The use of gessing game in speaking lessons to improve speaking skill to the 11th graders at Hau Loc 4 high school

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pages
1. INTRODUCTION
1
1.1 The reason of selecting the topic
1
1.2. Aims of study
2
1.3. Research methods 
2
1.4. Scope of the study
2
2. DEVELOPMENT
2
2.1. Theoretical background
2
2.1.1. Definition of speaking
2
2.1.2. Teaching speaking
3
2.1.3. Definition of guessing game
3
2.1.4. The benefits of guessing game
4
2.2. Reality
4
2.3. Solutions
5
2.3.1. Guessing game in teaching speaking skill
5
2.3.2. Demonstration
5
2.4. Findings
8
3. CONCLUSION AND PROPOSAL
10
3.1. Conclusion
10
3.2. Proposal
10
3.2.1. To teachers
10
3.2.2. To students
10
3.2.2. To infrastructure
11
REFERENCE BOOKS
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. The reason of selecting the topic
	Nowadays, most of people in the world desire to master the English language that is considered as a means of international communication. It is an important language for inter – state communications. By mastering English, people can communicate with other people especially with foreign people easily. Students who want to go abroad for education will have to learn to know English well. Many books about science, technology, engineer, medicine ect. are either written in or translated into English. It will be easy for people who want to get a job if they know English because any big company will hire their professional staff after getting to know whether the people they are hiring are good at English or not. Therefore, English becomes the first foreign language which is taught in Viet Nam.
	Language is a tool for communication. We communicate with others to express our ideas, and to know others’ ideas as well. Communication takes place, where there is speech. Without speech we cannot communicate with one another. The importance of speaking skills, hence is enormous for the learners of any language. In order to become a well rounded communicator, one needs to be proficient in each of the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing, but speaking skill seems to be the most important one of all because people who know a language are usually referred to as speakers of that language. The major goal of all English language teaching should be to give learners the ability to use English effectively, accurately in communication. That is why speaking must be practised regularlly in class by students. However, although students have learnt English for years, many of them are still incapable of using English orally. It means that they can not communicate in English after graduating high school if they have a chance to meet a foreigner.
To solve these problems, in teaching speaking, teachers should use approriate techniques. Teachers should create the situations that can encourage real communication and help students confident in expressing their ideas in English. Games is one of the techniques that can be applied in teaching speaking because through games students are more interested in lessons so they are free to express themselves in English. In this study, I only focus on the guessing games which provide more opportunities to students to take turns in speaking in class. This game is also easy to apply and flexible in terms of subject matter and design.
Based on the aboved – reasons and factors, I am going to present my teaching experience entitled: “ The use of gessing game in speaking lessons to improve speaking skill to the 11th graders at Hau Loc 4 high school”.
1.2. Aims of study
	The study aims at: 
- describing the use of guessing game in teaching speaking to the 11th greaders at Hau Loc 4 high school.
- describing the students’ progress after they are taught by using guessing game in speaking lessons.
- finding out the problems and solutions in teaching speaking to the 11th greaders at Hau Loc 4 high school.
1.3. Research methods.
- studying the theoretical background.
- using data collection techniques: observing and testing.
- using comparative methods
- reading reference books.
- discussing with other teachers.
- drawing out experiences.
1.4. Scope of the study
This study is concerned with the improvement of speaking skill to the students in the 11th grade at Hau Loc 4 high school. The researcher is not planning in studying a large population of all students at Hau Loc 4 high school, just on the students in grade 11 in order to find out the problems experienced by these students and teachers of English and then using guessing game to improve the students’ speaking skill.
I apply my study to students in grade 11 such 11A1, 11A8, 11A9 (School year 2016 - 2017) at Hau Loc 4 high school.
2. DEVELOPMENT
2.1. Theoretical background
2.1.1. Definition of speaking
	There are many definitions of speaking. Speaking is the act or skill of giving a speech at a public event (Cambridge English Dictionary). In Oxford Learner’s Pocket Dictionary, “ speak is be able to use a language to talk to somebody about something”. Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information (Brown, 1994; Burns & Joyce, 1997). Johnson and Morrow (1981: 70) say that speaking which is popular with term ‘oral communication’, is an activity involving two or more people in which hearers and speakers have to react to what they hear and make their contributions at a speed of a high level.
Based on the statements above, the writer concludes that speaking is an activity of producing and proccessing information through a language. Thus it is the one of the important language skill that must be mastered by any foreign language learner.
2.1.2. Teaching speaking
	According to Byrne 1986), the duty of language teacher is to develop students’ ability to use the language for variety of communicative purpose. Therefore, teaching speaking to young learners is an important thing in teaching English language. Speaking has crucial role as language communication. 
	Nevertheless, teaching speaking, as a foreign language is not easy because it is usually affected by the mother tongue. Beside that, to be able to speak, students have to organise their thought.
	From the statement above, teaching speaking as a foreign languge is not to make studentsto be able to speak in English but to make good impression to the language.
2.1.3. Definition of guessing game
Guessing game is  a game in which the player has to correctly guess the answer often used figuratively ( Learners’ Dictionary)
According to Alex Case “guessing game is a game in which the object is to guess some kinds of information, such as : a word, a phrase, a title, and the location object”. 
According to Klippel “ the basic rule of guessing games is eminently simple; one person knows something that onather one wants to want to find out”
Based on the definition, it can be concluded that guessin game is a game in which a person or participant knows something and competes individally or in a team to identify or find out the answer.
Some kinds of guessing game:
- Twenty questions
- Guess what is
- Who am I?
- Taboo
- I spy
	- Guess my job.
	- Hangman ..
2.1.4. The benefits of using guessing game.
- Guessing games make students more pleasure from regular activities in class. It creates a relaxing atmosphere in the classroom. It can also motivate students to speak English in class because of the fun and excitement of the games.
- “Guessing games can be used to teach about animals, profession or people in different age groups(baby, child, teenager, young adult, elderly person)”( Rechard – Amato, 1988, p. 156 as cited in Dwiyanti, 2009, p.17)
- “Real guessing games provide students with much needed practice in formulating questions, an essential skill that always receive sufficient attention” (Silver, 1980-1983, p. 244, as cited in Dwiyanti, 2009, p.17.
- “Guessing games can be used to develop or reinforce concepts, to add diversion to regular activities or just to break the ice. However, the most important function is to give practice in communication.( Rechard –Amato, 1988, p. 156 as cited in Dwiyanti, 2009, p.16). It means that guessing games help students not to feel bored during learning process and the most mportant thing is to give students lots of chances in practising their English. 
2.2. Reality
	Since the open – door policy adapted to Viet Nam, English teaching and learning have become very important to our country’s modernization and industrialization. However, teaching and learning mainly focus on the grammatical rules and structures and students can not use English in real – life communication. 
To help students improve their communicative skill, it is the need for oral competence in English that has turned the teachers’ emphasis from teaching grammar into teaching communication. Therefore, speaking skill nowaday plays a much more important role in modern English than ever before. Nevertheless, in spite of teachers’ efforts to provide students with opportunities to develop their communicative skills, how to teach and learn speaking effectively is still a challenging question to both teachers and students at many high schools in Vietnam.
At Hau Loc 4 high school, all of the students and the teachers know about the importance of speaking skill in learning English but how to help students speak fluently is still a great challenge . Speaking activities do not work in classes because of many factors. Students are afraid of making mistakes. They always think that they are going to be failed in speaking English. Others are not confident because of feeling to be laughed at by their friends when they pronounce a word incorrectly. Some of them lack of vocabulary so that they can not answer teachers’ questions or have a talk with their friends. Furthermore, students have the limitation of oppoturnity to practise speaking English. 
How to improve students’ speaking skills? Using guessing game helps me to do this.
2.3. Solutions
2.3.1. Guessing game in teaching speaking skill
A teacher of English should have interesting methods to teach the students effectively. Especially in teaching speaking, teachers should help students absorb the lesson properly. Therefore the use of games in teaching is needed and guessing games is one kind of games that teachers can apply to develop students’ speaking skill.
To use guessing games effectively, teachers have to make lesson planning carefully. They need to define the aim and content of the lesson clearly and should be flexible to choose suitable guessing games for each lesson.
Guessing games can be used in different stages of one speaking lesson: pre – speaking activities, while - speaking activities or post speaking activities.
- In pre – speaking activities: Teachers can use guessing games to build the students’ background knowledge related to the lesson.
- In while – speaking activities: Guessing games can be used to motivate students to speak English according to the topic of each lesson.
- In post - speaking activities: Students may feel free to play guessing games to consolidate the lesson.
2.3.2. Demonstration
Example 1:
	Unit 1: Friendship
	Lesson B: Speaking (period 4)
- The lesson is aimed at helping students be able to describe people’s physical characteristics and personalities.
- Guessing game is used in post – speaking stage.
- The game is called: : “Twenty questions”
- Time: 10 minutes
- Procedure: 
+ Students are divided into two groups: Group A and group B
+ Each group thinks of one of the famous person ( a singer, an actor, an actress, an astronaut, a musician) and write in a paper, then tell the other group one clue.
+ If group A in charge , group B has to find out the answer by asking “yes- no” questions (Teacher should encourage students to use the adjectives they have learnt to make questions). 
+ Group A can answer questions in complete answers or short answers (Yes/No). + If Group B can find out the answer in twenty questions or less, they get point. 
+ They will get 20 points if they can find out the answer in or less than five questions. They will get 10 points if they can find out the answer more than five questions.
Example: 
Group A says: “I am a famous singer now”.
Group B has to find out the answer by asking “yes- no” questions such as:
1. “ Are you a girl?”
2. “ Are you Vienamese?”
3. “Do you live in Ha noi?”
4. “Are you tall?”
5. “ Do you have an oval face?” 
6. “ Are you thin?”
7. “ Is your hair curly?” etc.
Group A can answer: “Yes or No”
If group B can find out the answer in twenty questions or less, they get point.
They will get 20 points if they can find out the answer in or less than five questions. They will get 10 points if they can find out the answer more than five questions.
+ In turns, group A then group B plays role a famous person.
+ The group gets more points, they win the game.
Example 2:
	Unit 12: Asian Games
	Lesson B: Speaking (period 77)
- The game is used in pre – speaking activity.
- The aim of using the guessing game in this lesson is to check the knowledge of the last lesson (part A: reading) about the names of the sport and help students use these sports to practise speaking in new lesson (part B: speaking)
.- Time: 10 minutes
- The game is called: “ Guess what sport is”
- Procedure:
+ Students are divided into two groups: Group A and group B
+ Each group has two representatives. One stands in front of the class. The other stand at the end of the class. Both of them stand in a line face to face.
+ Teacher gives the person standing in front of the class 5 names of the sports that have learnt in lesson A such as: soccer, fencing, weightlifting, bodybuilding, shooting. This student has to use the gestures or body language ( not verbal language) to explain these sports. The other has to look at the gestures or body language and guess to call out the names of the sport. ( other people in this group can help to find out the answers)
+ The group will get one point for finding out one right answer. Total point is 5.
+ If the group gets more points, they will win.
Example 3:
Unit 13: Hobbies
	Lesson B: Speaking (period 83)
- The game is used in pre – speaking activity.
- The aim of using the guessing game in this lesson is to remind students some names of hobbies such as: swimming, singing, fishing, stamp – collecting, reading book, lisening to music etc.
.- Time: 10 minutes
- The game is called: “ Taboo”
- Procedure:
+ Students are divided into two teams: Team A and Team B ( Each team should has even number of students with even skill level)
+ Teacher prepares a pile of cards with names of hobbies (swimming, singing, fishing, stamp – collecting, reading etc. )
+ Each team has representatives to pick up the cards ( each time is one student for one card). 
+ Make sure that each time the student pick up the cards, no one on his/her group can see the card. If one of your teammates does see it, he/she must take it out of play, but the other group does not get the point for it.
+ Each player has a certain amount of time to get their teammates to guess as many words as they can. 
+ The representative of the group looks at the card with the name of hobbies and gives their teammates clues about the guess – words. He/she can’t use any part of the word or any of the taboo words that are listed. (If the word is “stamp collecting”, you cannot say “ collect”).
+ If he/she gets to a word that he/she doesn’t know, or the teammates are having a hard time guessing it, you can skip the card. However, if you do skip a card, that point goes to the other team.
+ The team scores points when your teammates guess the words in limited time.
+ Take turns having each player on each team be the one to hold the buzzer and keep track of taboo word use.
+ The team gets more points, they win.
2.4. Findings.
Through the process of applying guessing games in teaching listening to improve English listening skills to the 11th graders at Hau Loc 4 high school, I have found out that the majority of students are interested in speaking in English class. Not only advanced students but also weak ones are eager to take part in speaking activities. Through the assessment in class 11A2, 11A8, 11A9, the students’ speaking ability has improved. Students are not passive in speaking lessons any more. They express their ideas in English naturally through playing the games. It seems that they do not feel to be forced to speak English. They are attacted to spaeking activities in class. 
Sometimes I conduct a poll about opinion of students through the question: How do you feel about English- speaking lessons in Grade 11 English curriculums?
A. Interest 	B. Average	C. Boredom
For three classes 11A2, 11A8, 11A9 (total: 120 students), I have achieved the following results:
Before applying
Total of students of three classes
Level
Interest
Average
Boredom
Munber of students
%
Munber of students
%
Munber of students
%
120
10
8.3
30
25
80
66.7
After applying: 
Total of students of three classes
Level
Interest
Average
Boredom
Munber of students
%
Munber of students
%
Munber of students
%
120
40
33.3
72
60
8
6.7
The students’ speaking ability has improved better than the first, in detail:
In the speaking lessons at the beginning of the school year.
Total of students of three classes
Fluency
Accuracy
Vocabualy
Pronunciation
Munber of students
%
Munber of students
%
Munber of students
%
Munber of students
%
120
10
8.3
8
6.7
15
12.5
8
8.3
In the speaking lessons at the end of the school year.
Total of students of three classes
Fluency
Accuracy
Vocabualy
Pronunciation
Munber of students
%
Munber of students
%
Munber of students
%
Munber of students
%
120
70
58.3
60
50
85
70.8
80
66.7
After applying guessing game in speaking lessons, I have found out that the number of students excited about speaking lessons have increased remarkably. 
Through this method students are more pleasure than regular activities in class, it creates relaxed atmosphere in the classroom. By using the game activities, students are more interested in the lesson so the teacher doesn’t have difficulty in encouraging them to follow the lesson.
The game activity encourages students to speak in English. When they are playing this game, their ability in speaking appears. They are not shy to speak in English any more, because they enjoy the game and want to become the wninner of the game.
Using guessing game in teaching speaking fluently and effectively will bring good results and encourage the students' learning methods and teachers’ teaching methods. Students are more active and confident in learning and expressing his opinion in front of the public, enhancing the autonomy, creativity and promoting thinking, they are going to practice more carefully to work with partners, this is the working skills of the 21st century. If the teachers know how to use guessing games ingeniously and reasonably, they will save time, increase the flexibility of the lectures.
3. CONCLUSION AND PROPOSALS
3.1. Conclusion
	This study was aimed at improving the students’ speaking skills through guessing games. Based on the result after using the games, it could be concluded that the implementation of the games and the supporting action successfully improved the speaking skill to the 11th graders at Hau Loc 4 school. The researcher and the teachers of English observed that there was improvement of the English teaching learning process. Before the action was conducted, some students were not active in the class, especially in the speaking lesson. They felt shy and afraid of making mistakes. It was different from another student in the same class who did not care about it. Fortunately, this condition could be solved by using guessing games. It could change the shy and afraid students to become active in the class, and became brave to speak English. All students liked t