Using language games to motivate the first year students in speaking classes at Thai Nguyen Medical College = Sử dụng trò chơi ngôn ngữ để khích lệ sinh viên nă

vietnam national university, hanoi
university of languages AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY of post-graduate studies

----------

HOÀNG THỊ THU HOÀI

Using language games to motivate the first
year students in speaking classes at Thai Nguyen
Medical College
(Sử dụng trị chơi ngơn ngữ để khích lệ sinh viên năm thứ nhất Trường
Cao Đẳng Y Tế Thái Nguyên trong các giờ học nói)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CODE: 601410

HANOI, 2012


TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ……………………………………….

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………………..….

ii

ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………...

iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ……………………………………………....

iv

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS ……………………………………...…

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………...

vi

PART A: INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………...

1

1. Rationale for the study …………………………………………………...

1

2. Aims of the study …………………………………………………….…..

2

3. Research questions …………………………………………………..…...

2

4. Scope of the study …………………………………………………….….

2

5. Research methodology ………………………………………………..….

3

6. Organization of the study …………………………………………...……

3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT ………………………………………………

4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ………………………………...

4

1.1. A brief description of speaking ………………………………………

4

1.1.1. What is speaking skill? ………………………………………......

4

1.1.2. Characteristics of a successful speaking activity ………………..

5

1.1.3. Problems with speaking activities ……………………………….

6

1.1.4. Principles in teaching speaking according to CLT approach ……

7

1.2. A brief description of language games ………………………………

8

1.2.1. What are language games? …………………………………...….

8

1.2.2. Features of a quality game ………………………………...…….

10

1.2.3. Types of language games ………………………………..………

11

1.2.4. Some opinions on using games in teaching and learning process

12

1.2.5. Language games as a motivator for students to speak ………..…

13

1.3. Summary ………………………………………………………………

15

iv


CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY ………………………………………………

16

2.1. The context of the study ………………………………………………

16

2.1.1. An overview of the research site ..........................................................

16

2.1.2. The course book ……………………………………………….……..

16

2.1.3. Description of the students at TMC .....................................................

16

2.1.4. Description of the teachers at TMC …………………………….……

17

2.2. Methods………………….……………………………………………..

17

2.2.1. Participants …………………………………………………………..

17

2.2.2. Data collection ……………………………………………………….

17

2.2.2.1. Data collection instrument ………….…………….…………….

17

2.2.2.2. Data collection procedures….…….…………………………….

18

2.3. Presentation of statistical results …………………………………….

18

2.3.1. Pre-task survey questionnaire ……………………………………….

18

2.3.1.1. Presentation of the data ………………………………………...

18

2.3.1.2. Data analysis ……………………………………………………

20

2.3.2. Post-task questionnaire ……………………………………….……...

23

2.3.2.1. Presentation of the data ………………………………………...

23

2.3.2.2. Data analysis ……………………………………………………

25

2.4. Summary ………………………………………………………………

29

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS ………………………………………………...

30

3.1. Achievements from the questionnaire …………………………………

30

3.2. Challenges in applying language games in teaching and learning……...

32

3.3. Sub-conclusion …………………………………………………………

33

CHAPTER 4: SUGGESTIONS ON USING LANGUAGE GAMES TO

34

MOTIVATE STUDENTS IN SPEAKING CLASSES ………………….
4.1. Which games to use? …………………………………………………...

34

4.2. When to use a game? ……………………………………………..…….

34

4.3. How to run a game? ………………………………………………..…..

35

v


4.4. Summary ………………………………………………………….……

37

PART C: CONCLUSIONS…………………………………………………..

38

1. Conclusions ………………………………….……………………….…..

38

2. Limitations and recommendations for further study ……………………..

39

REFERENCES …………………………………………………………….….

40

APPENDICES ……………………………………………………………...…

I

Appendix 1: PRE - TASK SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE ………………........

I

Appendix 2: POST - TASK SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE ……………….….

V

Appendix 3: GAMES APPLIED IN SPEAKING LESSONS ………………....

IX

vi


List of abbreviations

CLT: Communicative Language Teaching.
EFL: English as a foreign language
TMC: Thai Nguyen Medical College

1


List of tables AND CHARTS
Table 1: Data collected from pre-task survey questionnaire.
Chart 1; 2: Students‟ attitudes towards English learning
Chart 3; 4: Students‟ attitudes and perspectives towards speaking lessons
Chart 5: Students‟ opinions on the speaking topics in the course book
Chart 6: Students‟ participation in speaking lessons
Chart 7: Students‟ reasons for unwillingness to speak

Chart 8: Students‟ preferences of teacher‟s techniques in speaking classes
Table 2: Data collected from post- task survey questionnaire
Chart 9: Students‟ attitudes towards language games applied by the teacher
Chart 10: Students‟ participation in language games
Chart 11: Students‟ participation in speaking lessons
Chart 12: Benefits of using language games in speaking lessons
Chart 13: Students‟ preferences for teachers‟ activities for the use of language
games in speaking classes.
Chart 14: The frequency of applying language games

2


PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale for the study
In the globalization age today, English is considered as the most important
mean of international communication. Therefore, promoting oral skills in order to
respond to the students‟ needs for effective communication is one of the important
strategies of teaching and learning English in recent years.
Among the four skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) of English
learning, speaking is considered the most important skill for the purpose of
communication. It is believed that speaking plays a vital role since it is the step to
identify who knows or does not know a language. Pattison (1992) confirms that
when people know or learn a language, they mean being able to speak the language.
Similarly, Ur, (1996) shows that people who know a language are referred to as
“speakers” of that language as if speaking included all other kinds of knowing.
However, teaching and learning speaking today does not meet the study objectives.
English teaching now in general and teaching speaking in particular is still far from
satisfactory. Although teachers have made great efforts to provide students with
chances to improve their speaking skills, how to teach and learn speaking

effectively is still a challenging question to both teachers and students at many
colleges and universities.
At Thai Nguyen Medical College (TMC), all students are non- English majors
who specialize in many different fields such as Nursing, Pharmacy, Midwifery, etc.
Most students find speaking especially important yet most challenging one. For
most of them, it is difficult to speak English naturally. As a result, in speaking
lessons, they often feel bored and frightened. How to motivate and encourage
students to speak is really necessary, and is a big question to almost teachers. Also,
teaching techniques exploited during a speaking activity, for example, role plays,
simulations, discussions, etc. do not bring much effectiveness. Thus, it is necessary
to find an effective technique used in teaching speaking. Moreover, in language
teaching, language games have proved themselves as an important factor which can

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create more chances and interest to motivate students to speak. Language games not
only banish boredom, provide learners with enjoyable environment but also supply
them with chance to use language and constitute a bridge between the lesson and
the real world (Greenal, 1984)
For all the reasons mentioned above I have decided to choose the topic “Using
language games to motivate the first year students in speaking classes at Thai
Nguyen Medical College” for my minor thesis with the hope that it might be helpful
to both teachers and students in teaching and learning speaking.
2. Aims of the study
The study is carried out in order to:
 Investigate the current situation of teaching and learning speaking to the first
year students who are non-major English students at Thai Nguyen Medical
College.
 Explore the effects of language games in teaching speaking to the first year

students who are non-major English students at Thai Nguyen Medical
College.
 Provide some suggestions and implications of using language games for the
improvement of speaking teaching at Thai Nguyen Medical College.
3. Research questions
The research is to seek answer to the following questions:
 What is speaking teaching and learning reality to the first year non- major
English students at Thai Nguyen Medical College?
 How can language games help to improve students‟ motivation in speaking
classes?
 What are the suggestions and implications of using language games in
speaking lessons?
4. Scope of the study
For the limitation of time, conditions, and materials, in this minor study, the
researcher focuses specifically on the use of language games in teaching speaking to

4


the first year student‟s non - English majors at TMC. So the study limits itself to the
teaching and learning speaking only, and the subjects of the study are 90 nursing
students from two classes studying new “Headway” course book at Thai Nguyen
Medical College.
5. Research methods
In order to realize the aims of the study, quantitative method is used. The
survey questionnaire is used to collect information and evidence for the study. The
survey questionnaire including pre-task survey questionnaire and post task survey
questionnaire is for 90 first year students non - English majors from two classes of
Thai Nguyen Medical College, both specialize in Nursing. All comments, remarks
and recommendations given in the study are based on the data analysis.

6. Organization of the study
This minor thesis is composed of three parts as follow:
Part A -INTRODUCTION. In this part, the rationale, the aims, research questions,
as well as scope of the study, methods of the study and also its design are presented.
Part B – DEVELOPMENT. This part includes 4 chapters.
 Chapter 1 deals with some theoretical background that is relevant to the
purpose of the study: speaking skill and language games.
 Chapter 2 investigates the situation of teaching and learning speaking and
the feasibility of using language games in teaching speaking to the first year
students non- English majors through the analysis of collected data.
 Chapter 3 consists of some findings concluded from the data analysis.
 Chapter 4 provides some suggestions on using language games as well as
some sample language games exploited during all stages of speaking lessons.
Part C – CONCLUSION. In this part, the summary of the study, limitations of the
study and suggestions for further study are mentioned
REFERENCES and APPENDICES are presented in the last pages of the study.

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter provides the essential review of the related literature and studies
which are meaningful in carrying out this study. In this chapter, the author discussed
issues and aspects concerning to the topic of the study. The concepts and ideas
relating to speaking skills have been discussed. Moreover, the most important thing
mentioned in this study is an overview of language games which has also been
introduced basing on some typical definitions by some different researchers and
educators.
1.1. A brief description of speaking

1.1.1. What is speaking skill?
According to Nunan (1991: 39) “speaking is the single most important aspect
of learning a second language or foreign language, and success is measured in term
of ability to carry out a conversation in the language”. It can be inferred from
Nunan‟s viewpoint that speaking is a very important skill among the four basic
ones. The term „speaking” catches much attention of linguistics. Therefore, many
definitions have been offered to this term so far.
Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves
producing and receiving information (Brown, 1994b). Chaney and Burk (1998: 13)
also argue that “speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through
the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts”. Referring to
speaking or communication in language teaching and learning, Brown (1994b)
affirms that interaction is the heart of communication; it is what communication is
all about. Bygate (1997: 115) emphasizes that “interaction is the use of language for
maintaining communication between participants” and “interaction skills are the
skills of deciding what to say, when to say it and how to say it clearly”. Therefore,
in speaking process, learners are required to know not only how to produce specific
points of language such as grammar, pronunciation, or vocabulary (linguistic
competence), but also when, why and in what ways language is produced (
sociolinguistic competence).

6


Nguyen and Nguyen (2001) state the two main aspects of speaking skill
including “accuracy” and “fluency”. It is said that accuracy involves the correct use
of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. Whereas, fluency is described as “the
ability to keep going when speaking spontaneously”. In order to get the message
across language learners need to make use of whatever knowledge, resources and
abilities they‟ve got, regardless of grammatical and other mistakes. They also need

to employ different strategies such as the use of natural-sounding “incomplete”
sentences “I went out last night. Did you? With whom?”; the use of common
expressions like “Never mind/I see”; the use of fillers and hesitation devices “Well,
let me see”; the use of communication strategies such as for clarifications such as
“Pardon?” “What do you mean?; the ability to paraphrase; the use of useful
expression such as “ By the way…/ Anyway…” when finishing a topic; and “Nice
taking to you / Well I must go now.” When ending a conversation.
Despite the different ideas about speaking definitions, the major components
of speaking are unchanged. It means that to improve speaking skill, both accuracy
and fluency need considering.
1.1.2. Characteristics of a successful speaking activity
Language teachers are always looking for effective activities to use in their
classes. But what makes an activity successful? How do teachers know that what
they are doing really works? In improving speaking skill of students in the class,
Ur (1996: 120) introduces four important characteristics of a successful speaking
as follows.
 Learners talk a lot: The activity is occupied by learner talk as much as
possible.
 Participation is even: Classroom activities are not only dominated by a
minority of talkative participants but also contributed by all learners. In other
words, all learners in class have a chance to speak, not only for talkative
participants.

7


 Motivation is high: Learners feel interested in the topic and they are eager to
show their voice, to exchange new information
 Language is of an acceptable level: Learners can use relevant, easily
comprehensible and suitable language level to express themselves.

However, in fact, there are few classroom activities that can satisfy all the above
criteria. Therefore, the teachers should try their best to apply effective techniques to
create some of those criteria.
1.1.3. Problems with speaking activities
Classroom activities that develop learners‟ ability to express themselves
through speaking are an important element of a language course. However,
designing and controlling such activities are really challenging. And learners still
have some problems when they want to talk in class. Ur (1996) points out the
following common problems that tend to occur in a speaking class as follows:
 The first problem is “inhibition”. As we know that speaking requires some
degree of real-time exposure to an audience. Learners are often reluctant
when trying to say something in a foreign language because they are worried
about making mistakes, they are afraid of being criticized or losing face in
front of the others.
 “Nothing to say” is the second problem. Although they are not inhibited,
many students complain that they cannot think of anything to say.
 Moreover, “Low or uneven participation” is another problem. Only one
participant can talk at a time if he or she is to be heard. In a large group, each
one will have only very little time for talking so this difficult will be doubled
if some learners have the tendency of dominating the group, while others
speak very little or not at all.


“Mother-tongue use” is also problematic. In classes, where all the learners
share the same mother tongue, they may tend to use it because it is easier,
because they feel unconfident to speak to one another in a foreign language,
and because they may feel less “exposed” if they speak their mother tongue.

8

To sum up, there are a lot of factors affecting the degree of success of
speaking activities. From Ur‟s point of view above, for a successful speaking
lesson, the teachers and learners should be aware of these problems in order to have
appropriate and effective solutions to help learners develop speaking skills. And to
deal with these problems, Lawtie (2004) suggests that the teachers need to take a
closer look at the type of speaking activities in order to make the activities
interesting enough to
meet students‟ need and create a real need for communication.
1.1.4. Principles in teaching speaking according to CLT approach
The main objective of teaching speaking is to improve oral fluency, the ability
to express oneself in an intelligible, reasonable and accurate way and without undue
hesitation. English learners want to use speech mainly for the two reasons below.
Exchanging information is the first important reason. The second important one is
that they want to maintain good social relationships, that is, for interactional
purposes concentrate on sharing personal experiences and opinions. Many great
efforts have been made so far to find out the major principles of teaching speaking.
Here are some main principles which are introduced by Ur (1996) as follows:
 Take account of the student as a person: To do so, firstly, the teachers should
be sensitive, sympathetic and encouraging. Secondly, the material selected
should be motivating and suitable to the students‟ ability.
 Reduce anxiety by moving from easy to less easy: It means that the students
should be provided a familiar and private environment to practice and they
should be helped to take short turns.
 Maintain a careful balance between accuracy and fluency: The teachers
should provide practice in pronunciation, word stress, sentence stress and
intonation as well as opportunities for fluent use of speech.
 Provide a good model for students to imitate: It requires that the teachers
should learn to speak acceptably themselves and consciously teach correct
pronunciation and repeatedly use target speech patterns.

9


 Provide appropriate stimuli for eliciting speech: A variety of sources such as
books, radios, audio and video cassettes, pictures, stories, as well as songs
can be used in speaking class.
 Vary classroom interaction modes: The class activities should be various:
individual to whole class, in pair work or group work.
 Give clear instructions: While instructing students to the activities, the
teachers should speak loudly, slowly and clearly enough to all students.
 Monitor student activity continuously: The teachers should encourage and
praise students in time in order to motivate them to join activity actively.
 Prepare well for class: A checklist of things to obtain and a checklist of
things to do should be made carefully before class
 Handle errors sensitively and effectively: Correction mistakes may reduce
students‟ motivation, it is suggested that it should not be too prominent. It
means that the teacher should not correct every mistake at anytime, in any
where. Performances errors and errors that are repeated should be ignored.
However, it is necessary that the teachers correct errors in structures that
need to be used frequently, errors in language that they have just taught or
errors that might shock the listeners (e.g. womans, childrens).
1.2. A brief description of language games
1.2.1. What are language games?
Language games can be used in language classes. So what are games and what
are language games? First of all, what are games? When being asked this question,
people feel intuitive that they know it but definition is elusive. Many educators and
researchers have made researches on the use of games and each of them has
developed their own concepts and ideas about games.
In the Oxford Advanced learners‟ dictionary of current English by Hornby

(2005), game is an activity or a sport with rules in which people or teams compete
against each other. It means that students play game for their own sake, for fun, for
the competitive ambition.

10


Hadfield (1987) says that “a game is an activity with rules, a goal and an
element of fun.” Another definition comes from Saricoban & Metin (2000) saying
that games are organized according to rules and they are enjoyable. Similarly,
Rixon (1981) defines “a game consists of play governed by rules.” This is summed
up very well in Gibb‟s definition (1987) of a game as “A game is an activity carried
out by cooperating or competing decision markers, seeking to achieve, within a set
of rules, their objectives.”
Although the concepts of game are developed in various ways, all the above
mentioned definitions share the same opinion that a game has three main
characteristics: A goal or objective; A set of rules which govern a game; Games
involve a contest either between players or between players and the goal.
Then, what are the language games? Language games mean games related to
language. A language games also share the similar characteristic with the ordinary
games. However, language games mostly involve in developing and improving
language skills. Games can help to enhance different aspects such as intellectual
ability, patience, meanwhile language games help to develop language skills. While
playing language games, students have both fun and opportunities to practice
English enjoyably, this helps to stimulate students. Greenal (1984) defines language
games as one kind of “activity which is used to consolidate language already taught
or acquired and occurs during the free stage of lesson or during occasions such as
English club meeting…” And the term game “is used whenever there is an element
of competition between individual students or teams in a language activity…”
Therefore, the skills needed in games are concentrated on the language side so

not all the games are chosen. For language teaching purposes, games that are
selected must be guaranteed to improve language skills.
In conclusion, from the definitions mentioned above, we can put it that
language games are activities with the rules, goal, and element of fun carried out by
the players‟ cooperation or competition for the language practice. Understanding

11


games in general and language games in particular will help us pick out the features
that are useful in language teaching.
1.2.2. Features of a quality game.
Carrier, (1980:7) emphasizes that “the teachers must take many factors into
account when deciding which game would be most appropriate and most successful
with his students at any time”. It is explained that if a teacher wants to use a game
for his teaching purpose, he should consider if the game can be used in the lesson
and the game is up to the certain standard and meets certain requirements or not.
To answer for this question, there are some features of a quality game for
speaking class.
- The most important function of games is to create meaningful contexts for
communication. Larcabal, (1992) states that “We plan games; we must remember
that for communication to take place, the players must find it essential to
communicate.”
- The terms “information gap” and “opinion gap” are mentioned to contribute for
the success of a game. It is obvious that information gap activities force the
participants to exchange information so that they can find a solution.
- An “information gap” or “opinion gap” need some content. Klippel (1984:4) states
that, “information and opinion gap exercises have to have some content worth
taking about. Students do not want to discuss the interest which is aroused by the
structure of the activity may be reduced or increased by the topic.”

- The variety of the games teachers use is another important feature of a language
game. Hadfield, (1990) states: Variety is important in language teaching, and a
succession of games based on the game principles. The variety of games is essential
to attract and interest students during the lessons.
- In addition, one of the most important features which help games run smoothly is
that games should be interesting, simple and easy to comprehensive.
- According to Wright, Betteridge and Buckby (1983:4), “challenge is essential
ingredient of a game, which helps to motivate students”

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To sum up, there are different views about features of a good language game.
However, the element of meaningful contexts, information gap, opinion gap,
relevant content and language as well as co-operation would be pondered carefully
when the teachers want to compose a good game. It is difficult to determine what
the best game is because it is affected by many elements such as certain situation,
certain students, each teacher and other elements.
1.2.3. Types of language games
It is difficult to classify language games into categories because categories
often overlap. Therefore, each linguist has his own way to classify language games.
Chamberlain (1981:29) states that most language games fall into the following
categories: phonetics games, spelling games, dictionary games, syllable-based
games, vocabulary games, sentence building games, games for creativity and free
expression. However, Hadfiled (1987), states that language games can be divided
into two further categories: Linguistic games and communicative games. Linguistic
games focus on accuracy meanwhile communicative games focus on successful
exchange of information and ideas. According to Hadfield (1987) language games
are also classified into many more categories as follows:
 Sorting, ordering or arranging games. For example, students have a file of

pictures with different food and drinks, and they sort the pictures into two
topics: countable and uncountable nouns
 Information gap game: In such games, one student has all the information
while the other has none, and this student must acquire the information to
complete the task successfully.
 Guessing games: In these games, someone knows something and the others
have to find out what it is
 Matching games: In these games, participants need to find a match for a
word, picture or card.
 Labeling games: These are form of matching, in that participants match
labels and pictures or images

13


 Puzzle-solving games: In these games, the players share or exchange
information in order to solve a problem or to find a mystery.
 Role play games: A role playing game can be as simple a conversation
between two people who each pretend that they are someone else. According
to the Oxford English Dictionary, Role play games are games in which
players take on the roles of imaginary characters, usually in a setting created
by a referee, and thereby vicariously experience the imagined adventures of
these characters.''
There have been many types of language games which can be applied in teaching
language in general and teaching speaking in particular. However, which games are
more useful in certain lessons in order to encourage the students‟ participation, and
develop the students‟ speaking skills depends on the wise use of the teachers.
1.2.4. Some opinions on using games in teaching and learning process
Teaching language in general and teaching speaking in classroom in
particular effectively and successfully requires different types of methods and

techniques. It depends on the teachers, the students, the syllabus, etc. And games
are one of the activities that these techniques use. Although a lot of researches on
the use of educational games in particular have been done, the effectiveness of
language games in English language teaching is still controversial among educators
and teachers.
There are different points of view about the use of games in the ELT
classroom. According to Hashimoto (1997) these standpoints can be divided into
two types. The first belongs to those who do not support using games in teaching
and learning processes. Some teachers who used language in their teaching process
but they did not succeed. Therefore, many teachers found them ineffective or
instructive for the learners so they are reluctant to use games in their lessons. That
is, these teachers often perceive games as mere time-fillers, "a break from the
monotony of drilling" or frivolous activities rather than an effective teaching
technique. Ur (1996) reports that once we call a language leaning activity a “game”
we convey the message that it is just fun, not something to be taken serious.

14


However, contrary to the point of view mentioned above, many researchers and
educators have affirmed that games are not just time-filling activities, but they have
a great educational value. Hadfield (1987:4) points out that language games are
useful in teaching and learning process: games should not be regarded as “an
amusing activity for Saturday afternoon or for the end of term” but as “an integral
part of the language syllabus”. Greenal (1984) says that language games provide
free and spontaneous practice of the language in conditions lying halfway between
the controlled content of the formal lesson and the real life situations outside the
classroom. A similar opinion is stated by Richard-Amato, who believes game to be
fun, but warns against overlooking their pedagogical value, particularly in foreign
language teaching. In addition, we quite agree to Rixon (1981), the integration of

language games and teaching make them an important part of teaching-learning
process as games can be integrated with teaching so that they can become a positive
part of it rather than a time-filler or, worse, a time-waster.
In conclusion, although the effectiveness of using language games in English
language teaching is still controversial among educators and teachers, we are favor
of supporters of using games in language lessons. We believe that language games
not only banish boredom, provide learners with enjoyable environment but also
supply them with chance to use language and constitute a bridge between the lesson
and the real world (Greenal, 1984). Therefore, a good game provides motivation,
fun, and genuine reason for communicating and using language.
1.2.5. Language games as a motivator for students to speak
The importance of motivation in second language teaching and learning has
been discussed for years. In recent years, motivation has become a familiar term in
language learning. Many different definitions of motivation in foreign language
learning have been made.
Dornyei (1988) states that motivation refers to the efforts learners make to
learn a foreign language. Motivation is one of the keys that influence the rate and
success of language learning. Gardner (1985) also points out that motivation

15


involved desire to learn a language, intensity of effort to achieve this, and attitudes
toward learning the language. It is obvious that motivation to learn a second
language is understood as referring to the extent to which the individual works or
tries to learn the language because of a desire to do so and the satisfaction
experienced in this activity. Thus, those who are motivated to participate actively in
class usually get good study results.
And a game is a source of motivation, interest and a game often considered as
the first step to draw learners‟ attention to an EFL environment (Vale, 1995). In

most of the games, an element of competition between individual learners or teams
is a strongly motivating factor, which stimulates learners to join the game. It is the
most important reason why all learners are immensely happy or absorbed in playing
games. The fact that few learners can concentrate on long practice without any
chance, and even fewer will actually benefit from learning in such an intensive way
in the long run. Therefore, using language games is one of the best ways to create
relaxing and interesting lessons in order to maintain pupils‟ motivation.
In a word, motivation is an indispensable element in the process of learners‟
acquisition. It is a major factor in deciding learners‟ failure or success. Success and
motivation are correlated: when the learner is successful, he is more motivated to
learn. It can be said that motivation makes learning more meaningful and effective.
Developing motivation is not easy because it is something very personal.
However, Lightbrown and Spada (1999) states that: “If we can make our classrooms
places where students enjoy coming because the atmosphere is supportive and nonthreatening, we can make a positive contribution to students‟ motivation to learn.”
With a view to constitute such a learning environment, using language games in
speaking classes seems to be a wise choice for the following reasons:
 Games provide interest to what students may not find very interesting. Lee
(1979:1) reports: “…Language games could banish boredom; make for
willing learners who look forward to language lessons…”

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 Games may lower anxiety and stimulate shyer students to join in speaking
classes positively, especially when games are played in small groups.
 Through games, the teachers can create contexts in which the language is
meaningful and useful, so that the students want to participate in and in order
to response this they must understand what others are saying and they must
speak to express their own opinions or give information. That is to say games
bring learners chances to communicate to each other freely.

 Games provide active learner - centered learning. Games are learner-centered
in that students are active in playing the games and games can often be
organized such that students have the leading roles, with teachers as
facilitators. In this activity, the teacher drops his role as director of the games
and becomes more of a monitor and language informants.
In short, many researchers and educators have come to a common conclusion
that games are very useful and can be used as a beneficial tool to develop students‟
language learning and also provide the students the opportunity to practice the
variety of skills. Also, the use of games is of great help to make speaking lessons
more interesting, enjoyable, and effective.
1.3 . Summary
In Chapter I, the author discussed issues and aspects concerning to the topic of
the study. The concepts and ideas relating to speaking skills have been discussed.
Moreover, the most important thing mentioned in this study is an overview of
language games which has also been introduced basing on some typical definitions
by some different researchers and educators. The author of this paper also provides
some different opinions on using games in teaching and learning process. In
addition, the knowledge on using language games as a motivator for student to
speak is also mentioned as well.
All of above knowledge is aimed at helping this study more clearly and
successfully. The following chapters will present the investigation, the findings and
suggested solutions to the problems under the light of the above mentioned theories.

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CHAPTER 2: The study
2.1. The context of the study
2.1.1. An overview of the research site
Situated in Thinh Dan, a developing quarter in the south west of Thai Nguyen

city, the duty and mission of TMC is training assistant doctors, nurses, midwives
and pharmacists for Northern mountainous provinces. Most of the students here
come from different Northern mountainous provinces so many of them are ethnic
minorities and in different age; their knowledge is also in different levels. At
present, there are 98 classes with over 6000 students placed into many different
fields. The teaching staff composes of 150 teachers of many aspects divided in to
two major groups. The first ones are medical specialized teachers. The others are
teachers of general subjects such as Mathematics, Chemistry, English, politics, etc.
2.1.2. The course book
In Thai Nguyen Medical College, English subject occupies 150 periods in
which 90 periods are for communicative English and 60 periods are for English for
Specific Purposes. Different course books are used for different majors. For
communicative English, however, New Headway is used for students of all majors
and is divided into two terms. This course book consists of fourteen units for two
terms. Each unit focuses not only on four different language skills: reading,
speaking, listening and writing but also such language elements as pronunciation,
grammar and vocabulary. Speaking lesson is often introduced in combination as
reading or listening lesson in each unit. The course book provides students with a
variety of topics and speaking activities with the aim of helping students enhance
their speaking skill.
2.1.3. Description of the students at TMC
As mentioned above, most of the students at TMC come from different
Northern mountainous provinces so many of them are ethnic minorities. Although
the majority of the students have been studying English since lower secondary or
high schools, their capability of English, especially communicating in English is not

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very well, even at low level. Moreover, as all the students here are non-English

majors, their final purpose is not English. So their motivation of leaning English is
not high. Therefore, in the reality, teaching of English in general, and teaching
speaking English in particular have encountered a great deal of difficulties.
2.1.4. Description of the teachers at TMC
At TMC, there are 8 teachers of English currently working. All of them are
female ranking from 27 to 40. Of the eight teachers, four teachers were trained in
Thai Nguyen University and four others were trained in different English centre.
Obviously, the age of the English teachers reveals the fact that many of them were
trained in the traditional method- the Grammar-Translation one. Few of them have
taken retraining courses to improve their English and their teaching method. It is
one of the biggest difficulties in adapting Communicative language teaching (CLT)
in their teaching work. This may create the hardship for English language teaching
in general and teaching speaking skills in particular.
2.2. Methods
2.2.1. Participants
The research was carried out at TMC with the participation of 90 first year
students from two nursing classes (CD4A1, CD4A2). To those students, English
was not their majors but a compulsory subject in the courses. Most of these students
have learned English for at least three years at secondary schools, some even have
learned English for seven years. Therefore, New Headway Elementary, especially
its grammar, is not too challenging to them. They can do grammar exercises rather
well but they face difficulties in mastering four language skills. Of the four skills,
most of the students find speaking especially important but difficult one.
Consequently, most of them don‟t feel interested and motivated in speaking classes.
2.2.2. Data collection
2.2.2.1. Data collection instrument
In order to get information to fulfill the aims of the study, the main instrument
for data collection in this study was survey questionnaires. The researcher only used

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survey questionnaire as the instrument because of its convenience and the limitation
of scope of this study. Survey questionnaires allowed collecting a large amount data
in a relatively short time. The survey questionnaires consist of the two parts: The
first part was pre-task survey questionnaire. The second one was post-task
questionnaire. The two survey questionnaires were designed with close and openended questions used for ninety first year students who are not English majors. The
data of the survey questionnaires will be discussed according to this target
population.
2.2.2.2. Data collection procedures
The study was carried out through the following steps
- Two classes of 90 first year students whose majors are Nursery were taught for 4
months. During the first week the researcher asked them to complete the pre-task
survey questionnaire.
- Then the researcher adapted speaking activities given in the course book by
providing them with a variety of language games for nearly four months. To find
out the effectiveness of the use of language games in speaking classes, the post-task
Survey questionnaire was delivered to these ninety students
Both of these survey questionnaires were carried out during the class time.
Before delivering the questionnaires to the students, the researcher spent enough
time explaining the aims of the questionnaires, and the requirements of the
informants clearly. The researcher also stimulated informants to raise any questions
if there was anything unclear in the survey questionnaires. Then the students were
guided to complete the questionnaires.
2.3. Presentation of statistical results
2.3.1. Pre-task survey questionnaire
2.3.1.1. Presentation of the data
The pre-task survey questionnaire consists of two parts (see appendix I): The
aim of part one is to find out information about the students‟ background: Their
classes, majors, and English learning experience. Part two includes 10 questions

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with the aim of finding out the students‟ attitudes towards English learning, their
perspectives towards speaking lessons, as well as their preferences and expectations
of the teachers‟ methodology in English speaking lessons. Data collected from pretask survey questionnaire will be presented in the table below:
Table 1: Data collected from pre-task survey questionnaire.

Variable
s
Scales
Question focus
1; 2. Students‟

A

C

B

D

E

N

%

N

%

N

%

N

%

N

%

Q1

34

37.8

50

55.6

6

6.6

0

Q2

9

10

38

42.2

36

40

7

7.8

45

50

38

42.2

2

2.2

5

5.6

35

38.9

42

46.7

9

10

4

4.4

2

2.2

25

27.8

48

53.3

15

16.7

8

8.9

35

38.9

30

33.3

17

18.9

48

53.3

6

6.6

72

80

7

7.8

5

5.5

25

27.8

55

61

90

100

47

52.2

3

3.3

6

6.6

0

0

82

91

2

2.2

90

100

attitudes towards
English learning

3. Students‟ views on the
four language skills
4. Students‟ attitudes
towards speaking skill

5. Students‟ opinions
On the speaking topics.
6. Students‟ participation
in speaking lessons
7. Factors that make
the students
unwilling to speak
8. Teachers‟ techniques to
encourage students to
speak English
9. Aims of using
Language games in
Teaching speaking.
10. Students‟ willingness
towards using
language games

(Question 7 and 8 are multiple choice ones so the total percentages are more than 100%)

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