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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
ỨNG THỊ HƯỜNG
THE EFFECTS OF USING LANGUAGE GAMES ON SPEAKING
ABILITY OF STUDENTS AT NGUYEN HUE HIGH SCHOOL
Ảnh hưởng của việc sử dụng trò chơi ngôn ngữ đối với khả năng nói
của học sinh trường THPT Nguyễn Huệ
M.A THESIS
Field:
English Linguistics
Code:
8220201
THAI NGUYEN – 2018
THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
ỨNG THỊ HƯỜNG
THE EFFECTS OF USING LANGUAGE GAMES ON SPEAKING
ABILITY OF STUDENTS AT NGUYEN HUE HIGH SCHOOL
Ảnh hưởng của việc sử dụng trò chơi ngôn ngữ đối với khả năng nói
của học sinh trường THPT Nguyễn Huệ
M.A THESIS
(APPLICATION ORIENTATION)
Field:
English Linguistics
Code:
8220201
Supervisor:
Dr. Dương Đức Minh
THAI NGUYEN – 2018
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
This is to certify that the thesis entitled “The Effects of Using Language
Games on Speaking Ability of Students at Nguyen Hue High School” has been
written by me and the work in it has not previously been submitted for a degree. In
addition, I also certify that all information sources and literature have been indicated
in the thesis.
Thai Nguyen, October 2018
Ứng Thị Hường
i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
During the process of carrying out this study, I have received a large amount of
contribution and support from many people.
First, I would like to express the deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Dương
Đức Minh, for his invaluable encouragement and useful advice during the whole
process of this master thesis. Without his help, this paper could not have been
completed.
Next, I am thankful to all my lecturers as well as staff at School of Foreign
Languages, Thai Nguyen University for their great supports and suggestions.
Also, I am grateful to the teachers of English and the students at Nguyen Hue
high school for their immense help and participation.
Finally, my special thanks go to my beloved family and friends for their love,
care and support during my MA course, especially on the completion of this thesis.
Thai Nguyen, October 2018
Ứng Thị Hường
ii
ABSTRACT
It goes without saying that speaking plays an important role in learning a
foreign language. However, in the context of learning English in Vietnamese high
schools, students’ speaking is generally far from satisfactory. This study, hence, aims
at investigating the effects of using language games on students’ speaking ability.
The study was guided by two research questions regarding the extent to which the
use of language games impacts students’ speaking skill and how students evaluate
this technique. To answer those questions, an action research in twelve weeks was
carried out. The participants included 40 grade 11th students at Nguyen Hue high
school. The data were collected from observation sheets and questionnaires, and
subsequently were visualized and discussed. The data from observation sheets
indicates that though the use of language games did not result in change in the
students’ ability to use the target language to speak, these activities helped the class
atmosphere to be more enjoyable and the students more motivated. Furthermore, it is
demonstrated from the questionnaires that the students held a positive attitude
towards the use of language games in their speaking lessons.
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP......................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ ii
ABSTRACT .........................................................................................................................iii
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................... v
LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS ................................................................................vii
Chapter I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1
1.1. Rationale ..................................................................................................................... 1
1.2. Aims of the study ........................................................................................................ 2
1.3. Scope of the study ....................................................................................................... 2
1.4. Significance of the study............................................................................................. 2
1.5. Outline of the thesis .................................................................................................... 2
Chapter II: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................... 4
2.1. Speaking teaching ....................................................................................................... 4
2.1.1. Definitions of speaking skill ................................................................................. 4
2.1.2. The teaching of speaking ..................................................................................... 4
2.1.3. Speaking activities ............................................................................................... 8
2.1.4. The teaching of English speaking in Vietnam ...................................................... 6
2.2. Language games ....................................................................................................... 11
2.2.1. Definitions of language games .......................................................................... 11
2.2.2. Reasons for using language games .................................................................... 12
2.2.3. Types of language games ................................................................................... 13
2.2.4. Principles of using language games .................................................................. 15
2.4. Previous studies ........................................................................................................ 16
2.5. Concluding remarks .................................................................................................. 18
Chapter III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................................... 19
3.1. Research questions .................................................................................................... 19
3.2. Research participants ................................................................................................ 19
3.3. Research design ........................................................................................................ 20
3.4. Data collection instruments ...................................................................................... 23
3.4.1. Observation ........................................................................................................ 23
3.4.2. Questionnaires ................................................................................................... 24
3.5. Procedure of data collection ..................................................................................... 24
Chapter IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS............................................................... 26
4.1. The effect of language games on students’ speaking ability .................................... 26
4.2. The students’ attitudes towards the use of language games ..................................... 33
4.2.1. Findings from the questionnaires ....................................................................... 33
4.2.2. Findings from the Observation Sheets No.2 ...................................................... 41
iv
4.3. Discussion ................................................................................................................. 41
4.4. Concluding remarks .................................................................................................. 42
Chapter V: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................... 44
5.1. Summary ................................................................................................................... 44
5.2. Recommendations ..................................................................................................... 45
5.3. Limitations of the study ............................................................................................ 46
5.4. Suggestions for further study .................................................................................... 46
REFERENCES................................................................................................................... 47
APPENDICES .......................................................................................................................I
v
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Comparison between the results of the 1st observation and those of the 2nd
observation ................................................................................................................33
Table 2: Students’ opinion about their speaking skill ...............................................35
Table 3: Students’ preferences of class grouping in language games ......................40
vi
LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS
Chart 1: The students’ individual participation in the first observation ...................28
Chart 2: The students’ individual participation in the second observation ...............32
Chart 3: The students’ opinion about learning speaking...........................................34
Chart 4: The students' opinion about the effect of language games on their
speaking
skill......................................................................................................35
Chart 5: The students’ opinions about the benefits of language games ....................36
Chart 6: The students’ attitudes towards the teacher’s instructions to the games ....38
Chart 7: The students’ difficulties when taking part in language games ..................39
vii
Chapter I: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
Speaking skill is an important part of learning English. Those who learn
English always wish to use this skill as well as they can. Speaking English fluently is
the key that enables people to communicate with foreigners easily, accept the advance
of technology and get success in their jobs. Especially, in the era of globalization,
English oral proficiency has become much more necessary than ever as it is used in
every domain of the world. In Vietnam, English is one of compulsory subjects from
primary to tertiary education and speaking English has been taught for years with the
hope to help students communicate by this language successfully.
However, it is a fact that while many students study English grammar very
well, they cannot master it just because they get difficulties in their speaking. This
problem is really clear at Nguyen Hue high school where students have to face a
number of obstacles. First, geographical and economic conditions have led to limited
educational environment. Some students even do not have sufficient time and
materials to learn. In addition, the traditional approach and examination format
focusing on grammar and vocabulary appear to demotivate students. Most of the
English lesson time is spent on teaching and learning structures and new worlds,
students do not have much opportunity to practice speaking and eventually lose their
interest in learning speaking.
After two years working with mountainous students in English lessons, the
researcher found that more than a half of them have problem with the speaking skill.
They feel difficult to express their ideas and it often takes them long time to make
sentences or speak out the ideas despite the fact that they know the words and
structures. Moreover, their ability of language production is limited, they are not
productive and creative enough in English speaking skill. In many students’ opinion,
learning by heart dialogues and practicing repetition of drills are enough in speaking
classes. Though some techniques have been applied to raise their interests and
improve their oral skill, the results seem not to be acceptable. Students still find
speaking challenging and they are not confident enough to communicate in English.
Those reasons have driven the researcher to carry out the present study to apply
1
and evaluate the impacts of language games on speaking classes. With the title “The
Effects of Using Language Games on Speaking Ability of Students at Nguyen Hue
High School”, the paper is expected to be beneficial to teachers, students and those
who want to improve learners’ speaking skill.
1.2. Aims of the study
The principal purpose of the study is to help Vietnamese leaners improve their
English speaking skill, particularly those in mountainous areas by implementing
language games in speaking classes. In details, the study intends to investigate the
effects of using language games on students’ speaking and to gain understanding of
the students’ opinion and attitudes towards this technique.
Therefore, the research aims at answering two questions:
1. To what extent do language games affect the students’ English speaking
ability?
2. What are the students’ attitudes towards language games in their
English speaking classes?
1.3. Scope of the study
The research focuses on studying how using language games affects speaking
ability of 11th grade students at Nguyen Hue high school and how they evaluate
language games in their classes.
1.4. Significance of the study
The current study is believed to make important contributions in some ways.
First of all, the research results would help teachers and educators of English to
recognize how language games affect their speaking classes and then adjust their
teaching so as to meet the students’ needs. It can also provide teachers with possible
suggestions to improve the use of games in their classrooms. Second, through the
games in the classes, it is hoped that students will be more interested in learning
speaking and become more confident when communicating in English.
1.5. Outline of the thesis
As required, the paper will have such main parts as follows:
Chapter I: INTRODUCTION, presents statement of the problem and
rationale for the study, aims, scope, significance, and outline of the study.
2
Chapter II: LITERATURE REVIEW, clarifies theoretical background and
related studies relevant for the research.
Chapter III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY, elicits information related
to research questions, research methods, data collection, data procedure, coding
scheme, and data analysis.
Chapter IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION is the main part of the study
and will be divided into two subsections, correspondent to two research questions.
First, the extent to which language games influence students’ speaking ability is
reported. Subsequently, students’ attitudes towards the use of this strategy are
displayed.
Chapter V: CONCLUSION, summarizes essential findings, provides some
linguistic and pedagogical implications, and gives suggestions for further studies.
Besides, there should be REFERENCES and APPENDICES if any at the
end of the research.
3
Chapter II: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter is to present an overview of the theoretical background, which
consists of three main parts. The first part deals with the teaching speaking in general
and the teaching of this skill in Vietnamese education context in particular. The
second one discusses language games and their application in speaking classes.
Finally, related previous studies are considered to figure out how language games
have been utilized to teach speaking.
2.1. Speaking teaching
2.1.1. Definitions of speaking skill
As a part of daily life that people acquire since they are children, speaking
plays a significant role in communicating, thinking and learning in a language.
Therefore, various linguists and educators have attempted to define it. According to
Chaney (1998, p. 13), speaking is defined as “the process of constructing and sharing
meaning via the use of verbal and non – verbal symbols, in a variety of context.”
Cameron (2001) considers speaking as the active use of language to convey meanings
for other people to understand them. She adds that speaking is more difficult than
listening because it involves not only comprehension but also production. Also,
Hybel (2001) states that speaking is any process in which people share information,
ideas and feeling, and meaning of a message communicated via speaking is added by
body language, mannerism and style.
Speaking is described as a social, multi – sensory speech event, whose topic is
unpredictable (Thornbury & Slade, 2006). The social feature of speaking is typical
since it establishes relationships and mutual agreement, strengthens and changes
social identity and relates interpersonal skills. It is indicated through wishes, feelings,
attitudes, opinions and judgments. Besides, speaking is considered as a multi –
sensory event because speakers employ various paralinguistic features when they
speak such as eye contact, facial expressions, body language, tempo, pauses, voice
quality changes and pitch variation. Furthermore, topics of speaking are said to be
unpredictable but native speakers tend to own regularly used phrases during their talk.
2.1.2. The teaching of speaking
4
Mastering speaking skills is one of requisites when learning a second or
foreign language. Ur (2004) claims that “speaking seems intuitively the most
important: people who know a language are referred to as “speakers” of that
language … many if not most foreign language learners are primarily interested in
learning to speak” (p. 120). Besides, many consider improvement in oral proficiency
as the standard to evaluate the success of language learners or the effectiveness of a
language courses.
However, the concept of teaching and learning speaking has been addressed
differently in different periods. In the early 1970s, speaking was believed to be
“repeating after the teacher, reciting a memorized dialogue, or responding to a
mechanical drill” (Shrum and Glisan, 2000, p. 26). This approach concentrated on
proficiency at sentential level prevailing in Audiolingualism and Situational
Language Teaching. Since the 1980s, speaking has experienced significant shifts due
to the emergence of the constructs of communicative competence and proficiency.
The communicative competence theory has led to the development of communicative
syllabus, notional syllabuses and functional syllabus, as well as proposals of task –
based and text – based approaches. The focus of teaching speaking then was on
fluency that could be developed through various tasks requiring learners to attempt
real communication in spite of their limited proficiency in English.
Today the bottom line in teaching this skill is how to help learners move
beyond the level of linguistic competence (mastery of the linguistic system), to
achieve communicative competence (understanding of how to use English
appropriately for a range of different communicative purposes, particularly social
purposes, educationally – related purposes and work – related purposes) (Richard,
2008). In his paper in 2013, Richard also summarizes principles reflected by current
approaches to the teaching of speaking as follow: (1) Speaking and oral interaction is
seen as the basis for learning; (2) Non – native usage as well as native usage both
serve as models; (3) English for cross – cultural communication is a primary goal; (4)
Models in classroom materials are often informed by corpus analysis; (5) Functional
or other types of communicative syllabus predominate; (6) Both accuracy and fluency
are a primary goal with a greater tolerance of errors; (7) Oral proficiency is viewed
5
as dependent upon mastery of lexical phases and conversational routines; (8) Cultural
awareness is addressed; (9) Pair and group activities predominate in the classroom
(Richard, 2013).
Up to the present days, Kroeker (2009) summarizes three principal approaches
in the teaching of speaking a second or foreign language, namely the indirect
approach, the direct approach and indirect approach plus. In the indirect approach,
students develop their speaking skill when they actively take part in interactive
activities such as discussion, role-play, information gaps, and problem-solving
activities. It is expected that if the interactions carried out are meaningful, students
speaking proficiency will improve. Meanwhile, the direct approach is associated with
information about a systematic program of micro skills, communication strategy,
language input, and processes that lead to fluent speaking. The materials for direct
approach are provided by speaking analysis, second language acquisition and
discourse analysis. When students are taught aspects of speaking explicitly and have
opportunities to practice, their speaking ability will grow. This approach involves
recording speaking to recognize student weaknesses in reading real speaking
transcripts, observing good speaker, and identifying the differences between nonnative and native speaking. Finally, the indirect plus approach combines learnercentered training, language exposure, interactional activities and teaching speaking
as a spoken discourse. This approach emphasizes specific language input and
exposure to real speaking in a certain order of activities.
2.1.3. The teaching of English speaking in Vietnam
The considerable growth and expansion of English in Vietnam has been
witnessed since 1986 and was marked by the overall economic reform known as Đổi
mới (Renovation). At present, English is a compulsory subject at both lower and
upper secondary levels and an elective subject at primary level where English is
introduced from Form 3 – 5. At higher education level, English is regarded both as a
discipline and as a subject. Besides, various English courses have been offered by
different centers outside the Formal Educational System. The rapid development of
English is easily seen and the quality of English teaching and learning cannot be
denied. However, the teaching and learning of English in Vietnam are confronting
6
many obstacles. In the scope of this study, some problems in teaching English
speaking are going to be highlighted.
One of the first problems is related to the teaching approach. Although
teaching English has been said to follow communicative trend with the focus on
practical communication skills, the presence of communicative approach is not
clearly seen in classrooms (Hoang, 2010). Teachers of English have had opportunities
to attend training programs with a focus on training communicative teacher and are
interested in the new method; yet they continue teaching in the traditional ways. The
current situations of English classes are that teachers and students work mainly with
reading comprehension, grammar and vocabulary exercises. Speaking and listening
are rarely taught though exercises for these two skills are designed in the textbooks.
The reason for this lies in the fact that the major motivation for teaching and learning
English is bound to examinations which do not test their speaking skill.
Secondly, according to Hoang (2010), the teaching and testing are not in
parallel. While communicative approach has been adopted as mentioned above, most
of the exams, including end – of – school and university entrance exams – focus on
reading comprehension, vocabulary and structural patterns. Furthermore, such
international exams as TOEFL, TOEIC or IELTS, which are suitable for measuring
the knowledge and skills of English of those who intend to study in an English –
speaking country, are adopted to assess the students’ English capacity at universities.
This appears to make matters more complex (Hoang, 2010). Nguyen et al (2015) adds
that the paradox between the policy of applying communicative trend and the absence
of oral skills in exams results from financial and time concerns. Clearly, the skills
which are not covered in the testing systems will not draw teachers’ and learners’
attention.
Another point to consider is associated with class time allocated for teaching
speaking. Many teachers claim that they do not have enough time to teach their
students speaking and communication although they wish to carry out these activities.
The time allocated for English in each semester was only enough for teaching
grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, and listening. The teachers will run out of
time if they include speaking and communication activities (Nguyen et al, 2015).
7
Teachers’ speaking ability also raises much concern. Not all teachers of
English are able to speak this language fluently, particularly those who work at lower
levels of education. A lot of teachers have never spoken English to a native speaker
and they mainly use Vietnamese in their classes. It is clear that many teachers cannot
help their students practice English speaking effectively when they are not competent
speakers themselves.
With reference to the problems in speaking classes, Dao (2017) summarizes
ten major findings: (1) Teachers let students use much Vietnamese to express the
ideas; (2) Teachers do not emphasise English as the medium of instruction; (3)
Students’ background knowledge of English is low; (4) Students are shy and afraid
of making mistakes and speaking in public; (5) Students lack motivation to speak
English; (6) The curriculum and textbooks do not contain sufficient amount of
exercise for speaking skills; (7) Students are not given enough time for speaking
practice; (8) Teachers do not frequently organize communicative task to enhance
students’ speaking skills like role-plays, discussion, debates; (9) The environment in
speaking class is not really exciting and motivating; and (10) The large class size
impede the efficacy of students’ speaking performance.
Above are some of various problems that Vietnamese teachers and learners
have to face when it comes to English speaking. Obviously, more attention should be
paid to improve the quality of teaching and learning English speaking.
2.1.4. Speaking activities
According to Brown (2000), teaching speaking includes showing the details
of how to communicate and negotiate the ever elusive meaning of language. In
speaking classes, teachers should be aware of various speech activities as they are
quite distinct in form as well as function and require different teaching approaches.
Harmer (1993) distinguishes two kinds of speaking activities: practice
activities and communicative activities. Practice activities are further divided five
into groups: oral drills, information gap activities, games, personalization and
localization, and oral interactions. Meanwhile, communicative activities are
composed
of
reaching
a
consensus,
discussion,
replaying
instruction,
communication games, problem solving, talking about yourself, simulation and
8
role play.
In Ur’s taxonomy, there are three main types of oral activities (Ur, 2004). The
first one is brainstorming activities, including guessing games, finding connections,
ideas from a central theme, and implications and interpretations. The second kind is
organizing activities with comparing, detecting differences, putting in order,
priorities, choosing candidates, layout problems, and combining versions. The last
ones are compound activities like composing letters, debates, publicity campaigns,
surveys, and planning projects.
Brown (2000) suggests a model of classroom speaking performance with six
major types, including imitative, intensive, responsive, transactional, interpersonal
and extensive. In the first type, learners imitate “human tape recorder” speech, for
example to practice an intonation contour or to try to pinpoint a certain vowel sound.
Imitation accounts for a very limited portion of classroom speaking time and is
conducted not for the purpose of meaningful interaction but for focusing on certain
element of language form. The second type, intensive speaking, includes any
speaking performance that is designed to practice some phonological or grammatical
aspect of language. It can be self – initiated or form part of some pair work activity
where learners are going over certain forms of language. Next, responsive speaking
refers to sort replies to teacher or students – initiated questions or comments. These
replies are usually sufficient and do not extend into dialogues. Transactional speaking
performance goes one step beyond responsive language. It is carried out for the
purpose of conveying or exchanging specific information, which may have more of
a negotiable nature. Interpersonal speaking (or dialogue) is carried out more for the
purpose of maintaining social relationships than for the transmission of facts and
information. Finally, extensive performance (or monologue) may include oral
reports, summaries or perhaps short speeches. This kind of speaking is often
conducted by intermediate or advanced students.
Whatever the activity is, the successful speaking activities share certain
characteristics. Ur (2004) identifies four criteria for assessing the success of students’
speaking. First, the more learners talk, the better the speaking result is. Second, every
student has equal chance and time to speak and classroom speaking is not dominated
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