Teaching speaking skill to large English classes
at Thanh Do University: difficulties and
solutions

Trần Thị Dương

Trường Đại học Ngoại Ngữ
Luận văn ThS. Chuyên ngành: English Linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15
Người hướng dẫn: Dr. Nguyễn Huy Kỷ
Năm bảo vệ: 2010

Keywords: Kỹ năng nói; Tiếng Anh; Phương pháp dạy học

Content:
PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Review of related studies
There is vast literature on issues related to the teaching and learning in large classes. The
following division of issues on large classes may help the readers have an overview on this topic.
a. Advantages and disadvantages in large classes
The advantages of large classes include decreased instructor costs, efficient use of faculty time
and talent, availability of resources, and standardization of the learning experience (McLeod,
1998). However, there are significant disadvantages to large classes, including strained
impersonal relations between students and the teacher, limited range of teaching methods and
discomfort among teachers teaching large classes (McLeod 1998).
b. Class size and student performance
There have been conflicting results among extant researches on the relationship between class
size and student performance. The results of some studies show no significant relationship
between class size and student performance (Hancock, 1996; Kennedy & Siegfried, 1997), while
other studies favor small class environments (Gibbs, Lucas, & Simonite, 1996; Borden &
Burton, 1999; Arias & Walker, 2004). Results vary based on the criteria used to gauge student
performance, as well as the class size measure itself. When traditional achievement tests are

In Vietnam, Trần Thị Ngọc Bắc (2005) conducted an experiment with the use of group work and
questioning techniques for increasing students’ participation in communicative activities in large
classes at Thái Nguyên College of Education. She came to the conclusion that these techniques
strongly increase the students’ talking time and particiaption and reduce teacher’s talking time in
language activities.
Đặng Quỳnh Trâm (2006) carried out a survey research to find solutions to improve co-operative
learning in non-English major multilevel classes at Thái Nguyên University of Education.
In a research by Trịnh Lan Hương (2008), she suggested some communicative activities for large
multilevel classes at Electric Power University to help students acquire grammatical knowledge
in a communicative way.

In 2009, Nguyễn Đức Hưng carried out a study on increasing students’ participation in
commnunicative activities in large classes by using group work and questioning techniques at
Marie Curie High School, Hải Phòng. He proved that the two techniques: group work and
questioning will help students increase their participation in communicative activities in large
classes.

In short, although there have been a variety of books and researches on teaching and learning in
large classes, but there is inadequate research touching upon the issues of teaching speaking skill
to large English classes. Moreover, speaking skill is fundamental to people’s communication.
This fact leads me to do this study.

2. Rationale
Most teachers agree that teaching a small group of students is easier, more enjoyable, and less
time consuming than teaching a large group. Unfortunately, due to budgets, space, or lack of
teachers, many ESL schools only offer large classes. In some schools, large classes may consist
of up to 50 or more students and Thành Đô University is not an exception.
What Gorlach (1995) said is true in the case of Thành Đô University. Class size ranges from
forty to fifty students, which makes it difficult for teachers to arrange activities enabling students
to practice speaking. Over-sized English classes make speaking lessons stiff and unmoving.

serving the research analysis and discussion were collected by means of:
a. Questionnaire
b. Classroom observation
8. Design of the study
The study consists of three chapters, excluding the Introduction (which contains Literature
review, Rationale, Objectives of the study, Research questions, Significance of the study, Scope
of the study, Methods of the study and Design of the study) and the Conclusion (which review
the main content and findings of the study and end with some suggestions for further researches).
Chapter 1, Theoretical background, presents the basic theoretical background on two issues:
Teaching English in large classes in general and teaching speaking skill in large classes in
particular.
Chapter 2, Practical research, consists of three parts:
The first part, The English teaching and learning context, provides the background information
about the university, the teachers, the students, the materials as well as facilities for English
teaching and learning.
The second part, Methods of the studies, shows how the research was carried out. Subjects,
instruments of the study, procedure of data collection, and methods of data analysis are found in
this part.
The third part, Data analysis & discussion, presents the results of the questionnaires and
classroom observations.
Chapter 3, Findings and recommendations, proposes the findings concluded from the results of
the third part of chapter 2 and some recommendations for teachers at Thành Đô University in the
hope of helping them to minimize the difficulties and maximize the benefits in large classes
which are not only common in Thành Đô University but also in Vietnam’s universities and
colleges.
REFERENCES

IN ENGLISH
1. Arias, J., & Walker, D. (2004). Additional evidence on the relationship between class size
and student performance. Journal of Economic ducation, 4(3), 311-329.

24(3). Elsevier Science Ltd.
16. Kennedy, P., & Siegfried, J. (1997). Class size and achievement in introductory economics:
Evidence from the TUCE III data. Economics of Education Review, 16(4), 385-394.
17. Kickbush, K. (2000). Class Sizes. [verified 12 Jan 2001]

18. McLeod, N. (1998). What teachers cannot do in large classes (Research Rep. No. 7). Leeds,
UK: Leeds University.
19. Morgan, R., Whorton, J., & Gunsalus, C. (2000). A comparison of short term and long term
retention: Lecture combined with discussion versus cooperative learning. Journal of
Instructional Psychology, 27(1), 53-58.
20. Nalasco, R. and Athur, L. (1993). Large classes. London: Macmillan.
21. Nunan, D. (1991). Language Teaching Methodology, London: Prentice Halls.
22. Nunan, D. (1992). Research Methods in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP
23. Perkins, D., & Saris, N. (2001). A jigsaw classroom technique for undergraduate statistics
courses. Teaching of Psychology, 28(2), 111-113.
24. Qualters, D. (2001). Do students want to be active? The Journal of Scholarship of Teaching
and Learning, 2(1), 51-60.
25. Richards, J.C., & Lockhart, C. (1994). Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classroom.
Cambridge University Press.
26. Seliger, H.W., & Shohamy, E. (1995). Second Language Research Methods (3
rd
). Oxford:
OUP.
27. Terwel, J. (1999) Constructivism and its implications for curriculum theory and practice.
Journal of curriculum studies, Vol. 31, No 2. UNESCO (nd) Regional Workshop on
Education, Moi University, Kenya.
28. Ur, P (1996). A course in language teaching: Practice and theory, Cambridge: CUP
29. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2005). The
condition of education 2005 (NCES 2005-094). Washington, DC: U.S. Government
Printing Office.