A study on the effect of teachers' oral feedback on students' interesr in English speaking lessons at An Lao High School

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vietnam national university, hanoi
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY of post - graduate studies



HOÀNG THỊ NGỌC MAI



A STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF TEACHERS' ORAL FEEDBACK
ON STUDENTS' INTEREST IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSONS
AT AN LAO HIGH SCHOOL


NGHIÊN CỨU ẢNH HƯỞNG TỪ NHỮNG NHẬN XÉT NÓI CỦA
GIÁO VIÊN ĐỐI VỚI HỨNG THÚ CỦA HỌC SINH TRONG CÁC
GIỜ HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT AN LÃO



M.A. MINOR THESIS


Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.10

HANOI - 2012




HÀ NỘI - 2012

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PART A – INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
The world is presently witnessing a rapid increase in the use of English as a
language of wider communication. Using English frequently is an important
requirement in all aspects of life. At schools, teachers and students have paid much
attention to all four major language skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing.
Among these skills, speaking is considered as the most important one. Speaking is the
productive skill in the oral mode. It, like the other skills, is more complicated than it

seems at first and involves more than just pronouncing words. After learning speaking
skill, it is easier to develop reading and writing skill. But how can we speak English
fluently? The first factor we have to mention is the interest in speaking because “We
just do well when we like it.”
In the process of teaching and learning English, there are many factors affecting the
success of language learners such as aptitude, age, personality, interest and so on,
among which interest plays an important role. With 4 years of experience in teaching
English at high school, I have realized that there are many factors affecting students in



VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES



HOÀNG THỊ NGỌC MAI


A STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF TEACHERS' ORAL FEEDBACK ON
STUDENTS' INTEREST IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSONS
AT AN LAO HIGH SCHOOL



NGHIÊN CỨU ẢNH HƯỞNG TỪ NHỮNG NHẬN XÉT NÓI CỦA
GIÁO VIÊN ĐỐI VỚI HỨNG THÚ CỦA HỌC SINH TRONG CÁC
GIỜ HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT AN LÃO

M.A. MINOR THESIS


Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.10
Supervisor: Dương Thị Nụ, Ph.D





HANOI - 2012




HANOI - 2012
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Candidate's statement ……………………………………………………………
Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………….
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………
Table of contents………………………………………………………………
List of charts and tables…………………………………………………………
PART A: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………
1. Rationale of the research………………………………………………………
2. Aims of the research …………………………………………………………

3. Research questions…………………………………………………………….
4. Methods of the research……………………………………………………….
5. Scope of the research …………………………………………………………
6. Design of the research…………………………………………
PART B: DEVELOPMENT …………………………………………………
Chapter 1: Theoretical back ground…………………………………………
1.1 Teaching English speaking skill ……………………………………………
1.1.1 Definition of speaking skill ……………………………………………….
1.1.2 Typical features of speaking skill …………………………………………
1.2.3 The roles of the teacher in different stages of teaching speaking …………
1.2 Feedback ……………………………………………………………………
1.2.1 Definitions of feedback …………………………………………………
1.2.2 Types of oral feedback ……………………………………………………
1.2.3 The importance of teachers' feedback in teaching and learning a language
Chapter 2: The study………………………………………………………….

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2.1 Justification for data collection instruments …………………………………
2.2 Description of the subjects …………………………………………………
2.3 Instruments of the study……………………………………………………
2.4 Description of the procedures………………………………………………
2.5 Preliminary results …………………………………………………………
CHAPTER 3: Findings, discussion and recommendations………………….
3.1 Findings and discussion ……………………………………………………
3.1.1 Results from interview with teachers………………………………………
3.1.2 Results from questionnaires for students ………………………………….
3.1.3 Students‟ opinions on the oral feedback……………………………………
3.1.4 The types of oral feedback that teachers gave to students in speaking
lessons……………………………………………………………………………
3.1.5 The effect of teachers‟ oral feedback on students‟ interest in speaking
lessons………………………………………………………
3.2 Recommendations……………………………………………………………

PART C: CONCLUSIONS…………………………………………………….
1. Recapitutation…………………………………………………………………
2. Conclusions……………………………………………………………………
3. Limitations and suggestions for further study…………………………………
REFERENCES………………………………………………………………….
APPENDIXES ………………………………………………………
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LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES

Table 1: Purposes of learning English………………………………
Chart 1: Students‟ perceived importance of English………………….
Chart 2: Students‟ attitude to learn English speaking………………
Chart 3: Students‟ desire to learn English speaking………………….
Chart 4: Students‟ interest in learning speaking……………………
Chart 5: Students‟ frequency of speaking English in class time……
Chart 6: Students‟ reluctance of speaking English……………………
Chart 7: Students‟ Beliefs on the Importance of Feedback…………
Chart 8: Students‟ Opinions on Teachers‟ Feedback Frequency ……
Chart 9: Students‟ comprehension of teacher feedback………………
Table 2: The types of feedback used in classroom in four different
classrooms
Chart 10: Students' preferences for kinds of feedback……………….








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PART A – INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
The world is presently witnessing a rapid increase in the use of English as a
language of wider communication. Using English frequently is an important
requirement in all aspects of life. At schools, teachers and students have paid much
attention to all four major language skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing.
Among these skills, speaking is considered as the most important one. Speaking is
the productive skill in the oral mode. It, like the other skills, is more complicated
than it seems at first and involves more than just pronouncing words. After learning
speaking skill, it is easier to develop reading and writing skill. But how can we

speak English fluently? The first factor we have to mention is the interest in
speaking because “We just do well when we like it.”
In the process of teaching and learning English, there are many factors affecting
the success of language learners such as aptitude, age, personality, interest and so
on, among which interest plays an important role. With 4 years of experience in
teaching English at high school, I have realized that there are many factors affecting
students in speaking English, one of which is teachers‟ oral feedback. This is the
reason why I choose to study the effect of teachers‟ oral feedback on students‟
interest in speaking lessons at An Lao High School. This study will examine types
of oral feedback that teachers at An Lao High School often use in speaking lessons
and their effect on students‟ interest. The researcher hopes that this study will figure
out some useful ways to help teachers and students enhance their interest in
speaking lessons.
2. Aims of the research
The research is conducted to identify the ways teachers at An Lao High School
often give oral feedback in speaking lessons. Basing on this fact, the researcher tries
to find out the fact of teachers' oral feedback at An Lao High School and the effect
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of this feedback on students‟ interest in speaking lessons. Specifically, this research
tries to explore the potential sources causing the lack of confidence of students
when speaking English in class. Furthermore, the researcher tries to find out some
effective ways to give oral feedback with the anticipation of helping teachers of
English at An Lao High School improve the quality of their teaching the speaking
skill.
3. Research questions
To achieve the aims which are mentioned above, the following research
questions were raised for exploration:
1. What types of oral feedback does the teacher give to respond to the students‟
performance in speaking lessons at An Lao High School?

2. What are the effects of teacher‟s oral feedback on students‟ interest in
speaking lessons?
4. Methods of the research
The research is to explore the effects regarding oral feedback in speaking
lessons. The data was collected through interviews and classroom observations. The
data collected was then analyzed to gain the insights and implications of the study.
After the data is collected, analyzed and discussed, some conclusions will be drawn,
and some suggestions will be made in the study.
5. Scope of the research
Feedback in speaking skill is such a broad topic that the researcher cannot
discuss all the aspects related. Therefore, within the framework of a minor thesis,
this research focuses only on the teachers‟ oral feedback in responding to the
students‟ speaking tasks at An Lao High School.
To improve interest in speaking skills for the students at An Lao High School,
various activities can be used, and a number of things should be done. However, the
researcher only intends to overview a brief of the current situations of teaching and
learning English speaking skills at An Lao High School, and to analyze the effects
of teachers‟ oral feedback on students‟ interest and to make some recommendations
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to motivate students to speak English more. The research was carried out with the
participation of 7 school teachers of English and 120 students at 11
th
grade from
11B1 to 11B5 of An Lao High School.
6. Design of the research
The research is divided into three main parts as follows:
Part A. Introduction, presents an overview of the study in which the rationale
for the research, the research problem, the purposes, the research questions, the
scope of the study, the research method, as well as the design of the study were

briefly presented.
Part B. Development, consists of three chapters
Chapter one is the theoretical background including the definition of feedback,
as well as an overview on the ways that teachers at An Lao High School give oral
feedback in speaking lessons. These lay the foundation for the choice of the
medium for the research. More specifically, it presents a number of research in
which feedback has been used to help students make improvement in their language
study.
Chapter two is a detailed discussion of the method used in the study. This
chapter presents a thorough justification for the use of continuous feedback and
action research. It also gives a thorough description of the research‟s components,
as well as the research program.
Chapter three discusses the findings of the research and provides pedagogical
implications, as well as presents limitations of the research. It also suggests
direction for further research in the same field.
Part C. Conclusion, summarizes the main issues of the study.



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PART B – DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1 Teaching English speaking skill
1.1.1 Definition of speaking skill
Florez (1999) defined speaking was „an interactive process of constructing
meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information‟ (Balley,
2005: 2). It is „often spontaneous, open- ended and evolving‟, but it is not
completely unpredictable. In other words, „speaking consists of producing
systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning‟. (Balley, 2005:2).

Bygate (1997) stated that speaking was a skill which deserved attention every
bit as much as literacy skill. It is often thought of as a „popular‟ form of expression
that uses the unprestigious „colloquial‟ register. Speaking is in many ways an
undervalued skill. Perhaps this is because we can almost all speak, and so take the
skill too much for granted. In his own view, Mackey (1965) shows that „oral
expression involves not only the use of the right sounds in the right patterns of
rhythm and intonation, but also a choice of words and inflections in the right order
to convey the right meaning‟(Bygate,1997: 5). According to Mackey, for the
student who wants to be good at speaking, he/she has to choose the right forms, put
them in correct order, sound it like native speaker and even produce the right
meanings.
1.1.2 Typical features of speaking skill
Communicative and whole language instructional approaches promote
integration of speaking, listening, reading, and writing in ways that reflect natural
language use. But opportunities for speaking and listening require structure and
planning if they are to support language development. Outside the classroom,
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listening is used twice as often as speaking, which in turn is used twice as much as
reading and writing (Rivers, 1981:428). Inside the classroom, speaking and listening
are the most often used skills (Brown, 1994:75). They are recognized as critical for
functioning in an English language context, both by teachers and by learners. These
skills are also logical instructional starting points when learners have low literacy
levels (in English or their native language) or limited formal education, or when
they come from language backgrounds with a non-Roman script or a predominantly
oral tradition. Nowadays, speaking is considered to be the top priority as it is
probably the most important aspect of the language for communication and students
enjoy it. Furthermore, speaking activities improve the atmosphere in the classroom,
group dynamics and help build a rapport exchange with the salesperson described
previously must know the usual pattern that such an interaction follows and access

that knowledge as the exchange progresses. For example, the learner must also
choose the correct vocabulary to describe the item sought, rephrase or emphasize
words to clarify the description if the clerk does not understand, and use appropriate
facial expressions to indicate satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the service. Other
skills and knowledge that instruction might address include the following:
• Producing the sounds, stress patterns, rhythmic structures, and intonations of
the language;
• Using grammar structures accurately;
• Assessing characteristics of the target audience, including shared knowledge
or shared points of reference, status and power relations of participants, interest
levels, or differences in perspectives;
• Selecting vocabulary that is understandable and appropriate for the audience,
the topic being discussed, and the setting in which the speech act occurs;
• Applying strategies to enhance comprehensibility, such as emphasizing key
words, rephrasing, or checking for listener comprehension;
• Using gestures or body language;
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• Paying attention to the success of the interaction and adjusting components of
speech such as vocabulary, rate of speech, and complexity of grammar structures to
maximize listener comprehension and involvement (Brown, 1994:75)
Speaking lessons can follow the usual pattern of preparation, presentation,
practice, evaluation, and extension. The teacher can use the preparation step to
establish a context for the speaking task (where, when, why, and with whom it will
occur) and to initiate awareness of the speaking skill to be targeted (asking for
clarification, stressing key words, using reduced forms of words). In presentation,
the teacher can provide learners with a preproduction model that furthers learner
comprehension and helps them become more attentive observers of language use.
Practice involves learners in reproducing the targeted structure, usually in a
controlled or highly supported manner. Evaluation involves directing attention to

the skill being examined and asking learners to monitor and assess their own
progress. Finally, extension consists of activities that ask learners to use the
strategy or skill in a different context or authentic communicative situation, or to
integrate use of the new skill or strategy with previously acquired ones (Brown,
1994:75).
Example of a speaking lesson (Carter & McCarthy,1995:141-158)
Choosing appropriate topics for small talk
1. Preparation. Show the learners a picture of two people conversing in a familiar
casual setting. (The setting will be determined by a prior needs assessment.) Ask
them to brainstorm what the people might be discussing (i.e., what topics,
vocabulary, typical phrases).
2. Presentation. Present several video clips of small talk in casual situations. Have
learners complete a worksheet in which they describe or list the topics discussed,
the context in which the speech is occurring, and any phrases that seem to typify
small talk. Follow up with a discussion of the kinds of topics that are appropriate for
small talk, the factors in the specific situations that affect topic selection (e.g.,
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relationships of participants, physical setting), and typical phrases used in small
talk. Chart this information.
3. Practice. Give learners specific information about the participants and the setting
of a scenario where small talk will take place. In pairs, have them list topics that
might be discussed by the participants and simple phrases they might use. Learners
then engage in improvised dialogues based on these simple phrases.
4. Evaluation. Give pairs a teacher-prepared dialogue Ask them to compare their
improvised dialogues with the prepared dialogue, analyzing the similarities,
differences, and reasons for both.
5. Extension. Have learners go individually or in small groups into various contexts
in the community (work, school, church, bus stop) and record the conversations
they hear. Ask them to report their findings back to the class, and then have the

class discuss these findings.

1.1.3 The roles of the teacher in different stages of teaching speaking
Byrne (1986) stated three stages of teaching speaking: the presentation stage,
the practice stage and the production one. In each stage, the role of the teacher is
different.
At the presentation stage, the teacher is considered an informant role. The
teacher introduces something new to be learned and present it in such a way that the
meaning of the new language is as clear and memorable as possible. The students
listen and try to understand. It means that the teacher is at the centre of the stage.
Therefore, teacher‟s time spending should be sensible so that the students get
enough time to practise themselves.
At the practice stage, it is the students‟ turn to do most of the talking while
teacher‟s main task is to devise and provide the maximum amount of practice,
which must the same time be both meaningful and memorable. The teacher‟s role,
then, is completely different from that at the presentation one. The teacher is like
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the skillful conductor of an orchestra, giving each of the performers a chance to
participate, observing and monitoring their performance to see that it is satisfactory.
At the final stage, the production one, the teacher takes on the role of manager
and guide. Students are given opportunities to use language freely. Sometimes
students can make mistakes at this stage, but mistakes are unimportant. What is
more important is that students have chance to use language as they wish, to try to
express their own ideas. Moreover, they become aware that they have learnt
something useful to them personally, and are encouraged to go on learning. It will
not be so easy for the teacher to measure students‟ performance as it was at the
practice stage, nor is there any easy recipe for success. So, what is needed is
flexibility, tolerance, patience on teacher‟s part- and, above all, an understanding of
the learners‟ difficulties.

To sum up, the teacher through speaking lesson should work as an instructor.
His/ her roles closely relate to the three stages of learning. Whatever the teacher is
doing in the classroom, his/ her ability to enhance the students‟ interest, to create
motivation and involve them in what they are doing, will be crucial.
1.2 Feedback
1.2.1 Definitions of feedback
Ur (1996:242) says that “in the context of teaching in general, feedback is
information that is given to the learner about his or her performance of a learning
task, usually with the objective of improving this performance”. He also distinctly
pointed out two main distinguishable components of feedback: assessment and
correction. This significant definition mentions feedback as an essential step in
teaching with an obvious aim at helping students to have better achievement in
learning.
As Littlewood (1981) and Lewis (2002) also point out, feedback means telling
learners about their progress and showing them their errors in order to guide them to
areas for improvement. Feedback can be oral or written.
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Dreham (1995:160) also had the same point of view in the case that feedback is
interestingly likened to a two-bullock cart. His definition is based on a famous
saying that “in order for the cart to move in the right direction, its two bullocks need
to understand not only the purpose of their efforts but also each other”. In other
words, there should be a collaborative approach to the monitoring and processing of
feedback between the teacher and the students so that the teacher feedback becomes
an effective tool for student revision.
1.2.2 Types of oral feedback
Gattullo (2000) and Harmer (2001) divide feedback into corrective, evaluative
and strategic. Corrective feedback focuses on helping learners notice and correct
errors. This type of feedback explains why correct responses are right and incorrect
ones are wrong. In language learning, corrective feedback will be primarily

concerned with accuracy. Evaluative feedback aims to provide a judgement on the
learners‟ performance. Gattullo (2000) suggests that evaluative feedback is
dominant in second and foreign language classrooms. In giving evaluative
feedback, teachers use words or phrases to indicate the extent to which learners‟
performance is good or not. Finally, strategic feedback usually aims to offer
learners advice on what to do to improve their performance. In other words teachers
try to suggest ways of helping learners to overcome their mistake by themselves.
Tsui (1995) suggests that using strategic feedback may enhance learning as it can
help learners to become self-reliant.
In addition, writers such as McNamara (1999) and Ayoun (2001) have pointed
out that teachers‟ oral feedback might affect learners‟ attitudes to their learning
positively or negatively and so feedback can also be categorized as either positive or
negative. Positive feedback shows learners that the teacher is interested in what they
say and at the same time encourages them. Negative feedback expresses the
teacher‟s displeasure, frustration or involves some kind of punishment.
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Richards and Lockhart (1996:188) lists different types in giving oral feedback
to respond students‟ performance in language classrooms, the data will be analyzed
based on the following framework:
- Acknowledge a correct answer: The teacher acknowledges that a student‟s
performance is correct, for example by saying “Good,” “Yes, that’s right”or
“Fine”. However, Richards and Lockhart (1996) explains that acknowledging
students‟ correct answer as a feedback on students‟ perfromance is useful in order to
make the students recognize that they have performed correctly.
- Indicating an incorrect answer: The teacher indicates that a student‟s
performance is incorrect by saying, for example, “No, that’s not quite right,” or
“Mmmmmm”. Moreover, Richards and Lockhart (1996) explains that the
indicating students‟ incorrect answer as an oral feedabck on students‟ performance
is important in order to make the students recognize that they have performed

incorrectly. XieNan (2007) adds that errors of students‟ performance should be
located and identified.
- Praising: The teacher respects a student for correct answer, for example, by
saying “Good,” “Yes, an excellent answer". In addition, Irons (2008) and
Richards and Lockhart (1996) argue that praising is one type of feedback which can
encourages students to learn and participate more in classroom.
- Expanding or modifying a students’ answer: The teacher responds to
incomplete student‟s answer or performance by providing more information or
rephrasing the student‟s answer in the teacher‟s own words. For example:
Teacher: Does anyone know the capital city of the United States?
Students: Washington.
Teacher: Yes, Washington, D. C. That’s located on the east coast.
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However, Richards and Lockhart (1996) suggests that the teacher should
expand students‟ performance as an oral feedback in order to broaden students‟
knowledge related to what students already performed.
- Repeating: The teacher repeats the student‟s answer. In addition, (Richards &
Lockhart, 1996:182) adds that repeating students‟ answer as an oral feedback can be
used as the way to clarify and check students‟ knowledge.
- Summarizing: The teacher gives a summary of what a student has said.
Richards and Lockhart (1996:182) explains that it is necessary to give explanation
as an oral feedback by having summary of what students performed.
- Criticizing: The teacher criticizes a student for the kind of response provided.
For example:
Teacher: A, can you point out the topic sentence in this paragraph?
Student: The first sentence.
Teacher: How can it be the first sentence? Remember, I said the first sentence
is not always the topic sentence in every paragraph. Look again!
Krashen (1982) and also Cathcart and Olsen (1976) argue that the teacher

should criticize students‟ performance in order to correct students‟ errors.

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.2.3 The importance of teachers’ feedback in teaching and learning a language

According to Irons (2008) teacher has to provide appropriate feedback to have
significant impact on students‟ perspective both intrinsic (wanting to learn) and
extrinsic (needing to learn), because students‟ perspective is “good starting points”
(Brown, 1998). In providing a good oral feedback, teacher needs to consider the
clarity of feedback, especially how to indicate the ways in which students can
improve and develop for the future (feed forward) so that the students get the point
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what actually teacher says and get the positive impact of feedback (Irons, 2008 :
65). Every student can make mistakes sometimes; students do not always flow
smoothly while they are learning English, especially speaking English. When
students make some mistakes or even do something correctly; it is important for
teachers to provide feedback as praise or evaluate the students appropriately when
they make some mistake (Irons, 2008). In addition, students in the classroom have
different levels of ability in understanding the materials (high achiever – low
achiever students), so teachers should have a suitable feedback to students. In
language classroom, teacher must provide feedback to evaluate students‟
performance accuracy. According to Richards and Lockhart (1996:189) these
include decision about:
(1) whether students‟ error should be corrected
(2) which kind of error should be corrected
(3) how students‟ error should be corrected
On the other hand, perception will settle what oral feedback that the teacher
uses to respond students‟ performance. Moreover, Robins (1997) explains that
perception is some process by individual which they organize and interpret sensory

experiences then it will bring sense or view toward a certain object. Levy &
Shiraeve (2004) adds that perception will influence teacher to provide what type of
oral feedback on students‟ performance. It will then vary teacher to give certain
type of oral feedback on students‟ performance.
Teacher has to consider the students‟ feeling while providing some feedback.
Tsui (1995) adds that students‟ feeling is closely related to certain psychological
characteristic of the students. Therefore, teacher has to provide oral feedback to
respond students‟ performance in order to maintain the students to feel free in
expressing their idea, so that the students do not afraid of making some mistakes
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and learn from the mistake which has been made. Moreover, Tsui (1995) argues that
students‟ mistake in a classroom is a source of learning.
Teacher‟s feedback is usually associated with evaluating and providing
information related to the students‟ responses, but these are not the only functions.
Teachers‟ feedback can also acknowledge the information that teacher offers or
provides personal comments on students‟ performance. In feedback, teacher makes
evaluations and gives comments on students‟ performance. Through feedback,
students know that there is something wrong or unsatisfactory about their
performance. As Krashen (1982) points out that students must be favorable
disposed toward language learning before language acquisition takes place.
Many teachers still do not consider the students‟ feeling in providing feedback
and cause “wrong way” feedback (Irons, 2008) such as saying the words “stupid”
for student who makes some mistakes; therefore it will offend the students and
discourage them in learning. Hedge (2003) states that teacher must be aware of
“When to push and when to stop” students‟ performance. Furthermore, Cathcart and
Olsen (1976) conduct a survey which shows 149 learners have preference for
correction of all errors that they made, however the students feel irritated when the
teacher correct the errors intensively. Tsui (1995) adds that students in the junior
high school (12-15 years old) have certain psychological characteristic, they are

sensitive to criticism; therefore they will easily get offended.
Providing feedback for students‟ performance is one of the important aspects of
teaching. Positive feedback is also useful to increase students‟ interest in learning
and build a supportive classroom situation, thus it will promote students to have
more participation in every classroom activity (Irons, 2008), especially in speaking
lessons. Moreover Chaudron (1988:132) adds that feedback from teacher as a
correction is a kind of interaction between students-students and/ or teacher-
students. Tsui (1995:43) argues that teacher who values every contribution and
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provides encouraging feedback is much easier to get students‟ interest to learn and
more participation in classroom activities, and it really helps to create a warm
classroom atmosphere in learning-teaching process. Therefore, this study will
examine the teacher‟s contribution on providing oral feedback on students‟
performance.

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CHAPTER 2 : THE STUDY
Chapter two has provided information about students‟ interest in learning
speaking English, students‟ opinions on teachers‟ oral feedback and also the types
of oral feedback the teacher used in classroom. In this chapter, the justification for
data collection instruments is presented. The subjects and the procedure of the study
are also paid a lot of attention. And the preliminary results about the effect of
teachers‟ oral feedback on students' interest at An Lao High School are reported.
After that, the researcher will give some suggestions about the ways to give oral
feedback in speaking lessons.
2.1 Justification for data collection instruments
In this study, three main data collection instruments were used: questionnaire,
class observation and interview. They were the effective tools to help the author
gather the information for the study.
A questionnaire was employed in this study because of the following reasons.
According to Saphier (Saphier,1993:411), there are a lot of advantages for using
a questionnaire. If carefully planned, it is a useful method for gathering a large
number of general data and opinions from a large number of people relatively
quickly. Questionnaires are easy to analyze. Data entry and tabulation for nearly all
surveys can be easily done with many computer software packages.
Another good point is that questionnaires are familiar to most people. Nearly
everyone has had some experience completing questionnaires and they generally do
not make people apprehensive. As a result, it will be easier to carry out an
investigation using questionnaires. In addition, questionnaires can reduce bias.
There is uniform question presentation and no middle-man bias. The researcher's
own opinions will not influence the respondent to answer questions in a certain
manner. There are no verbal or visual clues to influence the respondent. And one
more advantage of using questionnaire method is that questionnaires are less
intrusive than telephone or face-to-face surveys. When a respondent receives a

questionnaire, he or she is free to complete the questionnaire on his/her own time-
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table. Unlike other data collection instruments, questionnaires can help the
respondents to avoid being interrupted by the research instrument.
The other data collection instrument used in this study is observation.
Observation is a way of gathering data by watching behavior, events, or noting
physical characteristics in their natural setting. Observations can be overt (everyone
knows they are being observed) or covert (no one knows they are being observed
and the observer is concealed). The benefit of covert observation is that people are
more likely to behave naturally if they do not know they are being observed.
However, you will typically need to conduct overt observations because of ethical
problems related to concealing your observation.
Observation can also be either direct or indirect. Direct observation is when you
watch interactions, processes, or behaviors as they occur. For example, observing a
teacher teaching a lesson from a written curriculum to determine whether they are
delivering it with fidelity. Indirect observation is when you watch the results of
interactions, processes, or behaviors. For example, in this study, the researcher used
both direct and indirect observations. The researcher attended 5 periods of teaching
speaking skills, observing the change in students' interest before and after the
teachers applied a new method in giving an oral feedback.
But why was the observation used? The answer involves psychological field. In
this study, the main subject is students. As we know, students at high school are
sometimes spontaneous, sometimes reserved; joyful now, sad later; friendly and
reserved; competent and naive; talkative and quiet. Students are unique and
complex and thus often difficult to comprehend. And they do not readily engage us
in dialogue in order to explain the reasons for their caprice as they explore the world
that surrounds them. Yet, it is important for us to know our students deeply, to flow
with their currents, and to extend their nascent theories about how the world works.
So using observation is necessary when we want to study about them. Furthermore,

observation is a really effective data collection instrument. When using it, the
ability to record and report all findings that are true to the topic is at hand. A key
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advantage of observation research is that often the respondent or consumer is
unaware that they are being observed, allowing the behavior to be observed
naturally. It helps in overcoming issues of validity and is useful when the subject
cannot provide information or when the subject is feared to provide inaccurate
information. With this data collection instrument, the author can observe something
that may not come out in a questionnaire, survey or interview. The author can
observe things that may not be easily explained by the participants using another
data collection instruments.
Interviewing is a basic research tool in social science. In this study, interview is
used for teachers to obtain information about teachers' beliefs of the ways of giving
oral feedback. In this type of interviewing, most of the questions are open-ended
designed to elicit the participants‟ perspectives without sensitizing the participants
to any hypotheses of the researcher. The answers of the participant then become the
structuring mechanisms for the next phase in the interview.
The interview questions were designed to elicit information about the teacher‟s
beliefs regarding oral feedback to their students‟ performance. Other questions were
aimed at obtaining information about the effective way to give oral feedback to
enhance students‟ interest in speaking lessons.
In short, although every data collection instrument has both good points and
drawbacks, questionnaire, observation and interview seem to be the best choice for
this study. And the combination of all these instruments can ensure reliable data.
2. 2 Description of the subjects
In this study, two groups of subjects were involved: the first group consists of
120 students at 11
th
grade of An Lao High School and the other group consists of 7

teachers of English of An Lao High School. The researcher will observe some
speaking lessons of two teachers to have a comprehensive observation.
The questionnaires were distributed to 120 students at five different classes and
taken back afterwards.110 correspondents returned their answers. Incompletely
filled surveys were rejected, thus there were 110 surveys for analyzing.
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The author also observed the speaking lessons of two teachers of English. They
have taught English for over 5 years. All of them provided the author with
necessary information about the speaking lessons and their teaching methods.
And the interview was carried out among 7 teachers of English. All the answers
were recorded as the evidence for the analysis.
2.3 Instruments of the study
To gather the data, three kinds of data collection were used: observation,
questionnaire and interview. However, the data analysis focused more on the result
of questionnaires from students. The classroom observations were done in the first
semester of the 2011-2012 academic year. Classroom situation were also observed
to gain a better picture of teacher‟s feedback and wrote field-notes for teacher
feedback on students‟ performances which received the teacher feedback as well.
The writer would be a non-participant observer who sits on the back of the class in
order not to disturb the naturalness of the class as well as the students‟ attention to
the teacher. The classroom observation lasted for four weeks. Four sessions
interview were also conducted after each classroom observation to gain the data
about the teacher‟s reason for giving oral feedback to respond students‟
performance.
2.4 Description of the procedures
To get the data, classroom situation and specifically the teachers‟ reaction
toward students‟ performance during the teaching process were observed. The sixty
minutes classroom observations were conducted in four different classes on the
same grade with different ability (high achiever- lower achiever group) on the same

material and the same teacher. This school classified the students for each group
based on their ability. Four sessions interview after each observation were also
conducted to gain the data about the reason of the teacher in giving certain type of
feedback for students‟ performance in the classroom.
2. 5 Preliminary results
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These following steps were conducted to analyze the data of teacher‟s oral
feedback. The first one was transcribing the recorded data by writing everything
which had been recorded on the tape recorder without any changes on language.
The second, the transcript were coded. This coding was done by highlighting the
teacher feedback. The third step was classifying teacher oral feedback existed in
four different classroom observation into several types based on Richards and
Lockhart (1996:188).
The teacher‟s reason for giving oral feedback on students‟ performance was
analyzed through the interview. Then, the interview was transcribed into written
form. The researcher tried to find out the reason why the teacher provided certain
type of oral feedback on students‟ performance. Finally, the conclusions are made
about how and why the teacher reacts toward students‟ performance.
The results of questionnaires were collected then analyzed. The author showed
the detail results of each questions through tables, charts…

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CHAPTER 3 : FINDINGS, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Chapter three will provide the detailed description of the study and the
preliminary results. This chapter presents the findings from interviews with teachers
and the surveys for students about the teachers' oral feedback and its effect on
students' interest in speaking lessons. A discussion on the findings is also given to
find out the effect of teachers' oral feedback on students' interest. At the end of this
chapter, there are some suggested solutions which are considered to be the effective
way for teachers in giving oral feedback in speaking lessons.
3.1 Findings and discussion
3. 1.1 Results from interview with teachers
Firstly, all teachers were asked about their beliefs on the importance of
feedback to teaching and learning speaking skill. Most of them agreed that feedback
played a very important role in speaking lesson when stating that “We cannot ignore
feedback when teaching speaking because it is necessary to show out students’
errors so that they can correct it”. However, one teacher had a neutral view to the
importance of feedback. She said, “It is not necessary to give feedback to students
quite often. They will be demotivated. Let students speak freely without feedback or
correction”
When being asked about purpose of giving feedback, all teachers said that they
wanted to help the students to improve their speaking. “I want my students to have a
positive attitude towards speaking and that is why I try to give feedback as clearly
as possible so that they will not make the same mistake again”, one of them said.

In terms of feedback types, the teachers seemed to have different choices for
different types of feedback. Most of the teachers tended to indicate the mistake
made by the students and ask them to correct immediately, especially in
pronunciation or the usage of structures. The same number of teachers sometimes
gave general comments at the end of the lesson. Moreover, teachers tended to use
more negative feedback than positive one. What they said are as follows: