VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
****************

ĐỖ THỊ CẨM VÂN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES TO
DEVELOP SPEAKING SKILLS FOR THE SECOND YEAR STUDENTS
AT VINH PHUC TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE

(Nghiên cứu những chiến lược giảng dạy nhằm nâng cao kỹ năng nói cho sinh
viên năm thứ hai Trường Cao đẳng Sư phạm Vĩnh Phúc)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.01.11
Hanoi – 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
****************

ĐỖ THỊ CẨM VÂN


ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would love to express my sincere thanks to a number of people whose
invaluable support and encouragement were of great help in completing of this
study.
First of all, I would like to advance my special gratitude to Dr. To Thi Thu
Huong - my supervisor for her guidance, invaluable advice as well as critical
comments during the research process. Without her tireless help, this study could
not have been finished.
Secondly, my thanks go to Dr. Le Van Canh for his contributions through
giving me helpful advice when I started the study.

interviews, test, and personal observations. The findings indicated students’ good
awareness and varied attitudes towards the problems they have to face, and the
difficulties they had in the learning process. In addition, the study showed a range
of the instructional strategies the teachers applied to motivate their students’
participation in speaking lessons. And role- playing was the most popularly used at
Vinh Phuc Teacher Training College.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration ……………………………………………………………… i
Acknowledgements ii
Abstract iii
Table of contents iv
List of appendices vi
List of abbreviations vii
List of figures vii
List of tables viii

2.2 Data collection methods 18
2.2.1 Questionnaires 19
2.2.2 Semi-structured interviews 19
2.2.3 Observations 20
2.3 Data collection procedures 20
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
1. Teachers’ instructional strategies in English speaking classes 22
1.1 Instructional strategies used by teachers in speaking lessons 22
1.2 Which instructional strategies help the students to overcome their
difficulties in speaking lessons? 29
1.2.1 Students’ difficulties in the speaking classes 30
1.2.2 Which instructional strategies help the students to overcome their
difficulties in speaking lessons? 33
2. Effect of role- play practice to students’ performance in English
speaking classes 33
CONCLUSION
1. Summary of the study 39
2. Limitations of the study 39
4. Suggestions for further studies 40
REFERENCES 41
APPENDICES I
vi

LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Transcripts of student interviews (schedule 1)
Appendix 2: Transcripts of student interviews (schedule 2)
Appendix 3: Transcripts of teacher interviews (schedule 1)
Appendix 4: Transcripts of teacher interviews (schedule 2)
Appendix 5: Teacher interview schedules
Appendix 6: Student interview schedules

VTTC: Vinh Phuc Teacher Training College LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Importance of the teachers’ instructional strategies from the teachers’
points of view
Figure 2: Instructional strategies the teachers applied in English speaking lessons
Figure 3: The instructional strategy motivated the students the most in English
speaking lessons
Figure 4: Importance of the teachers’ instructional strategies from the students’
points of view
Figure 5: Instructional strategies the teachers used from the students’ points of view
Figure 6: Instructional strategy motivated the students the most from the students
Figure 7: Students’ difficulties in English speaking lessons
Figure 8: Students’ difficulties from the teachers’ points of view
Figure 9: Students’ result from the mid- term test viii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Speaking activities and topics designed for the second year English
majored students
Table 2: Importance of the teachers’ instructional strategies from the teachers’
points of view
Table 3: The instructional strategies the teachers applied and which instructional
strategy motivated the students the most in English speaking lessons
Table 4: Importance of the teachers’ instructional strategies from the students’
points of view

regarded as an indispensable tool for academic and career advancement. It cannot be
denied, therefore, that English is now the dominant language, especially in language
teaching programs in many schools.
In the era of communicative language teaching, teaching and learning the four
language skills are inevitable (Bailey, 1998). Of four major language skills, the mastery
of speaking skills is put on the first priority by many Vietnamese learners. This is
because the success of learners in language learning is often evaluated on the
improvement in their spoken language proficiency (Richards, 2006). In order to aid
teachers and learners in their teaching and learning speaking skills, there is a variety of
speaking instructional techniques available. In addition, Shumin (1997) stated that
learning to speak a foreign language requires more than knowing its grammar and
vocabulary. The ways the teachers teach English can affect the academic achievement
of the learners especially at higher level.
Nunan (1998) argued that it is very important for the teachers to be aware that
motivation is a consideration in determining whether or not learners are willing to
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communicate. Clearly, the more meaningful the materials, the tasks and the teachers’
instructional strategies are for the learners involved, the better the outcome will be.
Ur (2005) developed this further by suggesting that good speaking skills
classrooms are ones where learners talk a lot, participation is even, motivation is high
and the language is at an acceptable level.
Ur (1991) reminded motivation is one of the most important matters for the class
teachers and suggested that “learners motivation makes teaching and learning
immeasurably easier and more pleasant, as well as more productive” (Ur 1991: 274)
Furthermore, in the process of learning English speaking skills, the second year
English majored students at VTTC often express a feeling of stress, nervousness or
anxiety, in-confidence… In addition, their results in the final speaking examinations
are usually low. This fact can be triggered to many difficulties the students have to face
in their learning process. In order to help the second year English majored students to

4. Significance of the study
This study plays an important role to the author herself as well as to teachers
teaching English speaking skills, it provides teachers with necessary and important
information to help them choose the most suitable instructional strategies that have
high value in helping students to speak English.
5. Methods of the study
This study focused on finding out the instructional strategies in teaching English
speaking skills to the second year English majored students. A survey method was
employed to collect the data. In order to seek answers to the above research questions,
the questionnaires were designed and delivered to 15 English teachers and 60 second
year English majored students. Besides, with the hope that the reliability of the
obtained information from the questionnaires would increase, semi-structured
interviews with the second year English majored students and the English language
4

teachers were carried out. The researcher also observed the classes to have more
information. At the end of research process, the author designed a mid- term test to
check the students’ speaking performance.
6. Design of the study
The study is divided into three parts named introduction, development and
conclusion. Part A is introduction which provides an overview of the study including
the rationale, the aims, the research questions, the scope, the significance, the research
method as well as the design of study. The second part, development has three
chapters. Chapter 1 deals with literature review. This chapter reviews theoretical
background on which the whole study is based. Chapter 2 is about Methodology, which
briefly presents the methodological framework of the study. It includes the setting, the
subjects, the instruments and procedure of data collection and data analysis. Chapter 3
presents data analysis, findings, discussion and brings some more useful strategies used
in speaking lessons. The last part, Conclusion, presents the summary of the study,
limitations and suggestions for further studies.

including pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, gesture and mimics, fluency and
accuracy (Harmer, 2001). In the process of teaching and learning a foreign language,
teaching speaking skills means helping students develop the ability to produce
grammatically correct and logically connected utterances that are appropriate in
specific contexts with acceptable pronunciation (Fararwati, 2010).
1.2. Principles for teaching speaking skills
When teaching speaking, there are some principles that teachers should follow to
ensure the effectiveness of speaking lessons. Such principles are discussed in the works
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of some famous linguists. Nunan (1991: 55, 56) suggested five principles for teaching
speaking skills as follow:
- Be aware of the difference between second language and foreign language learning
contexts.
- Give students practice with both fluency and accuracy.
- Provide opportunities for students to talk by using group works or pair works and
limiting teacher talk.
- Plan speaking tasks that involve negotiation for meaning.
- Design classroom activities that involve guidance and practice in both transactional
and interactional speaking in which transactional speech involves communicating to
get something done and interactional speech is communicating with someone for social
purpose, establishing and maintaining social relationships.
Brown (1994) mentioned six principles for teaching speaking skills
- Focus on both fluency and accuracy
- Provide intrinsically motivating techniques.
- Encourage the use of authentic language.
- Provide appropriate feedback and correction.
- Capitalize on the natural link between speaking and listening.
- Give students opportunities to initiate oral communication.
(Source: Slides by Daniel Beck- [email protected])

methodology of choice.
Richard, J. (2006) defines that CLT can be understood as a set of principles about
the goals of language teaching, how learners learn a language, the kinds of classroom
activities that best facilitate learning, and the roles of teachers and learners in the
classroom. CLT sets as its goal the teaching of communicative competence.
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Richards and Rodgers (2001) said that CLT is generally regarded as an approach
to language teaching. So, CLT reflects a certain model or research paradigm, or a
theory (Celce Murcia, 2001). Its primary goal is for learners to develop communicative
competence or communicative ability (Hymes, 1971).
CLT is learner-centered and emphasizes communication and real- life situations.
In traditional methods of English teaching, the teacher is the expert and carries the
responsibility for students’ learning.
In CLT, learners practice real- life situations, for example, asking someone for
directions. Learners communicate their thoughts without worrying about perfect
grammar.
CLT methodologies are best described as a set of macro- strategies
(Kumaradivelu, 1994) or methodological principles (Doughty and Long, 2003).
2.2. Current trends in CLT
Approaches to language teaching today seek to capture the rich view of language
and language learning assumed by a communicative view of language. Jacob and
Farrell (2001: 3) see the shift toward CLT as marking a paradigm shift about teachers,
learning, and teaching. Some components of this shift mentioned as follow:
- Focusing attention on the role of the learners rather than the external stimuli
learners are receiving from their environment. So the center of attention in the
classroom shifted from the teacher to the student. This process is generally known as
the move from teacher-centered instruction to learner-centered instruction.
- Focusing attention on the learning process rather than the products that learners
produce. This shift is known as the move from product-oriented to process- oriented

Puzzles, games, map reading in which the focus is on using one’s language
resources to complete a task.
10

- Information- gathering activities:
Student- conducted surveys, interviews, and searches in which students are
required to use their linguistic resources to collect information.
- Opinion- sharing activities:
Activities in which students compare values, opinions, or beliefs, such as a ranking
task in which students list qualities iin order of importance that they might consider in
choosing a date or a spouse.
- Information- transfer activities:
These activities require students to take information that is presented in one form,
and represent it in a different form.
- Reasoning- gap activities: These involve deriving some new information from
given information through the process of interfence, practical reasoning,
- Role- play: Activities in which students are assigned roles and improvise a
scene or exchange based on given information or clues.
3. Instructional strategies
3.1. Definition
There have been many definitions of the instructional strategies mentioned in
linguistics. Friedman and Fisher’s (1998) states that instructional strategies are those
tactics used by the instructors to promote learning
Dick and Carey (1996) showed the definition of the instructional strategies:
Instructional strategies determine the approach a teacher may take to achieve learning
objectives. Instructional strategies are used by the teachers to create learning
environment and to specify the nature of the activity in which the teacher and learner
will be involved during the lessons.
Dick and Carey (1996) used the term instructional strategy to describe the process
of sequencing and organizing content, specifying learning activities, and deciding how

with the performance objectives
- Develop instructional strategy: to develop strategies in pre-instructional activities,
presentation of information, learner's participation, testing and follow-through activities
- Develop and select instruction: to use the instructional strategies to produce the
instruction
- Design and conduct formative evaluation: to collect data that are used to identify how to
improve the instruction
- Revise instruction: to use the data from the formative evaluation to examine the validity
of the instructional analysis, learner and context analysis, performance objectives,
assessment instruments, instructional strategies, and instruction.
The final process is to design and conduct summative evaluation, which is an evaluation
of the value of the instruction.
(Dick, W., & Carey, L. (1996). The systematic design of instruction)
Comments from Gustasfon and Branch (1997) about Dick and Carey's (1996) Model:
"The most widely adopted introductory text related to the process is Dick and Carey
(1996). Thus, their model is known almost anywhere English is taught. The popularity of
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the Dick and Carey model can be partially explained by its very readable text and the
authors' continually updating the model to reflect emerging philosophy. They also
accompany there model with clear and simple examples of each of the steps and excerpts
from cases of its use to provide readers with a frame of reference. Dick and Carey have
made minor modifications to their model to reflect growing interest in performance
technology, context analysis, multilevel evaluation models, and total quality
management".
From the above definitions of the instructional strategies of some linguists and the
model of the instructional strategies of Dick and Carey (1996), I draw my own definition
of the instructional strategies as follows:
The instructional strategies are effective activities the teachers used in the
classroom to achieve the learning objectives. In simple words, the instructional strategies

in an activity.
- Role play can result in repetition of speaking activity by providing a change.
Summary: From all the above information, all the readers could see that there were
many useful activities (the instructional strategies) the language teachers can apply in
their English speaking classes to stimulate their students in the learning process. The
linguists mentioned the instructional strategies much in their studies such as group-
work, information gap activities, jigsaw activities, role- play . In the actual context
of VTTC, role- play activities have been applying widely. However, up to present, there
has not been a study relating how role- play activities affecting student’ performance
in the speaking classes at VTTC yet. That was the reason why I chose this aspect to
research.

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CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY
1. The context
1.1. Description of the English speaking classes and its objectives at VTTC
The study was conducted at VTTC. The major English students at VTTC are
required to complete four semesters of speaking skills during the first year and the
second year. Each semester includes four credits.
The main course book used for the second year students in the first semester is
Speaking three assigned by the group of English teachers of VTTC to fit students’ level
of English and educational goals of the college. The total number of units is nine.
There are only nine units, each contains a topic and includes a variety of parts such as
grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, exercises and communicative skills. To be more
detailed, main activities and topics or drills designed in terms of speaking skills in the
course book are presented as the following:
Unit
Topic
Activities

Nam: An education researcher and a journalist. Pair work
Give advices to protect your local environment