Skkn some methods to stimulate the 10th grade students to speak in english speaking lessons

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HOANG HOA IV HIGH SCHOOL

EXPERIENTIAL INITIATIVE

SOME METHODS TO STIMULATE THE 10th GRADESTUDENTS
TO SPEAK IN ENGLISH SPEAKING
LESONS

Author: Hoang Thi Minh
Position: Teacher
School: Hoang Hoa 4 high school
Subject: English

THANH HOA, YEAR OF 2022

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INDEX
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
1.2. Objectives of the study
1.3. Methods of study
2. CONTENT
2.1. Theoretical and practical background
2.2. Situation of the problem
2.3. Sollutions
2.4. The effectiveness of the measure
3. CONCLUSION AND SUGGUESTION

3.1. Conclusion.
3.2. Suggestions

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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale (Reasons for choosing the topic)
There is no doubt that learning English is very important. Especially, since the
school year 2013-2014, it is compulsory for high school students throughout
Vietnam to do English test in the GCSE examination. In learning English at high
schools, speaking skill has become very important since the new English
textbook was officially put into use in 2006. However, among the four skills,
speaking seems to be the most difficult one but paid the least attention to at most
high schools. While many Vietnamese students can be good at grammar, reading
or writing skill, they cannot speak English correctly and fluently.
In addition, in speaking English lesson many students only passively sit, take
notes and rarely contribute to the lessons. They feel tired even sleepy because
they have no idea to talk.
It is for such reasons that my experiential initiative attempts to explore “Some
methods to stimulate the 10th grade- students to speak in English speaking
lessons”
1.2. Objectives of the study
The study is carried out to meet the following objectives:
(1 ) To find out some factors causing 10th- form students at HH4 high school to
be lazy and passive in English speaking activities.
(2 ) To give some methods to stimulate students to speak in English speaking
lesson
1.3. Methods of study
To achieve the objectives of the study, several methods are used, but I use

mainly quantitative and qualitative methods.
The data serving the research analysis and discussions are collected by means
of a survey questionnaire for students and observation.

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Research questions:
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the following research
questions were asked in the study:
(1) What factors make 10th- form students at HH4 high school lazy and passive
in English speaking lessons?
(2) What should be done to minimize the students’ laziness and passivity in
speaking English?
2. CONTENT
2.1. Theoretical and practical background
English as a language has great reach and influence; it is taught all over the
world. English may not be the most spoken language in the world, but it is the
official language in a large number of countries. English is the language of
science, of aviation, computers, diplomacy, and tourism. Knowing English
increases students’ chances of getting a good job in a multinational company
within their home country or of finding work abroad.
The study was conducted at Hoang Hoa 4 high school, a rural school of Thanh
Hoa province.
The school has 31 classes, each class consists of from 40 to 46 students.
Most of the students come from the villages in the district where English
learning and teaching does not get much attention. The only sources from which
students can get knowledge are the textbooks and their teachers. With three
periods per week, this is unable for teachers to meet students’ demand. At home,
they are short of dictionaries, reference books, cassette tapes, speakers.

Additionally, their parents do not know anything about English. As a result, they
find it difficult to learn English and they become lazy.
Such practical background has leaded me to my experiential initiative: “Some
methods to stimulate the 10th grade- students to speak in English speaking
lessons”
2.2. Situation of the problem

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Based on my fifteen-year teaching experience at HH4 high school, I know
that the students rarely speak English, even in English speaking classes, though
they have been learning English since they were at the lower secondary school.
There have been a variety of studies on this situation and various solutions have
been given, including changing teaching methods, changing syllabus or
textbooks, upgrading teachers’ qualifications, changing formats of speaking tests
and so on. However, students’ passivity in learning is still common occurrence
in language classrooms.
Possible causes of Students’ laziness and passivity in English speaking lesson
In the past few decades, an increasing number of studies in ESL/EFL have been
conducted to explore the reasons for students’ reticence in classrooms. The
findings have shown that the reasons are very complex and involve multiple
learner variables such as motivation, condence, anxiety, etc. (MacIntyre,
Clement, Doărnyei, and Noels 1998; Hashimoto 2002; Yashima 2002; Liu
2005).
The study conducted by Lee (2006) is also in support of the above findings.
According to Lee’s observation, there are strict behavioural rules between the
teacher and students in English classrooms. In most cases, students only
speak when they are spoken to. The character of the interaction between the
teacher and students is that the teacher leads students initiatively and students’

verbal participation is passive. These cultural values generally have encouraged
reticence and helped make students more apprehensive and less willing to
communicate in English.
In Tsui’s study, there are some contributing factors from the learners themselves
for their laziness and passivity. Firstly, their low English proficiency prevents
them from speaking up in classroom. In fact, some students know the answer but
they do not know how to express their thought in English. Secondly, students
are unwilling to speak in English for the fear of making mistakes and being
laughed by their classmates. Even when their students have a well-preparation
for the lesson, they are still afraid of losing face if they give the wrong answer.

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Another factor is students’ lack of confidence in their language proficiency and
their shyness. When they feel unconfident in their English knowledge, they
prefer remaining silent to risking making mistakes.
Moreover, teachers’ intolerance of silence is a widespread phenomenon. It’s
easy to realize that in class interaction, teachers often asks one question after
another without giving students much time to think about the answer because
they are afraid that a longer wait-time will slow down the pace of the lesson and
lead to boredom and interruption in the classroom. One more important factor in
student reticence is the teacher’s subconscious choice to allocate speaking turns
to brighter students. The fact that brighter students are more likely to provide the
right answer can save time so that more can be
covered in a lesson. This leads weak or shy students to feel neglected. The more
they feel
ignored, the more they will be reluctant to participate or talk in classroom
learning.
The present study, therefore, tries to explore this issue in more depth and

to make contributions to foreign language literature by especially focusing
on the causes of laziness and passivity on the part of grade 10 students in
English classrooms at HH4 high school.
Survey questionnaires:
The questionnaire has 10 questions and was delivered to 140 students from class
10A1, 10A8, 10A10 at HH4 high school. The questionnaire was conducted in
Vietnamese because the students might not understand all information in
English, which may affect the result of the study. The students’ questionnaire is
about 2 aspects :
+ Students’ attitudes towards speaking skill. (questions 1, 2)
+ Factors making students reticent in speaking lessons. ( questions 3, 4 )
Students’ attitude towards speaking skill:
Question 1: Why do you learn English speaking skill?

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Questions
1. Why do
you learn
English
speaking
skill?
( Tick
more than
one
option)

No of

Percentag

students

e (%)

115

82

15

11

It is necessary for your future job.

34

24

You want to study abroad

3

2

It is easier than other skills to get high marks

11

8

You learn to speak English for entertainment

17

12

It is an important means of communication

46

33

Others

0

0

Reasons
English speaking skill is compulsory in the
syllabus
You like English, especially English culture
and people

Table 1: Students’ reasons for learning English speaking
As can be seen from table 1, the highest percentage (82%) of the students
wanted to learn English because they thought that English was one of the
obligatory subjects for learning in the school’s curriculum. When being

interviewed by the researcher, one student said :
- “I don’t have any specific purpose in learning English. It is a compulsory
subject, so I guess I have no other choices”
A frequent students’ answer (33%) was that they had to learn English because it
is an important means of communication. The future job was also the thing that
students concerned. 24% of them thought that English was necessary for their
future job. A small number of the students ( 8%) affirmed that they were fond of
learning speaking skill because it was easier for them to get higher marks in
speaking tests than in the tests of other skills. The lowest percentage of the
respondents (2%) claimed they wanted to study abroad in the future. Whether
they could achieve their wishes or not, it was the reason why they tried to study
English. About 11% of the participants answered that they were interested in

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English, especially English culture and people. Besides, 12% revealed they were
interested in learning English as it helped them relax when listening to music,
playing games, reading books, magazines, newspapers…in English. One
interviewee said:
- “I have been studying English since I was at secondary school. I am
completely keen on
listening and singing English songs. I also want to know more about English
culture, so I
find English very interesting”.
The above results suggested that students may enjoy learning speaking skill due
to a genuine interest in English, but this intrinsic motivation only made up a
small proportion of students (23%).
It may be concluded that the reasons for which students learn English mostly
arise from external stimuli, i.e. the requirements of their school; the demands of

the contemporary society in general and the needs in their future profession.
Therefore, they often feel unwilling and forced to learn English. This partly
leads to their reticence in oral activities.
Question 2: How much do you feel interested in speaking English in class?
No of

Percentage

students

(%)

Very interested

12

8

you feel

Quite interested

20

14

interested in

Little interested

72

51

Not interested at all

36

27

Question

Options

2. How much do

speaking English
in class?

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Table 2: Students’ interest in learning speaking skill.
The statistics from table 2 show a surprising fact that only 22% of all students
felt interested in speaking lessons while 51% felt little interested and 27% of
them responded that they did not feel interested at all.
From these figures, we can come to conclusion that the students with low
interest made up the higher proportion than those with high one interest.
Factors making students reticent in English speaking activities in class:
Question 3: What student- related factors cause you to be reticent in oral

activities in class?
Question

Reasons

No of Percentage
students
(%)

Lack of vocabulary and grammatical
92
66
structures
Nothing to say ( no ideas)
65
46
3. What
Poor pronunciation
89
64
studentFear of being laughed at when making
related
76
54
mistakes
factors
cause you Not accustomed to speaking English in
72
51
class

to be
reticent in
Learning goal is not to communicate.
22
16
oral
Not have enough time to prepare
35
25
activities
Introversive personality
57
40
in class?
Fear of “ Showing off”
18
13
Traditional cultural beliefs
37
28
Table 3: Student- related factors making students reticent in oral activities
As can be viewed from the table, low English proficiency was the greatest
contributor to the students’ reticence in oral English lessons. 66% of the
respondents couldn’t find words or structures to express their opinion when
speaking. 64% said that their pronunciation was poor, so they couldn’t speak
English fluently. 46% of them thought that nothing to say for the given topic

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was one of the big troubles preventing them from participating in oral activities.
A student when interviewed answered:
-“I cannot speak because I cannot find the appropriate structures to express my
idea”
Another important factor was the fear of being laughed at by their peers
when they made mistakes, taking 54%. One interviewee said:
- “ I do not want to talk in my speaking class because others can laugh at me,
which irritates me a lot.”
The next, which affected 51% of the respondents, was that they were not
accustomed to speaking English in class. This may be affected by their prior
learning experiences at school. As one interviewee said, when they were at
primary school, the teacher told them to be quiet in the classroom, listen to her
and speak only if she asked them to do. The people who made noise were to be
punished by the teacher. It meant that the teacher was a powerful figure. These
didn’t change when they grew up.
In addition to that, 40% of the students also thought that reticence was so
strongly related to personality. It was the introversive personality that prevented
students from taking part in speaking lessons actively. 28% agreed that student
reticence in oral English classes was concerned with traditional cultural beliefs,
which emphasized modesty and respect to elders and people in authority. This
was truthfully reflected in the classrooms where teachers were considered as
figures of authority. As a student respondent stated:
- “Vietnamese people don’t like to show their views in public. Culture is deep in
everyone’s mind. It is passed from generation to generation. So in our mind, it is
all right to be reticent. We like to be silent and listen to others”.
Contributing to the reasons of the student reticence, 25% said that they were not
given enough time for the preparation of their topics, 16% said that their
learning goal is not to communicate. The smallest percentage of the respondents
( 13%) expressed concern about how their peers would regard them if they
spoke up frequently in class. They did not want to be labeled as a ‘show-off’.

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This occurrence is developed in language classes when learners are criticized or
even ostracized by classmates if they are viewed as taking a more active role
than the rest.
All the above-mentioned factors deter students from speaking unwillingly.
Gradually, they will lose their interest in trying to speak and become
discouraged to speak English anymore.
Question 4: What teacher- related factors cause you to be reticent in oral
activities in class?

7000%
6000%
5000%
4000%
3000%
2000%
1000%
0%
Teacher stops and
corrects mistakes
immediately

Teacher talks too
much in class

Teacher's boring
teaching method

Teacher keeps a
distance from
students

Teacher's uneven
allocation of turns

Teacher's unsuitable speaking style

Chart 1: Teacher- related factors making students reticent in oral activities
Statistics provided in Chart 1 show that 54 % of the students felt reluctant to
speak English because their teacher often stopped them and corrected their
mistakes when they were speaking. Error correction is indispensable for
effective teaching and learning, but what remains the most crucial is the manner
of correction. In this study, most participants did not agree with the behaviour of
a teacher’s correcting mistakes immediately . It made them think of losing face
in front of their peers and after listening to the teacher, they were likely to forget
what they were talking about. Below was the remark of one student:
- “If a teacher interrupts me to correct a mistake, I get confused and forget what
to say next.”

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In Chart 1, it can also be realized that 52% of the respondents thought that
another factor related to teachers was teacher’s too much talking time.
According to some student interviewees, their teacher spent more class-time
than students providing new words, explaining grammar structures, giving
examples, etc. As a result, time for students’ speaking practice was much

reduced. A lot of students sit in silence in class, took notes and participated in
the lesson only when they were asked to.
The analysis of the data shows that 42% of the students complained their
teachers preferred selecting the particular students who were able to provide
the expected answers. That was the reason why some lower proficient students
in class had few chances to speak out. And as Tsui. (1996) stated, some
teachers’ intolerance of silence in class and uneven allocation of turns might
lead to reticence on the part of students in the language classroom. The chart
also states that boring teaching way was one of the factors which made students
reluctant to speak English ( taking 32%) . So the teachers should not ignore this
idea, but consider it and have necessary changes in their teaching ways.
Only a very small percentage of the respondents blamed their reticence for
the teacher’s speaking style (3%) and for teacher’s unenthusiasm (6%). Most of
the student interviewees said that their teachers often gave clear instructions
with average speaking speed, simple words and sometimes they spoke
instructions in Vietnamese to help them understand the task. All informants also
agreed on the idea that their teachers were friendly, considerate, funny, tolerant,
sympathetic, and patient. To express a positive attitude towards their teachers,
some students commented as follow:
- “My teacher is so wonderful. For us, she is like a close friend who is always
willing to give help and valuable knowledge”.
The result reveals that teacher’s speaking style and teacher ‘s keeping
distance from students were not the factors that resulted in the students’ silence
in speaking classes

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In short, there are a variety of the factors that students had to face with.
These factors may come from objective factors ( speaking tasks in the text book

are difficult and long), from students (low English proficiency, the fear of being
laughed at when making mistakes, not accustomed to speaking English in class,
introversive personality, traditional cultural beliefs,etc.) as well as from teachers
( rude mistake correction, too much talking, boring teaching method, uneven
allocation of turns). In order to be better in English speaking activities in class,
the changes need to be done between both teachers
and students.
From the data collected, it can be seen that the 10th-form students at HH4
high school found speaking topics in the textbook interesting. Most of the
students admitted that English speaking skill was very important to them.
However, they were not really interested in speaking English in class and often
tended to be reticent. The reasons for this were too many, both stemming from
teachers and from students. The students wished their teachers to help them
overcome these problems by creating appropriate communicative teaching
activities and having interesting teaching methods.
2.3. Sollutions
Helping students feel interested in speaking English is an art in teaching. Every
single teacher has her own techniques for it. In my report today I want to
mention some techniques to stimulate students to speak English.
2.3.1. Providing imput materials
One of the main reason that students are afraid of speaking English is
because they are lack of vocabularies and grammar structures. Therefore, before
giving speaking tasks, teachers have to give them vocabulary, useful structures
relating to the topics as pre- speaking activities. They also provide their students
with the main ideas of the topic. Teachers should provide examples which are
great helping enrich their vocabulary, memorizing phonetic sounds and stress as
well as grammatical structures. Besides, teachers should pay attention to

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students when they are speaking so as to guess their ideas to support them in
case they cannot find exact words to express themselves. What is more, teachers
need to explain that words represent thoughts so students should not attempt to
use unusual syntax, or “big words” but try to find direct and meaningful ways of
making them understood. Preparing carefully before speaking makes students
more confident to speak.
2.3.2. Giving suitable speaking task
Another reason for students’ laziness and passivity in speaking lesson is
teachers’ giving difficult speaking tasks. This makes students not know how to
do the tasks, they will feel tired and stressed with their study. The difficulty of
finding ideas for the topics can be solved by choosing the topics which are more
interesting and appropriate to the students’ age, level, and relating to the real life
to create enjoyable class atmosphere that make reluctant students interested in
speaking. It is advisable to let the students choose the topics they like to talk
about because the more they like it, the more they are interested in discussion.
Teachers can also make use of and introduce various ideas for discussion to
make these topics interesting and maximize their involvement in speaking
lessons.
2.3.3. Creating a friendly classroom atmosphere and a good relationship
with students.
Many students are unwilling to speak in English for the fear of making mistakes
and being laughed by their classmates. Even when their students have a wellpreparation for speaking, they are still afraid of losing face if they give the
wrong answer. The relationship that the teachers build with the students
influences the interaction that takes place in the classroom. Students are more
willing to speak in class when the teachers make the class environment one of
friendliness and interest. Besides, teachers have to develop positive personality
traits such as patience, a sense of humor or considerateness to make students
more comfortable with their learning. Teachers should try to remember the
students’ name and then use their names. Instead of standing in front of the

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learners, waiting for answers, teachers should walk around the classroom and
assist the learners when necessary during the lessons. Teachers should also give
students immediate praise, compliment and encouragement than criticism.
2.3.4. Having suitable ways of correcting students’ mistakes
Language teachers can encourage their students to speak by helping them
establish positive attitudes towards speaking errors. Teachers can explain to
students that making mistakes while speaking the language they are
learning is acceptable not only because everyone makes mistakes, but also
because that is an inevitable part of language learning. Teachers should
select the right time to correct students’ mistakes, keep silent until students finish
their speaking task (not stop them when they are speaking), smile and encourage
them to realize and correct their mistakes themselves. Teachers should also
avoid overcorrection (correct every single error produced by students). Teachers
can take notes, then write common errors on the board at the end of the activities
and ask who can correct them. To do so, it helps avoid embarrassing the student
who made the mistakes.
2.3.5. Varying speaking activities
Teachers should stimulate students’ speaking by providing them with a variety
of speaking activities. Pair work and group work will make students feel more
confident and more motivated when they express and exchange their own ideas
with their classmates. Teachers must select appropriate pair and group work
activities and monitor them carefully. When monitoring the pairs or groups,
teachers need to help and encourage the less able students in participation, and at
the same time, give more difficult tasks to the more able students in order to
develop their ability. Teachers can help reluctant students get out of silence by
assigning roles to them such as timekeeper, note- taker, reporter...because

assigning roles provides all students with opportunities for balanced interaction
and taking turns. Besides, games help students reduce stress and motivate them
to get involved in the tasks. Games can be played at the opening stages of

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lessons or at the production phrase or whenever students feel tired after long
time of learning, they will draw more attention to the lesson with lower stress.
Most of games are enjoyed by students. Story telling, interview, role play,
picture description... should be introduced to the students so that they are not fed
up with the same activities they have to do everyday.
2.4. The effectiveness of the measure
The class in which classmates help each other, both weak and good students
share ideas, both teacher and students together solved the tasks was the best
environment for students practise speaking. After applying this measure in
teaching, the interest of students in speaking English considerably increase and
their laziness and passivity in speaking remarkably decrease.
The interest of students in speaking English in classes which are not applied the
measure ( school year 2019- 2020)
Total: 140 students
Question

Options

No of

Percentage

students

(%)

How much do

Very interested

12

8

you feel

Quite interested

20

14

interested in

Little interested

72

51

Not interested at all

36

27

speaking English
in class?

The interest of students in speaking English in classes which are applied the
measure (school year 2020- 2021)
Question

Options

No of

Percentage

students

(%)

How much do

Very interested

35

25

you feel

Quite interested

60

43

interested in

Little interested

30

Not interested at all

15

speaking English

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21
11


in class?

The result has shown that the implementation and solutions used in school year
2015 to now have made the interest of students in speaking English increase
remarkably.
3. CONCLUSION AND SUGGUESTION :

3.1. Conclusion.
I have found some specific characteristics to create experiental steps singled out
from practical teaching at Hoang Hoa 4 high school in the past school year.
The study has provided teachers with good methods of motivating the 10 th grade
students in English speaking lessons . This study will be applied in next years. I
will try my best to explore effective methods to help students learn English
better and be highly motivated in speking it.
3.2. Suggestions
To bring students effective school time, I suggest modern educational
equipments should be installed in the classes for the ease of applying technology
in teaching .
I hope my experiential initiative will be received great comments so that I can
promote good points and limit shortcomings next time.

THE CONFIRMATION OF
THE LEADER.

Thanh Hoa, July 2nd , 2022
I assure this experiential initiative is written
by myself, I do not copy the others’ content.

HOÀNG THỊ MINH

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REFERENCE
1. Effortless English by A.J.HOGE
2. Hacking your English speaking by Paul S Gruber
3. Understanding language classrooms by David Nunan

4. Communicate language testing by Weir, Cyril J
5. The study conducted by Hashimoto 2002
6. The study conducted by Yashima 2002
7. The study conducted by Liu 2005
8. The study conducted by Lee (2006)

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SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM ĐÃ ĐƯỢC XẾP LOẠI CẤP TỈNH
STT
1
2
3

TÊN ĐỀ TÀI
How to use pair work and group word in
teaching english effectively.
Some methods of doing error identification
exercise in the GCSE exam.
Some methods of doing comminicative
situation exercise in the GCSE exam.

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XẾP
LOẠI
C

NĂM

C

2019

C

2020

2015