A study on using short stories to improve the effeciency of teaching speaking and listening skills to students at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre = Nghiên cứu

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES    TRỊNH THỊ THANH NHÀN A STUDY ON USING SHORT STORIES TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF TEACHING SPEAKING AND LISTENING SKILLS TO STUDENTS AT HAIPHONG

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

  

TRỊNH THỊ THANH NHÀN

A STUDY ON USING SHORT STORIES TO IMPROVE THE

EFFICIENCY OF TEACHING SPEAKING AND LISTENING SKILLS

TO STUDENTS AT HAIPHONG FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTRE

(Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng truyện ngắn để nâng cao hiệu quả dạy kỹ năng

Nghe Nói cho học viên tại Trung tâm Ngoại ngữ - Đại học Hải Phòng)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: Methodology Code: 60 14 10

Hanoi, 2010

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

  

TRỊNH THỊ THANH NHÀN

A STUDY ON USING SHORT STORIES TO IMPROVE THE

EFFICIENCY OF TEACHING SPEAKING AND LISTENING SKILLS

TO STUDENTS AT HAIPHONG FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTRE

(Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng truyện ngắn để nâng cao hiệu quả dạy kỹ năng

Nghe Nói cho học viên tại Trung tâm Ngoại ngữ - Đại học Hải Phòng)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: Nguyễn Thúy Hương, M.A

Hanoi, 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Acknowledgements i

Table of contents ii

PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Background to the study 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Scope of the study 3

4 Research questions 3

5 Methods of the study 3

6 Design of the study 3

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 Speaking and Listening in foreign language learning 5

1.1.1 Speaking skill in foreign language teaching 5

1.1.2 Listening skill in foreign language teaching 6

1.2 Literature in language teaching 7

2.2.1 Concept of Literature 7

1.2.1.1 Definitions 7

1.2.1.2 Genres 8

Concept of short stories 8

1.2.2 Short stories in language teaching 9

1.2.2.1 Advantages of short stories in teaching language skills 9

1.2.2.2 How to choose short stories in teaching language skills 13

1.3 Summary 16

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 17

2.1 Subjects of the study 17

2.2 Data collection instruments 17

2.2.1 Questionnaire 1 17

2.2.2 Questionnaire 2 18

2.3 Procedures 18

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 20

3.1 Results and Discussion 20

3.1.1 Results from the first questionnaire 20

3.1.2 Description of the application of short stories in the eight weeks 25

3.1.3 Results from the second questionnaire 25

3.2 Findings 30

3.3 Summary 31

CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS 32

4.1 Suggested activities for using short stories in teaching listening and speaking skills 32

4.1.1 Suggested activities 32

4.1.2 Sample lesson plans 33

PART 3: CONCLUSION 36

1 Suggestions for further study 36

2 Conclusion 36

REFERENCES 38

List of figures Page

Figure 1 Students’ enjoyment in reading short stories 20

Figure 2 Students’ preference in terms of the length of a short story 21

Figure 3 Students’ favourite topics 22

Figure 4 Reasons why students do not like reading short stories 24

Figure 5 Activities in the pre-stage 26

Figure 6 Students’ activities when reading a short story 27

Figure 7 Activities in the post-stage 28

Figure 8 Students’ participation in the class activities 29

Figure 9 Benefits students gain from the lesson using short stories 30

List of tables Table 1 Students’ difficulties in dealing with a short story 23

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

This part gives an introduction to the study, including the background to the study, the aims, the scope, the research questions and the methods as well as the design of the study

1 Background to the study

Haiphong Foreign Language Centre is one of the biggest and most prestigious language centres in Haiphong, with well-qualified and enthusiastic teachers The number

of English teachers at this centre is 68 (15 male teachers and 53 female teachers) including

24 full-time teachers and 44 part-time teachers Most teachers at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre graduated from universities such as Vietnam University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Hanoi University, Haiphong University and Haiphong Private University, etc A half of the teachers have less-than-5-year teaching experience They are very eager to access new teaching methods and apply those methods in teaching practice

Every month a professional meeting is held at the centre, so that teachers can discuss problems and exchange ideas They are all eager to apply initiatives in teaching, and ready to welcome new ideas

At Haiphong Foreign Language Centre there are classes for students of three levels: Elementary, Pre-intermediate and Intermediate Each level consists of two courses, each lasting from three to five months The main course books in use are Streamlines English – Departures, Connections and Destinations (by Bernard Hartley and Peter Viney, 1982) Recently, „Headway‟, „Lifelines‟ textbooks were made use of to improve students‟ listening and speaking skills Besides, supplementary materials like „Facts and Figures‟,

„Cause and Effect‟, „Let‟s talk‟, „Listen carefully‟, are also used by the teachers

Students at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre are of all ages and walks of life, including university or college students, school-children The others are in-service learners Their purposes of learning and language levels are quite different The major purposes of learning English of learners are for their studies and their jobs Some of them learn English for fun, but this is not common In general, they are hardworking and very involved in the learning process As most of them are young learners, they learn very quickly and make a

lot of progress Some learners, who are at the age of 40 to 50 and over, have difficulties in learning because of many reasons (busy with work or family, limited ability, etc.)

The majority of learners come to the centre with the hope of achieving a good command of English They consider the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing very important, but speaking and listening are given the top priority as these two skills can help them achieve their goals of learning and working Good listening and speaking skills can help university and/ or college students pass oral examinations at University or College easily, and those who work with foreign partners wish to use English effectively to negotiate and gain contracts as well as attract investment from foreign companies

Being aware of the importance of teaching speaking and listening skills to students, the writer often asks herself, “How can we improve students‟ speaking and listening skills?” and “Could there be any other material to help encourage students‟ involvement in speaking and listening lessons?” The idea of using short stories as supplementary materials came to her when she read the M.A thesis of Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tu, “A study on using short stories to improve the efficiency of teaching English to the first year students at Vietnam Maritime University” (2005)

Encouraged by what Nguyen had achieved, the writer decided to conduct “A study

on using short stories to improve the efficiency of teaching speaking and listening skills to students at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre”

2 Aims of the study

The study aims at:

- Investigating the students‟ attitude towards the use of short stories in language learning

- Finding out how short stories improve the efficiency of teaching speaking and listening skills to students at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre

- Giving some suggestions on using short stories in the speaking and listening lessons

3 Scope of the study

In this minor thesis the writer intends to deal with the question of how short stories help improve the efficiency of teaching speaking and listening skills, in which speaking skill is paid more attention and listening skill is considered the integrating skill The stories used in the research are two or three pages long only, with simple contents, of a variety of topics according to the students‟ preference such as love, friendship, schools, etc

4 Research questions

This paper is carried out in order to answer the following questions

Question 1: What are the attitudes of students at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre towards the use of short stories in language teaching?

Question 2: Can applying short stories help improve the efficiency of teaching speaking and listening skills at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre?

5 Methods of the study

The quantitative method is used in this paper The data collected are from the intermediate students at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre Survey questionnaires are used to collect data and evidences for the paper, and then data are analyzed quantitatively

There are two questionnaires for students The first questionnaire consists of 5 questions, the aims of which are to find out the students‟ preference of types of short stories and their attitude toward the use of short stories in foreign language learning

The second questionnaire includes 5 questions, which aim at investigating the effects of short stories in teaching listening and speaking skills

6 Design of the study

This paper is organized into three parts Each part deals with an important aspect of the study

Part 1 presents overview introduction of the study that includes the background of the study, the aims, the scope, the research questions and the method as well as the design

of the study

Part 2 consists of four chapters

Chapter 1 reviews some theoretical issues relevant to the study in two main parts: Speaking and listening in foreign language learning and Literature in language teaching

Chapter 2 gives a profile of the subjects of the study as well as description of data collection instruments and research procedures

Chapter 3 presents the data analysis and findings

Chapter 4 discusses some suggested techniques for using short stories in teaching speaking and listening skills

Part 3 points out the limitations of the study and gives conclusion to the study

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the theoretical background to the study, including the theories on speaking and listening in foreign language teaching and theories on literature in language teaching, with a focus on short stories, is reviewed

1.1 Speaking and Listening in foreign language teaching

1.1.1 Speaking skill in foreign language teaching

For the purpose of analysis and instruction, language has been divided into different skill areas These can be discussed in the framework of how we learn our first language A child first learns to practice language by speaking, combined with listening Then, when school begins, children learn by the skills of reading and writing As learners grow in their language ability and use, the different skills are most often integrated with each other so that they are being in used in coordination with each other In conversation, when one person is the speaker, another is the listener After listening and understanding, the hearer responds by speaking Just think of all the different conversations you have in one day and compare that with how much written communication you do in one way Which do you do more of? Of course, in our daily lives, most of us speak more than we write

In academic setting, while students are listening, they may also be writing notes or reading a handout As a teacher, you will be reading your lesson plans and then speaking to your students We can see that, in order to show that you understand anything, you have to speak it out Therefore, Lawtie (2004) affirmed, “Speaking is fundamental to human communication.” (cited in Nguyen Thi Le Thuy, 2008)

In Florez (1999), speaking is “an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information” It is often spontaneous, open-ended, and evolving.” (cited in Le Van Canh‟s lecture, 2009)

Martin (1987) believes that speaking is the skill by which they are most frequently judged and thought Learners often need to be able to speak with confidence Speaking skill is regarded as the vehicle of social solidarity, of social ranking, of professional advancement and business It is also a medium through which much language is learnt” (cited in Nguyen Thi Le Thuy, 2008)

According to Bailey and Savage (1993), speaking in a second or foreign language has often been viewed as the most demanding of the four skills When attempting to speak, learners must muster their thought and encode those ideas in the vocabulary and syntactic structures of the target language For many people, speaking is seen as the central skill People who know a language are referred to as speakers of that language, as if speaking included all other kinds of knowledge, and many, not most, foreign language learners are primarily concerned with learning to speak The desire to communicate with others, often face-to-face and in real time, drives them to attempt to speak fluently and correctly

Many people equate being able to speak a language as knowing the language and therefore, view learning the language as learning how to speak, or as Nunan (1991) wrote,

“success is measure in terms of the ability to carry out a conversation in the language.” That is why “speaking skill should be taught and practiced in the language classroom because of students‟ interest and motivation.” (Nunan, 1991)

1.1.2 Listening skill in foreign language teaching

Listening skill is regarded as the foundation of language; it is the bricks and mortar

of learning Listening is the most basic element of good communication It is the way we deepen our understanding of other people and build meaningful rapport and trust Listening takes effort, yet the rewards of truly connecting with another person can be immensely satisfying – for you as well as for them

(http://www.creativefreelancerblog.com/2008/06/better-speaking.html)

According to Nunan and Miller (1995), listening is assuming greater and greater importance in many foreign language contexts, which have until relatively recently focused

(http://www.creativefreelancerblog.com/2008/06/better-speaking.html) The importance of

listening in second and foreign language learning is admirably summarized in Rost‟s publication (1994, cited in Nunan and Miller, 1995)

- Listening is vital in the language classroom because it provides comprehensible input for the learner Without understanding input at the right level, any learning simply cannot begin

- Spoken language provides a means of interaction for the learner Because learners must interact to achieve understanding, access to speakers of the language is essential

Moreover, learners‟ failure to understand the language they hear is an impetus, not an obstacle, to interaction and learning

- Listening exercises helps learners draw their attention to new forms (vocabulary, grammar, interaction patterns

- Listening comprehension provides the right conditions for language acquisition and development of other language skills (Krashen, 1995, cited in Le Van Canh, 2009)

In short, listening is essential not only as a receptive skill but also to the development of spoken language proficiency

1.2 Literature in language teaching

1.2.1 Concept of Literature

1.2.1.1 Definitions

Theoretically, there are different ways to define literature

According to Moody (1983), literature is defined as “constructions or artifacts, in language, which may be designed for any of the whole range of human communication needs, private or public, oral or written, for which language is used.” Moody and Walson (1983) gave their explanation to make this definition clearer In their opinion, literary works can be seen as being cultural artifacts in the forms of poetry, drama, prose, tragedy, comedy, farce, folktales, religious myths, short fiction and novels (cited in Tran, 2003)

Literature can be seen as imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized artistic value "Literature must be an analysis of experience and a synthesis of the findings

into a unity" (Rebecca West) (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/literature)

Besides, literature can be said to be a sort of disciplined technique for arousing certain emotions (Mudorch, 1978 – cited in Gillian Lazar, 1993) Literature provides wonderful source of material for eliciting strong emotional responses from our students Using literature in the classroom is a fruitful way of involving the learner as a whole person, and provides excellent opportunities for the learners to express their personal opinions, reactions and feelings Literary texts have a powerful function in raising moral and ethical concerns in the classroom The tasks and activities we devise to exploit these

texts should encourage students to explore these concerns and connect them with the struggle for a better society

- Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning Poetry may be written independently, as discrete poems, or may occur in conjunction with other arts, as in poetic

drama, hymns, lyrics, or prose poetry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry)

- Novel is defined as a fictional prose narrative of considerable length, typically having a plot that is unfolded by the actions, speech, and thoughts of the characters

(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/novel)

- Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drama)

Concept of short stories

A short story is fictional work of prose that is shorter in length than a novel Edgar Allan Poe, in his essay "The Philosophy of Composition," said that a short story should be read in one sitting, anywhere from a half hour to two hours In contemporary fiction, a short story can range from 1,000 to 20,000 words Because of the shorter length, a short story usually focuses on one plot, one main character (with a few additional minor

characters), and one central theme

1.2.2.1 Advantages of short stories in teaching language skills

When discussing the advantages of short stories in teaching language skills, Harper (1993) states that “short stories are particularly well-suited to current instructional trends in

ESL classrooms.” (http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1994/TNY_CARDS_0059)

In Neuhauser‟s point of view (1993), stories are effective as educational tools because they are believable, rememberable and entertaining (cited in Rossister, 2003-2004)

According to Collie and Slater (1991), short stories are often an ideal way of introducing students to literature in the foreign-language classroom For the teacher, they offer many intermediate and striking advantages as listed below

- Their practical length means they can usually be read entirely within one or two classes Slightly longer works can be sectioned in the same way as novels or plays, but still

be completed in a few lessons

- They are less daunting for a foreign reader to tackle or to reread on his or her own, and are more suitable when set as home tasks Students get that feeling of achievement at having come to the end of a whole work much sooner

- They offer greater variety than longer texts A teacher can choose very different short stories, so that there is a greater chance of finding something to appeal to each individual‟s taste and interests

- Short stories are especially valuable for sessional courses or the like; or for teachers with shifting classes or continuous-intake adult classes

Rocha (2005) also gives out some typical advantages of short stories as follow

- Reinforcing the skills: short stories allow instructors to teach the four skills to all levels of language proficiency Murdoch (2002 – cited in Rocha, 2005) indicates that

“short stories can, if selected and exploited appropriately, provide quality text content which will greatly enhance ELT courses for learners at intermediate level of proficiency.”

He explains why stories should be used to reinforce ELT by discussing activities instructors can create such as writing and acting out dialogues Also, Oster (1989 – cited in Rocha, 2005) affirms that literature helps students to write more creatively Instructors can create a variety of writing activities to help students to develop their writing skills They

can ask students to write dialogues or more complex writing activities if students have reached a high level of language proficiency

In addition, stories can be used to improve students‟ vocabulary and reading Lao and Krashen (2000 – quoted in Rocha, 2005) present the results of a comparison between a group of students that read literary texts and a second group that read non-literary texts at a university in Hong Kong The group who read literary texts showed improvement in vocabulary and reading

High-intermediate and advanced students also profit from literary texts What they read gives them the opportunity to come up with their own insights, helping them to speak the language in a more imaginative way They become more creative since they are faced with their own point of view, that/ those of the main character(s) of the story and those of their peers, according to Oster (1989 – cited in Rocha, 2005), this thoughtful process leads

to critical thinking As Oster confirms, “focusing on point of view in literature enlarges students‟ vision and fosters critical thinking by dramatizing the various ways of situation can be seen.” Therefore, when students read, they interact with the text By interacting with the text, they interpret what they read By interpreting what they read, they can work toward speaking English more creatively

- Motivating students: since short stories usually have a beginning, middle and an end, they encourage students at all levels of language proficiency to continue reading them until the end to find out how the conflict is resolved Elliott (1990 – cited in Rocha, 2005), for example, affirms that literature motivates advanced students and is “motivationally effective if students can genuinely engage with its thoughts and emotions and appreciate its aesthetic qualities.” He stresses the importance of developing student-response (individual and group levels) and competence in literature In addition, one of the reasons Vandrick (1997 – cited in Rocha) lists for using literature with students is that literature motivates students “to explore their feelings through experiencing those of others.” Moreover,

“literature holds high status in many cultures and countries For this reason, students can feel a real sense of achievement at understanding a piece of highly respected literature Also, literature is often more interesting than the texts found in coursebooks.” As a result, instructors should agree that literary texts encourage students to read, and most literary texts chosen according to students‟ language proficiency levels and preferences will certainly be motivating

By selecting stories appropriate to students‟ level of language proficiency, instructors avoid “frustrational reading” (Schulz, 1981 – cited in Rocha, 2005) To choose stories according to students‟ preferences, stories should have various themes because as Akyel and Yalcin (1990 – cited in Rocha 2005) point out, variety of themes will offer different things to many individuals‟ interests and tastes But the themes should be

“consistent with the traditions that the learners are familiar with” (Widdowson, 1983 – cited in Rocha, 2005) to avoid conflict

- Introducing literary elements: instructors can introduce elements with short stories With beginning and low intermediate levels, instructors can teach simple elements, such as character, setting and plot The same and more complex elements, such as conflict, climax, resolution, etc can be introduced with more advanced levels Gajdusek (1988) explains how literature can be introduced by describing the order of activities: pre-reading activities, factual in-class work, analysis and extending activities In the pre-reading activities, students have the opportunity to learn about the background of the story and vocabulary Extending activities, on the other hand, deals with why, that is, “involvement and experience” Students must be able to use their knowledge of the language to express their ideas Thus, only students who have reached a high intermediate/ advanced level of language proficiency should be introduced to these activities “This might … be the time to approach the text as literature,” says Gajdusek (1988) About extending activities (writing and in-class group work such as role-play), Gajdusek states that the activities ask “for creative, relevant responses from the readers” For students to succeed, they must have understood the story

- Teaching culture: short stories are effective when teaching culture to EFL students Short stories transmit the culture of the people about whom the stories were written By learning about the culture, students learn about the past and present, and about people‟s customs and traditions Culture teaches students to understand and respect people‟s differences When using literary texts, instructors must be aware that the culture

of the people (if different from that of the students) for whom the text was written should

be studied As students face a new culture, they become more aware of their own culture They start comparing their culture to the other culture to see whether they find similarities and/ or differences between the two cultures Misinterpretation may occur due to differences between the two cultures as Gajdusek (1988) explains To avoid

misinterpretation, instructors should introduce the culture to the students or ask them to find relevant information about it

- Teaching higher-order thinking: of all the benefits of short stories, higher-order thinking is the most exciting one High intermediate/ advanced students can analyze what they read; therefore, they start thinking critically when they read stories Young (1996 – cited in Rocha, 2005) discusses the use of children‟s stories to introduce critical thinking to college students He believes that “stories have two crucial advantages over tradition content: … First, because they are entertaining, students‟ pervasive apprehension is reduced, and they learn from the beginning that critical thinking is natural, familiar, and sometimes even fun Second, the stories put issues of critical thinking in an easily remembered context.” Howie (1993 – cited in Rocha, 2005) agrees with the use of short stories to teach critical thinking He points out that instructors have the responsibility to help students to develop cognitive skills because everyone needs to “make judgments, be decisive, come to conclusion, synthesize information, organize, evaluate, predict, and apply knowledge.” By reading and writing, students develop their critical thinking skills

In conclusion, since the goal of EFL teaching must be to help students to communicate fluently in the target language, instructors should focus not only on linguistic benefits, but also on other benefits In addition to the four skills, short stories help instructors to teach literary, cultural and higher-order thinking aspect As far as culture and other benefits are concerned, Henning (1993 – cited in Rocha, 2005) believes that culture should be integrated into the curriculum and “literature is one feature … in the cultural domain that provides … added value beyond the level of language acquisition.” Literature helps students to expand their “linguistic and cognitive skills, cultural knowledge and sensitivity” (Henning, 1993 – cited in Rocha, 2005) Consequently, one can say that integrating short stories into curriculum will help EFL students to become well-rounded professionals and human beings since short stories teach more than the skills necessary for survival in the target language Short stories bring about literary, cultural and higher-order thinking benefits

As far as the benefits of stories for learning speaking are concerned, it seems that the complexity of fiction is a feature that will help pupils think and talk through a variety

of interesting activities offered and generated by teachers and students Mc Rae (1984 – cited in Tran, 2003) goes even further to state that acting out and observing give substance

in speaking, since they develop students‟ awareness of “speech features, paralinguistic and extra linguistic features – attitudes, gestures, intonation, movement, etc.” Discussing, debating, suggesting interpretation, offering opinions, agreeing and disagreeing begin to come naturally and students become more confident in their use of English Indeed, all activities inspired by stories contribute greatly to improving learners‟ speaking skill (Mc Rae, 1984 – cited in Tran, 2003)

1.2.2.2 How to choose short stories in teaching language skills

No one can deny the roles of short stories in teaching and learning language skills But how to promote the effects of using short stories mainly depends on the choice of short stories in teaching foreign language Collie and Slater (1991) give out three criteria in choosing short stories for class works as follow

- The stories should be interesting themselves

- Close to the students‟ interests

- Provide good potential for a variety of classroom activities

When discussing how to choose short stories in teaching language skills, Lazar (1993) suggests some criteria including students‟ cultural background, linguistic proficiency and literary backgrounds

- Students‟ cultural background: When choosing a short story, teachers should think about how far the student‟s cultural background and their social and political experience will help or hinder their understanding of a text It would be difficult for most readers to make sense of the story without having some knowledge of the class system and the values

of the society they describe How much background teachers will need to provide for the students to have at least understanding of the text should be considered carefully On the other hand, it is also true that texts which may appear to be very remote in time and place from the world today – may still have appeal for some students in different countries around the world This is either because they touch on themes (such as industrialization or life in the city) which are relevant to the students, or they deal with human relationships and feelings (such as conflict between parents and children) which strike a chord in the students‟ own lives In addition, many students may have strong sense of curiosity about another culture and enjoy studying its literature because they believe it reveals key insights into that society

- Students‟ linguistic proficiency: This is an area of some complexity It may well

be that learners are classified as advanced and can communicate with ease in an speaking environment Yet they might not be able to cope with the language of the story because it departs strikingly from the usual norms of language use; it includes a great many archaisms, rhetorical devices and metaphors; or it makes use of the dialect or register of a highly specialized field (such as law) The teacher might need to ask him/herself questions like these when deciding whether or not to use the text:

English- Are students sufficiently familiar with the usual norms of language use to recognize when these are subverted?

 How much of the language in the text will students be able to infer?

 Will students find it useful and enjoyable to study the text, or will they feel demotivated by the difficulties of the language?

 Even if the language of the story is extremely difficult, will students be motivated by other factors to study it (e.g students often enjoy studying a difficult short story if there is a film based on the story which they also enjoyed.)

 Is the story too specialized in its language to be relevant to the type of language the students require to learn on the course?

- The students‟ literary background: There is an interesting relationship between the literary background of the students and their linguistic competence, since the two do not necessarily go together Students may, for example, have studied literature in their own language If it is a language (such as Romance language) in which similar conventions to those in English operate for reading and interpreting literature, then they may already have

a level of literary competence which will help them to make sense of a literary text even when their linguistic knowledge is rather limited On the other hand, students who have little literary knowledge but are linguistically proficient may find themselves understanding each individual word on the page without being able to make sense of the literary meanings behind the texts When choosing texts to use with students, therefore, we should look not only at the grading of the language in the text, but at its specific literary qualities and whether our students can navigate their own way through these

- Other factors to consider when selecting literary texts are: availability, the length

of the story, exploitability and fit with the syllabus When considering these factors, the teacher should think of the following questions

 Availability of texts

+ What kinds of books and texts are available from which you can choose?

+ How easily can you make these texts available to your students?

 Length of the texts

+ Do you have enough time available to work on the text in class?

+ How much time do students have to work on the text at home?

+ Could you use only part of a text, or an abridged version of it? It so, how much could background information will you need to give students to make the text intelligible?

 Exploitability

+ What kinds of tasks and activities can you devise to exploit the text?

+ Are there resources available to help you exploit the text, for example a film of a particular novel the students are studying, recordings of a play or poem, library materials giving information about the life of an author, etc.?

 Fit with syllabus

+ How much do the texts link with the rest of the syllabus? Thematically? In terms

of vocabulary, grammar or discourse?

+ Can you devise tasks and activities for exploiting the text which link it with the methodology and have use in the syllabus? This often helps to put students at their ease

1.3 Summary

This chapter has reviewed some methodologist‟s ideas concerning the use of short stories in language teaching and learning include speaking and listening skills in foreign language teaching and literature in language teaching, which focused on short stories in language teaching They are very good tips for applying short stories in teaching listening and speaking skills However, whether the use of short stories in teaching can be successful

or not depends to a large extent on how the teachers apply them and whether this suits the

teaching situations It can help teachers avoid serious unexpected problems and help students actively take part in the learning process What has been reviewed in this chapter shall be used as the strong theoretical basis for the integration of short stories in teaching speaking and listening skills carried out at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre as described in the next chapters

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

This chapter deals with the subjects of the study and the data collection instruments

as well as the procedures of collecting data for the study

2.1 Subjects of the study

The subjects taking part in the study include 45 intermediate learners in two classes

at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre Most of these learners had finished level A and level B at the centre and other centres 40 of them are students from universities and colleges in the city, and the others are working for companies in Haiphong All of them are really interested in learning English, especially speaking and listening skills, which are very necessary for their job now or in the future

2.2 Data collection instruments

The data collection instruments used in this study is questionnaires Questionnaire

is considered the most common method of data collection in a survey research “The major reason that questionnaires are widely used in survey research is they require less time, and therefore less expense, than do interview or observation.” (Johnson, 1987)

Also, according to Johnson (1987) items in questionnaires can be open-ended in format, allowing respondent to reply in their own words, or closed, requires the respondent

to select one from among a limited number of responses While closed question format, such as multiple choice, are useful for obtaining quantitative information and are easier to analyze, open-ended questions can be useful for gathering qualitative information and for discovering new variables in responses

For such reasons above, the writer decided to use questionnaires in her study In order to complete the research paper, two questionnaires are delivered to students The first questionnaire (pre-questionnaire) is used to collect their information on the learners‟ attitude toward the use of short stories in learning listening and speaking skills The second questionnaire (post-questionnaire) is designed to find out the students‟ attitude toward the effects of short story in teaching listening and speaking skills

2.2.1 Questionnaire 1 (Appendix 1)

The first questionnaire for students consists of five questions

- The first questions aims at finding out whether the students like reading short stories in English or not

- If yes, the next two questions seek for the students‟ preference in the length and topics of short stories

- Question 4 is to find out the problems students face with when they read or listen

to a short story

- The last question looks for the reasons why students do not like reading short stories if their answer to question 1 is No

2.2.2 Questionnaire 2 (Appendix 2)

There are five questions in the second questionnaire

- Question 1 gathers information about the activities the students think are most useful for them before they deal with a short story in the class

- Question 2 aims at finding out what students often do when they read or listen to a story

- Question 3 concerns about the activities students like most after they read or listen

Data collected from the students‟ answers to the first questionnaire was used as the basis for the selection of short stories and for developing lessons plans to meet students‟ needs and interests

In eight weeks (from April 8th, 2010 to June 3rd, 2010) the writer integrated short stories in the speaking and listening lessons Then on the ninth week (June 8th, 2010), the second questionnaire was distributed to students to get their feedback on the effects of short stories in teaching listening and speaking skills

The data collected after the eight week of integrating short stories were analyzed to verify the achievements and identify shortcomings of using stories in speaking and listening lessons Results of the questionnaires and data analysis will be presented in the next chapter