TABLE

OF

CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART 1: REASONS FOR TOPIC CHOICE
PART 2: CONTENT
I. THEORETICAL BASIS
1. Students’ psychological characteristics in learning Englis
2. Importance in stimulating participation of students in
English lesson.
3. Speaking skill
II. THE REAL STATE OF AFFAIRS
1. Researching method.
2. Researching questions.
3. Results of the convey.
III. SOLUTIONS
1. Solutions to big classes
2. Pair work
3. Group work
4. Further practice
5. Class activities and games
5.1. Warm-up activities and games.
5.2. Class activities
5.3. Pair work
5.4. Group work
6. Suggested Activities and Games in speaking lessons of

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GRADE 12 STUDENTS' SPEAKING SKILL IN ENGLISH CLASSES AT
NONG CONG 3 UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL”
PART 1: REASONS FOR TOPIC CHOICE
In the world of the integration and development with the multilateral
relations and information explosion, English remains an important role in
comprehensive development for each student. However, in fact, I realize my
students find it very difficult to express their ideas in English and they even do
not know how to keep the conversation going on. They are usually stressed and
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passive when being asked to participate in speaking activities. More importantly,
the topics chosen are quite broad and the way teachers develop them is not very
interesting. Some topics are beyond students’ enjoyment. And some require a
deep common knowledge which students usually lack. If students have no idea
what to say, they may lose confidence and feel uncomfortable and make
mistakes. Consequently, teaching and learning in the speaking lessons are boring
and ineffective. Therefore, it is essential that we carry out better methods in
order that students have certain abilities of English communication. Nowadays,
in the process of teaching method improvement, the main purpose is to form and
develop the knowledge and skills in using English. English 12 gets in close
contact with distinct skills: listening, speaking, and reading. To practice these
skills, each student has to work diligently with his/her partners. Consequently,
they can speak English more fluently. With the aim at developing speaking skill,
I am going to present the subject: “SOME SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS TO
IMPROVE GRADE 12 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL IN ENGLISH
CLASSES AT NONG CONG 3 UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL.”
This research is to help students simply communicate with the classmates.
It also helps teachers build the content of a teaching lesson. As a result, students
will be effectively attracted to English lessons.

about what to be taught and how to teach. Social psychologists have argued
consistently that differences in learning outcomes must be due to individual
differences between learners, and many proposals have been made concerning
the characteristics which supposedly cause these differences.
Gardner and MacIntyre (1992, 1993) divided what they saw as the most
important learners’ traits into two groups, the cognitive and affective. Cognitive
factors include students’ intelligence, language aptitude and language learning
strategies. Most discussions have limited affective factors to personality
characteristics, language attitudes, motivation and emotional responses to the
language learning process or language anxiety.
Krashen (1985) has suggested the notion of the affective filter. This is a
representation of the way in which affective factors such as attitudes, anxiety,
competitiveness and other emotional responses can help or hinder language
learning. A learner who has generally negative attitudes towards learning. A
learner who has generally negative attitudes towards learning English will have
a high effective filter and the task for the teacher will be sustantial. The precise
functioning of this filter highlights the role of the teacher in creating beneficial
conditions for language learning.
The degree to which any of the factors discussed will become significant
in a particular learning and teaching situation will depend partly on the reasons
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why learners are learning English. Any individual may be influenced by a
variety of motivations which will affect such things as anxiety, attitudes or
willingness to try new learning strategies.
In short, there exist individual differences among learners and these
differences play a significant role in language learning. For a teacher, the
challenge must be how to enable each learner according to his or her individual
characteristics and cultural background.


3. Use the correct forms of words. This may mean, for example, changes
in the tense, case, or gender.
4. Put words together in correct word order.
5. Use vocabulary appropriately.
6. Use the register or language variety that is appropriate to the situation
and the relatonship to the conversation partner.
7. Make clear to the listener the man sentence constituents, such as
subject, verb, object, by whatever means the language uses.
8. Make the main ideas stand out from supporting ieas or information.
9. Make the discourse hang together so that people can follow what you
are saying
(Extracted from the LiguaLinks Library, Version 3.5 published on
CDROM by SIL International, 1999)
II. THE REAL STATE OF AFFAIRS
1. Researching method.
This research is conducted through qualitative methods. The data is
collected through the questionaire for students, the interviews for teachers and
the obeservations for several classes.
2. Researching questions.
- What is the real situation of the participation of students in Dong Hieu
school?
- What do the teachers do to attract the participation of students in the
English lessons?
- What solutions can be effectively applied to English teaching to increase
the students’ participation in class?
3. Results of the survey.
At the beginning of the school year, before applying the new teaching
ideas, I conducted a survey and the following are the results. In terms of
students’ attitude, they show a very negative one to the current teaching method.

0
7,7

Usually
1,2
0
18,7
92,3

From the above real situation, the participation in English class in Nong
Cong 3 upper secondary school is not high and should be paid attention to. Only
a small number of students are interested in class activities such as pair work,
group work, compared with individual activities. It proves that the interaction
among students is rather limited. Consequently, speaking skill is also limited.
This reality urged me to find some ways to improve my teaching and applying
them to my everyday lessons.
III. SOLUTIONS
1. Solutions to big classes
Due to objective factors as well as real conditions, teachers often have to
teach in crowded classes. There are three basic solutions which have been
effective. The first is the diversification into topics, methods as well as class
activities. This solution helps decrease the uninterestedness in class. The second
is to create interesting activities, which brings about good effects on students.
When the lesson is not too difficult, attractive activities remains attention and
enthusiasm. The last one is the opportunities to exchange and learn the language
from each other.
2. Pair work
Pair work is needful for speaking practice. Each pair should consist of
lower and higher level students. This method has good effect on lower level
students, as they better understand their tasks with their partner’s assistance and

Time: to serve as a short warm-up or concluding game, = 15 minutes
Objectives: Through a fun, non-threatening activity, students will improve
their spoken English through gramma analysis of spoken sentences and will
listening carefully to the others.
Organisation: Group work with circles of approximately 5-6 students.
Task: Students in turn make a story adding one word only.
As the sentences go around the circle, if a grammar mistake is made, the
student joins a different group/circle. Students should discuss briefly, if
necessary, the error made. Teacher should intervene only if students cannot
resolve a grammar dispute. Each time a mistake is made, a new sentence can be
started. Students should try to create a story.

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Teacher’s role: organize the groups, model the activity by bringing a
group to the front before the activity begins, circulating among the groups to
answer questions.
5.1.2. Know it all, knowledge game
Level: intermediate advanced.
Organization: Whole class divided into six groups.
Materials: Questions
Time: 45-90 minutes
Instructions: Tell class that they are going to play a knowledge discussion
game. Divide the class into teams and have them sit and choose a team name.
While this is happening, put the following on the board for each team:
Team name:
Category
History
Geography

3.What year was Jesus born? (0)
4.What year was Ho hi Minh born? (1890)
5.Who was the British Prime Minister during W.W.W.II? (Church chill)
6.What happen to Julis Caesar? ( assassinated)
7.What year did India become an independent country? (1948)
8.What year was the Russian Revolution? (1017)
9.What was Australia used for by the British in the 18 th and 19th centuries?
(prison)
10. What year did the Soviet Union start to break up? (1991)
Entertainment:
1.In which country City is Hollywood? (Los Angles)
2.Who started in Forest Gump? (Tom Hanks)
3.Who has been called “Viet Nam ‘s answer to Madonna ( PhuongThanh)
4.In which country did ballet originate? (Italy)
5.Name the 4 Beatles .(John, Paul, Ringo, George)
6.How many keys are on a piano? (88)
7.In which century did Shakespeare die? (17th )
8.Where was Quang Linh born? (Hue)
9.Which movie won the most Oscars in 2004? (The Lord of the Rings)
10. How many Disney lands are there in the world? (4)
Language:
1.How do you say no in Russian? (nyet)
2.Which 2 modern languages have effected English the most? (French and
German)
3. Which word is written the most in English ? (the)
4. Which letter is most used in English? (e)
5. What does C. D stand for? (compact disc)
6. What is the past tense of seek? (sought)
7. What is a pale ale? (beer)
8. How do you say hello in Spanish? (hola)

e.g. Takes a shower every morning. Do you take a shower every morning? If the
answer is yes, write the student’s name in the space below. If the person answer
yes, find out some information about the subject. E.g.: Do you have time in the
morning?
Try to find one name for each statement, but use one person’s name only
twice.
Number
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Name

Information

Family lives in this city
Likes to dance
Rides a bike to university
Smokes
Has a brother/ sister in this school
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6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Read a novel
Had a birthday
Had an accident
Bought a motorbike

Name

information

5.3. Pair work
5.3.1. Do you know me?
Think about your partner and answer the statements for him/her. Don’t say
yes Write your answer under A.
Answer with:
5. yes, of course!
4. yes, usually.
3. Yes and no.
4. No, not usually.
1. No, never
1. I like to get up early!
2. I like to play many sports.
3. I always spend money carefully.
4. I like to stay up very late.

A
…………
…………
…………
…………


…………
…………
…………
…………
…………
…………
…………
…………

…………
…………
…………
…………
…………
…………
…………
…………
…………
…………
…………

…………
…………
…………
…………
…………
…………
…………
…………
…………

12. What would be the nicest way to spend a weekend for you? Why?
13. (Make your own questions to ask others)
5.4. Group Work
5.4.1. The Future:
I am (I’m)
You are (you’re)
She/ He /It /Bob is (He’s, She’s, It’s, Bob’s) going to + (verb)
We are (We’re)
You (plural) are (you’re)
They are (they’re)
IMAGINING THE YEAR 2030
Take the year
2030
Minus this year
--------Answer
--------Add the answer to
Your present age
---------In the year 2030 I
(to be)
----------- years old.
In the year 2030 I (to spend) …………………………………….most of
my time
Scientists ( toinvent) ………………………………..…..…………………
Young people (to play)………….………………………….………………
My family (to live in )…………………………………..…………………
In 2030 students ( to study)……………………………………...…………
People (to listen to)…………………………………………………………
They (to eat) ………………………………………………………….……
Everyone ( to travel in) )…………………………………………………..
The most serious world problem (to be)……………………………………

Paint the door

Sweep the floor
Replace the flower pot
Mail/post the letter
Empty (take out) the trash/ garbage
Clear the table
Tidy up the CD’s
Empty the ashtray
Make the bed
Hang out the laundry
Clean the window

To play the game, students mix the cards and distribute to their group.
They should keep them hidden. Have students return any pairs and exchange
them. In turn, a student will ask another specific student by name a question to
try to match the pair as follows:
Best to write as an example on the board, model and check for
pronunciation.
( student has? Card) Ly, could you do me a favor by…….ing the …….?
?
(Ly has the matching Ѵ card) Sure, no problem. / I’d be glad to help,
V
etc.
Ѵ
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or (Ly hasn’t the matching card) Sorry, I’m afraid I can’t. / Sorry, I’m
busy. Etc.OR

2. Discuss your choices with a group. You must try to arrive at a
consensus with your group.

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Category

Like

Dislike

Time of the day
Day of the week
School subject
Drink
Personality/ characteristic
Kind of teacher
Girlfriend/ boyfriend
Movie
Season

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PART 3: CONCLUSION
After eight months of applying the new ideas, I conducted the second
survey and got some encouraging results. The majority of the students of class
12B2 and 12B7 ( 82%) liked to learn English through interesting activities such
as games, group work or team work. 42% of the sample agreed that they had

3. George P. McCallum (1980) - 101 Word Games - OUP
4. Jeremy Harmer (2001) -The Practice English Language Teaching –
Longman
5. Krashen, S.D. (1985) – The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications.
London: Longman.
6. Paul Davies, Eric Pearse (2000) - Success in English Teaching - OUP
7. Penny Ur (1996) - A Course in Language Teaching - CUP
8. Penny Ur, Andrew Wright (1992) - Five-Minute Activities - CUP
9. W R Lee (1979) - Language Teaching Games and Contests - OUP
10. SIL.org/ lingualinks/ language learning/ …speaking skill. htm.

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APPENDIX OF INITIATIVE
INITIATIVE: “SOME SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS TO
IMPROVE GRADE 12 STUDENTS' SPEAKING SKILLIN ENGLISH
CLASSES AT NONG CONG 3 UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL”
Suggested Activities and Games in speaking lessons of English
Textbook 12
These are activitiies and games I specially designed and used for Warmup in my speaking lessons throughout the school year, from Unit 1 to 16 of of
English Textbook 12. However, I didn’t metion activities for Unit 7 and 9 in this
study because these units are cut back as planned by Vietnamese Ministry of
Education and Training.
1. Speaking lesson 1 (Unit 1. Home Life):
a. Game: Who or What to Miss
b. Aim: help students feel relaxed to talk about their families.
c. Time: 4 minutes
d. Preparation: Nothing
e. Procedure:

seperation: “invietnamthreeorevenfourgenerationsmayliveinthe samehouse”
- The group which can read out the correct sentence first will be the
winner.
* Suggested answer: In Vietnam three or even four generations may live
in the same house”
- Then, the teacher asks some students and students answer. These are
some suggested questions:
+ How many people live in your family?
+ Who are they?
+ Do your grandparents live in your family?
+ So how many generations live in your home?
+ Is it good?
3. Speaking lesson 3 (Unit 3. Ways of Socialising):
a. Game: Scrambed Sentences
b. Aim: help students remember the way to give compliments and lead
into the lesson.
c. Time: 5 minutes
d. Preparation: Write 6 sentences onto the cards, one word on each card.
All the words from one sentence should be written in the same color card (or
marker) to distinguish it from the other sentences. Scramble the word order of
each sentence.
e. Procedure:
- Divide the class into 6 groups
- Give one scrambled sentence to each group.

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- Ask students in each group unscramble the sentence as quickly as
possible then stick their sentence on the board

5. A young child studies grades 1 to 5 in a EDUCATION school.
6. Before entering upper secondary school, children have to spend 4 years
at lower EDUCATION school
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7. The highest grade in our general education system is grade
EDUCATION.
8. When finishing upper secondary school, students have to take a national
examination for the EDUCATION.
* Suggested answers:
1. kindergarten
2. compulsory
3.
nursery
4. fifteen
5. primary
6. secondary
7. 12
8. GCSE
5. Speaking lesson 5 (Unit 5. Higher Education):
a. Activity: Name the things
b. Aim: help students remember and name some kinds of paper related to
education.
c. Time: 4 minutes
d. Preparation: bring along with you some real things such as an
application form, an identity card, a copy of your school records, a birth
certificate, school certificate, a copy of scores of the required entrance
examination.
e. Procedure:

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