VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES ********* APPLYING THE TASK-BASED APPROACH TO TEACHING SPEAKING TO FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT BINH DINH COLLEGE A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF TESOL Submitted by VÕ THỊ NGỌC CHÍNH Supervisor NGUYỄN THÁI ÂN, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, February 2014 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled “APPLYING THE TASK-BASED APPROACH TO TEACHING SPEAKING TO FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT BINH DINH COLLEGE” in terms of the Statements of Requirements for Theses in Master’s Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee This thesis has not previously been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution Ho Chi Minh City, February 2014 VÕ THỊ NGỌC CHÍNH i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Võ Thị Ngọc Chính, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for care, loan or reproduction of theses Ho Chi Minh City, February 2014 VÕ THỊ NGỌC CHÍNH ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This M.A thesis was written as a special gift for my students, and especially for my lovely son – who was born at the time I began to submit the proposal for this M.A thesis with the hope that my students can learn English speaking interestingly and effectively I, therefore, would like to express my sincere appreciation to all of those people who have helped to shape this thesis First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr Nguyễn Thái Ân, for his insightful discussions, constructive criticisms and great encouragement on my writing Without his help, this M.A thesis would still be far from finished I am greatly indebted to all the lecturers of the TESOL graduate program at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities for their dedication and helpful instruction during the course I would like to thank the teaching staff of The Foreign Languages Department in Binh Dinh College Without their assistance, this thesis would not have been possible Further, I would like to extend my thanks to my students, who have responded to much of this material and who have taught me much about the problems encountered in the first stage of carrying out my research Last but not least, my deepest gratitude and special thanks are sent to my family, especially my husband, who cared, encouraged, supported, and motivated me greatly during the time of completing this study iii ABSTRACT This thesis dealt with the task-based approach towards learning English speaking at Binh Dinh college The purpose was to investigate the teachers’ perceptions on the theory of the task-based approach Another aim was to find out the effectiveness of the application of the task-based approach in teaching speaking Finally, the motivation of the task-based approach was examined in the study Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were applied to conduct this study The study employed features of quantitative and qualitative research methods Data for the study were collected from questionnaires to teacher respondents and 126 student respondents Data were also collected from class observations, students’ journals and interviews to inspect the attitudes of the participants towards the task-based approach as well as to confirm the results from a different angle The findings indicated that the participant teachers generally had highly good understandings of TBA and also had favorable attitudes towards TBA, and the learners also displayed positive attitudes towards this teaching method Furthermore, the teachers articulated a number of constraints that hamper the effective accomplishment of TBA The results, although tentative, contribute to an understanding of the theory of TBA and provide suggestions for the concerned bodies to facilitate the process of applying this teaching method in this college The thesis closes by identifying some possible research in relation to this study iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii ABSTRACT iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF FIGURES x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xi CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 General background to the study 1.2.1 An overview of Binh Dinh college 1.2.2 Description of the speaking courses 1.2.3 Students’ profile 1.3 Aims of the study 1.4 Limitations of the study 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Organization of the study CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 The nature of speaking 10 2.2 Speaking problems 14 2.3 Prior research on the task-based approach 17 2.4 Rationale for task-based language teaching 21 2.5 Task-based approach 22 2.6 Definition of “task” 25 2.7 Task components to consider for implementing TBA successfully 28 2.8 A typology of language learning tasks 31 2.8.1 Listing 32 2.8.2 Ordering and sorting 33 v 2.8.3 Comparing 33 2.8.4 Problem solving 33 2.8.5 Sharing personal experiences 33 2.8.6 Creative tasks 33 2.9 Task-based approach and the teaching of speaking 34 2.10 A task-based framework for teaching speaking 35 2.11 Conceptual framework of the study 41 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research questions of the study 44 3.2 Research setting 44 3.3 Research design 45 3.4 Subjects 46 3.4.1 Student subjects 46 3.4.2 Teacher subjects 47 3.5 Instruments 47 3.5.1 Questionnaire for students 49 3.5.2 Questionnaire for teachers 50 3.5.3 Students’ journals 51 3.5.4 Class observations 52 3.5.5 Interviews 53 3.6 Data collection procedure 54 3.7 Data analysis 54 3.8 Assumptions 54 3.9 Summary of research instruments 55 CHAPTER IV: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 4.1 Data analysis 56 4.2 Data on the teacher subjects 57 4.3 Student subjects 58 4.4 Results 58 4.4.1 Results from teachers’ questionnaire 58 4.4.1.1 Teachers’ perceptions on the theory of TBA 58 vi 4.4.1.2 Teachers’ perceptions on the actual application of TBA 65 4.4.1.3 Teachers’ attitudes towards the application of TBA 68 4.4.2 Results from students’ questionnaire 72 4.4.3 Students’ journals 79 4.4.3.1 Students’ feedbacks on the application of TBA 79 4.4.3.2 The constraints of the application of TBA 81 4.4.4 Results from interviews 83 4.4.5 Classroom observations 90 4.4.5.1 Problems noticed and suggestions for teaching speaking 90 4.4.5.2 Strengths of teaching speaking using TBA 92 4.4.5.3 Results of class observations 93 4.5 Overall summary 94 4.6 Summary of the findings 94 4.7 Discussion of the findings 97 4.7.1 Teachers’ perceptions towards the theory of TBA 97 4.7.2 Teachers’ attitudes towards the application of TBA 97 4.7.3 Students’ attitudes towards the application of TBA 98 4.7.4 Intended outcomes of the teaching speaking using TBA 99 4.7.5 Unintended outcomes 99 4.8 Summary 100 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Answers to the research questions 101 5.2 An evaluation of the overall methodology 102 5.3 Recommendations 104 5.3.1 For teachers 104 5.3.2 For students 106 5.4 Suggestions for further research 106 5.5 Summary 107 REFERENCES 108 vii APPENDICES Appendix 1: Questionnaire for teachers 118 Appendix 2: Questionnaire for students (English version) 123 Appendix 3: Questionnaire for students (Vietnamese version) 127 Appendix 4: Classroom observation checklist 131 Appendix 5: Interview checklist 135 Appendix 6: Students’ journals 138 viii LIST OF TABLES Pages Table 2.1 Willis’s framework for task-based approach 36 Table 2.2 Ellis’s framework for designing task-based lessons 40 Table 2.3 Conceptual framework of the study 42 Table 4.1 Demographic characteristics of teacher respondents 57 Table 4.2 Demographic characteristics of student respondents 58 Table 4.3 Teachers perceptions on the definitions of TBA 59 Table 4.4 Teachers’ perceptions on the theory of TBA in terms of teacher roles and learner roles 60 Table 4.5 Teachers’ perceptions on the theory of TBA in terms of types of teaching and learning activities and materials 61 Table 4.6 Teachers’ perceptions on the theory of TBA in terms of error correction 62 Table 4.7 Teachers’ perceptions on the theory of TBA in terms of teaching-learning process 64 Table 4.8 Teachers’ perceptions on the actual application of TBA in the classrooms 66 Table 4.9 Teacher responses to the effects of TBA on creating motivation 69 Table 4.10 Teacher responses to the effects of TBA on facilitating the speaking learning process 70 Table 4.11 Teachers’ responses to the effect of TBA on promoting group-work competence 71 Table 4.12 Various strengths realized by the teachers 72 Table 4.13 How the students found the task-based approach 73 Table 4.14 Students’ responses to the effect of TBA on creating motivation 74 Table 4.15 Students’ responses to the effect of TBA on facilitating the speaking learning process 75 Table 4.16 Various strengths realized by the students 76 Table 4.17 Students’ responses to the effect of TBA on promoting group-work competence 77 Table 4.18 The students’ self-evaluation of their improvement 79 Table 4.19 Students’ feedbacks on the speaking lessons 80 Table 4.20 Schedule for the interviews 83 Table 4.21 Teachers’ willing to apply the task-based approach to teaching speaking 88 Table 4.22 Problems noticed and suggestions for improving speaking teaching and learning 92 ix comfortable when learning speaking Make the students confident and willing to speak 5 Encourage students to engage in communicative tasks Other(s), please specify…………………………………………………………………… Stimulating and facilitating the speaking teaching-learning process Encourage full student-student interaction in classroom Be able to pre-imagine the content of the speaking topic about to learn Create interesting and meaningful contexts, encourage learners in real-life situations Provide the words related to the topic about to learn 5 Provide social knowledge Pursue the development of speaking skills in the classroom Provide the students with plenty of opportunities to use language in classrooms Other(s), please specify……………………………………………………………………… Promoting group-work competence Develop the competence in working in groups (through discussions) Other(s), please specify…………………………………………………………………… Various strengths Remember lessons at class Activate the learners’ needs and interests Make the retention of words and useful languages much easier and longer Encourage learners interact primarily with each other 124 Create a collaborative learning environment Help to improve other skills Other(s), please specify…………………………………………………………………… PART C: OTHERS To you, the task-based approach is……………(Tick () one answer)  1.1 new  1.2 not new How you usually feel in your speaking classes with TBA? (you can tick () more than one answer.)  2.1 Happy  2.2 Interested in the lessons  2.3 Comfortable  2.4 Stressed  2.5 Bored Other(s), please specify……………………………………………………………… How often you take part in speaking activities in your class with the application of TBA? (Tick one answer)  3.1 Never  3.2 Rarely  3.3 Sometimes  3.4 Often  3.5 Always How effective you think the application of the task-based approach is to learning speaking? (Tick one answer)  4.1 very effective  4.2 effective  4.3 fairly effective  4.4 not effective 125 Indicate the extent to which you improve your speaking skill through the application of the task-based approach (Tick one answer)  5.1 Improve a lot  5.2 Improve moderately  5.3 Improve a little  5.4 Don’t improve at all THE END 126 APPENDIX BẢNG KHẢO SÁT CHO SINH VIÊN Mục đích bảng câu hỏi khảo sát ý kiến em việc áp dụng “phương pháp lấy tập làm trung tâm” vào việc dạy nói để giúp cho việc dạy học môn tốt Ý kiến em quan trọng thành cơng đề tài Các em vui lịng dành chút thời gian trả lời câu hỏi sau Rất cám ơn hợp tác em PHẦN A: THƠNG TIN CÁ NHÂN Giới tính: Nữ Nam Tuổi: ………years Em học tiếng Anh được: ……………năm PHẦN B: Ý KIẾN ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC ÁP DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP LẤY BÀI TẬP LÀM TRUNG TÂM TRONG GIẢNG DẠY MƠN NĨI TẠI TRƯỜNG CĐ BÌNH ĐỊNH Những nhận định bên thể ý kiến em việc áp dụng Phương pháp lấy tập làm trung tâm giảng dạy mơn nói trường Cao đẳng Bình Định Mức độ đồng ý em nào? Vui lòng khoanh tròn số tương ứng với ý kiến em theo mức độ sau: Không đồng ý Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý 5= Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý Khơng có ý kiến 4= Khơng đồng ý NHỮNG Ý KIẾN CHUNG VỀ THỰC TẾ GIẢNG DẠY 3= Khơng có ý kiến Đồng ý 2= Đồng ý Hoàn toàn đồng ý 1= Hoàn toàn đồng ý Tạo động học tập Hấp dẫn 127 Tạo khơng khí lớp sơi thúc đẩy việc sử dụng ngôn ngữ Giúp sinh viên cảm thấy thoải mái hứng thú nói tiếng Anh Giúp sinh viên cảm thấy tự tin nói tiếng Anh 5 Khuyến khích sinh viên tham gia vào hoạt động giao tiếp Ý kiến khác………………………………………………………………………………… Thúc đẩy q trình dạy-học nói tiếng Anh Tương tác người học với khuyến khích Có thể hình dung trước nội dung chủ đề nói thảo luận Tạo ngữ cảnh thú vị có ý nghĩa để giúp sinh viên giao tiếp tình thực tế Cung cấp từ ngơn ngữ hữu ích cho chủ đề nói 5 Cung cấp kiến thức xã hội Giúp sinh viên phát triển kỹ nói lớp học Cung cấp cho sinh viên nhiều hội sử dụng ngôn ngữ để giao tiếp lớp học Ý kiến khác………………………………………………………………………………… Thúc đẩy khả làm việc nhóm Phát triển khả làm việc nhóm Ý kiến khác………………………………………………………………………………… Các hiệu khác Nhớ học lớp Kích thích nhu cầu lợi ích người học Giúp nhớ từ ngơn ngữ hữu ích 128 học dễ dàng lâu Khuyến khích người học tương tác với chủ yếu lớp học 5 Tạo mơi trường học tập có cộng tác qua lại người học Cải thiện kỹ khác Ý kiến khác………………………………………………………………………………… PHẦN C: KHÁC Đối với em, phương pháp lấy tập làm trung tâm thì……………(Đánh dấu  vào đáp án em chọn.)  1.1  1.2 không Em thường cảm thấy tiết học nói với phương pháp này? (Em đánh dấu  vào đáp án em chọn.)  2.1 Vui  2.2 Thích thú với học  2.3 Thoải mái  2.4 Căng thẳng  2.5 Chán Ý kiến khác………………………………………………………………………………… Em thường xuyên tham gia vào hoạt động nói nào? (Đánh dấu  vào đáp án em chọn.)  3.1 Không  3.2 Hiếm  3.3 Thỉnh thoảng  3.4 Thường xuyên  3.5 Luôn 129 Theo em, việc áp dụng phương pháp lấy tập làm trung tâm có hiệu nào? (Đánh dấu  vào đáp án em chọn.)  4.1 Rất hiệu  4.2 Hiệu  4.3 Hơi hiệu  4.4 Không hiệu Sau học nói phương pháp lấy tập làm trung tâm, em có đánh mức độ cải thiện khả nói mình? (Đánh dấu  vào đáp án em chọn.)  5.1 Cải thiện nhiều  5.2 Tương đối cải thiện  5.3 Cải thiện  5.4 Chẳng cải thiện THE END 130 APPENDIX CLASSROOM OBSERVATION CHECKLIST Binh Dinh College – English Department – Class……… Course/Section: ………… Date/Time of Visit: ……………… Duration of class: ……………… No of students: ………… Name of instructor: …………………… Name of observer: …………………… Note: Please tick () in the column “Yes” if the items observed are true PURPOSE: The purpose of this instrument is to investigate how the classroom practices reflect the effects of the task-based approach in teaching speaking It will be used by observers to evaluate the application of the task-based approach in the classroom to provide feedbacks that will support the use of this approach in teaching speaking skill as well as the learning atmosphere What is observed Yes I Classroom activities 1.1 Task type 1.1.1 What is the task type? Listing Ordering Comparing Problem solving Sharing Creative tasks Other(s)……………………………………………… 131 Comment 1.1.2 All tasks are related to the same topic 1.2 Participant organization 1.2.1 How are the task types conducted? Whole class Groups Individual Pairs Other(s)………………………………………… 1.2.2 Students stay on tasks 1.3 Content 1.3.1 The topic(s) given by the teacher is/are Interesting Real life-related Job-related Other(s)……………………………………………… 1.4 Students’ modality 1.4.1 Lesson practiced more than one skill 1.4.2 Lesson focused mainly on speaking skills 1.5 Materials 1.5.1 Material is presented at the students’ level of comprehension 1.5.2 Lesson is smoothly sequenced and logical II Classroom teaching language and interaction 132 2.1 Teacher is a facilitator 2.1 Students are communicators 2.3 Teacher provides target language input 2.4 Teacher’s explanations are clear 2.5 Students are given useful opportunities to practice what was learned 2.6 Teacher uses examples or illustrations to clarify course material 2.7 All students participate actively in the class 2.8 Teacher encourages participation from a variety of students 2.9 Teacher provides appropriate feedback to student errors 2.10 Teacher provides appropriate answers to student questions 2.11 Teacher shows a positive attitude to students and creates a friendly atmosphere for learning 2.12 Students feel free to express their ideas in the target language III Overall Assessment My overall rating of the lesson is IV Weak points and suggestions for improvement V Strengths 133 VI Teacher’s Comments ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Observer’s signature: _ Date: _ Teacher’s signature: _ Date: 134 APPENDIX INTERVIEW CHECKLIST Teacher’s name: …………………………… Gender: Male Female Teaching experience: ………years Degree: BA MA PhD What communicative activities you like in the speaking lessons with the task-based approach? (you can tick () more than one answer.)  1.1 Creative tasks  1.2 Problem solving  1.3 Comparing  1.4 Sharing personal experiences  1.5 Ordering and sorting  1.6 Listing What types of materials you think should be used beside the textbook? (you can tick () more than one answer.)  2.1 Task-based materials  2.2 Text-based materials  2.3 Realia Other(s), please specify………………………………………………………………… What areas of language should you apply TBA to teach? (you can tick () more than one answer.)  3.1 Writing  3.2 Reading  3.3 Speaking  3.4 Listening  3.5 Pronunciation  3.6 Vocabulary  3.7 Grammar 135 How effective you think the application of the task-based approach is to teaching speaking? (Tick one answer)  4.1 very effective  4.2 effective  4.3 fairly effective  4.4 not effective What will be practical problems when applying TBA to your English teaching at Binh Dinh college?  5.1 Lack of teaching equipments  5.2 Teachers’ lack of time to prepare communicative activities/materials  5.3 Learners’ characteristics  5.4 Large class size  5.5 Teachers’ lack of knowledge of TBA Will you apply the task-based approach to teaching speaking?  YES  NO If yes, please tick () any reasons that you decide to implement TBA  TBA promotes learners’ academic progress  TBA improves learners’ interaction skills  TBA encourages learners’ intrinsic motivation  TBA creates a collaborative learning environment  TBA is appropriate for small group work If you have other reasons, please write them down……………………………… If no, please put a tick at any reasons that you avoid implementing TBA  Students are not used to task-based learning  Materials in textbooks are not proper for using TBLT  Large class size is an obstacle to use task-based methods  I have difficulty in assessing learner’s task-based performance  I have limited target language proficiency  I have very little knowledge of task-based instruction If you have other reasons, please write them down………………………………………… 136 Are you satisfied with all the speaking lessons you have observed so far? Why? Why not? Do you have any suggestions about the implementation and practice of the task-based approach (TBA) method at Binh Dinh college? Please give comments ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 137 APPENDIX STUDENTS’ JOURNALS Student’s name: …………………………… Gender: Male Female Language learning experience: ………years I Students’ impressions on the task-based approach to the teaching of speaking skills (their feelings, thoughts, ideas) I.1 In general, how you feel about the teaching method that is being used in your class? Please give a brief description of your opinions II Students’ evaluation on the teacher’s application of the task-based approach in teaching speaking skills II.1 In what ways can this approach help you improve your speaking skill? (What are some positive effects of this method to the teaching of speaking skill?) III Suggestions for improvements III.1 What are your likely difficulties when learning speaking with the use of the task-based approach? (What are the likely constraints of the application of the task-based approach to the teaching of speaking?) III.2 What should you to improve your speaking skill with the help of the task-based approach? III.3 What you want your teacher to to help you improve your speaking ability through the use of the task-based approach? THE END THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND COOPERATION! 138 ... the effectiveness of the application of the task- based approach in teaching speaking Finally, the motivation of the task- based approach was examined in the study Both quantitative and qualitative... of the taskbased approach in teaching speaking skill at Binh Dinh college;  Explore the students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards the use of the task- based approach in learning and teaching speaking. .. speaking to the first- year English majors at Binh Dinh college;  Give recommendations on how to improve the task- based approach application in teaching speaking to first- year English majors at