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EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE
SOME STIMULATING ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE
ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS FOR THE 10th FORM
STUDENTS AT QUẢNG XƯƠNG 1 UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL
( Một số hoạt động khích lệ để nâng cao kỹ năng nói Tiếng Anh cho học
sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Quảng Xương 1)

Teacher: Nguyễn Thúy Hằng
Group: Foreign Language

Thanh Hoa, May 2018

PART I: INTRODUCTION


1. Reasons for choosing the topic
As a teacher of English at Quang Xuong 1 Upper Secondary School in Thanh Hoa, I also
have the same difficulties. I find the new textbooks more effective than the old ones that were
used years ago. However, my teaching seems to encounter a significant problem:
The first reason, which is a basic one for every high school student, is the motivation
for studying. It is undeniable that passing examinations is one of the most important
motivations in studying. However, according to the policy from MOET, the semester and
final examinations only focus on reading skills through the multiple-choice format. The
graduating student often has five other subjects in the examination, therefore they only pay
attention to practising reading skills and grammatical points as well as vocabularies and
structures. Teachers of English themselves take advantage of the little time they have to
provide reading practice and help with solving problems in grammar exercises in order to
achieve the short-term goal of passing the final examination.

2. Aims of the study
The aims of the study are:
- To study the use of three stimulating activities: games, video and role play to intensify
students’ participation in speaking activities at Quang Xuong 1 Upper Secondary School in
Thanh Hoa province.
- To suggest some recommendations on how to use three stimulating activities: games, video,
role play to enhance their learners in speaking skills and develop communicative skills.
3. Scope of the study
- The study only focuses on using three stimulating activities: games, video, role play to
improve English speaking skills for 10th form students at Quang Xuong 1 Upper Secondary
School in Thanh Hoa province.
- The reasons for choosing only three activities for 10th form students are as follows:
+ The students are not experiencing final examination pressures;
+ The topics in Tieng Anh 10 are still basic and simple;
+ The students have time to master speaking skills step by step and consider speaking
as an essential skill in an English learning.


4. Method of study
To conduct the study, a lot of methods are used. However, the main ones are descriptive
statistics, observation and analytical method.
PART II: DEVELOPMENT
1. Theoretical background
1.1.Factors affecting English speaking abilities
There are many factors that influence the success or failure in learning English speaking.
However, the three most important factors are motivation, attitude and learning strategies.
Motivation is the first important factor affecting a language learner. According to
Gardner (2001), motivation refers to the driving force in any situation. In the socioeducational model, motivation to learn the second language is viewed as requiring three
elements. First, the motivated individual expends effort to learn the language. That is, there is
a persistent and consistent attempt to learn the material by doing homework, by seeking out

1.4. Games
According to Carrier (1980:6) “Games stimulate students’ participation and give them
confidence.” This is when students free themselves in order to participate to get the best score
or even to be the best in the class. They usually feel much more confident with their
performance and this makes them learn and practice new structures, learn from their mistakes,
and fulfill the goals of the class, indeed.
1.6. Video
It is universally recognized that videos as visual aids have a lot to contribute to the process of
language learning and teaching, combining education and entertainment.

Supporters agree

that videos stimulate student interest to acquire the target culture, as well as language (e.g.,
Stempleski, 1992; Tomalin, 1992). Video is supposed to communicate meaning better than
any other media (Tomalin, 1992). Here it will be useful to look at the advantages of video in
language classes from different perspectives.
1.7.Three most stimulating activities used in speaking class
There is a variety of stimulating activities to use in the teaching and learning process. Each
stimulating activity has its own advantages and using the right activities in the right way to
teach, speaking in class can be a lot of fun, raising general learner motivation and making the
English language classroom a fun and dynamic place. In this study, in reality of my teaching
and talking with my students the researcher suggests using some kinds of stimulating


activities to intensify students’ participation in speaking activities.
1.8.Games
A structure—that— has rules, goals and agreement of players on the surface, and wonderful
hidden processes underneath (Turtledove, 1996: 3).
An activity with rules, a goal and an element of fun (Hadfield, 1990: 5).
An agreeable way of getting a class to use its initiative in English and as it is gently

to better learning.
Example 1:

Unit 12: MUSIC

Part B: SPEAKING

Objective: Helping students to ask and answer about music..
Activity: Some following activities
Using Hangman game to warm-up the lesson
R: Do you like to play a game?
Ss: Yes
R: I give you a game “Hangman game”. This game is Shack Attack. You choose a letter from
letter A to letter Z. If you guess right, you’ll get a present. If you have a wrong answer, the
Shack will attack you. Ok?
Ss: Yes
R: Now, the first letter. Can you guess?
S1: (raised their hands) Letter M
R: Shack will attack letter M
Ss: No
R: It has letter M ……..
 Using games and video
R: Do you want to play a game?
Ss: Yes
R: Now, divide our class into two groups. You listen to these songs and you choose a number
from number 1 to number 8. And you tell the kinds of music based on video clips on the
slides. You have 1 point for each correct answer, the group has more mark will be the
winners.
……….


R: Now, the first letter. Can you guess?
S1: (raised their hands) Letter M


R: Shack will attack letter M
Ss: No
R: It has letter M
S2: (raised their hands) Letter A
R: Can Shack attack letter A
Ss: (in chorus)Yes
R: No letter A here-Another person?
S3: (raised their hands) letter U
R: letter U, now look at. Yes, it has letter U- And what else?
S4: (raised their hands) letter S
R: Yes, it has letter S- And what else?
S5: (raised their hands) letter I
R: Yes, letter I. very good. And the last, you, please?
S6: (raised their hands) letter C
R: letter C. Yes, very good. Congratulation!
R: (raised their hands) Now, who can tell me what kind of music do you know?
S1: (raised their hands) Pop
R: And what else?
S2: (raised their hands) Jazz
S3: (raised their hands) classical music
S4: (raised their hands) pop music
S5: (raised their hands) Rock n  roll
S6: (raised their hands) Folk music
R: very good
 Using games and video
R: Do you want to play a game?

R: Group Jerry, which number do you choose?
Jerry: number 2
R: Now, listen. What kind of music do you know?
Jerry: listen and answer: Rock n  roll


R: Are you sure?
Jerry: Yes
R: No, it’s hip hop. Now, group Tom
Tom: number 3
R: listen and tell me what kind of music?
Tom: rock
R: very good. One point for Tom’s group- Group Jerry, which number do you choose?
Jerry: number 7
R: What kind of music?
Jerry: listen and give the answer: classical music
R: Now, let me check. Sorry, country music- Group Tom, which number do you choose?
Tom: number 6
R: listen and give your answer
Tom: folk music
R: very good. One point for Tom’s group
Jerry: number 5
R: listen and answer
Jerry: classical music
R: very good. One point for Jerry’s group
R: Which group has more mark?
Ss: Tom
R: Congratulation to group Tom!
 Using role play
ACTIVITY 1: Give the reasons why you listen to music

Ss: raised their hands
R: Yes, your group, please
 Group 1
Hanh: Good afternoon, 10A student. My name is Hanh. I am a journalist for MTV magazine.
I want to interview you about their music taste.
Dung: Good afternoon, Mrs Hanh. Welcome to our class.


Hanh: What are your names?
Dung: My name is Dung
Uyen: My name is Uyen
Hanh: What kind of music do you like?
Dung: I like pop music
Uyen: I like pop music
Hanh: Why do you like it?
Dung: Because it’s interesting and it reduces troubles.
Uyen: Because it’s exciting
Hanh: Who is your favourite singer?
Dung: My favourite singer is Big Bang
Uyen: Backstreet Boys
Hanh: What is your favourite song?
Dung: Get down
Uyen: Only love
Hanh: When do you listen to music?
Uyen: after going to school
Hanh: Thank you. Good bye. See you again.
Uyen & Dung: Thank you.
T: very good. Now, the second group?
Ss: raised their hands
 Group 2:

Mai: We are Mai and Tuan
Uyen: What kind of music do you like?
Mai: I like pop music
Tuan: I like rock music
Uyen: Why do you like it?
Nga: Because it makes me feel relaxed and reduces my stress.
Tuan: I listen to music so as not to have stress.
Uyen: Who is your favourite singer/ musician?


Mai: My favourite singer is Backstreet Boys
Tuan: My favourite singer is Khanh Ly
Uyen: What is your favourite song/ piece of music?
Mai: My favourite song is Loving you
Tuan: My favourite song is I kiss you
Uyen: When do you listen to music?
Mai: I listen to music all the time
Tuan: I listen to music when I go to bed
Uyen: Thank you. Good bye. See you again.
Based on the result of the observation, the researcher evaluated the students’ speaking as well
as the action procedures of teaching learning process that she carried out. The result implied
that the students got more significant progress in teaching speaking using three stimulating
activities. They were eager, braver, easier to understand and memorize.
Example 2:

Unit 13: FILM AND CINEMA Part B: SPEAKING

Objective: Helping students to practice talking about a film you have ever seen.
Activity: Using Hangman game to warm-up the lesson
WARM-UP

R: Divide our class into two groups: Group A and Group B. Each group in turns chooses a
number (from number 1 to number 7), then says the kinds of films based on the pictures or
films on the slides. You have 1 mark for each correct answer. Which group has more marks
will be the winners. Do you understand?
Ss: Yes
R: Which group will play first?
Ss: Group A
R: Can you guess?
Group A: (raised their hands) cartoon
R: Look at, let me check. Yes, cartoon film.
R: group B, which number?
Group B: number 4, number 5
R: number 4, number 5


Group B: number 4
R: What kind of film do you know?
Group B: (raised their hands) Detective film
R: Detective film. Now, let me check. Is it right?
Group B: Yes
R: Group A. Which number do you choose?
Group A: number 2, number 6
R: Number 2 or number 6
Group A: number 2
R: Number 2. What kind of film do you know?
Group A: (raised their hands) love story film
R: Now, let me check. Yes, very good. One point for group A
R: How about you, Group B?
Group B: number 5
R: number 5. What kind of film?

Ss: moving (repeat in chorus)
R: moving, what does it mean?
St: (raised her hands) cam dong
R: Yes, cam dong
R: calls some sts to repeat.
R: Now, look at the second film. What do you think of horror films?
St: (raised her hands) terrifying
Ss: repeat after T, terrifying
R: terrifying, what does it mean?
St: (raised her hands) dang so, kinh khung
R: asks 4 Ss to repeat again.
R: Now, how can you say ly ky or rung ron in English?
St: (raised her hands) title
R: No, try again
St: (raised her hands) horror


R: yes, very good
R: Now, repeat after me, horror.
Ss: repeat in chorus, horror
R: Which do you prefer, cartoon or thriller?
Ss: (raised her hands) cartoon
 Using video
POST-SPEAKING
R: You talk about the film you have seen. Use the suggestions below (group work)
R: reads 6 questions on the slide and asks them to look at the model.
Ss: look on the screen
R: shows some important parts of the film TITANIC on the slide to help Ss know how to
choose the main details of a film to talk about.
R: gives sub boards and divides the class into 5 or 6 groups, talks about a film you like best.

semester

Tested result at the
end of the school year

Students’ self- confidence, activeness in
taking part in English speaking lesson

30/90
= 33,3%

60
= 66,6%

Understanding and applying the questions
in different contexts.

20
= 22,2%

45
= 50%

Shyness in speaking English lesson

70
= 77,7%

35
= 38,8

an EFL Classroom, Myongji University.
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