Some techniques for the teachers and students to perform in order to improve the learning speaking skill of grade 11th students

1. THE INTRODUCTION
1.1 REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC 
 Learning a language is a complex and long process as anyone who has tried will agree. One of the most difficult and frustrating things is making the transition from the classroom to the 'real' world. In the classroom, everyone knows you are a student and mistakes are allowed, and the environment is contained and safe. Speaking another language outside the classroom is completely different and often students are lost at sea as soon as they step outside the door. Lists of memorized vocabulary are suddenly useless when ordering in a restaurant. 
 The problem becomes more complicated when it comes to Vietnam setting. English teachers in Vietnam have just adopted communicative approach for just a few years since the using of the new textbooks. However, they have not paid enough attention to speaking skill. The speaking tasks are simple, and more importantly, impractical. 
 In this writing, I would like to recommend a more practical way of teaching speaking in high school classrooms; that is using role-plays and simulations. Role-plays, or simulations are one of the ways ESL instructors can ease students' transition into using English in real world situations. A simulation is where students act out a real-life situation, for example checking into at a hotel, but do not act out a different personality. Role-plays are where students take on different personalities. In a role-play, for example, one student may be asked to take on the role of "an angry neighbor" which is out of character for the student. 
 The purpose of role playing is to give the students an opportunity to work with others in determining how an individual or group might behave in response to a particular situation. Role playing is often used primarily to promote classroom discussion. The use of role playing as a cooperative learning model also includes class discussion as a vital step, but in this approach the entire class is involved in preparing and presenting role plays through group activity. 
1.2. AIMS OF THE RESEARCH.
- To help and encourage our upper secondary school students to improve their speaking skill.
- To examine the areas of difficulties in speaking encountered by 11th grade students at Trieu Thi Trinh high school.
- To investigate the needs of 11th grade students to complete the speaking tasks effectively.
- To suggest some techniques for the teachers and students to perform in order to improve the learning speaking skill of grade 11th students.
1.3. SCOPE, OBJECT AND RESEARCHING METHOD
*Subject and Object
 - The difficult prolems in learning speaking skill of sudents at Trieu Thi Trinh high school.
- The ideas for improving speaking ability for high school students .
- Students at Trieu Thi Trinh High School and I focus mainly on students of class 11A3 
* Scope
- Speaking skill
- Techniques to teach a speaking lesson.
1.4. Researching methods.
- Reading reference books
- Dicussing with other teachers
- Applying in teaching ,observing and drawing out experiences.
2 . CONTENT
2.1. ARGUMENT BASIC
 *.Purpose of teaching
 Purpose of teaching a foreign language not to provide students the knowledge of that language,but the last purpose of teaching a foreign language in general and in English in separation is to teach the students the ability to comunicate in English in four skills: listening, speaking,reading and writing.Speaking skill of students is formed in a period of learning and training in foreign invironment.Apart from learning at school,students have to learn how to speak through different ways by their own.
. *Some direct factors influence the effect of a speaking period.
 The Teacher.
 - With a new and active method,the teacher plays a direct role,introduce students how to learn.
 - To have a good listening period , the teacher needs to carry out some following factors.
+Choosing and usingthe suitable techniques in teaching listening skill.
+ Organising and controlling the class and setting logical time.
+Creating the suitable teaching aids for a teaching period
+ Emotivating ,attracting and fascinating the students.
*. Speaking techniques.
 Speaking techniques are defined by the speaking content. By other way,the speaking content controls the choice,the applying the speaking technicques.
*.Teaching equipments and aids for teaching speaking skill.
Using picture equipments in teaching speaking skill is a main content in English book.So having good equipments and teaching aids are very necessary to motivate students'interest.
 *. The students.
 To have a good speaking period, students need to have necessary skills in speaking and understanding in English
2.2.THE COMMON PROBLEMS
For long, English has been considered to be a compulsory subject at any schools.There are four important skills in English: Listening,speaking,reading and writing .And speaking is known as the most important and difficult skill for all students.That is why so many students have prolems with it and I’d like to narrow down some main problems that most all students have:
 + They just don’t know the most important words.
+ They are lack of words , structures and knowleadge related to the speaking topic
+ They are distracted by background noise.
+ They can’t cope with not having emages
+ Finally they have pronouncing prolems 
- Therefore, to univeralize it at school is becoming extremely in need. But, its requirement is not as low as we used to think about it:
* To have a perfect class, we need to improve our knowledges and teaching method. Especially, we ought to be perfect at conducting a propaganda campaign.It means that every student can understand grammatically the importance of learning English.They need to answer correctly the question from the bottom of their heart “Why do we need to learn English?”.They should come to learn English with all their heart and by their love to it.We may be satisfied when we see and “ hear” that our students are keen on learning English and they always ask about difficulties in learning English.
 * New English textbook has been changed all about their appearances and contents.They aim to help both teacher and student have good classes as they hope. Especially, new textbook clearly helps student easily improve their four skills ( Listening;Speaking;Reading;Writing). But, how do we teach these four skills perfectly? .Especially,listening skill.
 * Speaking skill seem to be the most difficult to our students. we all know that in order to learn a foreign language successfully,students should be helped to develope four skills : listening,speaking,reading and writing. These four skills are closely interrelated to one another and they are all necessary. Of the four skills, speaking is regarded as the foundation to acquire the language.
2.3.SOME USEFUL WAYS FOR USING ROLE- PLAY 
- The more engaging the better. The value of role-plays come from students immersing themselves in the material. 
- Choose a 'hot' topic and stage a debate. Assign students positions on the topic (for/against). This will get students out of their personality and into the role where they do not have the same inhibitions. 
- Preparation is very important to success. Give students 'personality cards' which sketch out their personal characteristics or scenario. Divide students into groups and give them time to sketch out various scenarios, and go over extra or special vocabulary, ask them to discuss how they will act, think about the character and plan what they will say. For example, what are possible responses/replies for the angry neighbor? 
- The teacher, as facilitator of the role-play must support students in their role, i.e. they 'are' in the backyard arguing over the fence. Don't do anything to interrupt the pretend environment. Leave grammar correction to the end. Correcting students in the middle of an argument interrupts the pretend environment. Make notes and do a debriefing after. 
- Exaggeration is good! Encourage students to exaggerate their actions, opinions and movements. Exaggeration helps students immerse themselves in the role. 
- Stage a rehearsal first. Have students practice their role in small groups with coaching from the other students. 
- While the role-play or debate is in progress, have other students suggest vocabulary first, and act as backup if they do not know. 
 - Role-plays are unpredictable which makes them both a valuable learning tool and at the same time difficult to manage. Sketch out the various routes the role-play can take from the initial scenario. This will give you some idea what to expect and avoid any surprises. Role-plays can range from 30 minutes to one hour. 
2.4. Steps in carrying out role-plays: 
 Outside the classroom:
_ Choosing the topic, based on the topic of the lesson or the main grammar point of that lesson.
_ Preparing materials, especially role-play cards (Teachers can make up the cards themselves, or search for them on the Internet)
 Inside the classroom:
_ Providing students with enough language to be used in their role-plays.
_ Setting up the scene for role-plays.
2.5 .APPLYING THE RESEARCH IN TEACHING
Unit 1: Friendship (English 11) 
Version 1
Finding a Perfect Roommate/Flatmate Role-play
1. Materials: 
Ranking Roommates: Vocabulary Warm-up
Room Ads: Listening Reading Comprehension Warm-up
Rooms for Rent Role Cards
Friends Looking for Rooms Role Cards
Students with Rooms for Rent Activity Sheet
Students with Friends Needing Rooms Activity Sheet
2. Purpose and Audience:
The purpose of these materials is to get the students to practice talking about the qualities of good and bad roommates.  
3. Target Language:
           Describing people and their habits. 
4. Warm up: 
a) Group Discussion
Where do you live?
Do you live in a dormitory or with your family?
Who do you live with?
Are you happy where you live? Why or why not?
b) Pros and Cons Brainstorm
What do you think about shared accommodation?
What are the pros and cons of shared accommodation?
·       2 groups divided into Pros and Cons
·       then pair up Pro and Con to discuss
c) Which would you choose?
In groups of 3, put Shared Accommodation Ads in pile face down. Students turn 1 up and explain to the group.
This accommodation is in (area).
It’s a (flat/house/townhouse)
There are (number) people living there.
It costs $____ a week.
(other information)
 Would you like to live there? Why or why not? – Discuss
After going through all six ads, choose the best one for you and explain why.
The Perfect Flatmate
What kind of person is good to live with? Why?
Ranking Exercise:
In groups, students circle the ideal qualities of roommates using the Ranking Exercise Vocabulary Sheet and then rank them in order of importance. 
5. Role-play 
Set-up:
The class is divided into two groups:
Group 1: These students have a room for rent at their house because a roommate has just moved out. They will need a Room for Rent Role Card and a Room for Rent Activity Sheet.
Group 2: These students have a friend who is looking for a place to live. They will need a Friends Looking for a Place to Live Role Card and a Students with Friends Needing a Room Activity Sheet.
The students should be given some time to read their role cards, ask questions about vocabulary and then write down the concerns (from the role cards) into the table headings (on the activity sheets).
Divide the class chairs into two lines facing each other (or if you like, have an inner circle and outer circle). One line is for students with rooms to rent (Group 1)and the other line is for students who have friends who need a place to live (Group 2). 
Group 1 students approach group 2 students and ask them if the group 2 students know anybody who needs a place to live. Group 2 students tell them they have a friend who is looking for a place. Group 2 will then ask questions to make sure that their friend will be happy in the shared accommodation. Group 1 students then ask questions about the friend to make sure that the friend is compatible. 
Unit 1: Friendship (English 11) 
Version 2
Matchmaking Roleplay
Duration: 	15–20 min
Aim: 	Oral fluency practice
Requirements: 	Lots of space
Summary: 	Each student is given a "child", and tries to pair him/her up with a suitable partner.
Introduction 
The students are initially organised into groups, with each group member receiving a different information card describing their son or daughter. But the actual speaking is done on a one-to-one basis, with the students mingling in their group and talking to the other "parents". 
Groups contain 8 to 10 students, so this mingling requires a classroom with lots of space, and preferably no desks to obstruct movement. 
Preparation 
Print enough copies of ten_singles.doc so that each student can receive one information card. 
Optionally, use a different colour of paper for each set of information cards. 
Procedure 
If the information cards are all white, then the teachers need to organise the students into groups of 8 or 10 first (ideally an even number, otherwise one poor child will miss out on a husband or wife). If we have a different colour for each set of information cards, then we can simply hand out the cards as you wish, and get the students to form groups according to the colours after they have read the card. 
Explain that we are going to give each student a son or daughter! Tell them to read the card and imagine what the person is like: do you think they are romantic? Friendly? Humourous? Hard-working? 
Give out the cards and allow some time for reading. (If there are some groups of eight, simply give them four male and four female information cards). 
Explain that the students can add extra details that aren't on the card. For example, does your child have a car or a motorbike? Is he/she clever? To encourage this, give the students an extra minute to think of one detail to add. 
Now explain that each person should talk to the "parents" of potential husbands/wives. They should only speak to one person at a time. Once they have heard about all the potential partners, students should agree on how to match them up. Check: 
If you have a daughter, who do you talk to? (parents of sons) 
Do you talk in a group, or in pairs? (pairs) 
If you have a daughter, then do you have to speak with everyone in your group who has a son? (yes) 
When you have spoken to everyone, what do you do? (agree on the couples) 
If some groups finish early, you can tell them to think of reasons why the couples they have matched up are suitable. 
Have a feedback session at the end, perhaps writing the results on the board. 
Your son, Tony, is a young doctor who often works long hours at the hospital. He is a quiet, thoughtful person.
Your daughter, Sue, works at a restaurant. She enjoys her job because she likes talking to people. But she also wants to get married and have a child.
Your son, Paul, enjoys many sports such as football, basketball, and mountain climbing. He works for a small company. He would like a wife, but not children.
Your daughter, Julie, owns a bookshop and is often very busy. Although she is young, the workers respect her, and she is very generous to them.
Your son, David, has an important job at the bank. Your family is quite rich, so David is used to good clothes and expensive holidays.
Your daughter, Jenny, is studying chemical engineering at a top university. She loves going to restaurants, watching movies, and travelling.
Your son, Martin, has a job as a gardener but he thinks his work is boring. In his spare time he paints, and enjoys reading poetry.
Your daughter, Ingrid, is a shy girl who works at a nearby factory. She’s an excellent piano player, and usually plays for at least an hour every day.
Your son, Edward, is studying business at college. He talks a lot, and is very confident (in fact some people think he is a bit bossy).
Your daughter, Emma, is a pretty girl who dreams of becoming a movie actress. She enjoys shopping, especially with her friends.
Unit 9: The Post Office (English 11)
Role-play: I Need to Mail This Letter to Mexico 
1. Materials: 
Post Office Customer Activity Sheet
Post Office Clerk Activity Sheet
Post Office Rate Sheet
Customer Errands Sheets
2. Purpose and Audience:
 This role-play is intended for false beginners who are working in the postal industry or need some survival travel English skills. The role-play includes the language for talking about delivering letters, parcels, packages, and postcards. The role-play also presents an opportunity to go over numbers used for dollar amounts such as $12.95 or $42.00. As well teachers can go over talking about the time something takes such as 2-3 days (read two to three days or between two and three days). 
3. Warm-up:
 As one possible warm-up, I bring a letter and a parcel into class and tell the class that I have to deliver these. I ask where the post office is. After I get directions, I tell them I'm worried because the letter is a very important letter and I don't want it get lost in the mail or I tell them it's my friend's birthday next week and I want the parcel to get there on time. I see what responses this elicits. Hopefully, somebody will suggest I use a courier or special delivery. Then we talk about rates and schedules writing down expressions on the board as needed.
Another possible warm-up is to give the parcel and letters to the students and then start the class with: Welcome to Chris's Post Office. How can I help you?
If the students simply say that they want to mail the parcel, I counter with: That'll be $1000 dollars please (or you could use an outrageous amount in the local currency). Hopefully, this will draw a shocked response and they should start inquiring as to why it's so expensive. I tell them it's because its super speedy delivery. This should get them to inquire about other more reasonable options, which is a big part of the role-play.
4. Class Set-up for Role-play:
 The students are divided into customers doing errands at the post office and post office clerks. The customers need a customer activity sheet and and errand list. Post office clerks need a post office clerk activity sheet and a complete schedule of postal rates. I usually have a row of desks with all of the post office clerks on one side and all of the customers sitting on the other.
5. Class Activity: 
 Customers go from post office to post office mailing one item on their errand list at a time. While doing this, they should record the prices and delivery times on the customer activity sheet. Post office clerks wait for customers to come into their post offices. The clerks then give the customers the required information and fill out their postal clerk activity sheets. 
Argentina 
Surface
Air
Special Delivery
Courier
Letters
$1.50
8-10 days
$5.95
2-4 days
$25.50
Overnight
Parcels
$12.50
4-6 weeks
$18.00
10-12 days
$29.50
4-6 days
Postcards
$0.50
8-10 days
Chile
Surface
Air
Special Delivery
Courier
Letters
$1.75
7-10 days
$7.40
3-5 days
$19.50
Overnight
Parcels
$8.50
4-5 weeks
$15.00
8-10 days
$36.00
4-6 days
Postcards
$0.60
7-9 days
China
Surface
Air
Special Delivery
Courier
Letters
$1.40
1-2 weeks
$5.50
2-4 days
$18.75
1-2 days
Parcels
$12.00
6-8 weeks
$21.50
1-2 weeks
$41.00
4-6 days
Postcards
$0.70
1-2 weeks
Costa Rica
Surface
Air
Special Delivery
Courier
Letters
$1.60
4-6 days
$14.40
3-5 days
$22.50
1-2 days
Parcels
$13.50
5-7 weeks
$17.50
1-2 weeks
$29.50
6-8 days
Postcards
$0.55
1-2 weeks
Indonesia
Surface
Air
Special Delivery
Courier
Letters
$1.20
8-10 days
$12.90
3-5 days
$26.00
2-3 days
Parcels
$12.50
4-6 weeks
$19.50
7-10 days
$34.00
4-6 days
Postcards
$0.60
2-3 weeks
Poland
Surface
Air
Special Delivery
Courier
Letters