Phân tích so sánh một số hoạt động giao tiếp nhằm làm giảm sự lo lắng của người học trình độ trung cấp khi nói tiếng Anh tại Trung Tâm Anh Ngữ Sư Phạm Hà Nội

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

***

***




DƯƠNG THỊ NHÀN





A Comparative Analysis among Several Types of Communicative
Activities to Reduce Pre-Intermediate Level Learners' Anxiety in
Speaking English at HaNoi Foreign Language Teaching Center

Phân tích so sánh một số hoạt động giao tiếp nhằm làm giảm sự
lo lắng của người học khi nói tiếng Anh tại trung tâm Anh ngữ
sư phạm Hà Nội

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Methodology
Code: 60.14.10







HÀ NI – 2011


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

***

***




DƯƠNG THỊ NHÀN





A Comparative Analysis among Several Types of Communicative

Activities to Reduce Pre-Intermediate Level Learners' Anxiety in
Speaking English at HaNoi Foreign Language Teaching Center

Phân tích so sánh một số hoạt động giao tiếp nhằm làm giảm sự
lo lắng của người học khi nói tiếng Anh tại trung tâm Anh ngữ
sư phạm Hà Nội

M.A MINOR THESIS




Field: English Methodology
Code: 60.14.10
Supervisor: Nguyễn Thu Lệ Hằng, M.A.






HÀ NI – 2011
iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………… i
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………… ii
Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………iii
List of Tables and Charts………………………………………………………………………vi

List of Abbreviations………………………………………………………………………… vi

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………… 1
1.1. Rationale of the Study 1
1.2. Aims of the study 2
1.3. Scope of the study 2
1.4. Methods of the study 3
1.5. Research questions 3
1.6. Design of the study 3
1.7. Definitions of Terms 4
PAT TWO: DEVELOPMENT……………………………………………………………….5
Chapter I: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………………… 5
1.1. Overview of Communicative Language Teaching 5
1.2. Foreign Language Anxiety 6
1.2.1. Definitions of Foreign Language Anxiety 7
1.2.2. Possible Sources of Foreign Language Anxiety 7
1.2.3. Effects of Foreign Language Anxiety in Language Learning 8
1.3. Communication Activities 10
1.3.1. Definitions of Communicative Activities 11
1.3.2. Benefits of Communicative Activities in Teaching Speaking English 11
1.3.3. Some Types of Communicative Activities 12
1.3.3.1. Role – Play 13
1.3.3.2. Information – Gap 14
1.3.3.3. Discussion 14
v

1.3.4. Using Communicative Activities to Reduce Learners’ Anxiety in Speaking
English………………………………………………………………………………… 15
1.3.5. Summary 16
Chapter II: METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………………… 18

2.1. Research methods 18
2.1.1. Rationale for Action Research 18
2.1.2. Questionnaire Survey 19
2.1.3. Observational Method 20
2.2. Research Design 21
2.2.1. Action Research Procedure 21
2.2.2. Subjects of the Study 23
2.3. Summary 23
Chapter III: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS……………………………… 25
3.1. Pre-action research survey 25
3.1.1. Classroom observation 25
3.1.2. The Pre- Questionnaire 27
3.2. Action plan implementation 30
3.2.1. Role-play activities 30
3.2.1.1. Samples of role-plays 31
3.2.1.2. Procedure of a role-play activity 31
3.2.1.3. Reflection on implementing the activity 32
3.2.1.4. Findings and Notice 33
3.2.2. Information gap activities 33
3.2.2.1. Sample information gap activities 33
3.2.2.2. Procedure of an information gap activity 34
3.2.2.3. Reflection on implementing the activity 34
3.2.2.4. Findings and Notice 35
3.2.3. Discussion activities 35
3.2.3.1. Sample discussion activities 35
vi

3.2.3.2. Procedure of a discussion activity 36
3.2.3.3. Reflection on implementing the activity 36
3.2.3.4. Findings and Notice 37

3.3. Observation Results 37
3.4. Post action research survey 39
3.5. A Comparative Analysis of Some Communicative Activities to Reduce
Learners’ Anxiety in Speaking English 42
3.6. Summary 43
PART THREE: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………45
Summary of the Study 45
Limitations of the study 46
Suggestions for further research 46
References…………………………………………………………………………………….48
Appendices…………………………………………………………………………………… I
Appendix 1…………………………………………………………………………… I
Appendix 2…………………………………………………………………………………….III
Appendix 3…………………………………………………………………………………… V
Appendix 4…………………………………………………………………………………….VI
Appendix 5………………………………………………………………………………… VIII
Appendix 6…………………………………………………………………………………… X



vii

List of Tables
Table 1: The causes of the learners’ anxiety in speaking English
Table 2: Some communicative activities used in speaking lessons
Table 3: The learners’ feeling about CA used in speaking lessons
Table 4: The learners’ feelings after participating in communicative activities in speaking
lessons
Table 5: Effectiveness of reducing the learners’ anxiety in speaking English through
communicative activities

List of Charts
Chart 1: I feel anxious when speaking English in class
Chart 2: The learners’ participation extreme in communicative activities used in speaking
lessons
Chart 3: The learners’ interests in communicative activities


List of Abbreviations
CAs: Communicative Activities
CLT: Communicative Language Teaching
FL: Foreign Language
AR: Action Research
SD: Standard Deviation
M: Mean
TEMOC: Techniques that Encourage and Measure Oral Communication
1


PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale of the Study
Nowadays, with the development of technology and information together with the
spread of globalization, English becomes a global language because it is broadly used in
various fields of our life such as in technology, business, commerce, communication and
so on. As a result, learning English for communication skills has created a huge demand
for teaching and learning English around the world. The fact shows that communicative
approach of teaching English is preferred in learning English. Teaching English is not only
on linguistic competence of the language learners but also on the development of their
communicative ability. Therefore, in order to develop the learners‟ communicative ability,

teachers need to create a good classroom environment which motivates their speaking
activities.
In recent years in Vietnam, English has been playing a very important role in the
development of the country firstly because it is an international language and secondly it is
also seen as a mean to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between Vietnam
and other countries. Consequently, more and more people desire to know and focus on
English to keep pace with the update development in technology in the world. Therefore,
English is not only widely taught at schools, universities, but it also is taught at many
foreign language centers as part-time classes and others.
In Ha Noi, there are more and more English centers established everywhere with a
lot of learners. Most of them are students, engineers, or workers, who come to the centers
with the hope to have a good command of English to use it effectively in all four skills.
Regarding speaking skills, the majority of learners agree that this macro skill is always at
the top of their demand for many aims such as passing oral examinations at universities,
having good communications, getting good jobs, etc. However, most of second language
learners experience varying degrees of anxiety when asked to express their views in front
of other people. This is true even when their language abilities are rather good. In fact,
there is an excessive amount of anxiety negatively influencing many language learners‟
behaviors and educational outcomes. Campbell and Ortiz (1991: 159) show that language
anxiety among university students to be „alarming‟ and estimate that up to one half of all
language students experience debilitating levels of language anxiety.
2


As a teacher of English in Ha Noi Foreign Language Teaching Center for nearly two
years, I have found that learners would like to speak English a lot but they lack confidence
in speaking and they are usually passive and find it challenging while communicating with
English-speaking people. In speaking lessons, there are hardly many communicative
activities for teaching speaking English used by teachers. Consequently, learners are too
shy or even keep silence and do nothing in speaking lessons. Moreover, they think that

speaking English is very difficult for them and they become fed up with learning this skill.
In fact, the attempt to create a negotiating and students-centered learning atmosphere in
English by teachers is usually unsuccessful. The achievement of effective communicative
teaching becomes a daily headache to all English teachers here. Inevitably, the lack of
learners‟ participation in speaking activities leads to the teacher-centered learning in
English lessons and learners‟ anxiety in learning a second language, especially in speaking
English. These reasons actually drive the researcher to the study “A comparative analysis
among several types of communicative activities to reduce Pre- intermediate level
learners’ anxiety in speaking English at HaNoi Foreign Language Teaching Center”
with the aim of suggesting some communicative activities to reduce these learners‟ anxiety
in speaking English.
1.2. Aims of the study
This study aims at suggesting some communicative activities to reduce learners‟
anxiety in speaking English and compare which activities are the most effective for them.
In order to achieve these aims, the following objectives are established:
- Firstly, to review the real situation of teaching and learning speaking skills at Ha
Noi Foreign Language Teaching Center.
- Secondly, to investigate the current activities used in teaching speaking English at
this center.
- Thirdly, to suggest some communicative activities to reduce pre-intermediate level
learners‟ anxiety in speaking English at this center.
- Fourthly, to make a comparison about which activities have effects on reducing
learners‟ anxiety in speaking English.
1.3. Scope of the study
To reduce learners‟ anxiety in speaking English, teachers can make use of various
3


activities and a number of techniques should be done. However, within the framework of
this M.A Minor Thesis, it is too ambitious to list all communicative activities to reduce

learners‟ anxiety in speaking English. Therefore, this research only focuses on three
communicative activities (that is, role-play, discussion, and information gap) and then
compares their effects on reducing learners‟ anxiety in speaking classes.
Moreover, due to the limit of time, only a foreign language center in Hanoi is chosen
for the research. All of 20 learners chosen are studying in a Pre-intermediate level class.
1.4. Methods of the study
In order to complete this research, qualitative method will be used. The participants
of the study are the learners at Ha Noi Foreign Language Teaching Center. More
specifically, the researcher planned classroom observations and did questionnaires
consisting of pre-questionnaire and post-questionnaire to gather in-depth information about
the real situation of teaching and learning speaking skills and which communicative
activities used in their speaking lessons. It is believed this method will bring about a
complete look into this research.
1.5. Research questions
The study is to apply some communicative activities and compare them with the aim
of finding out the most effective one to reduce learners‟ speaking anxiety at Ha Noi
Foreign Language Teaching Center. To achieve this aim, answers to the following
questions are sought:
+ Which speaking activities have been used in teaching speaking skill at this center?
+ Which will be the most effective one, among three communicative activities-, role-
play, discussion, and information gap- to reduce Pre-intermediate level learners’
anxiety in speaking English?
1.6. Design of the study
This minor thesis consists of three main parts:
Part One, INTRODUCTION, presents the rationale, the aims, scope, methods, design of
the study, and definitions of terms.
Part Two, DEVELOPMENT, is composed of four chapters as follows:
- Chapter One, Literature review, is concerned with a brief review of
knowledge about overview of communicative language teaching, foreign language
4

anxiety, communicative activities and benefits of using communicative activities to
reduce learners‟ anxiety in speaking English.
- Chapter Two, Methodology, is about the research method, research design,
data analysis and the rationale for using five activities.
- Chapter Three, Data Presentation and Analysis, is the part relating to pre-
action research survey, action plan implementation, observation results, post-action
research survey, and a comparative analysis of communicative activities to reduce
learners‟ anxiety in speaking English.
Part Three, CONCLUSION, consists of four sub-parts: Summary of the study,
Limitations of the study, and Suggestions for further studies.
1.7. Definitions of Terms
- Communicative Language Teaching (CLT): CLT is an approach to the teaching of second
and foreign languages that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal
of learning a language. It is also referred to as “communicative approach to the teaching of
foreign languages”.
- Foreign language anxiety: This is considered as “a distinct complex of self-perceptions,
beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to classroom language learning arising from the
uniqueness of the language learning process”
- Communicative activities (CA): include any activities that encourage and require a learner
to speak with and listen to other learners, as well as with people in the community. These
communicative activities contain a communicative purpose in any situations and a
concentration on language content not language form and communication without
teachers‟ interference.
- Action research (AR): is the first and foremost situational, being concerned with the
identification and solution of problems in a specific context. The aim of action research is
to improve the current state of affairs within the educational context in which the research
is being carried out.
- Comparative analysis: This term refers to comparing two or more things to get some

certain results.


5


PAT TWO: DEVELOPMENT
Chapter I: LITERATURE REVIEW
The main aim of this chapter is to present some theories relating to foreign language
anxiety and communicative activities. The first section overviews the theory of
Communicative Language Teaching and its application in teaching speaking skill. After
that, this second part refers to definitions of foreign language anxiety, its potential sources
and some its effects on learning a foreign language. Next comes to some definitions of
communicative activities, benefits of using them in teaching speaking English, and some
types of communicative activities given out in this part. The final one of this chapter
presents some advantages of using communicative activities to reduce learners‟ anxiety in
speaking English.
1.1. Overview of Communicative Language Teaching
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is interested by the researchers such as
Chomsky, Richards & Rodgers (1986), Al-Mutawa and Kailani (1989), Hedge (2000) and
so on. This is an approach to the teaching of second oreign languages that focuses on
interaction as both the means and the fundamental aim of learning a language. Moreover, it
is considered as a “communicative approach to the teaching of foreign languages” or
simple the “communicative approach”. According to Hymes (1972), he considers the goal
of learning a language is to develop “communicative competence”. “Communicative
competence” here not only refers to knowledge of the grammatical rules of a language and
how to form grammatical sentences but also to know when, where and to whom to use
these sentences in a speech community. Similarly, Nunan (2004) states that “language can
be thought as a tool for communication rather than as sets of phonological, grammatical
and lexical items to be memorized lead to the notion of developing different learning

programs to reflect the different communication needs of disparate grasps of learner” (p.7).
CLT is an approach rather than a method of English language teaching focusing on
students‟ needs and individual affective factor, advocating several language- learning
principles or kinds of classroom activities that best facilitate learning. Richards and
Rodgers (1986:71) confirm some characteristics of CLT as follow:
“Language is a system of the expression of meaning; the primary function
of language is for interaction and communication; the structure of
6


language is reflects its functional and communicative use; the primary
units of language are not merely its grammatical and structural features,
but categories of functional and communicative meaning as exemplified in
discourse.”
Larsen- Freeman (1986) shares the same idea about meaningful tasks and
communicative functions, that is, “almost everything that is done is done with a
communicative intent.” More specifically, there are a lot of communicative activities such
as games, role plays, simulations, and problem solving tasks, which give students an
opportunity to practice communicating meaningful in different contexts and in different
roles.
Although CLT has many advantages in developing learners‟ communicative
competence, it has some barriers such as high English language proficiency from teachers,
large class sizes to handle, lack of teacher training in effective CLT strategies, lack of
practice among teachers in using effective CLT strategies, much time on the part of the
teacher needed for preparing effective CLT activities, and much time required in the
classroom for implementing effective CLT activities. (Rowe, nd.)
In conclusion, CLT is a new way of teaching and learning a foreign language,
especially English. It is mainly focus on the approach of teaching a language with the aim
of developing learners‟ interaction along with their communication. Although it has some
limitations above, its benefits of using CLT in teaching and learning English to develop

learners „communicative ability are not unacceptable. Providing for real communicative
activities in a language course by using CLT is thus considered to be one of the most
important recent development in the curriculum.
1.2. Foreign Language Anxiety
Learning a foreign language is not simple for learners because there are various
factors affecting their learning such as intelligence, motivation, attitude, age, gender,
personality, anxiety, and so on. (Skehan, 1989, cited in Wu, 2010: 174). Learning
acquisition should be achieved naturally, but learning a foreign language in the classroom,
for most students, is full of challenges. One of the know challenges comes from learners‟
affective factor, that is, foreign language anxiety. Its definition, sources as well as some
effects in language learning will be discussed in the following parts.
7


1.2.1. Definitions of Foreign Language Anxiety
Foreign language anxiety in this study is conducted as a variable that can influence
learner‟s decisions to speak English. Therefore, it is very important for the researcher to
consider the different research addressed the area of language anxiety.
Horwitz et all. (1986) state foreign language anxiety as “a distinct complex of self-
perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors related to classroom language learning arising from the
uniqueness of the language learning process” (p.128). According to Speilberge (1983),
anxiety is defined as the “subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness and
worry associated with an arousal of the autonomic nervous system” (p.15). In describing
language anxiety, MacIntyre and Gardner (1991) write:
“The anxious student may be characterized as an individual who
perceives the L2 as an uncomfortable experience, who withdraws from
voluntary participation, who feels social pressures not to make mistakes
and who is less willing to try uncertain or novel linguistic forms” (p.112).
Therefore, it can be concluded that foreign language anxiety is the distinguished
factor accompanied with learners‟ anxious feelings and stress along with their behaviors

during their learning process. It is a complex, multidimensional phenomenon. When
learners face with classroom anxiety – provoking situations, they often feel less oriented,
less assertive than in the others. Therefore, teachers of English or instructors should know
that most of learners‟ anxiety relate to their mental feelings and behaviors and find out the
effective ways to reduce this.
1.2.2. Possible Sources of Foreign Language Anxiety
It is obvious that language anxiety has a great influence on learner‟s language
learning. Therefore, there have been a lot of the earlier studies of its causes. According to
Young (1991: 427), there are six potential causes of language anxiety including personal
and interpersonal anxieties, learner beliefs about language learning, instructor beliefs about
language teaching, instructor-learner interactions, classroom procedures and language
testing. From this list we can see that the author classifies the causes into three main
aspects, that is, the aspects of learners, teachers and instructional practice to which Bailey‟
findings also followed (cited in Na, Z. 2007).
8


However, the most influential findings are from three authors Horwitz, Horwitz and
Cope (1986). They divide the causes of language anxiety into three types, that is,
communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation.
Communication apprehension is defined as “apprehension about others‟ evaluation,
avoidance of evaluative situations, and the expectations that others would evaluate oneself
negatively.” (Horwitz et al., 1986, p.128). Moreover, in learning a foreign language, the
authors (1986) state that communication apprehension as manifested into difficulty in
speaking in dyads or groups (oral communication anxiety), or in public (“stage fright”), or
in listening to or learning a spoken message (receiver anxiety).Next, the concept of test
anxiety is defined as “a type of performance anxiety stemming from a fear of failure. Test-
anxious students often put unrealistic demands on themselves and feel that anything less
than a perfect test performance is a failure” (Horwitz et al., 1986: 127-128). Last is fear of
negative evaluation which may stem from learners‟ classroom and require continual

evaluation. In a similar manner, Young (1991) maintains that this fear, irrespective of
whether it is real or imagined, must be an important situation that contributes to foreign
language anxiety. This is broader in scope than test anxiety because it is not limited to test-
taking situations. In contrast, it can happen in any social, evaluative situation. (Horwitz et
al., 1986)
In fact, the reasons why learners often cope with foreign language anxiety result
from personal and interpersonal anxieties as well as learner- instructor beliefs and
interactions. In other word, it dates from anxiety of being low or negatively evaluation and
difficulties in oral communication. Test anxiety is one of the above main factors of foreign
language anxiety, yet this study will not focus on it because of my above learners‟ aspects.
Most of them are from the different universities or companies with the aims of learning
English as a communication or for their future job, so the study only discusses about two
main sources of foreign language anxiety, that is, communication apprehension and fear of
negative evaluation.
1.2.3. Effects of Foreign Language Anxiety in Language Learning
It can be said that language anxiety is regarded as a simple transfer of other general
kinds of anxiety such as trait anxiety to language learning. It is a phenomenal issue caused
by the unique stress imposed on students in language classes. This has a great influence on
second language acquisition.
9


Some researchers confirm that a certain amount of anxiety in language learning can
enhance the learning process such as Alpert & Haber (1960). In Bailey‟s (1983) study of
competitiveness and anxiety, it was found that facilitative anxiety was one of the keys to
success, and closely related to competitiveness. Horwitz et al. (1986) affirm that language
learners who are anxious about learning a language separate from cognitive processing
limitations. He emphasizes that language anxiety itself can inhibit language learning
In contrast, studies reveal that anxiety may result in adverse effects on language
learning, it is also believed that anxiety could motivate language learning. Krashen (1985)

acknowledges the influences of the affective filter in second language anxiety in relation to
input. The higher the affective filter the less input someone is able to process. According to
the author, this affective filter consists of emotive reactions such as language anxiety (cited
in Zgutowicz, 2009, p. 20). More specifically, Crookall and Oxford (1991) assert that
serious language anxiety may adversely affect students: self-esteem, self-confidence, and
ultimately hamper proficiency in language acquisition. Similarly, Turula (2004), and Von
Worde (2003 state that anxiety has a negative effect in language learning. Fears,
nervousness, insecurity and lack of self-confidence are related to language anxiety.
MacIntyre and Gardner (1991) found that speaking is by far the main agent of anxiety-
arousal, and that students with high anxiety perform worse than those with low anxiety.
Supporting this view, Liu (2007) describes that:
“ all the correlations involving language anxiety were found to be
negative. As language anxiety scores increased, the ratings of ideas
expressed, output quality, and self-rated competence declined. It
was also found that anxious students tended to underestimate their
ability and more relaxed students tended to be overestimate their
ability.” (p.120)
From these previous researches, the researcher finds that language anxiety plays an
important role in learning a foreign language. Although it can enhance learners‟ ability at
some extents, it mostly prevents learners from their language acquisition. Besides, foreign
language anxiety has a great influence on speaking, writing, reading and listening ability
among learners. Especially about the anxiety in speaking skill, the researcher totally
agrees with the opinion of Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) that students are very self-
10


conscious when they are required to engage in speaking activities that expose their
inadequacies, and these feelings often lead to “fear, or even panic” (p.128).
1.3. Communication Activities
It can not deny that anxiety greatly influences in learning English in general as well

as in speaking English in particular. As Young (1991: 429) states that “anxieties associated
with classroom procedures center primarily on having to speak in the target language in
front of a group”. Therefore, it can be concluded that speaking activities in the classroom
create the most foreign language anxiety. As a result, reducing learners‟ anxiety in
speaking activities is of great importance in teaching and learning English. This leads to
many researchers focusing on some techniques to reduce learners‟ anxiety in learning a
language, especially English. However, the researcher in this study only emphasizes on
some communicative activities with the aims of reducing learners‟ foreign language
anxiety. Definitions and benefits of communicative activities are also discussed in the
following parts.
1.3.1. Definitions of Communicative Activities
Communicative activities include any activities that encourage and require a learner
to speak with and listen to other learners. When defining communicative activities,
Harmer (1991: 50) states that:
“Communicative activities are those which exhibit the characteristics
at the communicative end of the continuum. Students are somehow
involved in activities that give them both the desire to communicate
and a purpose which involves them in a varied use of the language.
Such activities are vital in the classroom since here the students can
do their best to use the language as individuals, arriving at a degree
of language autonomy.”
Sam (1990) considers communicative activities as “the techniques which are
employed in the communicative method in language teaching The language-using
activities for communication are not restricted to conversation and may involve listening,
speaking, reading, writing or an integration of two or more skills.” Furthermore, the author
states some characteristics of communicative activities such as being purposeful, being
interactive and conducted with others and often involving some form of discussion,
11

authentic materials are used together with realistic situations and authentic models, and
communicative are based on the information gap principle.
Referring to some principles of using communicative activities for language teaching
and learning techniques, Morrow (1981) gives out some: First, „Know what you are doing‟
means that each part of the lesson focuses on some operation which student would want to
perform in the target language. Second, „the whole is more than the sum of its parts‟ refers
to the fact that it is necessary to work in the context of the whole in communication.
Communication cannot easily be analyses into its various components without its nature
being destroyed in the process. Third, „the processes are as important as the forms‟ are the
processes of communication such as information gap, choice and feedback should be as far
as possible replicated in trying to develop the ability of the student to communicate in the
target language. Forth, „to learn it, do it‟ means that practicing communicative activities
helps students learn to communicate. In this situation, teachers no longer dominate the
learning situation, but she provides all the help the students needs to play an active role in
their own learning. Last, „mistakes are not always mistakes‟ is that there is the need for
flexibility in deciding to treat different things as „mistakes‟ at different stages of the
learning process towards communicative competence. (Cited in Sam, 1990)
The researcher finds the definition made by Sam (1990) meaningful and profound. It
supplies with a full insight of communicative activities, that is, they help them interact with
each other as well as encourage learners‟ communicative ability in learning a language.
1.3.2. Benefits of Communicative Activities in Teaching Speaking English
It is clear that communicative activities play a very important role in developing
learners‟ communicative competence in general, as well as their speaking English ability in
particular. Littlewood (1981:17) argues that there are some contributions that
communicative activities can make to language teaching such as “whole-task practice‟,
improving motivation, allowing natural learning, and creating a context that supports
learning.
First, communicative activities can provide “whole-task practice”. In foreign
language learning, learners practice various kinds of communicative activity with the
whole- task practice designed to suit learner‟s level of ability.

Second, communicative activities improve motivation. The author goes on saying
that the learners‟ ultimate objective is to participate in communication with others. Their
12


motivation to learn is more likely to be sustained if they can see how their classroom
learning is related to this objective and helps them to achieve it with increasing success.
Thirds, communicative activities allow natural learning. The author shows that
learners‟ language learning only happens in natural processes of using the language for
communication. Therefore, communicative activity is an important role of the total
learning process.
Forth, communicative activities create a context that supports learning. According to
the author, communicative activities supply many chances for learners to practice their
speaking skill, especially positive personal relationship among learners and between
learners and teacher. Such relationship can help to “humanize the classroom and creates an
environment that supports the individual in his efforts to learn.
To sum up, offering communicative activities can help turn English classrooms into
an active and enjoyable place where learners can learn what they need and want to learn.
Some above contributions of communicative activities such as enhancing motivation,
creating a good learning environment and supporting a natural learning make the
researcher interested and apply them for the aims of the study.
1.3.3. Some Types of Communicative Activities
Littlewood (1981: 20) divides communicative activities into two types: functional
communication activities and social interaction activities. The first type is “the ability to
find language which will convey an intended meaning effectively in a specific situation”.
Some activities of this type includes comparing sets of pictures; noting similarities and
differences; working out a likely sequence of events in a set of pictures; discovering
missing features in a map or a picture, reconstructing story –sequences. The second one is
“the ability to take account of the social meaning as well as the functional meaning of
different language forms”. Activities of this consist of conversation and discussion

sessions, dialogues and role-play, simulations, skits, improvisations and debates. Although
there are a lot of communicative activities in teaching English, but in this study the
researcher only gives out some below with the aim of reducing learners‟ anxiety in
speaking English at an English center.
13


1.3.3.1. Role – Play
Role-play is considered as a technique in the process of teaching a language in which
participants assume and act out roles so as to resolve conflicts, practice appropriate
behaviors for various situations. According to Shi Zheng (2006, cited in Liu, 2010), role-
play is one method of getting to imagine they are someone else and play that part. More
specifically, doing role-play activities is a way to practice, or rehearse, situations that may
happen in real life. The purpose of this is to prepare the students for the real-life language
use (Gu Yeguos, 1998, cited in Liu, 2010).
Richards (1985) states that collaborative communication activities such as role-plays
have the following characteristics, that is, providing chances to practice strategies for
opening, developing, and terminating conversational encounters; requiring learners to
cooperate to develop meanings; requiring the use of turn-taking rules; helping learners
practice use of conversational routines and expressions; involving learners in different
kinds of roles as well as encouraging the use of different speaking styles; giving out
negotiated completion of tasks; involving information sharing; concentrating on
comprehensible and meaningful input and output; and demanding learners‟ participation
with a large number.” (Cited in Liu, 2010)
When referring to some advantages of using role-play in teaching language, Jarvix,
L. & Odell, K. & Troiano, M. (2002) give out some such as: First, role-play increase
learners‟ interest in the subject matter and understanding of course content; Second, it raise
learners‟ involvement in lessons, they are not passive recipients of the instructors‟
knowledge, but they take an active part; Third, it helps learners have empathy and
understanding of different viewpoints, take on role of a character together with learning

and acting as that individual would do in the typical setting. To support this, Mc Gregor
(1993) adds that role-playing has also been seen to be effective in reducing racial
prejudice.
The researcher completely agrees with the above researchers that role-play has a lot
of benefits in teaching a language, especially in speaking English. It allows learners to
draw their personal experience of situations and encourage them in their speaking
activities. Role-plays encourage them to be interested in speaking activities as well as take
an active part in these ones. Therefore, their anxiety in speaking English is not a serious
problem any more.
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1.3.3.2. Information – Gap
An information gap activity is the one where learners are missing the information
they need to complete a task and need to talk to each other to find it. Neu & Reeser (1997,
cited in Rapton, nd.) state that one person has certain information that must be shared with
others in order to solve a problem, gather information or make decisions in an information
gap activity. These types of activities are extremely effective in the FL classroom.
According to Lee, J. F and VanPatten (2003), information-gap is one type of activity to
promote negotiation. The gap refers to information that one person possesses but others do
not. Gaps, therefore, create the absolute need to communicate as well as the need to
cooperate (p. 65). Moreover, Richards (2006:18) supports more ideas that “more authentic
communication is likely to occur in the classroom if students go beyond practice of
language forms for their own sake and use their linguistic and communicative resources in
order to obtain information.”
Brown and Yule (cited in Rong, R. & Lanying, X. 2008) state that we are usually
motivated to tell people things we assume they do not know; information gap activities,
then, can provide students with a reasonable purpose to communicate in the foreign
language. As a result, this type is really useful for various things such as providing
opportunities for extended speaking practice, representing real communication, and

motivating learners. This advantage, therefore, urges me to plan this study with the aim of
reducing the learners‟ anxiety in speaking English.
1.3.3.3. Discussion
Discussion is the process of discussing, talking in which the pros and cons or various
aspects of a subject are considered. Like pair and group work, discussions in the classroom
can help enhance learners‟ interaction and negotiation in their speaking skills. As Qui-ling
(2008) states that group discussion is one of the activities to encourage learners to use their
knowledge to practice it in a friendly environment as well as motivate them to speak a
foreign language to improve their communicative skill. The author adds more that using
this technique, discussion, helps learners “gain the initial sense of language use in real-life
situations and acquire the knowledge of expressing and exchanging ideas with peers.”
When referring to some advantages of using discussion in teaching speaking, Harmer
(1991) states that one of the reasons that discussions fail is that learners are reluctant to
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give an opinion in front of the whole class, or they can not think of anything to say and are
not confident of their language use. Therefore, the author gives out one suggestion, that is,
„buzz group‟ with the aims of solving the problem. In this buzz group, learners can discuss
quickly in small groups before being asked to express their ideas to the rest of the class.
However, he confirms that using discussions is good for providing activities which force
learners to reach a decision or a consensus, often as a result of choosing between specific
alternatives (pp. 272-273). Johnson and Rodger (1975: 78) share the same ideas with
Harmer (1991) about the advantages of discussions, they add more that learners should be
arranged so that each can see all other members of his group and can be heard without
shouting and disturbing the other groups.
In conclusion, the benefits of discussions outweigh its drawbacks. The most
important benefits for teachers is that discussion can help learners to enhance their
communicative ability, sharpen their social skills and foster their cooperation and team
spirit in learning speaking skill. Consequently, the author of the study totally agrees that

discussion is a good technique for teachers to use in teaching speaking English, especially
in reducing the learners‟ anxiety in speaking English.
1.3.4. Using Communicative Activities to Reduce Learners’ Anxiety in Speaking
English
The anxiety in learning language, specifically speaking English, has a great number
of negative influences on learners. It prevents their speaking ability and leads them to fear
or panic whenever they are asked to speak English. As second language educators, our goal
is to have our learners speak with confidence in the target language, so we must make an
effort to provide our learners with a greater variety of opportunities to speak in the target
language. Therefore, some recent approaches to foreign language teaching such as
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) are directed at reducing learners‟ anxiety.
According Taveen (2007: 2), the author confirms that “these approaches lay emphasis on
pair or group work and learning through communication in the target language as a way to
reduce language anxiety Consideration of learner anxiety in the modern language
classroom is deemed highly essential in order to help learners develop their communication
skills in the target language.”
Burden (2004: 17) states that “anxiety is often a manifestation of feelings of
incompetence… the teacher can alleviate anxiety and foster a less confrontational
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atmosphere by encouraging pair work, group activities for mutual support and
reassurance.” According the author, by using these activities for teaching language,
teachers can reduce negativity, raise learners‟ self-belief and assist them to reduce their
anxiety. Generally, communicative activities are considered as an effective means to
reduce learners‟ anxiety in speaking English. To share the same ideas, the authors such as
Osboe, S, Fujmura, T and Hirschel, R. (2007) conducted a study on students‟ confidence
and anxiety in L2 speaking activities and received the results that students‟ proficiency
level in the L2 may also correlate with comfort speaking to other L2 learners and they
appear to enjoy greater confidence in pairs and small groups than in whole-class situations.

Additionally, small group discussions and topics that are familiar to students can enhance
the level of comfort. Therefore, communicative activities play a great role in making a
good environment to encourage their learners‟ speaking ability as well as reduce their
anxiety.
In summary, communicative activities are of the important role in enforcing learners‟
speaking skill as well as reducing their anxiety in speaking English. The researcher of this
study totally agrees with some characteristics of communicative activities given out by
Richards (2006: 23) such as: developing learners‟ communicative competence; creating the
need for communication, interaction, and negotiation of meaning through the use of
activities such as information sharing or role play; making use of content that connects to
learners‟ lives and interests; allowing them to personalize learning by applying what they
have learned to their own lives. These are the reasons why this study focuses on applying
some of the above communicative activities with the aim of reducing learners‟ anxiety in
speaking English in the classroom.
1.3.5. Summary
In conclusion, the researcher has reviewed the general overview of CLT, learners‟
anxiety in speaking English, especially the solution of reducing it through using
communicative activities. Learners‟ anxiety in speaking English is caused by some such as
communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation. Consequently,
anxiety has negative effects in language learning such as fears, nervousness, insecurity and
lack of self-confidence. Therefore, reducing learner‟s anxiety in speaking English in the
classroom is very necessary to develop their speaking ability. One of the techniques for
this aim is using communicative activities such as role play, discussion and information
17


gap. All of these activities bring about some benefits of reducing learners‟ anxiety in
speaking English. They help learners reduce negativity, increase their self-belief, and assist
them in learning English. Moreover, they enforce their cooperation and interaction among
learners as well as help them feel confident in their speaking skill. In the following part,

Chapter Two will display the methodology of the study.
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Chapter II: METHODOLOGY
This chapter discusses the procedures used in carrying out investigations, including
the methods used to collect and analyze the data in the study. It concludes of four sections.
The first section describes various research methods and the rationale for each. The second
one presents the research design including the action research procedures and the details
about the subjects of the study. The third one is some reasons of using four activities in the
study. Last is the one which summarizes the main ideas presented in the whole chapter.
2.1. Research methods
In this section, three categories are addressed. They are some information about
action research with the rationale for action research, questionnaire survey, and
observational method.
2.1.1. Rationale for Action Research
An action research (AR) is not only about research, but about action too. In other
word, it means “learning by doing”, which helps identify a problem, find the ways to solve
it, as well as bring about social changes or practical actions (O‟Brien, 1998). Therefore, the
AR should be done by all teachers at any time. All of these lead the researcher to choose
the AR as the most useful method to carry out this study.
Action research is becoming increasingly significant in language education. It is the
process of systematic collection and analysis of data in order to make changes and
improvement or solve problems (Wallace, 1998, p.1). Kemmis and MacTaggart (1988,
cited in Nunan, D. 1992: 17) state that AR is planned by „practitioners‟-classroom
teachers- rather than outside researchers. Moreover, they go on saying that AR is
“collaborative‟, and it is aimed at changing things. Its distinctive feature is that it seems
“likely to lead to improvement, and for evaluating the results of strategies tried out in
practice. Action research is a group activity”. Similarly, Ferrance (2000: 6) shows that an
AR is a reflective process allowing for inquiry and discussion, as well as a collaborative

activity among colleagues “searching for solutions to everyday, real problems experienced
in schools, or looking for ways to improve instruction and increase student achievement.”
Nunan (1992: 18) also accepts that collaboration is highly desirable, but he argues
that it is not the leading characteristics of AR. According to the author, any teacher
interested in exploring processes of teaching and learning in their own context can carry
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out an AR. He also disputes that AR is not necessarily concerned with change. He adds
that a „descriptive case study of a particular classroom, groups of learners, or even a single
learner‟ if initiated by a question, supported by data and interpretation, and carried out by a
„practitioner investigating aspects of his or her own context and situation‟ is considered as
a really AR.
Moreover, AR can help a researcher fill the gap from the theory to practice
(MacNiff, Lomax &Whihead, 1996: 13 and Zuber-Skerrit, 1992: 16, cited in Songsiri,
2007: 47). According to Warrican (2006), the author states that AR is widely used in
language teaching but also as an approach for external innovators who seed to effect
educational change (cited in Songsiri, 2007). Therefore, this study is an action research
project of reducing learners‟ anxiety in speaking English though some communicative
activities with the aim of bringing about some changes for the current teaching and
learning situation at Ha Noi Foreign Language Teaching Center.
In conclusion, this brief consideration of the previous researches of action research
convinced me that this was the appropriate method to use to investigate how to reduce
learners‟ anxiety and improve their speaking skills as well as find out communicative
activities which are the most effective. .
2.1.2. Questionnaire Survey
Questionnaires are very cost effective and useful for studies involving large sample
sizes. Additionally, they are familiar to most people because nearly everyone has had some
experience completing questionnaires and they generally do not make people
apprehensive. Therefore, to investigate the aspect of teaching and learning speaking

English, I use one of the research methods, that is, questionnaire survey, for my study.
Questionnaires, as one of the most common forms of data collection tools, can easily
be assessed in terms of reliability which refers to the ability of questionnaire to produce the
same results in different implementations, leading to a consistency and dependability of the
results. Richards and Lockhart (1994: 10) confirm that questionnaires are a useful way of
“gathering information about effective dimensions of teaching and learning, such as
beliefs, attitudes, motivation, and preferences, and enable a teacher to collect a large
amount of information relatively quickly.”
Questionnaire surveys play a very important part in my study because they help me