VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

CHU THỊ KIM NGÂN
USING TASK-BASED ACTIVITIES FOR THE FIRST-
YEAR NON-MAJOR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH IN
SPEAKING LESSONS AT NATIONAL ECONOMICS
UNIVERSITY
( Sử dụng các hoạt động giao nhiệm vụ cho sinh viên
không chuyên tiếng Anh trong các tiết học nói tại trường
Đại học Kinh Tế Quốc Dân) M.A MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH METHODOLOGY
CODE: 601410

SPEAKING LESSONS AT NATIONAL ECONOMICS
UNIVERSITY

( Sử dụng các hoạt động giao nhiệm vụ cho sinh viên
không chuyên tiếng Anh trong các tiết học nói tại trường
Đại học Kinh Tế Quốc Dân) M.A MINOR THESIS
FIELD: ENGLISH METHODOLOGY
CODE: 601410
SUPERVISOR: Nguyen Thi Vuong, M.A

HANOI, 2009 iv


3.1.2. The teaching materials and assessment………………………………… 17
3.1.3. Situational analysis……………………………………………………18
3.2 Design and methodology………………………………………………… 19 v
3.2.1. Participants………………………………………………………………………19
3.2.2. Instruments………………………………………………………………………19
3.2.3. Data collection procedures………………………………………………20
3.3. Data analysis…………………………………………………………… 20
3.3.1. Task-based project…………………………………………………………….20
3.3.2. The post-treatment test……………………………………………… 23
3.3.3. Interview …………………………………………………………………… 24
3.4. Findings and discussion…………………………………………………… 29
3.5. Summary………………………………………………………………………32
CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION…………………………………………………….34
4.1 Summary of the major findings…………………………………………… 34
4.2. Recommendations for the application of the TB approach……………… 35
REFERENCES
APPENDIXES


general and students of Economics at National Economics University in particular need to
enhance their skills of English, especially the speaking skill. However, there exists a
critical problem in teaching and learning English at colleges and universities resulting from
inappropriate teaching materials and instructional techniques. The common teaching
approach applied in English lesson at most of universities and colleges is teacher-centered
and lecture-oriented, which normally results in learning passivity and non-involvement in
language skills in general and in speaking activities in particular. Therefore, it is the high
time to make a change in the traditional learning process of English at universities in
Vietnam in general and at the National Economics University in particular. Among the
modern teaching methods, the task-based one is considered a type of analytic learning and
teaching method which owns numerous advantages.
According to Cadlin (1987), “Task-based learning continues with and develops recent
attention to learner-centered approaches and in particular the ideas of differentiation and
learner independence… Tasks serve as compelling and appropriate method for realizing
certain characteristic principles of communicative language teaching and learning.”
Besides, Nunan (2005) argues that “TBT does provide a flexible, functionally compatible
and contextually sensitive approach for many teachers, as well as learners”.
For all the reasons mentioned, we do believe that the implication of task-based approach
will enable a change in students’ learning process, especially in terms of speaking skill and
for the first-year non-major students at National Economics University.
1.2 Aims of the study
The study aims to investigate the benefits of integrating a task-based approach in
teaching speaking to the first-year non-major of English at National Economics University.

2
The study aims to focus on students’ achievement in speaking skill and positive changes in
their learning attitudes and motivation as well.
1.3. Research questions
There are two research questions for the study as follows:
Question 1: Is the task-based method suitable for teaching speaking skill for the first-


CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter is concerned with the theoretical background of the study which
includes an overview of speaking skill and Task-based Language Teaching.
2.1. Speaking skill
2.1.1. What is speaking?
In this section, I will consider what we mean by “speaking”. In language teaching, we
often talk about four language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) in terms of
their direction and modality. Speaking, in particular, can be regarded as the productive,
oral skill.
Speaking consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning.
According to 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 but it is not completely unpredictable.
Speaking plays an important part in communication as Ur (1996), Bailey and Savage(
1994) say “ for many people, speaking is seen as the central skill because of the desire to
communicate with others, often face to face and in real time”. It is really an impressive feat
when we hear someone speaking effectively in a second or foreign language. Ur (1996)
considers speaking intuitively the most important of the four skills: people who know a
language are referred to as “speaker” of that language as if speaking included all other
kinds of knowing.
2.1.2. Approaches to speaking
For many years, language teaching was seen as helping learners develop linguistic
competence –that is, helping students master the sounds, words and grammar patterns of
English. The idea was that by studying the bits and pieces of a language, students could
eventually put them altogether and communicate.
In the1970s and 1980s, however, the understanding of language learning experienced a
significant shift in focus. This shift was influenced by international developments in
linguistics, curricula, and pedagogy, as well as by sociolinguistic research (primary in
Australia, Canada, New Zealand, The United Kingdom and The U.S). In addition, the

both fluent and accurate.

5
2.1.3. Aspects of teaching speaking in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
classes
2.1.3.1. CLT approach:
The communicative approach on language teaching starts from a theory of
language as a means of communication. The goal of language teaching in the light of CLT
is to develop communicative competence. Some of the characteristics of this approach
include:
 Language is a system for expression of meaning
 The primary function of language is to allow interaction and
communication
 The structure of language reflects its functional and
communicative uses.
 The primary units of language are not merely its grammar and
structural features but categories of functional and
communicative meaning as exemplified discourse.
While in traditional second language classroom, learners play passive roles in class,
in CLT classroom, learners are encouraged to contribute as much as he gains, and learns in
an independent way. Suggested by Reen and Candlin in Richards, R.C.& Roger, T.S
(2001), CLT teachers’ roles are to facilitate the communicative process in the classroom,
act as an independent participant within the learning-teaching group, an analyst, a
counselor and a group-process manager. With regard to the procedure, in CLT class, new
teaching points are introduced in dialogue form. Pair and group work are suggested to
encourage students to use and practice. Richards, R.C.& Roger, T.S (2001) summarize
principles of CLT as follows:

responsibility to decide when to focus on pronunciation, and on which aspects. It is now
agreed that in CLT class, pronunciation can be integrated into speaking lessons, either
through activities which prepare for speaking tasks or through follow-up activities.
Individual sounds, word stress, sentence stress, and various types of linking can be drawn
out of many classroom activities. Likewise, intonation can be picked out from dialogues in
textbook materials to show students its importance in indicating attitudes and emotion in
conversation.
2.1.3.4. Accuracy and fluency
According to Hedge (2000), “ as communicative approaches have developed, teachers
have been concerned to ensure that students not only practice speaking in a controlled way
in order to produce features of pronunciation, vocabulary and structure accurately, but also

7
practice using these features more freely in purposeful communication”. As a result, it is
necessary for teacher to design both accuracy-based and fluency-based activities. Hedge
(2000) works out four needs of a meaningful accuracy-based activity.
(i) Contextualized practice: Teachers will find a situation in which the structure is
commonly used. Students feel that the structures are used naturally.
(ii) Personalizing language: Personalized speaking activities enable students to express
their own ideas, feelings, preferences, and opinions as the activities allow students some
degree of choice in what they say.
(iii) Building awareness of the social use of language: The activity helps students
understand appropriate social behaviour and the language used in a certain situation.
(iv)Building confidence: With ease and confidence, students are likely to produce
language quickly and automatically.
According to Hedge (2000), fluency, on the other hand, means responding coherently
within the turns of conversation, linking words and phrases, using intelligible
pronunciation and appropriate intonation and doing all of this without hesitation. Fluency-
based activities work best in free discussion, role –play and gap activities.
(i) Free discussion: free discussion on a wide range of topics, which engage students’

Nunan (1991) gives out five characteristics of a task-based approach to language
teaching as follows:
(i) An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target
language.
(ii) The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation.
(iii) The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but
also on the learning process itself.
(iv) An enhancement of the learners’ own personal experience as important
contributing elements to classroom learning.
(v) An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation
outside classroom.
Task-based syllabus which is considered the cornerstone of TBLT is defined by
Richards (1991) as syllabus which is organized around tasks, rather than in terms of
grammar or vocabulary. In task-based learning, communication tasks (where language
forms are not controlled) involve learners in an entirely different mental process as they
compose what they want to say, expressing what they think or feel.
Tasks remove the teacher domination, and learners get chances to open and close
conversations, to interact naturally, to interrupt and challenge, to ask people to do things

9
and to check what they have done. Much of this will involve composing in real time. The
resulting interaction is far more likely to lead to increased fluency and natural acquisition
than form-focused exercises that encourage learners to get it right from the beginning.
According to Long and Crooks (1992), the task-based syllabuses are “distinguished
from most earlier syllabus types by the fact that their rationale derives from what is known
about human learning in general and second language learning in particular rather than, as
is the case with lexical, structural, notional, functional, and relational syllabuses primary
from an analysis of language and language use. In addition, while differing from one
another in important ways, all three reject linguistic elements (such as word, structure,
notion or function) as the unit of analysis and opt instead for some conceptions of tasks”

of this section is to develop a checklist of task types. This part will focus on four
approaches for classifying tasks: (1) pedagogic; (2) rhetorical; (3) cognitive; and (4)
psycholinguistic.
A pedagogic classification:
Willis (1996) offers a pedagogic classification of tasks based on an analysis of the
kinds of tasks commonly found in textbook materials. The types reflect the kind of
operations that learners are required to carry out in performing tasks:
1, Listing, i.e where the completed outcome is a list.
2, Ordering and sorting, i.e tasks that involve sequencing, ranking, categorizing and
classifying items
3, Comparing, i.e tasks that involve finding differences or similarities in
information.
4, Problem-solving, i.e tasks that demand intellectual activities as in puzzles or logic
problems
5, Sharing personal experience, i.e tasks that allow learners to talk freely about
themselves and share experiences.
6, Creative tasks, i.e projects, often involving several stages that can incorporate the
various types of tasks above and can include the need to carry out some research.
A retorical classification:
A rhetorial classification of tasks draws on theories of rhetoric that distinguish
different discourse domains in terms of their structure and linguistic properties- narrative,
instructions, descriptions, reports… That is a classification that often underlies language
courses for academic purposes and is often linked to the specific language functions that
figure in academic written discourse, for example, definitions, classifications, and giving
examples. 11
A cognitive classification:
A cognitive approach for classifying tasks is based on the kind of cognitive

12
4, Outcome options: This refers to the scope of the task outcomes available to the
participants in meeting the task goals.
2.2.3. Advantages of TBLT
According to Bowen (2000), the main advantages of TBL are that language is used
for genuine purpose; it means that communication should take place and that when
preparing the report for the class, students should consider language form in general rather
than concentration on a single form as in “Presentation –Practice-Production” model of
language teaching. The aim is to integrate all four skills and to move from fluency to
accuracy plus fluency.
Nunan (2005) says that “TBL does provide a flexible, functionally compatible and
contextually sensitive approach for many teachers, as well as learners.” He also confirms
that the attractive features of TBL offer the potential as follows:
(i) A replacement to or supportive infusion of more student- centered learning to
certain single approach based syllabi.
(ii) Utilizing more authentic experiences and materials as well as principles of
constructivism compared to top down teaching
(iii) More of a sense of personal and active accomplishment including developing
a greater sense of language ownership.
(iv) Increasing student participation when task teaching is well planned and
implementing sensitive to learners’ learning styles, learning and communicative strategies,
personalities, multiple intelligences and the overall local contexts, for example.
(v) Making specific lesson goals more evident through movement towards and/ or
success of task completion.
(vi) Important and ongoing assessment and “wash back” to both teacher and
leaner.
(vii) Tasks, well chosen and developed which are centered around relevant
acquisition principles, as well as sensitive to context also have potential to lessen the need
for test cramming and exercise reliance on a result/ test-based oriented syllabi.
Nunan (2005) also states that “It provides rather than a useful practice that can be

just using language for display purposes
 It makes learners participate in a complete interaction,
not just one-off sentences. Negotiating openings and
closings, new stages or changes of direction are their
responsibility. It is likely that discourse skill such as
these ones can only be acquired through interaction.

14
 It gives learners more chances to try out
communication strategies like checking understanding,
paraphrasing to get round an unknown word,
reformulating other people’s ideas, and supplying
words and phrases for other speakers.
 It helps learners gradually gain confidence as they find
they can rely on co- operation with their fellow
students to achieve the goals of the tasks mainly
through the use of the target language.
2.2.4. A framework for task-based learning
According to Willis (1996), the components of the TBL are presented as follows:

Pre-task
Task cycle
Language focus
*Introduction to topic and
task:
Teacher explores the
topic with the class,
highlights useful words and
phrases to help students
understand task instructions

during or after the analysis. Table 1: The framework for task-based learning

15

1. General overview
According to the model of TBL by Willis (1996), the framework consists of three
phases: Pre-task, task cycle and language focus.
(i) The pre-task phase introduces the class to the topic and the task, activating
topic related words and phrases. The pre-task phase will usually be the shortest stage in the
framework. It could last between two and twenty minutes, depending on learners’ degree
of familiarity with the topic and the type of task. If there is a pre-task recording to set the
scene, it would take slightly longer. Willis (1996) also identifies three steps for pre-task
stage: Introducing the topic, Identifying topic language and giving task instructions.
(ii) The task cycle: Within this stage, there are three sub stages: doing the task,
engaging in planning post-task, and reporting. The task cycle offers learners the chance to
use whatever language they already know in order to carry out the tasks, and then to
improve that language under the teacher’s guidance., while planning their reports to the
task. Feedback from teacher comes when they want it most, at the planning stage and after
the report. Exposure to language in use can be provided at different points, depending on
the type of task. Either before or during the task cycle, students might listen to recordings
of other people doing the task, or read the text connected with the task topic, and relate this
to their own experience of doing the task. In general, the task cycle offers learners a
holistic experience of language in use.
(iii) The language focus phase: This is the last phase in the TBL framework. It
allows a closer study of some of the specific features naturally occurring in the language
used during the task cycle. By this point, the learners will have already worked with the
language and processed it for meaning, so they are ready to focus on the specific language

findings concerning the first-year non-major students of English at National Economics
University (NEU).

17 CHAPTER 3: THE STUDY
In the previous chapter, all the theoretical preliminaries relevant to the purpose of
the study were discussed. This chapter is devoted to the study on using the task-based
teaching method in the speaking lesson of the first year non-major students of English at
the National Economics University.
3.1 The context for the study
3.1.1 Introduction to English course for first -year students at the National
Economics University
At National Economics University, before students attend their English classes at
the first term, they have to take a placement test with 100 multiple –choice questions on
grammar in order to classify students’ levels of English. After the placement test, the
students will be divided into different English classes of two different levels: level A and
level B (A is relevant to elementary level and B is relevant to pre-intermediate level).
Each English class consists of 40-45 students.
After that, classes of group A and classes of group B will be offered different course

30 students in each English class but now there are 40-45 students in each English one
because of the shortage of lecture halls.
Most teachers admit that they have not had high achievement in drilling speaking
skill for students because of these big classes. Whenever they ask students to practice
speaking in class, there will be too much noise. Besides, for the classes of 40-45 students,
teachers find it difficult to keep the whole class under their control. They cannot manage
to help and supervise every student. They also admit that they sometimes do not intend to
spend time in class for speaking skill as they keep thinking that it doesn’t work well in
such a big class like that. Therefore, most of the time in class is used for other activities
on reading, writing or drilling grammar that students have learnt.
As regards learning, it is surveyed that the students’ main weaknesses are in
productive skills, especially speaking. In fact, many students can do written exercises
accurately but they always have difficulties in getting themselves involved in speaking
activities naturally. This is probably because they have got used to the teacher- centered
method since they were school students. Another reason is that they find it difficult to
concentrate on their speaking tasks in such a big and noisy class. Some of them admit
that they tend to talk with each other in Vietnamese other than English, especially when

19
students are at the back rows of the class and the teacher may not pay attention to them as
she is busy helping other pairs or groups.
Despite the fact that most students in National Economics University realize that
speaking skill is of great importance to them, the majority of the students tend to have
very limited speech production and low levels of oral fluency in English. What needs to
be done first now is to increase their co-operation, motivation and confidence. Thus, it is
essential to create an active atmosphere and learning process in speaking lessons for non-
major students of English at National Economics University in general
and for first-year students in particular so as to motivate the enthusiasm of learners and
gradually develop their ability to speak English as well.
3.2. Design and methodology

learning method. Thus, the qualitative research method which employed semi-structured
interviews for 45 students of the experimental class was adopted.
The reason for this kind of data to be chosen was the benefits it would bring about as
Dowsett (1986) commented “the semi-structured interview is quite extraordinary. The
interactions are incredibly rich and the data indicate that you can produce extraordinary
evidence about life that you do not get in structured interviews or questionnaire
methodology”. The questions for the interviews were developed and piloted through the
study. Question 1 was intended to investigate students’ estimation over the importance of
oral English competence, which may account for their priority over speaking tasks in the
project. Question 2 focused on problem that the students may encounter in oral
communication. Question 3 was used to discovered students’ perceptions of differences
between TBL and conventional learning. Questions 4,5,6 aimed to elicit students’ ideas
about the strengths of task-based approach as well as the difficulties they had coped with
under task-based instructions. The last question (question 7) elaborated students’
suggestion as to how TBT could be improved. The interview was conducted in
Vietnamese and translated into English after that.
3.3. Data analysis
3.3.1. The task-based project
The project required 12 weeks to complete. However, as part of the same course,
the experimental students were also engaged in other activities unrelated to the project
throughout the term. Task-based framework adapted to the models of Willis was
employed during the project.