use many kinds of communicative activities.
 Being aware of this urgent problem, I have a great desire to study the current activeness of students especially the 10th form students at 4 Tho Xuan high school and to investigate the learning activities in speaking lesson. That is the reason why I choose the topic “Applying some useful speaking activities to enhance the 10th form students’ activeness at 4 Tho Xuan high school”.
1.2. Aims of the research
 The aims of the research are:
- To investigate the situation of teaching and learning speaking to the 10th graders in classroom.
- To investigate the effectiveness of using games in teaching speaking to the 10th graders at 4 Tho Xuan high school.
- To provide some suggestions and implications for the improvement of speaking teaching at 4 Tho Xuan high school by using games in addition to other techniques.
1.3. Object of the research
 The research focuses specifically on using games in warm up activity in teaching speaking to the 10th graders at 4 Tho Xuan high school, namely, 3 classes 10A2, 10A4 and 10A5.
1.4. Methods of the research
 In the process of carrying out this research, the survey questionnaire is used to collect data. The survey questionnaire including pre-task and post-task survey questionnaire is for students from 3 classes 10A2, 10A4 and 10A5 at 4 Tho Xuan high school.
CONTENT
2.1. Theoretical background
 Speaking, as Bygate (1997) definites, involves not only the use of the right sound in the patterns of rhythm and intonation, but also the choice of words and inflections in the right order to convey the right meaning.
 O’Malley and Pierce (1996) states that speaking seems to be an important skill that a learner should acquire. It is very important in order to enable students to communicate effectively through oral language because the disability of the students to speak may lead them to be unable to express their ideas even in a simple form of conversation.
 Common speaking activities
 A variety of activities can be used to develop speaking skills. Below are some common ones:
 * Role play
 * Information gap activity
 * Problem – solving
 * Other picture card activities
 Motivation
 Motivation is generally defined as an abstract concept used to describe the willingness of a person to expand to reach a particular goal. For language learners, mastery of a language may be a goal. In linguistic, sociolinguistic and second language acquisition, a number of language learner motivation models have been postulated.
 Oxford and Shearin (1996) points out: “Motivation is important because it directly influences how often use L2 learning strategies, how much students interact with native speakers, how much input they receive in the language being learnt (the target language), how well they do on curriculum-related tests, how high their general proficiency level becomes, and how long they preserve and maintain L2 skills after language study is over”.
 Language games
 Language games mean games related to language. Hadfield (1987) classifies language games into may categories as follow:
 + Sorting, ordering, or arranging games.
 + Information gap games.
 + Guessing games.
 + Search games.
 + Matching games.
 + Labeling games.
 + Exchanging games.
 + Board games.
 + Role play games.
 Definition of “Teaching speaking”
- The goal of teaching speaking skill is communicative efficiency.
- Learners should be able to make themselves understand, using their current proficiency to the fullest. They should try to avoid confusion in the message due to faulty pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, and to observe the social and cultural rules that apply in each communicative situation.
- To help students develop communicative efficiency in speaking, teachers can use a balanced activities approach that combines: language input, structured output and communicative output.
- To use language as a means of expressing values and judgments and organize their thought in a meaningful and logical sequence.
- To produce the English speech sounds and sound patterns.
- To use word and sentence stress, and intonation.
- To select appropriate words and sentences.
- To use the language quickly and confidently with few unnatural pauses, which is called as fluency?
 Guiding principles
The following principles are important to keep in mind when teaching speaking:
* The techniques should cover the range of learner’s needs from accuracy to fluency.
* Speaking activities should be motivating to learners.
* Correction of learner errors should occur during speaking activities which are accuracy-oriented not fluency oriented.
* Speaking activities should be integrated with other language skills.
* Students should be encouraged to not only answer questions but also to initiate conversation and to take risks.
* Students should be provided with speaking strategies such as negotiating meaning, asking for clarification, turn-taking etc.
* The teacher should design speaking activities which simulate real-life situations so that students can learn how to speak naturally.
 How to teach speaking
- Definitely, by “interacting”.
- Communicative language teaching and collaborative learning serve best of this arm.
- Communicative language teaching should be based on real-life situations that require communication. By using this method in English speaking language classes, learners will have the opportunity of communicating with each other in the target language.
- The teachers help students learn to speak so that the students can use speaking to learn.
2.2. The reality of the problem
 General reality
 English as a foreign language in Vietnam is taught in high schools as a compulsory subject. Therefore, it is of great importance that we should take students' English language learning into consideration. The implementation of English teaching at present is based on the content standard. Its target is to help students to reach an informational level. It means that school learners are expected to be able to have adequate knowledge to use it to communicate with others in English. In fact, the English instruction in some High schools does not demonstrate a satisfactory result. Many students fail to reach the goal of the English teaching. They are not able to communicate with the language either orally or in written form although they have learned English for many years. Many of the learners in a speaking class are reluctant speakers. This reluctance is partly due to their prior learning experience. Many of them were educated in a large class in schools situated in noisy neighborhoods where opportunities to speak are severely limited. Others were taught in schools where speaking was simply not encouraged. Moreover, in Viet Nam, many students are not fully interested in learning English in class. On the one hand, they seem to be shy and fearful of making mistakes. On the other hand, we lack a language environment and sufficient learning activities. 
 In that reality, there have many problems catching pedagogues' attention, i.e., how to organize learning activities effectively, how to develop interesting study atmosphere in the classroom in order to enhance students' activeness in English language learning. 
 The 10th form students at 4 Tho Xuan high school	
Table 1: Result of the quality test at the beginning of the school year
Class
Total
Excellent
Good
Fair
Bad
Number
%
Number
%
Number
%
Number
%
10A2
46
1
2,2
12
26,1
21
45,6
12
26,1
10A4
44
0
0
8
18,2
14
31,8
22
50
10A5
45
0
0
10
22,2
15
33,3
20
44,5
 The research was carried out at 4 Tho Xuan high school with the participation of 135 the 10th form students. All of the surveyed students have learned English for 6 years. However, most of them have difficulties in mastering four language skills. Of the four skills, as many of them revealed, they find speaking especially important yet challenging one. That was the reason why most of the students feel bored and unmotivated in speaking classes.
 The survey questionnaire used for students from 3 classes 10A2, 10A4 and 10A5 at 4 Tho Xuan high school.
 Table 2: Students’ attitudes and perspectives towards speaking lessons
Options
Questions
A
(%)
B
(%)
C
(%)
D
(%)
Question 1:
How is speaking skill important to you?
A. Very important
B. Important
C. Normal
D. Not important at all
8
17
25
50
Question 2:
How do you find speaking topics introduced in English 11 textbook?
A. Very interesting B. Interesting
C. Normal D. Boring 
10
21
23
46
Question 3:
How do you find speaking activities introduced in English 11 textbook?
A. Very difficult B. Difficult
C. Normal D. Easy 
62
27
11
0
Question 4:
Are you willing to speak in speaking classes?
A. Yes, I like speaking very much
B. Yes, sometimes
C. No, I’m never willing to speak
1
28
71
 As can be seen clearly from the above table, a lot of the surveyed students think that speaking is the most difficult skill meanwhile there are only 8 % consider speaking very important. More specifically, 46 % find speaking topics introduced in English 10 textbook boring and 62% find speaking activities introduced in English 10 textbook very difficult. Moreover, there are so many students who are never willing to speak in speaking classes (71%). In summary, the students are losing their interest during the lesson. Therefore, an effective technique should be exploited to motivate students in these speaking lessons.
Table 3: A summary of students' activeness in English speaking learning
Students' activeness in
English speaking learning
Students' responses
(%)
1. The level of students' involvement in the speaking lesson
-	Very active 
-	Quite active
-	Little active
-	Not active at all
5,2
13,6
26,5
54,7
2. The reasons for students not involving in English speaking activities
-	Nervousness and shyness
-	Inefficient learning activities
-	Insufficient English knowledge
-	Not speaking English fluently
-	Others
 20,8
 12,6
 47,3
 19,3
 0
 0
3. Students' willingness for communication and discussion the tasks with others
- Yes
- No
 23,5
 76,5
4. The frequency of finding chances to practice English inside and outside classroom
-	Frequently
-	Sometimes
-	Rarely
-	Never
 7,5 
 18,3
 30,2
 44
The data collected from the students' questionnaire and classroom observation give us an overview of the activeness of the 10th form students in learning speaking English. According to what is shown from the table 3, it can be realized that a small number of the 10th form students enjoy learning speaking English while there are still a lot of the students who have a negative attitude towards English speaking learning.
 Obviously, students nowadays have a clear awareness of English learning; they learn it not because they are forced to study but because they are conscious of the importance and necessity of English at present. Therefore, in order to help students learn English effectively, the enhancement of students' activeness in English speaking learning is of paramount importance. 
2.3. Measure implementation
Traditional classroom speaking practice often takes the form of drills in which one person asks a question and another gives an answer. The question and the answer are structured and predictable, and often there is only one correct, predetermined answer. The purpose of asking and answering the question is to demonstrate the ability to ask and answer. In contrast, the purpose of real communication is to accomplish a task, such as conveying a telephone message, obtaining information or expressing an opinion. In real communication, participants must manage uncertainty about what the other person will say. Authentic communication involves an information gap; each participant has information that the other does not have. In addition, to achieve their purpose, participants may have to clarify their meaning or ask for confirmation of their own understanding. 
To create classroom speaking activities that will develop communicative competence, teachers need to incorporate a purpose and an information gap and allow for multiple forms of expression. However, quantity alone will not necessarily produce competent speakers. Teachers need to combine structured output activities, which allow for error correction and increased accuracy, with communicative output activities that give students opportunities to practice language use more freely. 
In classroom, besides active students some of them are still passive in the learning process. It is the teachers' duty to evoke these students' interests, encourage their involvement in classroom activities.
 To lessen the students' fear of making mistakes and shyness, teachers should increase students' confidence by encouraging them to contribute their ideas to the lesson. Teachers may give them some cues for the answers and express satisfaction and excitement about their ideas even silly answers. It is essential that teachers should use open- ended questions as much as possible that many answers are acceptable. This makes students to be more confident and less afraid of making mistakes.
* The following activities are used frequently in speaking lesson: 
 - Discussions
 - Reporting
 - Role-play
 - Interviews
Simulations
Story telling
Picture describing
Picture narrating
 During my teaching time, I realized that the above activities are sometimes too difficult for “weak” students to participate. In this initiative, therefore, I mention some other speaking activities in order to enhance the 10th form students’ activeness. 
2.3.1. Brainstorming
On a given topic, students can produce ideas in a limited time. Depending on the context, either individual or group brainstorming is effective and learners generate ideas quickly and freely. The good characteristics of brainstorming are that the students are not criticized for their ideas so students will be open to sharing new ideas.
+ Aims: 
Brainstorming helps students recall vocabulary, structures, expressions related the given topic.
+ Advantages: 
- Brainstorming is a creative process that can be undertaken individually but is mainly used in a group setting. 
- It is used to work through ideas to find a solution to a problem or situation. 
- It is a powerful way to generate, share and maximize new ideas. 
- Brainstorming provides many advantages to the process of sorting through problems. 
+ Example:
Unit 1: A day in the life of  - Lesson B 
Task 3: Tell your classmates about your daily routine
Aim: Let the students practice talking about daily life.
Teaching aids: extra-board
Time: 15 minutes
Procedure:
- Step 1 (1 minute): The teacher divides the class into groups of five or six. Each group selects a leader who controls the group and takes notes the ideas of the other students. 
- Step 2 (4 minutes): The teacher has the students to list vocabulary and structures about daily routine. 
- Step 3 (2 minutes): The teacher asks the representatives of each group to hand in their lists and decides which group has the best list. 
- Step 4 (3 minutes): The teacher hangs an extra-board (vocabulary and structures about daily routine) and has the students to work in pairs to tell about their daily routine. 
- Step 5 (4 minutes): The teacher calls some students to represent in front of the class. 
- Step 6 (1 minute): The teacher comments.
2.3.2. Information Gap Activities
Information Gap Activities require students to communicate with each other in order to find all the necessary information to complete the activity.  Each partner has information that the other does not.  It is very important that students have the appropriate level of language in order to complete the activity.  There is sometimes a lot of repetition in the communication as students try to narrow down the information.  This can be very useful when the teacher wants the students to focus on a particular structure.  Here is an example of an activity where students first choose their “secret” information that their partner must then discover.
+ Aims: 
Information gap activities force the students to ask each other questions; these activities help make the classroom experience more meaningful and authentic. 
+ Advantages: 
Information gap activities are useful because they are very meaningful; all students are involved in the process equally and they are all moving towards a specific purpose. Each student has the task of finding out certain information, and therefore must find a way in which to ask for this information. Motivation is usually quite high in these activities. These activities help move the students from working in a more structured environment into a more communicative environment; they are hopefully using lots of the target language, and in the process discovering where they have gaps. Knowing where these gaps are gives them a direction in which to improve.
+ Example:
Unit 11: National parks – Lesson B 
Task 3: Work in pairs. Ask and answer questions to complete your table.
Aim: Using conditional senten