Luận Văn Some solutions to teachers of English in improving the quality and effectiveness of teaching speakin

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Acknowledgements i

Abstract ii

Table of contents iii

List of figures and tables .vi

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Statement of the problem and rationale for the study 8

1.2 Objectives of the study .11

1.3 Scopes of the study .11

1.4 Methods of the study 11

1.5 Design of the study .12

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction .13

2.2 Language games .13

2.2.1 Definitions of language games .13

2.2.2 The role of language games . 15

2.2.2.1 Language games create high motivation in learning . 15

2.2.2.2 Language games create a pleasant environment and can be used to change the pace of lesson . . .17

2.2.2.3 Language games can increase student-student communication, completion and promote active, student-centered learning .18

2.2.3 The drawbacks of language games . .19

2.2.4 When to use games in language teaching . .20

2.3 Some types of language games 20

2.4 Organizing language games in class .23

2.4.1 Preparation . 23

2.4.2 Presentation 23

2.4.3 Game-playing stage . 24

2.4.4 Post-playing games . .24

2.5 The roles of teachers in communication games . 24

Chapter 3: PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

3.1 Overview of the study process .26

3.1.1 Objectives of the study .26

3.1.2 Subjects . .27

3.1.3 Methodology . .27

3.1.3.1 Teacher group survey . 28

3.1.3.2 Student questionnaire survey .28

3.1.3.3 Class observation .29

3.1.4 Procedures . . 29

3.2 Presentation and analysis .30

3.2.1 Data collection and analysis of the findings from the teachers group survey .30

3.2.1.1 The situation of using language games in the teaching process 30

3.2.1.2 The attitude of teachers towards the use of language games in teaching speaking process 31

3.2.1.3 The purpose of using language games in teaching process . 32

3.2.1.4 The frequency of using language games in teaching speaking process .34

3.2.1.5 The effectiveness of using language games in teaching speaking process 35

3.2.1.6 The importance of using language games in teaching speaking process .36

3.2.1.7 The attitudes and feelings of students towards language games 37

3.2.1.8 The difficulties in using language games in class 37

3.2.1.9 The advantages of using language games in lessons .38

3.2.1.10 The time when language games are used in class and how long it takes .39

3.2.1.11 The works of teachers before introducing language games to students .41

3.2.2 Data collection and analysis of the findings from student questionnaire survey .42

3.2.2.1 Background of the students involved in the survey .42

3.2.2.2 The exposure of students towards language games . 44

3.2.2.3 The advantages of using language games on students .45

3.2.2.4 The attitudes and feelings of students towards language games 48

3.2.2.5 The time when language games can be played 54

3.2.2.6 The information about how often teachers use visual aids 55

3.2.2.7 The number of using language games in class . 55

3.2.2.8 The types of language games students like best 56

3.2.2.9 The opinions of students about what their teachers should do in class .57

3.2.2.10 The importance of using language games in learning speaking skills on students 57

3.2.3 Analysis of the findings from class observation . .58

3.2.3.1 Class observation reports . 58

3.2.3.1.1 Class observation report 1 . .59

3.2.3.1.2 Class observation report 2 59

3.2.3.1.3 Class observation report 3 60

3.2.3.2 The result of observation . .61

3.2.3.2.1 The first comparison between lessons in the same class .61

3.2.3.2.2 The second comparison between classes with the same lesson .62

3.3 Interpretation of findings .64

3.3.1 Some advantages of findings on the use of language games 64

3.3.2 Some obstacles and difficulties . 65

Chapter 4: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1 Conclusion of the study . .67

4.2 Recommendations . 68

4.2.1 Some suggestions for language teachers at College Sciences .68

4.2.2 Hints and suggestions for using language games on teaching speaking skills 72

4.2.3 Some suggestions of using visual aids effectively 74

References . .76

Appendix I .78

Appendix II . .80

Appendix III . 83

Appendix IV .87



















LIST OF FIGURES IN THE STUDY


Figure Title Page

1 Teachers’ exposure towards language games 30

2 Teachers’ preference for teaching speaking through games 31

3 Purposes of using language games in teaching English 32

4 The frequency of using language games 34

5 Teachers’ perception on the effectiveness of using language games in teaching English 35

6 The importance of using language games in teaching speaking skills 36

7 The difficulties in using language games in class 38

8 The advantages of using language games in lessons 39

9 Time spent in using language games 40

10 The English learning experience of students 42

11 Level of competence of students in speaking skills 43

12 Students’ experience in playing language games 45

13 The expectation of students from language games 47

14 Attitudes of students towards language games 49

15 Feelings of students towards language games 50

16 Students’ perception on the effectiveness of using language games in teaching English 52

17 Students’ opinions about learning English environment 53

18 Students’ preference towards the studying atmosphere in class 55

19 Using visual aids of teachers from students’ point of views 56

20 Students’ opinions about the number of games used in class 57

21 Students’ attitude towards the roles of language games 59






LIST OF TABLES IN THE STUDY


Table Title Page

1 The use of language games in some aspects of English 33

2 The attitudes and feelings of students towards language games from teachers’ point of views. 37

3 Time when language games are used in class 40

4 Some teachers’ activities before introducing language games 41

5 The exposure of students towards language games 44

6 The purposes of language games from students’ point of views 46

7 Students’ opinions about the effective use of language games for English subject 48

8 Students’ preferred activities on game-playing stage 51

9 students’ opinions about the frequency of language games used by teachers 52

10 Factors preventing students from speaking English 53

11 Kind of lesson that students like best 54

12 Time when students like playing language games 55

13 Some types of language games being enjoyed more by the students 57

14 The opinions of students about what their teachers should do in class 58




CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION


1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM AND RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY

As globalization, mobility and communications are bringing the world ever close together, it is increasingly necessary for people to know other languages apart from their mother tongue. Indeed, knowing foreign languages nowadays is of great importance because it helps bridge the gap among cultures, increases global understanding, and offers more opportunities for not only individuals but also national socio-economic development, as Officials at Ministry of Education in Eritrea quoted a village elder who said:

“If I speak only one language, I can help my country as one man,

If I can use two languages, I can help as two men,

But if I can use all nine languages, then I can work as nine men”

(Jasone Cenoz and Fred Genesee (1998:259, chapter 12))

Among languages, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching, has experienced significant changes over the last 30 years. One of the most radical changes in the field is the shift from a behavioral focus on second language teachers and the kinds of inputs they provide to a focus on learners and how learners process the input they receive. English is considered as the dominant international language in communications, science, business, aviation, entertainment, radio, diplomacy and so on. It is used for so many things from in- and external academic conferences to news reports and popular music lyrics. It is used not only for communication between native speakers and non-native speakers of English but also for communication between non-native speakers. In Vietnam, English has also become a popular language, especially since our government began the open-door policy. This new policy has created good chances for foreigners to invest in Vietnam. Thus, the need of using English as the first foreign language in our national study, work and business has been extremely important. Those are the reasons why English has been widely taught and learnt in Vietnam and also around the world today.

To satisfy the essential demand today, English has been taught as one of the compulsory subjects in the curricula of schools and universities in the whole country. Many programs in schools or a large number of courses outside them are opened to serve the different purposes with different levels of learners. It comes as no surprise that some improvements of course designs as well as methods and methodologies that Ministry of Education and Training set forth have brought a nation-wide positive movement in teaching and learning English in recent years. As we see, a few years ago, the grammatical and structural methods were widely used. Teachers played important roles in imparting English knowledge to learners. In turn, students had no more chances to fully develop their four skills but just sought for mastering the structural and grammatical rules of English. This made the studying atmosphere in classroom become more boring and tenser.

However, some recent changes in language teaching have shown that organizing activities or creating English environment in classroom have helped learners to have intrinsic motivation. Moreover, boredom and tiredness have been driven away by the fun during the lessons. Among new methods of teaching and learning English, language games can bring us satisfactory results. Language games are really funny and potential tools for teachers to help their students enrich their knowledge the best. Language games and activities provide students an opportunity for real communication, and, although there are some artificial limits, they help to link the classroom with the real world. Language games are seen as a chance that students have to learn or reinforce their knowledge about a foreign language. Moreover, language games give practice in all the skills (listening, speaking, writing and reading) and in all the stages of teaching and learning that occur in a lesson (introduction, repetition, etc.). But one of the main reasons to use them in foreign language lessons is that they are very enjoyable for both teacher and students. Games and activities in a foreign language lesson are very successful due to the fact that the process of learning becomes more active, encouraging students and involving them in the class to sustain their interest and work, and, therefore, making retention to improve enormously. Realizing the important roles of language games in teaching English is the reason for our choice.

The second reason is, throughout my study, to find out how we can reach the goal of efficiency of applying language games in teaching and learning English at university, particularly at College of Sciences, Thai Nguyen University because, in fact, language games have not widely used in teaching and learning English here yet. One of the reasons for this situation is that language games have some problems in themselves. However, some teachers of English have already used games successfully and others have not.

The final and the most important reason for our choice derives from the problems of teaching and learning English, especially teaching speaking skills to the non-major students in university. We really want to examine how much language games are used in teaching English in general and teaching speaking skills in particular. The contradiction between the purpose and the fact of English teaching and learning for non-major students in universities has caused a lot of arguments. So what to do? Basically, the non-major students’ main English course book is “New Headway” with three levels: elementary, pre-intermediate and intermediate. In the preface of the course book, the authors say the book is intended for the development of student's four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. And they say the textbook will provide them with certain vocabulary, knowledge of the country, people, lifestyle, culture of the British-American people so that the students can communicate every day. Therefore, developing the speaking skills is really an important goal. Anyway, the present teaching and learning English still lay much emphasis on the ability to use grammar, vocabulary, sentence patterns correctly but not on the ability to communicate appropriately and effectively. Consequently, their speaking skills are as not good as expected, if we do not want to say that very little English is used in their communication through lessons. Therefore, to improve the speaking skills of the non-English major students by communicative language games in classroom is my burning interest. My desire is that this study will make the language games easier, more useful and more effective.

1.2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY