Some suggested techniques to promote students’ speaking skill at high school

1. Introduction
1.1. Rationales
When I first entered the pedagogical profession, there was a saying of
Frederick William Robertson that I really liked: "The true goal of anyone who
wishes to become a teacher is not to communicate his ideas but to arouse
thinking."
In recent years, the teaching of English in general schools has changed
the content and the teaching method, there are many new methods to be applied
and widely spread to the teacher. Flexible use of methods and techniques in
classroom activities promotes student activeness and activeness and creates
optimal conditions for students to practice, develop their thinking and improve
ability to use language for communication purpose.
It is a fact for students in Vinh Loc High School that most students have
limited English language skills. They feel that they are not interested in learning
English and are not confident in speaking English and they are very cautious in
using English to communicate with teachers and friends during English lessons,
especially Speaking lessons. Because of this, many students feel bored and sit
down passively.This makes the class atmosphere very tense and boring. They
seem to be timid and scared at every mistake and lack of positive proactive in
speaking English.
Together with The Citadel of the Ho Dynasty – World Cultural Heritage ,
there are 147 historical and cultural relics and places of interest. This advantage
is very important to exploit, develop a variety of types and create specific
tourism products. Developing speaking and communication skills using
language helps children to better understand the value of The Citadel of the Ho
Dynasty - a world cultural heritage in the locality. This helps us to raise the
sense of protection of the heritage, each person can be an active propaganda for
tourists, especially foreign tourists, when visiting The Citadel of the Ho Dynast.
From the beginning of the school year 2016 - 2017 to now, Vinh Loc
high school has organized many professional activities of the group in the
direction of "innovation in professional activities". During each session, teachers

discussed the teaching methodology of textbook lessons in the motto of
"Promoting student competence", and the school and the foreign language team
also Organize lesson classes and discussions to gain experience in the team.
After observing the teaching hours and participating in the discussions, each
teacher has thoughts and concerns in exploring and applying new methods in
teaching hours to stimulate and promote all abilities of the students in the class
they teach.
As a teacher assigned by the school to teach English to students in grades
10, 11, and 12 over the years, I have always wondered about how to stimulate
students' speaking English in the classroom. Study English, especially during
Speaking and practice communication skills in English between students and
teachers and other class members.
After many years of experience and successful application, in the
academic year 2016 - 2017 I boldly wrote to experience with the topic:
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“ Some suggested techniques to promote students’ speaking skill at high
school”
1.2. Aims of the study
Some speaking tutorials are designed to help English teachers having a
wide range of choices to apply to their classes, depending on the specific
subject: systematizing knowledge, creating specific communication situations,
developing personalities, promoting the positive, creative initiative of students
1.3. The object of the study
- Teaching methods help to promote the positive and the ability to use the
spoken and spoken language of students in the high school English program.
- English speaking and communication activities.
- Students in grades 10, 11, 12 Vinh Loc high school.
1.4. Method of the study

The assessment reviews the product performance of the student through
oral tests, speaking skills in pairs, speaking groups, and extra-curricular English
sessions.
• Using analytic methods
• Observing and asking colleagues for ideas and experiences
• Practising the application of the study
2. Content
2.1. Theoretical foundations
The ultimate goal of language learning is communication. Grammar and
other skills are also important, but the aim is to support this goal. Teachers
organize classes in Speaking class for the following basic reasons:
- Ask the students to practice the skills and apply the knowledge they have
learned in the classroom.
- Help students to deepen their knowledge.
- Get students familiar with big work, pair-work, teamwork, highly
interactive personal ideas, time-consuming activities and the need to search for
external sources of information (such as information on the library, on the
Internet, or information from students themselves).
Communication is an important part of everyday life. Communicating
helps to develop both the new language and thinking, it can improve memory
and understanding. Engaging directly in activities improves student learning
and student attitudes toward the subject, and shows students that learning can
take place anywhere, not just in the classroom ( assign similar tasks for students
to continue to practice at home but at a higher level.)
2.2. The real situation
According to what I observe, the way of teaching the speeches of most
teachers now has some limitations:
Firstly, except for the other teachers, teachers often cling to the textbook's
Tasks. With these types of requests, students do passive. They haven’t developed
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linguistic thinking. They are good at textbook abuse, or are using older,
answerable books.
Secondly, sometimes the teacher organizes some supportive activities but
fails to check. They don’t score, or they test but has not attracted all the students.
Thirdly, teachers do not fully apply the method of communication when
teaching. Teachers also talk a lot, control the classroom. They less promote active
and active students. Organizing pairwork or groupwork is not effective so they
can’t support each other. We are afraid that the weak children will be passive and
do nothing and students will use their mother tongue when practicing. This can
be overcome by calling the weak student of the group to present and scoring
points for the group, so that they will have to help each other accomplish the
tasks that the teacher gives them.
Depending on the content of the topics and exercises designed in the
textbook or the appropriate assignments designed by the teacher, each teacher
must develop a few of the competencies in each lesson. It is necessary to develop
the students in the system of nine competencies set by the Ministry of Education
and Training, namely:
1- Self-learning ability
2- Ability to learn how to learn
3- Personal competence
4- Creative ability
5- Cooperative capacity
6- Capacity of communication
7- Capacity of thinking
8- Capacity to solve problems
9- Capacity of information technology and communication.
Finally, one of the contents of the graduate and college exams that make
students anxious is communication. To do well in this type of exercise, they need

to have broad knowledge, but the most important thing is through the specific
situations they have been experiencing. A communication situation is not easy to
memorize but when communicating many times, it is self-absorbed in the
subconscious mind.
2.3. Problem solving
Below I would like to give some experience on the design and
organization of some teaching activities aimed at promoting the positive and the
ability to use the language of students in Speaking Classes:
2.3.1. Interrupting stories
This is an interesting activity for students to practice speaking, listening
and other skills. In this way, the teacher (possibly the student) will tell a story
that the student knows clearly containing some false information. While hearing
the story, if you hear the wrong information, other students will stop the story
and correct that information.
Example: English Textbook 10, Unit 1: A day in the life of…, Speaking.
- Step 1: Students work in groups, looking at the pictures and depicting
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Quan’s activities.

[1]
- Step 2: Choose a good student to stand up and repeat the sentences in front of
the class. Ask students to deliberately give false information under the teacher's
secret instruction. Ask other students to hear and interrupt that student if the
information is wrong, and correcte and givethe right information
Example:
Quan often gets up at 2 p.m. At 2.15 p.m, he watches T.V ( wrong ) 
correct. At 5 p.m, Quan goes to the stadium by bus ( wrong) correct. After
that he plays football with his friends. At 6.30 p.m, he goes home. At 6. 45

p.m, he does his homework (wrong )  correct ……
2.3.2. Interviews / Role play
The name of the activity clearly shows how to do this. A student will go
forward to play a doctor, a celebrity, a player ... and other students to ask
questions.
Students work in pairs: one of the students who plays the interviewee will
ask questions and answers based on the specific content stated in the request
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and under the guidance of the teacher. Teachers can explore a number of selfgenerated situations that are relevant to the content of the unit:
Holiday plan interview
Job interview
Club membership interview
Famous people interview
In addition, teachers can explore real-life situations in the classroom, in
the school such as: Interviews with classmates about the life or events they have
just experienced, his/her plans, strengths , abilities, hobbies, habits, ...
Example 1: English textbook 10, Unit 3: People's Background- Speaking
Task 2: Imagine you are a journalist, use the cues given to interview
a classmate about his or her background or that of a person he / she knows
well. Change the roles when you have finished.
* Greeting.
* Date of birth.
* Place of birth.
* Home.
* Parents.
* Brother(s).
* Sister(s).

* Primary school.
* Secondary school.
* School work.
* Favourite subject(s).
* Experiences.
* Thanking.

[1]
Example : A: Good afternoon, I am working for Thanh nien
Newspaper.
I’d like to ask you some questions. Is it O.K ?
B: Good afternoon. That’s fine.
A: When were you born ?
B: ………………………………………
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Example 2: English 10, Unit 6: An Excursion- Speaking
A student goes up to the board and plays a person on a cruise. The rest of the
students ask questions to the student.
Example: :
- How do you feel about the trip ?
- I think you should sit in seat 11. Is it OK ?
- Do you want him to be in the section which is air- conditioned ?
………………………………

2.3.3. Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a technique that uses the support of the thinking diagram
to find solutions to a problem, and it is really effective when working in teams.
Group work has been a new form of activity for innovating a method in which

teachers play a central role in orientation, organization, and mentoring, while
students are actively involved actively seeking direction. They resolve and solve
the problem. Brainstorming will promote teamwork and groupwork in English
Speaking class. This cooperation’ll be indispensable if you want to achieve the
purpose of communication in the process of teaching - learning English in
particular and foreign languages in general. Brainstorming can be applied in
many stages such as the warm-up process, to the process of addressing the main
requirements of the task; It can be used in Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing
or Language Focus. At each stage, each section, brainstorming brings about
certain effects and stimulates all students to involve.
Brainstorming can be conducted in the classroom as follows:
- Step 1: Teachers divide students into groups. In the process of grouping,
teachers should distribute students equally to the same group for mutual support.
Avoiding the fact that this group and the other group have a great difference in
English language learning ability. A weak students group can not carry out the
desired Brainstorming activity. Teams select a leader and a secretary. Then the
largest group is the class of students and the supporting tool can now be the
writing board.
- Step 2: Deliver Brainstorming to groups. At this stage, the teacher needs to
make the students understand the requirements and tasks they have to
accomplish. It is possible to assign a topic to all groups. Finally teacher’ll have a
general synthesis. Teacher compare the performance of each group or each
group will have issues that need to be solved independently.
- Step 3: Carry out Brainstorming. The leader will direct the members of the
Brainstorming team, which requires all members to have ideas or opinions on
the issue and the secretary is responsible for recording all (except for duplicate
ideas). In some cases, comments may be accepted in Vietnamese if some
students are limited in their ability to study English as a vocabulary. Members
can speak out to their secretary for writing or take – note on papers.
At this stage, the teacher is a general observer of the activity of the groups, They

provide some suggestions or support, or encourage or motivate certain students
in the groups.
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In the case the teacher holds two roles at the same time: both the facilitator and
the secretary they may call the student to voice their opinion, the teacher
randomly writes the student's answer on the board. Arrange in a specific order,
or ask the students to write their ideas on paper and then put them on the board.
To attract and impress the sticker paper, colorful pens can be used:

(Illustration)
- Step 4: Analyze the answers and find a solution to the problem. In this step,
all members of the group review the answers, they don’t comment or criticize
any of them, simply collapse the idea of duplication, dismiss the unrelated ideas
and then decide on the most appropriate answer.
Example 1: English10- Unit 8: The story of my villge, Speaking.
Students work in groups to discuss and develop ideas for improving their village
build a medical centre
grow cash crops

build a football ground
Plans to improve
life of the village
build a football ground

build a new school
widen the roads
Example 2: English 10 - Unit 12: Music, Speaking section.
To "warm up" for this lesson each teacher will have a different way. For me, I

chose to use Brainstorming to create a comfortable atmosphere for students
before entering a new topic with a topic of musical preference, and also to help
students recall vocabularies concerning about the music for the later practice.
- I wrote the keyword "Music" on the board and began dividing the students
into groups of 6 to 8 students. Ask each team to select leader and secretary.
Ask the groups to find as many words or activities related to the subject as
possible within 3 minutes.
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- Team leaders control the team members to find vocabulary related to the
topic "Music", encouraging all members, despite the comments in Vietnamese.
Other members will assist in finding the corresponding English words.
- Ask the groups to report the results and the teacher will report the results
of the groups to create the broadest possible vocabulary scheme.
The results of Brainstorming activities are shown in the diagram below:

Rock

Pop

The piano

Types

Instruments
The guitar

Folk music

Music
Party
Concert

Performance

When to play

Wedding

Live show
Sport
events

[2]
2.3.4. Find someone who ...
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Students will give information or ask information from friends and then
report to the class. Then the teacher (possibly the student) will ask "Who?" And
the other students will answer who he/ she is. This activity is interesting because
it helps students to develop reflexes and improve their skills.
Example 1: English textbook 10, Unit 1: A day in the life of ...- Speaking
- Step 1: Students prepare the following table:
Nam
x

likes English
has a history lesson on

watches T.V every night
x
helps mother with housework x

Hoa

Mai

x
x

x

……

x

- Step 2: Students go around the class, ask and collect information about their
friends and fill out the form.
- Step 3: The teacher calls some students to present to the class.
Example : - Nam likes English.
- Hoa often has a history lesson on Friday.
- Nam often watches T.V every night.
- Mai often has a history lesson on Friday.
- Nam often helps his mother with the housework.
- Hoa often watches T.V every night.
- Mai often helps his mother with the housework.
- Step 4: The teacher asks students:
- T : Find someone who likes English.
S : Nam likes English.

- T : Find someone who has a history lesson on Friday.
S : Hoa and Mai often have a history lesson on Friday.
- T : Find someone who often watches T.V every night.
S : Nam and Hoa watch T.V every night.
- T : Find someone who helps mother with the housework.
S : Nam and Mai often help mother with the housework.
…………………………………
2.3.5. Twenty questions
This activity is usually conducted in the Warm-up section, as follow:
- First, the teacher gives a word or phrase or picture about the subject ( name of
a city, name of an organization, celebrity or person in classroom…)
- The task of the students is to find out the answer by asking Yes- No questions.
Teacher can limit the number of questions depending on the difficulty of the
topic.
For example, text books in English 10, Unit 16: Historical Place- Speaking
- Step 1: Teacher gives the picture.

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[3]
- Step 2: In groups, students will in turn ask Yes-No questions to find the place
name
Suggested questions:
* Is it a famous historical place?
YES
* Is it located in Nghe An?
NO
* Is it the final resting place of Vietminh leader Ho Chi Minh? YES
* Are there many people visting each year ?

YES
Then the teacher introduces the President Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum

[3]
2.3.6. Given dialogue frame
Thanks to the teacher's guidance, students can create their own dialogues
and then practice and practice instead. This activity is easy and familiar so
students will be interested in learning.
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Example: : It’s a hot day. Plan the day with your friend, follow the frame
below.
You
Your friend
Comment on the weather

Express agreement with the
comment

Suggest something to do
Disagree. Make another
suggestion
Agree. Suggest a time and
place to meet
Agree. Say goodbye
Say goodbye

Example: A: Today’s really hot.
B: Yes. It’s much hotter than yesterday.

A: Shall we have some beer after work?
B: I’d love to but I can’t come because my little boy is ill
Let’s have some beer on this Saturday afternoon.
A:
............
2.3.7. Discussions and Reporting a presentation
Students will discuss and comment on a given topic based on their recent
knowledge. In this section, teachers should encourage students to use mind maps
to express ideas and express the relevance of those ideas. Teachers can provide
sub- tables or paper to groups and ask groups to write their thoughts on a map of
thinking in the table. Subsequently, students will report, present what they have
learned, read and discussed through their group's thinking map. Obviously this is
a difficult activity, so students must prepare well and can report in groups or take
turns reporting.
Example 1: English Textbooks 11, Unit 11: Sources of Energy- Speaking
Task 3:
The teacher asked the students to discuss the group, then report on the
types of energy, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to utilize and develop
alternative energy sources.
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- Dicussion: Students discuss in groups, brainstorming about four aspects of the
topic.

[4]
- Reporting a presentation : Teachers ask students in each group to take turns
lecturing on the topic. Not only good students but also weak ones in each group
have a chance to report.
Example:

Student 1:
For a long time, the major source of energy used by people has been
fossil fuels (including coal, oil and natural gas). However, this kind of energy is
limited, non-renewable and will be exhauted soon. That’s why we should use
alternative sources of energy such as nuclear energy, water energy, solar energy
or wind energy.
Student 2:
These alternative sources of energy have their own advantages and
disadvantages. For example, nuclear power is unlimited but very dangerous.....
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2.3.8. Questionaire
- The teacher will prepare the student a poll. Students read information, mark
and complete content as required and report.
Example 1: English textbook 10, Unit 7: The Mass Media-Speaking
- The teacher sends students a questionnaire and asks students to complete.
QUESTIONNAIRE
Name : ……………………………
Sex : …………
Class : …………
Age : …………
1. How are the mass media important to our life ?
a. very important
b. not very
c. not at all
2. The mass media are widely used for ………
a. entertaining
b. getting knowledge
c. Other purposes

3. What kinds of media do you like best?
a. Television
b. Newspaper
c. the Internet
4. How often do you use the Internet ?
a. once a week
b. twice a week
c. more than twice
5. What kind of newspaper do you like to read ?
a. Nhan Dan
b. Tuoi Tre
c. The Thao
6. Your opinions / suggestions ?
………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………

- The teacher collects the answers of student A's assignment to student B and
asks student B to revise the content class that student A answered. After the
presentation of B, the teacher may ask a number of related questions to check
the level of attention, comprehension and reaction of other students.
Example:
Nam is a boy of 16 years old from class 10A3. He thinks that the mass
media is very important to our lives and he also thinks that the mass media
are widely used for entertaining and getting knowledge. He often watches
television more than two hours a day. He also uses the Internet service quite
often. He often read sports newspapers because he loves football. He wants
that more and more people are interested in getting
information from the mass media.
Question: 1. What does Nam think about the mass media?
2. How often does Nam use the Internet?

...........
2.3.9. Games
Games are popular activities that teachers often use. An activity is
considered as a game when we want students to make and want to find the
winner. Obviously Games are very active and highly motivated. Teachers can
design games that are tailored to specific classes and specific subjects in order to
involve more students.
Example: Lucky number
* Purpose:
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- Check student vocabulary.
- Make students reflect, listen, speak accurately, fluently
* Organization:
- Give the student a plaque consisting of a sequence of numbers that has lucky
numbers. Example: (number 5,7,8)
- If you choose the lucky number, you get 2 points.
- If you select a number other than the lucky number, you must ask the question
on the given subject
- If you meet the requirements (Say it right, fast, fluent) you will get 2 points. If
not hit minus 2 points.
- Each team has the same number of turns.
- End which team gets more points than that team wins.
Example: English 10, Unit 11: National Parks- Speaking
Task 2 and Task 3 can be considered as a difficult part because students
are unacquainted and do not have much knowledge of the conditional type 3.
The teacher designed this game to create a light practice gently and cheerfully
atmosphere in the classroom.
In this section, the teacher will give the student a few cards with the

numbers attached to them which may be a note of a gift, a request or a sentence
in the task to complete.
Example :

[5]
1. You are lucky. Your present is a pen.
2. Complete the sentences:
a. If they hadn’t gone by coach, …………………
b. If ………………………, they wouldn’t have got lost.
3. Smile and laugh.
4. You are lucky if you are a girl.
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5. Complete the sentence.
If / bring / food / drinks / not / spend / money / expensive
restaurant.
6. Sing an English song with the word “Love”. .....
2.3.10. Using teaching aids
Teaching materials are things we use along side textbooks, teachers' books
to help the teaching process more lively, with better results.
For example: English 10, Unit 11: National Parks- B- Speaking- Task 2:
Teachers can use the projector.

[5]
2.3.11. Outdoor Activities
Type 1: Talent
Before the extra-curricular week, teachers can assign topics to groups of
students (eg, Historical Places, Environment protection, Your hometown, ...).
Students choose to present their talents to the topic through the design, drawing,

music, etc. During the extra-curricular session, the teacher opens competitions
for groups to demonstrate the talents and presentations of each group. Teachers
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