Sử dụng các hoạt động có khoảng trống thông tin để nâng cao khả năng nói cho học sinh lớp 12 không chuyên anh tại trường THPT chuyên thái nguyên

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN THANH XUAN

USING INFORMATION-GAP ACTIVITIES TO ENHANCE SPEAKING
PERFORMANCE OF NON - ENGLISH MAJORS GRADE 12 AT THAI
NGUYEN HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE GIFTED

Sử dụng các hoạt động có khoảng trống thông tin để nâng cao khả năng nói cho
học sinh lớp 12 không chuyên Anh tại trường THPT Chuyên Thái Nguyên

MASTER THESIS RESEARCH

Field:

English language

THAI NGUYEN- 2018


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN THANH XUAN

USING INFORMATION-GAP ACTIVITIES TO ENHANCE SPEAKING
PERFORMANCE OF NON - ENGLISH MAJORS GRADE 12 AT THAI
NGUYEN HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE GIFTED

Sử dụng các hoạt động có khoảng trống thông tin để nâng cao khả năng nói cho

học sinh lớp 12 không chuyên Anh tại trường THPT Chuyên Thái Nguyên

MASTER THESIS RESEARCH

Field

:

English language

Supervisor: Dr. Bui Thi Huong Giang

THAI NGUYEN- 2018


DECLARATION
The writer fully declares that this research paper is composed by the writer herself and
it does not contain materials written or having been published by other people and that
from references.
A THESIS
USING INFORMATION-GAP ACTIVITIES TO ENHANCE SPEAKING
PERFORMANCE OF NON- ENGLISH MAJORS GRADE 12 AT THAI
NGUYEN HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE GIFTED

Submitted by:
Nguyen Thanh Xuan

Approved by
Supervisor,
Dr. Bui Thi Huong Giang

i


Acknowledgement
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor – Dr.
Bui Thi Huong Giang for her valuable guidance, critical feedback, and enormous
encouragement. Without her support, this thesis could not have been completed.
My thanks also go to all my lecturers from Thai Nguyen University, School of
Foreign Languages - Postgraduate Department for their valuable lectures which help me
to orient the topic.
I would like to express my thanks to all my classmates who were willing to help
me in sharing materials and ideas when this thesis is worked on.
My sincere thanks also go to all my colleagues and students at Thai Nguyen High
School for the Gifted, for their assistance during the process of data collection.
Particularly, I find myself in debt to all members of my family for their love, care
and tolerance when I was in the process of writing this thesis.

ii


ABSTRACT
This study aims at using information activities to enhance speaking performance
of non- English majors grade 12 at Thai Nguyen High School for the Gifted. It also
describes students’ perception and feeling after experimenting Information Gap
technique. This research is an action research which was carried out in Thai Nguyen
High School for the Gifted in the second term of the academic year 2017-2018. It
consists of six main steps: Initiation, Hypothesis, Intervention, Evaluation and
Dissemination. The data were gained through questionnaires, semi structured interview,
observations and mini projects. The results show that information gap activities can

improve students’ speaking performance significantly. Hopefully, this study will make
a contribution to the implementation of Information Gap Activities in improving
speaking skills for students at Thai Nguyen High School for the Gifted in particular and
other high schools in general.

iii


TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION……………….……………………………………………………i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... iv
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1
1.1. The rationale of the study ................................................................................... 1
1.2. The objectives of the study .................................................................................. 2
1.3. The scope of the study ......................................................................................... 2
1.4. The significance of the study ............................................................................... 2
1.5. Organization of the study .................................................................................... 2
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................... 4
2.1. Theoretical framework ..................................................................................... 4
2.1.1. The nature of speaking ..................................................................................... 4
2.1.2. The role of speaking in foreign language teaching and learning ..................... 4
2.1.3. Motivation- the key factor affecting English speaking performances ............. 5
2.1.4. Information gap activities ................................................................................. 6
2.1. 4.1. The definition of information gap activities ............................................. 7
2.1.4.2. The benefits of information gap activities ................................................. 8
2.1.4. 3. Some popular information gap activities ................................................. 9
2.1.5. Action research…………………………………….………………………….10
2.2. Previous studies……………………………………………………………….. 11

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY.............................................................................14
3.1. Research questions……………………………………………………………….14
3.2. The study design………………………………………………………………….14
3.3. The context and participants of the study………………………………………...14
3.4. Procedures……………………………………………………………………….16
3. 5. Data collection instruments……………………………………………………...19
3.5.1. Questionnaires……………………………………………………………….19
3.5.2. Semi-structured interview……………………………………………………19
3.5.3. Observation…………………………………………………………………..19
3.5.4. Mini projects…………………………………………………………………19

iv


3.6. Data analysis…………………………………………………………………..20
3.6.1. Data collected from preliminary investigation stage................................. 20
3.6.1.1. Data from questionnaire 1 .................................................................. 20
3.6.1.2 Data from the semi- structured interview ........................................... 22
3.6.2. Data collected from the intervention stage................................................. 23
3.6.2.1. Data collected from Observation sheets ............................................. 23
3.6.2.2. Data collected from Questionnaire 2.................................................. 25
3.6.2.3. Data collected from mini projects……………………………………29
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .................................................. 31
4.1. Findings………………………………………………………………………...31
4.2. Discussion…………………………………………………………………….. 32
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS ....................................... 36
5.1. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 37
5.2. Suggestions for teachers and further research ………………………………37
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... I
APPENDIX 1: Questionnaire 1 ........................................................................ III

APPENDIX 2: Semi- structured interview………………………………….…IV
APPENDIX 3: Questionnaire 2…………………………………………………V
APPENDIX 4: Observation sheet……………………………………………….VI
APPENDIX 5: Video speaking rubric…………………………………………VII
APPENDIX 6: Sample of a speaking lesson plan………………………………IX
APPENDIX 7: Samples of the information gap activities……………………...XII

v


CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION
1.1. The rationale of the study
With its essential role in international communication, English has proven to be
the most effective means to involve Vietnam in the process of globalization. Students
with good command of English and know to make use of it will have better job prospects
and many other interesting opportunities in their lives. Being fully aware of its
importance, the Ministry of Education and Training has made English a compulsory
subject at secondary schools and developing students’ communicative competence is
given the top priority.
Speaking plays a fundamental role in communication because without it,
communication cannot take place directly between people. According to Fauziati (cited
in Handayani, 2011), mastering “the art” of speaking is regarded as the single most
important aspect of learning a second or foreign language, and success is measured in
terms of the ability to carry out a conversation in the target language. However, to teach
the students to speak English so that they become more interested in speaking English
and maintain their interest during the lessons is not an easy job at all. Richards and
Renandya (2002) also believe that speaking in a foreign language is challenging for
foreign language learners because the effectiveness of oral communication requires the
ability to use the language appropriately in social interaction.
With regard to Thai Nguyen High School for the Gifted, non-English major

students have to learn English as a compulsory subject. Most of the students have learnt
English for seven years and realized the significant roles of English to their future.
However, as an English teacher, the researcher finds that although the students do not
have much trouble with English grammar, many of them tend to be silent and passive in
English speaking. Many of the students fail to communicate in English. They seem to
depend heavily on the textbooks and just read them in the speaking class. They are
hesitant and anxious if they have to speak and perform using English.
One of the reasons for this situation is that they lack practice in using English in
real communication situations. Putri (2014) states that speaking activities should provide
sufficient time for students to practice the target language. The activities also should
motivate students so that they can enthusiastically engage on the learning process. In our
daily life, communication occurs naturally when there is a lack of information between
1


people, and they have a demand for exchanging the information. In the same way, if
English teachers want to motivate students to speak, they should provide a diverse
environment where meaningful communication can take place.
In the researcher’s opinion, one possible solution that can encourage students to
use English for communicating is utilizing Information Gap Activities. The benefits of
this technique to the students have aroused my interest and encouraged the researcher to
carry out this research “Using information-gap activities to motivate speaking
performance of non – English majors grade 12 at Thai Nguyen High School for the
Gifted.” Hopefully, this study will make a small contribution to the implementation of
Information Gap Activities in improving speaking skills for students at Thai Nguyen High
School for the Gifted in particular , and at other high schools in general.
1.2. Objectives of the study
The aim of this study is to improve students’ speaking performance by applying
information-gap activities and change students’ attitudes towards speaking learning.
1.3. Scope of the study

In the school year 2017- 2018, the researcher was in charge of teaching English
for grade 12th students. During English lessons, many students were very passive in
making interactions in English when they are required to work in pairs or groups. In fact,
there are various effective speaking activities to motivate students to speak; however,
due to the limit of the thesis, the study cannot cover all, but focus on information gap
activities.
1.4. The significance of the study
The study is hoped to be beneficial to both teachers and students at the Thai
Nguyen High School for the Gifted in particular and at other high schools in general.
English teachers will be able to enrich their techniques in teaching speaking skills, which
can greatly improve students’ speaking performances. In addition, this study is believed
to be a good source of references for other researchers who want to conduct a research on
the related topic.
1.5. Organization of the study
Chapter 1 is Introduction which consists of the rationale of the study, objectives of
the study, scope of the study, the significance of the study and organization of the study.
Chapter 2 is Literature Review which discusses the theoretical framework and previous
2


studies. Chapter 3 is Research methodology which consists of research questions, the
study design, participants, materials, and procedure, data collection instruments,
techniques of data analysis. Chapter 4 describes the result of the study. It consists of
research findings and discussion. Then, chapter 5 is the conclusion and suggestions of the
research.

3


CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2. 1. Theoretical Framework
2. 1. 1. The nature of speaking

In this section, the researcher will consider what we mean by “speaking”. In English
study, speaking can be considered as a major component or an inseparable part of any
language learning process. Therefore, speaking has been the object of numerous studies
with varieties of definitions.
According to Brown (1994); Burns & Joyce (1997) speaking is an interactive process
of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing
information. Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs,
including the participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical
environment, and the purposes for speaking. It is often spontaneous, open-ended, and
evolving. Chastain (1998) believes that speaking is a productive skill. ‘Speaking is more
than making the right sound, choosing the right words or getting the constructions’
(pp.330-358). Indeed, in order to speak accurately and fluently, in the researchers’
opinion, students should not only focus on mechanical elements such as pronunciation,
grammar, and vocabulary but they should also pay attention to the communicative
situations that they may come across in the real life. In addition, they need to widen their
social and cultural knowledge in order to have an efficient interaction. As a result, it’s
advisable for the teachers to help students get access to varied authentic speaking
materials and activities.
Based on the above definitions, the researcher supposes that the nature of speaking
is interactive and productive. It is the process of sharing knowledge, interests, attitudes,
opinions with the others. It is fundamental to human communication. Speaking skill is the
ability to perform the linguistics knowledge and to make ourselves understood in the
actual communication. It is considered as one of the macro skills that foreign language
students should be helped to improve their communicative abilities.
2. 1.2. The role of speaking skill in teaching and learning a foreign language
English is a tool for international communication. Nowadays, teaching and learning
English is of great importance in Vietnam as well as in other countries in the world. In

the past several years, although a variety of approaches for language teaching has existed,
CLT is always the popular approach and has strongly influenced on the language teaching
4


in Vietnam. It emphasizes that the goal of the language learning is to develop
communicative competence that consists of grammatical competence, sociolinguistic
competence, discourse competence and strategic competence. (Canale and Swaine, 1980).
In other words, students learn English in order to communicate well in English.
Speaking seems intuitively the most important of all four skills that help students
to communicate effectively because speaking is regarded as the first step to confirm who
knows or does not know a language. Ur (1996) also indicates that people who know a
language are referred to as “speakers” of that language so almost all of foreign language
learners are interested in learning to speak. Teaching speaking means helping students
develop their ability to interact successfully in the target language.
In order to improve students’ speaking ability, teachers should play a positive role
in helping students get involved in speaking activities in the classroom. Dua (2011)
claims, “rather than leading students to pure memorization, the teacher can provide a rich
language environment where students have real communication, authentic materials and
meaningful tasks that promote oral language.” (p.12) Related to this study, the researcher
intends to implement information gap activities with a hope that gradually students will
know how to use their target language correctly and communicatively in everyday
conversations.
2. 1.3. Motivation – the key factor that affects speaking performances.
Speaking comes naturally to human, but in fact it is not as simple as it seems. There
are several factors that influence the success or failure in learning English speaking.
However, Gardner (1985) claim that the most important factor is motivation – a term
often used with respect to second language learning as a simple explanation of
achievement. He says that the term “motivation” has very distinct characteristic and has
a clear link with the language learning process. Motivation in the present context refers

to the combination of the effort plus desire and positive attitude to achieve the goal of
learning. Sharing the same point of view, Harmer (2001) defines motivation as some kind
of internal drive which pushes someone to do things in order to achieve something. The
more motivation a learner has, the more time he or she will spend on learning a second
language. Language achievement chiefly depends on the amount of exposure to the target
language. Motivation not only plays an important role in learning, it also helps the
teacher. Lite’s study (as cited in Dua, 2011) reveals that motivation is the backbone of
5


any classroom. When the students are motivated, the teacher can perform his/her job the
best.
There are two basic types of motivation: extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation.
Harmer (2001) states that extrinsic motivation is caused by such outside factors as the
need to pass an exam, getting good marks and the hope of a better job prospect, etc. In
contrast, intrinsic motivation is the learners’ eagerness and interest to take part in learning
process itself because they feel that the learning activities are attractive and useful. Many
researchers agree that to be successful in language learning students need intrinsic
motivation rather than extrinsic one. For them what happens in the classroom (classroom
activities, learning atmosphere…) will be of vital importance in determining students’
attitude to the language.
Motivation is the key factor in language learning in general and in the development
of speaking skills in particular. One who has strong motivation usually take part in
speaking activities enthusiastically. One who has strong speaking motivation will take
every chance to practice speaking in class and improve himself to speak more fluently
and accurately. On the contrary, one who has low motivation in speaking will rarely
practice or even keep silent all the time. Because of the importance of motivation to the
teaching and learning English speaking skill, in this study, the research will try to explore
the reasons why the students often have low motivation in speaking lessons and then offer
possible solutions.

In conclusion, the researcher strongly approves that motivation plays a significant
role in foreign language learning in general and in developing speaking performances in
particular. Once learners have set the goal of learning, motivation will certainly help them
produce effort and have a positive attitude to obtain the goal. Therefore, in order to be
successful, language teachers should be well aware of the importance of motivation and
design authentic communicative speaking activities in which the learners get
enthusiastically involved.
2. 1.4. Information gap activities.
Teachers are often searching for activities to make their classroom more interactive;
language teachers in particular are also looking for activities that promote target language
use. Information Gap activities are excellent activities as they force the students to ask
each other questions; these activities help make the language classroom experience more
6


meaningful and authentic. This section will explain in more detail what Information Gap
activities are and why they are useful; it will also give some examples of Information Gap
activities for any language classroom.
2. 1.4.1. The definition of information gap activities
The Meaning of Gap
In current studies, researchers state that “gap” means the difference. Rania (2011)
claims that if there are two students, A and B, and if A has some information which B
does not, and possibly vice-versa, then there is a difference or gap between the two
students. A task which requires B to find out the information that A has (i.e. a task which
closes the gap) will provide a reason for communication.
Information gap activities
The concept of information gap is an important aspect of communication in a CLT
classroom. This essentially is based on the fact that in everyday life people usually
communicate in order to get information they do not possess. If the speaker and hearer
are both in possession of the same information prior to beginning their communication,

communication cannot take place.
According to Harmer (2002) one type of speaking activity is called “information
gap”-where two speakers have different parts of information making up the whole.
Because they have different information, there is a “gap” between them. As a result, they
need to communicate to each other to bridge this gap. In the same respect, Richards and
Schmidt (as cited in Fuqaha, 2015) claim that an Information-gap task is an activity in
language teaching where students are missing information necessary to complete a task
or solve a problem, and must communicate with their classmates to fill in the gaps.
Although there are various definitions about information gap activities, most
researches agree that information-gap is the activity in which the students may be in pairs
or in groups of two or more students. They can be given different pieces of information
about the same topic which creates a “gap” of knowledge that require students to
communicate with each other to solve a problem or complete a task.
There are two types of information gap activities: one-way and two-way. McKay
and Tom in their study which was cited in Rania (2011) give a definition that one-way
occurs when one person holds all information which other group member(s) do not have.
An example of a one-way information exchange is one in which one person has a picture
7


and describes it to his/her partner who tries to draw it. Ellis (as cited in Rania 2011) asserts
that in a two-way information gap activity, both learners have information to share to
complete the activity e.g., both have some information about directions to a location, but
they have to share the information that they have to complete the directions.
To sum up, both one-way and two-way information activities involve an
information gap which must be exchanged between members in order for the activity to
be completed. Regarding to the research, the author will design both one-way and two
way information gap activities to give students plentiful opportunities to practice
speaking English.
2. 1.4.2. Benefits of information gap activities

In Communicative Language Teaching in order to promote real communication
between students, there must be an information gap between them and between them and
their teacher. Without such a gap, the classroom activities will be mechanical and
artificial. Johnson and Morrow (1981, p.62) recognized the value of information gap
activities in the language classroom 20 years ago, calling the concept "one of the most
fundamental in the whole area of communicative teaching". The researcher believes that
information gap activities are used in class; students can gain big profits in developing
their speaking performance.
Firstly, the activities create plenty communication among students. Kayi (2006)
says that in information gap activities, students are supposed to be working in pairs or in
groups. One student will have the information that other partner does not have. Hence,
they have opportunities to talk extensively in the target language because they need to
transfer the information in order to finish the task.
Moreover, Information gap activities tend to provide equal participation among
learners. Dua (2011, p.15) reports, “Information gap activities allow each student to use
the time effectively. They do not need to sit on their chairs and wait until one-to-one or
group-to-group presentation is finished. Instead, the classroom activities are fairly
distributed, every student has chance to speak” Each partner plays an important role.
Each of them has the task of finding out certain information, and therefore must find a
way in which to ask for this information. Classroom will not be dominated by talkative
students.”

8


Last but not least, the motivation is quite high in these activities because students
are forced to communicate in “real” English. The situations are authentic and the activities
can be motivating and fun to students. “The learners interact freely with one another to
gather information from their peers, thus creating a casual atmosphere, in which
everybody feels comfortable and non- threatened to offer their contributions” (Harmer,

1991, p.49). In addition, information gap activities provide the students a desire to

communicate with their partners or classmates because they don’t know and are curious
about the information needed to complete the communicative task.
Because of the above advantages, language students should be involved in as many
situations as possible where one of them has some information and another doesn't, but
has to get it-in other words, situations containing an information gap between the
participants.
2.1. 4.3. Some popular information gap activities
Underhill (as cited in Dua, 2011) asserts that variety of techniques can be used in
information gap activity. Firstly, they may be peer or group interview. Two students in
turn set out questions and answers to get certain things about each other. Secondly, they
may be peer or group description and recreation information in which one describes a
picture or a design to another student who has constructed the model from the description
alone without seeing the original. Thirdly, they can be games like such as describing and
drawing, describing and guessing, finding the differences and completing a story, etc.
(Harmer, 1998). More specifically, Dua (2011) in her study summarizes some of common
information gap activities with typical examples for each kind including: Filling the gaps,
completing the picture, finding differences, talking about yourself, giving directions and
problem solving/role play
*Filling the gaps: Partner A holds an airline timetable with some of the arrival and
departure times missing. Partner B has the same timetable but with different blank spaces.
The two partners are not permitted to see each other's timetables and must fill in the blanks
by asking each other appropriate questions.
*Completing the picture: Student A has an incomplete picture of a living room. He/ She
has to ask student B who has a complete picture to find out where the things in the given
box go and then draw them in the correct place. Student B answers student A’s question
about the things in the box to help him/ her complete the picture.
9

*Finding differences: The two students in each pair have pictures which are identical
except for some important differences. They do not look at each other’s pictures, but try
to find the differences by describing their picture.
* Personal interview: For example, the teacher puts the students in pairs and asks them
to tell each other how they feel about their name and what name they would choose for
themselves if they had to choose one that was different from the one they have.
* Completing a Map/ Giving Directions: Two or more sets of maps are used. Some
details are given on each of the maps, but on each student’s map certain places would be
deleted and the names of these places would be listed at the bottom. The task is to ask
each other where the places are located to complete the map.
* Problem-solving
As students are put in some situations that are similar to the real life, they actively join in
the activities because of the feeling that they are doing with their language, taking the
risks of experimenting what they have learnt. Moreover, the lessons can become more
practical and interesting to them.
* Guessing: In addition to the above activities, guessing is also a common type of
information gap activities that are often used in class. For example: Students work in pairs
or small groups. One student chooses an object or a person and keeps it a secret. The other
students must ask yes or no questions to determine what that object/person is.
In conclusion, there are various forms of information gap activities. All the
activities listed above will give the researcher a good orientation in designing different
information gap activities for her own study later.
2.1.5. Action research.
Action research is actually suitable for any person who wishes to improve his or
her performance. For years, action research has been widely used in education, especially
by teachers who use it to improve their teaching. According to Glickman, action research
in education setting is a study conducted by teacher researchers to improve problems in
their classrooms. Steps in action research vary from different points of view. Creswell
(as cited in Hien, 2009) asserts that action research is a dynamic, flexible process .Hence,

it is really impossible to assert this or that researcher is right with exact four, five, six,
seven or eight steps in their action research.

10


Nunan’s action research model is discussed in more details in the researcher’s
study since its steps seem to clear- cut enough for the researcher to follow. The model
includes seven steps. In the first step, a problem in language classroom triggers the idea
of action research. In the second step, a preliminary investigation is carried out in which
baseline data are collected to help understand the nature of the problem. Next, a
hypothesis is formulated after reviewing the initial data. In the fourth step, a number of
strategies are devised for intervention. The next step is Evaluation in which an
assessment is carried out to evaluate the intervention. The sixth step is Dissemination.
In this step, a report of the research is published and ideas emerged from the research
are shared. The final step is Follow-up with the continual investigation of alternative
solutions for the problem.
2.2. Previous research Studies
This Section explores previous studies related to information gap activities. The
researcher has benefited from all the following studies in how to design, use properly, act
in different roles, choosing the suitable organization of group -work and pair-work, adapt
the

implementation

of

information

gap

activities

in

Tieng

Anh

12

Siwi’s study (2011) was conducted with the first year students of a university in
Salatiga, Indonesia in the Academic Year 2011-2012 . The study analyzed the
improvement in students’ speaking competence through information gap strategy. The
methodology of the study is collaborative classroom action research. In this research the
writer was the teacher and assisted by an observer. She noted all of the process in learning
activities. To find out the improvement of students’ speaking ability she used test, namely
pre test and post test. She used Kemmis’ action research model with two cycles. Each
cycle of an action research has four steps: plan, act, observe and reflect. The study showed
that the students got involved in activities in the teaching process, they were more
confident to speak in English than before. Information gap strategy has benefited
students’ speaking competence in class.
Dua’s study (2011) aimed to work out the causes of students’ low motivation, the
importance of using information activities to motivate students at Phuong Dong
University to speak English. To find the answers to these questions, an action research
based on Nunan’s action research model was carried out through six main steps, using a
combination of 3 data collection instruments (questionnaire, observation, pre-tests and
11

post-tests). The results showed that the students’ motivation increased significantly when
the intervention was implemented.
Another research was done by Putri (2014). The objective of the research was to
improve the speaking skills of students grade 8 in Indonesia by using information gap
activities to develop students’ speaking ability in story telling performance. The
researcher used an action research that consists of four steps as proposed by Kemmis and
McTaggart. The data were quantitative and qualitative. The qualitative data were obtained
through observations and interviews. The quantitative data were obtained from tests (the
pre-test, the progress test, and the post-test). The result of the research showed that the
use of information gap activities was able to improve the students’ speaking skills. The
students were more confident to speak in English. They could retell the story fluently and
their vocabulary also increased. Furthermore, the students were actively engaged in the
teaching learning process.
Fuqaha (2015) study was carried out with 41 students of Twelve Grade of MAN
1 Pamekasan. Based on the researchers’ observation, he noticed that students’ speaking
skill was very not very good because of the classroom mixed ability and the teacher’s
monotonous teaching activities. To cope of this problem, the researcher employed the
Information gap activities and used an action research to see how it worked. In the study,
the researcher and the collaborator worked together, the researcher acted as the teacher
while the collaborator observed the students during the implementation of the strategy.
This study was conducted in one cycle consisting of six meetings using the four
procedures; planning, implementing, observing and reflecting according to Kemmis and
McTaggart’s model. The data of the study were collected through the observation
checklists, field notes, and questionnaires. The research findings reveal that the
Information gap activity has proved very effective to improve students’ speaking skill.
Rahimi’s study (2016) investigated the effectiveness of Information Gap
technique in improving students’ speaking skill. A quasi experimental research design
was used in this study. The population of this study was the eleventh graders of MAN 2
Semarang in the academic year 2014/2015 with the number of population around 210
students. Two classes were taken as the samples with around 60 students. The data were

collected by using several activities. They were pre-test, treatment, and post-test. The

12


result of this study shows that the use of Information Gap technique in teaching speaking
was better than the conventional method in improving students’ speaking skill.
Having studied previous studies on related issues, the researcher comes to several
conclusions. To begin with, although the above studies were conducted by different
researchers in different countries, universities, and schools, administered on different
students in different levels, most of the them employed action research method. Data
were both quantitative and qualitative. Data collection instruments were often in the forms
of observation, questionnaires, interviews, and tests. The research finds that steps in
action research in the studies vary from different researchers’ points of view. This idea is
supported by Creswell (2005) when he asserts that “action research is a dynamic, flexible
process” and there is “no blueprint exists for how to proceed.” In general, most of the
previous research employed either Kemmis & McTaggart’s model or Nunan’s model
because these models are basic and simple ones whose steps are clear to follow. Secondly,
most of the studies showed that more care should be given to teaching speaking skills and
indicated that speaking skills needed to be more practical by adopting the communicative
approach methods. Lastly, most studies revealed the significance of using information
gap activities in teaching/learning speaking skills.
Reviewing previous studies directly relevant to the theme of this study has
enriched the researcher’s background and extended her scope in this issue. At the same
time, it can light the way for the researcher to decide the best methodology used in her
study.

CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research questions
13

The study aims to answer the following research questions:

1. What are the causes of the students’ low participation in English speaking
activities?
2. To what extent can information gap activities increase the students’ participation
in speaking activities?
3.2. The study design
Action research was utilized in this study because it’s convenient and time
efficient. The researcher can combine two duties - teaching and researching at the same
time. More importantly, it is beneficial to both teachers and learners since it is
concerned with improving the immediate learning environment (Wallace, 2001). The
researcher can apply and test new teaching ideas which are expected to make better
changes in her own classroom contexts. In this study, Nunan’s action research model
(1992) was applied because it is easy to carry out in the researcher’s own classroom in
limited time and the steps in Nunan’s model are clear-cut to follow. Quantitative data
were obtained via questionnaires while qualitative data were mainly collected from
observation, semi structured interview and mini projects.
3.3. The context and participants of the study

3.3.1. The context of the study
This study was conducted at Thai Nguyen High School for the Gifted where the
researcher works. Although the school has received special attention from parents and
students in local for its education and training quality, it is still a medium- sized school
in the mountainous northern of Vietnam. Students have mixed English levels and
background knowledge as they come from different parts in Thai Nguyen province such
as Thai Nguyen city, Pho Yen town, Phu Binh district, Dai Tu district, Song Cong city.
A small group of them are ethnic minority.
At Thai Nguyen High School for the Gifted, English is considered an extremely

important subject to all students regardless the majors they are learning; hence, the
students have to study English during three years at Thai Nguyen High School for the
Gifted and must complete 105 periods of English a year. A three-level English language
set of textbooks for Vietnamese upper secondary school are used. They follow the
systematic, cyclical and theme-based curriculum approved by the Minister of Education
and Training.
14


The textbook consists of two volumes with 5 topic- based units for each. Each unit
has a 45 minute- speaking lesson in which only speaking skill is taught. However,
speaking skill as a tool of discussion is integrated in almost all of other lessons and skills.
Thus, it’s important that students should be well motivated to speak English in class.

3.3.2. The participants
The research was carried out at Thai Nguyen High School for Gifted students with
the participation of 61 students from 2 classes: Geography 12 and History 12. All of those
students were born in 2000. They come from different parts of Thai Nguyen such as Tuc
Duyen, Pho yen, Song Cong, Dai Tu. Eleven out of the total are ethic minority. At Thai
Nguyen High School for the Gifted, they have to learn English as a compulsory subject.
To begin with, the majority of those students started to learn English when they
were in grade 3. Most of them revealed that they followed the traditional curriculum
whereas only a small number of students from several schools in Thai Nguyen city such
as Nha Trang or Chu Van An had opportunity to get access to the new textbook with
theme- based curriculum. This means they all have learnt English for quite a long time
but they had various linguistic background and achieved different levels of English
proficiency. Most of them claimed that they got used to focusing on English grammar
rather than skills. Moreover, when the investigated students attended the entrance exams
to Thai Nguyen High School for the Gifted, their average English test results were
comparatively lower than ones in other specialized majors such as Math, Chemistry,

Physics, Biology and Literature. Another important feature that is worth mentioning is
that all of them use Vietnamese in their daily conversations, and they rarely have chances
to use English as a means of communication, except for some time in the classroom with
teachers and classmates. Almost all of students also said that they had never joined any
English clubs as well as English extracurricular activities.
The researcher was responsible to teach English for Geography class in all three
academic years. In the year 2017- 2018, the researcher began to teach English for History
class. From the researcher’s own experience and observation, along with the ideas of the
researcher’s colleagues, the researcher found that although many of the students are good
at grammar, they tend to be silent and passive in speaking English. They had little
motivation in speaking lessons. Because of the scope of the study, the researcher tries to
sketch one small aspect of teaching and learning English of the non-English majors at
15


Thai Nguyen High School for the Gifted. It is speaking skill and how to motivate students
to speak in class.
3.4. Procedures of the research
This research was officially carried out over a period of 32 weeks (from January 2018
to August 2018). Based on the selected research model, the following steps were done
one after the other. The description of the six-step procedure is presented as follows:
* Step 1: Initiation (from week 1)
Observing the speaking lessons, the researcher realized that the students’ learning
motivation and their participation in speaking activities were low. Therefore, she decided
to identify factors affecting the students’ learning motivation in speaking lessons and the
first research question formed was: "What are the causes of the students’ low
participation in English speaking activities?". The survey questionnaire for preliminary
investigation was then developed and piloted.
* Step 2: Preliminary investigation (From week 2 to week 3)
Having analysed pilot work, the researcher then revised questionnaires. After that

the survey for preliminary investigation was sent out. The data about the learners which
may be factors affecting students’ motivation in English speaking activities were
collected in order to confirm the problems stated in step 1 and find out the causes of
students’ low motivation in speaking lessons (see Appendix 1: questionnaire 1). With the
aim of collecting further insight information about the factors that inhibited students from
speaking, the researcher, along with the assisted observers had an informal semistructured interview with a number of random students from both classes.
* Step 3: Hypothesis (From week 4 to week 5)
The analysis and discussion of the initial data led to the possible solution: Using
information gap activities to motivate students in speaking lessons
* Step 4: Intervention (from week 6 to week 18)
The intervention was planned with the aim to answer the question: To what extent can
information gap activities increase the students’ participation in speaking activities?
The intervention of information gap activities

16


Based on the information from Questionnaire 1, the researcher found that the
students were rather silent and passive in speaking English. She felt the way to teach
English was monotonous or not interesting. The students had little motivation to interact
and share the information with one another. As a result, there should be interesting
learning activities such as information gap activities which create a need for them to speak
English. Once students have a reason to speak, they will make every effort to improve
their speaking performance. During the implementation of information gap techniques,
various activities have been designed and used to improve students’ speaking
performance in 5 speaking lessons. At the time when information gap techniques were
utilized, students were studying Unit 8: ‘The World of Work’ and Unit 9: ‘Choosing
Career’ according to the curriculum. All the speaking lessons were taught in April, 2018.
In lesson 1, a guessing game was used. The purpose of the game is to give students
free practice about asking Yes/ No questions to guess the job. To carry out the game,

students were divided into groups. Each group was given a set of job cards, which were
placed face down in a pile on the desk. Each student in turn took a card randomly and
kept it secret. Other students tried to guess the secret job by asking about 10 Yes/ No
questions. The first student to correctly guess the job was the winner. The game continues
until all the cards were used. In lesson 2, the students dealt with the missing information.
The activity was designed to give practice about asking and answering questions about
jobs skills and qualities. In this task, students worked in pairs. One student has table A,
the other has table B (see appendix). Each table contains different missing information
which could be found in the other. Students had to keep their paper secret while asking
and answering questions about jobs skills and qualities. Finally, based on the information
collected, students made a report on the qualities of each job and told the class about their
choice of future job. The third lesson gave students chances work in pairs in which one
student will be the job seeker, the other will be the job advisor. They had a personal
interview with their partner about likes or dislikes at work and then gave their partner
useful advice on their appropriate future jobs. In lesson 4, students moved around the
classroom freely, asked their classmates to find someone who….. and fill in the blanks.
After that they should be ready to report the answers in front of the class. For example,
students needed to find out someone who wants to works on a boat, someone who thinks
working is more fun than studying, or someone who had a part-time job last summer. etc.
17


They could also ask more questions to find out additional information and noted down.
In the last speaking lesson, the students had opportunity to practice speaking through a
real life situation - a job interview. In order to carry out the task, the teacher divided her
students into two major groups: groups of employers (travel agency, shop owner,
restaurant owner) and group of candidates by having them randomly pick up a card which
told them who they would be. After that, the teacher asked the students to prepare for
their interview by asking and answering common interview questions. Finally, students
acted out the conversations as employers and applicants. During the intervention, the

speaking lessons were handed in different ways. The lessons were observed using
observation sheet (appendix 4). After the implementation, questionnaire 2 (appendix 2)
was conducted to gather information about students’ attitudes towards information gap
activities. Besides speaking information gap tasks in class, the teacher also gave students
further speaking practice through mini projects.
* Step 5: Evaluation (From week 19 to week 25)
Questionnaire 2 was analyzed to gather information about the students’ attitude
towards using information activities in speaking lessons. Through the students’ responses,
the researcher could evaluate the effectiveness of these activities exactly. At the same
time, mini projects from students were collected and given assessments.
* Step 6: Dissemination (From week 26 to week 32)
The action research procedure and its results were reorganized and presented in
form of a thesis, which was shared with the researchers’ colleagues and some other
teachers, especially younger ones.

3.5. Data collection instruments
In order to collect the data, the researcher used a combination of 4 instruments:
Questionnaires, interviews, Observations and mini projects to guarantee the objectiveness
of the data.
3.5. 1. Questionnaires

18