THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

TRAN THI BINH

APPLYING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING
SPEAKING SKILLS FOR STUDENTS AT LE HONG PHONG
HIGH SCHOOL via PBL
(Ứng dụng công nghệ thông tin trong đề án học tập để dạy kĩ năng nói học sinh
trường THPT Lê Hồng Phong)

M.A THESIS
Field: English Linguistics
Code: 8220202

THAI NGUYEN – 2018


Acknowledgement

In completion of my thesis, I have received generous advice and help from many
lecturers whose lectures are very practical and useful. Firstly, I would like to express my
sincere thanks to my supervisors Dr. Hoang Thi Ngoc Diem and Dr. Nguyen Thi Minh
Loan from School of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University for her close
guidance, criticism, and her generous help in the process of completing my thesis.
My special thanks also go to all lecturers and the staff of the Schools of Foreign
Languages for their useful materials, guidance and enthusiasm during my course of
study.
I really wish to thank all my colleagues and my students at Le Hong Phong High
school for their kind cooperation in giving valuable information.
Finally, I owe my deep thanks to my dear family, specially my husband, my little

with the help of m-learning.


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1
1.1. Rationale for the study.................................................................................................................1
1.2. Aims of the study ..........................................................................................................................4
1.3. Significance of the paper .............................................................................................................4
1.4. Scope of the study .........................................................................................................................5
1.5. Organization .................................................................................................................................5
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ..............................................................................................6
2.1. Research context ..........................................................................................................................6
2.1.1. Influence of traditional pedagogy on language education .................................................6
2.1.2. Role of teachers .....................................................................................................................6
2.1.3. Roles of examinations ...........................................................................................................7
2.1.4. Roles of textbooks..................................................................................................................8
2.1.5. Students in classroom ...........................................................................................................8
2.2. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) ..............................................................................8
2.2.1. Traditional language teaching methods ..............................................................................9
2.2.2. Communicative Language Teaching in the current school system ............................... 10
2.3. English speaking skill................................................................................................................ 14
2.3.1. Speaking skill ...................................................................................................................... 14
2.3.2. Speaking Competence ........................................................................................................ 16
2.3.3. Speaking sub- competence ................................................................................................. 16
2.3.4. The importance of acquiring speaking skill ..................................................................... 18
2.3.5. Ways of developing speaking skill .................................................................................... 19
2.3.6. Characteristics of a successful English speaking classroom ........................................... 20
2.4. Project Based Learning (PBL) ................................................................................................. 21
2.4.1. Definition of PBL................................................................................................................ 21
2.4.2. Benefits of PBL in English speaking classroom............................................................... 23

5.1. Implications ............................................................................................................................... 53
5.2. Limitation and suggestion for further research ..................................................................... 54
5.3. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................. 54
References
Appendixes


List of tables
Table 1

Frequency of Use of ICT

Page 40


List of Figures
Figure 1 The mean pre-test scores of overall speaking competences

Page 41

and sub-competences of control group and experimental
group
Figure 2 The mean post-test score of the control group and experimental group Page
43
in overall speaking and sub-competences


List of abbreviations
AR


English is one of the most common languages in the world, and the most popular
second language of study in Vietnam (Crystal, 2012). A chain of economic reforms in
1986 and 1993 have been creating a flow in the number of people learning English (Tri,
2001). Following Vietnam becoming a member of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) in 1995 and the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2006, many
foreigners and investors launched business in Vietnam. Vietnam has seen rapidly
economic development and an explosion in commercial cooperation, technology
advancement and culture exchanges with other part of the world. This has given a rise to
a pressing demand for English proficiency (Le, 2005).
The recent development in the country, together with increased globalisation, has
created more career opportunities for the Vietnamese people. Needless to say the needs
of Vietnamese people to use English in their work and daily lives have been dramatically
increasing. Therefore, teaching and learning English have a vital role in raising the
English competence. However, Vietnamese students especially in the schools in rural
areas have difficulties in learning and practising speaking skill because of limited access
to authentic materials, out of date teaching methods and over- sized classes with multilevel. Consequently, the so- called “deaf and dumb English” users are ironically referred
to many learner generations with in complete English competence. (Hoang, 2015).
Another reason for the inconsistencies between the numbers of the expected and
actual fluent English speakers in the country might be due to the teacher- centred model
of teaching and the ways that Vietnamese students study and are evaluated. In this model,
the focus is on the teacher only, while the students sit quietly and listen as the teacher
instructs the whole class. The teacher’s responsibility is observed as being the contents
delivery, where as the students’ role is swallowing the content (Pratt et al.1999).
Furthermore, Vietnamese students believe that learning is memorizing books or
information provided by teachers in class (Kennedy, 2002). The teacher is usually the
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sole source of verbal English input for the students. Thus, the students normally do not
participate in classroom activities, are unwilling to give answers or ask questions and are

Learning (PBL) is the one that has received much attention and is seen as the effective
in improving speaking competence (Barron et al, 1998; Markham, 2011).
Obviously, Project Based Learning (PBL) has been consider as a powerful
approach in content instruction and it was adapted into other disciplines. Two decades
ago, PBL has been incorporating into language classroom (Di & Nattaya, 2016). “PBL
can help a teacher create a high- performing classroom in which the teacher and students
form a powerful learning community focused on achievement, self- mastery, and
contribution to the community” (Barron et al, 1998; Markham, 2011).
Moreover, in recent times, ICT applications from Learning Management System
to Web 4.0 technologies have increasingly been applied in education, so that ICT is seen
as the means to support innovative teaching and learning (Peeaer and Petegem, 2001).
In spite of that, the role of technology in teaching and learning is not received much
attention in high schools, especially ones in mountainous areas.
The major obstacles to achieve English speaking competency is the method used
in teaching and testing. Most students learn English to pass the national examinations in
which listening and speaking English are not components. To pass the national grammarbased and norm- referenced examination requires the students to have a sufficiently good
knowledge of the grammar and vocabulary of the target language, thus communicative
needs are not their obvious motivation (Canh,2001). Even under a new national
education program, many teachers continue to apply the traditional grammar- translation
method, which focuses on reading and writing. The Ministry of Education and Training’s
curriculum is also exam-based, meaning it tests grammar, reading and translation, all of
which can be easily done on written exams. However, how to meet both the aims of the
Project 2020 and the aims of the National Examination is a big question. There are few
researches on the benefits of applying PBL with m-learning in teaching speaking for
high school students. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out study to make suitable
revision and suggestion to meet the need of the learning and teaching requirement.
3


With all the reasons mentioned above, this study aim to explore whether or not

community. The research is a chance for high school teachers to raise their voices about
what they are facing every day. As a result, the understanding the situations is a source
of reference for the curriculum designers, textbook writers and education officials.
1.4. Scope of the study
Founded in 1951, Le Hong Phong high school is located in the centre of Pho Yen
town, whose population are mainly peasants. The students mostly living in rural and
mountainous areas have a difficulties in learning and practicing speaking skill because
of limited access to authentic materials, out of date teaching methods and over- sized
classes with multi- level. Now, there have been 45 classes with 1968 students and 110
teachers in the school. Among 14 English teachers in the school, there are only 5 of them
graduated from English formal university. None of the teachers get Masters degree. The
school’s mission is to provide education for children in nine communes in Pho Yen.
On the account of beneficial impacts of PBL combining mobile technologies in
learning and its infant development in EFL education in Vietnam, the researcher would
like to conduct a research to examine the effectiveness of mobile technologies and PBL
in EFL performance. Due to the broad spectrum of the research interest, the author would
like to narrow the scope of the study to PBL with augmented reality mobile applications
and English speaking skills in the pilot experiment.
1.5. Organization
This study is going to be organized around five parts:
Chapter 1: Introduction- presents rationale for the study, context of the study, aim
of the study, objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study, scope
of the study and organization of the study.
Chapter 2- Literature Review- reviews theoretical issues related to speaking
competence, PBL and technology.

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Chapter 3- Methodology- describes research context, explains the reasons for the

“ Không thầy đố mày làm nên”
Respect for teachers is respected that a teacher in Vietnam is considered to be an
all- knowing “ fount of knowledge” (Littlewood, 2000, p34) and a moral role model
(Phan 2004).He or she is a wise person who has knowledge; their knowledge is like a
full bucket of water, while what they give students only amounts to a bowl of water
(Pham, 2008). Teachers are considered role models of “good moral quality, ethically and
ideologically” (Nguyen et al., 2006, p.5) that students should follow.
Respect for teachers is also illustrated by the reality that students are socialised to
value “the absolute authority” of the teacher. Knowledge is transmitted by the teachers
and students act as receivers (Nguyen, 2011;Nguyen, 2011; Le, 2004). Students are not
encouraged to think independently. What the teacher says is always correct and cannot
be challenged. Communication between teachers and students is generally one way
because arguing and discussing with teachers, parents or elders is often considered as
rude and disrespectful ( Nguyen, 2001).
2.1.3. Roles of examinations
Examinations have had an important role to play in Vietnam. In the past, “success
in the test meant that one was a member of a pool of scholars” (Sullivan, 1996, p27). It
was also believed that when students succeeded in examinations, they could bring
honour to their families. This is to say, educational achievements are essentially
important for not only students but also the communities around them.
Nowadays, Vietnamese parents, children and society as a whole still hold the believe
that success in examinations is a “ticket to ride” towards a better life and upward social
mobility (Le, 2011). Consequently, parents encourage and support the children in their
schooling while the students try as hard as they can to achieve a high a level as possible
in the educational system, especially to gain a place at the university, which is highly
competitive (Tran et al., 2010). Thousands of high school leavers sit for the National
University Entrance Examination annually, but only about 10 percent are admitted. This

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known as Communicative Language Teaching, aims to teach language for the purposes
of communication. However, compared with the traditional methods, the advantages and
disadvantages will be discussed in order to see why CLT is essential for developing the
students’ communicative abilities, especially in speaking skill.
2.2.1. Traditional language teaching methods
The “traditional language teaching approach” is an umbrella term for language
teaching methods developed before the 1970s. The most commonly used methods were
grammar-translation, direct and audio-lingual methods. Those methods were used for the
most 19th century to teach modern foreign languages (Richards and Rodgers, 2001).
As early as the seventeenth century, the grammar-translation method was the way
languages were taught in schools. This approach focuses on analysing and studying the
grammatical rules of a language by translating to and from one’s mother tongue and the
target language. Using grammar and vocabulary accurately is central to the grammartranslation approach (Larsen-Freeman and Anderson, 2011).
The grammar-translation method is an academic exercise, using grammar to learn
the target language, rather than an exercise to assist the learners in using the language
(Cook, 2013). The teachers give instructions, explain conceptual problems and discuss
the particular grammatical structure in the mother tongue. The teacher typically present
the rules of one grammatical instance and the illustrate its use through repetition in
reading, writing and translating. The text is often accompanied by a list of new
vocabulary. In the grammar-translation method, repetition are essential to learn, not
students themselves.
As unimaginative as it sounds, however, the grammar-translation method has
achieved remarkable success. Wahba, Taha and England (2013) observed that millions
of people had successfully learned a second language to a high degree of proficiency
using the grammar- translation method. However, students could be more involved in
the coursework instead of simply following the textbook and making corrections

9



A communicative language teaching (CLT) approach emphasises the use of
language to communicate. This approach is based on the beliefs, that given the right
conditions, “language learning will take care of itself” (Harmer, 2007, p.52) and
“language is learnt through meaningful language use” (Klapper, 2003,p. 52). The main
function of a language is to communicate; therefore, we can learn language by exposure
to it and using it to communicate authentically. Learning activities in CLT are designed
to “engage learners in meaningful and authentic language use” (Richards & Rogers,
2001, p. 72). For example, if learners are learning about how to shop in a supermarket,
they will be taken to “real” supermarkets to be served as customers. In short, the focus
of CLT is learners’ using English in realistic contexts (Butler, 2011; Richards & Rogers,
2001; Savignon, 2007).
Since CLT’s introduction, both its strong and weak versions have been theorised
(Butler, 2011; Klapper, 2003; Littlewood, 2007; Richards & Rogers, 2001). In strong
CLT, an authentic context for learners to communicate is important. By exposure to such
a context, learners are able to actively frame language use themselves. Knowledge is
gained through the social negotiation between teachers and learners: the teacher’s role is
to provide learners with authentic communicative activities. By contrast, the week
version of CLT teachers’ involvement in the learning process through their provision of
language structures. Language accuracy and fluency are equally important.
Like many Asian countries where CLT has become the dominant approach in
ETF (Butler, 2011; Kam, 2006; Littlewood, 2007)., Vietnam has advocated CLT through
policy. This observed through the high school curriculum renewal in 2000 as discussed
above, and this has clearly been documented in the MoET’s recent policies (1400/QDTTG, 2008; MoET, 2006, 2014). For example, for secondary education the MoET
requires that “communicative skills are the goal of the teaching of English at the
secondary school while formal knowledge of the language serves as the meet to the end”
(MoET, 2006), p.6 translated by Barnard and Nguyen (2010). In the most recent policy,
the government issued Decision 1400/QD-TTG (2008) to implement the Vietnam’s
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CLT activities are also designed to be interactive because the purpose of language
is for communication, so the desire for interaction is a motivation for learning the
language. Interaction compels the students to focus systematically to the structural and
functional aspects of language (Gupta D., 2004). Therefore, CLT helps advance the
students’ grammar in the target language by increasing their communicative competence
through meaning. That is, what is a more meaningful way to use a language than through
social interaction. In CLT, communication involves integrating the various language
skills (Richards & Rogers, 2001).
Furthermore, the activities are designed to encourage the students to use authentic
and meaningful language (content-centred), and not merely as mechanical patterns for
practicing the language. To stimulate real life situations, authentic materials play an
important role to CLT (Hui-Chan, 2003). Authentic materials include newspaper articles,
live TV or radio broadcasts and literary texts.
Thirdly, final process of communication is feedback. As is known,
communication is defined as the interaction between a speaker and a listener. Therefore,
the speaker will know whether or not they got their point across based upon the feedback
from the listener. However, if the listener does not or cannot provide feedback, then the
interaction is not communication.
In real life, one person communicates with another because they wish to, e.g., to
invite him, to complain to him, to threaten him or to reassure him, and this aim will be
on their mind all the time they are speaking. What a person says to the other person will
be designed to reach that aim, and what a person says to them will be judged. In other
words, what you say depends on what they have just told you, but also on what you want
to get out of the conversation. The strategies and tactics involved in using language in
this way are fundamental importance in communication, and again they are omitted in a
method which fails to provide practice in using a language for real purposes.
The communicative approach can be used for any language skill and level or any
type of instructional material and classroom activity. According to Finocchiaro and

not required during interactions or relationship building.
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According to Richards (2006), speaking has three types of function. Firstly, “talk
as interaction”, which prefers to the conversation, and depicts interactions that serve a
primarily social function. Secondly, “talk as transaction” refers to situations where the
focus is on what is said or done (Richards, 2006). It has been stated that, “In this type of
function students and teachers usually focus on meaning or on talking their way to
understand” (Jones, 1997, 14). The central focus is not on the participants and how they
interact socially with others. Talk as transaction is divided into two types (Burns, 1998).
The first on focuses on giving and receiving information, and where the participants
focus on what is being said or done. Information is successfully communicated or
understood is more important than accuracy. Examples of this technique might be asking
for directions or asking the time, which do not put accuracy as priority but the priorities
are the goals of communication, whether or not the direction is shown the time is known.
The second type of “talk as transaction” is a transaction which focuses on obtaining
goods or services, for example, calling for a taxi or checking into a hotel. Generally to
acquire “talk as transaction” some skills should be involved, such as: explaining or
describing something; asking questions; making comparisons; agreeing and disagreeing,
etc. The third type of “talk as performance” refers to talk with transmit information
before an audience, for example, giving a lecture, public announcements and report
presentation. Jones(1996, 14) identified some features of “talk as performance”:
“Often have identifiable generic structures of the language and in more
predictable… Because less textual support, the speaker must include all necessary
information in the text- hence the importance of topic as well as textual knowledge. And
while meaning is still important there will be more emphasis on form and accuracy.”
Richard (2006) adds that “talk as performance” is in type of monolog as opposed
to exchange and is frequently a conspicuous arrangement (e.g., a lecture, a presentation)
and has a tendency to be nearer to the composed dialect than conversational dialect. The

well-formed

phrases

and

sentences

in

accordance

with

these

principles.(Council of Europe, 2001, 112-113).
“Discourse competence” is a sub- competence of speaking, and is the learning of
how to deliver and grasp oral or composed messages in the methods of talking/
composing and turning in separately. It requires knowing how to consolidate dialect
16


structures into a durable and cognizant oral or composed content of various types. This
means that the person can structure digressions from the current conversation coherently.
Thus, discourse competence manages the arrangements of words, expressions and
sentences so as to make sense of discussions, addresses, verse, email messages, daily
paper articles and so forth. A person uses appropriate references to allude to people and
objects (Foster, 2001), and the discourse makers to signify informational relations or
conversational relations. Informational discourse makers signal the introduction, a shift,