(SKKN 2022) Organizing meaningful activities to improve Speaking competence for 11th grade students At quang xuong ii high school

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
QUANG XUONG II HIGH SCHOOL

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

TITLE:
ORGANIZING MEANINGFUL ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE
SPEAKING COMPETENCE FOR 11TH GRADE STUDENTS
AT QUANG XUONG II HIGH SCHOOL

Written by: ĐỖ THỊ PHƯƠNG
Group:
English
Quang Xuong II High School

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CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION
1. Background/context…………………………………………………...
2. The scope of the research…………………………………….………..
3. Rationale/reasons for choosing the topic……………………………..
4. Research aims …………………………………………………...
III. CONTENTS
1.REALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING SPEAKING……...
2. RESEARCH CONTENTS …………………………………………...
2.1. Research procedures/definitions of terms………………………….
2.2 Advantages and disadvantages of meaningful activities…………..
2.3. Evaluation of the research………………………………………….
2.3.1. Novelty of the research…………………………………………...

2.3.2. Effectiveness……………………………………………................
2.3.3 Applicability of the research……………………………………..
3. ADAPTATION: LESSONS WITH MEANINGFUL ACTIVITIES
3.1. Apply game “mind- map” for a presentation about some famous
people’ background (unit 3- grade 10).
3.2. Using game “finding synonyms and antonyms”.
3.3. Cross-border classroom
3.4. Using English for interdisciplinary learning activities
3.5. Movie dubbing
III. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………
REFERENCES………………………………………………………
APPENDIX
Appendix 1: Research design…………………….…………………….

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Appendix 2: Students’ Survey……………………….………………….

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Appendix 3: Teacher’s Survey……………………….………………….

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ABBREVIATION LIST
1. TESOL: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
2. IELTS: International English Language Testing System
3. TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language
4. TOEIC: Test of English for International Communication

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THÔNG TIN CHUNG VỀ SÁNG KIẾN
1. Tên sáng kiến: Organizing meaningful activities to improve speaking
competence for 11th grade students at Quang Xuong II High school.
2. Lĩnh vực áp dụng sáng kiến: Phương pháp dạy tiếng Anh
3. Tác giả:
- Họ và tên: Đỗ Thị Phương
- Trình độ chun mơn: ĐH Sư Phạm Tiếng Anh
- Chức vụ, đơn vị công tác: Tổ phó chun mơn tổ tiếng Anh, Trường THPT Quảng
Xương II
- Điện thoại: 0943686998
Email:

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ORGANIZING MEANINGFUL ACTIVITIES
TO IMPROVE SPEAKING COMPETENCE FOR 11TH GRADE
STUDENTS AT QUANG XUONG II HIGH SCHOOL
I.
INTRODUCTION
My interest in the improvement of high school students’ spoken competence started
when the priciple of Quang Xuong II high school initiated the new idea called
“Khai Phong” which aimed at improving the students’ learning ability in all
subjects at my school in the school year 2020-2021, especially in English. As an
attempt to improve high school students’ competence as well as language skills, I
do my best to carry out this mini-research with empirical methods, and I hold the
belief that I can make an innovation in English language teaching and learning at
Quang Xuong II High School, where there are over 1000 students wanting to
become competent English speakers. This research focuses on the expected
effectiveness of using meaningful activities in improving 11th grade students’

spoken competence.
1. Background /context
Thanh Hoa is a developing province in the Central of Viet Nam, where many
foreign businessmen and visitors come to work in industrial zones like Nghi Son, to
do business and to be on holiday at Sam Son beach and other places of scenic
beauty. These foreigners need to use English to communicate with their colleagues,
office workers, local residents. That is why English has been considered to be the
most popular and important language for adults at work and young people at school
or university.
The province has over 100 high schools, and Quang Xuong II High School is one
of the twenty best high schools in Thanh Hoa. Each year, the school has hundreds
of students who are good at many subjects including mathematics, chemistry,
physics and biology, but their English communicative competence must be
carefully taken into consideration to some extents.
In informal discussions with students and teachers of English and in other subjects
in the school, I have recognized that problems facing the reality of teaching and
learning speaking are that real communication is not always achieved. Most form is
focused and display questions are often exploited. The teachers make questions
available in the textbooks in order to complete their lesson plan. Therefore, the
students meet difficulty achieving good results in IELTS, TOEFL and TOEIC tests.
2. The scope of the research
The research consists of an introduction, a review of worthwhile literature related
to the independent variable: “meaningful activities” and their benefits, a description
of students’ learning styles, learning habits, preferences and their views of these
speaking activities. The final parts of the research paper are sections about research
methodology, anticipated outcomes and possible problems which may come up
during the research together with a short conclusion.

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The application of meaningful activities will be carried out among a class of thirtyfive 10-graders at Quang Xuong II High School. The students will be tested on
orally communicative ability before and after the techniques called “meaningful
activities” are applied in the classroom in order to see how much improvement the
students gain. Both teachers’ attitudes and students’ feelings towards meaningful
activities as teaching and learning tools will be reflected through interviews and
questionnaires respectively. This will prove, to some extent, the usefulness and the
feasibility of these activities in English classrooms.
3. Rationale
Students acquire a foreign language through the four fundamental skills including
listening, speaking, reading and writing. Proficiency in each of these skills makes a
great contribution to becoming a competent language user, but the ability to speak
clearly and fluently can help learners to inform, express feelings, persuade and
interact with others. Therefore, teaching speaking plays a very important role in
helping learners master the target language.
As a language teacher, I have recognized that real communication occurs in reallife contexts. By using meaningful tasks, activities and practice in classes, students
will have opportunities to communicate with each other in the target language. It is
the teacher’s job to create classroom environments where real-life communication
takes place and meaningful tasks are exploited.
● Research Focus

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The following diagram illustrates the relationship between the key variables of the
study which serve as the research focus with the title: “Organizing meaningful
activities to improve speaking competence to grade 11th students at Quang Xuong
II High School”.
● Research Questions and Variables
- What is the effect of meaningful activities on the development of Grade 11

students’ spoken communication?
- How will meaningful activities be effectively used in speaking classes ?
- What are students’ opinions on meaningful activities: referential questions,
discussions and simulations?
4. Research aims (Purposes)
The study aims at finding out about the effects of using meaningful activities on the
development of high school students’ spoken discourse at the school. The research
also aims to identify students’ speaking problems with the hope that meaningful
activities can help promote their spoken competence.
CONTENTS OF THE RESEARCH
1. REALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING SPEAKING
As a teacher of English for nearly twenty years, I usually have discussions with a
number of students, I have learned that most of them really want to study English
for communication. However, they do not have strategies for developing their oral
communication. The speaking problems that the teacher frequently deals with are
students’ difficulty in expressing ideas and opinions. Also, students are not often,
II.

The use of meaningful activities

Independent Variable

High school students’ spoken
Communication
(Problems)

Dependent Variable
Students’ enhanced spoken discourse
Teachers use meaningful activities
This dependent variable is measured through speaking tests.

to help students with speaking

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during the lesson, encouraged to respond to questions for real information from
their teachers and friends.
In my teaching experience, I have learnt that teaching speaking, a productive skill,
is particularly vital because my students’ achievements in speaking will increase
their intrinsic motivation to learn other language skills.
I also hold the belief that speaking is one of the most important parts of English
language learning and teaching. However, its significance is underevaluated by
some students and teachers in the school. They teach speaking just as a repetition
drill for memorizing dialogues, useful expressions or language functions. In fact,
the goal of our teaching speaking is to improve students' communication skills, and
through speaking with meaningful activities students can learn how to follow the
social and cultural aspects appropriate for any situational context
2. RESEARCH CONTENTS
2.1. Research procedures/ definitions of terms
● The Subject
The sample includes two groups of year 15 students belonging to two different
classes. Each class has from 35 to 48 students who are divided into different
groups. The group engaged in meaningful activity lesson will form the
experimental group, while the other, which carries on with normal lessons will
form the control group. A speaking pre-test will be carried out so as to show that
the two groups have the same level of proficiency. I will teach both groups for the
second term of the school year 2021-2022, using meaningful activities with the
experimental group and the control group will be taught as usual. The two groups
will be orally tested at the end of the second term so that I can get the scores for
each student. The test scores will be analyzed and considered as useful data for the

findings. The three teachers and I will make comparisons between the control
group and the experimental group on their learning achievements in order to see the
effect of meaningful activities on students’ development of spoken English. Finally,
data collection will be shared and discussed with the school administrators.
DATA COLLECTION
The research will be carried out with three different methods for data collection.
The first tool is to prepare open-ended questions for the survey that the researcher
is going to carry out. A questionnaire which will find out about students’ attitudes
to meaningful activities, their views of their speaking abilities and awareness of
what meaningful activities will be about.
Then, I will interview the four teachers in my school. The second thing I will do is
that I get my students to fill the questionnaire I have made to find a better way to
teach and learn speaking. The next thing I will do is that I make a lesson plan in
which meaningful activities are made effective use of. The purpose of the
questionnaire and the interview and classroom observation will be clearly
explained to the students before the research starts
● Questionnaire
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As a questionnaire may play a central role in the data collection process, a welldesigned questionnaire is needed. To do this, I have to make a draft plan, then
consult my colleagues for some questions on the topic. I want the questionnaire to
be informative and appropriate for the subjects. Before conducting the
questionnaire, I will pilot it in another group that shares the same similarities to the
sample. The designed questionnaire is anonymous so that the students do not
conceal their feelings when they give comments on their teachers and their
teaching. The questionnaire which uses closed-and open-ended questions covers
different kinds of students, their views on meaningful activities.
● Interview
Interviewing is chosen as one of the three main methods of data collection. By

asking 4 teachers questions about views or opinions on using referential questions,
discussions and simulations, and the approaches of teaching speaking. It will take
an hour for each interview. In order to make the interviewees comfortable, the place
for the interview and the purpose of the interview will be made clear to the four
interviewees .The main part of the interview includes asking teachers 13 questions
and recording their answers by a good Sony recorder. Each teacher will be
interviewed once at the beginning of the study. Open-ended questions are designed
for the teacher’s interviews.
● Classroom Observation
I have designed 16 statements which describe the students’ learning styles, views
and the teacher’s methods of teaching. The observer will observe and record
concrete details of what the teacher does in the lesson, methods of teaching and
meaningful activities will be utilized in the classroom.
DATA ANALYSIS
All the data will be analyzed by the four teachers. The findings will be shared with
the teaching group leader and the school administrators. A workshop will soon be
held in order to widely disseminate the findings of the research.
● Questionnaire Analysis
There are five items in the student survey, I will do a tally count, then change it into
percentages, using the tables about the students’ learning styles and views on
meaningful activities. The data will be carefully analyzed.
● Class Observation Data Analysis
Observations will be used to gain in-depth understanding and to avoid
misinterpretation. I will double read to gain the teacher’s views or beliefs about
meaningful activities in teaching speaking, and the relationships among views and
practices.
● Interview Data Analysis
Each interview will be recorded, coded and then transcribed and analyzed critically.
In looking across cases, I will look for themes and patterns which emerge from the
data and code for the emerging themes. Each teacher’s data analysis includes

classifying, categorizing, labeling and organizing the emerging classifications.
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REVIEWS OF LITERATURE
The study aims to investigate the effects of meaningful activities on the
development of students’ speaking skill. The first thing that will be discussed is a
brief review of literature related to the definition of meaningful activities:
referential questions, discussions and simulations. The second part will look at the
advantages of meaningful activities to teaching speaking.
● Referential questions
In my experience, I often make referential questions in order to get students to
communicate. We should consider the question: “ What do you think will happen to
Everglades National Park if more chemicals are released into the water?”( English
10- page 114). In fact, this referential question encourages students to have
personal ideas on a serious problem of pollution nowadays.
In defining referential questions, Brown (1983) explains that referential questions
are questions you ask someone because you don't know the answer. He also adds
that this can mean questions teachers ask learners and learners ask each other.
Referential questions can be compared with display questions, for which the
answer is already known by the asker. Teachers make display questions to see if the
students know the answer and to ask for language manipulation. Brown (1983)
states that “display questions” seek answers in which the information is already
known by the teacher. This type of elicitation has been criticised for its lack of
authenticity since it is not commonly used in conversation outside the classroom. In
explaining the benefits of referential questions, Brock (1986) points out that
referential questions are commonly used in regular conversation outside the
classroom, so they are used to encourage students’ higher-order thinking skills and
authentic use of the second language in the classroom. Many researchers (Nunan,
1987; Suter, 2001; Morell, 2007) also emphasize that teachers’ use of referential

questions can stimulate students to provide much longer and more complex
responses than the use of display questions.
● Discussions
Davis (1993) says that using discussions as a main teaching technique allows us to
stimulate critical thinking. As we establish a rapport with our students, we can
demonstrate that we appreciate their contributions, at the same time that we
challenge them to think more deeply and to articulate their ideas more clearly.
Frequent questions, whether asked by the teacher or by the students, provide a
means of measuring learning and exploring in-depth the key concepts of the course.
After the input or contents are delivered, a discussion should be organized for
various reasons. First, the students aim to come to a conclusion, share ideas about
an event in their discussion groups. Before the discussion, it is essential that the
purpose of the discussion is clearly stated to the students. In this way, the
discussion points are relevant to the purpose. Each group works on their topic for a
given time period, and then presents their opinions to the class. It is essential that
the talking time should be equally divided among group members. Finally, the class
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decides on the winning group that can express the idea in the best way. This activity
fosters critical thinking and quick decision making.
● Simulations
By definition, role plays and simulations are forms of experiential learning
(Russell: 2009). Learners take on different roles, assuming a profile of a character
or personality, and interact and participate in diverse and complex settings. He also
defines simulations are similar to role-plays, but what makes simulations different
from role-plays is that they are more elaborate. In simulations, students can bring
items to the class to create a realistic environment. For example, if a student is
allowed to act as a journalist, he or she can bring a microphone to interview people.
Simulations bring benefits to the teacher and students. They are entertaining and

motivate the students to learn
Harmer (1984) stresses that simulation activities increase the self-confidence of
hesitant students, because in simulation activities, they will have a different role
and do not have to speak for themselves, which means they do not have to take the
same responsibility.
2.2. Advantages and disadvantages of meaningful activities.
Meaningful activities are used to encourage students to concentrate on meaning,
understanding, not memorization. Therefore, meaningful activities or practice can
increase active learning, such as problem-solving, collaborative learning and
decision making. However, meaningful activities can have some problems that
should be considered. Students who lack prior knowledge will get very little active
learning and meaningful activities are not very appropriate for test or exam
preparation. Therefore, we should help our students get familiar with these active
learning activities by using clear instructions and scaffolding. It is the teacher job to
decide on when meaningful activities should be exploited and when they are
relevant to the students’ needs.
2.3. Evaluation of the research
2.3.1. Novelty of the research (Innovations)
I expect that after the experimental process, lessons with meaningful activities will
enable the experimental group to produce better developed spoken English than the
control group in the post-test, in terms of the following features: real information,
fluency, language function, organization of the spoken discourse. I am in the hope
that the teaching of speaking with referential questions, discussions and simulations
can really increase the experimental group’s self-awareness through observing and
clarifying feelings and thoughts. Besides, some low-motivated students may also
get benefits from the approach of speaking with the above-mentioned activities.
2.3.2. Effectiveness
The study of the effects of meaningful activities on the development of high school
students’ speaking are of great importance for several reasons. First, understanding
relationship between the students’ speaking problems and the use of meaningful

activities can help to improve their orally communicative competence. Second, the
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researcher has opportunities to set up members of reflective teachers who can help
other teachers to solve the speaking problems of students at the same levels from
other schools. Finally, the research findings will also help the administrators to
have new policy in teaching and learning English in the school. The research on
meaningful activities in teaching speaking is manageable and will support all the
teachers’ professional development.
2.3.3. Applicability of the research
The results of the research will provide high school teachers in Viet Nam with
valuable suggestions in English teaching and learning. More importantly, students’
spoken competence can assist other language skills, such as writing and listening.
Meaningful activities are expected to use for all students from secondary students
to high school ones. The research will bring about improvements in my teaching
practices and implement some changes in all high schools and secondary schools in
Thanh Hoa Province.
3. ADAPTATION: LESSONS WITH MEANINGFUL ACTIVITIES
The following questions and activities are redesigned to help students make good
use of referential questions in helping students exchange real information. These
referential questions make the learning of speaking more meaningful for high
school students.
3.1. Apply game “mind- map” for a presentation about some famous people’
background (unit 3- grade 10).
Mind mapping is a technique that can help students become more effective English
learners.
It helps students to improve their vocabulary, grammar, and creative thinking.
Students don’t need to learn those endless lists of vocabulary by heart or worry
about understanding every single element of grammar.

Mind maps are also tools that can improve learners’ English in a way that feels
more natural and reflects how learners’ brain really works.
- In order to use this technique, I divided the class into four groups, each group
presented the advantages and disadvantages of a device such as a smart phone, a
TV, a computer and so so. Before showing the presentation, I guided students to
find out some questions:
1. When and where was he/she born?
2. What makes him/her famous?
Here are some handouts of class B6 students

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3.2. Using game “finding synonyms and antonyms”.
- Playing a game of “closet and opposite words” with other students helps them
learn more words while enjoying the game.
- One person says a word, and the other calls out a word with the opposite
meaning or closet meaning. For instance, player one says "hot", so player two says
"cold". Or player two might think of different words that also mean cold, like
"freezing" or "chilly".
- In order to play this game, I choose 10 students. One will read each word, the
other will find the closet words or opposite words. If he/she can't answer, he/she
will be hit in the head. These words I prepared for students.
This activity helps students form and respond quickly to words they hear.
In addition, it also helps students feel comfortable when playing this game
according to the criteria “learning in playing”
Here are some pictures cut from students’ videos:

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3.3. Cross-border classroom
- It is a model of schools around the globe connected by many subjects such as
Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English, History..., (These are teachers
of schools around the world, all verified through Microsoft's innovative teacher
forum.)
- To apply cross-border classroom with a foreign teacher:
First, I find some foreign teachers on facebook and make friend with them.
Second, I make an appointment (time, place)
Third, I will prepare some topics to students can discuss with the foreign teacher
such as : introduce yourself, introduce the country, weather, cuisine in each country,
…..
When participating in an educational forum, students can choose the right teacher
and subject for their students.
Through this class, students have the opportunity to learn not only their English
knowledge, increase their practical listening and speaking skills, but also cultural
exchanges with teachers and foreign friends.
Once, students hold a meaningful activity by talking with a foreigner about Tet and
some special holidays in Vietnam as well as in other countries. (Unit 8
Celebrations)

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3.4. Using English for interdisciplinary learning activities
- Integration is one of the modern teaching trends that are being researched and
applied in educational programs in many countries around the world and in
Vietnam in recent years.
- Integration is understood as a systematic combination, at different levels of
knowledge and skills of different subjects on the basis of theoretical and practical

relationships mentioned.
- It is possible to integrate other science subjects together such as: Physics Chemistry - Biology, Literature - History - Geography.
- In here we apply the interdisciplinary combination between Geography and
English. I divide class into 2 groups, give each group assignment is preparing a
presentation about a famous place they know.
- Prepare images, content and record. Before recording, they will give the written
paper to me to edit. After recording, please submit their work for me to comment
on pronunciation and intonation.
Here are some pictures extracted from a video in which students talk about the
weather around VN (Unit 10 Nature in danger)

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5. Movie dubbing
- Film dubbing (Voiceover) is not a new learning method, this is a method of
practicing pronunciation by subconscious mechanisms, it's like a Vietnamese child
learning Vietnamese.
Starting from listening to the correct dialogue of the character, the student reads
along, and then immerses himself in the character's emotions.
This helps the student learn and pronounce naturally in many different tones, helps
learners to passively absorb into the subconscious, then reflexively speak out
consciously
Before recording, the students will role play the characters in the dialogue with the
teachers, so that the pronunciation is the best.
At the dubbing stage, students will be required to have higher requirements, not
only with standard pronunciation, but also with emotions and intonation similar to
the character they are playing.
This is really interesting, because the video may be the same, but each student with
a different voice and expression, brings to life the character in different ways. This

has made students eagerly learn English through movie dubbing.
For this activity, I divide the class into 4 group, each group will choose one film
they like to dub. They have one week to choose film, casting, practice and record
the dialogue.

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CONCLUSION
The ability to communicate effectively in second or language learning contributes
to the success of the students at school and the success later in their reality of life.
Therefore, it is essential that language teachers focus on helping students to make
good use of spoken English rather than getting them to memorize grammatical
rules. It is the teacher’s responsibility for providing a rich environment where
meaningful activities and meaningful practice take place. In consideration of this
aim, various meaningful speaking activities including discussions, simulations and
referential questions are able to make a contribution to the development of students’
communicative competence necessary for life.
Meaningful activities are really worthwhile learning tools for both students and
teachers. Students not only have more opportunities to interact with their partners
who try their best to make use of English communicatively, but students' English
speaking, listening, and understanding will also improve. Meaningful activities
lighten up the atmospheres and brings dynamic climate to the classroom. Students
learn to use the language in a more realistic and natural way. A a result, they can
become more aware of the usefulness and practicality of English, especially spoken
English. Meaningful activities would be, in fact, useful teaching techniques which
should be applied by most teachers in the classrooms where English is spoken as a
foreign language in the Vietnamese environments.
III.

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REFERENCES
- Brock, C.A. 1986. The effects of referential questions on ESL classroom
discourse. TESOL Quarterly 20-1: 47-59
- Brown, G. and G. Yule. 1983. Teaching the Spoken Language. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
- Davis, Barbara Gross. Tools for Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993.
- Harmer, J. 1984. The Practice of English Language Teaching. London: Longman.
- McDonough, J. and C. Shaw. 2003. Materials and Methods in ELT: a teacher’s
guide. Malden, MA; Oxford: Blackwell.
- Nunan, D., 2003. Practical English Language Teaching.NY:McGraw-Hill..
- Russell, C. 2009. A systemic framework for managing e-learning adoption in
campus universities: individual strategies in an institutional context. ALT-J
Research in Learning Technology, 17, 1, 3–19.

HỘI ĐỒNG CƠNG NHẬN SÁNG KIẾN

Thanh Hố, ngày 02 tháng 6 năm 2022
TÁC GIẢ SÁNG KIẾN

Đỗ Thị Phương

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APPENDIX: RESEARCH DESIGN
Appendix 1: Research Question

Research Questions

Research
Instruments

1. What is the effect of -Oral Pretest
meaningful activities on -Oral Post-test
the development of
Grade 10 students’ -Observation
spoken
communication?
2. How will meaningful
activities be effectively
used in speaking classes
?

Subjects

of

- Grade 10 -Frequency
students
count
-Age:15-16

-Percentage

English
- Transcription
proficiency:

PreintermediateSite : Quang
Xuong
II
High School,
Thanh Hoa
Province
-Sample size:
70 (2 groups)

19

Tools
Analysis


3.What are students’
opinions on meaningful
activities:
referential
questions, discussions
and simulations ?

-Student
questionnaire
-Teacher
interview

Appendix 2: Students’ Survey
(QUESTIONNAIRE)
The purpose of this questionnaire is to investigate students’ opinions on meaningful

activities in the classroom. Your responses will provide important information that
helps the school have better ways to teach speaking. Altogether there are 35 items
in the questionnaire.
-

Do not write your name on the questionnaire
Please indicate your views /attitudes to the following areas by circling
the appropriate number.
How often would you like the following teaching methods in your class ?
1. Never
2. Occasionally
3. Sometimes
4. Usually
5. Always

1. Doing exercises

1

2

3

4

5

2. Making questions

1

2

3

4

5

3. Translation

1

2

3

4

5

4. Giving a presentation

1

2

3

4

5

5. Playing a role

1

2

3

4

5

6. Pretending to be a singer

1

2

3

4

5

7. Others (please specify)………………………………………
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B. What would you feel about meaningful activities: referential questions,
discussions and simulations?
Put a tick in the box to describe your views on Meaningful activities .
1. Meaningful activities are useless

Yes

No

2. Meaningful activities help us with real information

Yes

No

3. Meaningful activities are interesting

Yes

No

4. Meaningful activities help us co-operate with others

Yes

No

5. Meaningful activities help me speak fluently

Yes

No

6. Others (please specify) …………………………………………………..
C.

How would you like to study speaking English ?
1. I do not like it at all
2. I do not like it very much
3. This is O.K
4. I quite like it
5. I like it very much

1. Working only by myself

1

2

3

4

5

2. Working in one large group

1

2

3

4

5

3. Working on exercises

1

2

3

4

5

4. Working on meaningful activities

1

2

3

4

5

5. Discussing with others

1

2

3

4

5

6. Others (please specify)……………………………………………
D. What topics would you like to discuss in a speaking class ?
Put a tick in the box that describes what you like.
1. Jobs
2. Friends
3. The environment
4. Fashion
5. Diseases
6. Sports
8. Others (please specify): ………………………………………………

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E. To what extent would you like the following areas in your speaking lesson ?
Please indicate your attitudes to the following areas by circling the appropriate

number.
1. I do not like it at all
2. I do not like it very much
3. This is O.K
4. I quite like it
5. I like it very much
1.Vocabulary

1

2. Grammar

2

3

4

5

2

3

4

5

3. Discussion

1

2

3

4

5

4. Dialogue

1

2

3

4

5

5. Monologue

1

2

3

4

5

6. Presentation

1

2

3

4

5

7. Referential questions

1

2

3

4

5

8. Display questions

1

2

3

4

5

Table 2: The results of survey about the English speaking skill of students at
the end of the 2021 - 2022 school year (192 members)
Total

Below
Average.

Excellent.

Good

Average

Num
ber

%

Numb
er

%

Numb
er

%

Numb
er

%

Grade

12

42

7

16,67

20

47,62

14

33,33

1

2,38

11

75

12

16

32

42,67

24

32

7

9,33

22


10

75

15

20

33

44

17

22,67

10

13,3
3

Appendix 3: Teacher’s Survey
(Interview Questions)
The purpose of this survey is to find out about how you use meaningful
activities in the speaking class. Your responses will help us to improve our
teaching of speaking English.
Please feel free to answer the questions.
1. What language skill do you think is the most important in English teaching? Why
?
2. What do you think some of speaking strategies of the students are?
3.What techniques and activities would you use to improve students’ interactional
skill and transactional skill?

4. In your opinion, what is the purpose of meaningful activities: referential
questions/ discussions and simulations?
5. What difficulties would you encounter when carrying out meaningful activities?
6. Do you know how your students feel when they conduct meaningful activities?
7. How often would you use meaningful activities in class?
8. How would you know whether meaningful activities work or not?
9. What kind of preparation do you usually need for using meaningful activities in
speaking classes?
10. How can you make students involved in meaningful activities?

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